Udacity vs Springboard: Which Is Best for Tech Courses In 2024

Overview

Learning online, from the comfort of your home and in your own time, has become a new trend in the education industry. Various online courses and boot camps are taking place in offline institutes and training centers all over the world. If the subjects you want to learn or explore are relevant to computer science or technology, you should definitely look at learning them online. 

While searching for online courses or bootcamps to learn or study anything online, you may have come across the courses from Udacity and Springboard. Udacity is a giant in online educational platforms whereas Springboard is a rising educational platform focusing on providing online programs that guarantees you a job. 

Online courses have assisted students all over the world in mastering material on their own schedule, from language programs to the greatest test prep services. But as the demand for specialized online courses in business and technology continues to rise, websites like Springboard and Udacity are now receiving even more attention.

If you have to study or learn some new technology or topic in a short span of time within the required budget then which platform will you choose Udacity or Springboard? Confusing! Don’t worry because that’s the reason we are here to do a complete comparison between the two competitive online educational platforms i.e Udacity vs. Springboard. 

In this post, we will try our best to provide you a complete and clear vision of both the online educational providers by doing their side by side comparison of cost, curriculum listing style, subject or topics taught, instructors, and at last the pros and cons of each of them. So let’s start and jump into the brief comparison of Udacity vs Springboard.

Udacity vs Springboard: Side by Side Comparison

Udacity is a giant in the online education industry which helps thousands of students and learners to advance your career with the help of online courses related to programming, coding, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Marketing, Web Development, Software Development and more. Most of them are computer science-centric. 

Established in 2011 today the educational platform has over 11 million users all around the world. They are popular for their Nanodegree certification which they usually provide in partnership with various other universities or organizations. Their Nanodegree certificate can add a special weight to your resume or cv along with skills learned. 

The knowledge and the content provided in any of the Udacity courses are of good quality. They are enough to make you proficient in the required subject or area of knowledge.  Apart from their Nanodegree Programs, they also have their courses and tutorials separated in their schools. 

To help you find your perfect program or course they have filtered their curriculum on the basis of Schools: – 

• Udacity School of Data Science.
• Udacity School of Business.
• Udacity School of Programming.
• Udacity School of Artificial Intelligence.
• Udacity School of Autonomous Systems.
• Udacity School of Cloud Computing.

Now talking about Springboard, well it’s is a rising online educational platform that has mentor’s-led online programs that guarantee you to get hired. They help their students and learners to learn Data Science, UI/UX, coding or programming by building real-world engaging projects. 

Overall they have more than 10,000 students, 600 mentors, from over 100 countries all around the world. They have also filtered there courses on the basis on the different areas of interest and development: – 

• Data
• Design
• Coding
• CyberSec

They are rising and becoming popular because of the job centric approach of providing education and knowledge. They have a nice collection of the job focused programs and have a Switchup Rating of 4.6 stars based on 648 reviews. Furthermore, they are open, honest and constructive, they put their students first and believe that learning should not be stopped. 

Springboard emphasizes real-world applicability, featuring project-based curricula that helps students gain practical experience. Its areas of study include Data Science, Design, Analytics, Cybersecurity, and Software Engineering. Each course and career track includes a combination of learning resources, assignments, and projects, supplemented with one-on-one mentoring from professionals in the field.

One of the unique selling propositions of Springboard is its job guarantee. They promise students in certain career tracks that they will secure a job within six months of graduation or get their tuition back. This guarantee shows the company’s confidence in their programs’ quality and alignment with the job market demands.

The platform also offers career services, which include career coaching, resume reviews, and interview preparation, aiming to fully equip their students to successfully navigate the job market. All these offerings aim to provide a comprehensive, job-focused education that helps students make a career change or level up in their current roles.

Cost: Udacity vs Springboard

Everyone only wants to invest a reasonable amount for studying or learning anything online. Yes, most of the content for learning anything is free online, but that does not come with good quality content, certification, mentor’s support, special guidance, etc and that’s the reason why students and learners buy these online courses and take various benefits which come along with it. 

Both Udacity and Springboard offer some free Introductory level courses and resources for taking a sneak peek of what and how will be the topics and projects covered in the official main courses. 

Talking about Udacity, the average price of a Nanodegree program provided in different schools is $999 for the complete 4 months or the complete time duration of the entire program. However, they also provide a monthly plan in which you have to pay $319 per month on an average. Most of the people go with the monthly plan. They also offer a discount of up to 75% on most of their courses and programs for a limited time period.  

On the other hand, Springboard can cost you more. They have exceptional pricing for any of the courses, programs, bootcamp, or career tracks. They have four different kinds of payment options or plans as follows – 

1. Upfront
2. Monthly
3. Deferred Tuition
4. Climb Credit Loan

For accessing their courses and programs you will have to submit $7000 on an average for a specific course or program. If you choose a monthly plan then you will have to submit $1000 on an average. If you choose a Deferred tuition plan then you will have to provide $600/month and if the climb credit payment method is selected then you will have to provide $100/month on an average. 

Payment plans of Springboard sounds heavy! Well they are, some of the plans may not be affordable for students living or studying out of their town.

We suggest you to take the free courses or programs on any of these educational platforms and then decide to invest for any of the paid courses and programs. Don’t forget that Springboard never compromise with the quality of the content and also guarantees a job in most of their career tracks. Udacity also provides good quality content and resources but it does not guarantee you a job in the relevant field or industry.

Also see – Udacity vs Codecademy: Which one is better to learn Coding

Curriculum: Udacity vs Springboard / Subjects or topics taught

Now, let discuss the curriculum of the courses and programs offered by Udacity as well as Springboard. 

One has to say the Udacity has well established itself in the online education market and has covered various subjects and topics required to succeed in the industry, especially in the field of technology. So let see the differences in the curriculum and subjects taught in this Udacity vs Springboard.

Udacity Schools

Udacity School of Data Science 

Udacity School of Data Science has various intermediate to advanced level courses for learning and mastering everything required to become proficient in the field of Data Science. Some of the Nanodegree Programs offered in the Udacity School of Data Science are as follow – Udacity Become a Data Engineer Nanodegree Program, Udacity Become a Data Scientist Nanodegree Program, Udacity Become a Data Analyst Nanodegree Program, etc.

Udacity School of Business

Udacity School of Business has various beginner to intermediate level courses and programs for learning various important skills required to elevate a business such as Digital Marketing, UX Designer, Business Analytics, Product Manager, SQL, AI Product Manager, etc.

Udacity School of Programming

Udacity School of Programming has various beginner to intermediate level courses and Nanodegree programs for learning various programming languages and their applications such as Intro to Programming, Front End Web Developer, Blockchain, C/C++, Java, Full Stack and many more.

Udacity School of Artificial Intelligence

Udacity School of Artificial Intelligence has various beginner to advanced level courses and Nanodegree programs for learning and practising various AI related technologies and languages such as AI Programming with Python, Machine learning, AI Product Manager, etc.

Udacity School of Autonomous Systems

Udacity School of Autonomous Systems has various Intermediate to Advanced level courses and programs that will help you a lot in learning automation technology such as C++, Self driving car Engineer, DSA, Robotics Engineer, etc.

Udacity School of Cloud Computing

Udacity School of Cloud Computing has various Intermediate to Advanced level courses and programs that are extremely helpful in mastering cloud and it’s technologies such as Cloud DevOps Engineer, Cloud Development, AWS Cloud Architect Development, etc.

Springboard Courses

Now talking about Springboard course curriculum and content, well they also provide high quality content and learning resources. All of their courses, programs and career tracks come with a tag of Job guarantee which itself is enough to represent the authority of the platform.  

They have also tried to cover various trending topics and subjects which are in-demand in their relevant industries. There are various career tracks especially designed by professionals to make you proficient in the desired skills and ready for cracking the job interviews. Some of their curriculums are as –

• Data Science – 
  • Data Science Bootcamp
  • Data Science Bootcamp
  • ML Engineering Bootcamp
  • Data Engineering Bootcamp
• Analytics  –
  • Data Analytics Bootcamp
• CyberSecurity – 
  • CyberSecurity Bootcamp
• Design – 
  • Introduction to Design
  • UI/UX Design Bootcamp
  • UX Bootcamp
• Coding – 
  • Software Engineering Bootcamp
  • Software Engineering Career Track Prep

Instructors

Good instructors are the ones who can explain the most difficult topics in the easiest manner. Instructor change the overall experience of the student or learner as they are the one to guide you at every stage. Knowing the instructor, his teaching capability, his experience in the industry along with some other factors, matter a lot. So let’s go into some details about the instructors at Udacity and Springboard. 

Both the Udacity as well as Springboard have highly qualified and professional instructors for their courses and programs. In Udacity, there will be a team of 2 to 5 world class instructors for any of your Nanodegree programs. 

The Udacity President Sebastian Thrun is himself an instructor in Udacity Become a Self-Driving Car Engineer Nanodegree Program. All other mentors and teachers with Udacity are former CEO’s , graduates, or technicians from leading companies. 

Springboard offers unlimited coaching & mentoring as part of the program but it might not all be with your personal mentor, they only guarantee a weekly 1:1 with them. Springboards is very selective in only hiring top instructors. They currently have Mentors that work with companies like Cisco, Shopify, Google, Amazon and AirBnB.

Pros and Cons 

Now let’s check out the Pros and Cons of both the platforms in this Udacity vs. Springboard comparison.

Udacity – Pros and Cons

Udacity Pros:

1. Offers Quality Content´-
   
   Udacity is a Massive open online course provider (MOOCs) that is widely known for its quality content. The curriculum and the content of the Nanodegree Programs are designed and checked by professionals and highly qualified teachers.
2. Discussion forms –
   
   You can also use their forums which is the community of learners. Udacity professionals and experts are also there to answer some of your doubts or questions.
3. Community –
   
   You can join their community which is a wide network of students and alumni from all around the world. You can discuss your idea or thought along with some of your doubts or questions.
4. Ease of use –
   
   Udacity is also popular for its easy to use website. The User Interface of the website is quite simple and beautiful, everything is listed down in categories.
5. Nanodegree Certificates –
   
   As discussed earlier Nanodegree Certificates can add a special weightage to your Resume or CV. These Nanodegree Certificates are valuable in various organizations and companies and they always want to check the value or the quality associated with it.
6. Career Support –
   
   Career Support and guidance is provided to all the students who are enrolled in any Udacity Nanodegree Programs which include Resume Reviews, CV or Cover Letter Reviews, career guidance, etc.

One of Udacity’s most significant advantages is the partnership with various industry giants like Google, AT&T, Mercedes Benz, etc. This brings real-world projects and industry-aligned curriculum to their learners. Also, the courses provided are comprehensive and detailed, enabling students to gain in-depth knowledge of their chosen subjects.

Udacity Cons:

1. A bit Expensive –
   
   Udacity courses and Nanodegree Programs can be a bit expensive. They have a monthly plan in which most of the students and learners enroll. 
2. No Udacity App for Mobile devices –
   
   If you love to have an Android or iOS app of your online educational platforms, then you will have to compromise it because they do not have their Mobile App.
3. Free Courses only provides introductory knowledge –
   
   Free courses and programs provided by Udacity only provide basic fundamentals of the topics of the subject covered. You can also say that they only provide introductory level knowledge in their free courses.
4. Lose access after graduation –
   
   You may not have lifetime access to the course or Nanodegree program after graduation.

One downside of Udacity is that it doesn’t offer as much mentor support as Springboard. Also, the platform lacks a job guarantee, which could be a major deciding factor for many potential learners.

Springboard – Pros and Cons

Springboard’s mentor-led online programs and job guarantee stand out among its many benefits. Their courses are designed to meet the ever-changing job market demands. The weekly one-on-one mentoring sessions, personalized career coaching, and the promise of a job within six months of graduation are all substantial perks.

Springboard Pros:

1. Job Guarantee career tracks and programs –
   
   Springboard offers Job Guarantee in almost every course, program, or career tracks offered by them.
2. Mentor support –
   
   They offer mentor support to each and every student enrolled in any of their courses, programs, or career tracks.
3. Flexible payment options –
   
   Their cost for the courses are comparatively more but they offer flexible payment options with the help of which various students and learners along with professionals are able to enroll in their programs.
4. Active community –
   
   They have an active student community for every student and learners for getting connected with Springboarders all across the globe.
5. Unlimited career coach and guidance –
   
   They provide unlimited career coaches and guidance to their learners and students even after the completion of the course or program or career tracks.
6. Mock Interviews –
   
   They also provide Mock Interviews in some of their courses, programs or career tracks to make sure that their candidates are smart enough to face the interview and crack it to get the job.

Springboard Cons:

1. Expensive courses and programs –
   
   Their courses are comparatively costlier than any other online course provided by Massive open online courses provider. Some of their courses and career tracks may not be affordable for the students and learners living outside of their hometown.

Their programs are generally more expensive than those offered by Udacity, which might deter some students, especially those on a tight budget. Also, they don’t offer as broad a range of courses as Udacity.

2. Job Guarantee only in certain countries –
They only provide the Job Guarantee in certain countries and locations.

3. Not for business or marketing learners –
Currently they don’t have courses or career tracks for business, sales or marketing learners.

Conclusion: Udacity vs Springboard

Udacity and Springboard both provide high quality resources and content for learning and practising in any of their courses and programs. One cannot compromise between the quality of resources provided by both of them.

Udacity is a more trusted and more popular massive open online course provider while Springboard is rising and getting popular because of the quality content and tag of Job Guarantee of all of their course and career tracks. 

Springboard has a solid catalog of Data Science and Design while Udacity has tried to cover everything from business to Data Science to Web Development, so we can say that Udacity has a more wide range of subjects and topics covered.

When deciding between Udacity and Springboard, students should consider what they want from their learning experience. If in-depth knowledge of industry collaboration is what you seek, then Udacity might be a better choice. However, Springboard is the clear winner if you are looking for comprehensive mentorship, personalized career guidance, and a job guarantee. Ultimately, the choice depends on the individual’s needs, budget, and career aspirations.

However, it also depends on you which online educational platform you select for learning or practicing the skills required for succeeding in your career. Hope you find this Udacity vs Springboard comparison interesting and useful.