{
  "metadata": {
    "name": "EduBracket 2026 Online Course ROI Audit",
    "description": "First-party audit of 50 online courses across 10 platforms. Computes hours-per-dollar curriculum density, certificate price premium, and per-platform pricing aggregates.",
    "sourceRecords": 50,
    "platforms": 10,
    "categories": 8,
    "timeRange": "2026-Q2",
    "datePublished": "2026-05-09",
    "dateModified": "2026-05-09",
    "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
    "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
    "canonicalUrl": "https://edubracket.com/research/online-course-roi-2026/",
    "methodology": "Aggregates computed from edubracket.com/courses/course-database.json. Hours estimated from posted duration: months x 40, weeks x 8, hours as posted. Hours-per-dollar score = curriculum hours divided by list price. Subscription prices recorded as monthly USD; specialization prices as the single billed month. Free courses (price=0) excluded from hours-per-dollar to avoid divide-by-zero.",
    "dataProvenance": "SOURCED: list price + posted duration from edubracket.com/courses/course-database.json. DERIVED/ESTIMATED: curriculum hours estimated from posted duration (months x40, weeks x8, hours as posted) and the hours-per-dollar score (hours / list price). Hours are an estimate from posted duration, not a measured time-on-task."
  },
  "overall": {
    "n": 50,
    "totalCumulativeEnrollment": 38028000,
    "medianPrice": 41.995,
    "meanPrice": 37.88,
    "medianRating": 4.7,
    "meanRating": 4.69,
    "certificatePct": 80,
    "freeOrTrialAccessPct": 100,
    "freeCourses": 3
  },
  "perPlatform": {
    "Coursera": {
      "count": 23,
      "certificateCount": 23,
      "medianPrice": 49,
      "meanPrice": 49,
      "medianHours": 200,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 4.08,
      "medianRating": 4.8
    },
    "Udemy": {
      "count": 12,
      "certificateCount": 12,
      "medianPrice": 14.99,
      "meanPrice": 14.99,
      "medianHours": 24.5,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 1.63,
      "medianRating": 4.65
    },
    "Skillshare": {
      "count": 4,
      "certificateCount": 0,
      "medianPrice": 13.99,
      "meanPrice": 13.99,
      "medianHours": 6.5,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 0.46,
      "medianRating": 4.7
    },
    "edX": {
      "count": 2,
      "certificateCount": 0,
      "medianPrice": 0,
      "meanPrice": 0,
      "medianHours": 84,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": null,
      "medianRating": 4.8
    },
    "DataCamp": {
      "count": 2,
      "certificateCount": 2,
      "medianPrice": 25,
      "meanPrice": 25,
      "medianHours": 77,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 3.08,
      "medianRating": 4.5
    },
    "Codecademy": {
      "count": 2,
      "certificateCount": 2,
      "medianPrice": 17.5,
      "meanPrice": 17.5,
      "medianHours": 132.5,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 6.86,
      "medianRating": 4.55
    },
    "MasterClass": {
      "count": 2,
      "certificateCount": 0,
      "medianPrice": 10,
      "meanPrice": 10,
      "medianHours": 4.5,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 0.45,
      "medianRating": 4.75
    },
    "LinkedIn Learning": {
      "count": 1,
      "certificateCount": 1,
      "medianPrice": 29.99,
      "meanPrice": 29.99,
      "medianHours": 25,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 0.83,
      "medianRating": 4.6
    },
    "Kajabi": {
      "count": 1,
      "certificateCount": 0,
      "medianPrice": 297,
      "meanPrice": 297,
      "medianHours": 8,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": 0.03,
      "medianRating": 4.6
    },
    "Skool": {
      "count": 1,
      "certificateCount": 0,
      "medianPrice": 99,
      "meanPrice": 99,
      "medianHours": null,
      "medianHoursPerDollar": null,
      "medianRating": 4.7
    }
  },
  "perCategory": {
    "Data Science": {
      "count": 9
    },
    "Web Development": {
      "count": 11
    },
    "AI/ML": {
      "count": 6
    },
    "Design": {
      "count": 5
    },
    "Marketing": {
      "count": 4
    },
    "Photography": {
      "count": 5
    },
    "Writing": {
      "count": 3
    },
    "Business": {
      "count": 7
    }
  },
  "certificateDelta": {
    "withCertificate": {
      "n": 40,
      "medianPrice": 49,
      "meanPrice": 35.55
    },
    "withoutCertificate": {
      "n": 10,
      "medianPrice": 13.99,
      "meanPrice": 47.2
    },
    "medianPriceDelta": 35.01,
    "note": "Certificate-bearing courses sit at the $49 specialization band; non-certificate courses cluster at the $13.99 Udemy/Skillshare one-time price. Mean is dragged up in the no-cert bucket by the single $297 Kajabi outlier."
  },
  "priceDistribution": {
    "free_0": 3,
    "1_to_29": 21,
    "30_to_49": 24,
    "50_to_99": 1,
    "100_to_199": 0,
    "200_to_499": 1,
    "500_plus": 0
  },
  "ratingDistribution": {
    "lt_4_0": 0,
    "4_0_to_4_4": 0,
    "4_5_to_4_7": 35,
    "4_8_to_4_9": 15,
    "5_0": 0
  },
  "hoursPerDollarRanking": [
    {
      "rank": 1,
      "name": "Full-Stack Engineer Career Path",
      "platform": "Codecademy",
      "category": "Web Development",
      "price": 34.99,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 6.859,
      "rating": 4.6,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 2,
      "name": "Python for Everybody Specialization",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Web Development",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 320,
      "hoursPerDollar": 6.531,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 3,
      "name": "Meta Front-End Developer Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Web Development",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 280,
      "hoursPerDollar": 5.714,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 4,
      "name": "Business Foundations Specialization",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Business",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 280,
      "hoursPerDollar": 5.714,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 5,
      "name": "Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Data Science",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 6,
      "name": "Google UX Design Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Design",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 7,
      "name": "Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Marketing",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 8,
      "name": "Creative Writing Specialization",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Writing",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 9,
      "name": "Graphic Design Specialization",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Design",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 10,
      "name": "Google Project Management Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Business",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 11,
      "name": "Excel Skills for Business Specialization",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Business",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 12,
      "name": "Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "Business",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 240,
      "hoursPerDollar": 4.898,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 43,
      "name": "SEO Training Course by Moz",
      "platform": "Udemy",
      "category": "Marketing",
      "price": 14.99,
      "hours": 5,
      "hoursPerDollar": 0.334,
      "rating": 4.6,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 44,
      "name": "AI For Everyone",
      "platform": "Coursera",
      "category": "AI/ML",
      "price": 49,
      "hours": 10,
      "hoursPerDollar": 0.204,
      "rating": 4.8,
      "certificate": true
    },
    {
      "rank": 45,
      "name": "Illustration for Designers: Create Your Own Geometric Animal",
      "platform": "Skillshare",
      "category": "Design",
      "price": 13.99,
      "hours": 2,
      "hoursPerDollar": 0.143,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 46,
      "name": "iPhone Photography: How to Take Pro Photos on Your iPhone",
      "platform": "Skillshare",
      "category": "Photography",
      "price": 13.99,
      "hours": 1,
      "hoursPerDollar": 0.071,
      "rating": 4.7,
      "certificate": false
    },
    {
      "rank": 47,
      "name": "The Copywriting Course",
      "platform": "Kajabi",
      "category": "Marketing",
      "price": 297,
      "hours": 8,
      "hoursPerDollar": 0.027,
      "rating": 4.6,
      "certificate": false
    }
  ],
  "freeCourses": [
    {
      "name": "CS50: Introduction to Computer Science",
      "platform": "edX",
      "hours": 84,
      "rating": 4.9
    },
    {
      "name": "Introduction to Computational Thinking and Data Science",
      "platform": "edX",
      "hours": 84,
      "rating": 4.7
    },
    {
      "name": "Learn Python 3",
      "platform": "Codecademy",
      "hours": 25,
      "rating": 4.5
    }
  ]
}