Looking to build new skills? We've gathered the the best learning sites for taking online courses. Read more to start learning.

With the best online courses websites, you can excel at your career, expand your skillset, or even gain new hobbies and passions.

With so many online learning sites all across the web, you can learn just about anything these days, from anywhere — all without worrying about attending college or taking classes.

Online courses are aptly equipped with features like video streaming, notes, resources, discussion forums, notes, practice exercises, teaching assistance help, and other features that enhance your learning experience.

Platforms providing online courses have increased immensely in recent years, and you can possibly find hundreds of resources and courses on a single topic, and even more.

With this many options, it gets really hard to decide which online courses websites to choose and which platform will be best suited for you.

The different courses available online, within a single niche or skill, cater to different sets of purposes.

Some online learning sites are designed for professionally skilled people and teach updated skills for those further along in their careers.

Some online course websites cater to beginners looking to add new skills or jump into a new career.

Others still are just for those looking for the best online courses that will let them explore a hobby, like cooking or photography.

To help you make sense of it all, we’ve reviewed and ranked the best online courses websites on a variety of factors, including quality of their classes, value, instructor credentials, ease of use, and more.

Disclosure: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost for you, we might get a commission if you click the link and purchase.

What are the Best Online Courses Websites?

Here are our picks for the best learning sites for taking online courses:

1. MasterClass

MasterClass offers courses taught by the world’s most recognizable celebrities in experts covering a wide range of topics from cooking, gardening, meditation to science & well-being.

MasterClass features instructors include huge names, such as Gordon Ramsay, Bill Clinton, Margaret Atwood, Samuel L Jackson, Natalie Portman, and Serena Williams, to name just a few. It’s this access to such reputable instructors that makes MasterClass one of the best online courses websites out there.

More than 100 courses are featured, covering everything from photography to business to acting.

These classes are taught in bite-sized learning lessons of premium quality, and you can stream Masterclass on your TV, phone, tablet, or computer.

Each class hosts video lectures, class workbook documents, interactive designed assignments, and community activities depending on the type of course.

Periodically, classwork, & assignments are directly submitted to the instructor for one-to-one learning evaluation and feedback.

Key Features

• Stream classes on mobile devices, computers, and TVs
• Celebrity instructors
• One-to-One instructor-student interaction periodically
• Toll-free phone support
• Cross-platform support

Popular classes

• Annie Leibowitz Teaches Photography
• Robin Roberts Teaches Effective and Authentic Communication
• Massimo Bottura Teaches Modern Italian Cooking
• Ron Finley Teaches Gardening
• Alicia Keys Teaches Songwriting and Producing

Pricing

MasterClass pricing includes an all-access pass starting at $180 per year or $15 per month for unlimited access to courses & content.

2. SkillShare

Skillshare, with its wide catalog, offers 35,000 plus learning videos which are spread across Create, Build and Thrive perspectives. This wide range of classes has made Skillshare one of the most popular websites for online learning

It is a great platform for creative people who are looking for a thriving environment to learn, enhance and beautify their artistic skills whether it is illustration, proofreading, photography, voice over training, instructional design, or web design.

Skillshare offers a one-month free trial, which is a great way to check out some classes and see if it’s a good choice.

Overall, it’s an attractive option for passionate learners of creative skills. See our Skillshare review for more details.

Popular classes

• Digital Illustration for All
• Productivity Masterclass: Create a Custom System that Works
• Character Animation Basics
• Discovering Success: 7 Exercises to Uncover Your Purpose, Passion & Path
• Style Your Space: Creative Tips and Techniques for Interior Design

Key Features

• Bite-sized classes for busy learners
• Thousands of classes
• Free trial
• Large catalog of videos
• iOS/Android smartphone apps
• Top topics to choose Skillshare for: film, writing, tech, lifestyle, photography, & Illustration.

Pricing

Skillshare pricing includes a one-month free trial where you can take unlimited classes. After that, you can pay $40/month or at a discounted annual rate of $17.99/mo ($216 for a once-a-year payment).

Written by eLearning World