Upgrading your skills is a great way to get better job prospects, start a career change, or earn a higher salary by being more valuable to your employer. Even so, many people delay their education because of the cost and time it takes.
Fortunately, we live in a technological age. And many of these challenges have been easily overcome through the growth of e-learning. By moving physical classrooms to a digital environment, many have achieved professional goals with a much lower investment of time and money.
But, it’s essential to choose the right online course provider as many aren’t legitimate.
Today, we’ll help you through the process by reviewing 2 of the most reputable digital learning platforms — Coursera and edX. They both specialize in offering courses from world-famous universities and institutions.
While each is a popular choice for online education, there are some key differences between them worth knowing about before deciding which is right for you.
We have our in-depth comparison below, and while reading, keep in mind what exactly you’re hoping to get out of your online courses. We’ll outline which courses each platform excels in, how the formats differ, what each one costs, and what reviewers had to say.
By the end, you can decide which is better for your needs.
Are Online Courses a Good Way to Learn?
Online courses can be an excellent way to learn a new topic or subject. Some of the main advantages of online compared to in-person learning include:
- You spend less time commuting — which also saves you money on transportation.
- Many courses are often more affordable when delivered online rather than in-person.
- More flexibility — You can learn at your own speed and fit your course around your schedule.
- You get online collaboration experience with other coursemates — which has become an essential workplace skill.
- You widen your learning choices and may even be able to meet experts from all around the world. (1, 2, 3)
As with anything, there are some drawbacks as well. For example, if you’re a hands-on learner, then the online environment may not be engaging enough for you to stay focused.
Also, there are some technical requirements needed to take online courses — like a computer and a stable internet connection.
Another issue is that there may not be as much peer support between coursemates as there’s less face-to-face interaction. This means that the motivation to complete the course must come from you. (4)
Overall though, online courses give you great flexibility and value if you can learn well through digital means (e.g., videos or submitting assignments online), are able to self-pace, and don’t mind virtual interaction with peers.
What Are the Most Popular Online Courses?
According to INC magazine, the most popular online courses fell under these categories:
- Data science
- Computer science
- Business and management
- Marketing
- Personal development
These subjects are easily delivered online and can also offer good job prospects after completion. (5)
Are Online Courses Usually Accredited?
The accreditation of online courses can vary widely. So it’s important to look at the reputation of the provider and what the final certificate you receive at the end really means.
If you want a certificate that is recognized by your industry’s governing body, it’s best to opt for online courses that are provided by reputable universities or organizations.
You could even check with your employer or relevant association about this just to be sure.
And even if the course provider is accredited, it’s important to check if the type of qualification you will be receiving aligns with the goal you’re trying to achieve.
For example, if your potential employer is only looking for degree holders, it wouldn’t make sense to look at courses that only give certificates.
What is Coursera?
Coursera is an online learning platform. It partners with 200+ leading universities and organizations (like Stanford, Duke University, and Amazon Web Services) around the world to deliver virtual classes.
They offer courses that cover a range of subjects in different levels of depth. These include free short courses to fully accredited degrees.
What is edX?
edX is an online course provider that partners with over 160+ universities and organizations (including top institutions like MIT, Harvard University, and Google) to deliver the subject content.
Like Coursera, they offer a wide range of courses (over 2,800+). And you can opt for free short courses all the way up to complete Masters programs.
Coursera vs. edX Comparison
No. of courses | 7,000+ | 2,800+ |
Course topics | 12+ categories | 26+ categories |
Prices | Free for some short courses with no certification From $39-$240 for professional certificates and specializations From $9,000 for full degrees |
XSeries courses have a free tier with no certification $50-$300 for certification courses Pricing for full degrees varies |
Course format | Depending on the course: Online lectures Student discussion forums Online assignments Quizzes or exams Virtual labs |
Depending on the course: Online lectures Student discussion forums Online assignments Quizzes or exams |
Average course length | Courses: 4-12 hours Professional certificates and specializations: 1-6 months Degrees: 2-4 years |
Courses: Several weeks to a few months Degrees: Approx. 3 years |
Instructors | Reputable universities and organizations (250+) | Reputable universities and organizations (160+) |
Certificates | Free Courses Guided Projects Specializations Professional Certificates MasterTrack Certificates Degrees |
XSeries Courses Executive Education Professional Certificates Bootcamps Master’s Degrees MicroMasters Programs Bachelor’s Degrees MicroBachelors Programs |
Tech/learning support | Chat |
|
Ease of use | Easy | Easy |
Free trial | 1,500+ courses are totally free (no certification) 7-day free trial for Coursera Plus with unlimited access to 7,000+ courses |
XSeries courses all have a free tier. |
External reviews | 4.2/5 stars from 478 reviewer (Influenster and Consumer Affairs) |
3.9/5 stars from 1.349 users (Trustpilot and g2) |
Special offers | 7-day free trial: Coursera Plus (access to 7,000+ courses) |
Search 3,000+ courses: edX |
7-day free trial: Coursera Plus
Coursera Review
About Coursera
Coursera was started in 2012 by Daphne Koller and Andrew Ng (both academics from Stanford University), who wanted to make learning from leading universities more accessible to people around the world.
They’ve since dramatically expanded their course offerings since those early days. And over the years, they’ve served over 82 million learners and thousands of companies looking to help their employees upskill.
How Does Coursera Work?
To get started with Coursera you:
- Create a free account.
- Choose your desired course — Many have a free tier that gives you access to lectures. But if you want a certificate or graded course assignments, you’ll have to upgrade to the paid version.
- Complete the course at your own pace — this involves completing video lectures and other assignments (if you signed up for certification).
Coursera also has a monthly/yearly subscription option (starting from $59/month) called “Coursera Plus,” which gives you unlimited access to 7,000+ of their courses.
For Degrees, the process might take a little longer because they often come with prerequisites. You might need to show that you have the appropriate qualifications before being admitted to the course.
Coursera Course Subjects
Coursera has a whole range of course topics that fall under these main categories:
- Data Science
- Business
- Computer Science
- Personal Development
- Information Technology
- Language Learning
- Health
- Math & Logic
- Social Sciences
- Physical Science & Engineering
- Arts & Humanities
They cover most traditional university topics that can be taught online and also have some lifestyle topics like photography and mindfulness.
Their most popular courses are in computer programming, data science, personal development, and business.
How are Coursera Courses Taught?
The instructor delivers the main content of Coursera courses through video lectures. And there is an online discussion forum where you can discuss the content with your peers and lecturer.
For homework and assignments, there’s usually a mixture of quizzes, external reading, peer-reviewed assignments, virtual labs, and collaborative projects — all done online.
7-day free trial: Coursera Plus
Pros of Coursera
- Flexible learning schedule: learn in your own time.
- High-quality courses: with some course instructors from reputable, accredited universities.
- It can be more affordable than in-person learning or university courses.
- Wide range of qualifications offered: from short courses to full degrees.
- Many free course options (1,800+ at the time of writing).
- Free trial available for Coursera Plus (a subscription option that lets you have unlimited access to 7,000+ courses).
- Certification is often available and this can help with career progression when added to a CV.
- Most courses have subtitles in several languages.
- Simple user interface.
Cons of Coursera
- There is no preview of the type of assignments required to complete the course before signing up.
- You will need to be self-disciplined to complete the course.
- It is not always the cheapest online course option available.
- The “Contact customer support” section was difficult for some to find on the website.
Coursera Special Offer
7-day free trial with access to 7,000+ courses: Coursera Plus
Search Coursera’s courses: Coursera
Alternatives to Coursera
If you’re on a very tight budget and not too concerned about the brand name on your certification, Udemy may be a better alternative for you.
It’s especially good for people considering moving into a new field who aren’t ready to commit too much to a course yet. You can find our full Udemy review here.
7-day free trial: Coursera Plus
Do Coursera Certificates Mean Anything?
As many Coursera courses are collaborations with reputable universities, Coursera certificates do hold weight. This ranges from full degrees or even partial programs (called MasterTrack) that can serve as credits towards a Masters.
But, it’s also just as important to get the right type of certification for your career or education goals.
If a potential employer is looking for candidates that hold a traditional university Degree, then a Professional Certificate alone may not be enough to help you secure an interview — even if that course was run by a top university.
7-day free trial: Coursera Plus
How Much Does Coursera Cost?
Here are estimates of how much Coursera courses cost:
- Guided Projects (1-2 hours): From $9.99
- Specializations (1-3 months): From $39 per month
- Professional Certificates (1-6 months): From $39 per month
- MasterTrack Certificates (4-7 months): From $2,000 — earn credits that go towards a degree
- Degrees (2-4 years): From $9,000
They also offer unlimited access to 7,000+ of their courses on a subscription basis called “Coursera Plus.” The monthly price is $59 per month. This can be a good option if you plan on doing more than 1 course over the year and could save you money.
Coursera also has plenty of free courses that take between 4-12 hours to complete. But these are usually introductory courses. And if you want a certificate from it, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version.
Coursera Reviews: What Others are Saying
Coursera was rated an average of 4.2 out of 5 stars from 478 reviewers across 2 platforms (Influenster and Consumer Affairs).
Generally, Coursera users were impressed with the scope of lessons and the way classes were taught. Even those that had complaints about other aspects of Coursera said that the course content was good. Many also shared comments like:
- They felt reassured that the course was delivered by reputable universities.
- Many professional corporations and organizations recognize the certificates.
- Flexible timing suited working people.
- They liked the free content — it was especially useful for people who want an idea about the subject area before committing to it (some teachers recommended it to their high school students).
- The platform was easy to use.
- Courses were affordable compared to in-person courses.
Unfortunately, most of the criticisms of Coursera related to the platform itself rather than the course content.
For example, many felt that canceling after their free trial was difficult. And customer support was not easy to contact or did not manage to help resolve their issue. Some also reported that they weren’t able to contact their course administrator even though there was a discussion forum.
Overall though, users were happy with their Coursera experience as shown in the reviews here:
Is a Coursera Certificate Worth It?
Coursera online courses are worth it for those who want online courses delivered by instructors from reputable universities or companies. It can be especially useful if you need accredited certificates to help with job prospects or university credits.
However, this certification and high quality courses also mean that it’s not always the cheapest virtual education option out there. Even so, it’s still significantly cheaper than going for an in-person course, and you have something to show for it afterwards.
Coursera offers a good variety of courses to suit all interests (over 7,000+ courses) that fall into 12 categories ranging from Computer science to Arts and Humanities.
Like all other online courses, you have the benefit of learning at your own pace (this can depend on the individual course) and saving time commuting.
You can take some courses for free. However, these are better for getting a taster session of larger, paid courses or courses on more personal development topics.
To get the most out of Coursera courses for career advancement, it’s usually worth going with one of the course’s paid options. These give you access to their assignments for grading and certificates.
Coursera Special Offer
7-day free trial with access to 7,000+ courses: Coursera Plus
Search Coursera’s courses: Coursera
Search 3,000+ courses: edX
edX Review
About edX
edX was started in 2012 by a team of scientists and professors from Harvard University and MIT. They had the vision of making higher education from reputable universities more accessible to people around the world. This was how edX began, and now they’ve had over 35 million enrollments over the years.
How Does edX Work?
To use the edX platform, you need to:
- Create a free account.
- Choose your desired course — For XSeries courses, there is a “free audit” option that lets you access the video lectures for free. But there will be no certification for graded assignments.
- Complete the course at your own pace — this involves completing video lectures and other assignments (if you signed up for certification).
For Degrees, the process might take a little longer because they often come with prerequisites. You might need to show that you have the appropriate qualifications before being admitted to the course.
edX Course Subjects
edX has a wide variety of course topics. Most are courses that can also be found in traditional universities:
- Computer Science
- Data Science
- Business
- Communication
- Health
- Humanities
- Math
- Arts & Culture
- Medicine
- Law
- Science
Their most popular courses fall under programming and business fields.
How are edX Courses Taught?
The bulk of their course content is taught through video lectures. And to help solidify learning, they also use a mixture of written assignments, quizzes, peer discussion groups, and virtual labs.
Search 3,000+ courses: edX
Pros of edX
- You can watch lectures in your own time.
- It partners with reputable, accredited universities like Harvard and MIT to create the courses.
- Pricing is relatively affordable compared to in-person learning at universities.
- A wide range of course topics are offered.
- Different course levels are available to suit various goals — from short courses for personal learning to career-advancing professional certificates and full degrees.
- There is a free tier available for all XSeries courses.
- Verified certification available that can help with career progression.
Cons of edX
- No subscription option is available for those that plan on taking multiple courses.
- Free tier is not available for executive education and professional certificate courses.
- There are cheaper online course options available elsewhere.
Alternatives to edX
Although edX has well-designed IT courses, it may not be as focused as other platforms like Edureka. This provider focuses solely on IT professionals looking to upgrade their skills (see our full Edureka vs. Udemy review here).
Do edX Certificates Mean Anything?
Yes, edX certificates are valuable because they are issued in collaboration with leading universities like MIT and Harvard.
Depending on the course, some certificates can even be used as credit towards a degree, or you can even earn a fully accredited degree from edX.
However, recognition of “smaller” qualifications (like a professional certificate) can vary between employers. So if you can, it might be good to check with your employer or target organization first before committing to a course.
Search 3,000+ courses: edX
How Much Does edX Cost?
The cost depends on the type of course you want to take as there are free versions of all XSeries courses. For the verified courses the cost generally ranges between $50-$300.
XSeries Courses: a “Free Audit” version is available on all courses. This doesn’t include certification or graded assignments. If you want to have certification, pricing ranges from $50-$300+.
Executive Education, Professional Certificates, and Bootcamps: prices range between $50-$300+.
Microdegrees: Varies, but starts from $1,000+.
Degrees (Bachelors and Masters): Varies, but starts from $20,000+.
Search 3,000+ courses: edX
edX Reviews: What Others are Saying
edX got an average score of 3.9/5 stars from 1.349 users across 2 websites (Trustpilot and g2).
Overall, people were happy that edX courses were conducted by top-tier universities and they were impressed with the quality of the content.
There were quite a few reports about how lecturers made topics engaging and easy to understand.
Some reported that edX certifications helped them advance their careers or education.
Reviewers also liked the flexibility of being able to learn anytime and anywhere.
Unfortunately, a few users who had tried several courses on the platform mentioned that the quality of content could vary.
So it might be important to look at the individual courses and their reviews closely before making a decision.
Others have mentioned that they also experienced technical issues with receiving certificates or getting refunds. However these were in the minority.
Are edX Certificates Worth It?
edX certificates are worth it for anyone looking for online education from top-tier universities either through short courses or full degrees.
They cater to a wide range of people, from those learning as a hobby to professionals looking to upskill.
And they also cover a wide range of subjects — about 26 broad topics in total and many more sub-categories.
What stands out about edX is that there is a free tier for all their XSeries courses (and then, if you want certification, you can upgrade).
So this makes it great for casual learners or users that want to test content before committing.
The user interface is also easy to navigate, and the pricing is relatively affordable compared to in-person courses.
What’s the Difference Between Coursera and edX?
We’ve looked at Coursera and edX individually but here’s a closer look at how they compare.
Courses Offered
One of the biggest differences between Coursera and edX is the total number of courses they offer (Coursera offers 7,000+ vs. edX’s 2,800+).
While their smaller programs (like professional certificates and short courses) seem to have more variety, Coursera beats edX in terms of sheer quantity of degrees offered.
The total number of courses may not matter much for you if you have very specific learning needs. But for casual learners that want breadth of knowledge, this could be a factor for you.
Comparing Student Reviews
On edX you can’t see reviews of specific courses, but you can on Coursera.
So if you rely on reviews to decide which course to take, you might feel “safer” with Coursera, which displays the experiences of previous students.
Comparing Subscription Options
Of the two, only Coursera offers a monthly/yearly subscription. And this is a valuable bonus for those that take multiple courses regularly.
However, some may prefer edX’s per-course pricing as you won’t have to worry about regularly using your subscription to get the most out of it. They also offer a free version of all XSeries courses.
Comparing Free Options
We felt edX had a slight edge over Coursera in this area because all their XSeries courses have a free tier. On the other hand, Coursera limits their free courses to about 1,800+ of their programs.
Are edX Courses Better than Coursera?
Coursera is better than edX in terms of having a wider selection of courses. On the other hand, edX could be the best choice if you want courses from leading universities or if you want to enjoy their free tier, which they offer on all XSeries courses.
Apart from these differences, we feel that the platforms were quite similar in that they have:
- Similar pricing.
- High standard of course content.
- Partnered with top-tier universities.
- User interface that’s straightforward to navigate.
- Verifiable certifications.
Overall, the thing that impressed people the most about both platforms was the quality of the institutions that they’ve partnered with.
Being able to take a course so easily from top global schools like Stanford or London School of Economics is a dream come true for many.
Either choice is worth it for advancing your career or expanding your knowledge. And with free options available, you can try out a free course from each to see which one is the right e-learning platform for you!
Coursera Special Offer
7-day free trial with access to 7,000+ courses: Coursera Plus
Free edX Courses
Free courses with Free Audit Track: edX
Search 3000+ edX Courses: edX
Coursera FAQs
Can you fail a Coursera course?
Yes, you can fail a Coursera course if you do not submit your assignments.
Are Coursera courses free?
Coursera offers 1,800+ for free. But if you want certification after completing the course, you will need to upgrade to the paid tier of the course.
Can I put Coursera courses on my resume?
Yes, you can put Coursera courses on your CV and their certificates can be posted on LinkedIn as well.
Coursera Special Offer
7-day free trial with access to 7,000+ courses: Coursera Plus
edX FAQs
Is edX really associated with Harvard?
edX does partner with Harvard University for some of their courses.
Is edX free of cost?
edX offers a free tier for its XSeries courses. But if you want certification after completing the course, you will need to upgrade to the paid tier.
Are edX courses legitimate?
edX courses are legitimate as they partner with reputable top-tier universities to deliver the course content.