Kevin Hayler: Professional Wildlife artist, author, and traveler.
Domestika is an online learning platform that offers courses in a wide variety of creative fields at very competitive prices. It started life in Spain and most, but by no means all, courses are still in Spanish with English subtitles. That being so, is Domestika worth it?
Domestika courses are excellent value for money. The instructors provide high-quality instruction, the production quality is superb, the courses are comprehensive, their prices are low, there are no membership fees, and they offer a 14-day money-back guarantee.
The only drawback is the language issue and as you will read, that’s not the problem it was, things are changing fast.
I’ll introduce you to the platform, describe how it works, list the pros and cons and compare it to some major alternatives.
Let’s get started.
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What is Domestika?
Domestika is an online learning platform that offers courses in a wide range of creative disciplines, from photography and graphic design to web development and illustration.
Domestika was founded in 2002 in Spain and started life as a social media network for creatives. The online teaching platform we see today began in 2010
Domestika has grown to be one of the largest online creative communities, with millions of members from all over the world.
Their courses are taught by industry professionals and are designed to help students develop their skills and grow their careers.
While some courses are free, most are paid, and prices can vary depending on the length and difficulty of the course.
If you’re interested in learning from some of the best creatives in the world and expanding your skillset, then Domestika is definitely worth checking out.
Domestika courses are created by a team of in-house instructional designers, course producers, and editors. They work closely with a network of experts from around the world to create high-quality, engaging learning experiences.
The production quality is superb and it is a joy to watch their classes.
The Domestika community is lively and active, a legacy, no doubt, of their social media origins. Members of the community share their skills and experience and are passionate about learning and sharing their knowledge with others.
Members follow each other, share their projects, and offer support and feedback. There is also a job board for freelancers but mainly for Spanish speakers.
You can access the Forum from the community tab, where you can communicate with the teachers (sometimes) and other students.
How Does Domestika Work?
In order to buy a course on Domestika, you must first create a free account and log in. Once you are logged in, you can browse the courses available, enroll in the ones that interest you, and add the one you wish to purchase to your cart.
After you have added the course to your cart, you can then proceed to checkout and pay for the course using a credit or debit card.
You pay for each course separately. No membership is required, although that option exists and many will find it an attractive deal.
The courses are self-paced and can be accessed at any time. Log in and click your profile at the top right and in the dropdown click on ‘my courses’.
To download a course on Domestika, you must use their app. It is not possible to download a lesson onto your computer.
Inside the app click on the arrow located next to each lesson title. Your video will download to the app and not to your device. Free courses are not downloadable unless you choose to purchase them.
Domestika Basics are curated courses that introduce you to the best teachers on your chosen topic. They are suitable for all levels, from beginners needing to learn the fundamentals to advanced, those needing to progress in their field.
Domestika Bundles allow you to purchase multiple courses at a discounted price. Bundles are promoted as time-limited deals offering a selection of popular courses among students.
You can also create your own customized bundle for a substantial discount
Domestika Plus is a premium subscription service that gives members access to exclusive content, discounts, and perks, on a monthly or yearly subscription.
KeepOnCreating is a selection of free courses, from what I can see they were promoted through the lockdown as StayAtHome. At the time of writing they are still on the platform, but for how long they’ll remain, I don’t know. The website is ambivalent.
The Price of Domestika’s Courses
This should be easier to answer than it is. As far as I can ascertain, the courses are permanently discounted. If they’re not, I haven’t logged on and been told to pay the full price yet.
In the UK the price always seems to be marked down by 75%, from £59.90 – £14.90.
As it is hard to access the sites in other countries without using a VPN I can only surmise the same applies elsewhere.
The bundles are equally discounted into deals for 2, 3, or 6 courses. That’s discounted from the discounted prices. They have expiry dates but so what? they’ll return.
On top of that, there are coupon codes that discount the courses further, usually by another 10% over and above the discounts you’ve already got.
There are promo deals sent to your inbox and more deals in the top bar.
It must work or they wouldn’t do it but it’s one of the few negative aspects of Domestika.
As is so often the case, the site in the US is cheaper than here in the UK, at least for the Domestika Plus memberships.
The price for a rolling monthly subscription is advertised (2022) at $9.99/m and the annual plan is paid yearly for $83.88/year ($6.99/m) in the States.
The UK price is structured in a similar way, at £82.80/year (£6.90/m) and £9.90/m respectively. In other words, the yearly plan works out at $104.30! Bloody cheek.
And they do the same in Euros, €82.80/year (€6.90/m) and €9.90/m.
Well, that doesn’t make me feel special.
The Domestika Plus Gives you:
- A monthly credit that you use to join any course you like. That gives you up to 12 courses that you can bank within the year.
- A 20% discount on any extra course you decide to buy
- Access to over 100 open courses,
- An exclusive newsletter with news updates and resources
The Advantages (Pros) of Domestika
Some advantages of Domestika include:
- A wide variety of creative courses to choose from
- Courses are taught by experts in their field
- The desktop platform is easy to use and navigate
- You can learn at your own pace
- There is a community of learners to connect with
- Courses are affordable
- More discounts for buying course in a bundle
- There are some free courses (for now at least)
- Courses are available in multiple languages
- Courses are updated regularly.
- Students can earn certificates
- You keep your courses even when the plus plan ends
- The production quality is superb
- There’s a 14-day refund or swap policy
- You can access your course on your phone or tablet with the app
The Disadvantages (Cons) of Domestika
There are very few disadvantages but there is one big one:
- Most courses are in Spanish or Portuguese
- The App is not as versatile as the desktop.
- The subtitles are auto-generated.
- The pricing system is opaque
Is There an English Version of Domestika?
While the courses are mostly in Spanish, there are English speakers in many fields and the list is growing.
All courses have translations in the form of auto-generated subtitles, however, some user reviews mention that the quality of the translation can be patchy.
Domestika translates:
- Spanish,
- English,
- Portuguese,
- German,
- Italian,
- Polish,
- Dutch
- French.
If you’re interested in taking a Domestika course, it’s worth checking to see if an English version is available before enrolling. Some courses are dubbed and that makes life much easier. They should do that throughout in my opinion.
Some of the intro videos are in Spanish without a translation and that’s a bad user experience. It discourages English speakers who are unaware that the courses are subtitled.
How Does Domestika Compare With Other Teaching Platforms?
I’ve compared Domestika to 5 well-known platforms that teach online. I know there are more, I didn’t include Coursera for example mainly because it’s geared toward academic learning. I’m assuming you are more interested in learning a skill than gaining a degree.
I’m comparing the following platforms:
Domestika vs Skillshare
The quality of production and presentation is far superior to that of
The courses are thorough and can be bought separately without having to commit to a membership. Skillshare has moved to a members-only model.
Skillshare has a ‘take one – take all’ approach to course makers. They accept anyone who wants to sell their classes. Consequently, many of the classes on Skillshare are low quality.
Skillshare has tried to remedy this by curating its own in-house classes call ‘originals’ and selecting ‘staff picks’ to help customers filter out the nonsense.
That’s fine if Skillshare was on a buy-as-you-go plan like Domestika or Udemy, but not so good when you are paying for one year’s membership in advance, with no refunds after the trial period.
Domestika courses are amazing value given the high quality of the tuition and production.
There’s another major difference between the two platforms. Domestika courses are yours to keep, within the platform, while Skillshare denies you access when your membership expires.
Domestika has only one disadvantage and that’s the language barrier, everything else is superior.
Read my full review here: Is Skillshare Worth It? The Pros and Cons for Artists and Designers
Domestika vs Udemy
is another online learning platform that offers courses in a great variety of subject areas. Unlike Domestika they do not specialize in creative courses.
If you’re looking for a specific course in a creative field, Domestika is likely to have what you’re looking for. However, Udemy may be a better option if you’re interested in a wider range of courses.
Either way, membership is free and you only pay for what you want and the courses are yours to keep.
This very popular drawing course by is on Udemy.
He has over 73,000 students!
Like Skillshare, Udemy suffers from having too many substandard courses. Some are very good, but many are not.
Another similarity with Domestika is the endless cycle of promotions. If you are anything like me, you won’t buy a course at the official price when you know it’s regularly discounted.
If I had to sum up the difference between the two platforms, I’d say Udemy is a poor man’s Domestika.
And that’s not because of price, it’s because of overall quality. That’s not a problem with Brent’s lessons. This is a free teaser video on Youtube. Check it out.
Read the full review here: Is Udemy Worth it? Pros and Cons For Artists and Designers
Domestika vs Linkedin Learning
Linkedin Learning (formerly known as Lynda) differs from Domestika in two key respects.
First, Linkedin learning is mainly a subscription service. You have the choice of two subscription plans, or you can purchase selected courses individually.
In effect, it’s the reverse of Domestika where the emphasis is on buying courses individually and choosing to subscribe only when you wish.
You can subscribe to LinkedIn for a whole year for $240 ($19.99/m), or you can pay $29.99 per month with a free one-month trial on both plans. Courses purchased separately range up to about $50.
Annoyingly, the site charges the same in Pounds Stirling when accessed from the UK. Therefore a $240 yearly sub’ is priced at £240, which is $302 at today’s exchange rate.
Secondly, Domestika is a predominantly Spanish platform with multi-lingual translations, whereas Linkedin will serve you in English with multilingual translations.
Both Domestika and Linkedin Learning give you access to all their courses within your subscription until it expires. However, you get to keep any courses you’ve bought individually, and you can use them whenever you want!
Both services have an app, so you can view your courses on the go. You can download courses only inside the app to view offline, otherwise, they will stay in your account.
Both platforms are geared toward high-quality instructional videos with top teachers.
Domestika vs Proko
Proko is a tiny site compared to Domestika but what it lacks in size it makes up with quality.
If you’re interested in a particular creative discipline, then Domestika is probably the better choice, as it offers many more courses in a wider range of disciplines.
However, if you’re specifically interested in art and illustration, especially figure drawing, then Proko might be the better platform.
Proko has far fewer courses but they do offer dozens of high-quality free courses. Why plow through endless Youtube videos searching for good lessons when you can simply join Proko and find the good stuff so easily?
Prokos free classes or very popular but it must be said that the ‘Premium’ classes are teasers for the paid versions. Nothing wrong with that, they are about one-third of the length and are still worth watching.
The paid courses vary in cost, anywhere from $25 – $125, more than you would typically pay on Domestika.
Proko has an active forum that many students will appreciate and a very useful tools section, geared toward selling gesture drawing and anatomy references.
Proko offers a 30-day no-quibbles guarantee which is very generous. Domestika offers 14 days or a course swap.
Domestika has auto-generated translations into several languages, and Proko has Spanish and Chinese translations for premium courses only. They do offer English transcripts that you can use with Google Translate.
Domestika permits downloads to their app whereas Proko permits downloads to your computer. That’s just for paid courses.
Read my full review here: Are Proko Courses Worth It? A Review – Pros and Cons
Domestika vs Masterclass
Do you know I am not sure if is a gimmick or not. Having celebrity artists doesn’t inspire me, but maybe that’s my problem.
As you can imagine the production quality is very high indeed. If any platform outshines Domestika in production value it’s Masterclass, and the cost reflects that, somewhat.
Masterclass has 3 tiers, all offering the same courses but separated by the number of devices allowed. These tariffs are from 2022
- One device costs $180 per year
- Two devices cost $240 per year
- Six devices cost $276 per year
You get a 30-day money-back guarantee so dipping your toe into the Masterclass world is possible, I’d say advisable.
It’s all very well getting celebrity experts to tell you how to be better than you are in a chosen field, but where does that leave the beginner?
Masterclass is aimed, mostly, at people who have an understanding or existing passion for their subject and wish to advance. Domestika, on the other hand, caters to people at all levels.
Masterclass has about 150 courses with a broad range of subjects including:
- Acting
- Singing
- Business
- Sport
- Writing
- Design
- Comedy
- Music
and many more but almost nothing involving practical art skills.
Gordon Ramsey will show you how to cook, Steve Martin will show you how to be funny, Samual L. Jackson will teach you to be a film actor.
Wanna be a filmmaker, just ask Spike Lee, Martin Scorcese, or Jodie Foster. Drumming? Hey, Ringo will teach you, wanna sing like Maria Carey? You guessed it.
Perhaps I’m being unfair, it’s not all like that. I’m sure that some of these courses are very useful, but they are so Hollywood, I wonder if it’s worth taking out a membership? It feels like a fan club.
I searched ‘painting’ and only two teachers matched the term, a graffiti spray painter and a portrait artist (coming soon). That’s your lot, unless you want to listen to Jeff Coons that is.
Speaking personally I wouldn’t waste my money on Masterclass, it’s not geared towards teaching traditional art skills and you will learn very little.
Domestika is better value and far more practical.
Is Domestika Trustworthy?
Very much so, this is a screenshot from Trustpilot. My own experience has been positive.
As far as I am concerned Domestika is run professionally with good customer service. Nothing appears online to counter my experience. You can be assured that Domestika is 100% legit.
Is Domestika Worth it? Final Thoughts
Domestika is worth the money if you are looking for a reliable online platform to improve your creative skills. The quality of the courses is very high, and the instructors are experienced professionals in their respective fields.
There’s no obligation to upgrade to a subscription plan. The courses are comprehensive, cover a wide range of topics, and are affordable.
Overall, Domestika is a great platform for anyone looking to learn new skills or improve their existing ones. All the courses have English subtitles and more English-spoken courses are being all the time.
Is Domestika worth it? Oh yes. I can certainly recommend it, I use it myself.
You can be an affiliate for Domestika. Read this: 45 Affiliate Programs for Artists: Mega Guide (2023)
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Hi, I’m Kevin Hayler
I’ve been selling my wildlife art and traveling the world for over 20 years, and if that sounds too good to be true, I’ve done it all without social media, art school, or galleries!
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