Brilliant
Udemy
| Feature | Brilliant | Udemy |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $11.99/mo | Free / from $12.99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.6 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | stem-learners, students, career-changers, lifelong-learners | self-paced-learners, budget-conscious-learners, professionals, hobbyists |
| Founded | 2012 | 2010 |
| Interactive Lessons | ✓ | ✗ |
| Daily Challenges | ✓ | ✗ |
| Visual Explanations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Progress Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Offline Access | ✓ | ✗ |
| Community | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Courses | ✗ | ✓ |
| Lifetime Access | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mobile App | ✗ | ✓ |
| Certificates | ✗ | ✓ |
| Q And A | ✗ | ✓ |
| Coding Exercises | ✗ | ✓ |
| Bookmarks | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Brilliant Pros
- Highly interactive visual learning approach
- Excellent for building mathematical intuition
- Short daily lessons that fit busy schedules
- Covers fundamentals through advanced topics
✗ Brilliant Cons
- Limited free content (only a few lessons per course)
- Focused on STEM only (no humanities/language)
- Can feel too gamified for serious learners
✓ Udemy Pros
- Massive course library covering nearly every topic
- Frequent sales with courses as low as $9.99
- Lifetime access to purchased courses
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- User reviews help identify quality courses
✗ Udemy Cons
- Quality varies significantly between instructors
- No accredited certificates or degrees
- Courses can become outdated without updates
The Verdict
Brilliant is built for stem learners and students, with a focus on interactive-lessons and daily-challenges. Udemy targets self paced learners and budget conscious learners and leads with video-courses and lifetime-access.
Pricing is close: Brilliant starts at $11.99/mo versus $12.99/mo for Udemy — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Udemy offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Brilliant takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Brilliant has a slight overall edge — but if massive course library covering nearly every topic matters most to you, Udemy may still be the right call.