MOOCs Started Out Completely Free. Where Are They Now? - Dhawal Shah, EdSurge

As MOOC providers focussed on finding a business model, they started putting certain aspects of the experience behind a paywall, hoping to get more people to pay. MOOCs went from free to free to audit (nevermind that the concept of auditing a class is completely foreign in most parts of the world). Free certificates were the first items to be shifted from free to pay. Then the graded assignments were put behind paywall. Now all the major MOOC providers have (or will soon have) some courses that are completely paid (even the videos). This shift to a freemium model, with more and more chances to up-sell, seems to be working for the providers, with the top three players earning more than $100 million combined last year. Each provider has a different model, and that can be really confusing to students. So here’s a summary of what free means for the four biggest MOOC players. https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-04-20-moocs-started-out-completely-free-where-are-they-now