Comparison

Skillshare vs The Great Courses

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Skillshare

Access thousands of online courses taught by industry professionals to develop your creative skills. Learn drawing, animation, design, photography, and more at your own pace. Offers free classes and a premium subscription for unlimited access.

Highlights
  • Thousands of online creative courses
  • Professionally led lessons
  • Offline viewing
  • Progress syncing across devices
  • Mini viewer for multitasking
  • Free classes available
Features
Read full description

Explore your creativity on Skillshare, the leading learning app for online courses where millions of creatives come together. Take the next step in your creative journey with thousands of inspiring classes on topics like drawing, animation, creative writing, and much more. With Skillshare you’ll take online classes hand-in-hand with leading professionals that will teach you to use the tools you need to excel in any creative endeavor. Discover lessons in everything from calligraphy and graphic design to photography and arts and crafts. Watch thousands of online classes on the creative education app made for everyone – whether it’s a hobby or professional pursuit. With Skillshare you’ll learn to use essential art tools like Procreate, Fresco, Illustrator, and Photoshop to polish your creative skills with the latest in industry tech. Learn piano, a new language, or digital marketing – the possibilities are endless. Discover online courses for the talent you’ve always wanted to develop with Skillshare today Start your creative career and download Skillshare now. SKILLSHARE FEATURES PROFESSIONALLY LED LESSONS - Discover hundreds of free classes and start learning as soon as you download - Find online courses that teach everything – from public speaking and art design to how to draw - Explore guided lessons that help teach the creative skills you’ve always wanted to develop EXPLORE ONLINE CLASSES FOR ALL CREATIVE NEEDS Develop your skills in: - Drawing - Calligraphy - Graphic Design - Photography - Animation - Arts & Crafts - Illustration - Hand Lettering - Pattern Design - Icon Design - Watercolor - Music - Animation - Creative Writing - Digital Marketing - and more! THE ON THE GO EDUCATION APP - Sync your progress across multiple devices for seamless learning - Skillshare is the learning app that goes where you go, with convenient offline viewing when needed - Multitask with a mini viewer to keep your lessons going and get more done Download Skillshare today and watch hundreds of free online classes to kickstart your creative journey. Start your free trial of Skillshare Premium to get unlimited access to our full library of premium, subscription-only classes. As a Skillshare Premium Member, you can also download classes to watch offline. Questions? Suggestions? Feel free to email us at help@skillshare.com. TERMS After your 30 day trial, payment will automatically be charged to your iTunes Account. Your subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Your subscription and auto-renewal settings are managed via your iTunes Account Settings. For further information please refer to our privacy policy (https://www.skillshare.com/ss/privacy) and terms of use (https://www.skillshare.com/ss/terms).

About

The Great Courses

Access thousands of educational videos from world-renowned professors and experts. Explore a vast range of subjects, from history and science to personal development, with flexible learning options available online and offline. Start your learning journey with a free trial.

Highlights
  • Thousands of educational videos
  • Courses by world-class professors
  • Diverse subject matter
  • Online and offline access
  • Flexible learning pace
  • Free trial available
Features
Read full description

Unlock your potential with The Great Courses, the premier platform for online courses that offers a wealth of educational videos to help you explore, learn, and grow in a wide variety of subjects. The Great Courses specializes in courses taught by the world’s greatest professors and experts covering diverse topics such as history, science, math, philosophy, religion, literature, health, travel, personal & professional development, and more. It’s the place to experience the pure joy of learning—anytime, anywhere. The Great Courses ensures an engaging and enriching learning experience for all. Catering to learners of all skill levels and interests, our platform provides the flexibility to deep-dive into specific topics or explore a variety of subjects at your leisure. The Great Courses grants seamless online and offline access to our extensive library of online courses, empowering you to learn and grow at your own pace. Existing users can sign in to access their purchases and subscription content, while new users can register and subscribe directly within the app to access thousands of educational videos online and offline for one low price. Optimized for iOS 15 and higher, The Great Courses offers a variety of subscription plans, along with a Free Trial to start your educational journey. Payment Details: - Payment will be charged to your Apple account at confirmation of purchase - Subscription automatically renews unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period - Subscriptions may be managed or canceled by accessing your Apple account - If you cancel during a Free Trial period, you will have access until the end of the trial period Privacy Policy: https://www.TheGreatCourses.com/Privacy Terms of Service: https://www.TheGreatCourses.com/TOS

Screenshots

Skillshare4 screens
The Great Courses4 screens

Verdict

The call

Skillshare and The Great Courses both sit at 4.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 62% of Skillshare's written reviews are positive against 40% of The Great Courses's. The Great Courses's advantage is chart position (#126 vs unranked). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Skillshare sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $18.99 per month and The Great Courses sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Skillshare against 4.8 for The Great Courses. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25K and 17K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of Skillshare's written reviews are positive against 40% of The Great Courses's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Skillshare ships an update every 10 days, The Great Courses fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Skillshare versus The Great Courses: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSkillshareThe Great Courses
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (25K ratings)4.8 (17K ratings)
Positive reviews61.8% of reviews — better39.9% of reviews
Number of ratings25K — better17K
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#126 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TViPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB120 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperSkillshare, Inc.The Great Courses

Customer experience

Skillshare

All ratings25,411 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral0.8%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews1,522 reviews
Positive61.8%
Neutral7.7%
Negative30.6%

The Great Courses

All ratings17,169 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews311 reviews
Positive39.9%
Neutral13.8%
Negative46.3%

User reviews

Skillshare

From 25K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Excellent variety of creative classes
  • 🤓 High-quality instruction from industry professionals
  • 🕰 Flexible learning at your own pace
  • 💡 Inspiring and motivating content
  • 📚 Broad range of topics covered

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Lacking search and organization features in the app
  • 🖥 Limited functionality compared to the website
  • 🔌 Offline viewing issues and inconsistencies
  • 🤖 Buggy and unstable app performance
  • 🔒 Questionable billing and cancellation practices

The Great Courses

From 17K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fantastic, use it all the time
  • 👍 Excellent content and Outstanding Educators
  • 👍 best app you'll ever subscribe to
  • 👍 Math courses are phenomenal!
  • 👍 Loving the content in the app!

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Ok content, weak app
  • 🐛 Broken
  • 🐛 Technical problems trying to cast
  • 🐛 Great content, poor streaming
  • 🐛 Far fewer courses than before? App VERY buggy

Bugs and requests

Skillshare

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes and freezes frequently
  • Video playback issues and syncing problems
  • Inconsistent user interface and navigation
  • Inability to access class resources and materials
  • Account management and cancellation difficulties

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to sort and organize saved classes
  • Offline class downloads and viewing
  • Seamless integration between app and website
  • More advanced search and filtering options
  • Picture-in-picture mode for multitasking
Show 1 more
  • Direct class enrollment and feedback from the app

The Great Courses

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices
  • Audio goes out of sync with video
  • App constantly logs users out
  • Downloading content doesn't work offline
Show 3 more
  • Playback issues when switching between audio and video
  • Inconsistent behavior when pausing/resuming playback
  • Poor navigation and course tracking

Requested features

8 requests
  • Can we get a ton of courses on AI please, it's a mite urgent
  • Dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard
  • Allow audio-only downloads
  • Ability to download an entire course in one go
Show 3 more
  • Ability to browse other content while playing a lecture
  • Note-taking during content and live closed captioning
  • Ratings and reviews for content

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Skillshare

Subscriptions8
  • Premium Membership1 Month trial2 variants$18.991 Month
  • Skillshare Monthly Membership1 Month trial$19.991 Month
  • Monthly Premium Membership1 Month trial2 variants$31.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Monthly Premium Membership7 Days trial$31.991 Month
  • Skillshare Monthly Membership1 Month trial$49.991 Month
  • Skillshare Annual Membership1 Month trial$167.991 Year
  • Annual Premium Membership1 Month trial2 variants$169.991 Year
  • Annual Premium Membership7 Days trial$169.991 Year
3 purchases

The Great Courses

Subscriptions3
  • TGCPlus Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Quarterly Subscription7 Days trial$44.993 Months
  • TGCPlus Annual Subscription7 Days trial$149.991 Year

Questions

Is Skillshare free?
Skillshare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Great Courses free?
The Great Courses is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Skillshare or The Great Courses?
Skillshare and The Great Courses are both rated 4.8 out of 5 on the App Store, from 25K and 17K ratings respectively.
Do Skillshare or The Great Courses have ads?
Neither Skillshare nor The Great Courses shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Skillshare or The Great Courses?
Skillshare ships an update every 10 days, and The Great Courses fortnightly. Most recently, Skillshare was updated on September 25, 2026 and The Great Courses on September 24, 2026.

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