edX vs Udacity – Full Comparison with FAQs

If you don’t want to host your online course on your own website, then you need to choose an online course platform. 

Two of the most popular platforms to consider are edX and Udacity. 

In this post, we’ll compare the two to determine which one is more suitable for new online course creators. 

Features	edX	Udacity
Potential income	3 stars	3 and a half stars
Time commitment	Medium to High	High
Risk of failure	Low (if accepted)	Low (if accepted)
Eligibility criteria	Medium to High	Medium to High

Now that you have some idea of what to expect from each online learning platform, let’s delve deeper to figure out which one is better.

edX Review – Simple to Use with Extensive Control

edX is an extremely popular online course provider that was founded by MIT and Harvard University back in 2012. 

It has over 120 institutional partners, many of which are prestigious universities from across the globe. 

As you can already imagine, you will need to have some credentials in order to publish online courses on edX. 

It’s not like Udemy where anyone can publish online courses for free. 

With edX, you can choose to have free content within your courses as well as paid content which would need a subscription or one-time payment. 

You can develop and publish your online course all on edX itself but in order for it to be available to students, it will first have to pass edX’s requirements.

Pros	Cons
• Affordable • Different payment and subscription options • Easy to use • Wide range of niches  • Well-established and reliable	• Tends to crash sometimes during course development • Forums are difficult to navigate

Benefits of edX

When it comes to the benefits of edX, the first and most obvious one is the fact that you can develop and submit your course onto the platform for free. 

That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be published since it will go through a vetting process first. However, it does not cost you anything to try. Also, if it passes, then your course will be available on the platform and you will not have spent a dime. 

Secondly, the platform is extremely easy to use as far as Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms go. 

It even features its own course development tool known as Studio. You will most likely have created your course outside of the platform but the Studio makes it very simple for you to upload different assets of your online course (such as video lectures) and organize them properly. 

The platform also has tools for you to make your course more engaging such as through the addition of quizzes, assignments, etc. 

You can also choose to provide coaching to your students for extra fees if you wish to do so. This can be an extra source of income when you opt to publish edX courses. 

Lastly, while most online course platforms focus on popular niches such as computer science, data science, entrepreneurship, etc., edX has a little something for everyone. 

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy edX

Potential Income

If your online course gets accepted into edX, as long as it’s not in a super-obscure niche, you’ll most likely be able to generate respectable income from it. 

Not only can you generate income from selling your edX courses but you can also choose to delve deeper into the platform and explore other sources of revenue. 

These can be mentoring or coaching sessions as we mentioned earlier. 

You can also set up additional lab time or hands-on learning for students who want to learn more. 

Time Commitment 

If you want to just create courses, publish them and then, sit back and see the passive income roll in, then edX may not be for you. 

This is because while you’ll definitely generate revenue through the platform in this way, it may not be enough to support yourself or your business. 

In most cases, you will have to provide further mentoring, coaching and may have to develop further courses in order for your business to be reputable on edX. 

Hence, it’s definitely a bigger time commitment for course providers than typical Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platforms. 

Risk of Failure

The risk of failure is minimal here because it costs you nothing to submit your course onto the platform. 

Yes, if your course gets rejected, you will have lost some valuable time that you spent building your online course entry and uploading assets of your course but that’s about it. 

On the other hand, if your course gets accepted and published onto edX, the risk of failure is minimal. 

As long as your course doesn’t have an obscure niche, it will do just fine. 

You may have to supplement it with additional coaching sessions but the risk of failure is definitely low if your course gets accepted. 

Eligibility Criteria

As mentioned earlier, while anyone can submit a course onto edX, not all of them get accepted. 

The platform has been operational since 2012 and only has slightly above 2000 courses on it so far. 

That’s not because nobody submits courses onto it but because very few of them get accepted. 

In order to have a high chance of your course getting accepted, you need to have the credentials for it. 

It helps if you’re regarded as a professional in your field and have some accolades to your name. 

Furthermore, this should go without saying but your course should be well-researched and properly sourced in order for it to have a chance to be accepted. 

What Do the Customers Think?

People love edX for its highly curated online courses and easy navigation. 

The site is incredibly simple to use and you can easily find whatever tool you want to upload and organize your course.

As far as online learning platforms go, edX also does a great job of ensuring students and teachers stay in touch. 

Here are some reviews we found: 

Best User-Friendly Online Learning Platform

The best user-friendly platform to submit online courses is edX thanks to its neat interface and useful course publishing tool, Studio. You can use Studio to easily organize assets and submit your course efficiently. 

Udacity Review – Reliable and Jam-Packed with Features

Udacity can be considered to be the most traditional platform out there when it comes to e-Learning. 

It takes the typical college approach and brings it online: Rather than being paid based on how popular your course is, you will be paid based on your expertise, authority, and skillset. 

This approach makes Udacity far more reliable than most online learning platforms out there. 

This is because even if your online course does not sell well on the platform, you will still be compensated based on your expertise. 

Due to this fact, it’s far more difficult to get accepted into Udacity than it is for other similar platforms such as Udemy, Lynda, Coursera, etc. 

Udacity does allow you to have free courses but that’s not the most popular aspect of the platform. 

That would be the Udacity Nanodegree programs which start from $399 per month. 

Pros	Cons
• Wide selection of tools to assist course creation • Responsive customer support • Reliable source of income  • Marketing and sales are taken care of by Udacity • You get access to Udacity’s content team for help with course creation	• Difficult to get accepted • You may not earn as much money as you would on other platforms if your course becomes highly popular

Benefits of Udacity

When it comes to online course platforms, Udacity is one of the most polished and well-curated ones we have come across so far. 

Not only that but the platform also boasts a wide variety of tools that can aid you in developing your course and refining it.

Not only that but (if you’re accepted) also get access to Udacity’s content team which helps you to refine and polish your course even further. 

If you choose to get your course published on Udacity, you won’t have to worry much about marketing and promoting your course. This is because Udacity’s team handles it on their own. 

This gives you much more free time to do whatever you want (perhaps, work on your next course). 

Udacity also offers you the opportunity to collaborate with knowledgeable instructors in your field. This can be a great opportunity to network and increase your prominence. 

It can also present opportunities for collaboration in the future. 

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Udacity

Potential Income

Udacity is a much more reliable income stream compared to most online course platforms. 

This is because you’re guaranteed to be paid once you get accepted into their program, regardless of how popular your online classes are. 

It’s important to note, however, that if your goal is to set up sources of passive income, then Udacity is definitely not the platform for that. 

This is because once your online course becomes live, Udacity expects you to spend a minimum of 7 to 10 hours every week to assist students with your course. 

Time Commitment 

When it comes to time commitment, Udacity is great in some places while not so great in others. 

This is because as we mentioned earlier, Udacity takes care of marketing and promotion of your online courses. Thus, course providers get a lot of free time since they don’t have to worry about course promotion. 

That being said, you’re also expected to spend 7 to 10 hours a week helping students as we mentioned earlier. 

So, it’s a give-and-take. 

Risk of Failure

If you get accepted into Udacity, the risk of failure is very low. 

This is because, as we said, you’re guaranteed a stream of income once you get accepted. You don’t have to rely on your course’s popularity. 

Thus, it’s definitely more reliable than other online course platforms. 

Eligibility Criteria

Unlike most e-learning platforms, it definitely takes a lot to get accepted into Udacity. 

Not only do you have to be an expert in your field with a certain amount of experience but also have to back up that experience with proof. 

Proof needs to be submitted in the form of credible publications you may have published or successful businesses you may have started, etc. 

What Do the Customers Think?

As far as students go, Udacity is highly loved due to its highly curated content. Since the content is highly curated, students only get the best of the best. 

When it comes to instructors, people love how easy it is to organize different assets of your course on Udacity. 

They also love how reliable the platform is as they don’t have to worry about their course’s popularity, nor do they have to make an effort to market their courses. 

Here are some reviews we found: 

Best Reliable Online Course Platform

The best reliable online course platform is Udacity because if you get accepted into it, you’re guaranteed a stable source of income. Marketing efforts are handled by the platform and your livelihood does not hinge on your course’s popularity. 

edX vs Udacity – Buyers’ Guide

Potential Income 

It’s important to do a little research when you choose an online course platform regarding how much you’ll be paid for the sale of each online course. 

Some platforms tend to keep a percentage of the sale whereas others let you have 100% of it and charge you a monthly subscription for membership of the platform. 

Depending on your budget, make the right choice about which type of platform you want to go for. 

The former is better if you want to target a popular niche which could result in a large number of course sales. 

The latter is preferable if you want to create courses about a super-specific niche that won’t sell a lot but has a dedicated community. 

Time Commitment

This is something you’ll have to think about before you choose an online course platform: do you want to actively work for your livelihood or do you want to set up passive sources of income? 

If the answer is the latter, then be sure to choose an online course platform that can provide you with a steady stream of income once your course gets popular. 

As we mentioned above, platforms like Udacity expect you to spend 7 to 10 hours a week to assist students. If that’s not something you want to do, then steer clear of such platforms. 

Risk of Failure

No one wants to spend months developing an online course only for it to not sell at all. 

Be sure to do your research into which platform could be the best fit for the type of online course that you have developed. 

Eligibility Criteria

Not all online course platforms let just anyone publish courses onto them. 

When you choose a platform, be sure to check out its eligibility criteria and whether or not you fit those criteria. 

You don’t want to waste time uploading assets of your course and submitting them only for your submission to be rejected. 

Final Verdict

This brings us to the conclusion of our post for edX vs Udacity. 

In conclusion, we have to say that both platforms are fairly difficult to get accepted into. 

While Udacity does provide a steady source of income, it has been plagued by controversies of underpaying its instructors. 

That’s why our pick for the day is edX. It’s easy to use and fairly reliable as a source of income (given that you get accepted). 

Which platform do you think is better? Let us know in the comments below.