Pluralsight Review – Is it Worth It?

Tech skills for careers in IT, Data Science, AI, ML, BIZ. Pluralsight review.

Pluralsight is an eLearning provider specializing in technological skills improvement. Our Pluralsight review discusses the platform’s key aspects and features and how it can help develop and advance in-demand tech skills or start a career in relevant industries. We also explain how it works, what it offers to students, who it is for, and what you can do with it.

Pluralsight Review – Overview

Pluralsight (view website) was founded in 2004 and is based in Utah, USA. They were early birds. The fact that most eLearning providers have been in the market for 10 years at the most or even less shows that Pluralsight was quite avant-garde at the time of its launch. Since then it also has acquired a few other providers such as Code School, Train Simple, Digital Tutors or HackHands to develop its business further.

Its mission is to help anyone who wants to learn to develop or improve technology skills and acquire the knowledge they could use to land a job, change career direction or prepare for an upcoming work project. If you just don’t know where to start yet, consider browsing our list of the best Pluralsight courses here.

Skills – Similar to Udacity, Pluralsight offers a broad selection of classes that teach tech-specific skills required in software development, IT, data science, web security, machine learning and AI. It also offers technology-based education in business and finance. You can request a certificate for the course you took to verify and evaluate your skills. 

How to browse – Pluralsight is easy to use, well organized and visually appealing. For example, their classes have been organized into five categories, each of them subcategorized with the respective learning path and learning goals along with the respective assessment. All classes state if you need any previous experience to take them or not, which helps select a course or path. 

Costs – Pulralisight offers a subscription-based model. You can choose to pay monthly ($29), or annually ($299, slightly cheaper). If your learning path requires examination we recommend looking into the Premium plan for $449/year. Latter also includes exercises and interactive classes. You can test Pluralsight for free by using their 10-day trial offer. 

Classes: 7,0000+ | Students: 1,000,000+
Experts: 1,500+ | Language: English
Pricing: $29/month or $299/year. Premium $449. Free trial.
Apps: iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Apple TV, Android TV
Pluralsight Review Rating: ★★★★★ | 4.7

Pluralsight alternatives: Udacity Review | edX Review | LinkedIn Learning Review

Pluralsight Review – Platform Structure 

When visiting Pluralsight for the first time, you may notice a stylish looking night mode themed website. Well, it is a website that teaches tech skills such as web design, right? Live what you preach, and Pluralsight certainly got it right and applied some best-practice web design principles to create an appealing interface and user experience.

At a glance – The simple header with its menu contains four sections: Products, Courses, View Plans and Resources. Your attention might then be drawn to its motto: “Upskill your tech teams from anywhere“. Straight below the call to action: Try for Free and View Plans. I like Pluralsight being frank here with what they offer, sell and how much it will cost.

Homepage – If you keep scrolling the homepage, you will get introduced to trending learning paths, i.e. JavaScript, Python or Angular, as well as some information on how to create a free account or become a Pluralsight teacher. Their footer section hosts valuable links to important pages. It is worth to check it out to get further information.

Menu – Back to the four menu items. The most important one is Courses/Content. Click on it to get a quick access point for your search for potential learning paths and solutions. The other ones are self-explaining, and I won’t bore you here with details, apart from the fact that I outline some details on Pluralsight’s subscription plans further below.

Pluralsight – The Content 

Categories – Neatly organized and easy to navigate, the header menu lets you browse all categories of Pluralsight’s catalog. It contains five sub-categories: Software Development, IT Ops, Data Professional, Information and Cyber Security, and Browse All Technologies. The latter is simply the umbrella term for all other categories available on Pluralsight such as Business, Data, AI, or Cloud Computing.

Sections – If you click on one main category, say Web Development, you will see three sub-sections namely Classes, Learning Paths and Assessments. All three contain suggested lectures, paths and tools. To keep your bearings, Assessments offers features, services or tests only available through the Premium subscription. The other two will be accessible through the standard plans.

Class or path? What is actually the difference between courses and learning paths? Simply put, classes you can take individually, say an HTML or CSS class to build or advance specific skills you may need in your job. On the other hand, paths aim to follow a more strategic plan to develop a professional skill set that could land you a job later. AWS Machine Learning/AI or Become a Business Analyst are two examples here.

Levels – Now, let’s click on a specific class as well as on a learning path, e.g. Python. If you are new to Python, no worries, you can start as a beginner and move your way up. The same applies to students assessing themselves as intermediates. You can repeat basic principles and step in on your current level or choose a topic based on your interest.

Course info – The classes for each learning path are listed separately for each path. If you click on a particular class you will find information about learning outcome, lengths, curriculum and any previous knowledge, background or experiences you may need to bring with. If you already have a subscription, you can simply dive in and check it out. If you are not, there is an option to try Pluralsight within a 10-day trial (get one here).

Pluralsight Skills and Flow

This section contains two sub-sections: Skills and Flow. 

• Skills is Pluralsight’s product for the skill development of both individuals and teams. It is not just about acquiring a new ability. It’s about assessing and measuring the skills you or your team have and systemically improving them. The benefit is obvious as you don’t have to waste time starting from the beginning of something you already know, but rather you can continue from a certain point onward. Students have full access to the course library with this plan.

• Flow is the tooling you will need to manage and direct your skills effectively. This is the bridge between you or your team and your or your team’s skillsets. It also provides you with an overview of the workflow and helps pinpoint the weaknesses and glitches, making them easier to fix or eliminate. It’s debugging your development process.

Pluralsight Review – Features 

Pluralsight Iris

Iris is your AI teacher. It monitors your progress, assesses it, and creates customized learning paths for you. While I’m not saying it should replace your own research and choices, Iris can be handy for students of all levels to find the most relevant classes aimed at their current skill level and goals.

At the core, Iris figures out what you could or should learn and when. The goal is to create a personalized learning experience to help you reach your goals efficiently and advance your skills levels where and when needed. Call it a prediction system that runs on machine learning technology, which on its own is a skill you can actually learn at Pluralsight.

Pluralsight Technology Index

The Technology Index is one of my favorite features and unique to Pluralsight. I often use it to get updates about which technical skills are in demand and which ones might be starting to decline. So what is it?

This index is a database consisting of billions of data points generated each month. It aims to visualize the growth of hundreds of technologies, including their popularity. Checking frequently, users will get a good feeling about which skills will be in demand in the future and can adjust their education accordingly.

Pluralsight Resources

The website footer contains five sections: Solutions, Platform, Company, Resources and Support that deliver valuable information about the company.

Solutions – This section contains several sub-sections, providing essential information about Pluralsight worth knowing. There are quick links to core product pages, pricing, contact but also to some legal pages. 

Platform – This contains information about the platform in general as well as quick links to authors, Role IQ, SKill IQ, Iris AI, and other professional services.

Company  – Quick links to blogs, news, resource center, consumer stories, guides, newsroom, investors, careers, and Pluralsight’s About pages.

Resources – Information on how to download Pluralsight, its partners, the opportunity to teach, and programs. If you are interested in events, you will get quick access from here.

Pluralsight Support – Students need support and Pluralsight is known for its good help section and communication. Find access to contact options, sitemap and help center to find answers for frequently asked questions.

Teachers  – Pluralsight teachers are industry veterans, meaning that they are professionals and experienced in their industry, so you as a student would receive first-hand experiences and credible information. Similar to Udacity, you will learn the skills that are needed and also in demand.

Device Compatibility – With an active Pluralsight subscription you can download up to 30 classes available for Mac and Windows offline players.

Blog – Pluralsight runs a blog posting the latest updates in the field of technology that are relevant to learning skills, career development, and job perspectives. I recommend looking for upcoming webinars here. If you like to know what other people do find on Pluralsight, you will find interesting user stories here as well.

Pluralsight Review – Pricing 

Pluralsight runs a subscription-based model and is suitable for either individual or corporate learning and education. Each subscription will give you access to the whole catalog. Individual learners can sign-up on a monthly or yearly basis. Pluralsight offers a free 7-day trial to test all its features without committing to anything. Prices may vary.

The difference between monthly and yearly payments is the discount you will get when signing up for an annual plan. The features are the same. However, with a Premium subscription, you will also get access to projects, exams, assessments, and certification. Corporate team plans additional include trend, usage and skill analytics and API access.

Plans – At the time of writing, monthly plans start at $29. If sign-up annually you pay $299 which is roughly 3-months savings. Premium will set you back $449 and includes the features to verify or validate your education towards potential employment.

Trial – If you consider using Pluralsight, we recommend using their free 10-day trial. option. Furthermore, there is a 30-day refund policy but always check the T&C. Did you know that high school students can get free access to Pluralsight? Yep, indeed.

Pluralsight Review – Pros and Cons 

Wrapping up our Pluralsight review, let’s quickly look into some of the major pros and cons.

Pluralsight Pros: 

• Impeccably organized – you can find what you need in a matter of minutes, no need to waste time searching endlessly; 
• Acquisition of certificates – you can attest that you have finished a course and use certification when applying for a job.
• Reasonably priced – They are not the cheapest around, but you will get the quality you paid for; neither over nor underpriced. If you pay annually, you can save money. Consider your educational strategy, though, before committing financially.  
• Professional lecturers – this is the most important pro. Experts and experienced professionals will teach you new skills and help you advance in your projects.

Pluralsight Cons – Things To Consider: 

• No free version, just a 10- day trial period. Some student Plurlasight reviews consider this a downside because 10 days might not be enough to judge a potential learning outcome fully.
• Make sure to cancel your trial if you do not want to continue. Pluralsight will start charging you automatically. It seems many students simply forget the deadline here. A downside is that you won’t receive a notification.
• Some students report refund issues. Please read the fine print to avoid surprises about missed deadlines.
• If you worry about customer service, it is best practice to test their sales team first by asking all relevant questions. Still happy, only then consider signing up for a free trial.

Pluralsight Review 2022 – Is it Worth It? 

Summing up our Pluralsight review, it is, without a doubt, one of the best online learning platforms available specializing in developing and upgrading technical skills. Using the latest tech and AI to assess skill levels, students can be sure to learn the right things that will actually help in applying for jobs or to advance an ongoing career.

Furthermore, industry experts help create classes and also assist students in their learning process. Combined with AI optimization this helps create a rather customized learning experience that also includes interactive teaching and studying.

The pricing is fair, though on the upper end when compared to other providers. If you wish to compare it with another platform, though, we see similarities with Udacity in features and quality though not when it comes to the complexity of Udacity’s degrees and certification.

You can test Pluralcity for free within a 10-day trial period, although there is no free version available. The only exception is that highschool students can access Pluralsight for free here. All things considered, Pluralsight is definitely worth a try, particularly if you wish to update your technical skills.

What is your experience with Pluralsight? Let us know in the comments below. Please share this Pluralsight review on social media.