CBT Nuggets vs. Pluralsight/Trainsignal

Grafixx01

Ok, so I'm in a dilemma... I'm planning on getting a subscription to one but can't afford both. CBT Nuggets is $89/month and Pluralsight/Trainsignal is $49/month.

Was looking at taking a community poll about which you guys thought may be better or more worth the money (other than the obvious cheaper solution).

brownwrap

We have CBT Nuggets at work. Just got it. Watched the 1st half of Linux+. A good intro, but I doubt you could pass a test with it. There were two tests that came with it, and I liked the way the correct answer gave a reference to back it up. I have not looked at any other courses yet, but a lot depends on the instructor and the material presented. Can't speak for any other like Pluralsight or Trainsignal.

kbowen0188

I personally use CBT Nuggets, but I really think it depends on the instructor. What kind of certification are you planning on studying for? When it comes to CCNA stuff, the Nuggets instructor is brilliant. One of their other instructors (Microsoft OS, maybe?) absolutely bored me.

joelsfood

It definitely depends on the instructor. I've seen both Pluralsight and CBT Nuggets for 640-916 (CCNA Data Center) and CBT Nuggest wins hands down. But that's one of my favorite instructors.

iBrokeIT

It would be helpful if you told us which areas you are planning on getting certified in.

They each have their strengths. CBT for Cisco related studies and Pluralsight hands down for VMware related studies.

srabiee

I agree that it depends on the individual courses. I like Pluralsite's pricing better, but I often run into issues where Pluralsite doesn't have the lesson I am looking for, but CBT Nuggets does. So ultimately, I end up using both depending on the cert I'm working for.

They are both equally useful IMO.

J_Jones89

srabiee wrote: »

I agree that it depends on the individual courses. I like Pluralsite's pricing better, but I often run into issues where Pluralsite doesn't have the lesson I am looking for, but CBT Nuggets does. So ultimately, I end up using both depending on the cert I'm working for.

They are both equally useful IMO.

Totally agree, I love CBT nuggets for the money are good. I loved my cisco instructor on mine

[Deleted User]

It depends on how you like your information presented. I like a more professional approach. Also, Pluralsight(Trainsignal) has a cheaper price overall ($29 is not to bad). You also get certificates for CE units for CompTIA for the 29 dollar pricing and their courses are CompTIA approved (CBT nuggets does not have that option however they do include Transcender practice exams). In reality it is just a tradeoff. I find CBT nuggets to be a bit unprofessional and more laid back (which isn't a bad thing either) Price over content over more features/goodies. Its up to you in reality. Sometimes maybe employers will pay for the subscription (I have heard of this happening but not certain) If you don't absolutely need to spend the additional $20 dollars per month for the subscription. I think the only main differences are you get offline downloads/certificates for your resume (which in reality it is worthless since the cert has more value). Keep in mind, these certificates are different from the certificates you get for Continuing Education Units from CompTIA. When I spoke to the rep on the phone she told me you only get CEUs for the number of hours the course is (Ex: 5 hour course = 5 CEUs). But you can earn quite a bit of CEUs which is nice. You could technically get through an entire course in a weekend and get some CEUs that way.

Verities

It's a difficult decision as they're both really good resources for technical studies. I personally find Pluralsight instructors to be boring but they go deeper into the weeds, than CBT Nuggets. On the other hand, the instructors over at CBT are very enthusiastic (sometimes too enthusiastic and go off on unrelated tangents). Why don't you take advantage of the free trials for each and just cancel your credit card on whichever one you dislike?

Grafixx01

I was looking at multiple different certs. Cisco, VMware, MS, and others. I'm just trying to get a better handle on everything so that being in IT Security with CISSP, I can have the same type of a mentality as that of the CISSP exam (inch deep and mile wide). I liked the pricing of PluralSight/TrainSignal but have seen the CBT Nugget stuff. I just don't know if I can do BOTH, well, I know I can't so I was trying to see what I can get more "bang for the buck" in.

I saw that PluraSight/TS have a lot of programming too, which I would also like but I guess I will have to see what I can do faster for expense wise.

tahjzhuan

PluralSight because I pay for these videos out of pocket. I have used both, but PluralSight seems like a better value to me.

Snow.bros

Trainers from both PluralSight and CBT nuggets are good and I take nothing away from that but for me, it depends upon the presentation of the lesson, I just find that pluralsight's slides are just not interactive enough and I always find my self half asleep half way through the lesson, CBT nugget's white boards are the best and they are interactive and they make the content so much easier to understand because it's best to explain something when you write it down and draw a diagram so that student can get a clear picture. I heard some people say that CBT nuggets white are just not professional enough for them but I just think that is a stupid point of view because what matters is that you understand what the trainer is teaching you and not the supposedly "professional slides" which sometimes for me are just not enough for a lesson.

twodogs62

Are the certificates of Pluralsight professional looking?
opinions?
seems it would be good to have these certificates to show professional growth for review times.
example for me it seems good to do MTA courses, get certificates, but only take one MTA exam to get officially certified by Microsoft. I could see using the MTA courses as review before I jump into first MSCA exam. I see this as bring some value in doing the $49 option instead of the $29 option.
Does CBT Nuggets allow you to take course, then assessment exams and then show course completion where you can get certificate?

Alex90

IMO, CBT are just a tad more professional. Everything from the CBT's themselves, instructors, presentation, website etc are all just that bit better with CBT.

That being said, Pluralsight are vastly cheaper than CBT so if you were on a bit of a budget Pluralsight would still be a good option.

wd40

I am thinking about subscribing to CBT Nuggets next year, mainly for CISA and ITIL courses and maybe CCNA.

Do they do special promotions / discounted rates?

slinuxuzer

I like train signal / pluralsight better for VMware learning, more materials period, Cisco maybe give the edge to CBT nuggets, personally I own a subscription to pluralsight, but will admit CBT is better for some, it really does vary from series to series.

Alex90

slinuxuzer wrote: »

I like train signal / pluralsight better for VMware learning, more materials period, Cisco maybe give the edge to CBT nuggets, personally I own a subscription to pluralsight, but will admit CBT is better for some, it really does vary from series to series.

True - it seems that Pluralsight covers a lot of the programming side of things where as CBT is mainly networking/infrastructure.