Is Pluralsight Worth It? Review with Pros, Cons, FAQs & More

If you have decided to expand your knowledge and learn tech skills to run a successful online course business, then we highly recommend Pluralsight.

Pluralsight is a specialized platform for online learning that offers advanced courses on information technology skills. 

However, other e-learning platforms might suit your needs more. 

Therefore, in this Pluralsight Review, we will discuss everything you need to know about this online education platform. We will also discuss other online course providers as Pluralsight alternatives.

Quick Summary of the Main Product

Pluralsight, founded in 2004, was meant to be a training program for companies to enhance IT knowledge. In 2011, it grew exponentially to become a platform for online courses offered worldwide. 

Pluralsight can facilitate your career through knowledge enhancement on IT-related courses such as:

• Software development
• Web development
• Cloud Computing
• Artificial Intelligence 
• Professional Business Skills
• Cyber Security 

…and the list goes on. 

The complete course catalog of more than 6000 courses with a subscription offers:

• Unlimited access to the course library
• Learning paths 
• Self-paced quizzes
• Exercise Files
• Offline viewing
• Mobile and TV apps
• Course discussions 

Pluralsight offers more than 6000 courses taught by 1500+ experts. The company reaches 180 countries worldwide with its high-quality education. 

A major benefit of Pluralsight is the option of self-paced learning. You can access any Pluralsight course at any time. 

Moreover, you can access the Pluralsight video courses on any device:

• iOS
• Windows
• macOS 
• Android 
• Smart TVs

Features and Benefits

In this section of the Pluralsight review, we will discuss all the Pluralsight features that will be beneficial for you as an online course creator. 

Pluralsight Courses

There is a wide range of Pluralsight courses. 

They offer technology-focused courses in these key areas:

• Creative Professionals 
• Software Development
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
• IT Ops
• Information and Cyber Security
• Architecture, Engineering, and Construction
• Business Professional Skills
• Data Professional
• Cloud Computing  

You can find 10 categories that differentiate between single courses and Learning Paths. A learning path is a set of courses under a single formation.

For example:

Software development 

It has two paths for programming language:

• Python path consists of 9 courses
• Java path consists of 12 courses

Interactive Courses 

Pluralsight courses provide high-quality education with complete information and support. We believe that you will not get the type of quality technical training from any other platforms. 

You can receive new skills from Pluralsight to start a new career. It offers professional certifications that are in-demand by Linkedin head hunters.

Business Training

Pluralsight is not restricted to learning a skill set to become a software engineer or an IT expert. These courses are also known for their quality corporate learning experience. 

Courses offered on Pluralsight are perfect if you want to teach new skills, train employees, or set up your online course business efficiently. 

Certification 

Pluralsight has become quite popular among companies that value the skills taught by this educational platform. The job market demands technically qualified employees which regular diplomas do not guarantee. 

Certificates like MOOC which Pluralsight offers have become increasingly important in the corporate sector. Certification practice exams enhance corporate valued skills. 

Pluralsight offer courses to help you prepare for ongoing learning such as:

• CompTIA: Courses designated to Continuing Education Credits for Operating systems and Networking problem-solving skills.
• PMI: Project Management Institution holds PMP exams for the Personal Development Units program.
• ITIL: Information Technology Service Management for ITIL Certification.
• ISACA: The Information Systems Audit and Control Association accepts Pluralsight courses CPE credits through the submission of completion certification. 

Existing Skills Tests

Tests such as Skill IQ and Role IQ cannot be found on other online education platforms which makes Pluralsight stand out.

You can avoid the hassle to search for the best course for yourself by taking these tests. Pluralsight will recommend courses best suited for you according to your score.

Pluralsight Skill IQ measures your proficiency in a technological skill. Skill IQ helps you identify where to begin the learning paths.

On the other hand, Role IQ helps you identify the necessary skills you require according to your role. The list of these skills is unlimited. 

Course Quality 

Pluralsight offers quality content with clear and crisp images, videos, and audio. 

Moreover, it ensures high-quality information is delivered. Their video courses are checked for technical accuracy.

The courses created by Pluralsight are produced by the company itself through professional instructors. 

However, the courses are difficult for beginners but Pluralsight ensures that students can handle the steep learning curve. 

The course quality is enhanced through hands-on coding challenges and practice exams to ensure maximum information retention.

Experts can take an assessment for Pluralsight to determine the level of competency. This allows experts to skip over the portions for beginners.

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Pluralsight 

In this section of the Pluralsight Review, we will highlight some key factors you should consider before investing in Pluralsight. 

Pluralsight Subscription  

Pluralsight subscription has two pricing plans:

• Individual: Pluralsight Premium and Standard plans
• Team: Pluralsight Starter, Professional, and Enterprise plans 

Individual Plan:

Pluralsight Personal Individual plan worth $159/year includes skill assessments, paths, and core course library. 

Pluralsight Premium worth $239/year includes unlimited access to the all courses library, expanded courses, certification practice exams, and projects.

Team Plan:

• Starter: Worth $399 per user/year, core library
• Professional: Worth $579 per user/year, user analytics, and basic reporting
• Enterprise: Worth $779 per user/year, enterprise advanced analytics and flexibility 

Pluralsight Cost

The monthly subscription plans for the Individuals are:

• Standard plan: $19/month
• Premium plan: $29/month

Pluralsight Free Trial

The free trial is divided into two categories according to the Individual and Enterprise plans:

• Individual plans: 10-day free trial period
• Enterprise: 14-day free trial period

User Interface 

Every Pluralsight course can be converted into bite-sized modules. Students can download any video course for offline viewing as well. 

Students have the option to follow code lessons with instructors in real-time with the option of interactive modules.

The user interface is very interactive and helps you find courses easily. 

Every course provides:

• Course Description
• Table of Contents
• Exercise Files
• Transcript
• Recommendations tab
• Discussions tab 

Therefore, the overall user experience is pretty good with Pluralsight. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Pluralsight 

What we liked	What we didn’t like
• Affordable • Easy-to-use • Intuitive user-interface • High-quality courses • Top industry certifications • Mobile apps for learning on the go	• Lack of Advanced Courses for experts • Some audio issues (mostly fixed now)

Social Proof

Customers find Pluralsight extremely helpful for developing technical and professional skills. It offers hands-on lab practices and video tutorials for users to absorb maximum knowledge. 

Pluralsight offers skill tests free of additional cost for users to determine the level of knowledge attained at the end of the course. 

A major benefit highlighted by customers is how they have complete control over their learning. The videos can be slowed down, quickly played back, skipped, or entire sections can be repeated. 

A few of the many positive customer comments on the Pluralsight review include:

Pluralsight Review – Alternatives (Recommendations)

#1: Best Online Courses Platform – Udemy Review 

Udemy is one of the top online learning platforms in the e-learning industry. 

It offers courses for professional and personal development with the help of management, programming, and software courses. 

Udemy offers more than 100 thousand courses on a wide range of topics that are divided into 13 major categories:

• Information Technologies and Software
• Professional Development 
• Personal Development
• Accounting and Finance
• Business
• Office Productivity 
• Marketing
• Arts and Design
• Fitness
• Lifestyle
• Music 
• Photography 
• Teaching 

While Udemy was designed to facilitate students to learn online, it also facilitates instructors. 

As an online course creator, if you want your courses to reach a wider audience on a well-established platform, then we highly recommend Udemy. 

You can upload your courses on the website and for every course purchased by a student, you will receive a portion of the revenue. Payments can be received through Payoneer or PayPal at the end of each month. 

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Udemy

Udemy Subscription

The Business Plan has two editions:

• Team Plan: Available for 5-20 members for $360 per user/year
• Enterprise Plan: Available for 21+ members with a custom price

Students can access 6000+ courses with the business plan on subscription. 

The pricing in Enterprise Edition is custom based according to the size and needs of an organization. 

Udemy Cost

There is no monthly subscription attached to taking courses on Udemy. Students must purchase each course.  

When an instructor has to create and sell a course on Udemy, they can set their own price for their course. 

This price is determined through Udemy guidelines to set an appropriate price according to the length and content of the course. 

Udemy Free Trial

The Business Plan has a 14-day free trial period. 

Organizations can request a Demo to train 21+ employees. 

User Interface

The main interface of Udemy is pretty straightforward. 

It displays:

• Promotion banners
• Courses list
• User reviews

The Course Page interface is easy to use. You can find courses through the search bar or the drop-down menu.

The designated page for any specific course is fairly easy to navigate. It’s pretty generic and familiar which invites users to freely learn without any confusion. 

The check-out process is standard as well:

• Sign in
• Add a course to your cart
• Choose a method of payment
• Start learning

What we liked	What we didn’t like
• High-quality content • Easy-to-use • Wide range of topics  • Good resources for instructors to upload courses • Easy to navigate • Courses to cater hard and soft professional skills	• Expensive • Confusing pricing plans • No subscription for individuals

Best Online Courses Platform

Udemy has been around for more than a decade and has gained a lot of popularity. It offers more than 100 thousand quality courses and caters to teachers and students. While it may be expensive, we highly recommend it for you as an online course creator.

#2: Best Platform to Learn Coding – Treehouse Review 

Treehouse is an online education platform for novice and experienced coders to learn coding through paid courses.

It can be intimidating to learn coding therefore Treehouse offers professional instructors and high-quality courses.

The variety of courses ranges from beginner to expert to cater to all levels of coders. Moreover, Treehouse offers built-in tools to make the learning experience easier for users. 

The dashboard allows you to access your:

• Courses
• Progress
• Students forum

The forum is a great tool to help you out in case you are stuck on a coding problem

Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Treehouse 

Treehouse Subscription

There are three subscription plans:

• Basic plan: $25/month, access to student forums, learning videos, and code challenges
• Techdegree plan: certification plan for $199/month, access to Slack channel, custom curriculum, proctored final exam, real-world projects, and peer reviews
• Course Plus plan: no trial plan for $49/month, bonus content and perks

Treehouse Cost

A major benefit of learning with Treehouse is that you can pause your subscription. If you decide to take a break from online courses, you can pause your monthly subscription.

Moreover, students with ID and supporting documents can get a discount. Treehouse also offers group pricing for businesses and schools. 

A user can avail the opportunity to use a free account if you can invite five other students to sign up on full membership.

Treehouse Free Trial

There is a 7-day free trial period where you can use Treehouse as a free account. 

Throughout the free trial period, you will receive reminder emails for when your trial ends and emails to suggest where you should work next.

User Interface

Treehouse has an intuitive, clean interface that is easy to navigate. The dashboard displays your progress for each course. 

There is a menu on the left that shows:

• Class listings
• Forums
• Account Settings
• Help 

You will also have Workspaces that you will use during your lessons. This is the development environment where you can build projects and write code.

What we liked	What we didn’t like
• Variety of coding classes • Quality content • Easy-to-use • Understandable Curriculums • Good video lectures	• Monthly costs add up

Best Platform to Learn Coding

Treehouse makes a difficult task, such as learning code, extremely easy. It offers helpful tools to facilitate easy online learning. 

Is Pluralsight Worth it? – Guide to Buy

As an online course creator, you might want to take courses to develop IT skills or learn web development. 

Moreover, you can also become a course instructor and sell your courses on other well-established online education platforms. 

Therefore, in this section of the Pluralsight Review, let’s look at the factors you should consider before you choose a website to learn IT skills:

Subscriptions

Online course platforms are quite expensive which is why they break down prices into monthly subscriptions. This makes it more affordable for students to learn online. 

These monthly subscription payments can also be made through annual plans. 

A drawback of such subscription plans is that you need to pay monthly even if you are on a break or do not find the time to take online courses. 

However, some websites cater to this problem.

For example:

Treehouse lets you pause your monthly subscription when you want a break and continue it afterward. 

Cost 

Many e-learning platforms offer courses to be purchased. You can select a course you want to learn and purchase it. 

You can get discounts or free accounts if you fulfill some requirements.

For example:

You can have a free Treehouse account if you invite five friends to have a full membership.

Free Trial

We believe that free trials are extremely important when it comes to paid usage of any website. You should try out features and test content quality before you make expensive payments. 

User Interface

Online course platforms offer thousands of courses by thousands of instructors. These websites deal with a huge amount of student accounts and teacher accounts. 

It is very easy for these websites to have a cluttered and confusing interface. 

Therefore, you should carefully consider a website with a clean interface to help you easily find courses and manage your account. 

Wrapping Things Up…

This concludes our Pluralsight Review. Pluralsight is a great platform for you to develop professional skills in any field. It offers a wide range of courses on IT skills. 

Since the world has become highly dependent on technology, these skills are mandatory. 

While Pluralsight is a great online learning tool, you should consider other platforms as well. 

You should also know that Udemy, Treehouse, and Coursera are great alternatives.