I would strongly caution anyone considering Skillshare against signing up.
My experience with their renewal and refund process has been incredibly frustrating. My annual membership renewed automatically, and I noticed the charge almost immediately. The renewal notification had gone to my junk folder, and I contacted Skillshare within minutes of seeing the charge to explain the situation and request a refund.
Despite how quickly I reached out, Skillshare refused to refund the renewal and instead pointed repeatedly to their refund policy. I even explained that this charge created a significant financial hardship for my family. Their proposed solution was essentially to give me additional Skillshare access later rather than return money I never intended to spend on another year of the service.
What has bothered me most is the complete lack of flexibility or meaningful customer service. I understand companies have policies, but there is a major difference between preventing abuse of a refund policy and refusing to help a customer who contacts you immediately after an unintended renewal.
The entire experience has left me feeling like Skillshare’s subscription model is designed to make cancellation and refunds as unfavorable to the customer as possible. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and continued requesting that the matter be escalated.
I cannot recommend Skillshare after this experience. If you decide to subscribe, I would strongly suggest turning off auto\-renewal immediately and keeping very close track of your renewal date. Do not assume that contacting customer service immediately after an accidental renewal means they will work with you.
There are plenty of online learning platforms available. Based on how Skillshare handled this situation, I would personally spend my money elsewhere.
Skillshare 回复2026-09-05
Hi,
We’re sorry to hear about your frustration and appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns. Our goal is to provide a transparent and positive experience for all users, and we regret that your experience has not met those expectations.
We do not offer refunds on membership renewal charges. Members are able to cancel their membership at any time through our cancellation steps: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/115001701651
As part of our policies, we send reminder emails prior to renewal to provide members with the opportunity to cancel if needed.
If there are any unresolved issues regarding your account, we would be happy to review them further. Please reach out with your account details, and we will do our best to assist you.
We value all feedback and are committed to continuously improving our processes. Please let us know how we can help.
Prompt replies and excellent support. My concerns were dealt with immediately. I appreciated that.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-30
Hi Catherine,
Thank you for sharing this! It’s wonderful to hear that our team was able to address your concerns quickly and that you felt supported throughout the process. We know how valuable it is to get a prompt response when you need help; we're glad we could make things easier for you.
We truly appreciate you taking the time to leave such kind feedback. We’ll be sure to pass this along to the team.
The default charge after end of trial is guess what 12-month subscription instead of 1 month everyone else uses just to get your money because you forgot to cancel, Don't just take my word for it look at other reviews. Absolutely disgusting behaviour and your remainder emails goes to spam or different tab so good luck finding that. Support just as useless and greedy as this whole company. They will not help you even if you haven’t used it. Do not touch it even with ten-foot pole.
Hi,
Thank you for the wonderful feedback! We’re happy to hear you’re enjoying Skillshare. We hope you continue discovering new classes, learning new skills, and enjoying everything Skillshare has to offer.
I received a Skillshare subscription for my birthday and have absolutely loved it. The lessons are great. Iv tried similar apps but have found this one to be the most enjoyable. Iv learned a l and will definitely be renewing!
I am an artist and art teacher. Skillshare has made my life so much easier and enriched! When I want to learn something new, or when I want to teach a new workshop, there are so many classes to study so that I can get ideas for my students and for myself.
Sometimes we forget how to teach a beginner because we've been doing it so long, so I find this membership invaluable in helping me to create structure for my classes.
Skillshare sent a bill that I didn’t make and was very quick to reimburse me for the mistake. Thanks, Skillshare!
Sue
Skillshare 回复2026-08-22
Hi Sue,
We’re glad we could get this sorted out quickly for you. We’re sorry for the billing mix-up, but it’s great to hear the reimbursement process was smooth. Thanks so much for your understanding and for taking the time to share your experience!
Skillshare Has mediocre classes. They also renewed my membership with No Notification at double the price.
I think they are a shoddy corporation. Honest companies would send a notification Prior to a double price renewal and would cancel it when requested.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-20
Hi Pamela,
We’re sorry to hear that your experience with Skillshare left you feeling this way. We understand how frustrating it can be to see a renewal at a significantly higher price, especially when you weren’t expecting the change. We also recognize your concerns about the renewal notification and cancellation experience.
As per our refund policy, we do not offer refunds on membership renewal charges. You can review our refund policy here:
https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/204536798
To keep you in the loop, we'll send you a confirmation email with the date your card will be charged when you sign up.
We would like to address though that our system shows an email reminder was sent and delivered.
Your feedback is important to us, and we’ll make sure it’s heard by the appropriate team. While we may not be able to change how you feel about your experience, we do appreciate you taking the time to share this candidly. We’re always looking for ways to make the membership experience clearer and more transparent for our members.
I have been a user of skillshare probably since 2019, this is my first year having an annual membership, and I am very grateful for having it. I did learn throughout the years different skills improving photography skills and how to use different photography tools, creating a portfolio, video editing tools, data analysis tools, digital marketing, storytelling, and more. As a person who loves learning without getting interrupted from ads and loves structured learning can't recommend enough. It is a life changing platform, the only thing I wish it did improve is that often when I download videos for when I am offline, I can't play them... but other than that, I do love it.
The representative, Joe, I worked with was extremely helpful and responsive. He helped me understand my issue and come to a resolution. This was amazing customer service!
Skillshare 回复2026-08-20
Hi Jami,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this! We're glad to hear that Joe was able to help you understand what was going on and work with you toward a resolution. We'll be sure to pass along your kind words to him and the team. We truly appreciate your feedback and are so happy you had such a positive experience with Skillshare Support!
Great experiance with Skillshare and the support team.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-20
Hi Nikhil,
We really appreciate you taking a moment to leave us such a lovely review! It’s wonderful to know that your experience with Skillshare and our Support team has been a positive one. We’ll keep doing our best to make sure you feel heard, supported, and taken care of whenever you need us. Thanks for being part of Skillshare!
They are willing to listen to my need and work with me on it.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-13
Hi Joan,
That’s great to hear! We’re happy our team took the time to listen and find a way to work with you. We know everyone’s needs are a little different, and we’re glad we could make the experience a better one for you. Thanks for being part of Skillshare!
lots of teachers to choose from and easy to find one that teaches in your style of learning. Its like a youtube tailored specifically for teaching so you don't have to sift through a lot of shenanigans.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-13
Hi Keith,
Thank you for sharing this! We love hearing that Skillshare makes it easier to find teachers and classes that fit your personal learning style. There’s so much to explore, and we’re happy to be a more focused space where you can learn without having to sort through all the noise. We really appreciate you being part of the Skillshare community!
I tried it for a month and I learned nothing more than I could have with a few weeks of YouTube tutorials. Their billing policies are garbage. I got charged $177 in these trying economic times and they brushed me off like "oh well". I cancelled the auto renewal of the membership instantly when I saw the withdrawal from my bank account. I contacted them twice and got the same "too bad so sad" response. I never received a 30 day email notice like they claim to send and I have no recollection of them saying it's an automated renewal every year. Plainly, don't bother using the service. Yes, they give tutorials, but you can learn the same on your own or by other free services.
(Post edit to Skillshare's auto reply copy and paste response)
This is what I am criticizing and why I gave you one star. The lack of customer service. Copy and paste bot responses. Thank you for proving my point. For those who read this review, the main reason I got a refund was by threatening to contact the BBB. The email that was sent to me about my 30 day notice was conveniently the only email from them in my trash bin. Every other spam email was in my spam. Somehow they think everyone with a bad review for them is either an idiot or they are using keywords that everyone's email will automatically filter to be trash/spam. And then say "hey sorry, it's in our terms and agreements blah blah blah" with a link to the page stating that.
Get real Skillshare. You have the potential to be an honest way for people to learn new skills. Don't rip people off and make affordable education a scam. We have enough scams to deal with in this world already.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-13
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us—we truly appreciate it, and we're sorry to hear about your frustration with the renewal process. It looks like you were able to work with our support team to resolve this issue. We always remain open to your feedback.
Please be assured that it was definitely not our intention to catch you off guard with your subscription charge. Our system is set to automatically renew at the end of all membership packages.
We would like to highlight that we provide various notifications including a renewal reminder, along with your membership sign-up confirmation, you can see more here: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/13898861927437
We would like to address though that our system shows an email reminder was sent and delivered.
We appreciate your understanding, and please reach out if you have any other questions - we are here to help.
I've had this subscription for a while and kept forgetting to cancel it. It kept auto-renewing without alerting me. It renews for a whole year at a time. When I first signed up it was $99/year. The renewal came to about $200 dollars this last time. I never got an alert that the price was being updated.
The latest membership renewed August 6, 2026. I didn't realize until August 10, 2026. I tried to get a refund and their AI bot kept telling me it wasn't in their policy to issue refunds, even though it had only been a few days since the renewal took effect.
My case got escalated up the chain and I just got the case manager sending me their legal notices on how their policy works.
There was little compassion or concern to actually try and help me. Even Amazon has better customer service than this.
And the service is not really worth it considering you can get better courses on YouTube for free or buy courses directly from the creator/support them on Patreon or Youtube.
I really would not recommend this company because they don't feel like they prioritize customer care or satisfaction.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-13
Hi Gia,
We’re sorry this experience left you feeling unheard and unsupported. We understand how upsetting it would be to discover a yearly renewal several days after it went through, especially when the price was significantly higher than what you originally paid. More importantly, we’re sorry that your conversations with our support team felt focused on policy rather than on understanding your situation and helping you.
Supporting our members is something we take seriously, and it’s disheartening to know that we fell short of your expectations, especially given the circumstances you’ve described.
We strive to maintain transparency regarding any charges, which is why we make sure that charge details are indicated both on the checkout page and in the confirmation email.
We would also like to highlight that we provide various notifications, including a renewal reminder, you can see more here: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/13898861927437
We would like to address though that our system shows an email reminder was sent and delivered.
Our detailed membership refund policy is also accessible here: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/204536798
Rest assured that we're working to improve our systems and processes to prevent such issues in the future. Your feedback is incredibly valuable in helping us enhance the overall experience for all our members.
Let us know if there's anything else we can clarify.
Hi Spencer,
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We’re happy to hear you’ve had a great experience with Skillshare. We truly appreciate your support and hope you continue enjoying the platform!
I have been a skillshare learner for 7 years and have enjoyed the way the skillshare works and the variety of the content. I had a technical issue. even though it was partly my fault, Skillshare help team fixed it strait away. Thanks Skillshare
Skillshare 回复2026-08-06
Hi Peter,
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience with us.
Seven years is an incredible journey, and we're truly grateful that Skillshare has been a part of your learning over the years. It's wonderful to hear that you've enjoyed exploring the wide variety of classes and that the platform has continued to support your creative interests.
We're also glad we were able to help resolve the technical issue quickly. We know that unexpected hiccups can happen, and we're happy our support team could get everything sorted out for you without much delay.
Your kind words mean a lot to our team. Thank you for being a valued member of the Skillshare community, and we hope you continue discovering classes that inspire and help you grow.
Charged for another year despite no usage – disappointing support experience
I signed up for Skillshare last year to give the service a try. Unfortunately, I ended up not using it at all during the year, which I believe Skillshare can verify from my account activity.
I was not aware that my subscription would automatically renew for another full year. As soon as I noticed the renewal charge, I contacted customer support and explained the situation. I acknowledged that it was ultimately my responsibility to cancel the subscription before the renewal date, but I also explained that I had not used the service during the previous year and kindly asked whether a one-time goodwill exception could be made.
The responses I received were brief and referred only to the refund policy, stating that subscription renewals are not eligible for refunds. While I understand and respect that companies need policies, I was disappointed that my individual circumstances did not appear to be taken into consideration, despite contacting support immediately after the charge and despite my account showing little to no activity during the past year.
The charge may have been made in accordance with the terms, but the lack of flexibility and willingness to consider a genuine mistake has left me with a negative impression of the company.
If you decide to subscribe, make sure you are fully aware that the membership renews automatically and set yourself a reminder well in advance if you do not intend to continue. Otherwise, you may end up paying for another full year of a service you no longer use.
Skillshare 回复2026-08-06
Hi Marten,
Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're sorry to hear that your renewal came as an unexpected surprise and that our response left you feeling that your individual circumstances weren't fully acknowledged.
We completely understand how frustrating it can be to be charged for a service you hadn't been using, especially when you reached out as soon as you noticed the renewal. While our membership terms do include automatic renewal and renewal charges are generally not eligible for refunds under our policy, we understand that this doesn't lessen the disappointment you experienced.
Skillshare also strives to be transparent about billing and renewals, including sending reminder emails, but we know sometimes messages can be missed or caught in filters.
We would like to highlight that we provide various notifications including a renewal reminder, along with your membership sign-up confirmation, you can see more here: https://help.skillshare.com/hc/articles/13898861927437
We truly appreciate you taking the time to speak up, and we hope that in the future, policies can better reflect the needs of users like you.
Hi Tim,
Thank you for your kind feedback! We're glad to hear that our Customer Support team was able to help you. It means a lot to know you had a great experience, and we truly appreciate your support!
Hi Deena,
Thank you for your kind words! We're happy to hear you've had a positive experience with our support team. We truly appreciate your recognition, and we'll continue working hard to provide the best support we can. Thanks for being part of the Skillshare community!
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