Google Cloud Skills Boost vs Stepik

Google Cloud Skills Boost, also called Google Skills, is a web learning platform for building skills including Google Cloud and AI. Its catalog combines courses and labs with videos, documents, practical activities, and quizzes. Cloud labs provide temporary credentials for practice using real cloud resources. Guided learning paths bring together selected courses or labs around a role, use case, or solution. Completing learning content can earn learners shareable skill badges and certificates. Subscription content includes material from Google Cloud, Google DeepMind, Google for Education, Google Marketing, and more. Labs require a laptop or desktop, an internet connection, and a supported browser, and a subscription permits one lab at a time. Current versions of popular browsers are supported; Firefox or Chrome are recommended. GEAR participants can claim 35 monthly learning credits at no cost. Google Cloud customers can request access to the Google Skills for Organizations catalog and other exclusive learning resources and programs.

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.