Alison Courses: How to Get Free Learning and Cheaper Certificates

The Alison online course library does not charge anything for usage. You get all the videos, books, quizzes, and tests for free right after creating your profile. However, the certificate or diploma which you can buy upon completion of the course is what makes the cost, but here some planning actually allows you to save some cash. Here is what is real, what you need to know before purchasing, and what savings you actually get from this platform.

How Alison’s Free-to-Paid Model Actually Works

The Alison website is structured in such a way that the course is entirely free but to prove that the learner has passed the course, an extra fee is required. This means you can take any course available in Alison for free, go through all the modules and pass the exam without paying anything. Only if you need a downloadable and sharable certificate for posting on your LinkedIn profile or adding it to your CV do you have to pay a fee.

Course Certificate costs vary between $20 and $35 based on the type of format chosen (digital, print and framed). If the learner wants to get diploma credentials that offer a learning path in more than one module, the cost is slightly higher and lies between $70 and $130 also based on the format. The most expensive type of credential in Alison is the learning path certificate which combines several different courses. All this information is visible during the checkout process after completing a course.

The fee does not matter if all you want is to gain knowledge, whether it be learning Excel or familiarizing yourself with the fundamentals of project management because you will be able to learn for free without receiving a certificate.

Where the Real Discounts Are

There are two legal means of reducing the cost of your Alison certification, and these are embedded within the platform rather than needing to rely on a promo code:

Monthly accumulating discount. Monthly accumulating discount. The paid member status of Alison comes with a monthly discount of 10% for a certificate or diploma, which is provided every billing cycle. The good thing about these discounts is that they do not have to be claimed instantly and can be accumulated month after month until one reaches the maximum of a 50% discount on a credential purchase. In other words, a person who wishes to maximize their savings per credential might want to use a cumulative discount after several months rather than using just a 10% off immediately.

Seasonal free-certificate windows. Alison, together with other free-course websites, occasionally launches promotions whereby the certificate is provided for free during a certain period, which usually coincides with awareness-raising events such as the Global Learning Month in October. Such periods are not announced ahead of time, and their availability may differ depending on the course and/or geographical location, so you should better check on Alison directly during that period of the year instead of relying on a certain date.

Other than the features of the platform itself, there are some basic principles you could follow to get credentials for free or a very low price on various sites, not only on Alison:

• Make a certificate-cost versus learning-value comparison prior to purchase. When the primary reason for your choice is the depth of information you will receive and not the piece of paper at the end, it may not even be necessary to purchase the certificate, especially for those areas in which you will be able to prove your skills through some other method (portfolio, project, exam).
• See what kind of institutional access you have. There are many institutions such as public libraries and universities which provide access to alternative learning platforms for free or at a discounted price as part of your membership in those institutions, which could potentially be more advantageous than certificate-by-certificate payments on any one platform.
• Look out for free-trial certificate opportunities from other platforms. Some sites such as LinkedIn Learning will provide you with a certificate free of charge while you are on their free trial period, and that should definitely be considered when comparing the paid-for certificate from Alison to the alternative certificate for the same skill.

When It’s Worth Paying for the Certificate vs. Skipping It

Every course does not necessarily have to be paid for through certification. The guiding principle here is that where the certificate will be submitted either for a job application, CPD records, or portfolio purposes, the $20-$35 fee is reasonable enough compared to the cost of certification from a paid course elsewhere. But where you take the course purely because of your own interest or to brush up an already existing skill set, the knowledge gained itself becomes valuable enough.

It is also important to make clear what a certificate from a free online course can and cannot do for you. You can present it as evidence that you took part in the structured coursework and passed the exam. It does not have the same weight as a certificate from any university or any other well-established organization within your industry and therefore in case you consider paying for one, this should be taken into account.

Comparing Alison’s Certificate Costs to Similar Platforms

If you are looking for the most affordable option of obtaining a certification for a particular skill set, it might be useful to see what Alison is all about:

• edX — Audit courses are free of charge, but the certificate will definitely cost you significantly more, usually from $50 to $200+ depending on the program.
• Coursera — The prices for certificates vary greatly per course or specialization, and there is even a financial aid option available upon request for those who meet certain requirements.
• LinkedIn Learning — Certificates are included into the package for free during the free trial period, so it may turn out to be cheaper than the single course purchase.

See more options in our Software & Online Services category if you want to compare additional learning platforms side by side.