And so you’ve heard, LinkedIn now has its own little online learning platform called Lynda.
Interested in switching over from Udemy, but can’t seem to figure out which is better? You’ve come to the right place! Join us as we go into the battle of Udemy VS. Lynda!
What are you waiting for? The show is starting! Come aboard and allow us to help you explore these top online learning platforms!
What is Udemy?
Udemy is an online course website designed to allow ANYONE to become an instructor for online platforms.
You’ll notice that it’s pretty different from other online learning platforms where the instructors are heavily verified.
Ultimately, you could take this as Udemy giving chances to every single person on the planet or that YOU have the choice to be an instructor yourself.
Before thinking about being an instructor, however, let’s talk about how you’re going to be a STUDENT!
Remember that more instructors mean more variety, and this could only mean that you could get more options by getting a Udemy course! You get lifetime access to the content you pay for, too!
Just go through the course page, and you’ll find that you can learn almost absolutely ANYTHING.
How Does Udemy Work?
You’ve established that there are a million individual courses you can take here in Udemy. And that Udemy instructors could vary from the courses offered.
But how exactly do these Udemy courses work, and how is the learning experience?
Well, to begin, you pay for EACH individual course that you’d like to take.
This means that regardless of whether you only want to take one or two courses, Udemy will allow you to do so.
What does this mean for you, you ask? Let’s find out!
Spoiler alert: If you’d only like to take a single course and you’re still choosing between Udemy VS. Lynda, then you’d definitely be better off continuing with Udemy!
Pros
- Paying for the courses you only want to take means you don’t have to pay for courses you don’t really need.
- Buying a Udemy course entails lifetime access to their content.
- Udemy provides a mobile app so you can take your classes anywhere.
- Online classes in Udemy contain bite-sized lessons and accompanying video lecture.
- Udemy courses don’t require you to take prerequisites or corequisites; taking extra related courses is up to you.
- Course completion certificates will be provided for each course that you complete.
- TONS of different courses being offered (from video editing, creative topics, business development, and even creative writing!)
Cons
- Costs pile up for every extra course that you take (whether that may be for plain skill development or relevant courses)
- Due to Udemy being a platform where anyone can sell courses, the quality courses entirely depend on the instructor.
- Teaching methods of some instructors may not be of good course quality.
- Udemy courses are not accredited towards college or career credit.
What is Lynda?
Lynda, now called LinkedIn Learning, is an online learning platform that offers video lectures on a variety of skills.
It was launched about 20 years ago, and yes, it still provides the same amount and the same quality—if not better—as it did before!
They currently provide their courses in five different languages, and LinkedIn Learning also allows students to work at their own pace.
As an overview, LinkedIn Learning is an online learning space that provides paid courses on a selection of learning paths.
How Does Lynda Work?
With LinkedIn now taking charge of Lynda’s platform, it’s pretty common to wonder how LinkedIn Learning will now work.
To begin taking online classes in LinkedIn Learning, a student has to pay a subscription fee to get FULL access.
To ANY and ALL the courses that they want.
The instructors from Lynda have moved over to LinkedIn Learning as well, so rest assured that the quality of these Lynda courses are the same.
And what does this mean for you? Allow us to go through the pros and cons of these high course quality for your new skills!
Pros
- LinkedIn Learning provides unlimited courses upon subscription. However, no unlimited access. There’s a monthly fee to pay for the subscription.
- The learning path is LinkedIn Learning is of higher quality, considering that instructors are strictly verified.
- Interactive videos and video lectures are concise.
- Unlimited courses being offered upon the monthly payment.
- LinkedIn Learning also provides a well-designed mobile app.
- Great for those who would like personalized course recommendations.
- Contain more specific courses (Lynda is specifically centered towards business management and technology-heavy subjects, such as software development and web development).
- Due to the availability of individual lessons, students may easily go from one course to another.
- Students can work at their own pace.
- Lynda LinkedIn Learning does not require students to complete lessons.
Cons
- No lifetime access to course material; a monthly subscription fee must be paid.
- Lynda LinkedIn Learning only provides a few courses offered.
- Does not necessarily provide a wide variety of topics for personal development.
- Has the potential to be more expensive in the long run.
- Lynda LinkedIn Learning provides more individual lessons as compared to full courses.
- Offers short and quick courses.
- When it comes to assessments, there are few practice exercises, assignments, and tests.
Udemy vs Lynda Showdown
There’s no doubt in us that both of these online courses are a great investment. After all, learning is the best skill that anyone can have, and these platforms provide it for a small price!
But as we all know, there can really only be one winner! Join us in the best showdown between Udemy courses and Lynda courses?
Features
When it comes to online/e-learning platforms, there’s no use having a few courses on hand if you can barely navigate the website or the mobile app.
Therefore, allow us to break down the features between Udemy VS. Lynda! After all, different platforms, different learning paths.
Udemy
Udemy is relatively straightforward with a simple layout of features. They offer you everything you need, as well as provide a few extras such as the course ratings and the course reviews.
You said you were looking for an online course, and they’ve decided to give you more courses straight up!
Interface
For one, the list of the various courses available is almost at the dot.
The reviews put up by users who have taken a certain class are easily found at the bottom of the page at which the courses are available as well.
When you have a platform for people to ask questions and give out reviews, you can also assume that you could have interactive classes!
What else can users easily find on the interface of Udemy, you ask?
When users open up the menu, they’ll find a little drop-down menu where courses and their subcategories are available. Basically, there’s no need to struggle as you look for the information and content that you’d like.
Udemy also offers a mobile app, which has been proven to not crash during usage.
Downloadable content
Moreover, when you choose to purchase a course, Udemy allows you to have complete and lifetime access.
But here’s what’s new!
The content for Udemy’s courses is downloadable, and the video player works splendidly! Who said anything about lagging?
Their online training system seems to work fine as well, with all the assignments and projects available.
And they say it’s REALLY for lifetime access? What else are you waiting for?
Student Support
In terms of providing support to their students, the course-related questions are also easily managed by the instructors themselves.
Lynda
When it comes to the features of Lynda, there’s no doubt they’re pretty incredible and one of a kind! Truly, a Lynda course is none like any other.
Shall we begin?
Learning Paths
You’ve heard of regular learning paths which typically define the teaching methods or course structure, but Lynda’s here to give it a new definition!
In Lynda, a learning path is a term that indicates there are a number of courses that fall under an umbrella course.
Say, for example, you want to take up a writing course, you will easily be directed to choose a learning path. The courses under this learning path may be taught by different instructors, with different themes, topics, and approaches.
Basically, are the individual courses put together for your OPTIMAL learning? Precisely.
Note, however, that learning path means you need a lot of time to learn and complete the said courses.
Moreover, these are usually more difficult and can pretty much be equivalent to studying a subject in college.
Desktop App
You’ve heard of the mobile application that Lynda has for Android and iOS devices, but have you seen the desktop application?
Well, with the desktop app you can easily learn your courses offline!
Say that again?
Yep, absolute no need for Wi-Fi connection; learn ANYWHERE and everywhere, ANYTIME!
Video Transcripts
One of the other useful features that Lynda provides is the availability of video transcripts.
Ever attended a class and was just absolutely unable to understand a thing that the professor was saying?
No worries, just read over the transcript if you think you’ve missed anything important!
Moreover, the video tutorials and lectures come with commentaries for you to easily refer to.
If you’ve been wanting to apply what you’ve learned through your course by building projects, then these commentaries are a gem!
Pricing
What’s the point of having these courses available if you’re not able to afford them? Are we right or are we right?
Well, time to find out if these online courses are within your budget! After all, education—no matter how important—is expensive.
Udemy
To begin on a good note, let’s start by introducing that Udemy DOES provide FREE courses along with their regular paid courses.
You start on Udemy with $10 and buy courses that could easily range from about $20 to $200 EACH. Most prices differ by an increment of $5, depending on how the instructors would like to price their content.
The judgment of whether these prices are worth it is totally up to you, but there are always the course reviews at the bottom of the page from other students!
Moreover, don’t worry about having to spend $200 off the bat. Before you purchase any of the courses available on Udemy, short videos from the instructors are available for you to easily go through. That way, you know for sure what you’re getting.
On top of this pricing which differs for each course you could take, instructors provide coupons for their courses!
And if you’re a tad bit lucky, you could also come and wait for a SALE!
If there’s a particular course which you would like to take but deem too expensive at its full price, you could more or less wait for a few weeks. If you really want it, of course.
Lynda
Let’s move on to the pricing of Lynda, which we all now know requires you to get a subscription!
To begin, students receive a free trial on Lynda once they sign up.
The trial version of this online learning platform will then be available for 10 days, allowing the students the experience before they decide on choosing a plan.
The monthly subscription costs about $30, with the premier members having to pay about $40 per month. To help students decide which plan to choose, they may also refer to their selections depending on the team or group course plans!
Lynda also provides an annual subscription option, which allows students to pay $20 per month instead.
Subjects and Courses Available
Udemy
When it comes to features and content, it’s well worth it to note that Udemy provides about 42 THOUSAND different courses on entirely different topics!
Instructor Screening
When you hear this figure, it’s important to remember that Udemy does not perform any screening on its instructors. This means that it proves to be difficult to cross-check which courses are worth the money, and which aren’t.
But this much content is available nonetheless!
Languages Available
What’s more, Udemy courses are also provided in 48 different languages. If you’d like to learn in your native language, the chances that Udemy offers your course in it is pretty high.
Did anyone say user-friendly? Mhm.
Subjects Offered
When it comes to the subjects that they offer, Udemy pretty much has EVERYTHING from personal development to technological development.
If you’d like to learn how to cut or dye your hair, for example, they probably have a course for it!
On the other hand, if you need a course that requires you to get the basics of learning how to do a process design for engineering units, there probably is one.
Learning how to program? There’s most definitely a course for that on Udemy.
Building Projects
Udemy also makes sure they walk you through real-life building projects (which you have the option to do) so you’re able to apply what you’re learning during the course.
After all, there’s not much use to knowing theoretical information, and the best way to learn is being active in it!
Content Length
BUT it’s also worth noting that Udemy provides courses that last for at least 2 to 30 minutes, and demo videos that could last even shorter.
It’s up to you how to make the most out of that time during your learning journey.
Courses Offered by Udemy: Examples
To give you a better idea of the subjects and courses you can take when you sign up on Udemy, the following are a few of the notable ones!
- Deep Learning A-Z: Hands-On Artificial Neural Networks
- Complete Beginner’s Guide to Anatomy and Figure Drawing
- Your 7 Chakras: The Complete Guide to Your Energy Body
- Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python 3
- Become a Product Manager | Learn the Skills & Get the Job
Lynda
When it comes to talking about content, Udemy VS. Lynda, it’s worth to note that Lynda provides approximately over 5 THOUSAND of these online courses.
This figure sounds underwhelming compared to Udemy’s offer, but it’s good to know you have higher chances of learning something valuable if you take your course at Lynda.
Instructor Screening
The instructors go through a very careful application process and are selected by LinkedIn themselves. Does this mean you could also use Lynda for networking opportunities? Sure, if you know how to do it well.
The criteria for choosing an instructor include their educational background, and professional experience, and accomplishments.
It’s why you’ll find top-notch photographers teaching courses here, for example!
Languages Available
Lynda, however, only provides their courses in five different languages, so students are most likely to stick to English when they learn.
Subjects Offered
To make up for this, however, Lynda’s content is heavily biased towards industry expert-led courses.
Most of the courses available on Lynda fall under business administration and management, information technology, photography, network administration, and design!
If you’re looking for a good quality course on programming, for example, they have a ton of them available!
Content Length
Lynda LinkedIn Learning provides videos that could last up to about a few seconds to a few minutes.
But the quality? Top-tier, still! The content can only ever be just as good as the instructor, after all.
Courses Offered by Lynda LinkedIn Learning: Examples
To give you a better gauge for whether you should sign up for Lynda, here are a few of their notable courses available:
- The Accidental Web Designer
- Photoshop for Designers: Working with Illustrator
- Succeeding in a New Role by Managing Up
- Linux Tips Weekly
- Diversity: The Best Resource for Achieving Business Goals
Accreditation and Certificates
Udemy and Lynda provide certificates when you finish any of the courses that they offer.
But the question is, can these certificates be used for college credit or for giving you a boost?
The answer is, neither of these platforms is accredited and they won’t look that too impressive on your resume, either. It’s true that better you did get yourself an extra course, it’s better than nothing.
But employers think otherwise.
Anyhow, there are still a few ways you could make use of the knowledge and completion certificates you’ve gathered during your stay. Shall we explore them?
Udemy
Udemy courses are not accredited anywhere. And because people know that anyone can sign up as an instructor at Udemy, it’s nowhere near impressive on paper.
However, using Udemy’s platform is best for when you’re trying to learn a specific skill or gather knowledge about a topic you’ve been interested in for a while!
For instance, you can directly apply all you’ve learned to improve your personal life and career. There’s just no use in talking about it in your resume or CV.
Lynda
While it’s true that Udemy and Lynda certificates aren’t accredited, it’s worth noting that a certificate from Lynda may SLIGHTLY be a bit more professional-looking.
If you remember, instructors from Lynda are professional on their own and have gone through strict screening processes.
In other words, a certificate from Lynda means you have learned from someone employers usually deem to be credible.
Another thing you could potentially do with a Lynda certificate is directly displaying it on your LinkedIn profile. This indicates that you were willing to take the time and effort to pursue learning more about your field.
And unlike the case with a Udemy course, a Lynda certificate could also allow your employer to continue the costs for your courses on the platform. If you find an employer that values extra education and effort, that is.
But in general, you must know that neither of these certificates won’t give you that much benefit during your job application. It would be better to spend your time taking an internship if knowledge and recognition were what you were looking for.
Other Alternatives Worth Considering
If you’ve read that entire thing and are wondering if there were any alternatives (for whatever reason whatsoever), we’ve got your back!
The more, the merrier, right? Let’s begin!
Skillshare
If you were specifically looking for an alternative to Lynda, then Skillshare would be a great option!
Similar to Lynda, Skillshare operates on a subscription model, so that means you get unlimited “free” courses during the entire month you’ve paid for!
Moreover, the cost for a Skillshare subscription is lower than that of Lynda’s, but the content is incredibly similar.
Speaking for content quality, you will also be able to find credible speakers and teachers that would be more than willing to teach you step by step in bite-sized videos! They also cover the same topics that you would find on Lynda.
That is, if you were looking for cheaper yet just as effective courses for business management or technology, this is the sign you were waiting for!
The only difference that Skillshare has with Lynda is that anyone can teach these courses as well. Therefore, in terms of the teachers, the system is pretty similar to Udemy.
Note that having anyone on the teacher’s seat doesn’t necessarily mean lower quality courses or poor courses. This is a friendly reminder that you can always check for the course rating!
Pluralsight
Decide that you’re on these online platforms specifically just for programming and information technology?
Perhaps Pluralsight is the online learning platform for you!
For one, if you’d love to explore several other programming languages, then they probably have courses for the language you’d like available. Explore anything ranging from Angular to Python, and move through the entire C, C#, and C++ series!
Anyone say “printIn: coding has never been easier”?
In contrast to both Udemy and Lynda, however, Pluralsight offers its courses with an annual subscription. During the year at which this is activated, you will be able to get unlimited course content!
If you’re really looking out for good programming content, this is the one for you!
It offers advanced content, and the path you will be taking to maximize your learning will have already been planned by the instructors and the platform.
Udacity
Another great option you could consider is Udacity! This is especially good if you would like to study a skill or a course in an in-depth manner.
Compared to Udemy VS. Lynda as well as the other options on this list, Udacity offers nanodegree programs as opposed to short courses.
Degree programs? That’s right!
Everything from the quality of the courses to the course materials and the technical mentors is top-notch. Good course design? They’ve got that, too.
Now, because they’re nanodegree programs and not regular courses, you can’t expect the price to be anywhere similar to that of Udemy VS. Lynda. Each nanodegree program in Udacity costs at least $399 each, but we’d like to say they’re worth every single penny!
Unfortunately, Udacity only offers a limited number of courses. And on top of getting the degree program, the credentials that come with both the instructor and the course itself aren’t necessarily proven.
If you’d really, really, REALLY like to get into computer science, however, this would be a great option!
Coursera
Prefer on-demand access to academic courses as opposed to subscribing to skill-related courses? Coursera seems to be the place for all you academic knowledge-collectors!
Here, you’re sure to have high-quality teachers going on during the lectures. And you know why? Well, that’s simply because they partner with accredited institutions and universities for their courses!
While these online courses won’t prove to be as impressive as seeing the actual Ivy School on your Educational Background portion of your resume, their completion certificates could prove to have better effects as opposed to the certificates of both Udemy and Lynda.
Better curated academic experience?
This is definitely the platform you should be going to, too! They provide free courses sometimes as well, but that deal goes without the assignments, mentorships, and certificates.
If you were aiming for the latter portion and the accomplishment of actually completing the course, the regular price is usually about $8.15 per month.
FAQs
Now that we’ve discussed the majority of what has to be discussed about Udemy VS. Lynda, let’s move over to the frequently asked questions!
Are Lynda Certificates Accredited?
No, Lynda certificates are not accredited. Neither is Udemy’s certificates for course completion.
However, you can still display the Lynda course you’ve completed on your LinkedIn profile. Just know that doing so won’t really have any weight on your application or college credit.
We suggest you talk about these during the job interview when you get the chance instead.
Can I Include Udemy and Lynda Certifications on My Resume?
You can, but again, they won’t bring any weight to your application. Keep in mind that neither Udemy nor Lynda are accredited.
It would be best to use the space for other relevant experiences and projects in which you’ve partaken in, as opposed to an online learning platform certificate.
However, these extra courses could be talked about during the interview, if you’d really like to include it in your application.
Which Platform Is Better for Learning Programming Languages?
If you’d like to take programming seriously, then it would be a better option to opt for Lynda.
That is, Lynda already does have screened instructors and most of their content leans towards information technology, to begin with.
If you would like to have programming as a hobby instead, however, taking a programming course on Udemy would be perfectly fine.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a new skill to learn, either of these platforms would be a great choice!
Everyone knows that knowledge is power, and these online courses are one quick and cheap way to get it! Especially when you realize that you would be learning from actual instructors instead of struggling on your own.
There are a tons of other options for the best online learning platform other than the ones we presented.
But if you’re looking for other alternatives similar to udemy, check out our list!
And that’s it for this week’s Udemy VS. Lynda fight!
If you’re a visual or audio learner that can immediately apply what they see and hear to your career and field, THIS IS IT!
