Introduction
Interested in taking your online education to the next level? If so, our CreativeLive review should help. In this CreativeLive review, we will tell you everything you need to know about this online platform, from what it’s like to take CreativeLive classes from how to master the technical basics of using the online education platform.
We will even give you some information on current prices and the community you might find here! Let’s get started.
What is CreativeLive?
CreativeLive is an online education platform focused on offering high-quality courses in a variety of categories. Since the company was launched in 2010 by Chase Jarvis, it has grown to over 10 million active students.
Jarvis launched this company along with Craig Swanson to “take a fresh approach to education” and allow everyone to have access to world-class instructors.
At the time of writing, the platform boasts almost two thousand classes broken into five main categories and a few sub-categories of each.
Currently, the list of main categories is as follows:
- Photo and Video
- Art and Design
- Music and Audio
- Craft and Maker
- Money and Life
Who is CreativeLive For?
While there is certainly something to be found on the platform for professionals looking to step up their game, the beginner can also find some benefits in these video classes. CreativeLive classes often provide enough basic info for a novice to master the technical basics of a new skill.
CreativeLive is geared toward offering courses for creatives, but their section on Money and Life has a more broad scope of who could benefit from it. Those seeking general self-improvement and life skills would do well to look here.
There is also a very professional atmosphere to a lot of the content on the site. It appears to be a clear intention for people to be able to turn these skills and hobbies into a business. By reading the class description students would be able to ascertain what level of knowledge is expected of a student before they enroll in individual classes.
How Does CreativeLive Work?
The platform is extremely simple to navigate and students will find themselves drifting towards their creative niches in no time. Even if you lack good time management skills, you will find that taking classes on CreativeLive is not too difficult to handle.
First of all, creating an account with CreativeLive is free and once you have done it you can begin customizing their experience to fit their unique needs. You can view upcoming classes and register for as many high-quality courses as you’d like.
You may add some of their interests to their dashboard to stay up to date with articles and courses that are in their genre of interest. But most importantly this is where they will be able to add their first courses.
You can browse a wide variety of high-quality video classes on the “all courses” page or narrow it down into categories they are interested in using the sidebars.
One of the really neat things about CreativeLive is its usage of learning paths. These are curated sets of video classes focused on a specific skill or end goal. It can be an excellent place for a beginner to start and give themselves a good jumping-off point.
Some of the courses they offer are free to view as many times as you would like. But most of the content on the site is paid in one way or another, either through a one-time fee or through CreativeLives yearly subscription.
Features and Functionality
Here are some of the major features of CreativeLive.
Learning Paths
There are, at the time of writing, twenty different learning paths. Each of these is designed to get you to a different end goal depending on what you select. But one thing they all have in common is the focus on the topic at hand.
The opportunity to select a curated bunch of video classes devoted to a topic of interest is a massive help, especially if entrepreneurs have little to no experience in the realms they are getting started in.
One thing to note about these would be that they are mostly targeted at beginner to medium skill levels. They don’t assume that students taking these classes will have much knowledge in these areas.
Therefore, if you are a professional looking to boost their skill base, it might be a better idea for you to handpick which material you watch. You likely know best where your craft could use bolstering.
Professional Instructors
One of the things that stuck out when looking over CreativeLive is their top-notch teachers, many of whom are experts in their field (you’ll even learn from world-renowned photographers, in many cases). Other sites that offer similar services often allow just about anyone to post content, so it can be a gamble whether or not you end up with anything super useful.
With CreativeLive, you always know you are getting content from some of the best in their fields. For example one of the site’s highest-end photography classes was created by Alex Strohl, who is held in extremely high regard in the world of the photographic arts.
The platform’s disposition to having only the best of the best teach their courses is one of the defining characteristics. It was one of the principles on which the company was founded and has proven to be an excellent decision in the long term.
But just because CreativeLive requires only the best to teach on their platform, does not mean they have a shortage of instructors. As of the time of writing, there are over 700 excessively qualified individuals that are producing courses on the platforms.
Free Live Classes
Most new users to CreativeLive will immediately notice the “streaming now” tab at the top of the page. Clicking on it will bring up a massive array of topics that may be of interest to you, or perhaps could spark your interest in a new topic altogether.
Though these classes cannot be replayed like the full courses, they are completely free for users to consume as they wish. This section isn’t always going to have something for every user, but there is a schedule so you can know to tune in at times when something that interests you is airing.
All you have to do is click RSVP next to the scheduled program and CreativeLive will send you a reminder letting you know the show you wanted to watch is about to go live.
At the very least, this streaming of classes to a real studio audience can provide something excellent to play in the background while doing household chores or drinking your morning coffee.
Downloadable Material
This might seem like it’s not that big of a deal to some. But a lot of hobbies, especially creative ones, take you places where access to a stable internet connection may not always be possible.
If you end up being a world-class photographer, chances are you aren’t going to stay in one place for too long. And getting the amazing shots might require you to adventure out into low service areas.
Being able to download your course material and watch it on the go, out in the wilderness, or even on a plane to a new place of work, is of paramount importance. Especially when you consider that entrepreneurs tend to be busy people with rapidly changing schedules.
Fast Class
The Fast Class option is only available to customers who have purchased the creator pass and this option features a lot of bang for your buck. In this case, the buck is your precious time.
Fast Classes pack over ten hours of content into a one-hour video. As their description says, it can be thought of as a “highlight” reel of their most popular classes. If you’re short on time, or just want the brass taxes on a subject this might be the mode for you. You can take classes in a wide range of topics in this way.
CreativeLive Pricing Model
The amount of money that CreativeLive will cost is largely going to depend on the student. Some people may be able to get out without spending any money, just watching free courses and streaming content.
However, if you are going to invest money into this service there are a few ways you can go about it.
You may select a course and pay a one-time fee for access to all of its content. This can be good if you only have interest in one course, or a severely limited amount of time to take in the information provided.
The prices of individual courses vary greatly. Some of them cost as little as $20, while some are several hundreds of dollars in price. At the time of writing though it appears that most courses can be purchased in the $30 to $100 range.
However, if you have an interest in taking a few courses, or aren’t sure exactly what you want from the service yet, a subscription to CreativeLive might be your best. With the pass, you gain access to everything on the site.
There are currently three different ways to purchase the Creator Pass plan. If you purchase an entire year’s subscription at once you will pay $149 billed annually which breaks down to $12.42 a month.
Or you can purchase a single month’s membership to try it out without commitment, this will cost you $39.99. If you aren’t sure if the platform is right for you this may be your best option, as you will still gain access to all the content they have to offer.
Lastly, their newest payment option is a yearly commitment but billed at $15 a month. Which can work for folks that are low on cash. But really if you’re going to commit it makes more sense to pay for it by the year.
When you break it down, paying annually will cost you $149 but paying by the month with the commitment is going to be $180. So you save yourself $31 if you buy it all at once.
Support
Support of their system comes mostly in the form of their solutions page, which will take you to a sort of massive hub of answered questions. Most of the time you are going to find an answer to your question here.
But if you find that your question was too specific or just isn’t covered then you can email support directly. You can expect a response from this in around 48 hours.
There is also a great community surrounding CreativeLive with people eager to help newcomers through the hurdles. If you can’t find help anywhere else you’ll almost certainly find it there.
The Advantages (Pros) of CreativeLine
Here are some of the biggest benefits of using CreativeLine.
Pro Level Instructors
Currently, the platform has over seven hundred of the best creative minds in the world on its roster. This leads to the great assurance that all the information you are going to receive is coming from accredited sources.
Ease of Use
CreativeLive does an excellent job with its interface and navigating to your desired content is not a lengthy endeavor. They employ a simple yet deep UI system that even the least tech-savvy among us could find our way around.
Course Quality and Diversity
Not only does the content come from some of the best minds in their respective fields, but all of the videos are also shot by professionals. That means you get an air of supreme quality when it comes to their video classes.
You also have access to some truly deep dives into topics. You could just take the highlights of the courses if you wanted with Fast Class, but the level of detail you can receive from a full course is second to none.
You’ll also be able to take online courses on CreativeLive that you wouldn’t find anywhere else. Some of the more unique topics you’ll find here include things like personal development, jewelry design, and travel photography.
Mobility
Along with their excellent UI and navigation systems, CreativeLive makes it super simple to learn on the go. Their mobile app is just as easy to use as their website and is available on IOS and Android.
This, along with the ability to download all of your materials means you never have to be away from your learning no matter where life takes you.
Refund Policy
CreativeLive offers an excellent refund policy on both their individual courses and their subscription model.
If you are dissatisfied with any of their courses you may request a refund within 30 days of purchase, CreativeLive will provide you with a refund.
The Creator Pass allows for refunds if you request them up to 7 days from the days of purchase.
Both of these windows allow for plenty of time to test drive the product and determine whether you are satisfied or not.
The Disadvantages (Cons) of CreativeLive
Of course, there are some disadvantages of using this platform, too.
Lack of Certificates
Unlike a lot of services that offer educational classes, CreativeLive does not at this time offer any certifications. This can be a downer, especially for people who are very new in the industries that they are learning about.
While online certifications don’t always help you, it can be a good way for people to gain some amount of knowledge into someone’s skill level if they are unfamiliar with the trade.
Price of Courses
While this is not true for everything on their platform, some of the courses are priced way too high in comparison to what else is out there. Competitor’s courses on common subjects like Adobe Photoshop can be found for well under half of what is on CreativeLive.
Though to be fair the subscription model is a solid bang for your buck and the quality of these videos is often leagues above the rest of the market.
Limited Videos of Some Categories
One of the largest things that might draw people away from CreativeLIve is the lack of content in some areas. While there is a lot of info about things like travel photography, there are some creative areas that are much more barren.
For instance, there is a notable lack of online classes in programming. Just focusing on UI/UX is leaving out a huge chunk of developers who may need help flexing their creative muscles. Another niche in need of some content is cooking.
It just seems like the platform went full force into some content and completely neglected others. And for a site that has been around since 2010, it seems rather strange they haven’t remedied it.
Limited Interaction With Instructors
Because there are so many fewer instructors than students it can be difficult if not impossible to pose questions to them directly. This is less of a problem with CreativeLive specifically and more with online learning platforms as a whole.
However, something that does affect CreativeLive more than others is the sheer number of users it has in comparison to its instructors. Not only that but most, if not all, of their instructors have busy lives of their own. Therefore they don’t have time to answer questions from students all day long.
CreativeLive Alternatives
There are a lot of online learning platforms out there that compete for users, so CreativeLive has its fair share of rivals. To list them all would be outside of our scope (there are so many places offering online courses these days!) but these are a few of more noteworthy competitors.
Coursera
Coursera is an excellent alternative if you are not too interested in CreativeLive. Though Coursera is less niche-focused than CreativeLive, it has a massive collection of videos. The prices can be similar to CreativeLive and the quality is up there as well.
Due to the number of videos that are available on the site, it is much more likely that Coursera will have something that interests you if you are less creatively inclined, or simply CreativeLive does not have what you want.
YouTube
YouTube is another excellent source of information and if you’re looking for a sheer amount of content then look no further. YouTube easily has the largest amount of videos out of anything else on the internet. By several orders of magnitude.
But there’s a catch that I’m sure we’re all aware of. Just because there are a lot of YouTube videos does not mean they are all high quality.
You are most likely to find something on YouTube that applies to your situation that is true. But you are also just as likely to find a video of someone with no clue what they’re talking about.
Udemy
Udemy is another online learning platform that users frequent. The prices are much lower than what’s on CreativeLive most of the time. But this platform allows anyone to post courses and sell them to learners. This isn’t always a bad thing, but you could benefit from some quality control here.
edX
The final alternative I’ll mention is edX which offers professional education courses completely free of charge, but a paid version to earn a certificate. It may not hit all the same creative bullet points as CreativeLive, but it is a fantastic learning platform.
All online learning platforms have their ups and downs, it often comes down to the individual as to which of them would be the best.
Conclusion
CreativeLive finds itself in a bit of a strange place in the market of online learning platforms. It does not offer certificates like some other online learning platforms like edX and Coursera. But it is also at times more expensive than services like Udemy or free platforms like Youtube.
However, as far as taking a prominent stance for creative entrepreneurs with professional quality content, CreativeLive stands out in the crowd. They hit the mark if the user would like to simply hone a hobby craft or try and capitalize on their passion and build a business.
When you boil it down, if CreativeLive has classes on the things that interest you then it’s probably going to be a great investment. What courses they do offer are phenomenal and most everyone in creative endeavors of all kinds could learn from them.
FAQ
Is CreativeLive legit?
Yes, CreativeLive is legit. The platform offers courses on most things creative and supplies exactly what they advertise. They even offer a refund policy if you are not satisfied with your purchase and wish to back out.
Is CreativeLive worth it?
This is largely going to boil down to the individual and what they want out of CreativeLive. Also, it’s going to depend on how you pay for the service.
If you purchase individual courses then you may end up overpaying if you don’t get anything out of the course.
The Creator Pass subscription is reasonably priced and the best deal on their platform.
If you are a creative person who wishes to learn more skills or develop a new hobby, then it is likely you will get at least something out of CreativeLive.
Are CreativeLive courses worth the price?
This is going to vary from course to course and is also up to the individual. Some of the courses can be more expensive than others.
However, weighing that against the quality, it appears they have fair prices on at least most of the courses that are on the platform.
If you have the Creator Pass and watch a lot of different classes, you have likely gotten much more value than the subscription’s annual price tag.
Is CreativeLive free?
There are some aspects of the CreativeLive platform that are free to everyone. Any course that is appearing live in their streaming section is free to watch. But they are not free to rewatch on demand, to do this you must pay the course fee or subscribe.
Some basic courses are free to everyone and can be watched on-demand. Though most of these are geared almost entirely towards beginners, so once you gain a basic understanding of a skill you likely won’t benefit much from these.
How much does CreativeLive cost?
CreativeLive can cost nothing if you watch only the free content. However, to access the rest of the platform you must either pay a subscription fee or pay for each course.
Individual course prices will vary greatly. But many of the video classes can be purchased for $29. You can gain access to most courses on the site for $100 or less, but some are a couple hundred dollars or more.
Purchasing the subscription is more straightforward. Paying for a full years subscription at once will cost you $149. Paying monthly will cost you $39 each month.
You may also pay monthly, but with a yearly commitment, for $15 each month.
What is CreativeLIve’s refund policy?
CreativeLive has two different refund policies: one for individual courses and one for its Creator Pass.
For individual courses, you have 30 days from the day of purchase to request a refund if you are not satisfied with a course. If you request a refund because you cannot view the media due to technical issues on CreativeLive’s end, they may simply replace the media, therefore, solving the issue.
If you have the Creator Pass and would like a refund then you must notify them within 7 days of the purchase.
Who teaches CreativeLive courses?
CreativeLive has over seven hundred professional instructors that teach their courses. Each of them is a leader in their field with years of experience and credibility.
Each course has instructors that specialize in their niche and many instructors teach more than one course on the site.
What types of courses does Creative Live offer?
CreativeLive offers courses in a variety of creative skill areas and entrepreneurial categories intended to appeal to the masses.
Their categories are Photo and Video, Money and Life, Art and Design, Craft and Maker, and finally Music and Audio.
Each of these broad categories is further broken up into sub-categories making it simpler to find the types of classes that would appeal to and benefit you the most.
In short, CreativeLive intends to appeal to anyone with a creative side and specialize in those that want to earn some kind of living from their hobby.
