Detailed GetSmarter review

Is it the right choice for you?

Written by
Janosch Herrmann

skillfrontier is supported by learners. When you buy through links on our website, we may earn a commission. Learn more

getsmarter is an online learning platform that partners with world-renowned universities all across the globe to create short courses on a variety of academic & professional topics. With close to 2 million monthly visitors, it's a popular choice for high-quality online courses. It was founded by Robert Paddock in 2008 and was sold to 2U Inc. in 2017.

Let's see what they have to offer in this in-depth review!

getsmarter's main offering is their selection of 280+ short courses from universities like Harvard, London School of Economics and many other well-known universities. These courses mostly take between 4–10 weeks and are held through getsmarter's online campus, where you get access to course materials like video lectures, quizzes, assignments and support resources.

getsmarter also offers a mobile app, so that you can take their courses whenever you're out of home as well.

ProsCons
Selection of 250+ short courses   No applicable to university degrees  
Developed with top universities   Relatively expensive  
Mobile app    
   

getsmarter is for professionals that want to add specific skills to their skill set and get certificates from top universities around the world. Their courses are in the sweet spot between regular (and often cheaper) online courses from platforms like Udemy and full degrees from platforms like edX and Coursera.

Courses on getsmarter cost between $1,000.00 - $3,000.00 USD. If you don't want to pay upfront in full, you can have a look at their financing options, which allow you to pay for your course in multiple installments.

If you're unhappy with a course you bought from getsmarter, you can get a refund from them within a certain time period. The exact terms depend on the length of the course you're taking, as well as other criteria. For a complete overview, check out getsmarter's FAQs.

getsmarter's business offering gives companies the option to upskill their employees while saving money through volume discounts.

With getsmarter for business, companies get:

24/7 student support

Access management

Learning analytics

Instead of paying for a subscription, companies can buy tokens, which can be redeemed for any of the short courses on getsmarter, which allows for more learning flexibility, while giving companies access to volume discounts.

getsmarter doesn't currently have a dedicated plan for students.

If you have general questions about the getsmarter platform, accounts, billing and other common topics, you can check out getsmarter's FAQ. You also have the option to contact getsmarter's support team directly, both through email and phone.

When it comes to learning support, you get access to getsmarter's success advisers, who will give you administrative & technical assistance for the duration of the course. They also have a facilitation team, who can help with content support through the online campus.

When you complete a course on getsmarter, you will get a corresponding certificate of completion from the university that created the course. This certificate is approved by the university, making it widely recognized in the industry, so it can definitely be really helpful when looking for a job.

Keep in mind that even though these certificates are approved by the university that created them, they won't give you any credits you can use towards a degree. getsmarter certificates are meant to prove that you learned a job-relevant skill, not that you're earning credits for your Bachelor's.

If you want to earn credits towards a degree or even take a full online degree, check out platforms like edX and Coursera that offers these types of courses. You can also use our course search below to find the right courses for your needs directly through our platform :)

Missing blok resolver for blok type "courseSearch".{ "_uid": "i-6295ebb3-e5eb-444d-b3d8-283c60c72504" }

To create your getsmarter account, click on the "Sign up" button in the top right corner of their homepage.

Check out the course

Check out the course

Check out the course

Since courses on getsmarter are held by recognized universities across the world, most of the course instructors are academics from these institutions as well, making them highly qualified.

Here's an example of instructors for a course from SDA Bocconi, a world-renowned university from Milan, Italy. As you can see, all instructors are faculty members of the university. Overall, I think it's fair to say that getsmarter instructors are highly qualified.

Yes, in our opinion, getsmarter is definitely worth it if you want to take high-quality courses from leading universities around the world and don't mind spending a bit more on your professional development.

If that's you, you'll love the platform for its:

High-quality courses

Knowledge from leading universities