An In-Depth Review of Domestika – Is It Worth The Price?

Online learning has become far easier than physically attending classes. The best part is that you can learn from global experts from the comfort of your own home.

But choosing the right platform can get tricky. A lot of them have courses that are more academically oriented or technical in nature. Few platforms offer courses in the creative spectrum, like writing, illustration, and photography, and more options to choose from.

If you have also experienced this, then you must try Domestika. An online learning platform that started as a creative community has been giving the top players like Coursera, Skillshare, and CreativeLive a run for their money!

They have courses on creative subjects and are a great way for creative individuals to enhance their skills and techniques.

If this is something that has intrigued you, read on to the full Domestika Review, what makes it different from its competitors, and if it is a right fit for you!

What is Domestika?

Domestika has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing creative communities. It is an online learning platform where hundreds of creative experts share knowledge and skills through professionally produced online courses. Though it was originally founded in Spain, Domestika now has its headquarters in San Francisco. It started as an online forum for like-minded creatives to help them connect, showcase their creative projects, and learn from each other. It has now transformed into a massive e-learning platform with more than 10 categories of courses by hundreds of talented instructors from across the globe.

One of Domestika’s USPs is that it carefully curates the instructors and produces all the courses in-house to ensure a high-quality online learning experience for everyone. Today this online community boasts more than a million members worldwide who are curious and passionate about learning new creative skills.

There are 12 Main Categories of Classes on Domestika

1. Illustration
2. Craft
3. Marketing & Business
4. Photography & Video
5. Design
6. 3D & Animation
7. Architecture & Spaces
8. Writing
9. Fashion
10. Web & App Design
11. Calligraphy & Typography
12. Music & Audio

There are courses not only for the artist community but also for those who need support from technology. Domestika hosts many courses in the current trending industry software like Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Maya, Procreate, Camera Raw, and Cinema 4D.

Unlike other platforms, not anyone and everyone can teach or sell their class on Domestika. And this is what sets them apart. Domestika wants its members to have access to experts in the field and list only those courses that professionals teach. Every course is reviewed, vetted, and approved by the Domestika Team. And since they film all their courses in-house, they have complete control over the quality of the video lessons that go into each course.

Also, a lot of classes are in Spanish. They all have the option of subtitles for English and various other languages. Having said that, the courses are easy to follow. The classes are all self-paced, which means you can learn at your own pace, in your time. Having this flexibility is a great boon for those with full-time jobs or students with a full class load.

Domestika Usability

What makes Domestika so popular is the ease of Usability. The Domestika website is easy to use and navigate. It is well-designed with a clear visual hierarchy. The homepage is simple, and you can easily start your journey of learning. These features include the number and percentage of positive reviews, how many students have taken the course, how many lessons are in the course, how much time is required to complete it, how many additional resources are available for download, its availability on the app, what is the language of the course, etc.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Domestika

When you enroll for any course on any e-learning platform, you hope to have a smooth experience. However, every platform has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

Lifetime Access

When you buy an individual course on Domestika, you will receive lifetime access to the class content, the downloadable resources, and the community. If you buy a subscription, you get these perks for as long as your membership is valid. You can revisit the video lessons in the course whenever you need to review or revise the most important and stimulating material and keep upgrading your skills. Also, you have the flexibility to learn at your own pace. With Domestika, you can learn according to your own schedule and don’t have to worry about completing certain assignments or course modules at a specific time.

Recommended For All Levels of Proficiency

There are e-learning platforms that cater to all levels of skill, but that isn’t the case with each one of them. However, Domestika has a wide array and offers courses for candidates of all skill levels. So whether you are a beginner looking to learn a fresh skill or an advanced user hoping to learn a complementary skill or advance your existing skillset, you will most likely find a course on Domestika that will be challenging as well as satisfying! One that will teach you without overwhelming you.

Content is of Superior Quality

A lot of online learning platforms have courses and classes from many instructors. Anyone can become an instructor and list a course. And that’s why content quality isn’t consistent among their courses. This is what gives Domestika the edge. They control all the class content and produce it in-house. This way, they guarantee top-quality course content for all their members. One thing that Domestika really values is that the quality of content has to be exceptional for each lesson consistently. Every course has superiorly produced content and is simple enough for even beginners to follow.

Teachers who are Experts in their Field.

There are other online course platforms where anyone can become an instructor and teach a course. However, courses on Domestika are taught by instructors who are experts in their fields and teach what they practice and what they have experience in. So you’ll benefit from their flawless techniques and methods in a way that encourages its application by the students and their insights and experience from handling real-life projects.

Creative Community

All members of Domestika get access to the large creative community of more than 5 million other creative professionals that they have built over the last decade. You can see the projects that other members share, share your creativity, offer your insights and receive feedback, and more.

Certificates for Courses

One important perk that Domestika Plus members enjoy is that they are awarded Completion Certificates for the courses they complete, signed by their instructors. These can be added to their profile on networking sites or even their resumes.

Disadvantages:

But hold your horses. Here are some of the shortcomings when doing a course on Domestika.

Courses in Spanish

One big disadvantage while enrolling for a course on Domestika to enhance your skills is the language problem. Many classes have Spanish instructors, making it a problem for students whose preferred language of instruction is English.

Even though every course has the option for subtitles in English and other languages, it can be exhausting and bothersome to read the subtitles for every instruction in the class. Having said that, Domesitka has recently begun to curate more courses in English for the convenience of its English-speaking members. So, hopefully, all content will soon be available with English Audio.

Issues with App

Many members have highlighted that the quality and Usability of the app don’t match the experience of the website. It isn’t compatible with Android devices, with several instructions and information cut off. This makes it difficult for the user to navigate through the app.

Not great for Academic Advancement

Since Domestika is oriented towards enhancing skills and passions rather than academic subjects, it does not cater to those looking to complete full degrees. Therefore, buying a course on Domestika will neither make you eligible for any course credit nor does the Domestika class not count towards any college degree. Many courses offer the students a certificate of completion that can be used as part of their professional portfolio or even on their resumes.

Domestika Membership and Pricing

How does one start learning on Domestika? Well, creating an account on Domestika is absolutely free. With your free account, you can browse the website and search for the classes you are interested in.

Purchase a Course

If you liked a certain course/class, you could purchase the class individually. Once you pay for it, you will receive lifetime access to it, thereby allowing you to watch it as often as you need. This option is economical and beneficial for those who are only interested in a particular skill, just a few classes, or have limited time.

Membership: Domestika Plus

The other option is to purchase a membership. The annual or monthly membership gives you access to exclusive sales and discounts. You also have the benefit of some classes that are free with the membership. But your membership entitles you to a great discount for these classes. Members also get a class token or credit that can be used against the purchase of a class during the period of their membership. Members also enjoy the ability to watch all the open classes as many times as they need, as long as their membership is valid. Most classes also offer a certificate of completion only to Members of Domerstika Plus.

Domestika doesn’t offer a free trial period like most other platforms but offers a refund on both subscriptions and individual purchases made within 14 days of a refund request.

Best Domestika Alternatives

Apart from Domestika, dozens of online learning platforms are available to students. So let’s see how Domestika compares to some of the most popular ones.

Domestika Vs. Coursera

Coursera is considered one of the leading online learning platforms. Since its main objective is to offer full degrees in academic subjects like Data Science, Business administration, Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, Maths & Logic, and more, Coursera has fixed dates for signing up and fixed deadlines for finishing the courses and receiving the degree. Not all courses are free of cost. Some courses are time intensive and are priced quite high.

Domestika Vs. Skillshare

Skillshare is another popular online learning platform. Skillshare also has hundreds of excellent courses from a broad spectrum of subjects, ranging from arts to technology, to business to hobbies, and more. All the courses are divided into two categories – original courses and teacher-uploaded. Original courses are those that are chosen and approved by Skillshare that usually has better-quality of video lessons.

For the teacher-uploaded category, anyone can list their course with Skillshare and become an instructor. More often than not, these courses feature poor quality in terms of content as well as production. Despite all this, a Skillshare account is economical as it gives you lifetime access to the lessons. You can view lots of courses and that too free of cost.

Domestika Vs. Udemy

Udemy is another great substitute for Domestika. Udemy too has courses in an extensive variety ranging from IT to programming, business analytics & intelligence, and even specialty subjects like crochet and music, and even yoga. However, even though Udemy has many free courses, the disadvantage is that courses are not audited by their quality assessment unit or a group of experts. And so many inconsistencies have been reported amongst the courses on this platform.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that it is comparatively a young and fresh online education website, Domestika has been giving its industry rivals, giants like Coursera, Skillshare, and CreativeLive, a run for their money.

As an online learning platform, Domestika is exceptionally easy to explore and navigate; it presents top-quality courses, excellent options, and good value for money.

With no compulsion to upgrade to a subscription plan, Domestika is hitting the right balance between being affordable and yet offering courses that are comprehensive and cover a wide range of topics.

Domestika is a great platform for online courses, especially if you’re a creative person who’s looking for courses on illustration, design, craft, animation, and other similar areas.