Brilliant.org Review: Is Brilliant Premium Worth it?
In our review of Brilliant.org, we'll
analyze whether the Brilliant Premium subscription is really worth its price.
· Brilliant.org review
introduction
· What is Brilliant.org?
· What subjects can you learn at
Brilliant.org?
· How much does Brilliant.org
cost?
· What is included in a
subscription to Brilliant Premium?
· Online reviews of Brilliant.org
· Advantages (Pros) of
Brilliant.org
· Disadvantages (Cons) of
Brilliant.org
· Conclusion: Is Brilliant.org
worth it
Brilliant.org review introduction
If you are interested in learning about various
tech-related subjects online, chances are you’ve already heard about
Brilliant.org. This online learning platform has been making a splash in recent
years for trying to accomplish the Herculean task of making learning about STEM
subjects as entertaining as possible.
Brilliant.org was born out of a personal eureka moment
Sue Khim, the founder of Brilliant, had in her childhood.
Khim and her dad had a tradition. It involved Khims’s dad
presenting her with various math puzzles during long car rides they shared.
Young Khim was struggling with a particularly challenging puzzle. Her dad,
noticing her mental struggle, suggested “trying solving the puzzle from the
outside in.”
To this day, Khim sees STEM subjects as something
entertaining and mysterious, not impenetrable or intimidating. Looking at the
numbers, a lot of people want to learn STEM subjects the same way.
In 2020, Brilliant had more than 9 million
registered users on the site and 2 million uses of the Brilliant.org app each
month. What is it about the site that has garnered so much attention? Let’s
find out.
What is Brilliant.org?
Brilliant.org is a
community-driven online learning platform established in 2012 by Sue Khim, a
well-known innovator of online education. For her efforts in establishing
Brilliant.org, Khim was also named in the Forbes “30 under 30 in Education” list.
Brilliant.org offers online education in
various STEM-related subjects. Their catalog currently features 60+ courses on
subjects as varied as neural networks, solar energy, and cryptocurrency. These,
of course, are only a few select examples. We will be taking an in-depth look
into everything taught in Brilliant.org in a later paragraph.
Make no mistake, Brilliant.org is far from
being a dry collection of video courses. The developers of Brilliant.org fully
understand that it takes more than watching hours of video lessons to get
neck-deep into learning a new skill. Especially when it comes to hard skills
such as quantum computing, linear algebra, or programming with Python.
This is why all the lessons taught come with
interactive exercises, quizzes, and daily challenges. All to keep the students
of Brilliant.org as engaged with the materials as possible.
Gamification is one of the most noteworthy trends in E-learning. And, Brilliant.org is one of the learning platforms that has fully embraced this concept in its methodology of teaching.
What subjects can you learn
at Brilliant.org?
Roughly
speaking, Brilliant.org is about teaching mathematical and scientific concepts
for a wide array of audiences in different age groups and expertise levels.
For
new Brilliant users, the platform offers an algorithm that selects the best
pathways of learning for the new user. You select whether you are a student, a
professional, a hobbyist, or a parent/teacher. After this, Brilliant chooses
the best courses and challenges for your specific needs.
Here are a few popular learning paths that are available on Brilliant.org:
·
Logic and deduction
·
Mathematical thinking
·
Algebra
·
Geometry
·
Statistics and
probability
·
Contest math
·
Calculus
·
Advanced mathematics
·
Scientific thinking
·
Classical physics
·
Quantum mechanics
·
Applied science
·
Foundational computer
science
·
Applied computer
science
If some of those
subjects interest you, yet made your brain shrivel a bit, don’t worry. You are
exactly the target audience for Brilliant.org. After all, learning about
difficult subjects in an engaging manner is the very essence of this platform.
·
Logic and deduction
·
Mathematical thinking
·
Algebra
·
Geometry
·
Statistics and
probability
·
Contest math
·
Calculus
·
Advanced mathematics
·
Scientific thinking
·
Classical physics
·
Quantum mechanics
·
Applied science
·
Foundational computer
science
·
Applied computer
science
If some of those
subjects interest you, yet made your brain shrivel a bit, don’t worry. You are
exactly the target audience for Brilliant.org. After all, learning about
difficult subjects in an engaging manner is the very essence of this platform.
How much does
Brilliant.org cost?
Brilliant currently offers 3 payment plans
for their Brilliant Premium subscription:
·
A
monthly subscription for $24.99 per month.
This is what you’ll have to pay if you want to be able to cancel the
subscription at any time without paying extra.
·
An
annual subscription for $149 per year ($12.49
per month). This subscription plan offers two times superior value-for-money
compared to the monthly plan. However, it also requires you to pay for the
whole year as one single payment.
·
An
annual group (3+ people) subscription for $299.88 per year.
The group subscription will grant each individual user separate access to the
Brilliant Premium account and the pricing can vary depending on the final
number of people participating in the subscription.
Here’s how these pricing plans are visualized
on the Brilliant.org pricing page:
How much does
Brilliant.org cost?
Brilliant currently offers 3 payment plans
for their Brilliant Premium subscription:
·
A
monthly subscription for $24.99 per month.
This is what you’ll have to pay if you want to be able to cancel the
subscription at any time without paying extra.
·
An
annual subscription for $149 per year ($12.49
per month). This subscription plan offers two times superior value-for-money
compared to the monthly plan. However, it also requires you to pay for the
whole year as one single payment.
·
An
annual group (3+ people) subscription for $299.88 per year.
The group subscription will grant each individual user separate access to the
Brilliant Premium account and the pricing can vary depending on the final
number of people participating in the subscription.
Here’s how these pricing plans are visualized
on the Brilliant.org pricing page:
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So, what exactly does
paying for Brilliant Premium get you? Let’s have a closer look.
What is
included in a subscription to Brilliant Premium?
A subscription to Brilliant Premium give you
access to:
·
All
courses on Brilliant.org. Without Brilliant Premium,
you’ll only have access to the first chapter of each course. All courses are
accompanied by an uncountable number of quizzes, puzzles, and other interactive
lessons.
·
Offline mode. Brilliant’s offline
mode allows you to learn while on the go – even if you’re without an Internet
connection.
·
Guided courses. Guided courses
allow you to partake in expert-led courses in math and science.
In addition to full access to all the courses, subscribers of Brilliant.org also get full access to daily challenges. These brain-crunchers come in the form of new concepts and quick challenges. All to keep the neurons of Brilliant.org subscribers constantly firing.
If the subscription
to Brilliant sounds enticing, I highly suggest registering on the site. Within
2 days of registration, every user is eligible for a trial of Brilliant.org.
The trial lasts 7 days and gives you no restrictions access to all of the
content on the site. It is a great way to see whether the style of teaching and
the content offered on Brilliant is a good suit for you.
Online
reviews of Brilliant.org
Online reviews of Brilliant.org tend to be very positive. Two
aspects of Brilliant.org in particular are highlighted very often – the
well-done gamification of all the courses and the superb customer service
offered by the platform.
While I did not come across any scathing reviews, some users had
slight difficulties with canceling their subscriptions. While I can’t confirm
or deny these problems, I don’t believe it to be a major issue considering that
the customer service of Brilliant.org is known to be fast and efficient. And,
from reading the reviews, the platform also offers refunds in case of
dissatisfaction with the service or accidental subscription choices.
Online reviews of Brilliant.org tend to be very positive. Two
aspects of Brilliant.org in particular are highlighted very often – the
well-done gamification of all the courses and the superb customer service
offered by the platform.
While I did not come across any scathing reviews, some users had
slight difficulties with canceling their subscriptions. While I can’t confirm
or deny these problems, I don’t believe it to be a major issue considering that
the customer service of Brilliant.org is known to be fast and efficient. And,
from reading the reviews, the platform also offers refunds in case of
dissatisfaction with the service or accidental subscription choices.
In TrustPilot, Brilliant
can boast a 4.6 rating. The users of TrustPilot highlight the professionalism of
the customer service (quick replies, helpfulness, flexibility regarding
customer requests, etc.)
In TrustPilot, Brilliant
can boast a 4.6 rating. The users of TrustPilot highlight the professionalism of
the customer service (quick replies, helpfulness, flexibility regarding
customer requests, etc.)
The users also value the
content offered by Brilliant.org. The diversity of the courses, the gamified
nature of the learning materials, and the accessibility for a wide user base
are some of the most acclaimed aspects of the content offered by Brilliant.
In her review
of Brilliant.org, Emily Pohlonski (2021 Michigan Science Teacher of
the Year) from Common Media praised the platform as being a great resource for
high achieving students to challenge each other and learn from their peers.
So,
if any teachers are reading this, Brilliant.org might offer a unique way to
level up your most talented students.
Advantages
(Pros) of Brilliant.org
During
our assessment of Brilliant.org, we found these to be the biggest benefits of
the platform:
Common Sense (the
leading source of technology and entertainment recommendations for
parents/schools) has also published a favoring review of Brilliant.
In her review
of Brilliant.org, Emily Pohlonski (2021 Michigan Science Teacher of
the Year) from Common Media praised the platform as being a great resource for
high achieving students to challenge each other and learn from their peers.
So,
if any teachers are reading this, Brilliant.org might offer a unique way to
level up your most talented students.
Advantages
(Pros) of Brilliant.org
During
our assessment of Brilliant.org, we found these to be the biggest benefits of
the platform:
·
Great
user experience
·
7-day
free trial available
·
Supportive
learning community
·
Interactive
learning experience
·
Accessible
for different skill levels
Great user experience
Simply put, the user experience of Brilliant
is excellent. The interface is simple and beautiful, yet effective. The
drag-and-drop aspect of the challenges feels rewarding and the overall art
style of the platform is one of the best I’ve seen. Plus, the animators have
knocked it out of the park. For a visual learner such as myself, the whole
experience feels more like a game than a full-on learning experience. And, I
mean that in a good way.
·
Great
user experience
·
7-day
free trial available
·
Supportive
learning community
·
Interactive
learning experience
·
Accessible
for different skill levels
Great user experience
Simply put, the user experience of Brilliant
is excellent. The interface is simple and beautiful, yet effective. The
drag-and-drop aspect of the challenges feels rewarding and the overall art
style of the platform is one of the best I’ve seen. Plus, the animators have
knocked it out of the park. For a visual learner such as myself, the whole
experience feels more like a game than a full-on learning experience. And, I
mean that in a good way.
The
strength of the user experience at brilliant.org also lies in that avoids the
“one size fits all” approach. Brilliant.org allows you to customize your
learning path in a way that feels comprehensive and effective. The platform
doesn’t force you into making arbitrary decisions about what kind of project is
appropriate or what subject you should begin with – it just lets you do
whatever works best for YOU.
7-day free trial available
Another strong advantage of Brilliant is that
you can try all the content on Brilliant.org via the free 7-day trial. This
gives you the opportunity to select the course you are interested in and to try
the content out.
Many platforms refuse to hand out free trials
and choose to opt for the “refund offer” option instead, which we consider a
negative factor during our assessments of online learning platforms.
The
strength of the user experience at brilliant.org also lies in that avoids the
“one size fits all” approach. Brilliant.org allows you to customize your
learning path in a way that feels comprehensive and effective. The platform
doesn’t force you into making arbitrary decisions about what kind of project is
appropriate or what subject you should begin with – it just lets you do
whatever works best for YOU.
7-day free trial available
Another strong advantage of Brilliant is that
you can try all the content on Brilliant.org via the free 7-day trial. This
gives you the opportunity to select the course you are interested in and to try
the content out.
Many platforms refuse to hand out free trials
and choose to opt for the “refund offer” option instead, which we consider a
negative factor during our assessments of online learning platforms.
After all – if your product is really of
high quality, you should not need to demand money upfront. Having a free trial
shows that you are confident in your product and that you have faith in it to
be able to provide the value for which people would gladly pay.
Thankfully, Brilliant offers a convenient
free trial to all students and I suggest making full use of the trial and
testing content from various categories.
Supportive learning community
Another aspect unique to Brilliant is the
inclusion of a Community Wiki. In this community, there are thousands of pages
worth of content developed by the community of experts from Brilliant. This
wiki can be a goldmine of information that is difficult to find elsewhere. And,
the Community Wiki is available immediately upon signing up at Brilliant.org
without having to pay for a subscription.
All of the wikis are relevant to the course
content. So, if you are feeling stuck on a certain puzzle or a course, head
over to the wikis. Just taking a quick glance at a certain formula or a theory
might give you the eureka moment you were looking for. And remember, even in
difficult subjects, the solutions are often in plain sight.
Interactive learning experience
Getting feedback from like-minded learners
is a crucial aspect of all e-learning. As most online learners know
all-too-well, lack of social interaction can be destructive to the learning
process.
Since Brilliant.org is focused on the STEM
niche, students will likely have similar life-views, hobbies, and a sense of
humor. All in all, the communal aspect greatly adds both to the educational and
entertainment value of this platform.
Although my overall experience with
Brilliant was a positive one, it is a unique learning platform that will not
necessarily suit everyone.
Accessible for different skill levels
When going through the online reviews of
this platform, you will quickly notice that Brilliant is effectively used by
teachers, students, and hobbyists alike.
Brilliant has content available for all
skill levels and that is another major strength of the platform. This is
important because it means that anyone can pursue their education, regardless
of how much they know before signing up.
Not only is Brilliant a good platform for
learning the fundamentals of high school math, but it’s equally good for
learning advanced topics such as data structures and Python programming.
Disadvantages (Cons) of Brilliant.org
Although our overall experience with
Brilliant was a very positive one, it is a unique learning platform that will
not necessarily suit everyone.
Let’s break down each disadvantage of
Brilliant.org:
Only STEM subjects covered
The monthly payment plan is pricey
Only STEM subjects covered
Brilliant is, without a doubt, one of the
most engaging I have ever used. However, I am not sure if the learning format
would be a good fit for something like a public speaking course. Brilliant.org
is focused on STEM subjects, and in some sense – that’s a positive thing. They
know their target audience and they know them well.
However, there’s no getting around the fact
that being narrow-focused on teaching math and science means that many students
will not find a course of their liking on the platform. Compared with platforms
such as Coursera, for example, the choice of subjects is very limited.
All in all, though, this is not a major
disadvantage. After all, the platform is designed for math and science, and
that is what it excels at.
The monthly payment plan is pricey
While Brilliant packs some great
value-for-money, it cannot be overlooked that the monthly subscription plan of
$24.99 per month is rather pricey. Choosing the annual payment plan instead of
the monthly plan knocks 50% off the monthly price tag, but then you have to pay
more money upfront.
While it’s not a major disadvantage, it’s
worth noting because a price of $24.99 per month already comes to the
subscriptions of competitors who have a broader range of courses available and
who often include university certificates of completion.
Conclusion: Is Brilliant.org worth it?
All things considered, I found the Brilliant
subscription to be very much worth it. Above all, I was impressed with the user
experience, the gamification of difficult-to-learn skills, and the
interactivity of the platform. Being a highly visual learner, the whole
platform felt tailor-made for my style of acquiring new skills.
During this review, I dove right into
Brilliant. What I found were courses that were well-built, informative, and
very entertaining. A remarkable task for courses on notoriously difficult
subjects such as computer science and artificial neural networks.
I found myself spending hours wrestling with
various puzzles and tasks. Plus, the daily challenges quickly became something
that I was always looking forward to.
Thus, would I advise the platform for people
with an interest in STEM subjects? Yes. Definitely. Brilliant Premium is worth
it for learning math and science. Some of the subjects taught are nearly
invaluable in the digital work market. For example, having even a basic
understanding of computer science is a massive self-investment in the digital
age.
However, students uninterested in math and
science might wish to look elsewhere for now – at least until Brilliant.org
expands its course catalog to include more subjects.
All in all, Brilliant.org fills a unique STEM sweet-spot in the e-learning industry, and we can highly recommend it to students interested in learning math and science online.
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