Coursehero: First Look
Coursehero has some of the most miserable customer satisfaction scores—in the academic assistance industry and beyond. It’s rated 2.3/5 on Trustpilot (based on 1000+ reviews) and 1.2/5 on Sitejabber. We’ve written dozens of reviews on different academic writing services and resources, but these are some of the lowest scores we’ve ever seen.
Still, our readers keep asking about it, which is perfectly understandable, seeing as Coursehero remains a popular service to this day.
We get questions along the lines of “Should I use Coursehero for my schoolwork?”, “Can I trust Coursehero’s tutors?” and “Is Course Hero free?” almost daily. Despite the online information, we want our audience to form opinions based on facts.
That’s the ultimate purpose of our Course Hero review. We’ll talk about the features, pricing, and legitimacy of Coursehero’s tutors. Hopefully, we will help you understand if Coursehero is something you’d like to try to improve your academic performance.
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Coursehero: Our Initial Assessment
The first thing you must know about Coursehero is that it’s not an academic writing service. Sure, you can use the tutors’ responses to complete your homework. Based on what other people say about the platform, it’s not a good idea.
You can’t use Coursehero to find a competent and experienced writer who will complete your entire assignment. The closest you can get is plagiarising another student’s homework if you two have the same instructions. Obviously, we wouldn’t recommend that.
As Coursehero doesn’t have custom writers per se, we couldn’t test it the same way we typically do. Instead, we searched for assignments similar to the 5-page Business Administration Q&A homework we had and checked if any of the similar papers were any good. At the risk of spoiling our entire Course Hero review, the answer is a resounding no.
Most tutors on Coursehero seem to be completely incompetent. Half of the papers you see are plagiarized; the other half is blatantly wrong. We recommend you stay away from this platform. But if you want more information before you decide, read on. We will discuss everything in detail.
How Coursehero Works and What to Expect from It
Coursehero is typically referred to as an “online learning platform,” but this is not necessarily how we - or thousands of other unhappy clients - would call it. While it was meant to be one, over the years, Coursehero turned from an educational resource to a place where people worldwide pretend to be qualified tutors to make easy money.
Today, most so-called tutors on Coursehero have zero qualifications to help students with their homework. They answer learners’ questions and get paid for it. The problem, however, is that 80% of those answers are either generated by ChatGPT or halfheartedly written by someone with less knowledge of the subject than an average student.
Still, there are things that Coursehero can help with. First, it has courses that you can use for self-education. The only problem is that most of Coursehero’s competitors, such as Chegg, have better courses. Also, Coursehero is an enormous database of educational resources, including completed homework assignments. We wouldn’t trust the latter, though - you never know who completed it and whether or not they had any idea what they were doing.
Course Hero Customer Service
Aside from unqualified tutors, students complain about Coursehero most commonly because of its useless customer support. The comments we’ve seen call Coursehero customer service “deceptive,” “non-existent,” and even “predatory.” Almost every person writing about it also mentions that the customer service number Coursehero has never worked. You are either left talking to a bot or can’t reach it altogether.
One of the things Coursehero is notorious for is suspending users’ accounts for no apparent reason. People complain that the platform keeps coming up with new alleged “violations,” resulting in an account suspension, even if no wrongdoing occurred. When a user tries to restore it via customer support, it never or rarely leads to anything constructive.
To check if that’s the case, we tried to reach Coursehero’s support team to ask a few questions about how to earn credits without becoming a paid subscriber. After two days of waiting, all we got was a link to Coursehero’s FAQ page, which didn’t even contain the answers to the questions we were asking. So, our verdict is that Coursehero’s support seems just as bad as people say it is.
Coursehero Courses: Is the Selection Any Good?
One of the things you could theoretically benefit from on Coursehero is the courses themselves. Most students don’t use the platform for this, but they could if they wanted to. It has a large library of courses in every discipline - from math to history to foreign languages. As multiple Coursehero reviews point out, numerous other platforms have better courses than Coursehero and don’t have the same fatal flaws.
So, is Coursehero worth it if your goal is self-education? Not really. While we found the Business Administration course we were looking for, most course materials available on Coursehero were student homework. A few readings were also there, but those are also in open access on other websites, making Coursehero useless. Why pay for something when you can get it for free elsewhere? If you're looking for a vast choice of tutors at different price points, consider checking out the italki review to see if it fits you.
Coursehero Price | Can You Use Coursehero for Free?
How much is Course Hero cost? Compared to academic writing services, Coursehero is very affordable. You can either pay a monthly cost of $39.99 or choose a quarterly or yearly plan, bringing the price all the way down to $9.99. Seeing as you can expect to pay at least $100 for a professionally written 5-page paper, that’s not much.
However, when paying for a traditional academic writing service, you know exactly what you’re paying for. Even if the completed assignment you get isn’t perfect, it is at least original, and you can have it revised if you’re unhappy with the writer you initially chose.
In contrast, on Coursehero, you are essentially paying for a database of assignments where the majority is plagiarized or poorly written. You can only use them brainstorming, but that’s hardly worth even $10 per month, wouldn’t you agree?
Sure, you can try using Coursehero for free, but you must upload your own materials. Most likely, you will end up with a suspended account for some violation—based on our research, that’s what happens to most Coursehero users who are trying to warm credits and avoid paying.
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Refunds at Coursehero
Moreover, as countless reviewers complain online, it is very common for Coursehero to keep charging their clients even after they cancel the subscription. You might lose over $119 for nothing if you have a yearly plan. You can try to get a refund when this happens, but given how inefficient Coursehero’s customer support is, your chances are low.
The platform does everything to make users pay for Coursehero plans (monthly, quarterly, or yearly). No wonder they aren’t protecting the interests of free users; they are a threat to Coursehero’s business model.
So, if you don’t have an extra $119 to spare yet still want to try Coursehero at least, we recommend you stay a free user and pay for separate assignments instead. It might seem more expensive, but you are way less likely to lose money this way. Still, as you can probably see by now, the best strategy is to stay from Coursehero altogether.
Who Are Coursehero’s Tutors?
Alongside unfair charges, Coursehero’s tutors are the biggest reason for the platform’s questionable reputation. When Coursehero was first launched in 2006, most tutors were actual teachers or college instructors, so they knew what they were doing.
However, once it became popular globally, random people began joining Coursehero hoping for easy money - and it worked. It’s estimated that only 10% or so of Coursehero’s tutors have the credentials to answer students’ questions and help them with homework.
The platform does nothing to vet its tutors, so you aren’t protected from fraud. The platform only banned tutoring accounts from Asia and Africa (as most newly registered unqualified “tutors” were from there). Sadly, this didn’t help much.
If top-quality work from skilled professionals is what you seek, our SaveMyGrade review might be worth a look, as their writers are known for consistent, plagiarism-free results.
Course Hero Alternative Options
One of the questions we get almost as often as “How does Coursehero work?” is “Is Chegg or Course Hero better?” The answer is Chegg, and it’s not even close. The quality of both tutoring and materials on Chegg is so much higher that comparing the two doesn’t even make sense.
But Chegg isn’t your only option; almost every Coursehero alternative is better than Coursehero. So, here’s a brief list of websites like Coursehero that are ten times better:
- Chegg. Very similar to Coursehero, but the quality is incomparably higher.
- Udemy. The best platform for short courses; perfect for self-education.
- Quizlet. Great for reviewing course materials and practicing before an exam.
- Studypool. Connects learners with qualified tutors. The main difference is that most Studypool tutors have the credentials to do what they are doing.
- Kahoot. It's somewhat similar to Quizlet but more gamified, which makes it more fun.
And if you are still seeking professional academic help for your essays, research papers, or dissertations, PaperCoach review reveals that they offer assistance across multiple domains, even extending to multiple-choice questions, problem-solving, and editing/proofreading. Their low starting prices and wide range of services make them a standout option worth considering.
Coursehero Pros and Cons: Is There Anything to Like About Coursehero?
There's more if we haven’t convinced you that Coursehero isn’t worth it. The platform also glitches constantly, so the question, “Is Coursehero down?” is common among the users who keep getting the “bad request” screen.
Nonetheless, we have to be fair and mention both Coursehero’s pros and cons, so let’s take a look:
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Course Hero legit?
If you’re wondering, “Is Coursehero legal?” the answer is yes. However, if you’re interested in whether or not the platform legitimately offers what its promotional materials claim it does, it’s a no. There are too many frauds there.
Is Course Hero good? Is the homework there correct?
No, Coursehero isn’t good whatsoever. Some homework assignments are completed correctly and thoroughly, but they are rare and far between. Most are underwhelming, if not completely incorrect.
Is Course Hero helpful if I need an essay?
You can only benefit from Coursehero when you need an essay by using the course materials available for brainstorming or as sources (if those are legitimate articles or textbooks). Otherwise, it’s not helpful.
Is Course Hero cheating? Will I be penalized at school?
Whether or not using Coursehero is considered cheating depends on how you’re using it. If it’s for self-education or to access helpful study materials for your classes, it’s fine. If you try to rewrite and submit a completed assignment you found on Coursehero, you will likely face plagiarism penalties.
Is Coursehero safe to use? Will my teacher find out?
Coursehero is safe to use as long as you use it responsibly. Your teacher won’t find out that you rely on completed homework from Coursehero for inspiration and ideas. However, you will get caught if you try to submit something you found there without changing much.
Is Course Hero a scam? Who are the tutors there?
To some extent, Coursehero can be considered a scam. There are legitimate tutors there, but they are a minority. Most are random people who use ChatGPT to generate their answers and get paid.
*Screenshots used for review and criticism purposes fall under the 'fair use' doctrine of the United States Copyright Law.
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