Treehouse vs Udacity Review 2024

Welcome to my Treehouse vs Udacity review 2024.

I spent 24+ hours researching about and actually completing the most popular open online courses for making money online.

In this Treehouse vs Udacity review, we’ll take a look at all the features and benefits of this e-learning package and see how it compares to other options.

I’ll also answer some of the most commonly asked questions about Treehouse and Udacity.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Treehouse vs Udacity Review 2024

Consider These Factors FIRST Before Buying an Online Course 

Before you pull out your credit card and start buying online courses, you want to consider a few things. Not all course platforms and methods, in general, are created equal. Here are some factors to keep in mind: 

Is There a Direct Benefit to This Course? 

We’ve seen this a million times, right? Someone wants to go to college, they sign up for a $200,000 degree, and they have no idea what they’ll do with it.

Don’t be that person. 

You need to have a goal in mind around the online courses you take. To keep it simple, what’s the ROI on the educational expenses? If you’re planning on taking a course on SEO and content marketing, make sure that you have a plan in mind for how you’ll turn that education into a profitable business. 

Does the Course Content Get You Excited? 

As the saying goes – pursue your passion, and you’ll never work a day in your life. While that’s true, it’s not always realistic, and even your passion will have aspects that won’t exactly spark your enthusiasm. 

But, where do you see yourself taking the education in five years? Does it sound like something you could do for the rest of your life and be happy? Do you think it will grant you the location independence and financial freedom you want? 

Does the Course Contain Information Readily Available Online? 

We see this happening a lot, and it’s become a popular trend. Many people create courses of regurgitated information you could find with a quick Youtube search. The upside is, they do the leg work of putting it all together in an easy to digest format. 

The bad news is, they may charge you a lot of money for something you could get for free. 

You need to figure out where you stand on this. If you’re okay with paying for a course because it will get you from point A to point B faster, then by all means – go for it. If you’re short on cash and fine with taking longer and making more mistakes along the way, you can go that route. 

how does Udacity work and what are its pros & cons?

Udacity is an online educational platform offering MOOCs and nanodegrees. The company is based in Silicon Valley, and they hold incredible partnerships with some of the most noteworthy companies in the world. Some being Google, Facebook, and Amazon. 

These partnerships allow Udacity to provide a top-notch education using the latest technology and up-to-date practicality. Best of all, they’re teaching you skills that you can take with you to one of these companies or on your own. 

Udacity puts a heavy emphasis on their tech degrees, but they also offer digital marketing and a few other business-related programs. 

Pros of Udacity:

• Focus on essential information (no fluff)
• Partnerships with successful companies
• Great onboarding process
• Perfect for adult learners leaving the corporate world
• Help with career and business development

Cons of Udacity:

• Steep price 
• Limited course offerings
• The community could use improvement

When we compare Treehouse vs Udacity, that’s the first thing that stands out. Treehouse only offers tech classes in areas such as C#, web design, and PHP. The platform caters to those interested in coding and not much else. 

Let’s look deeper into some of the standout features of Udacity. 

Features and Benefits of Udacity 

Now that you understand a little more about Udacity let’s dive into the information you need. You want to know what makes Udacity tick and why people are willing to pay money for these online courses. 

The Nanodegree

The Nanodegree program entered the marketplace in 2014 when Udacity removed most of their free certificate programs. You can access the education for 6-12 months once completing the degree, and you receive a certificate of completion when you finish. 

This costs $399 per month, and there are no guidelines regarding how fast you need to complete the program. Udacity recommends spending approximately 10 hours per week, and since you’re paying per month – the faster you complete the degree, the less it costs. 

You can also pay for multiple months in one lump sum, which will help reduce the overall cost. 

The company is constantly progressing and offering new degree programs. In 2017, they launched a flying car robotics program, self-driving cars, data foundations, Google AdWords, digital marketing, and more. 

We like the nanodegrees because Udacity does a great job of “cutting the fat” with their education. If you’re looking for a platform that will teach you precisely what you need to know to move towards a dream career, you’ll want to check out Udacity. 

Nanodegree Plus 

If you want to take a step up from the nanodegree and guarantee yourself a job (in 2017), you could have gone for the nanodegree plus program. This guaranteed you a job with one of the partners of Udacity once you completed the required education and received your certificate. 

Unfortunately, in 2017-2018 it looks like they eliminated the guarantee and replaced it with a career services section. 

The good news is that you’re receiving a world-class education in tech and business. They offer career services to help you build your portfolio, leverage the platform’s network, and prepare for interviews. 

Using the E-Learning Platform 

It’s a nerve-wracking experience “going back to school” after working in the corporate world for a number of years. It might even be more intimidating to do it online. A huge judge of an online education platform’s quality is in how intuitive and easy it is to use. 

Onboarding 

The first thing that will happen when you sign up for a course on Udacity is you’ll go through the onboarding process. This is an important and much-welcomed step, in our opinion, because it provides you with comfort in knowing that someone will hold your hand a little. 

You’ll fill out a questionnaire, preview the syllabus, plan a study schedule, and set goals and reminders for yourself using their calendar software. 

Udacity’s onboarding is impressive, and it shows why paying a monthly premium for education is better than paying one upfront fee and having the course creator “leave you to it.” 

Working Through the Lessons 

When you’re done onboarding, you’re ready to start diving into your first class. If you’ve ever taken an online course before, you’ll find that it’s very similar to most platforms. On the left, you’ll find an outline of everything you’ll learn in each lesson. 

The lessons are video-based with an instructor on-screen running you through the course material. Sometimes it’s the instructor talking, and sometimes it’s a slide presentation. Each lesson is either a 10 or 20-minute segment with some quizzes and graded assignments throughout the process. 

One thing we would like to see more of from Udacity is a better break up of each assignment. Instead of going through hours of videos with a few quizzes at the end, consider breaking it up into easier to digest sections with written assignments in between. 

Taking Quizzes 

Once you’ve completed a certain number of lessons, you’ll take a quiz. We’ve taken many online quizzes in MOOC platforms, and most of them don’t live up to their expectations. Either the quiz questions do not apply to the lesson, or they’re so easy and obvious that they’re not even worth taking. 

Udacity does a nice job of challenging it’s students while still making it accessible for learners of all backgrounds. 

Graduating 

Graduating from Udacity is simple. If you pass all the lessons and complete each assigned project with a grade of “meets expectations,” you’ll pass. Once you do that, you’ll get your nanodegree, and you can move onto career counseling. 

Udacity reviews

Udacity is a leader in this space; let’s get that right. They’re setting the bar when it comes to online learning, and we believe they offer one of the best (if not the best) platforms out there. But, in this Treehouse vs. Udacity comparison, we’re playing Devil’s Advocate, so we want to see what other people have to say. 

We’ve spent hours scouring the internet to find honest and unbiased reviews from people who took courses on Udacity. Here’s what we found:

It appears that most people find Udacity incredibly easy to use, and for the most part, they believe the information taught on the platform is up-to-date and applicable to the current job market. 

The biggest complaint is the price, and we expect that. Paying $399 per month is out of reach for some people, and that is especially true outside of the US, Canada, Europe, and Oceania. In more underdeveloped countries where people might gain a valuable education to get ahead, a price tag that high puts Udacity far out of reach. 

Alternatives to Udacity 

The best way to understand the features and benefits of a product is to compare it to another similar one. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest competitors of Udacity and if they can stand up to the giant. 

Udemy 

Course Cost: $19.99-199.99

Udemy is another huge online educational platform, but it has some tremendous differences when compared to Udacity. First, the amount of courses offered on Udemy is a huge plus. They don’t limit themselves to tech and business – you can learn anything on Udemy. 

One month you could take a course on hydroponics, and the next month, take one on starting a microbrewery. There are no limitations. 

The reason for this is because individual instructors create Udemy courses with variable backgrounds. You could go on Udemy and create a course on something you know right now. 

Since you’re learning from instructors from all different backgrounds, you never know what you’ll get either. They might be filming their videos on an iPhone 6 in their basement, and you can barely hear or understand what they’re saying. 

This leads to inaccurate information and outdated courses because they’re not required to update them, and Udemy doesn’t require specific backgrounds for their creators. 

Pros:

• Affordable
• Tons of courses
• The platform is easy to use

Cons:

• Outdated information
• Potentially inaccurate information
• Variable video and audio quality

Check out one of Udemy’s many course offerings here. 

Treehouse 

Course Cost: $25-49 per month

Treehouse will teach you how to code, and that’s it. That’s the main problem we have with the platform. While it is one of the most affordable options out there, there isn’t much variety in what you learn, and there’s limited information on each course before you start paying for it. 

The good news is, they offer a diverse library of tech topics like PHP, iOS, Android, Java, Ruby on Rails, web design, photoshop, and more. They even have courses similar to Udacity, where they teach you how to take this education and turn it into your own business. 

Pros:

• Affordable
• Heavy focus on tech
• High-quality content from in-house experts

Cons:

• Limited offering
• Video-based training online
• No ratings or reviews to help you decide on a course

Give Treehouse a spin here. 

Codecademy

Course Cost: $19.99 for Pro

Codecademy’s claim to fame was their free courses. At one time, you could learn anything on this platform for free, and they offer great exercises that teach you how to build websites in real-time. They also have a great active forum for each class where you can ask questions and talk with other students. 

Now, their free classes are few and far between but at a $19.99 price tag for a pro account; it’s worth it. The platform is easy to use, and they provide you with step by step instruction on how to build a website. 

Best of all, you get to actually do it while earning badges along the way for various achievements. The only downside is that they don’t offer any video instruction, so if you like having a talking head on the screen, tell you what to do, you’ll have to choose a different platform. 

Pros:

• Great step-by-step learning
• Affordable
• Still offers free courses

Cons:

• No video instruction
• Limited career and business prep
• Mostly focused on beginners

Take a test drive of Codecademy by clicking here. 

what next? 

More and more people are leaving their cushy corporate office for palm trees, laptops, and banana boats. While many people make it sound so easy, we’re trying to be honest with you. It’s not always easy, but great course platforms like Udacity help make it possible for anyone to learn something they’re passionate about and turn it into a career or business. 

Udacity is: 

• Easy to use because the platform walks you through everything
• A great way for adult learners to work through a course at their own pace
• The perfect choice for those who value learning from experts instead of “wannabes” 

If you think Udacity can help you move in the direction you know you want to go, consider learning more about it by clicking here. 

Read More About Udacity Online Courses

• Udemy vs Udacity Review
• Udacity or Codecademy Review
• Udacity Digital Marketing Review