Coursera vs. MasterClass - complete comparison

Overview

Description	Coursera Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses from top universities and organizations worldwide, like Yale or Stanford. They also offer fully digital Bachelors and Master’s degrees.	MasterClass Masterclass is an online learning concept with a unique concept: They work together with celebrities from various fields, letting the celebrities teach an online course about their knowledge. These celebrities include people of the likes of Stephen Curry, George W. Bush, Martin Scorsese and many more incredible well-known people. In total, there are more than 150 classes taught on topics such as arts, business, cooking, sports, and more.
Types of courses	Coursera INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Regular courses Self-paced courses for individual learning and skill development. The courses itself are typically free, with certification being offered as a paid addon. $50 - $150 USDIncluded in subscription Self-paced MASTERS DEGREE Master's Degree Full master's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $60000 USD Full-time BACHELORS DEGREE Bachelor's Degree Full bachelor's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $80000 USD Full-time PARTIAL MASTERS MasterTrack Certificates Master's degree-level courses with a path to credit $2000 - $10000 USD 4-6 months INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Professional Certificates Job-relevant training programs, from universities and corporations. FreeIncluded in subscription 3-6 months	MasterClass
Subscription plans	Coursera PERSONAL Coursera Plus Access to a selection of 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs $35 - 55 USD per month	MasterClass PERSONAL Masterclass membership Get access to the full Masterclass course catalog of more than 180 classes. $12 - 25 USD per month
Pros & cons	Coursera Pros Wide range of courses Courses from top universities Professional certificates from top companies like salesforce & Google Degree programs are cheaper compared to on-campus degrees Cons Rather expensive subscription Confusing offering, because of all of the different types of courses they provide	MasterClass Pros Learn from world-renowned experts High production value Wide range of topics Cons Lack of deep, in-depth courses No interaction with the instructors

General information

Type	Course Marketplace	Education Company
Number of courses	7000+	180+
Popularity	Very popular	Popular
Available categories	3D & AnimationAccounting & BookkeepingAffiliate MarketingAppleArchitectural DesignArts & CraftsBeauty & MakeupBrandingBusiness Analytics & IntelligenceBusiness Law	Arts & CraftsBusiness StrategyCreativityEntrepreneurshipSports
Available languages	EnglishMandarin ChineseSpanishFrenchRussianPortugueseGermanJapaneseKoreanItalian	English

Evaluation

Full score	8.8 10	8.0 10

Individual scores

Course quality

LowHigh

Course catalog

Less satisfiedVery satisfied

Affordability

More expensiveHigher value

Career value

Low valueHigh value

Customer support

BadGood

Usability

BadGood

Features

Support options	Email Phone Chat Community Knowledge base Learning support Career support	Email Phone Chat Community Knowledge base Learning support Career support
Available apps	Ios Android	Ios Android Roku

Company

Company name	Coursera Inc.	MasterClass Inc.
Company size	Large	Medium
Founded in	2012	2015
Headquarters	United States 🇺🇸	United States 🇺🇸
Founders	Andrew Ng, Daphne Koller	David Rogier, Aaron Rasmussen
External reviews	App Store 4.8126900 reviews Play Store 4.8267000 reviews Trustpilot 1.7528 reviews	App Store 4.9122100 reviews Play Store 4.2209000 reviews Trustpilot 2.0892 reviews

Our opinion

Summary

Coursera

Coursera offers a great range of online learning products, which means that almost anyone can find a fitting course on their platform. We particularly like the huge catalog of free courses they offer, where you only need to pay if you want the optional certification. They also offer full degrees, which makes them one of only a few providers that offer Bachelor's and Master’s degrees online. While their overall offering might be a bit confusing sometimes, we can fully recommend Coursera for all students looking to obtain career-relevant skills.

MasterClass

MasterClass has amongst the highest production quality of all online learning platforms. We like their concept of creating courses with world-renowned experts in their respective fields and combining this with awesome production value. With this high quality bar, it's clear why MasterClass doesn't have the most extensive course catalog. They focus on quality over quantity and offer courses on all kinds of topics, both career-related and recreational. Overall, we recommend MasterClass for students that enjoy watching courses from their favorite athletes, musicians and chefs and that appreciate the amount of effort MasterClass puts into producing these classes. Students looking for courses to advance their career might find a better offering elsewhere.