Alison vs Outschool

Alison is an online learning service with more than 6,000 courses across 10 categories, alongside skills training, psychometric assessments, career resources, and a learning management system. Learners can study at their own pace, with no stated deadline for finishing a course. Completed courses can lead to Certificates and Diplomas; Alison says its courses are CPD UK accredited. Career resources include a Career Ready Plan, a résumé builder, job listings, and course recommendations. Free learning includes advertising, while Premium is offered to remove ads. The Android and iOS app supports offline study for English courses, but quizzes, assessments, and certificates need an internet connection. The Free LMS supports up to 10 users in an organisation. LMS+ adds unlimited learners, groups, co-branded certificates, reporting, and Content Hub storage. The free plan is free; an individual offline course download is $1, paid once, and unlimited offline access is $5 a month. Alison was founded in Ireland and is headquartered in Mount Carmel, Loughrea.

Outschool is an online marketplace where families can find educational classes and activities through a website and apps. Classes are intended for children ages 1–18; its catalog promotes more than 140,000 live online classes and subjects for ages 3–18. Families can choose recurring weekly classes, self-paced formats, tutoring, and other options. Subjects span math, language arts, writing, science, coding, engineering, physics, veterinary care, video games, cooking, dance, art, music, yoga, meditation, languages, and pop culture topics. All live classes take place through Zoom, with a maximum group size of 18 learners. Families can pay per class at the listed class price, or choose a membership for $40 a month, which provides 80 credits shared across learners on a family account. The membership includes a 14-day trial; eligible cancellations receive a full refund. Families with an account can join free events without purchasing a class. Free apps are available for iOS/iPadOS and Android/Chromebooks. Live classes are recorded, encrypted on a private server, and automatically deleted after 90 days. Educators complete identity verification and a background check using Persona.