edX
Khan Academy
| Feature | edX | Khan Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $50/mo | Free only |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.7 / 5 |
| Best For | career-advancers, university-students, professionals, degree-seekers | students, parents, teachers, self-learners |
| Founded | 2012 | 2008 |
| University Courses | ✓ | ✗ |
| Certificates | ✓ | ✗ |
| Degree Programs | ✓ | ✗ |
| Discussion Forums | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mobile App | ✓ | ✗ |
| Enterprise Training | ✓ | ✗ |
| Video Lessons | ✗ | ✓ |
| Practice Exercises | ✗ | ✓ |
| Progress Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Tutor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Teacher Dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |
| Mastery Learning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sat Prep | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ edX Pros
- Courses from Harvard, MIT, Berkeley and 160+ institutions
- Free audit access to most course content
- Verified certificates and full degree programs available
- High academic quality with rigorous content
✗ edX Cons
- Certificates are expensive ($50-300+ each)
- Self-paced courses can lack community engagement
- Platform UX feels dated compared to newer competitors
✓ Khan Academy Pros
- Completely free for all learners worldwide
- Comprehensive K-12 math and science curriculum
- Personalized learning with mastery-based progression
- Khanmigo AI tutor for personalized help
- Teacher tools for classroom integration
✗ Khan Academy Cons
- Content depth limited for advanced college topics
- Video-based format not ideal for all learners
- Some subjects have less coverage than others
The Verdict
edX is built for career advancers and university students, with a focus on university-courses and certificates. Khan Academy targets students and parents and leads with video-lessons and practice-exercises.
Khan Academy uses custom enterprise pricing, while edX starts at $50/mo — a tangible advantage for teams with a fixed budget.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Khan Academy edges out on user ratings (4.7 vs 4.3). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Feature-wise, Khan Academy offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while edX takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
Bottom line: Khan Academy has a slight overall edge — but if courses from harvard, mit, berkeley and 160+ institutions matters most to you, edX may still be the right call.