FutureLearn vs Stepik

FutureLearn is an online learning platform available on the web, iOS, and Android, with mixed course formats and subscription access. Its Limited Access plan costs nothing and provides limited access to short-course materials, delivered weekly; certificates and test steps are excluded. Unlimited Monthly costs $49.99 a month, and Unlimited Annual costs $349.99 a year. Both paid plans include access to 1400+ short courses, immediate access to course content, and digital certificates for eligible courses. The platform offers business plans, and course certificates are available for eligible courses. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Readers choosing between the listed plans can weigh weekly access to short-course materials at no cost against paid subscriptions that make the course content available immediately and include eligible certificates. Access is available through the website or the mobile apps, so the listed platform options cover desktop web and mobile devices.

Stepik is an educational platform and online-course builder with automatic assignment checking. Registered users can create public courses for free using videos, text, and automatically checked assignments. Authors can also run contests, training, professional development, or courses for employees and customers. Courses may be free or paid; paid courses include expanded functionality and built-in payment processing, with Stepik taking a commission and charging no plan or subscription fee. Courses can be embedded with an iframe, connected through OAuth 2, or integrated with learning platforms using LTI 1.1. Named LTI-compatible platforms include Moodle, Open edX, Coursera, Blackboard LMS, Canvas, and Sakai. Stepik says its site works through an API, and learners can study on its website or mobile app. Offline learning and completion certificates are listed. Free public course creation costs nothing. Stepik says its Enterprise plan has been unavailable to new subscribers since May 2023; that plan previously limited private courses to 1,000 learners each.