Coursera vs. edX - complete comparison

Overview

Description	Coursera Coursera is an online learning platform that offers courses from top universities and organizations worldwide, like Yale or Stanford. They also offer fully digital Bachelors and Master’s degrees.	edX edX is an online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT in 2012. They focus on university-level courses, developed in collaboration with their countless university partners (like Harvard and Berkeley University), and other education providers worldwide. From regular online courses to full online degrees, edX has a broad variety of offerings in 30+ categories, taught by academics from the world's best universities.
Types of courses	Coursera INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Regular courses Self-paced courses for individual learning and skill development. The courses itself are typically free, with certification being offered as a paid addon. $50 - $150 USDIncluded in subscription Self-paced MASTERS DEGREE Master's Degree Full master's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $60000 USD Full-time BACHELORS DEGREE Bachelor's Degree Full bachelor's degree programs offered in partnership with universities. $10000 - $80000 USD Full-time PARTIAL MASTERS MasterTrack Certificates Master's degree-level courses with a path to credit $2000 - $10000 USD 4-6 months INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Professional Certificates Job-relevant training programs, from universities and corporations. FreeIncluded in subscription 3-6 months	edX MASTERS DEGREE Masters Degree Complete a full Master's degree from one of edX's partner universities $10000 - $100000 USD Full-time study BACHELORS DEGREE Bachelors Degree Complete a full Bachelor's degree from one of edX's university partners $10000 - $50000 USD Full-time study INDIVIDUAL LEARNING Professional certificates Earn a certificate for a career-relevant skill with a course from edX's institutional partners $300 - $1000 USD Self-paced INDIVIDUAL LEARNING XSeries certificates Get in-depth knowledge of a topic with a course created by one of edX's university partners $100 - $1200 USD Self-paced COHORT BASED Executive Education Courses targeted towards educating leaders & executives. $500 - $3000 USD 3–6 weeks PARTIAL BACHELORS MicroBachelors Partial undergraduate programs for specific learning $2000 - $10000 USD Part-time study PARTIAL MASTERS MicroMasters Partial graduate-level programs for specific learning $500 - $5000 USD Part-time study INDIVIDUAL LEARNING edX courses The classic courses that edX offers. They're typically free and come with optional paid certificates. Free 3-5 hours per week
Subscription plans	Coursera PERSONAL Coursera Plus Access to a selection of 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs $35 - 55 USD per month	edX
Pros & cons	Coursera Pros Wide range of courses Courses from top universities Professional certificates from top companies like salesforce & Google Degree programs are cheaper compared to on-campus degrees Cons Rather expensive subscription Confusing offering, because of all of the different types of courses they provide	edX Pros Courses from top universities Wide range of subjects Free courses available Cons Limited interaction with instructors Different offerings can be a bit confusing Paid courses are rather pricey No subscription offering available

General information

Type	Course Marketplace	Course Marketplace
Number of courses	7000+	4000+
Popularity	Very popular	Popular
Available categories	3D & AnimationAccounting & BookkeepingAffiliate MarketingAppleArchitectural DesignArts & CraftsBeauty & MakeupBrandingBusiness Analytics & IntelligenceBusiness Law	Architectural DesignArts & CraftsBusiness Analytics & IntelligenceCareer DevelopmentComplianceContent MarketingCreativityCryptocurrency & BlockchainDatabase Design & DevelopmentDesign Tools
Available languages	EnglishMandarin ChineseSpanishFrenchRussianPortugueseGermanJapaneseKoreanItalian	EnglishMandarin ChineseHindiSpanishArabicFrenchRussianPortugueseGermanJapanese

Evaluation

Full score	8.8 10	8.6 10

Individual scores

Course quality

LowHigh

Course catalog

Less satisfiedVery satisfied

Affordability

More expensiveHigher value

Career value

Low valueHigh value

Customer support

BadGood

Usability

BadGood

Features

Support options	Email Phone Chat Community Knowledge base Learning support Career support	Email Phone Chat Community Knowledge base Learning support Career support
Available apps	Ios Android	Ios Android

Company

Company name	Coursera Inc.	edX Inc.
Company size	Large	Large
Founded in	2012	2012
Headquarters	United States 🇺🇸	United States 🇺🇸
Founders	Andrew Ng, Daphne Koller	Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
External reviews	App Store 4.8126900 reviews Play Store 4.8267000 reviews Trustpilot 1.7528 reviews	App Store 4.77300 reviews Play Store 4.6105000 reviews Trustpilot 2.31304 reviews

Our opinion

Summary

Coursera

Coursera offers a great range of online learning products, which means that almost anyone can find a fitting course on their platform. We particularly like the huge catalog of free courses they offer, where you only need to pay if you want the optional certification. They also offer full degrees, which makes them one of only a few providers that offer Bachelor's and Master’s degrees online. While their overall offering might be a bit confusing sometimes, we can fully recommend Coursera for all students looking to obtain career-relevant skills.

edX

edX offers a great variety of high-quality courses, which can help you advance your career in almost every industry. We particularly like that a lot of their regular courses are offered for free, and you only have to pay for the certificate (which is optional). The rest of their offering on the other hand is usually a bit pricier, but the quality of the learning materials is still really high. In our eyes, edX is a great learning platform, especially well suited for students looking to take on full online degrees, as well as students looking for digital certifications from well-trusted organizations and institutions, if price isn't their biggest concern. If you're on a budget, you can still take advantage of their large catalog of free courses.