Summer 2018 Update:
The Craftsy spin-off site Bluprint is offers a free 7-day trial and 33% off your annual subscription to the site. Use this link to sign up for this special deal.
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If you’re anything like me then you’re probably almost always on the hunt for ways to get better at your craft and improve on and hone your skills. I attend my local library book sales almost every month (because they’re a lot more cost-effective than buying brand new books and there really aren’t very many physical bookstores left in my neck of the woods)…
Anyway, I find myself always gravitating towards the “Crafts” section quite a lot and as a result I have lots of books (and I do mean lots) of craft books all over the house.
Sometimes though, if you’re like me, you just want someone to explain a technique to you live, and if not, you at least want to watch someone do something so you can copy exactly how they do it and learn. I learn better in 3-D than in 2-D. If that’s you then probably know that you can easily search through lots of YouTube videos to find tons of free tutorials and videos.
Have you ever considered paying for a repository of such videos? Well, that’s what Craftsy and Creative Bug are essentially. One of the main differences though (between them and free YouTube videos) is that you get much more… More access to the people teaching you, downloadable PDFs, community support, and much more.
So let’s say you decide that you’re willing to pay for the benefits of an online crafting community, the next question is – “well, which one should I choose?” Well, I am so glad you asked! I too actually faced the same decision that had to be made and since I’m no Rockefeller and couldn’t (or at least can’t at this point in time) belong to both communities as a paying member of both, I made a side-by-side comparison chart of the two.
I hope this handy chart will help you in your decision-making process to figure out which one, if any, of these two wonderful crafting communities is the better choice for you.
Craftsy vs Creative Bug
 |  |
|
|---|---|---|
| What Is It? | Craftsy
| Creative Bug
|
| Course Selection | Cake decorating Crocheting Drawing Embroidery Food & Cooking Gardening Jewelry-making Knitting Painting Paper crafts Photography Quilting Sewing Spinning Weaving Woodworking | Accessories (not just jewelry) Apothecary (i.e. soap, lotions, etc.) Bookbinding Ceramics Clothing Collage Crochet Embellishments Embroidery Entertaining Felting Gift-wrapping Halloween Holidays Home Decor Kids Crafts Knitting Mixed Media Needle Felting Patchwork Printmaking Stamping Upcycling Wedding |
| Other Features |
|
|
| Free Courses Available | Yes | Yes |
| Available Freebies |
| |
| Gift Subscriptions Available | Yes | Yes |
| Access to Classes | Unlimited access to individual classes purchased | Unlimited to all classes (with paid monthly membership) |
| Membership Required | Yes (you'll need to sign up for a free account to get access to the site's features) | No (but you'll need to sign up for a free account to get access to the free and A la carte features) |
| Closed Captioning Available | Yes, but not on all videos | No |
| Payment Options | A la carte (prices range from approx. $20-40/class, on average) |
|
Please note: if you click on any of the links above and then sign up with either of these two services I may get a commission. Commissions like these go towards the costs of keeping this site going and the podcast up and running.