Top 5 LinkedIn Learning Alternatives in 2026

LinkedIn Learning is a huge training platform with over 25,000 courses, teaching everything from Excel to leadership and web development:

Better still, it’s included as part of LinkedIn Premium, so if you’re already a member for their other features, then the training platform is a nice bonus.

However, simply having a huge course library doesn’t mean it’s the best option out there…

Why?

Well a few reasons:

• Course and lesson quality can vary with some topics being years old

• There are very few practical projects for you to apply and learn with. Being able to actually use the skill is key to learning more complex topics like coding or AI

• There’s official community or teacher support if you get stuck

• Multiple teachers often teach different courses on the same topic, which is confusing.

For example

There's over 9,000 courses for Python alone! 

Which do you take?

Or would you just get overwhelmed and not pick any of them. (Probably right?).

TL;DR

LinkedIn Learning is great if you want to watch and pick up an overview of topics. But, if you want to actually learn a new skill from start to finish, (or simply pick up a course for a one off price), then there are better training options out there.

That being said, there are literally hundreds of training platforms to choose from, so to make your life easier, I’ve gone ahead and put together the 5 best LinkedIn Learning alternatives that I recommend, depending on your needs. 

I’ll share the costs, the key features so you can find the best option for you!

Let's get into it...

#1. Skillshare

Price: $29 per month or $99 per year, but you can get a month free trial to the paid content.

Pros:

• Creativity. Skillshare primarily focuses on creative courses. Art, Design, Videography, etc, so it’s great if you’re looking for that kind of training. There are some business focused ones but not as many as you would find on Linkedin, however they are usually quite indepth on Skillshare

• Coursework. Every course has a project for you to complete, so you can learn and apply the course content. Studies show that this is far superior to information only teaching in terms of retention, experience, and completion of training. Which means you're learn faster and easier

• Expertise. Each course is taught by acting practitioners, so you’re getting highly valuable, and relevant information

• They have a strict process for quality control. Teachers have to produce courses to a certain quality or it won’t get on. This includes video, audio, structure, and project. (You would think this would be a universal thing on every platform but it's not the case. Some of them with thousands of courses just can't keep up or check)

• Offline learning. Their app is incredibly helpful and the UI is great

• Speed. Courses are fairly short, so you can pick up things fast

Cons:

• There’s no community. Sure, you can ask questions under videos but that’s more of a 90’s blog feature and there's no guarantee you'll get an answer. However, it's the best option they have by having such a brand range of courses

• Courses are not always up-to-date. Sometimes a new course will launch, and the old course will still be live also which can be confusing. (However, the industry doesn’t always change that fast in creative topics)

• A lot of options. Some topics have multiple teachers and course options which can be overwhelming

TL;DR:

Skillshare is a great place if you want to pick up a creative skill at a low cost. There are some technical courses on there but not many.

#2. Masterclass

Price: $15 a month or annual at $180. They also offer options for adding a 2nd user or family plans, with the price adjusting per added user. (Their Duo plan is $240 a year, so not a 100% increase for the 2nd person.)

Pros:

• Amazing production quality. It feels like you’re watching Netflix on 4k HD (these guys are the definition of "edu-tainment" and they crush it)

• Access. Information from celebrities and VIPs that you would never think to have access to, often talking around areas they have experience in but are not known for. For example, Amy Poehler on improv, so if you want to try out your comedy skills you can!

• Cost. Fairly cheap at just $15 a month

Cons:

• Courses are varied and not always actionable. Each class does come with a workbook to follow, but the value differs greatly. Some walk you through all the steps, while others are a paragraph of an idea

• Varied end goals. Although there are multiple courses around a topic (with each on a separate focus which is great), there's no real cohesiveness between it all

• No community

• Not really career focused as such. It's more for picking up interesting skills from people you would love to learn from. Kind of like "dream dinner party guests" but instead it's I'd love to learn to cook like Gordan Ramsey, and then you can!

TL;DR

Join Masterclass if you want to get insights into how people you admire have achieved certain goals, and love high-end production quality at a low price.

#3. Udemy

Price: Individual courses run as low as $10–$100 for lifetime access, thanks to frequent discounts. There is a subscription option also at just $12 a month, although not every course is included as the instructor has to opt in.

Pros:

• Similarly massive catalog. Udemy's the closest match in scale to LinkedIn Learning's 25,000+ courses, so almost anything you'd find on LinkedIn Learning, you'll find here too, often with more options

• No recurring cost. Unlike LinkedIn Learning, which only comes bundled into a monthly Premium subscription, you can buy a single course once and keep it for life

• Constant discounts. Courses that list for $100+ regularly drop to $10-20 during Udemy's near-permanent sales, so the actual cost of picking up a skill is usually a fraction of the sticker price

• Not locked to "career" topics. Where LinkedIn Learning skews toward business and professional development, Udemy's catalog spans hobbies, creative skills, and personal interests too

Cons:

• Same overwhelm problem as LinkedIn Learning. There are 11,000+ Python courses alone on Udemy, most teaching the exact same beginner content, so picking the right one takes some real digging

• No real quality control. Literally anyone can publish a course on Udemy, regardless of if they have any experience on the topic. What's worse, is the rating systems can be misleading since older 5-star courses keep getting promoted even if the content's gone stale, and all the instructor has to do is update something as small as a headline to get the recently updated tag

• No community support. It might not seem like much of a big deal, but I speak to students all the time who start on here, but move onto other platforms later because it's hard going it alone

• An uncertain future. , and it's unclear yet how pricing, instructor payouts, or the catalog itself might shift as the two platforms merge. Will you still have access to programs if the platform no longer exists? Possibly, but Sony just deleted a bunch of movies that users had paid for, so it's not clear how this will work. Maybe they'll keep both platforms

• Fairly terrible customer support. With millions of customers, you'll never keep everyone happy, but just be aware

TL;DR

There's not a huge difference here between Udemy and LinkedIn Learning, other than the fact that there's a wider range of courses, and you can pay a one off fee for them, which makes it a better option if price is an issue.

That being said, you really do want courses with actionable tasks to follow and community support, if you want to succeed at transitioning into a new career skill. They’re just so vital. 

The good news is the next platforms have all this and more…

#4. Coursera

Price: It varies, as this platform caters to 3 different audiences. Some courses are free, but their Coursera Plus program is $399 a year, or $59 a month.

However, not all courses on the platform are part of that $399 offer. This is because Coursera has also partnered with major colleges and universities to provide online qualifications and degrees, which are tens of thousands of dollars each and vary in price.

This way they can offer ‘entry-level’ courses, while also offering degree level qualifications, and get paid $42,000!

Pros:

• Career-focused. If you want to upskill into a job, then you can definitely do that here

• University partnered. That means you can get actual accredited degrees at the end of some of these courses. (If that's important to you or the role you're looking for)

• Large library. 7,000+ courses across many technical fields such as Robotics and Engineering

• Online community. They have their own forum to ask questions and get support on each class

Cons:

• Dear lord, the price! $10,000 - $40,000 for a digital program is just mind blowing. Sure, it’s cheaper than going in person but oh my god that’s a lot of money

• The time frame. Some courses take 3-4 years to complete, for something you could probably finish in 3 months if you had access to all the content

• Some courses don’t quite fit the model. How can you practice robotics online? Surely you need access to tools and resources to build the robot?

• Prior knowledge is required. For some courses, you will need a level of education or experience before you can not only understand the content but even apply!

• Enrollment windows. You can only join at certain times of the year

TL;DR:

If you’re looking for career-focused skills similar to LinkedIn Learning, while also being able to earn a degree from the comfort of your own home, then this could be a great option for you. However, I would recommend that you look at the industry that you're aiming to work in and then check if your degree is still needed.

Thanks to the growth in digital training, many companies have become more relaxed on requiring a University degree, just as long as you can prove that you can actually do the work. (This is 100% the case in the tech world).

This means that you might not need to pay $40,000 for that digital course. You could get the same role for $300 instead, so do your homework.

#5. Niche focused platforms

The reality is, if you want to learn a specific career skill, then you need to go to the specialists. The niche topic sites that are up to date, with the right information of what to learn for the role, actionable tasks, and community support.

For example

It's really hard to learn to code on your own, just by absorbing information. There's literally a term for this in coding called "tutorial hell". It's where you get overwhelmed with all the conflicting information and sources, and don't know where to start or what to learn next.

Add in the fact that you're doing it alone and people get stuck in this limbo for months or years, before they eventually end up going to specialist platforms that understand all these issues and then design around it.

For example

Here at ZTM, we update our courses at least once a year:

Beginner

Complete Python Developer in 2026: Zero to Mastery

32 Hours •346 Lessons

Learn Python from scratch, get hired, and have fun along the way with the most up-to-date Python course on the web. Python is the entryway into the world of A.I., Cybersecurity, and many other high demand fields!

Andrei Neagoie

However, because things can change in tech, we also update them for small changes, sometimes just to help improve the student experience.

So that solves the whole having the right content to learn from issue.

Even better? We have a single, definitive course on the topic, and only one teacher per course topic so that you don't have 9,000 Python courses to choose between. You have the best one instead.

How to do we guarantee the quality?

Simply because each of our course instructors are industry matter experts, who are actively working in their industry. This means the content they update is what they want new hires to know, and it’s stuff not being taught in college curriculum (which is very theory based vs. practical skills).

That’s the power of niche focus, and why you need to find a niche platform for whatever career skill you're looking to learn.

This will help completely bypass the issues that LinkedIn Learning and other massive open course platforms have. Because you get updated content, with less course overwhelm, a specialist focus and still a reasonable price.

Better still, you can find these type of niche platforms in almost any kind of industry:

• Coding and AI skills

• Spirituality

• Script writing

• Home schooling

• Sewing

• Learning to play guitar

The list goes on. All it takes is a quick Google search for the topic you want to learn and course, and you’ll find a bunch of options.

However, because there are so many that don't have the big brand name recognition of these other platforms, you'll definitely want to do your research and look at reviews to make sure it's legit and highly regarded. Trust Pilot is a great option.

Price: This varies on each niche the platform, but usually a recurring low cost monthly fee, with a discount for annual, or, a one-off fee for lifetime access and updates.

For example

Here at Zero To Mastery, you can get unlimited access for just $49 per month, but that drops down to the equivalent of $25 per month if you pay annually ($299 a year).

Considering our specialty is taking people from absolute zero to getting hired in a brand new career, often [helping them land jobs making $1,000s more than they were before and changing careers, and you can see how it's worth spending a little bit extra.

Many niche focused platforms are like this, and the benefits stack up.

Pros:

• Niche focused. You’re able to get the best information around a specific goal. It’s not a platform that tries to do everything. It’s one platform that’s dedicated to help you achieve your end goal

• Updates! Because of this core focus, you’re able to get frequent content updates. This is incredibly important when you’re trying to learn a technical role

• Information quality. Their courses are often created by current working experts. Not only are they using what they’re teaching, but they’re ahead of the curve and sharing what they want people to know before it’s even trending. Compare that to outdated degrees and suddenly you’re gaining skills at a fraction of a cost of school, within months, not years

• Actionable! Courses on niche platforms usually have projects for you to work on and learn from. You'll also be able to use these in your portfolio to get hired or promoted

• Dedicated, specialist community. We keep mentioning community as a benefit, and it’s because studies have shown that a community helps you to stay on track and achieve goals. Even better, is when that community is all dedicated to the same goal

Cons:

• Niche focused. If you want to learn something totally different, you’ll need to go elsewhere

• Not every platform updates often. Even though they are in an industry that needs to, some places just don't. Now that might not always matter, as guitar courses probably can go a few years without an update, but an AI course should have been updated in the last 6 months if you want it to be relevant

So which is the best LinkedIn Learning alternative?

Honestly, it all comes down to what you want to learn:

• Skillshare is great for creative skills

• Masterclass will let you listen to Noam Chomsky or make you feel like you're watching a Netflix special of Gordon Ramsey cooking eggs

• Udemy is super cheap with one off costs

• Coursera can help you get a University degree from home

• While niche focused sites are usually the most up to date and focused on a specific skill. Just be sure to do some initial research (make sure there are lots of reviews and testimonials) and make sure you find a site that specializes, is up to date, and has community support

Hopefully this guide has helped you to decide on the best option for you.

LinkedIn Learning is still great to pick up the basics of topics, if you're willing to find external support and add in projects. Especially if you're already getting it free due to the premium membership features.

However, there are much better options out there for more specific career skills.