Udemy Review (2024 Upd.) Is This E-Learning Platform Legit?

Last Updated on December, 2024

You can’t survive in the online education field if you’re not truly good enough; especially for personal and professional development.

And guess what? Udemy has been in the game since 2010; that’s a long time.

If you’re wondering whether taking courses in Udemy is worth it, then you’re in the right place. All you need to do is read through — everything you need to know about Udemy is here.

But why trust me?

Why Trust Me?

I have been using Udemy since 2013, and I know everything there is to know about the platform. Not only I but my entire team actively use Udemy for personal and professional development — so reviewing this platform was easier.

But just to be updated, I browsed through hundreds of user reviews inside and outside the platform.

So, let me re-introduce Udemy and take it from there.

Introduction: What is Udemy?

I’m sure you’ve heard enough of Udemy. In a nutshell, Udemy is an online learning platform that is also a teaching platform. 

Today, it is not available only an online learning for single users but also for businesses to train their employees. So, Udemy is one of the largest service providers in the e-education industry. How big do you think?

As of June 2023, this online learning platform boasts a learning pool of 64m users and 75k+ instructors with over 870m course enrollments.

In other words, it’s well-established, But that wasn’t an overnight success, as Udemy was founded in 2010 by Eren Bali, Oktay Caglar, and Gagan Biyani. The journey they started with a few programming courses has changed the world.

Let’s look at its course catalog next.

Course Catalog

According to Udemy’s statistics, the platform took about 5 and a half years to hit the 2,000 courses. But as of June 2023, the platform has, wait for it, 210,000+ courses and growing. 

That’s why there are Udemy courses for almost anything you can think of. 

But let’s be more specific — let’s start with the variety of courses.

The Range of Courses

As I said, Udemy offers 210,000+ courses, and they do it across 13 main categories with SEVERAL subcategories. Let’s take a look at the main categories and their respective subcategories.

1. Development

The world is only getting more web-based than ever. This is what Udemy started with; this main category has courses on how to code and build websites, apps, games, and so much more. 

In these, there’s impressive course variety with multiple levels of competencies.

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2. Business

The world is more business-oriented than ever, and Udemy courses help you to climb the corporate ladder more easily.

In all categories following the first one which is development, the last subcategory is the “other + category name”. 

For example, if it’s in the business category, it’s ‘Other Business’. Here you’ll find innovative and out-of-the-box courses, belonging to the main category.

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3. Finance and Accounting 

No proper financing = no management, and that complicates everything everywhere. Under this subcategory, you can learn how to manage your personal or business finances, budgeting, investing, accounting, etc.

Next, we switch to tech.

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4. IT and Software

Tech is the future, and you can be a master of the future by mastering various software tools and technologies.

Productivity is our next focus.

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5. Office Productivity

Knowing technological office productivity aspects is crucial. This subcategory is to learn master office productivity tools.

The next subcategory is about personal development.

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6. Personal Development

This course series focuses on improving yourself in personal transformation, productivity, happiness, career development, and much more.

The next main category is “design”.

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7. Design

Having a reliable designer for any company is a secret weapon.

Up next is marketing.

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8. Marketing

Marketing is the science of making customers choose your products over competitors. In this category, you can find Udemy courses on promoting your products or services while leveraging digital channels and so much more.

“Lifestyle” is the next segment.

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9. Lifestyle

A well-managed garden will always look more attractive. Udemy “lifestyle” courses can maintain and improve your garden of life.

Following that comes photography and videography.

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10. Photography and Video

Since the first-ever camera in 1816, the industry has come a long way. This subcategory is dedicated to teaching you how to take and edit pro photos and videos with various tools and best practices.

The 11th main category is “health and fitness” — let’s check it out next.

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11. Health and Fitness

The next Udemy courses subcategory is about music.

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12. Music

Knowing how to play just one instrument is a lifelong blessing. You can get that blessing or further polish through multiple Udemy courses on playing an instrument or producing music with various tools and techniques.

And the last Udemy main category is focused on teaching.

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13. Teaching and Academics

And now you know the full catalog of Udemy courses. I assure you, there’s no other review online that has all of this.

You’re welcome, btw. 

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So, next, let’s talk about the quality and content of Udemy courses.

Udemy Course Content Quality

I have followed MasterClass, and there was one flaw that constantly annoyed me despite the high quality of the content — the lack of slideshows in the quality checklist.

Don’t get me wrong, MasterClass is great, but you can’t deny the fact that they’re too focused on the celebrity instructors. In some courses, the content quality is alarmingly low. 

Udemy marketplace has fixed that so well.

90% of their courses are slideshow-based, and these slideshows are very appealing and communicate everything in a digestible manner. The instructors share their secrets, and it’s admirable; there’s no room for low-quality courses.

One downside is the inconsistency of quality. But from a practical perspective, you can’t expect the quality of 5-star courses in the 1-star ones.

But even in the worst-case scenario, what you find on Udemy is borderline platform-exclusive.

What about the video quality?

Udemy lets you watch their courses from 240p to 1080p with a single click. This is mainly to suit both the laptop and mobile resolutions, which is great. The cherry on top is how you can adjust playback speed, too.

The majority of Udemy courses are done in English.

So, there is little or no language barrier in Udemy courses.

Method of Delivery

As you might already know, Udemy is a pre-recorded video learning platform. But what most people forget is that you can also download PDF files in some courses. 

These are typically learning resources and complimentary learning material that increases the scope of learning for no additional price.

Almost all courses also have mid-course assessments, practice tests, and quizzes to ensure you’re on the right track. It’s useful since all Udemy courses are fluff-free, even the introduction lecture.

Next, let me explain the course structure.

Typical Udemy Course Structure & Details

YouTube courses don’t have a proper course structure — no, I don’t consider timestamps as structure. 

But the range of courses in Udemy courses do.

The main purpose is to give you a clear understanding of what will be covered. For example, the Professional Diploma in Digitalization of Retail Banking course has 2 sections with 18 lectures that span 1h 19m in total duration.

There’s also a separate description section that explains the course content.

Pretty neat, right?

But before all of that, every course on Udemy clearly mentions what you will learn. This is a quality that even MasterClass lacks. There are 8 such aspects in this retail banking digitization course.

It would have been a waste if you realized a course was too advanced or too beginner-level AFTER purchasing. To eliminate that issue 100%, Udemy lists down:

The cherry on top is the “linked topics” subsection that opens doorways within the platform to advance the chosen subject area.

I want to discuss the section about the “author” in the course details next, which is about Udemy instructors.

Udemy Instructors

The ONLY difference between MasterClass instructors and Udemy instructors is the celebrity-level fame. If not, I personally think that any Udemy instructor is much more qualified and experienced; you can check any instructor bio.

The platform clearly communicates their instructor selection criteria.

And I could go on and on and on, and the quality review process is tight.

Next, let’s talk about picking the BEST course on Udemy for you.

My Special Guide to Find the Best Udemy Course for You

210,000+ course catalog is like an extensive library, and it’s not like you can spend and see what works for you. That’s where I come in again.

I’ve been using Udemy since early 2014, so I know how to filter out the best, except for Udemy’s built-in ‘bestseller’ and ‘highest rated’ tags.

As you follow these tips, you’ll discover your own methods because that also happened to me. 

Wait!!! How Often Does Udemy Have Sales?

User-Interface Experience Analysis

I can’t begin to tell you how many platforms I have abandoned just because the user interface was so annoying. Come on, I’m only human like yourself. But Udemy was an exception — I love it.

So, let me explain how their user interface works.

Navigating Udemy Website 

I’m not gonna lie — the udemy.com landing page feels a bit cluttered. However, I think that they have tried their absolute best to make it less cluttered and also give a solid understanding of the range of courses that Udemy offers. 

But the ideal starting point is at one and a quarter of a scroll, the top categories, and right underneath that are the featured topics by category.

If not for that, you can simply use the search bar to search for anything. As I said earlier, you can filter courses out by various aspects.

But the most useful feature to me is how some lectures have previews. This lets you decide whether you like it or not. 

The discussion forum allows you to interact with the instructor and other students. The Q&A section is solely dedicated to various course-specific questions, and I haven’t ever seen an unanswered question.

Under all of this comes in the reviews section. If you remember from the last section’s guide, this is the place where you can read all the reviews for a thorough idea. 

If you scrolled all the way to the footer, you’d see multiple standard hyperlinks, including Udemy Busines (I’ll get into that), About Us, and a site map.

But the most critical hyperlink here is the “get the app” — trust me, you’ll LOVE the app.

App’s Mobile Friendliness and Accessibility

Bagging 4.4 stars after 426,000+ reviews is not easy in the e-learning industry. But Udemy has not only got a fantastic rating, but its PlayStore also lists it down as Editor’s Choice.

The second best thing about the Udemy app is that it’s frequently updated. Essentially, the second best thing powered up the best feature: the incredibly amazing user interface.

Similar to the website, everything is there, but the app is much less cluttered. You can navigate through the entire app from the home page, and it’s so much easier.

You can also conveniently take notes as for each lecture; that’s right, for each lecture. Because of that, you don’t have to remember what notes are about. This is complemented by the dark-mode feature that skyrockets your focusing ability.

The icing on the cake is how the app lets you download courses for offline viewing. That’s about the Android side.

In the App Store, Udemy’s app boasts a rating of 4.7 stars with almost 76,000 reviews. The user interface and everything else are pretty much the same. Overall, it’s a great app known for its convenient and appealing looks.

Next, I’m gonna teach you how to open a Udemy account; my way is much easier.

How to Open an Udemy Account?

Opening a Udemy account is easy and free. You only need an email, or you can simply log in with your Google account or Apple ID.

Congratulations! You’re officially an Udemy member. Now, you can browse and enroll in any course you prefer. Remember to refer to the course-picking special guide when you do.

But let me also address an exciting topic: what are the most popular Udemy courses of all time?

Most Popular Udemy Courses of All Time

Even the most popular Udemy courses of all time CAN change from time to time. But these are the 10 most popular current courses that have held their places for a long time. All these courses have seven-digit student numbers and six-digit ratings.

1. The Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python

Knowing programming languages is essential for coding. This course teaches you how to use Python 2 and 3 professionally. You can learn how to create games with Python and object-oriented programming.

Complex topics such as decorators, the Jupyter Notebook, and .py files are also covered.

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2. Microsoft Excel – Excel from beginner to advanced

You can’t climb the corporate ladder conveniently without solid Excel knowledge.

This course solely focuses on teaching the beginner to make them advanced Excel users who can do dynamic reports with pivot tables to dynamic formulas with IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX, and MATCH functions using Microsoft Excel 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Office 365.

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3. Cryptocurrency Investment Course 2023: Fund your Retirement!

Do you wish you could go back to 2009 and invest in Bitcoin? Maybe you can spot and invest in the next.

This course aims to give you an A to Z understanding and investment guide to Crypto, Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum, Altcoins, Metaverse, NFT & DeFi coins for your retirement!

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4. Machine Learning A-Z™: AI, Python & R + ChatGPT Bonus [2023]

Machine learning is a part of AI, and AI is the future. This Udemy course features machine learning (ML) algorithms in Python and R, with code templates included. It teaches more decision tree models as XGboost, too.

As a bonus extension, you can also learn ChatGPT in both the 3.5 and 4.0 models.

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5. Adobe Premiere Pro CC Masterclass: Video Editing in Premiere

The Oscar-winning movie “The Parasite” was edited by a tool similar to Adobe Premiere Pro.

This course is for everyone who wants to learn both beginning and advanced tricks on Premiere Pro, including audio editing, color grading, motion graphics, Green Screen+, and much more.

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6. Tableau 2022 A-Z: Hands-On Tableau Training for Data Science

Big data is the new oil. By successfully completing this course, you’ll learn real-data analytics across simple to complicated areas such as time series, Scatterplots, advanced dashboards, advanced data preparation, and much more for affordable prices.

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7. Forex Trading A-Z™ – With LIVE Examples of Forex Trading

Money invested grows better than the money saved. This Udemy course focussed on trading like a pro by live examples. Have a full understanding of how the Forex Market operates and learn everything all the way up to the MetaTrader 4 trading platform.

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8. Mega Digital Marketing Course A-Z: 12 Courses in 1 + Updates

Digital marketing is the future of marketing, and this course has ALL of it. Learn how to design effective digital marketing strategies based on social media marketing, WordPress, SEO, digital sales, email, Instagram, and so much more.

It’s not a good course; it’s a great course.

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9. Learn Ethical Hacking From A-Z: Beginner To Expert Course

Have you ever got logged out of your Facebook? This course is a ten-thousand-fold of the solution for that. This course focuses on becoming an elite ethical hacker and easily hack networks, computer systems, web apps, and so much more.

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10. Blog Blueprint: How to Turn Blogging Into a Career?

You’d be surprised to see how much money you can make if you know how to blog strategically. This full guide solely focuses on building a stunning blog, writing irresistible articles, generating a massive audience, collecting endless consented emails, and more.

You’ll notice that I have omitted more from the most rated list because almost all of them are tech-focused courses. In fact, if you’re in tech, Udemy is your mentor.

But don’t worry; I also have dedicated a separate section in this review to show who can make the most out of this course.

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Next, let’s talk about Udemy support or community.

Udemy Community

Udemy is not just a learning platform — it’s also a knowledge-thirsty group of people who want to empower each other. There are official and user-generated Udemy communities you should be aware of.

The Official Udemy Community

I live in the U.S., so this community appeals to me. So, what does Udemy offer here?

You can ask ANYTHING (inside the community guidelines, of course), and so many learners and instructors will answer your questions.

Right above these filters, you will find the button “Start a Conversation,” and that’s how you can ask questions.

Not only that, you can also search for questions. So, if you have any keywords, the relevant questions will pop up, saving you immense time and effort. There are so many active past students.

How efficient. But above the questions section, you can also access announcements, Studio U, and Published Instructor Club.

Studio U is a space for aspiring Udemy instructors to encourage one another and learn from published instructors. Published Instructor Club is an exclusive space for published Udemy instructors to discuss topics such as marketing and course management.

So, there’s internal communication for everyone.

Unofficial Udemy Communities

I use Reddit more than I use Quora. But you don’t have to make an account for either of these platforms to view the community. But similar to Udemy, interaction of any kind requires an account.

Udemy’s unofficial subreddit (Reddit page) is r/Udemy, and it is very active. Since restrictions on Reddit are lower compared to the official Udemy community, you’ll find all sorts of insights and even hacks to make the most out of your courses.

But let me remind you that illegal purchases of Udemy will NEVER get you a legit certificate and potentially might make you get banned forever.

The next subsection is Udemy for Business.

Udemy Business

So far, we have talked about Udemy for individuals, but similar to MasterClass, Udemy also understands that business organizations could use their learning platform to train their corporate employees.

This is the sole focus of Udemy Business, and it has been extremely popular and effective, being trusted by 14.9K+ businesses worldwide.

Let’s look at each of them.

On-demand learning has 5 key objectives. But it is more of a generalized approach, which you will understand as we discuss the next two categories.

It’s pretty straightforward. Then comes Immersive Learning. This part of Udemy Business focuses on technology training with workspaces, labs, assessments, and certification prep courses.

Cohort learning’s core is about leadership development programs with live interaction sessions, asynchronous learning, and discussion forums.

Here’s our comprehensive review of the Udemy Business if you want to learn more.

With that covered, let’s look at Udemy’s instructors.

Accreditation Level of Udemy Qualifications

If you google “Accreditation Level Of Udemy Qualifications,” it’ll say,

“Udemy certificates are not accredited and may not be recognized by educational institutions.”

And guess what? That’s not entirely true. Although Udemy is not an accredited organization, Udemy describes that completing its courses with specific KPIs can easily get your qualification accredited.

Don’t believe me? Check out this course titled “Design Thinking for Beginners: Develop Innovative Ideas“, which is actually a NASBA CPE-accredited course. 

In fact, Udemy is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors.

All you have to do is take the self-evaluation. This is just one example from the 210,000+ courses directory — this definitely isn’t the only one.

In the part where Google is correct, not all Udemy courses are accredited. But does it matter? Not in my experience.

Accreditation comes into place with industries like medicine, engineering, and law. For example, in the USA, it’s ABET, and in Australia, it’s Engineers Australia. You can’t professionally use the title ‘engineer’ if your degree isn’t accredited.

None of those complications applies to business, design, and even programming. But remember that none of the free courses will provide you with a certification; that’s always a paid service.

And since none of these details can be changed, there is enough credibility to Udemy certificates, too.

So, don’t let the internet’s partial-truth fool you. The successful completion of Udemy courses can help you get promotions and pay bumps at work. But be sure to get the certificate as proof of competency.

How Much is Udemy?

One of the biggest downsides of MaterClass is its high value. Their monthly subscription value might be low, but non-negotiable annual billing demotivates most people.

Udemy has fixed that issue as well.

If you want to start small and focus more on individual courses, Courses on Udemy range from about $9.99 to about $199.99. The $199.99 is an executive MBA, just to give you a reference on return on investment,

So, if you belong to these two categories, I suggest you try out the monthly plan first.

But the average Udemy course value is about $20, in my experience — remember that this comes with a certificate along with all the exclusive knowledge by pros.

Here’s our full break down of the Udemy Pricings.

Refund Policy of Udemy

And remember that these are stage-1 conditions to prevent refund abuse that can be overruled for legitimate reasons. For example, if you bought around 10 courses and are not happy with any, you can get your money back as that’s a decision up to Udemy.

That’s why the platform is risk-free by design.

Wait!!! Here’s my complete guide if you want to learn more about Udemy Refund.

My Experience With Udemy

I have been using it for years to learn how to communicate the value of valuable products and services to help people in need. Because, like you, I also look things up, and I want nothing but the best.

So, Udemy has helped me maintain my principles as a person and also as a marketing professional. I’ve learned business management, some financial management, and especially digital marketing through such unique courses. Both free and paid courses.

In fact, Mega Digital Marketing Course A-Z: 12 Courses in 1 + Updates was one life-changing course for me.

Over the years, Udemy course quality has improved MASSIVELY. It’s a sweet deal when the constantly improving user interface makes learning a bit more fun. The constantly updating courses ensure that there is no room for outdated courses.

One area to improve is perhaps including more screen time for instructors. But then again, it’s their personal choice.

I also love how Udemy NEVER breaks the bank. The courses are so affordable, and even the inflation didn’t have that much of an effect on them.

Both times, I was inside 30 days and adhering to their refund conditions — and received the full refund in 4-5 days. It’s funny because I could have finished an entire course within that duration. By all means of the word, Udemy is 100% risk-free.

On top of all this, Udemy is designed to help everyone worldwide to be better at what they do. There are no fancy platforms; if you have a simple PC, a laptop, or just your smartphone, you’re good to go with their good courses.

So, in my experience, Udemy has been amazing, and I would definitely recommend the platform to anyone in a heartbeat. 

But how well do you think Udemy performs compared to competing platforms? Let’s check that next.

Udemy Alternatives

Udemy faces competition from several other industry leaders in the online education industry. Although there are many, I picked the 3 closest competing platforms to compare Udemy courses with.

Udemy Alternatives — MasterClass 

MasterClass has only 180+ courses, while Udemy boasts a library of 210,000+ courses. Not only that, MasterClass ALWAYS charges you annually, while Udemy offers a monthly personal subscription plan with single course purchases and several free unique courses.

On top of everything, MasterClass provides no certificates when Udemy gives a completion certificate.

Udemy Alternatives — LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning is only accessible to those who have LinkedIn Premium, whose cumulative cost is much higher than Udemy. Although it has about 21,000+ courses, it is better than MasterClasss.

You do get certificates, but the pricing point is much higher, the course variety is nowhere close to Udemy, and none in LinkedIn Learning is free.

Udemy Alternatives — Coursera

Coursera gives good competition to Udemy across a few points. Most Coursera courses are accredited, and they have an impressive pool of instructors as good as Udemy. The only downside is that Coursera courses are much more expensive.

But they are worth the money if you can afford it. But courses on Udemy push for affordability as it’s a bigger platform.

If you want a detailed comparison between Udemy and Coursera, checkout this guide.

Udemy Vs. Skillshare

Skillshare is a great competitor as long as you’re willing to compromise. As the brand name suggests, the platform is more about industry experts sharing their skills.

I haven’t seen any structured courses like Udemy, and that’s probably why none of the Skillshare courses are accredited.

Is Udemy Legit?

I included this subtopic because I saw this question, which irritated me.

The short answer to this question is that, YES, Udemy is LEGIT in every single way.

For starters, Udemy is a registered company in San Fransisco, California, with offices in Ireland, India, Brazil, Turkiye, Singapore, and even Brazil. Operational since 2010, the platform has impressive performance numbers, as you read earlier in the review.

On top of that, the platform uses SSL encryption to protect your personal and payment information. Once again, YES, Udemy is 100% legit in almost every single way.

Who is Udemy for?

Udemy is for ANYONE who chases knowledge, but that’s too broad.

I’m sure this draws a clearer picture, and the list is truly endless.

Udemy Customer Testimonials At a Glance

TrustPilot and Consumer Affairs are my top go-to destinations for custom reviews. Let me share the 3 most important testimonials I came across.

Meriam took free courses, and YET she has learned a lot. 

Christian, on the other hand, chooses paid Udemy courses, and I agree with him. Even I don’t understand why some rate these courses low. 

Catherine’s experience sheds light on a crucial matter: misunderstanding. I saw a couple of bad reviews saying Udemy didn’t refund. 

When I checked the real reason, it was because they chose the monthly plan. There isn’t anything sneaky here. Udemy doesn’t refund monthly courses, like every other subscription-based e-learning platform, and they’re VERY CLEAR about it.

With so many 4-5 star ratings, the majority loves Udemy, and it’s reasonable.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of Udemy next.

Pros and Cons of Udemy: The Online Learning Platform

Other Online Learning Platforms we’ve compared with Udemy & other reviews:

• Udemy vs Codecademy
• Udemy vs Pluralsight
• Udemy vs Skillshare
• DataCamp Review

Conclusion: Is Udemy Worth it?

Udemy is one of the well-recognized and well-reputed online learning that has been educating the world for affordable prices; there’s a course for EVERYONE. The cherry on top is the quality of the certificates.

As a person who has been using Udemy for years, with hundreds of thousands of 4-5 star reviews, Udemy is 100% worth it. Let’s hypothesize it doesn’t work for you — you can still get a full refund within 30 days.

I hope this review was helpful. Make the most of your investment, and learn better to be the best. See you in another review!

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