Learning new skills can be fun and rewarding, but on the downside, it can be time consuming and expensive. The good news is that there are several online course providers available to suit different needs.

Here are four websites designed to keep you engaged and entertained as you learn new topics, advance your career and grow to new heights.

1. Skillshare

Skillshare offers both free and paid courses, with the latter available when you subscribe to their premium membership. This paid tier of timed subscriptions will open up their entire library of courses.

This makes Skillshare an enticing option for fast learners who would like to pursue multiple courses within a relatively short span of time.

Courses are categorised under Animation, Design, Illustration, Lifestyle, Photo & Film, Business and Writing.

There is a heavy skew towards creative-focused courses on the site. These are offered as classes to encourage fellow students to learn and share together, with projects to encourage application of taught knowledge.

Each course is accompanied with video presentations, making the whole experience livelier.

Skillshare has partnered with various well-known figures around the world to become teachers in some of their classes, but you may also apply to become one if you meet their requirements.

Note that these courses are not accredited by any institution, which means that Skillshare is primarily a site to learn new skills for personal growth, not to pad your professional resume with.

You can take classes on the go with their app available through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Skillshare’s well designed site and app makes it simple for learners to skill-up anytime, anywhere and it also offers scholarships to their premium membership; offering students and those with lower income to apply for free or to subsidise the premium membership fee.

2. Udemy

Udemy features nearly 130,000 courses with multiple languages supported, from programming and web design to business, and data science.

Based on its website, the top three courses are the Python programming language, photography, and web development.

Each course at Udemy is priced individually and ranges from US$40 to US$250. Once paid, you will gain access to the course permanently.

Learners looking to gain a specific set of skills or more expertise in a particular field would appreciate Udemy’s fee structure. Courses periodically slash prices, so take advantage of this.

If you are unsatisfied with the course you purchased, Udemy offers a 30-day money back guarantee if their refund policy is met.

Because of the extensive list of courses available, Udemy provides a comprehensive filtering tool to help students search for the right course. Some of the filters available are pricing, review rating, course difficulty and language.

Yes, there is a 5-star rating system with written reviews from participants, allowing you to browse through feedback to help you make your choice. This ensures that highly-rated courses with exemplary content are able to stay visible amongst the thousands of courses on the site.

Udemy provides a community platform for both instructors and users, providing a space for discussion boards, sharing or just fun.

Udemy has an app for both iOS and Android so users can access their course content on the move.

3. Coursera

This site provides professional certifications. These are industry-recognised certifications to help you further your career path. For example, IBM Data Analyst Professional Certificate provides the foundation to would-be data analysts looking to kickstart their career.

Coursera has also partnered with Stanford and Princeton to provide Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees, as an online alternative that is equivalent in all sense to those obtained on campus.

This allows students from all over the world to participate, with fees well below on-campus fare, making it a very enticing option for those on a tight budget.

Some classes on Coursera follow a scheduled timetable of learning similar to traditional on-campus classes. This strict timetable will however be an issue to those juggling study, work and family.

However, Coursera also offers ‘Mastertrack’ certifications. These are online modules taken from full-sized courses, and count towards course credits if you are accepted into a full Master’s degree.

Coursera also provides shorter courses, with on-demand lectures with guided projects that can be completed within a day or two.

To access paid content, Coursera has implemented a hybrid system that offers paid subscription, premium membership, and also per-course fees. Its premium membership called Coursera Plus, provides unlimited access to a selection of courses and specialisation.

4. LinkedIn Learning

Being associated to LinkedIn gives LinkedIn Learning (LL) immediate recognition and familiarity. All their courses will reflect into your online resume in LinkedIn.

The integration streamlines the experience between the two, and all learners must have a LinkedIn account to start. Data from both sites are leveraged against each other to produce a personalised and tailored experience for you.

LL would be able to make course recommendations based on the data, making it LL’s greatest advantage above the rest.

LL has a subscription system that provides unlimited access to all of its courses for the duration of the subscription. Courses are divided into three broad categories; business, creative and technology.

What makes LL unique are their selected group of courses that have been reviewed and approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI) under the Authorised Training Partner programme. These include technical project management, business management, and leadership.

Finally, by subscribing to LL, you will also gain full access to LinkedIn Premium. This feature turbo-charges your LinkedIn account, giving you access to salary and job insights, unlimited profile viewing, InMail credits, and more.

This article first appeared in MyPF Follow MyPF to simplify and grow your personal finances on Facebook and Instagram.