Choosing between FutureLearn VS Coursera is difficult since both services overlap. Both FutureLearn and Coursera offer accreditation and are widely considered to be among the best MOOCs available today. Today, I am going to highlight all the key differences between these platforms in an effort to provide the most complete comparison available.
In this review, I am going to compare FutureLearn VS Coursera to help you decide which service is the best fit for you. We’ll start with a look at all the features and policies of both services, move onto the subject material that each focuses on, and finish with a review of each aspect of these services.
How do the Features of FutureLearn Compare Against Coursera?
Feature
Number of Courses
700+
3,900+
Available Ways to Purchase
Per Course, Subscription
Per Course
Ability to Purchase Courses Individually
YES!
YES!
Lowest Priced Courses
$0.00
$0.00
Ability to Purchase a Subscription to Multiple Courses as an Individual
YES!
No
Subscription Details
$249.99 per year (600+ courses included)
Business Only * (3300+ courses included)
Business Plans that can be Purchased Online (Without Contacting a Sales Rep)
No
YES!
Starting Prices for Business Plans
*Must discuss w/ sales rep
$400 per user per year
Free Trial Offer
Most courses are FREE, pay for the certificate
7 day free trial
Moneyback Guarantee
None
14 days
Only Allows Accredited Teachers to Create Courses
No
YES!
Learning Using Videos
YES!
YES!
Interactive Tasks
YES!
YES!
Testing & Exams
YES!
YES!
Earn Certificates
YES!
YES!
Earn Accredited Degrees
YES!
YES!
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FutureLearn: Flexible enough to teach you small subjects, but versatile enough to get you a full college degree.
While you cannot deny that Coursera has more courses then FutureLearn, they are both great learning services in their own right.
FutureLearn: Flexible enough to teach you small subjects, but versatile enough to get you a full college degree. Coursera: College level courses taught by actual professors. The convenience of a MOOC with the perks of university.
Coursera: College level courses taught by actual professors. The convenience of a MOOC with the perks of university.
FutureLearn will allow anyone who can prove they have mastered a subject and who pass a basic screening to teach courses on their platform. Coursera is very strict about who can teach their courses, only allowing the best teachers to develop and publish courses. Coursera is more consistent and has higher quality courses when compared against FutureLearn because Coursera has fewer course creators who were screened heavily, while FutureLearn allows anyone to create courses.
How do the Subjects Covered by FutureLearn Compare Against Coursera?
Feature
Information Technology Courses
YES!
YES!
Programming & Coding Courses
YES!
YES!
Creativity & Design Courses
YES!
YES!
Business Courses
YES!
YES!
Marketing Courses
YES!
YES!
Media Courses
YES!
YES!
Music & Audio Courses
YES!
YES!
Data Science Courses
YES!
YES!
Personal Development Courses
YES!
YES!
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Both FutureLearn and Coursera cover all the subjects which we write about here LearnOnline.shop, so it’s a draw in these regards. In addition, both of these websites offer the ability to earn accredited college degrees online.
How do we Rate FutureLearn VS Coursera?
Feature
Course Quality Review
9.0
9.9
Course Selection Review
8.0
8.5
MOOC Platform Review
9.0
9.0
MOOC User Experience Review
9.0
9.0
Value Proposition Review
7.0
9.0
Overall Review
8.2
9.0
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Course Quality Review
Winner: Coursera
Coursera consistently has the higher quality courses.
Undoubtedly the fact that Coursera has heavily screened and vetted course creators, while FutureLearn allows anyone to make their own courses has a lot to do with the difference in quality.
Course Selection Review
Winner: Coursera
Coursera has more courses than FutureLearn.
Coursera has more courses than FutureLearn. Even though Coursera limits the number of course creators on their platform, while FutureLearn does not, Coursera manages to have more courses despite this!
Learning Platform Review
Winner: Tied
Both Coursera & FutureLearn did a good job teaching.
When I talk about platforms, I am talking about the ways that the site teaches you, like video tutorials, interactive projects and hands-on testing, as well as awarding certificates. Both FutureLearn and Coursera provide amazing learning experiences with their platforms. They are both equally matched in these regards, so I am declaring this a tie.
User Experience Review
Winner: Tied
Both FutureLearn and Coursera have a good user experience.
When we review the platform, we are looking at the learning angles of the experience, but for the User Experience Review we look at everything else, including the sign-up process, the wait-times, the quality of courses, support, emails, billing and more. Fortunately, both of these websites provide a great overall user experience. The user interfaces are logical enough, signing up is straight forward, support staff reply within a business day and billing is exactly what you would expect. Since neither platform sticks out from the other in these regards, this one is a tie in our books.
Value Proposition Review
Winner: Coursera
Coursera has the better value proposition for most people.
This section is hard to review because value is subjective and some platforms are better values in certain situations but not in others. However, when comparing FutureLearn VS Coursera, we find Coursera to be the better value for most people. We do recommend FutureLearn as well though.
Overall Review
Winner: Coursera
Out of these two great services, Coursera is our choice.
When I write reviews, I like to clearly outline the better choice. In this case, we have two great services, but Coursera managed to take the victory. We recommend Coursera because: College level courses taught by actual professors. The convenience of a MOOC with the perks of university.
Pros & Cons of Each Service
Both FutureLearn and Coursera are amazing learning services and platforms, but they each have their PROs and CONs. In this section, I have outlined PROs and CONs for both services, specifically with how they compare to each other.
Comparing FutureLearn VS Coursera is difficult because they are both top-notch services, but they serve slightly different purposes and cater to different audiences. Regardless of which of these two that you choose, you are in good hands and can rest assured that if you follow up and put in the work, you will learn new skills and acquire certificates or even accreditation.
I hope this comparison review has helped you, but if you have any questions please leave a comment or reach out via email. Thanks for reading and happy learning!
