What MasterClass costs in 2026, tier by tier
$120, $180 or $240 a year, billed annually. What the extra money buys, and the one line the checkout page does not contain.
MasterClass costs $120, $180 or $240 a year. The checkout page quotes those as $10, $15 and $20 a month, every tier is billed annually, and there is no monthly-billed option on the page at all.
Read 24 September 2026, out of the checkout page's own markup, in a US-configured browser. No promotion was running: no struck-through figure, no countdown, no badge.
The three tiers, and the only things that separate them
All three tiers get the same catalogue. What the extra money buys is simultaneous devices and offline downloads — not better classes, not more of them.
| Tier | Per month, billed annually | Charged up front | Devices at once | Offline downloads | Page label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $10 | $120 | 1 | No | — |
| Plus | $15 | $180 | 2 | Yes | Most Popular, pre-selected |
| Premium | $20 | $240 | 6 | Yes | Best Value |
The page arrives with Plus already selected. That is a design decision, not a recommendation, and the $60 between Standard and Plus buys exactly one extra stream and the ability to download. If you watch alone on a home connection, Standard is the same library for half what Premium costs.
Premium at $240 makes sense for a household of several people watching different things at once. Six simultaneous streams is a family plan wearing a different name.
What the page does not say
It does not say what the subscription renews at. There is no renewal figure on the checkout page, and MasterClass's Terms of Service say only that it "may change the price for Recurring Subscriptions from time to time", with notice, effective from your next period.
What you are actually buying at $10 a month
Access, for twelve months, to a library MasterClass describes as "200+ classes and original series". You are not buying a course you keep, and you are not buying a qualification.
When the subscription ends, so does the library. The Terms say that after cancellation you keep access "through the end of your current subscription period" and no longer. That is normal for a subscription and it is worth stating plainly, because one of the alternatives on this site genuinely does work the other way.
On certificates, MasterClass's own Terms use the exact phrase "certificate of completion". That is not a certification and not an accreditation, and this site will not tell you what an employer makes of one. Its Terms also note that projects may be evaluated by AI-based systems and that "grading outcomes may not reflect subjective human evaluations".
Is $120 a year the right number for you?
It is roughly the cost of two hardback art books a year, or $2.31 a week. Whether that is good value depends entirely on whether you watch it in month nine, which is a question about you rather than about MasterClass.
The comparison that actually decides it is against the other two subscriptions and against the free routes, and that is laid out in full on our reading of whether MasterClass is worth it. If you are buying it for somebody else, the mechanics are different again — see what to check before buying a MasterClass gift.
Annual-only pricing changes the decision
Because there is no monthly option, you cannot buy a month of MasterClass to see whether you like it. The smallest thing on sale is a year, and the 30-day guarantee is the only exit — which makes those first thirty days the real trial.
Treat them like one. If you subscribe, watch properly in the first fortnight rather than saving it for a quiet weekend; the quiet weekend arrives in month four, after the refund window has shut.
The device question, in household terms
The only thing $240 buys over $120 is five extra simultaneous streams and offline downloads. That is a genuine feature for a household where several people watch different things at once, and dead money for one person on a home connection.
| Step up | Extra cost a year | What you get for it |
|---|---|---|
| Standard to Plus | $60 | A second simultaneous device and offline downloads |
| Plus to Premium | $60 | Four more simultaneous devices |
| Standard to Premium | $120 | Five more devices and offline downloads |
Offline downloads are the underrated half of that. If you watch on a commute or on a plane, the jump from Standard to Plus is the one that changes how you use the subscription; the jump from Plus to Premium is purely about how many people share the account.
Two things about the charge we could not confirm
Tax is one. The checkout page's FAQ carries a question titled "Will I be charged taxes?" and its answer panel did not open for us, so this page states nothing about whether the figures above are tax-inclusive where you live. Expect the total at checkout to differ from the sticker in a sales-tax jurisdiction, and read the total before confirming.
The other is what an existing subscriber is charged at renewal, which nobody outside MasterClass can see. The Terms give the company the right to change prices with notice; they do not commit to a number, and no third party's guess is worth printing.
How this compares, at list price
Against the other two services read the same day: Skillshare is $167.88 a year and Domestika Plus is $164.50 for a first year before renewing at $329. MasterClass Standard at $120 is the cheapest annual figure on this site, and MasterClass Premium at $240 is the dearest.
That spread — $120 to $240 — is narrower than it looks once year two is included, which is the point the two-year comparison exists to make.
What happens if you let it lapse and come back
You pay the price current at the time, and you lose any progress towards an unfinished certificate. MasterClass's Terms are explicit that if a subscription lapses before you complete a certificate's requirements, you are not entitled to finish them or receive it "unless and until you resubscribe", with "no partial credit or extension" guaranteed.
A certificate you have already been issued is different and stays yours: the Terms say you can access and download a previously issued one after the subscription ends. So the thing that evaporates is work in progress, not work finished.
For most people none of that matters, because most people are buying a library to watch rather than a certificate to earn. It matters a great deal if you started a certificate in month ten and were planning to finish it in month fourteen.
One structural difference is worth more than the price gap. MasterClass and Skillshare both sell access and nothing else; Domestika also sells individual courses that stay yours. If you would rather own one thing than rent a catalogue, that is a different decision from the one the price ladder implies, and it is set out in Skillshare versus Domestika.
Questions people actually ask
Is there a monthly MasterClass plan?
Not on the checkout page we read on 24 September 2026. Its heading is "Choose an annual membership" and all three tiers quote a monthly price billed annually, so the shortest commitment on sale is a year.
What is the cheapest way to get MasterClass?
Standard, at $10 a month billed annually — $120 up front. It carries the same catalogue as the dearer tiers and gives up a second simultaneous device and offline downloads.
Does MasterClass go on sale?
Nothing was on sale on the day we read it, and its Terms let it change prices with notice. We only publish what was on the page on a stated day, so treat any discount you are shown as a discount on a first year rather than a new list price.
How do I stop it renewing?
Cancel before the renewal date in your account settings. You keep access until the end of the period you have already paid for; you do not get money back for the unused part, because the Terms rule out refunds for partially used periods.
The money page keeps every figure on this site in one place: whether a MasterClass subscription is worth paying for. Prices were read on one day, in a US-configured browser; open the seller’s panel yourself before you agree to anything.
Before you agree to a year
Open the seller’s own panel, switch the yearly and monthly tabs, and find the line that says what happens twelve months from now. If you cannot find one, that is the answer.
Read the panel with us