9:41
alison.com
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alison.com

26 technologies
VerifiedVisit5.5M/mo$65M37326 Tech
Deep Dive

Alison: The 15M-User EdTech Giant You've Never Heard Of

How a 20-year-old bootstrapped player quietly dominates the free online learning market

While Coursera and Udacity chase enterprise partnerships, Alison has quietly built a 15-million-strong empire by giving education away for free. This isn't a startup burn-rate experiment—it's a $65M revenue machine that's been profitable for two decades, proving the freemium model works at massive scale.

5.5M
monthly visits
4.6M
backlinks
41.7K
Trustpilot reviews
373
employees

"Alison didn't disrupt education—they monetized its most neglected segment: the global self-learner."

The Underserved Billion

Alison's genius lies in targeting the 3.5 billion people who need skills but can't afford tuition. While competitors chase Western universities, Alison serves the global south—where 26.8% of traffic comes from undefined regions (likely emerging markets). Their 15M graduates aren't Ivy League students; they're nurses in Nigeria, coders in India, and entrepreneurs in Brazil who need credentials, not just content.

The SEO Moat

With 4.6 million backlinks and ranking for 'alison' (120K monthly searches) plus misspellings like 'allison' (21.9K), Alison has built an organic fortress. They capture 45% of traffic through search—higher than most edtech players—because they've mastered the long-tail game. When someone searches 'free online courses with certificates,' Alison owns the SERP, not Coursera (2.1M searches) or Udemy.

The company's 20-year journey from founder Mike Feerick's garage to $65M in revenue reveals a counterintuitive truth: the most scalable education model isn't premium—it's accessible. While their 4.6-star Trustpilot rating (from 41,684 reviews) proves user satisfaction, the real metric is their 47% direct traffic. These aren't one-time visitors; they're 15M registered users who come back, certify, and upskill without spending a dime.

  • Bootstrapped profitability: No VC funding needed for 20 years
  • Credential-first approach: Certificates drive completion, not just content consumption
  • Global by design: Traffic distribution mirrors emerging market demand
  • Tech stack pragmatism: jQuery, Bootstrap, and PWA—proven tools over hype
No university partnerships
100% free core content
No premium content tier
Self-directed learning paths
No corporate LMS integration
Direct-to-consumer credentialing

The Quiet Giant's Lesson

Alison proves that in edtech, serving the underserved at scale beats serving the elite at premium prices. Their 15M users and $65M revenue aren't accidents—they're the result of a two-decade bet on accessibility over exclusivity.

What tech stack does Alison use?

49 detected
Development1
Backend Frameworks1
Programming Languages1
Cloud & Hosting1
Customer Support1
Reviews1
Web Standards2
JavaScript Libraries3
Tracking & Analytics23
F
Facebook Pixel
G
Google Analytics
G
Google Tag Manager
L
LinkedIn Insight Tag
L
LinkedIn Insight Tag
H
Hotjar
H
Hotjar
R
Reddit Pixel
M
Microsoft Ads (Bing)
G
Google APIs
G
Google Static
G
Google Tag Manager
C
Cloudflare Insights
H
Hotjar
L
LinkedIn Insight Tag
L
LinkedIn
G
Google AdSense
G
Google Analytics
N
New Relic
B
Bing
R
Reddit
F
Facebook Pixel
F
Facebook

How much traffic does Alison get?

Traffic & Engagement

6.7M
Monthly Visits
+3.9%
5.0
Pages/Visit
13:11
Avg. Duration
54%
Bounce Rate
Monthly Traffic Trend-6%
7.2M
Oct 2025
Oct
6.5M
Nov 2025
Nov
6.7M
Dec 2025
Dec

Rankings

#8,614
Global Rank
#5,296
United States Rank
Distance Learning
Category

Backlinks & Authority

4.6M
Backlinks
19.8K
Ref. Domains
60
Authority Score
Low
Penalty Risk
Backlinks Trend+62%
2.9M
Jul 2025
Jul
3.2M
Aug 2025
Aug
3.4M
Sep 2025
Sep
3.4M
Oct 2025
Oct
3.5M
Nov 2025
Nov
4.6M
Dec 2025
Dec

Search Traffic

Organic
904.2K
Paid
71.0K

Top Organic Keywords

#1alison
49,500 vol18.8%
#4free online courses
135,000 vol2.8%
#3free online courses with certificates
74,000 vol2.3%
#1alison.com
5,400 vol2.1%
#1alison courses
5,400 vol2.1%

Where is Alison's audience located?

🇺🇸United States32.9%
🇮🇳India11.4%
🇬🇧United Kingdom10.2%
🇿🇦South Africa3.0%
🇳🇬Nigeria2.6%

Device Distribution

Desktop30.5%
Mobile69.5%

What keywords does Alison rank for?

5 keywords
1alison120.2K vol$0.41
2alison courses21.3K vol$0.85
3allison21.9K vol$0.71
4alision com3.7K vol$0.52
5coursera2.1M vol$3.29

How is Alison's SEO?

Open Graph Image

OG Image preview
og:image

https://cdn01.alison-static.net/public/html/site/img/sharing/alison-share__1742480996000.png

Meta Tags

title46 chars

Free Online Courses & Online Learning | Alison

description159 chars

Free online courses with certificates. Join 15 million graduates and empower your career. Study, learn, certify, upskill with free online learning and training

languageEN

H1 Tags

h1Free Online Courses With Certificates & Diplomas
h1Empower Yourself For Free

Schema Types

EducationalOrganization

What is Alison's revenue?

$65M
Annual Revenue
373
58%
Employees
$175K
Revenue/Employee
Galway, IRL
Headquarters

Who works at Alison?

Loading leads...

What do customers think of Alison?

Alison

Alison

4.6
41,684 reviews
✓ Claimed

Categories

e-Commerce Service#2Educational Institution#3Career and Education Provider#4

Activity & Engagement

Reply Rate
98.62385321100918%
Avg. Reply Time
2.0 days
Claimed Date
11/7/2018

Contact Information

Address:
Mount Carmel
Loughrea, Co. Galway, IE

Reviews (20)

Filter by rating:
Asthou Mbaye
1/20/2026
🇸🇳 Sn1 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 1/20/2026
It is a great experience

It is a great experience Thank you

Sarah Kentish
1/20/2026
🇬🇧 United Kingdom4 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 1/20/2026
A very useful, practical and comprehensive course

An extremely useful and comprehensive short course.

Michael
1/20/2026
🇰🇪 Ke1 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 1/20/2026
GREAT SERVICES

GREAT SERVICES

Cerys Hicklin
1/20/2026
🇬🇧 United Kingdom1 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 1/20/2026
The first aid course I did was great…

The first aid course I did was great easy to learn with love the small questionairs

Amma
1/20/2026
🇳🇬 Nigeria1 reviewsOrganicUnverified
Experience date: 1/20/2026
It was a lovely time learning

It was a lovely time learning, learnt a lot at the same time I had fun.

Frequently Asked Questions about Alison

What is Alison's Revenue?
Alison generates approximately $65M in annual revenue. With 373 employees, that's $175,000 per employee.
What does Alison do?
Free online courses with certificates. Join 15 million graduates and empower your career. Study, learn, certify, upskill with free online learning and training
How fast is Alison growing?
Alison has grown by 3.9% in the last 6 months according to traffic data. employee count has changed by 58% year over year.
How do people interact with Alison?
When visiting Alison, visitors view an average of 5.0 pages per visit, and spend around 13:11 on the site, and the bounce rate is 53.6%.
How do people find Alison?
5.8M people (86%) visit Alison directly. 904.2K (13%) find them through organic search. 71.0K (1%) come through paid advertising.
Who uses Alison?
Alison's top market is United States with 2.2M visitors (32.9%). India is 2nd with 769.5K (11.4%). United Kingdom is 3rd with 688.9K (10.2%).
What technologies does Alison use?
Alison uses 26 technologies across their website including Fonts, Development, Security. Key technologies include Google Fonts, Firebase, HSTS, reCAPTCHA.
Who are Alison's competitors?
Alison's main competitors include Coursera, Udemy. These companies operate in similar markets and compete for the same customer base.
What do customers think of Alison?
Alison has a Trustpilot score of 4.6 out of 5 (4 stars) based on 41,684 customer reviews.

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About alison.com

Free online courses with certificates. Join 15 million graduates and empower your career. Study, learn, certify, upskill with free online learning and training

Company Overview

alison.com
Website
science_and_education
Industry
#8,802
Global Rank
5.5M
Monthly Visitors
26
Technologies

Contact alison.com

Technology Stack

alison.com uses 26 technologies across their website including Google Fonts, Firebase, HSTS, reCAPTCHA, and more.

Fonts

Google Fonts

Development

Firebase

Security

HSTS, reCAPTCHA

Backend Frameworks

Ruby on Rails

Programming Languages

PHP

Cloud & Hosting

Cloudflare

Traffic & Audience

5.5M
Monthly Visits
43%
Bounce Rate
5.0
Pages/Visit
5:20
Avg. Duration

alison.com receives approximately 5.5M monthly visitors and ranks #8,802 globally. The website has a bounce rate of 43% with visitors viewing an average of 5.0 pages per visit. Users spend an average of 5:20 on the site.

The majority of alison.com's traffic comes from undefined, undefined, .

Frequently Asked Questions

What is alison.com?
Free online courses with certificates. Join 15 million graduates and empower your career. Study, learn, certify, upskill with free online learning and training
What technologies does alison.com use?
alison.com uses 26 technologies including Google Fonts, Firebase, and 20 more. View the full tech stack analysis above.
How do I contact alison.com?
You can contact alison.com through their contact page.
What are alison.com's social media accounts?
alison.com is active on tiktok, twitter, youtube, facebook, linkedin, instagram. You can find links to all their social media profiles in the social section above.
Is alison.com hiring?
Check alison.com's careers page for current job openings and opportunities.
How popular is alison.com?
alison.com receives approximately 5.5M monthly visitors and ranks #8,802 globally. Traffic is declining by 2.6% month-over-month.

Related Searches

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This page provides publicly available information about alison.com. Data is collected from various public sources and may not always be up to date. For the most accurate information, please visit alison.com directly at https://alison.com.