Brilliant.org Review (Updated in 2024) Worth Your Cash?

Last Updated on October, 2024

Are you frustrated with taking recommendations from people who probably never used a platform? In this case, Brilliant?

Not to worry — you’re in the right place if you want to confirm whether Brilliant is worth it.

I have discussed everything you need to know. All you need to do is read through and decide for yourself.

But why trust me?

Why Trust Me?

Trust me because I have been using Brilliant for over 3 years; I know the inside out of the platform being in the long-term target audience.

That’s why what you find here will be exclusive.

On top of that, I redid the whole process for you, went through hundreds of the latest customer testimonials, and browsed leading social media platforms to ensure you know the utter truth.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

About Brilliant

Brilliant is one of the longest-running online educational platforms that has harvested its popularity since 2012. The platform was founded by Sue Khim. Brilliant’s success made her acquire a slot in the Forbes’ 30 under 30 in Education.

Brilliant is mostly focused on serious STEM courses such as math and computer science (even quantum computing, directly targeting problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

All these are well-structured courses with modern classroom tools following a learning path unique to you.

Furthermore, all Brilliant courses are created by award-winning teachers and professionals from MIT, Microsoft, Google, and even Duke. 

Rest assured, all Brilliant courses are heavily engaging, and they link to the founder’s childhood experience. 

Khim and her dad had a tradition of solving puzzles her dad gave during long car rides. Her dad suggested to try and solve the puzzles from the outside when he noticed that young Khim was struggling.

With more than 10 million users and 2 million monthly app users, Brilliant is a giant in the online education industry that has redefined the interactive learning experience with interactive exercises.

So, who is Brilliant for?

Who is Brilliant for?

It is bold of Brilliant to claim that their courses are for anyone aged between 10 and 110, which increases the audience pool. However, it’s ironic that you need to be 13 or older to create an account on this online learning platform.

I would say that this platform is for those who want to excel in STEM subjects and understand theories inside out. If you’re a fan of interactive lessons (while being into STEM), Brilliant will keep your mind active enough.

Brilliant is recommendable for anyone who may have found STEM theories uninteresting, thanks to outdated learning methods. 

Who Brilliant Is Not For: Brilliant might not be the best option if you’re looking for certificates or advanced learning, such as Coursera or edX.

It also might not work if you’re in fields such as arts and literature, media, or similar that are way away from STEM subject areas. With that sorted, let’s critically analyze Brilliant’s courses.

Critical Analysis of Brilliant Online Courses

Course Variety

As I said, Brilliant is a STEM-specialized online learning platform, and you get access to 110+ courses. However, there’s a free and premium plan, so accessibility depends on that.

Brilliant’s course directory is based on four key areas, although they let you filter courses as New Courses. You can also explore advanced topics such as number theory and even neural networks.

If we were to further dissect each area, this is how to break it down.

Here’s how the web interface looks that shows the courses:

All of these courses have a repeating set of features that makes Brilliant what it is. Let’s dive into the course from the next topic onwards.

Typical Course Structure: Learning Process

Brilliant makes things easier for new learners by asking questions to pick the best starting point with all the courses.

For instance, Brilliant asks whether you’re a student, a hobbyist, or a professional. This is followed up with the duration you can allocate for daily or weekly learning. With that, you’ll be presented with different learning paths. 

However, the personalization of these learning paths is exclusive to the premium members. I’ll discuss premium membership details in a moment — keep reading. After answering the questions, these are the learning paths that Brilliant suggested to me.

Since I have some very basic coding knowledge, I decided to take Computer Science & Programming.

I wanted to check what Advanced Math is about, which led me to solve a few math puzzles, and that’s why the image shows the Continue button instead of the view path.

Since I wanted to polish my computer science skills, I wanted to take the (top left) recommended path. If you were on my trail, this is what you will be presented:

The structure for all the courses is organized and gradual, ensuring we follow a carefully designed learning trail. Once you click Start Level 1, this is what you will see.

Depending on the course you take, there can be more and (of course) different selections. Since I prefer creative coding, let’s see how the typical course structure looks once we go inside it. Here’s how it looks.

As you can see, Brilliant has a brilliant course flow inside any step of the learning pathway. You’d see that there’s a barbell sign on the second lesson; this is the interactive practice module, which comes in every other course too. Click on it, and this is what you’ll see.

Once you click the Start Practice button, you’ll be directed to the practicing platform. For this course, it has four interactive problems.

The image below is a glimpse of that:

Similar to other coding platforms, you can run your code with the play button to check your code; this level of active learning makes these STEM courses more comprehensive. More importantly, you can learn STEM subjects in a fun way.

If you don’t like the example, you can also have an alternative problem at the same level. For a second, these reminded me of technical job interviews. Let’s assume that you were one with this level. In that case, you can move up to level 2. 

In this case, it’s Programming with Python. See the image below:

When you click the Jump Ahead button, you will land the course interface of the next level, which is similar in structure to the 1.2 Creative Coding.

It would be similar based on the course you choose. You can easily jump ahead with any lesson, although I recommend you not to do that.

You also get many bonus puzzles. The image below shows beginner and advanced computer science puzzles, which will have the same course breakdown as 1.2 Creative Coding, similar to any other.

If you were taking science courses, below are some of the puzzles you’d get. 

I hope that now you have a good understanding of how the typical Brilliant course is structured. 

Next, let’s look at the quality of the course content.

Quality of the Content

Course content lives up to the competence level of all courses.

The educational quality is boosted thanks to the way of learning, which is the stronger USP of the platform. The only downside is that Brilliant’s video lectures are done using various types of presentations.

This can be positive or negative as it is a subjective preference. Conversely, video lectures on Udemy or Coursera are done by lecturers, and they are featured in the videos.  However, Brilliant is on the same level of interactive learning as Coursera or Udemy.

For instance, see the image below:

When you click on Show Explanation, not only does Brilliant give you the answer to the question, but it also explains how it came to that. Content quality further rises, thanks to that.

As I said, you shouldn’t expect the quality of Coursera or Udemy paid courses from Brilliant’s free courses. This is because you will not receive a personalized certificate, which is typically linked to different competency levels and credits.

This is where Brilliant premium courses come into the picture; let’s discuss that next.

Premium Courses

Brilliant allows you to finish level 1 (and level 2 in some cases) for free. If you seek to educate yourself to the level of Udemy and Coursera, Brilliant’s premium plan is the path to that.

These come as annual or monthly plans, and I’ll cover all prices and refund policies in a later subtopic. So, what do you unlock with the premium membership?

In other words, it’s worth it. I use the Brilliant premium plan, and I’ll share my experience in a later section.

Does the Brilliant premium plan offer exclusive extra classes? Yes, it does. If we look at the computer science area, this is what you get.

To do all these, you first must have a free account on Brilliant. Let’s see how to do that.

How to Open a Free Account in Brilliant (And Get Started)?

The process is very simple, and you can do it on both the website and the app. My advice is to create the account on the web and later log in with the app.

Step 1: Go to the https://brilliant.org/ website.

Step 2: Click on the Get Started button below.

Step 3: Pick your role from the list below: student, professional, parent, lifelong learner, teacher, or other.

Step 4: Choose the follow-up category based on the main type. For example, if you pick Professional, you’ll be asked to list your job.

Step 5: Select what you’re most interested in from the five options below you will be prompted with.

Step 6: Click the Continue button on the next common page.

Step 7: Pick the subject area from Brillant’s core areas (Math, Science & Engineering, Computer Science & Programming, Data Analytics & Probability), which you can change later.

Step 8: Let’s assume you chose Computer Science & Programming. After clicking Continue, you’ll be questioned about your competency level — pick the most suitable one.

Step 9: Choose your daily learning goal. You can learn from 5 minutes to 20 minutes daily.

Step 10: After two more informative panels where you have to click Continue, you will be finally brought to the account creation window. Here, you can join using Facebook, Google, or your email.

That’s it; you’re in.

How to Get Brilliant Premium?

Once you’re inside your account, there’s a Go Premium button on the top bar. See image below:

Click on that, and you will directed to the subscription page, which is: https://brilliant.org/subscribe/

Once you select the annual or monthly plan, you will be directed to the checkout window, where you can pay with either your debit or credit card or PayPal.

Checkout, and you will get access to Brilliant Premium. This is where you get to explore and solve problems in more advanced topics. 

With that covered, I want to share my special guide on how to find the best Brilliant courses.

My Special Guide to Finding the Best Brilliant Course

All Brilliant courses are impressive, but many of them truly exceed expectations. This special guide is for that.

• Use the Free Trial

Both monthly and annual subscriptions offer a generous 30-day trial period. This is the best place to start to dive into the advanced courses in Brilliant.

• Refer to the ‘TODAY’ Tab

Once you sign up, Brilliant gives you exclusive access to some of the most impactful courses with a daily challenge. This tab is another portal to find the best courses on Brilliant.

• Follow the Recommended Study Path

I can’t begin to tell you how convenient and elite the recommended path was. It compiles the best courses together based on the competency level. Because of that, you don’t have to go through the hassle of finding the best courses.

Not only are they picked for you, but they are also consecutively arranged so you can ascend from beginner to expert, only with the best courses.

• Read Past-Student Testimonials

There are millions of Brilliant users, and most of them leave comments. It’s the same with teachers, professionals, parents, and lifelong learners. You can find these at the bottom of the page.

Furthermore, you can browse social media platforms like X, Quora, and even Reddit for even more specific recommendations.

• Browse Through the Popular Courses

That risk is not there with Brilliant. So, when you browse through their most popular courses, you really will find the best ones.

• Read the Course Description

Similar to all leading competitors, Brilliant clearly communicates the course details. Given there are hundreds of courses, you can simply compare and contrast to filter the best ones. With that covered, let me tell you about the devices that support Brilliant.

Devices That Support Brilliant

Whether you’re on a Mac or a regular laptop with Windows, you can easily access Brilliant and follow up with all courses.

Since there’s The Brilliant mobile app lets you easily access it on your Android (Google Play) or iOS phone or tablet; great news for any visual learner used to portable devices.

Both versions of the apps have ratings of about 4.5, with thousands of positive reviews (especially on Google Play). I will share my experience with the app so you’ll feel even more relieved.

You can use Brilliant’s mobile app to download individual courses for offline use too. That being said, let me know some of my favorite Brilliant courses.

My Favorite Brilliant Courses

As I said earlier, I’m mostly into computer science and programming if I had to pick a STEM subject.

Let me share three of my favorite courses.

1. Level 1: Creative Coding

If you guessed it, see if you’re right; creative coding (CC) is basically a method that uses computer programming for artistic expression. In this process, programmers can explore the mostly expected results, as its goals are typically not predefined.

On Brilliant, you can learn the subject thoroughly. For starters, I always knew that variables are the foundation of creative coding, and the first level solidified my assumption. You’ll see that Brilliant teaches you multiple aspects of variables in creative coding.

When you upgrade to premium, you get access to the more advanced classes. This is where patterns, manipulating variables, and such come into the picture.

Once you complete these, you can go to level 2, where programming with Python begins. This gradual approach makes you ready for both technical job interviews and real-life issues. You’ll feel the difference if you have previously struggled.

In essence, this course single-handedly made me impressively able to do creative coding. This was the first course that I finished after getting the paid subscription, and I was off to a great start.

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2. Level 4: Astrophysics

While I was more into computer science and programming (and even if you were the same), I would recommend you to take this course just because it’s so interesting.

The course starts from a simple point as simple as matter, and it goes all the way up to dark energy.

With Brilliant Premium, you get access to 25 more lessons that really dive deep into the subject matter.

Although I won’t list everything down, the course structure features interesting subject areas such as Apparent Magnitudes, Stellar Evolution, Black Holes, and even Interstellar Travel. In a nutshell, it’s a mindblowing course for anyone.

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3. Cryptocurrency

As we move further into digitization, Cryptocurrency isn’t even a good-to-know subject area; it’s a must-know.

Across 19 lessons, Brilliant manages to make you a pro cryptocurrency enthusiast. The secret is none other than the gradual and interconnected information conveyance.

Getting the Brilliant premium subscription is a great investment, as the remaining 14 lessons will help you start with crypto as soon as you finish. 

As you reach more advanced levels of cryptocurrency, you will be exposed to more areas such as hash functions, blockchains, ZooCash, double-spending, and much more.

If you have always wanted to invest in crypto, this course covers everything (and more) that’ll help you navigate the crypto realm like a pro. While there are several other feature-worthy courses, these are my three favorites.

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That being said, let’s discuss Brilliant pricing.

How Much is Brilliant? What About the Free Trial?

Similar to the leading online learning platforms, Brilliant has its free and premium versions. Similar to Udemy and Coursera, you can learn a lot from your free account.

Pricing comes into the picture when you truly want to be a pro of the subject area. Premium Brilliant subscription plans give full access, as we discussed earlier.

Whichever plan you choose, you get a 7-day free trial period. That makes Brilliant Premium risk-free, as you can pull it out just in case it doesn’t resonate with your needs. But I’m sure you won’t feel that as long as your purpose is to learn.

Brilliant Refund Policy

Brilliant’s refund policy is straightforward with two conditions

Condition 1: You can get a refund for the current subscription if the charge process is less than or equal to 3 days ago.

Condition 2: You cannot follow up with too much content following the purchase, which is the industry standard.

Furthermore, you can cancel your subscription plan any time you want via the settings tab. It’s as simple as that.

Next, let’s look at some of the customer reviews.

Brilliant: Customer Reviews

I won’t disrespect you by showing the 5-star reviews on their website; everybody does that.

However, none of these organizations have any power over authentic user review platforms like TrustPilot, Reddit, X, and even Quora.

This is a glimpse of Brilliant’s customer reviews.

Boasting 85%+ 5-star reviews on TrustPilot is not easy, but that’s where Brilliant is.

This user here stresses brand promise delivery, which is a real challenge. I agree with her on the content quality and user-friendly user interface.

While all leading educational platforms struggle in customer service, it’s an added advantage for Brilliant. I have contacted them once for a quick clarification, and I received the same high-quality customer service.

Let’s jump to Reddit.

The context of this answer is in this thread, where a Reddit user asks whether Brilliant is advanced enough, comparing it with the Khan Academy which specializes in high school education. This user clarifies Brilliant’s suitability for adults, even for career switching.

Now that you read about what others have to say, let me share my experience.

My Experience With Brilliant (So Far)

I single-handedly replaced Coursera simply because their prices were too high, and I felt like, lately, their quality has dropped. Brilliant, pleasantly surprised me.

For starters, Coursera doesn’t have any learning pathways that are personalized to my requirements. So, when I saw the learning pathway for me on Brilliant, I was pleasantly surprised.

While it’s engaging to learn from conventionally recorded lecturers, platforms like Coursera are weak on truly interactive learning.

While Coursera only gives us assessments, Brilliants lets you test things with engaging puzzles. That’s why Brilliant is famous for educating in a way that we would truly remember.

As of today, I have finished almost all programming courses, and I have come a long way. Some of my professional programmers are still stuck on conventional coding when I’m proficient in creative coding.

The interface is super engaging and friendly. For me, it has been the best, and I have learned from leading online learning platforms, including Udemy, Coursera, MasterClass, LinkedIn Learning, edX, and even MasterClass.

Brilliant’s interface on the mobile app is even more impressive as it allows us even more swift engagement.

I initially didn’t go ahead with the annual plan as it wouldn’t make sense; like you, I also wanted to see if Brilliant was really worth it, and it exceeded my expectations. To save a little fortune, I switched to the annual plan for the third month.

The only downside about Brilliant is that it doesn’t provide certifications. To compensate for that, they really go above and beyond for the course content quality and learning method.

I’ve been learning on Brilliant for a little over three years, and it has been one of the best investments. I know it’ll be the same for you. In fact, don’t be surprised if you get sucked into the interactive learning methods.

Next, let me answer an important question: “Can I gift Brilliant?”

Can You Gift Brilliant?

Yes, you can gift premium via this link.

If you feel like you’ll be using Brilliant in the long run, gifting lifetime access to yourself isn’t even a bad idea.

With that covered, let’s make a quick comparison between Brilliant and its leading competitors.

Brilliant Vs. Coursera, Udemy, and MasterClass: Quick Comparison

I have used all the mentioned platforms here and here’s my comparison.

Brilliant Vs. Coursera

Coursera is known for providing career-focused, high-quality courses and professionally accredited certificates. Coursera’s course catalog has a broader range of new concepts and advanced subjects. However, Coursera’s price point is really high. 

In parallel, I have felt that recorded lectures are quite monotonous on Coursera, although Coursera gives unlimited access to their vast library at a premium.

This is where Brilliant wins the race with fun and engaging learning methods that burn theories into your brain. It also doesn’t hurt your pocket like Coursera at all.

Brilliant Vs. Udemy

Udemy is not as good as Coursera, and Udemy certificates aren’t accredited. That makes their price point relatively lower, but Brilliant still wins that comparison.

While Coursera features lecturers in the videos, Udemy’s videos tend to show a lot of slides. This is alright, but there’s little or no interactive learning. That’s why understanding complex concepts like Astrophysics or Creative Coding would be more difficult on Udemy.

Brilliant beats Udemy in all these terms.

Brilliant Vs. MasterClass

If you’re a fan of learning from celebrities, MasterClass is ideal. But you should be prepared to bear the high annual-only subscription plan. On the flip side, there are no coding classes that truly elevate your knowledge on an academic level.

However, it’s fun to learn cooking from Gordon Ramsay.

Given that MasterClass doesn’t offer certificates and that Brilliant has fun interactive learning, Brilliant is better within the context.

Is Brilliant Worth the Money?

Yes, a Brilliant premium subscription is worth it for several reasons.

One clear reason is its affordability. It is supplemented by highly effective and engaging teaching methods. Personalized learning paths are the cherry on top. Overall, content quality truly triumphs over everything else for me.

So, yes, Brilliant offers investment-worthy interactive courses and more.

With that sorted, let me rank Brilliant across multiple aspects.

Pros and Cons of Brilliant

Other Online Learning Platform reviews:

• The Great Courses Review

Conclusion: Brilliant Review

Founded in 2012, Brilliant is one of the leading online learning platforms, and now you know everything about it. Looking back, I’m sure its capabilities, learning methods, and even affordability pleasantly surprised you. 

Being a long-term learner on the platform, it is pretty clear that Brilliant returns more than what you invest for — that’s how it should be.

I hope this review was helpful, and feel free to share this with friends and family to raise awareness.

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