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Skillshare vs IImagined

Skillshare and IImagined are both memberships, and both are aimed at people who make things. They teach different halves of the job. Skillshare teaches the craft: illustration, design, photography, video. IImagined teaches the business around it: an audience, an offer, a price, a launch. Skillshare costs far less, so the question is which half you are missing.

Reviewed . IImagined publishes this page and sells one of the two things on it, so everything about Skillshare is taken from Skillshare's own pages and linked. Prices and terms change: check those pages before you pay.

The short answer

Choose Skillshare to get better at making things: it has 30k+ video classes for $167.88 a year, and IImagined's $890 a year is more than 5 times that. Choose IImagined if the craft is in hand and the missing part is the business: growing an Instagram account, selling digital products, AI characters or an AI SaaS, with a live coaching call each week.

Choose Skillshare if

  • You want to improve a craft: illustration, graphic design, photography, film, animation, writing. Skillshare has 30k+ classes from 9k+ teachers.
  • Price decides it. Skillshare is $167.88 a year in US dollars. IImagined is $890 a year.
  • You want video classes that each end in a project, and a class certificate when you finish one.
  • You want eyes on the work itself. Members post projects to a gallery where teachers and other members comment.

Choose IImagined if

  • You can already make the thing and need it to earn: a position, an offer, a price and a launch.
  • You want one sequence from one teacher instead of choosing among thousands of classes.
  • You want a scheduled live call every week. On Skillshare, live time with a teacher is a 1-on-1 Session, booked and paid for separately.
  • You want to pay by the month on the web. Skillshare bills the year in full; its monthly option runs only through the mobile app stores.

The facts, side by side

Each row shows the date it was checked and numbered links to the pages it was read from.

marks the side the facts favour on a row: Skillshare on 3, IImagined on 2. Rows without a mark are even, or come down to what you want.

Compared
SkillshareVideo classes for creative people
IImaginedFour programs, one membership
What it is110
A membership to video classes for creative and curious people, on illustration, design, photography, video, freelancing and more.
A membership, All Access, that opens four programs about building an online business by yourself: Instagram Ignited, AI Influencers, Digital Products and AI SaaS Builder. Founded in 2024.
Catalogue1311
Advantage: 30k+ classes from 9k+ teachers, all open to every member.
Instagram Ignited (24 lessons), AI Influencers (39 lessons), Digital Products (27 lessons) and AI SaaS Builder (52 lessons), plus a free Futures Trading course of 27 lessons.
Closest overlap111
Marketing, social media, and freelance and entrepreneurship classes. One on the home page: "Social Media Content Creation in Canva: From Beginner to Advanced", 13 hours 19 minutes.
Instagram Ignited (6 modules and 24 lessons) and Digital Products (8 modules and 27 lessons).
Lesson format310
Video classes, each with a project to complete. Lessons can be downloaded in the mobile app.
Written lessons you read at your own pace, with templates, checklists and spreadsheets. No video lectures.
Guided sequences211
Learning Paths: curated sets of classes aimed at a goal or skill.
Each program is a fixed sequence of modules, written to be taken in order.
Ratings and student counts110
Advantage: A student count on each class: the Canva class above lists 46,552.
None. IImagined publishes no ratings, reviews or student counts.
Certificates710
Advantage: A class certificate once you watch every lesson and submit the project. Whether it is accredited: not published.
None. IImagined issues no certificate and is not accredited.
Feedback and coaching3810
A project gallery where teachers and members comment. 1-on-1 Sessions with a teacher are sold separately, at a price each teacher sets.
A live coaching call every week and a members-only Discord, both included in All Access.
Free to start1512
7 free days. Payment details are required, and the annual membership starts when the trial ends.
Advantage: A free account holds the Starter Kit (5 working files), the first lesson of each program and the Futures Trading course. The calculators at /tools are free too.
Refunds613
After a 7-day trial: within 48 hours of the charge, once, and only if you have not used Skillshare since. No refund on a renewal.
Advantage: 30-day money-back guarantee on your first payment, monthly or yearly. Renewals are not refunded, except where the law requires.
If you stop paying513
Cancel any time. Access continues to the end of the billing period.
Cancel any time. Access runs to the end of the period you paid for, then stops.

Where each one is stronger

Skillshare

  • A fraction of the price

    $167.88 a year in US dollars, shown as $13.99 a month paid annually. IImagined is $890 a year, more than 5 times as much. If you would use both equally, Skillshare is the easy call. 210

  • The craft itself

    Skillshare lists classes in graphic design, illustration, animation, film and video, photography, fine art, music and creative writing. IImagined teaches none of these: its programs assume you can already produce the work. 111

  • Projects and people to show them to

    Every class includes a project, and members share work in a project gallery for comments from teachers and other members. Completing a class and its project earns a class certificate. 37

IImagined

  • The selling side, in order

    Instagram Ignited and Digital Products are 51 written lessons that run from choosing a niche to pricing and launching a product. Skillshare covers marketing and entrepreneurship as separate classes by different teachers. 111

  • A live call included

    All Access includes a coaching call every week. On Skillshare, one-to-one time is a 1-on-1 Session bought separately: the sessions listed on its page run from $25 to $200 each. 810

  • A wider refund

    A first payment is refundable for 30 days whether or not you have used the membership. Skillshare gives 48 hours after the first charge, once, and only if the account has not been used since. 613

Who each one suits

  • You are learning to draw, design, shoot or edit

    Pick Skillshare

    That is what Skillshare is for, and it has 30k+ classes on it. IImagined does not teach craft. 1

  • You make good work and nobody is buying it

    Pick IImagined

    The gap is audience and offer, not skill. Instagram Ignited and Digital Products are about those two things, and the weekly call is where you bring the numbers. 1011

  • You have a small budget

    Pick Skillshare

    $167.88 a year against $890 a year. Start with Skillshare's 7 free days and IImagined's free account, and pay for IImagined only if the free lessons are what you need. 212

  • You want to sell brushes, templates or presets

    Use both

    Skillshare runs a shop of 2,130 digital products from its creators, so it is both a place to learn the craft and a market to study. Digital Products covers validating, pricing and launching your own. 911

  • You want to build an AI app or an AI character

    Pick IImagined

    AI SaaS Builder (10 modules and 52 lessons) and AI Influencers (9 modules and 39 lessons) are full programs. Skillshare lists AI and ChatGPT classes, such as a 1 hour 18 minute class on ChatGPT for creatives, but its catalogue is built around creative craft. 111

What each one costs

Both prices here are in US dollars: Skillshare's pricing page shows $167.88 a year and labels the amount USD, and it says prices differ by location. Skillshare's 1-on-1 Sessions and digital products are priced in dollars on its pages, without a currency label.

marks the side the facts favour on a row: Skillshare on 1, IImagined on 1. Rows without a mark are even, or come down to what you want.

Compared
SkillshareVideo classes for creative people
IImaginedFour programs, one membership
Yearly membership210
Advantage: $167.88 a year, shown as $13.99 a month paid annually.
All Access: $890 a year.
Paying by the month410
Only through the mobile app, billed by your app store. The price is not published on the help page.
All Access: $99 a month, cancel any time.
Free trial113
7 days, then the year is billed in full.
No trial. A free account shows the first lesson of each program, and a first payment is refundable for 30 days.
Sold separately8910
1-on-1 Sessions at each teacher's price ($25 to $200 among those listed), and digital products such as Procreate brushes at $5.
Nothing. Coaching, the community, 5 members-only tools and the files that go with each lesson are included.
Refund window613
48 hours after the first charge following a 7-day trial, once, if unused since.
Advantage: 30 days on a first payment.

Questions people ask

Is Skillshare or IImagined better for creators?

They teach different halves of the work. Skillshare is better for the craft: it has 30k+ video classes on illustration, design, photography, video and more, each with a project. IImagined is better for the business around the craft: four written programs on growing an Instagram account, selling digital products, AI characters and AI SaaS, with a weekly coaching call. Skillshare costs far less. 110

How much does Skillshare cost compared with IImagined?

Skillshare is $167.88 a year in US dollars, shown as $13.99 a month paid annually, after 7 free days. IImagined All Access is $99 a month or $890 a year. Skillshare says its prices differ by location, and its monthly option is sold only through the mobile app stores. 2410

Does Skillshare give certificates?

Yes, a class certificate. You earn one after watching every lesson in a class and submitting its project, and it shows your name, the class, the teacher, the date, the class length and a certificate ID. Skillshare does not say on the pages read that these are accredited. IImagined gives no certificate. 710

Can I get a refund from Skillshare?

Only in a narrow window. If you were charged after a 7-day free trial, Skillshare gives a one-time refund when you ask within 48 hours of the charge and have not used it since. Charges after a longer trial and renewals are not refunded. IImagined refunds a first payment within 30 days. 613

Does Skillshare offer coaching?

Not as part of the membership. Members get comments on projects from teachers and other members, and can book a 1-on-1 Session with a teacher for a separate fee that the teacher sets; the sessions listed on the page run from $25 to $200. IImagined includes a live coaching call every week. 3810

Can I use Skillshare and IImagined together?

Yes. They overlap very little, so this is the common case: Skillshare for the skill, IImagined for selling what the skill produces. If money is tight, take Skillshare first: it is much the cheaper of the two, and its first 7 days are free. 210

Sources

Each page was read on the date beside it. The links open the current version, which may have changed since.

  1. 1Skillshare: home page
  2. 2Skillshare: pricing
  3. 3Skillshare: what a membership includes
  4. 4Skillshare: what Skillshare costs
  5. 5Skillshare: how subscriptions, pricing and refunds work
  6. 6Skillshare: refund policy
  7. 7Skillshare: class certificates
  8. 8Skillshare: 1-on-1 Sessions
  9. 9Skillshare: digital products shop
  10. 10IImagined: All Access
  11. 11IImagined: the four programs
  12. 12IImagined: free Starter Kit
  13. 13IImagined: refund policy

See the work before you pay for any of it.

The free Starter Kit is 5 working files, one from each IImagined program and one from the trading course: 32 fill-in-the-blank hooks, an AI character bible, a pricing worksheet, a unit economics calculator and a position size calculator. They open in your browser with a free account.

Get the free Starter Kit

If the kit is useful, All Access is the paid step: $99 a month or $890 a year for the four programs, the weekly coaching call and the community, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.