5 of the best online learning platforms to kickstart your career

In the past few years, technological advancements and high demand for accessible, low-cost education have led to ridiculous growth in the online learning sector. And, while the coronavirus pandemic didn't launch the online learning boom, it sure didn't hurt its case.  Yet an important question lingers: Can an online education truly replace in-person learning?  SEE ALSO: The fastest VPNs for browsing, streaming, and shopping securely It's not a universal panacea, but for many people, absolutely — especially if you want to kickstart a career, move up in your current field, make the switch to a completely different industry, or pursue a new hobby. Read more...More about Tech, Mashable Shopping, Online Courses, Shopping Uk, and Tech IMAGE: Mashable BEST FOR VALUE Udemy With tens of thousands of classes on both hard and soft skills, Udemy lets you curate your own education on a budget. Accredited: No Price: Select classes are free; paid courses range from £10 to £150 Free trial: No Number of courses available: 130,000+ Subject areas: Design, development, marketing, IT and software, personal development, business, photography, and music Team/enterprise plans available: Yes (Udemy for Business) IMAGE: Mashable BEST FOR FANS MasterClass MasterClass isn't a replacement for a traditional education, but its celebrity video demonstrations make for some fascinating TV. Accredited: No Price: £3.26/week (billed annually) Free trial: No Number of courses available: 100+ Subject areas: Sports and gaming, arts and entertainment, music, writing, food, design and style, science and tech, business, home and lifestyle, community and government, and wellness Team/enterprise plans available: No IMAGE: Mashable BEST FOR CAREER DEVELOPMENT LinkedIn Learning This subscription-based e-learning platform can help you add to the "professional skills" portion of your CV. Accredited: No Price: £24.98/month or £179.88/year; free with LinkedIn Premium Free trial: Yes Number of courses available: 16,000+ Subject areas: Project Management Institute (PMI), programming languages, illustration, drawing, leadership skills, spreadsheets, NASBA Continuing Professional Education (CPE), data analysis, design thinking, personal effectiveness, data science careers, creativity, job searching, big data, and web design business Team/enterprise plans available: Yes IMAGE: Mashable BEST FOR UNI CLASSES Coursera Coursera is your one-stop shop for an online university-level education. Accredited: Coursera itself is not accredited, but some of its classes are Price: Free to £70 per course; £7 per Guided Project; £27 to £70/month per Specialisation; £27 to £70/month per Professional Certificate; approx. £1,400 to £4,200 per MasterTrack Certificate; approx. £6,400 to £32,000 per degree; £280/year for Coursera Plus Free trial: Yes Number of courses available: 4,600 courses plus 1,000 Guided Projects, 500+ Specialisations, 45 certificates, and 25 degrees Subject areas: Arts and humanities, business, computer science, data science, IT, health, math and logic, personal development, physical science and engineering, social sciences, language learning Team/enterprise plans available: Yes (Coursera for Business) IMAGE: Mashable BEST FOR TECH SKILLS Treehouse Friendly and collaborative, Treehouse is the place to go for a coding education that'll help you land a sweet gig in tech. Accredited: No Price: £21.20/month for access to Treehouse's library of courses and tracks; £140/month per Techdegree Free trial: Yes Number of courses available: 285 individual classes, 93 practice exercises, 196 workshops, 41 tracks, and 5 Techdegrees Subject areas: 21st-century skills, Android, APIs, business, C#, computer science, CSS, data analysis, databases, design, development tools, digital literacy, EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion), Go, HTML, Java, JavaScript, learning resources, machine learning, PHP, Python, quality assurance, Ruby, and security Team/enterprise plans available: Yes (Treehouse for Teams)