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Coursera Explores a $59/month Pricing for Its Catalog Subscription

After introducing an annual subscription earlier this year, Coursera is testing a monthly subscription.

Coursera Plus monthly subscription
Coursera Plus monthly subscription

Last year, Class Central broke the news that Coursera was testing a catalog subscription. The subscription, called Coursera Plus, was officially launched in February. For $399 a year, it gives access to a vast majority of the provider’s catalog, from courses to Specializations.

Now, Coursera seems to be testing a new payment option for Coursera Plus. Instead of paying $399 for a one-year subscription, learners may pay $59 per month.

(To learn more about the evolution of Coursera’s business model, read Coursera’s Monetization Journey: From 0 to $100+ Million in Revenue.)

Coursera Plus annual subscription
Coursera Plus annual subscription

The new monthly subscription option doesn’t seem to have been fully rolled out. Coursera’s Help Center doesn’t mention it. And some of Class Central’s team members can’t see it either. Depending on which page I was visiting and on whether I was logged in or not, I could see only the monthly option, only the annual option, or both.

This isn’t the first time Coursera tests a monthly subscription. In another exclusive, Class Central reported back in 2017 that Coursera had been testing a $49 monthly subscription. But it was never rolled out fully and the test was eventually shelved.

On Coursera, a Specialization typically costs $49 per month. For an additional $10 per month, you can now get access to a vast majority of the provider’s catalog. So Coursera’s new monthly subscription seems like a good option for those who want to take a Specialization. Overall, however, the price remains prohibitive for a vast majority of people.

Coursera isn’t the only online course provider offering an annual catalog subscription. Last year, FutureLearn introduced FutureLearn Unlimited, which now costs $279 per year.

Dhawal Shah Profile Image

Dhawal Shah

Dhawal is the CEO of Class Central, the most popular search engine and review site for online courses and MOOCs. He has completed over a dozen MOOCs and has written over 200 articles about the MOOC space, including contributions to TechCrunch, EdSurge, Quartz, and VentureBeat.

Comments 5

  1. Eiyass

    Coursera me estafo! pague me suscribí a un plan mensual de $59 dinero del cual no se hicieron cobro, sin embargo al terminar mi prueba gratuitita y obtener unos cuantos certificados decidieron no admitir mi pago, bloqueando todos mis certificados, haciéndome perder tiempo y esfuerzo.

    Coursera ripped me off! pay I subscribed to a monthly plan of $ 59 money for which they were not charged, however when I finished my free trial and obtained a few certificates they decided not to accept my payment, blocking all my certificates, wasting time and effort.

    Reply
    • Veronica Chiaravalli

      Hi,

      I had the same problem.
      It seems that now they only offer the annual subscription which is too expensive for me.

      I liked the monthly payment plan.

      Best regards,

      Veronica Chiaravalli

      Reply
      • KeerthiChandrika

        Hii
        I have a Doubt regarding Coursera Specialisation. If we take Specialisation in Coursera on a monthly basis. If we take 3 months to complete the course…Do we need to pay 3 months’ money on a monthly basis??? or if we complete the course in one month…Do they provide a capstone project and Certificate??
        Can we Do two or more Specialisations at the same time???

        Reply
      • Tarik Ayoub

        It is so sad to see Coursera toying with peoples money, time and effort like that. Such a bad company, I will never consider using it again 🙁

        Reply
  2. Gisele

    Hello,

    I had the same problem.

    I’ve been having a really troublesome issue with the payment of my subscription as well. I just wanted to renew my subscription buy Coursera did not accept my payment although there was nothing wrong with my credit card. Now there is no way for me to keep my monthly subscription since the site does not offer it anymore….. Please help. I cannot and it does not make sense for me to pay an annual subscription fee at this point.

    Reply

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