How Much Does MasterClass Cost? Subscription Plan Pricings

Last Updated on October, 2024

MasterClass was a recommendation from a fellow writer who doesn’t like learning from the GOAT Neil Gaiman.

But was the platform’s cost worth it? And what is this cost to begin with?

If you’re looking for the answers to these questions, you’re in the right place. I wanted to know the answers myself, so I bought one.

That’s why I know the answers that these other surface reviewers don’t.

So, let me tell you ALL about MasterClass subscription.

Quick Summary

MasterClass offers three subscription plans (An individual plan, A duo plan, and A family plan) for different numbers of devices and features.

Each subscription plan includes unlimited access to the platform’s video library and downloadable workbooks.

MasterClass offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and subscription gift options.

MasterClass subscriptions are billed annually, with three main membership plans available for $15 – $23 per month.

About MasterClass

The best thing? MasterClass lets you access ALL the online courses with any membership you acquire.

It’s one of the biggest reasons why MasterClass is so popular. 

These categories include some of the most sought topics such as cooking, writing, fashion, dog training, singing, marketing, business, and even space exploration. 

All of this subject matter is delivered as pre-recorded videos along with workbooks.

You might have seen the production quality of MasterClass videos; it’s legendary.

With that covered, let’s jump into the main topic.

Overview of MasterClass Cost 

MasterClass cost is subscription-based, and these are billed annually. But the platform calculates it and shows you how much you’d be spending monthly.

There are three main membership plans for the MasterClass cost. The difference between each plan, when calculated monthly, is only $3-5, and that’s fair. 

So, what’s the difference between each plan?

In each plan, there’s always one account. But the number of devices you can use MasterClass differs. If you’re familiar with Netflix, this should be simple enough. However, there’s a difference between the individual plan and the other two.

But rest assured; you get unlimited access to the MasterClass video library regardless of your chosen course.

Let’s look at each subscription plan in detail now.

MasterClass Cost: The Membership Plans

Individual Plan (Formerly the Standard Plan)

MasterClass offers the first annual membership for single people. When I say single people, I’m referring to anyone who might want to use MasterClass only for themselves.

The annual subscription comes at $15 monthly, billed annually at $180. So, membership renewal is annual.

As I mentioned earlier, the individual plan grants access to MasterClass with one account. With this account, you can watch MasterClass on only one device. That makes this subscription a safe haven for anyone who wants to track their progress within the platform.

How so?

Whenever you play a video and pause it, the MasterClass platform remembers where you stopped last. So it’s very easy to keep up.

It will be a delight to get access to all the content, no matter what subscription you choose.

But there’s one downside of the individual plan, and I’ll explain it when I tell you about other subscriptions.

Duo Plan (Formerly the Plus Plan)

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the duo plan is for couples. It could be two partners, two best friends, or even your parents.

Similar to the individual plan, the duo MasterClass annual membership also comes with one MasterClass account. But if you haven’t guessed already, you can watch MasterClass videos simultaneously with two devices.

This, too, is an annual membership priced at $240 billed annually, and that’s only $20 per month. It’s just a $5 leap from the individual plan.

In addition to access to all the online courses, the Duo plan lets you download videos for offline viewing. This is not a feature available in the individual plan. 

So, I’d say it’s a bit of a downside that the most common plan doesn’t enable offline viewing.

That’s the second plan; let’s move to the family plan.

Family Plan (Formerly the Premium Plan)

A family isn’t always about your biological family, isn’t it? It could be your closest group of people too. But isn’t it also fantastic to have a family that wants to educate themselves together?

Similar to other plans, you get access to the platform in one account. However, you can link up to 6 different devices. 

Just like the duo plan, the family plan also lets you download videos for offline viewing. It’s such an admirable feature as you can always follow up whether or not you have internet.

Don’t we get mad with our Wi-Fi every now and then?

This annual family membership comes at $23/month (just $3 more dollars than the duo plan) that bills annually at $276.

What if you signed up for the duo plan and wanted to upgrade to the family plan? 

You don’t even have to contact anyone; you can do it at the upgrade. You can also downgrade any plan anytime; it’s that easy.

Registering and Payments in MasterClass

Given how high-value MasterClass is as a platform, I expected long progress. But it literally takes less than 10 minutes.

All you need to do is go to www.MasterClass.com/plans, and this is what you’ll see. I have already signed up, so it doesn’t show me this screen unless I log in from incognito mode.

So, in the middle, you can see the Duo plan, which is the selected one by default. You can see the monthly price (billed annually) and all the details. 

As you can see, the only two differences between each mode are the offline viewing availability and the number of devices you can watch simultaneously.

Following the quick payment, you land on the home page, and this is how it looks.

After that, it’s just a matter of discovering what’s inside.

Up next, let’s look at what’s included in a MasterClass membership.

What is Included in a MasterClass Membership Cost?

MasterClass Video lessons 

MasterClass video lessons are the most valuable unique selling point (USP) of MasterClass.

The first and foremost thing you’d notice about MasterClass video lessons is the product quality. It looks like they’re part of a movie; the background, the lighting, the sound, and even the setting.

Typically, all of the courses are structured as a series of videos. When considered separately, each course runs for about 2-4 hours. But hold on! That’s the cumulative duration.

Each video is about 10-15 minutes long, simple, and concise.

These amazing video lessons are available in 11 categories: arts & entertainment, home & lifestyle, writing, music, business, science & tech, food, design & style, sports & gaming, wellness, and community & government.

As you know, celebrity instructors in their respective fields cover all these subject areas.

The video quality is adjustable from 360p to 1080p. You can also adjust the playback speed up to 2x speed. Furthermore, the time slider has bookmarked the important areas, and that’s very helpful.

Bottomline is that the best feature of MasterClass (the video lessons) has set a new standard in online education.

MasterClass Downloadable workbook

All the video lessons bring a lot of value to the MasterClass cost. But the MasterClass curriculum brings even more value to your investment — the downloadable workbook is the second element of it.

These workbooks are prepared with the strict supervision of the MasterClass instructors. Each workbook is different from another, and I’d say that each reflects the instructors’ brand identity. 

Why do I say that?

For example, Gordon Ramsay’s workbook’s visuals are very different from Chris Voss’ book. The structure, the colors, and especially the instructions are very bespoke.

The interactive assignments increase the sharpness of the knowledge you gather.

On top of the course-related content, each workbook gives a lot of insights into recommended books, articles, and even websites.

MasterClass Playlists 

Don’t we all like curated playlists that have similar videos and songs? As a regular Spotify listener, I can relate to this completely. Luckily, the MasterClass team noticed this possibility too.

That’s why you get MasterClass playlists for FREE.

For example, if you search “writing” on the search bar, you can see so many playlists under that subject done by notable instructors.

This, of course, doesn’t apply merely to writing but to several other subject areas.

All you need to do is click one of the playlists, and you can begin watching the video lessons peacefully. 

Getting this under the MasterClass cost makes the investment quite valuable.

MasterClass Community 

I was told that MasterClass has topic discussion frequently, and it was a delight to hear. I’m a BIG fan of shared learning, and MasterClass understands the requirement perfectly.

You need to understand that the activeness of separate community discussions strictly depends on the popularity of the courses. For example, there are a LOT of cooking-related questions as there are several cooking MasterClasses.

You can initiate discussions, or you can simply join the existing ones. Inside these discussions, you can ask questions, get feedback, or just comment. 

It’s a very friendly community.

There is a “JOIN THE DISCUSSION” tab at the bottom of every video, as shown below.

Once you go inside, it’s pretty much like Facebook, where you can start a discussion thread. The title is there, and you can click to collapse the discussion.

So, the MasterClass community is another feature that increases the value of the master call cost.

MasterClass App

MasterClass Guest Pass

YOU should make the annual subscription payment to access MasterClass. 

But what if you wanted to give a special pass to someone who wants to check whether MasterClass is worth it? MasterClass membership includes an answer to that too.

For the MasterClass cost, these guest passes are such a value booster.

I got three passes, and you may get 2 or 3 passes, and it’s mostly a random possibility. Once you get that, you only need to email the guest pass invites. 

Take a look at the interface below:

These passes enable MasterClass FREE trial to access the unlimited library for 7 days. But since they are required to pay after 7 days, MasterClass requires them to include the card details, which is pretty standard.

It simply becomes inactive if they don’t redeem the MasterClass within 7 days of the MasterClass free trial.

UPDATE: You can now have access to MasterClass for up to 14 days with Guest Pass.

MasterClass Offers

The platform also lets you GIFT MasterClass subscriptions.

Similar to the guest pass, membership gifts also go through emails. Needless to say, 99.9% of the time, these gift memberships are individual plans.

The cherry on top is how you can also add an optional gift message. That sure helps you make things more personal as well. 

Furthermore, you can SCHEDULE when to send the gift email as well — who wouldn’t like a MasterClass subscription as a birthday gift? They’re definitely better than a MasterClass free trial.

Here’s my guide to “MasterClass gift.”

MasterClass for Businesses

What if you were a C-suite executive or an HR director who wants to improve your team through MasterClass? That’s what you get with MasterClass at work.

Bulk licenses are available for corporate purposes, where you can choose between 5 to 1000 seats for your employees.

You’d notice how these aren’t available as plans on the website. For that, all you need is to send a simple email, and the team will be in touch with you soon.

The best thing? You have a possibility of getting 5 to 35% discounts for office packages based on the order size.

MasterClass Social Impact

MasterClass is an online learning platform that gives to society.

How so?

MasterClass gives away free annual memberships to accredited charitable organizations. All these organizations exclusively serve only the communities in need.

I wouldn’t say it’s a benefit under the MasterClass cost, but wouldn’t it be nice if YOU were able to initiate a project? You totally can! All you need to do is submit an application, and the team with notify you if there is eligibility for a grant.

Here’s the link to apply for a grant.

So, that’s about what you get for the MasterClass cost. Next, let me explain how to cancel MasterClass.

How to Cancel a Master Class Membership?

If you want to cancel the membership, all you need to do is navigate to the profile menu. You’ll notice ‘Settings’ in the right side corner.

You can scroll down to account settings once you click and enter through. Check for the membership section of the page, and you can click the ‘cancel membership’ button there.

That’s it; you no longer have the MasterClass membership.

Refund Policy of MasterClass

MasterClass gives you a generous 30-day period to check if the platform is really worth it. Although you access it by paying the platform, you can get it back thanks to the 30-day money-back guarantee.

The team is very friendly, and you never have to worry if you’ll really get it.

With this sorted out, let me tell you five of the most popular and best MasterClass courses.

Most Popular MasterClass Courses

Brandon McMillan Teaches Dog Training

With his positive reinforcement/reward-based training, Brandon helps your puppy train for seven commands that are imperative for the overall mental growth of a dog. These training elements include leash training, obedience commands, and even socialization.

Even if you’re a first-time puppy owner or an experienced trainer, this MasterClass is undoubtedly valuable to you. It only takes a few hours. 

Learn more about this course in this review of Brandon McMillan MasterClass.

Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking II: Restaurant Recipes at Homes

It’s admirable how he further teaches about how to be efficient, organized, and clean in the kitchen. 

But the most important part is the dishes. Some of them are,

• Crispy duck with red endive and spinach 
• Pomme Puree
• Rack of lamb with Thumbelina carrots
• Szechuan roasted whole chicken
• Sesame-crusted tuna with cucumber salad 

And there’s more.

Read the full review of Gordon Ramsay MasterClass or,

Kelly Wearstler Teaches Interior Design

She teaches you to identify AND develop your OWN style throughout the course. It shows how clearly she knows her craft as she explains so much based on her projects.

Some of the key areas she covers are space planning, movement and scale, materiality in design, and up to 17 video lessons.

You get all of this and more for any membership investment.

Neil Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling

From the inception to making the final touches, Neil takes you through a journey, and it showcases his mentorship beautifully. The structured curriculum of MasterClass classes is impressive.

On top of all this, he also touches the business side of creative writing, unlike most other writing classes. This includes how to work with editors, agents, and even publishers. 

That’s why it’s one of the BEST writing classes of all time.

Is MasterClass Worth the Money?

MasterClass is THE online education platform if you want to learn from the best there is. There are so many benefits that you get merely by signing up. So, all things considered, MasterClass is definitely worth the money.

Although there are SOME MasterClass alternatives, others aren’t as diverse and comprehensive, unlike MasterClass.

In Conclusion

Modern online education is quite advanced, and MasterClass is one of the best online learning sites. Getting UNLIMITED access to all the courses with ANY subscription plan shows how education-focused the platform is. 

Imagine getting all that for just $15 monthly with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The price model of MasterClass is fair and lets the viewers choose what suits them the best. You get so much more for what you spend in addition to the premium video lessons. No matter what subscription you go with, it’s an investment.

I hope this gave you a clear idea about the MasterClass cost. See you in another one!

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