CourseCompare

What CourseCompare does

CourseCompare is a Canadian two-sided education marketplace headquartered in Toronto and founded in 2017. The platform connects prospective students with 500+ accredited colleges, universities, and training providers across Canada, enabling program discovery, comparison, and direct connection to admissions teams. Since 2018, the company reports helping over 5 million learners across 100+ countries pursue in-demand skills or new careers, with 3 million annual users and $50M+ unlocked in scholarships and funding through platform-mediated connections.

The core product is a web-based marketplace (coursecompare.ca) featuring verified student reviews and ratings, proprietary learner data analytics that power outcomes-based program rankings, and a Return on Education (ROE) Index. Supporting products include the Career Navigator editorial hub, a Scholarship and Funding Finder, a Learning Advisor service that connects learners to government upskilling programs (notably UpSkill Canada), and an Immigration Services Directory. The technology stack centers on a recommendation engine that matches learners to programs by interests, location, delivery format, and career goals, supported by an extensive SEO-optimized content library spanning business, technology, healthcare, skilled trades, and creative arts verticals.

Revenue is generated exclusively from the B2B side of the marketplace. Educational institutions pay for enhanced visibility, promotional placements, and a digital marketing agency offering marketed as a "digital marketing agency for higher education." Individual learners access the platform free of charge. Distribution combines a self-serve, product-led motion on the learner side with a dedicated B2B partner recruitment motion targeting schools. The company is privately held, founder-led (Robert Furtado, CEO), and has not disclosed funding rounds, revenue, or valuation.

Name

CourseCompare

Legal name

CourseCompare

Website

https://coursecompare.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CourseCompare is Canada's two-sided education marketplace, connecting 3 million annual learners with 500+ accredited institutions for program discovery, comparison, and enrollment, monetized through B2B digital marketing services sold to education providers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Marketplace

NAICS

All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Creator Course Marketplaces (Multi-Instructor Catalogs) (MPACALAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms (BPAMAJAL)

Keywords

• Education marketplace
• Online learning platform
• Course comparison
• Higher education marketing
• Student recruitment platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Education Partner Marketing Services: Revenue generated from educational institutions (colleges, universities, training providers) who pay for enhanced visibility, marketing services, and access to CourseCompare's learner base. The platform operates a 'digital marketing agency for higher education' service.
2. Advertising and Promotional Placements: Schools and programs can purchase advertising and promotional placements within the platform to increase their visibility to prospective students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CourseCompare operates a web-based marketplace that aggregates educational programs from 500+ accredited Canadian institutions and presents them to prospective learners through searchable listings, verified student reviews, and outcomes-based rankings. The platform is free for learners, while revenue is generated by selling enhanced visibility, advertising placements, and digital marketing services to education providers. Complementary offerings include an editorial hub (Career Navigator), a scholarship finder, and immigration consultant directory listings.

Product overview

CourseCompare operates as Canada's marketplace for education, functioning as a platform connecting millions of learners annually with 500+ accredited institutions across the country. The core product is the CourseCompare Platform, which provides program discovery through search and filtering, verified student reviews and ratings, and direct admissions connections. Supporting the platform are complementary products: Career Navigator (editorial hub with career guides and rankings), Program Rankings (annual outcomes-based school rankings), Scholarship Finder (financial aid discovery), and an Education Partner Platform for institutional marketing. The platform covers diverse subject areas including business, technology, healthcare, skilled trades, and creative arts, offering course delivery options ranging from classroom-based to fully online and hybrid formats.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CourseCompare Platform Canada's marketplace for education that connects learners with 500+ accredited institutions, enabling program comparison, verified student reviews, and direct admissions connections across business, technology, healthcare, skilled trades, and creative arts.
• Career Navigator

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 million+ learners have gained in-demand skills since 2018
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UpSkill CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCourseCompare partners with UpSkill Canada to help learners access funding for skill-building programs. Through this partnership, learners like those enrolling in cybersecurity bootcamps can access government-funded upskilling opportunities.
• 500+ Canadian Educational InstitutionscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCourseCompare partners with over 500 accredited Canadian colleges, universities, and training providers including Athabasca University, BrainStation, Conestoga College, HEC Montreal, Humber Polytechnic, University of Waterloo, and many more. These institutions gain visibility to millions of annual learners seeking educational programs.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Educations.com: Educations.com is an international marketplace connecting prospective students with colleges and programs worldwide. Comparable aggregator model to CourseCompare, with a more international/recruitment focus.
• Class Central: Class Central aggregates MOOCs and online courses from providers worldwide, letting learners discover, compare, and review courses. Directly comparable to CourseCompare's aggregator-plus-reviews model, though focused on online MOOCs rather than accredited institutional programs.
• Switchup: Switchup aggregates coding bootcamps with verified alumni reviews and salary outcomes data. Comparable to CourseCompare's verified-review and outcomes-ranking approach, focused on the bootcamp subset of education.
• Niche: Niche is a US K-12 and college search and review platform with rankings, reviews, and data-driven comparisons. Comparable as a discovery-plus-reviews marketplace for educational institutions, though US-focused and heavier on traditional K-12 and college selection.
• Course Report: Course Report is a directory and review platform for coding and tech bootcamps, with rankings and student outcomes stories. Directly comparable to CourseCompare's bootcamp and skills-training listings and reviews use case.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Coursera is a global online learning marketplace partnering with universities and companies to deliver courses, certificates, and degrees. Comparable as a course-discovery destination with university partnerships, though it is also a delivery platform rather than purely an aggregator.
• QS (Quacquarelli Symonds): QS produces the QS World University Rankings and a global student recruitment/events platform, providing discovery, rankings, and lead-generation services to universities. Comparable as a broader incumbent in education rankings and institution marketing.
• Quacquarelli Symonds Top Universities: TopUniversities is the consumer-facing arm of QS, providing global program search and rankings. Comparable in function as a learner-facing program discovery and ranking destination, though global rather than Canada-specific.
• Indeed Career Guide / Coursera Career Academy: Indeed integrates job-market signal, salary data, and training/credential recommendations, overlapping with CourseCompare's outcomes-and-career-nav value proposition at much larger scale and with different monetization.

Regional players

• Yellow Pages / Canada411: Yellow Pages Canada and similar local directories historically served as a Canadian SMB/institution discovery layer with advertising/marketing services to local businesses. Comparable as a Canadian directory/marketing-services business model, though not education-specific.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CourseCompareCA
• Facebookfacebook.com/CourseCompare.ca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/course-compare

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles21 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CourseCompare