Domestika courses my experience

What is Domestika?

Domestika is a platform that offers online courses for creatives. The e-learning platform originated from a small Spanish online forum. In 2002, this creative community was founded in Barcelona and has since developed into a global online course platform with over 8 million users. I became aware of the platform through the Domestika Instagram channel, which has 4.5 million followers and shares many creative projects. In this article, you'll learn more about the online learning platform and whether it's worth taking the courses. 

(Price and feature information in this article is subject to change, as of: 08/28/2026)

Domestika Courses and Categories

The courses on the learning platform are all produced in studios, which is intended to ensure high quality. Domestika has studios all over the world and recently also one in Germany (Berlin). Despite the German studio, there are many courses on the online platform that are neither in German nor English and can only be understood via subtitles. Thematically, countless creative courses can be found on the platform. Additionally, topics such as marketing, time management, or web and app development are also represented.

Domestika offers the following categories:

Update: Since this article was created, new topic areas have been added. The category filter bar on domestika.org now also shows, among others, "Artificial Intelligence", "Cooking", and "Wellness" as separate categories.

How does Domestika work?

Domestika works similarly to Udemy. After you create a free account, you can buy courses (no subscription) and then use them for life.

To search for courses, you can also look at results from course participants under the "Projects" tab. Here, the website's origin in a creative community becomes apparent. Drawings, crafts, or knitted items are shared and can be commented on and liked. The course that belongs to the project is also displayed. This part of Domestika feels a bit like Instagram with purely creative content.

My experiences with Domestika:

I bought two courses on Domestika. Among them a course on web development (developing WordPress themes) and a course on daily sketching for creative inspiration. I bought both courses at a discount and paid a total of approx. 20 €. Similar to Udemy, there seem to be regular sales on the platform, and courses are usually discounted by 60 - 80%. But now to my experiences with the courses.

The daily sketching course is taught by Sorie Kim and I really liked it overall. The course language is English, German subtitles are available, and the video quality is high. However, it should be noted that the subtitles are usually machine-translated. In the drawing course, I kept noticing small errors in the subtitles as well as in the description texts and lesson texts. For example, an exercise is called "let's talk about supplies" – I'm still not entirely sure what that was supposed to mean 😁, probably materials for drawing?

My experiences with the community

At the end of the units, which consist of several videos, there are drawing exercises that you can work on and then share with the community. The community seems to be very active in this course; drawings are shared, liked, and commented on.

All comments and posts are automatically translated into German, which sometimes leads to meaningful but also nonsensical sentences. The course has 98% positive ratings. However, it is questionable why exactly the ratings are not machine-translated but displayed in the original language. As a rating method, you can write a comment and give a thumbs up or down.

In my opinion, the objectivity of the comments is somewhat influenced by the fact that courses can be purchased at different prices and that comments are incentivized with discounts. For example, I was offered a 20% discount on the next course for a comment.

Projects from participants (drawing course):

At the end of a unit, there is a section where the instructor can offer additional resources. The instructor from the drawing course, for example, linked sketches and explanations as a PDF there.

My Experience with a Spanish Course

Now about the other course I bought (Developing WordPress Themes). The course language is Spanish. So I didn't understand much and focused on the German subtitles. However, I quickly realized that it was difficult for me to follow the actions on the screen while reading the subtitles, which weren't always in perfect German. I had to keep stopping to understand the complex content from the course. My motivation suffered and I dropped the course. That's why I can only recommend that you choose a course with a language (audio) that you understand, especially for complex topics.

Are there courses in German?

So far, I haven't found a way on the Domestika website to search for courses that are spoken by Germans. You can select the language via a tab, but that only translates the description texts and course titles into German. However, I found a little trick: on Domestika's Instagram page, German courses are presented in a story.

Domestika German courses summarized:

Illustrations:

• Typographic Posterdesign with Illustrator
• Illustration with Style: Draw Different Characters in Procreate
• Introduction to Professional Children's Book Illustration with Procreate
• Artistic Ink Painting with Chinese Ink
• Filigree Watercolor Painting with Metallic Accents
• Unmistakable Illustrations: Find Your Style
• Manga-Inspired Illustration with Procreate
• Illustration with Ink: Develop Your Visual Language
• Modern Urban Sketching Techniques in Mixed Media
• Plein Air Painting in Oil for Beginners: Painting Outdoors
• Creative Illustration Techniques with Gouache
• Visual Storytelling with Hand Lettering and Illustration

Textiles:

• Tufting for Beginners: Design Colorful Textile Art
• Natural Textile Dyeing with Plants
• Knitting with Raglan from the Top
• Amigurumi: Crochet and Design Lively Figures
• Macrame: From the First Knot to Your Own Design

3D and Animation:

• 3D Scene Building with Sci-Fi Inspiration in Cinema 4D and OctaneRender
• Digital Fashion Design with Cinema 4D and CLO 3D
• Introduction to 2D Animation with After Effects
• Introduction to Storyboarding for Animated Films
• 3D Typography with Blender: Design Unique Letters

Design:

• Digital Branding: Make a Brand's Identity Tangible
• Editorial Design: Discover How a Magazine is Made
• Graphic Design Basics: Design Minimalistically
• Dynamic Design: Introduction to Flexible Visual Identities

Architecture:

• Vintage Furnishings for Sustainable Living
• Interior Design Basics: Plan Creative Workspaces
• ArchViz with Style: Visualize Architecture Projects with Rhino 3D
• Literary Writing for Beginners: Courage for Your Own Text

Photography:

• Artistic Architectural Photography: Form, Color, and Space
• Urban Photography Basics: Awaken Your Inner Flâneur
• Cinematic Portrait Photography: Light and Atmosphere

Marketing and Business:

• Business Strategies for Creatives: Market Your Ideas

Update: I just found out that you can filter the language not on the website but in the app. To do that, search for a topic and then filter the playback language.

How much does a course on Domestika cost?

Courses can be purchased individually and usually cost around 15 to 60 euros. But I noticed: Domestika is constantly running discount campaigns where individual courses are reduced by 60 to 80%. So it's almost always worth checking the price. The platform also offers a subscription called Domestika Plus. Important to know: This does not unlock access to all courses. The principle is similar to Audible — you get one token each month, which you can use to unlock a course of your choice. You then keep the unlocked courses for life.

Domestika Plus Subscription

• 1 token per month for a course of your choice (Tokens are cumulative and can be redeemed later)
• Discounts on courses and packages (the previously fixed 20% rate is no longer guaranteed by Domestika)
• Access to additional courses (As a Plus member, according to Domestika, you have access to over 1,000 free courses, with more than 100 new ones added weekly)
• Exclusive content and bonus materials (Access to a newsletter with news, upcoming courses, and bonus material)
• Certificates can only be downloaded as a Plus member

Costs summarized:

Domestika Plus / Annual subscription	Domestika Plus / Monthly subscription	Buy courses individually
First year €149.50 (€12.49/month), renewal thereafter €299/year	Cost per month: €32.90	Cost usually €15 to €60 often much less during sales

I have checked the Plus prices multiple times; something is happening that you should know. Domestika displays them dynamically and personalized; they vary slightly from session to session. But one thing always remains the same: the cheap introductory price in the first year is far below the renewal price. In my experience, this is exactly what sparks most complaints about the platform. My recommendation: set a reminder and decide in time whether the renewal is worth it. It's also worth checking Domestika's sales; Plus subscriptions and individual courses are regularly heavily discounted. Prices checked on 30.08.2026.

Tip: Course packages

If you want to buy multiple courses and don't have a Plus subscription, course packages might be worthwhile for you. Here you can put together a package yourself from a selection of courses. Sometimes there are also pre-assembled course packages on a specific topic. These course packages are usually quite a bit cheaper than buying the courses individually.

What is Domestika Basics?

The term Domestika Basics does not refer to a subscription model, but to courses that explain software. This means software for creatives, such as Adobe Cloud programs or Procreate. The special thing is that Basics consists of several courses; you could also call it a "learning path". The introduction to Adobe Photoshop, for example, contains 5 courses from the same instructor. I find it a bit unfortunate that these courses are mostly only available with Spanish audio (and subtitles).

Update: Domestika Basics now also covers other programs. These now include Figma (currently 10 courses) and Adobe Illustrator (6 courses). The Photoshop series remains at 5 courses.

The Domestika App

In the Domestika app, you can search for, buy, and watch courses. Unlike the web version, you can also download the videos. However, I didn't find a function to download an entire course; only individual lessons can be downloaded, which is a bit cumbersome. The app is available for iOS and Android and is practical for watching courses on the go. Social features, such as rating and viewing other projects, are surprisingly not very prominent in the app compared to the website. You cannot search or filter projects.

What users say in the App Store and Play Store

My opinion is just one of many. So I checked how the Domestika app performs in both stores.

Ratings from the German App Store and the German Google Play Store, retrieved on 31.08.2026.

That is the biggest gap I've encountered among the platforms here. In the Play Store, the bad reviews are almost always about prices, promotions, and courses that suddenly become cheaper after purchase. Anyone buying from Domestika should keep that in mind.

Return a Domestika course?

After my experience with the Spanish course, I wondered if I could still return the course. I found out that courses can be returned or exchanged within 14 days of purchase. Important: This only applies to individually purchased courses. For the Plus subscription, Domestika explicitly excludes the right of withdrawal because the service begins immediately. Unfortunately, by that time it had already been more than 14 days for me. If you need more information about returning a course, feel free to read this article from Domestika.

Are there free Domestika courses?

In the wake of the Corona crisis, Domestika made some free courses available. The fixed quota from that time no longer exists: the free courses now change constantly and are primarily reserved for Plus subscribers. Don't let the "Buy" button at the top right distract you; you can still watch the individual lessons without purchasing the course. Only access to the community and the individual exercises remain locked for these courses if the course has not been purchased.

What alternatives to Domestika are there?

Domestika is one of many learning platforms that offer creative online courses. Another platform that offers creative courses is Skillshare. The main difference is that Skillshare only offers courses on a subscription model. Udemy is another platform that is not specialized in creative courses, but also offers a good selection in this area. With both providers Skillshare and Udemy, the courses are usually not produced in a studio like at Domestika, but by private individuals.

All alternatives:

• Skillshare
• Udemy
• Creativelive
• Yes I'm a Designer