What is Skillshare?
Skillshare is an online learning platform and community for creative people who want to learn illustration, design, photography, writing, technology, entrepreneurship, and more.
What makes it unique when compared to other learning platforms is that each course is focused on learning a specific task, typically in less than an hour.
This makes it a fantastic choice for busy people who want to enhance their skills
Not all courses are short, however, with some longer, more in-depth tutorials on software available as well. The longest I’ve seen is which runs nearly 14 hours long (and is a great course to boot!).
In addition to creative courses, Skillshare also has a social component, although it isn’t exactly at the level of a social media platform. You can share your work with classmates and join ” of people with similar interests. I’ll talk more about this aspect later in this guide.
Skillshare is an American company, and although nowadays its users are spread around the world, nearly all courses are offered in English. The platform boasts more than 5 million users, most of whom are in the United States.
How does Skillshare work?
Skillshare works as an online streaming platform, so you pick the class you want to take and a queue of videos will appear. Think of it like an interactive YouTube playlist where someone teaches you how to do something.
Although there are about 2000 free classes available, most require a monthly subscription called Skillshare Premium. Thanks to a special promotion, you can currently get a full month of Premium for free here.
As you work your way through a course, you can ask questions to the teacher or other students in the Discussions tab. Most teachers provide answers and feedback fairly quickly, but be patient as teaching usually isn’t their full time job.
Once you finish the final assignment, you can share it under the Projects & Resources tab. There you can like other student’s work, or even follow their profiles to see more!
Who teaches Skillshare classes?
Virtually anyone can teach a Skillshare class as long as they have a skill to teach and the desire to teach it! The bar of entry for new teachers is fairly low.
This means that the platform has a mix of professional teachers and hobbyists that don’t have any experience teaching. However, it also means that there is a constant stream of new classes available and a wide variety of topics covered.
Granted, not every course on the platform will be a winner, but since you get access to the full catalog for one subscription fee, you’re guaranteed to find quality courses in virtually every category.
As a student, in my experience what works best is finding a teacher you like and checking out their other courses. If they are a professional teacher, they probably have several high-quality courses in the same niche.
A bit further down in the guide I recommend a few of my favorite teachers, and some tips on finding the best classes.
How do I teach a Skillshare class?
you want to the process of getting your content on the platform is relatively painless. The platform isn’t too picky when it comes to subject matter or course quality (within reason), as long as it adheres to the platform’s guidelines.
The real work is in planning and creating the course in the first place.
To help, Skillshare has several great programs to get new teachers started, including a complete
Definitely check these two out, even if you plan on creating classes on other platforms. They’re great free resources!
How much does Skillshare pay?
Skillshare claims that the top teachers make over $100,000 a year on the platform, but casual teachers will make much less than this. How much Skillshare pays depends on how many hours paying subscribers spend watching your content.
Teachers need to have a minimum of 30 minutes watched by paying members to receive payment. It also helps to have several courses available so people who enjoy your first course can jump to the next one!
However, it’s not all good news for teachers on Skillshare. An option was recently added to change the playback speed of courses, which can and will have an effect on your bottom line as a teacher. 30 minutes watched at 2x speed only counts as 15 minutes for payouts.
Still, it can be worth it to create a course on Skillshare. There’s a huge community and engaged userbase already built-in to the platform.
And don’t worry, it’s a completely legitimate platform and will dispense payments on time and in full. Learn more or get started by clicking the button below.
How much is Skillshare?
Skillshare Basic is technically free, but most courses are locked behind Skillshare Premium, which costs $19 a month. You can also save money with the $99 annual plan, which works out to $8.25 a month.
Typically there’s a free 7-day trial, but right now you can get a full month of Premium for free with this link while the promotion lasts. Previous promotions offered a two-month trial, but unfortunately, that promotion has ended.
Although an annual subscription is significantly cheaper, the nice thing about paying by the month is that you can cancel at any time. You’ll lose access to classes, so hopefully the skills you learned stuck!
Another thing to consider is that annual subscriptions aren’t refundable after 7 days, so be sure you’ll use it before pulling the trigger!
Becoming a Skillshare Premium subscriber has more benefits than just access to classes, like the ability to download courses for offline viewing. Check out a full list of benefits below.
Benefits of Skillshare Premium:
Access to all classes: Nearly 30,000 classes are unlocked with a single fee.
No ads: Free classes include ads, but a Premium subscription removes them.
Enhanced community access: Get feedback and advice for your projects from Skillshare’s growing community.
Offline access: Download classes on your phone or tablet via the app for offline viewing.
Support your favorite teachers: Membership fees go towards paying your favorite teachers.
Other perks: Discounts on other services like Squarespace, Adobe Creative Cloud, Todoist, and others (annual membership only).
Start your free trial
Is Skillshare worth it?

I can sit here and describe the platform all day, but the million dollar question is this: Is Skillshare worth it?
Sure, there’s a free version with thousands of classes, so you don’t technically have to spend any money. However, these courses feature frequent advertisements, so you’re essentially paying with your time and attention.
To help you decide whether or not the platform is right for you, I’ve collected my experience into a simple list of pros and cons below. Below that I’ve expanded on each point and provided a final verdict.
Pros
Free version available
Constantly growing library
Simple and easy to use
Some social elements
Cons
Free version has ads
Many low-quality courses
Requires persistent subscription
Pro: Free version available
There aren’t many places online where you can get full-fledged courses for free, but Skillshare is one of them.
With just an email address and an internet connection you gain access to thousands of free courses covering a wide variety of subjects. They won’t be the best classes on Skillshare, but it’s a great way to get started.
If you find yourself liking it, you can also take advantage of a free trial of Skillshare Premium before spending any money. You should absolutely do this before spending any money.
Con: The Free version has ads
A free version is obviously a huge advantage, but it does come with some caveats. Apart from a limited library, free courses also feature frequent advertisements.
This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s watched tutorials on YouTube, for example, but it is certainly an annoyance.
Because of this, it’s better to think of the free version as a stepping stone to Premium, rather than a true standalone service.
Pro: Constantly growing library
One of Skillshare’s biggest advantages is its enormous course library. Since most courses are short and teacher-uploaded, there’s always new content being added.
There are currently around 30,000 courses, so you’re guaranteed to find something that interests you, no matter how niche your hobbies may be.
Con: Many low-quality courses
The downside of teacher-uploaded courses is that not all of them are bound to be winners. In fact, many of them are simply not worth your time even if they are free.
Searching for courses often returns thousands of results, and it can be tough to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The best way to do this is to find a teacher you like and check out the rest of their courses. If you’re new to the platform, you can also rely on user reviews and staff picks.
I’ve listed some advice for new users on finding the best classes below, so keep reading or scroll down if you’re interested!
Pro: Simple and easy to use
Although it can be difficult to sort through the massive catalog of courses, the process of searching for and watching courses couldn’t be simpler thanks to Skillshare’s easy-to-use platform.
Videos are essentially laid out in a linear playlist, so you can just sit back and watch. Content is also broken into short segments, so it’s easy to jump back and revisit difficult sections.
The mobile app isn’t quite as good an experience as the browser version, but it’s still a good way to watch courses on the go. Plus, it’s the only way to download videos to watch offline
While it’s great that you can unlock Skillshare’s entire library with a single monthly subscription, this payment scheme also means that you lose access when you stop paying.
Other options, like and Udemy, allow you to purchase courses individually and keep them forever. The fact that Skillshare doesn’t offer this means you can’t go back and rewatch courses you liked unless you keep paying.
Pro: Some social elements
One more nice thing about Skillshare is that it has a number of small and large communities of like-minded learners.
Called “Groups”, these communities can be a great way to get feedback or advice about your work. Several of these have well over 10,000 members and active discussion boards. Check out a few examples below to see what they’re all about.