The Great Courses Plus Review (2021): Is It Worth It? (2024)

(This review contains affiliate links which means we earn a commission if you sign up⁠ — at no extra cost to you. However, it’s an honest review about my personal experience with The Great Courses).

Looking for real learning? Like the History Channel before it got overtaken with Ice Road Truckers and Pawn Stars?

My search for real online learning led me to The Great Courses Plus.

The Great Courses Plus is a deep and informative online learning platform that’s been dubbed the “Netflix of Learning”. It features an insane amount of college-level courses, all taught through video and audio clips that are easily digestible.

In my The Great Courses Plus review, I’ll explain how it works, how much it costs, and explore 3 courses in detail — The Black Death, The Everyday Guide to Wine, and What Einstein Got Wrong. I’ll also list my favourite and least favourite things about the platform.

Is The Great Courses Plus worth it for you?

Let’s find out.

What is The Great Courses Plus?

The Great Courses Plus is an online learning platform that allows you to stream college-level courses from the comfort of your computer, mobile device, tablet, or smart TV.

The Great Courses itself has actually been around for a few decades. Originally, The Great Courses was a course catalogue where you could purchase audio and video courses that would be mailed to you. VHS, DVD, you get the idea.

This catalogue still exists, and it’s where The Great Courses Plus gets its roots.

The Great Courses Plus is a streaming platform that takes the best and most popular courses that The Great Courses has ever offered, and gives them to you at a subscription model. You pay a monthly fee to get access to as many courses as you’d like.

How many courses is “as many courses as you’d like?”

700.

That’s right. 700 courses with over 9,000 lectures. That’s a tremendous amount of college-level content at your fingertips.

These courses are firmly in the “acquiring knowledge” category. Some online education platforms, like Masterclass, focus on creative skills, while other platforms, like Skillshare, focus on learning hard skills like python.

The Great Courses Plus is more about acquiring a liberal arts education.

Each course has 10-20 video lectures (around 30 minutes each), as well as an extensive PDF textbook (we’re talking 100-200+ pages) per course.

No quizzes, no essays, no tests. Just watching and reading!

The Great Courses vs. The Great Courses Plus

This review is for The Great Courses Plus.

As I touched on above, its parent company is called The Great Courses. It functioned (and still functions) as a catalogue which sold original taped college-level lectures.

Yep, you can still purchase DVDs of lectures for $35-$500 per class. But that’s pretty pricey…

Like me, you’re probably more interested in The Great Courses Plus — their streaming platform.

The Great Courses Plus takes all the hundreds of amazing Great Courses lectures and makes them available for streaming in a subscription model. It’s a lot more budget-friendly, as we’ll get into later on in the review!

What I’m trying to emphasise here is that these are separate platforms. They have their own websites. It’s not like other learning platforms where you can purchase a class individually or opt for the subscription model.

If you want the subscription model, you go to The Great Courses Plus site.

Who is The Great Courses Plus for?

The Great Courses Plus is an ideal learning platform for people who are interested in deep dives into lots of different topics.

If you want a 12-hour lecture on The Black Death, then this platform is for you.

It can be binged, in that you can watch the lectures back-to-back, but you can’t blast through a class in an afternoon. You definitely could blast through a class in a week though!

It’s a great platform for a focused learner — one who wants a good, in-depth look at a number of topics.

In this way, it is a lot like podcast learning. If you’re a big fan of podcasts (like The History of Rome), then you’d get a lot out of The Great Courses Plus.

Similarly, if you loved college lectures, then you’ll absolutely love this platform — as that’s what these courses are: college lectures. You won’t get a certificate or a degree upon completion, but you will walk away with an expanded knowledge base.

And isn’t that something great? I think so!

Lastly, you’ll like The Great Courses Plus if you’re looking for a no-frills learning platform. If the idea of homework, discussion pages, and uploading assignments makes you feel queasy; then look no further than The Great Courses Plus.

It’s self-paced, and requires no additional activities!

Who is it not for?

You might not like The Great Courses Plus if you’re hoping for a more immersive learning experience. There’s no discussion board, social media groups, homework feature, or anything interactive. It’s lectures and textbooks.

If that puts you off, you probably won’t like The Great Courses Plus.

If you’re a person that is looking for quick learning, The Great Courses isn’t going to scratch that itch. These are in-depth classes that last 6-12 hours on average. Thirty-minute lectures are the standard. Prepare to sit through standard lectures with no class interaction.

If you were hoping for celebrity teachers, Q&A sessions, or classes that focus on hard skills, such as coding, then The Great Courses Plus most likely won’t be for you either. Again, this is a platform that stresses college-level courses taught in a lecture-like manner.

What classes are on The Great Courses Plus?

• Economics and Finance
• Exclusive Features
• Food and Wine
• Health, Fitness and Nutrition
• History
• Hobby and Leisure
• Literature and Language
• Mathematics
• Music and Fine Arts
• Philosophy & Religion
• Professional & Personal Growth
• Programs for Young Learners
• Science
• Travel.

From these categories, you can dive in and take a look at the hundreds of courses that are available. You can learn algebra! You can learn Latin! You can learn screenwriting, or thermodynamics, or hundreds of other things.

While there is definitely an emphasis on college-style courses (in the Bachelors of Arts or Bachelors of Science veins), there are some skill-based classes like screenwriting and French 101 that you can also learn.

In this way, The Great Courses Plus is broader than most online education platforms. These are higher level learning courses, taught by professors.

Each class is anywhere from 6-12 hours long, so these are longer commitments. They are possibly the closest to real lecture-based learning that’s available on any learning platform.

Who are the teaches?

There aren’t many flashy, big name teachers on The Great Courses Plus. Instead, the teachers are typically well-degreed professors. When you look at your professor’s bio, you’ll often see that they’re attached to a university where they teach.

Not all teachers are professors. For example, the breadmaking courses are taught by professional chefs. But the level of expertise is still the same; these teachers are all well-vetted, seasoned professionals with many years of teaching or real-world experience under their belts.

You’re not gonna get a writing class taught by Neil Gaiman (for that, go check out MasterClass), but you’re also not gonna get a class of questionable quality taught by some guy who knows how to code (on Udemy, this can happen).

Instead, you’re going to get a professor. Like college.

How does a class work?

Classes are simple.

You choose a class from the categories page by clicking on it. From there, you’ll get to a course welcome page which gives you a little blurb about the class. Underneath it, there are a few tabs: Lectures, Your Professor, Course Guidebook, Share Course, Reviews

If you want to get started, simply click on the first lecture on the lecture tab, and get to watching. It’s that simple!

You can click the guidebook tab which will open an in-browser PDF (as opposed to downloadable PDFs which you get on MasterClass) if you want to review any of the information you’ve been over in your lecture. These PDFs are quite long and in-depth; they’re not simple flyers. They’re more like textbooks.

The share course tab allows you to share that you’ve been taking the course (not just share the course itself) on social media — the only social media connection that The Great Courses Plus has.

Lastly, there’s the review tab, which allows students to leave reviews for the courses. Interestingly, you can comment on people’s reviews, and click on their profiles to see what other reviews they’ve left.

The Great Courses Plus cost

There are three different price tiers for The Great Courses Plus, depending upon if you pay monthly, quarterly, or annually.

• If you pay monthly, it’s $20 a month, for an annual rate of $240
• If you pay quarterly, it’s $45 a quarter, for an annual rate of $180
• If you pay annually, it’s $150.

So, if you’re prepared pay annually upfront, you end up $90 better off — which is a saving of 35%.

I do like the flexibility of the plans offered — it’s a nice change from some of the more static subscription models.

So what do you get with this subscription fee?

• Access to hundreds of college-level courses
• Every course has around 6 to 12 hours of video lectures
• Each one comes with a very detailed PDF textbook.

There is a tremendous amount of content available, but unlike other online platforms (like MasterClass or Mindvalley), you don’t get access to any discussion boards, communities, or other features. This is strictly an information platform.

From my research, this may be because The Great Courses Plus’ main demographic are slightly older and primarily interested in learning. That’s not to say this isn’t a platform for younger people — I’m getting a lot out of it!

But it is a platform that ditches frills in favor of going in deep on its subject mastery.

Check out all the pricing options here.

Can I purchase an individual course?

You can purchase an individual course on The Great Courses, not The Great Courses Plus. It’s confusing, but they’re technically two different platforms. They have very heavy overlap in the courses offered, but you can’t individually purchase a Great Courses Plus class.

Instead, you have to buy the subscription.

If you wanted to buy an individual class from The Great Courses, you’d end up spending anywhere from $35 to $500. Most classes aren’t $500, but a lot of them fall in the $100-200 range.

Is it a good deal?

Let’s do a little price comparison.

If you buy the annual membership of The Great Courses Plus, it’s $150.

Many individual classes on The Great Courses cost at least $200.

If you’re taking at least one class a year through The Great Courses Plus, you’re saving money.

But how about dollars per hour?

Let’s say you take one course a year on an annual membership. That one course is “Understanding the US Government.”

That course is 12 hours long, over 24 videos.

150/12 = $12.5 per hour.

That’s not bad! And that’s if you take just one course.

Take two, and you’re down to $6.25 an hour.

Take four, and it’s $3.13 an hour.

You get the idea. You get out what you put into it. The Great Courses has thousands of hours of top-notch lectures, so it’s not hard to get sucked into the platform. If you’re doing one class a month, that’s 12 a year. That’s possibly 144 hours of learning, making it barely over $1 per hour.

Does The Great Courses Plus have a free trial?

Yes! The Great Courses Plus does have a free trial. It’s 14 days — and gives you access to the entire platform.

That’s actually how I stumbled upon the platform first. I was very curious, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to shell out for a subscription, so I decided to sign up for the free trial.

It’s a great way to determine if the platform is a good fit for you.

Check out the free trial here.

The pros and cons

Ok! It’s time for my favourite part of any review: where I give you the pros and cons.

As always, I like to leave you with the highlights (both good and bad) so that you can make your own decision as to whether The Great Courses Plus is right for you. There is a lot I liked, and a few things that I wish were better.

Let’s jump right in!

The pros

What did I like most about The Great Courses Plus?

• The amount of content. The amount of content that The Great Courses Plus has is incredible. There are hundreds of classes, each containing 6 to 12 hours of lectures, meaning that there are thousands of hours of college-level lectures at your fingertips. If you are a curious learner, there’ll be a course for you to enjoy.
• The focus on knowledge growth. A lot of online learning platforms are creative or skills based. That’s great! There’s nothing wrong with that! But I liked that The Great Courses Plus was knowledge-based. These classes teach you about The Black Death, about Algebra, about WWII — real arts and sciences education! It felt like a breath of fresh air.
• The free trial. I love a free trial. The Great Courses Plus offers 14 days free, so you can decide for yourself if the platform is worth subscribing to.
• Multiple subscription options. I like flexibility. The Great Courses Plus allows you to purchase a membership monthly, quarterly, or annually — and gives you savings at the higher levels. I appreciated this flexibility.
• There aren’t any frills. The emphasis is on learning. This is a platform where you watch lectures and read textbooks. Why fix what ain’t broken?

The cons

As with every education platform I review, there were a few cons. These are the main ones.

• The lectures can be a little wooden. These lectures don’t always have an easy feel to them. They’re taught by professors, not actors (like MasterClass), so they can come across as a little wooden. Each lecture is around 30 minutes, and not supplemented by much other than the stray image. While I liked that I could speed up, slow down, or subtitle the lectures; I did wish that things could be shaken up a little.
• The review feature was weird. I think it’s great that you can review a class. I think it’s not so great that I can comment on your review on The Great Courses Plus. That’s a little weird. You may think that’s me being nit-picky, but I started looking at some of the reviews, and I noticed that a lot of them are … well, a bit political. The reviews don’t necessarily do the courses justice, and come across as petulant. This is not The Great Courses Plus’s fault, but I think that they should do some better review moderation.
• You can’t buy courses individually … from this platform. The Great Courses and The Great Courses Plus still operate as separate platforms, meaning you can’t buy an individual class on TGCP and you can’t subscribe to TGC. I feel like there’s a real opportunity to merge these two platforms.
• You could find much of this material in other places. The Great Courses Plus is awesome. It is a great, one stop shop for high-quality lectures. But, in truth, you could find a lot of lectures at this calibre with a little digging on YouTube or Spotify. But that’s the tradeoff, you need to dig. The Great Courses Plus curates their courses, so no digging required!

My review of three classes

Whenever I do a review of a full platform, I like to review a few classes for you, so you can get a broad look at what the classes have to offer.

For The Great Courses Plus, I chose “The Black Death,” “The Everyday Guide to Wine,” and “What Einstein Got Wrong.”

In these mini reviews, I’ll take a quick look at who teaches the class, what the class offers, who would like each class, and a verdict on whether or not they’re worth taking.

Let’s jump in!

The Black Death

Hey, the past year has turned me morbid. I’m trying to cope just like all of you.

So, I decided to learn about one of the worst pandemics of all time: The Black Death.

I dawned my plague doctor mask (kidding), screwed my courage to the sticking place, and prepared to dive into the medieval world of buboes.

Who teaches the class?

The Black Death is taught by Professor Dorsey Armstrong, a professor of English and Medieval Literature at Perdue University. She specializes in women writers from the Medieval period and the Authurian legend. She currently serves as the editor-in-chief of Arthuriana, an academic journal all about King Arthur.

What’s the class like?

The Black Death (the class) is divided into 24 lectures that are each around 30 minutes. So this is a classic, 12-hour Great Courses Plus class.

The class starts out with an overview of Europe’s demographics before the plague, then chronicles the disease’s journey throughout the continent.

That takes us through about half of the class. After that, the class looks at some medieval theories of disease, its effects on religion and politics, plague resurgence, and then its lasting legacy.

It’s a long and detailed class that is spelled out in easy to understand lectures. The guidebook, which is several hundred pages, covered most of the information present in the class — though at a slightly less granular level.

Who will like this class?

History buffs would really enjoy this class.

I count myself as a history buff, and I was very enthralled. I especially liked learning about the communities that survived the plague (way to go Milan) as well as how the disease ended up coming back to Europe in waves through the 17th century.

The lectures are punctuated with images, but the format doesn’t deviate any further. It’s a woman who lectures from a study (albeit a very nice study), and the footage quality suggests that this course is probably from the mid-2000s. The knowledge base is up to date, but it a little fun to see the old-quality of the film.

If you don’t mind a static lecture that is competent, engaging, and long-form, you’ll definitely like this class.

Who won’t like this class?

You’re not going to like The Black Death if you’re not a history person. At 12 hours long, it is critical to have an interest in the subject before you dive in.

I’d say that about any of The Great Courses Plus classes — these aren’t classes you pick up “because you have to.” You take them because you want to.

If you want to take a class on the Black Death, then this is the class for you. If you recoiled when I said “12 hour history class,” then your instincts will lead you well.

In general, The Great Courses Classes are WYSIWYG. What You See Is What You Get.

My verdict

The Black Death course on The Great Courses Plus is a deep, informative, and engaging 12-hour lecture on The Black Death. It’s great for anyone who is a lover of history, or simply wants to learn more about one of the deadliest diseases of our past.

Check out The Black Death here.

The Everyday Guide to Wine

Wine? Everyday? Sign me up!

Plus, with the courses being virtual, that meant I could do a little, uh, tasting research on the side.

But was the class as good as the wine? Let’s find out!

Who teaches the class?

The Everyday Guide to Wine is taught by Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, who holds a Master of Wine.

I did some digging. Turns out, only a few hundred people have ever held the title of Master of Wine. It’s exceedingly prestigious, and means that she spent years honing her knowledge base about wine.

She’s, pardon the pun, top shelf.

What’s the class like?

The class is another 24-lecture course, clocking in around 12 hours. This course covers everything from tasting to winemaking to reds and whites and more.

The course jets around the world, focusing quite heavily on the regions of France, looking at Northern and Southern Italy, and then examining the regions of the New World. It’s a relatively comprehensive examination — though it does gloss over Spain and Portugal — that should give a wine newbie a solid base of wine knowledge.

One of the last lectures is “becoming a knowledgeable wine buyer” which I found to be a useful and practical lecture that gives you some helpful knowledge when at the wine store.

After all, you want to make sure that you’re buying stuff that will taste good to you!

Who will like this class?

If you want to know more about wine, you’ll like this class. It’s more practical than The Black Death course, but it still focuses on building theoretical knowledge, as opposed to building specific skills (aside from the tasting and buying lessons). So, again, you have to be down to watch 12 hours on wine.

If that sounds like you, then I would encourage you to jump in feet-first (you know, for grape stompin’).

Who won’t like this class?

These are all designed as college classes, so if you’re not interested in learning wine at a college 101 level, then this isn’t the class for you.

If you’re hoping to learn how to make wine, this class won’t be great for you either. It’s good for a broad overview of wine — not as a how-to.

My verdict

The Everyday Guide to Wine functions as a broad, college-level (intro level) class on wine, namely the types of wine, the regions of wine, and an overview on how it’s made. If you’re aching for a lengthy college-level course on wine, then this is the course for you!

Check out The Everyday Guide to Wine here.

What Einstein Got Wrong

Gasp! The title sounds so bold! What did Einstein get wrong? The idea feels practically taboo.

Well, it shouldn’t be — at least according to the class. The class is all about how even great minds make mistakes, and science continually works to correct and refine old theories.

Let’s take a look at what Einstein got wrong.

Who teaches the class?

What Einstein Got Wrong is taught by Dan Hooper — head of the Theoretical Astrophysics Group at the Fermilab — no slouch! He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, so again — this guy is the brightest of the brights.

His research focuses on particle physics, cosmology (not cosmetology), dark matter, neutrinos, extra dimensions — basically all the jargon from a science fiction novel, except not jargon and not fictional.

And he’s here to take on Einstein.

What’s the class like?

The course takes a look at key mistakes that Einstein makes — the cosmological constant, dismissing black holes — against the backdrop of the major things he got right — special relativity and general relativity.

The class is used to bolster the scientific method — mainly that one person’s opinions don’t trump conclusive evidence. If the evidence says Einstein is wrong, then Einstein is wrong. And we can learn from those mistakes in order to learn more about our universe and ourselves.

It’s a 12-lecture course, so it’s around 6 hours (about half the size of many other classes), but takes a look at some pretty heady topics.

Who will like this class?

This is a course for the curious learner. It’s a little less college-like, and a little more Discovery Channel-esque. It even comes with a “hook:” “what did Einstein get wrong?”

I say it’s a little less “college-like,” in that the subject matter is a little more contrived. It’s not a “Einstein” class; it’s a “what Einstein got wrong class.” Having said that, it’s still a classic, lecture-based format. You should consider that when taking the course.

Who won’t like this class?

If you find the discussion of black holes, universe expansion, and gravitational waves to be dry and/or opaque, then you’re not going to like this class. It’s not impenetrable (as a non-science buff, I followed along okay), but it is a dense class.

Go into it with eyes open!

My verdict

What Einstein Got Wrong is an intriguing 12-part lecture that uses Einstein’s blunders to show us more about the universe, as well as to champion the scientific method. It’s an engaging, if opaque, lecture series that will teach you a great deal about the universe.

Check out What Einstein Got Wrong here.

What are the alternatives to The Great Courses Plus?

With learning online becoming increasingly popular, there’s plenty of choices out there for any potential students.

If you’re still on the fence about whether The Great Courses Plus is a good fit for you, let’s see how it compares to its main competitors.

MasterClass v The Great Courses Plus

Masterclass is an online platform where some seriously famous names offer up their skills through video lessons on a variety of topics.

It’s only been around since 2015, and its popularity has recently skyrocketed.

Part of the appeal might be the star-studded cast of instructors — with the likes of Ron Howard teaching directing, Neil Gaiman teaching writing and Gordon Ramsay teaching cooking.

The biggest difference between the two is that The Great Courses Plus covers more traditional educational lessons within its content, whilst Masterclass is more about general skills and finding inspiration.

With Masterclass you can get 100+ classes on a wide range of things like singing, magic, poker, leadership, skateboarding, cookery, comedy and more — so not your typical academic subjects.

The cost of a yearly Masterclass membership is $180 — slightly more than the annual price of The Great Courses Plus.

Masterclass will most likely be a better choice for you if you want to learn a specific skill, whilst The Great Courses Plus is better for knowledge-based learning.

Read my complete MasterClass review here.

Coursera v The Great Courses Plus

Coursera delivers online courses and degrees from leading universities and companies.

There are thousands of courses on Coursera Plus, provided by some of the world’s top instructors.

It’s high quality and job relevant material aimed at gaining new knowledge or quickly learning job skills and industry tools.

For that reason, the content is more practical for the jobs market compared to The Great Courses Plus, which has what I’d say are more hobby-based lessons.

Both rely on teaching through video content, but with Coursera you get certificates, quizzes and assignments that you don’t get on The Great Courses Plus.

The price is more than double, with a yearly access to over 90% of content on Coursera costing $399 — although you can also pay for courses individually for anywhere between $29-$99.

If you’re mainly interested in improving professional skills for your career, I’d say Coursera is a better choice. I’m not, so The Great Courses Plus was the right choice for me.

The Great Courses Plus is more entertaining than Coursera and better for general learning.

Skillshare V The Great Courses Plus

Skillshare focuses on fast learning and hosts 27,000+ videos, 2000 of which are available completely for free.

They’re much shorter in length — usually around 30 to 60 minutes — and are broken down into easily digestible 2 to 3 minute sections.

Courses are a mix of creative and practical, but definitely have more of a career focus than The Great Courses Plus.

The topics covered are more geared towards teaching skills and include things like web development, Freelance & Entrepreneurship, Illustration, Fine Art, Marketing, and Productivity.

Don’t expect any big-name instructors; this platform is about learning from the best teachers rather than bagging a celebrity.

Cost wise, Skillshare comes in at $144 per year, which is comparable with the annual subscription to The Great Course Plus.

Which is a better fit for you again comes down to your main motivation — whether you want skills for your CV or you’re learning for fun to widen your horizons on a range of subjects.

If you want to boost your career prospects, Skillshare is a great online learning platform. If you want to geek out to some lectures for the fun of it, then The Great Courses Plus is better.

Read my complete Skillshare review here.

Mindvalley v The Great Courses Plus

Mindvalley is an online educational platform that hosts 30+ courses which all focus on self-improvement — but it has a totally different vibe to The Great Course Plus.

Mindvalley says it provides the life skills that you didn’t learn in school, whilst The Great Course Plus subjects wouldn’t look out of place on any college curriculum.

The programs on Mindvalley are more in depth, long form and more interactive, with each broken down into chunks of daily learning spread out over several weeks or even months.

The content is largely spiritual and psychological compared to traditional education platforms — with courses on everything from how to improve your memory to how to balance your chakras or find greater happiness.

When it comes to price, a yearly subscription to Mindvalley is $499, so significantly higher than The Great Courses Plus.

But it’s difficult to directly compare the two platforms, as they are like chalk and cheese. It totally depends on what you are looking for.

Read my complete Mindvalley review here.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about The Great Courses Plus

These are the most common questions people have about The Great Courses Plus and my answers to them.

The Verdict: Is The Great Courses Plus worth It?

Without a doubt, The Great Courses Plus has very high-quality, college-style lecture courses available for a competitive subscription price. These courses are informative, engaging, and comprehensive. There are also hundreds available.

If you’re looking to soak up a bunch of information from highly-respected professors, then yes, The Great Courses Plus is worth it and would be an excellent choice for you.

It’s geared toward hungry learners who yearn to dive headfirst into long, but engaging lecture series.