This Pluralsight review will provide information about the education platform, its features, and pricing plans. What’s interesting about this company is that, besides programming courses, it also offers an engineering analytics tool called Flow.
Pluralsight is based in Utah, and boasts over 1,700 employees. Its products are used by more than 17,000 customers, 70% of which are Fortune 500 companies.
All the courses are split into six categories:
- Software development
- IT ops
- Information and cybersecurity
- Cloud computing
- Machine learning and AI
- Data professional
The courses are further divided into specialized career paths, most of which we will cover in this review. If you want to learn IT outside of college, Pluralsight training is among the best in the industry. It’s also highly interactive, with an emphasis on project creation and management. Knowledgeable instructors lead the classes and assess your skills as you go. In addition, every trainee receives a certificate upon curriculum completion.
Pros & Cons
Pricing Plans
Skills
Individual
Team
| Standard | Premium |
| $19 per month | $29 per month |
| $159 per year | $239 per year |
| Starter | Professional | Enterprise |
| $399 per user/year | $579 per user/year | $779 per user/year |
Flow
Core
$38 /contributor/month
*(billed annually)
Plus
$50 /contributor/month
*(billed annually)
Features, Courses, and Materials
Although the platform isn’t very intuitive like those of most Pluralsight competitors, it offers many different options. There is an enormous course library where you can search for any topic. Furthermore, the entire curriculum is categorized based on difficulty so that the users can choose between beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses.
The students can choose core courses, expanded courses, and labs. The website also allows them to browse lessons by selecting one of the following subjects:
- Architecture and construction
- Business professional
- Creative professional
- Data professional
- IT ops
- Manufacturing and design
- Information and cyber security
- Software development
- Web development
Pluralsight interactive courses are excellent starting points for beginners and are regarded as some of the best in the field. Let’s take a closer look at the featured courses and their respective career paths.
Software development
If you choose this specialization, you will learn about web and mobile development, JavaScript, Python, C++, C#, Node.js, Java, React, and Ruby on Rails. According to online reviews, Pluralsight C++ courses are top-rated.
Software development training offers several career path options; the two featured on the site are Java (24 courses, 47 hours of lessons) and Python (24 courses, 42 hours of lessons). After finalizing one of them, you will be able to utilize various developer tools and work with development platforms.
These programs will teach you how to scale, deploy, build, and secure mobile and web apps by relying on Java, JavaScript, C#, Angular, etc. The curriculum is constantly updated according to the latest technology and demand.
Once you complete the course, you should have no problem getting a job in the field. However, keep in mind that the Pluralsight certificates have less value than those of elite coding colleges.
IT ops
The IT ops program is all-encompassing, allowing you to find a job in almost any industry. In this course, you will cover the following topics:
- Docker
- Ansible
- Linux
- Cloud computing
- Microsoft Windows OS
- Microsoft Office
- Windows servers
- Microsoft, Linux, and other servers
- IT networking
- Security
- Database administration
- Virtualization
Numerous IT ops career paths are available, but the two most popular ones are Fundamentals of DevSecOps (6 courses, 10 hours of lessons) and Fundamentals of Virtualization (5 courses, 6 hours of lessons). These programs are much shorter and more straightforward than others but will still provide you with a Pluralsight certificate that can open many doors in the industry.
After finishing the program, you will know more about IT security, server virtualization, and infrastructure. Upon completing one of these paths, you can increase your knowledge by getting a Network+, MCSA, or CCNP certificate.
Info and cybersecurity
The course on info and cybersecurity will help you learn more about safety and maintenance within the IT field. Our Pluralsight review has found that it covers topics such as security auditing, fundamentals, certification, penetration testing, malware analysis, and digital forensics.
Students can choose between several paths. Security Management career path (16 courses, 31 hours of lessons) and CompTIA Security+ (SYO-601) (6 courses, 24 hours of lessons) are the most sought-after.
Upon finishing these programs, you will be able to defend your company’s networks from external attacks and safeguard its integrity. Furthermore, in case of an attack, it will be easier to track the wrongdoer and modify your protection to ensure the company is safe from similar attacks in the future.
Pluralsight Standard vs. Premium plans — what’s the difference? The Standard package doesn’t provide interactive courses or projects. With the Premium, you will have full access to all the lessons, including those on digital forensics, malware analysis, penetration testing, and security fundamentals.
Cloud computing
Cloud computing has become an inseparable part of our lives, allowing us to store and utilize massive amounts of data online. If you are interested in working as a cloud specialist, completing this Pluralsight course can give you an upper hand in landing the job.
Pluralsight subscription will give you unlimited access to all cloud computing courses, including Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS. Most people are interested in learning about Google Cloud. They go either with the Google Cloud certified professional cloud architect path (7 courses, 22 hours of lessons) or the Google Cloud certified associate cloud engineer path (6 courses, 17 hours of lessons).
Machine learning and AI
Machine learning and AI are the fields that have become increasingly popular in the last few years. Although we are far from real artificial intelligence, algorithms can nowadays learn on their own and improve their procedures.
Pluralsight reviews show that people who take this course are usually interested in the Machine Learning Engineering career path (5 courses, 7 hours of lessons) and Machine Learning Literacy (5 courses, 16 hours of lessons). Once you finish one of these curriculums, you should have a deep understanding of machine learning, AI, neural networks, Python, TensorFlow, Microsoft Cognitive Services, etc.
This Pluralsight training would allow you to create a more interactive experience for people using your company’s services.
Data professional
Data professionals tackle subjects such as data engineering, analytics, and science. Students who take this course will learn about the Internet of Things, cloud, big data, mobile, etc. Upon course completion, they will be able to process data through tools such as Tableau, Server, SQL, R, etc.
The two top data professional paths are Querying Data with T-SQL from SQL server (7 courses, 19 hours of lessons) and Querying Data With SQL from PostgreSQL (5 courses, 10 hours of lessons). Like all other content, you can access this course via a desktop computer or the Pluralsight app.
Flow
Even though it’s not an actual course, Pluralsight Flow is worth mentioning. It is a proprietary platform that provides actionable insights, allowing you to analyze the software delivery process. As a result, it is ideal for all IT companies, and users can subscribe to it at any time.
You can use Flow to find bottlenecks and resolve them. It will also significantly increase the efficiency and deployment of software. Furthermore, developers can utilize it for collaboration between team members and coaching purposes.
Ease of Use
Pluralsight alternatives often sport intuitive interfaces; Pluralsight’s platform, on the other hand, is a bit harder to use because there is plenty of content and features. Luckily, there is a search bar with filters that you can use to find the desired course and topic.
Once you access a particular course, the lessons are intuitively organized — you won’t struggle to keep up since the curriculum guides you from one section to another.
Plans & Pricing
The Pluralsight free courses are pretty limited. If you rely on them only, you will never attain the advanced knowledge that would make you competitive in the market. So most users go with one of the paid plans:
Individual
- Standard ($19 per month / $159 per year)
- Premium ($29 per month / $239 per year)
Team
- Starter ($399 per user, annual payment)
- Professional ($579 per user, annual payment)
- Enterprise ($779 per user, annual payment)
Unlike the more expensive packages, the Standard and Starter plans don’t include interactive courses, projects, and certification practice exams. Premium, Professional, and Enterprise plans are more suited for coding experts trying to get certification and upgrade their knowledge to the next level.
Pluralsight free trial is helpful as it allows you to check the content before purchasing. As for the Flow platform, users can choose between Core ($38 per user, per month, paid annually) and Plus ($49 per user, per month, paid annually) plans.
Refund Policy
Pluralsight has a similar refund policy as most other coding platforms: once you subscribe to a plan, you won’t be able to get your money back. This is part of Pluralsight’s policy to stop malpractices. However, you can always cancel the payment for future periods. Even if you go with the Pluralsight cancel subscription option, you will be able to utilize all the content you’ve previously subscribed to until the end of the current payment period.
Keep in mind that Pluralsight will continue renewing your subscription; it is important to cancel it on time if you no longer need their services.
Online Ratings
Pluralsight is a great coding platform with excellent interactive features, according to reviews. Based on 820 ratings, the platform has an average of 4.6 stars out of 5 on G2.com. The users mostly praise its Role IQ and Skill IQ features. On the other hand, they complain about the lack of customization options and skill assessment.
The Pluralsight reviews on TrustRadius are pretty positive — based on 49 ratings, the company has a score of 8.2 out of 10. Furthermore, the platform received TrustRadius’s Top Rated award in 2018. The site has also included other ratings: likelihood to recommend (8 out of 10), likelihood to renew (10 out of 10), usability (9 out of 10), and support rating (6 out of 10).
Upskillwise.com has analyzed all Pluralsight features and has given the program four out of five stars. It praises support, free trial, and offline and mobile downloads. However, the site criticizes the platform’s limited topics and lack of free courses.
Value for Money — Final Verdict
Pluralsight is a little more expensive than its competitors, but it presents great value for money. As our Pluralsight review shows, the platform offers a wide variety of courses and has excellent interactive and support features. It also provides recommendations as you go, which is vital for people who have just started coding.
We’ve broken down some of the platform’s most exciting career paths and other features. If you want to learn even more, the best thing is to go to their courses page and see for yourself.