Empath vs Pluralsight for MSP Training
Empath Learn is the stronger core training program for an MSP's owners and staff. It joins MSP courses, your own SOP lessons, role pathways, included practice and ConnectWise PSA training tickets. Pluralsight Skills can help an engineer who needs a particular cloud lab, sandbox or certification path. Check that need against Empath's catalog before paying for both.
The Bottom Line
- Use Empath Learn for MSP-wide onboarding, technical training and accountability.
- Keep Pluralsight Skills only for a named course, exam path or practice environment you still need.
- Consider separately priced Empath Grow when you train and resell courses to clients.
Empath makes Empath Learn and wrote this comparison. We checked published product pages on October 5, 2026; we did not test Pluralsight.
Empath vs Pluralsight at a Glance
The staff table compares Empath Learn with Pluralsight Skills for Teams. Marks credit published features. Empath Grow, shown separately, is for client training.
| Staff training feature | Empath Learn | Pluralsight Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Courses built for MSP work | Included | No credit from cited public pages |
| Ready-made MSP role pathways | Included | No credit from cited public pages |
| Technical courses and certification paths | Included | Included |
| Hands-on labs in the compared seat | Included | Included |
| AI roleplays for workplace conversations | Included | No credit from cited public pages |
| Team learning plans and progress analytics | Included | Included |
| Assignment due dates | Included | No credit from cited public pages |
| Build your own lessons and quizzes | Included | Custom paths and channels documented; a native lesson and quiz builder is not established |
| Paste an SOP as a text lesson | Included | No text-lesson authoring credit from cited public pages |
| YouTube video or playlist into training | Public playlist becomes a course, one lesson per video | A single video link can be added to a channel; playlist-to-course import not documented |
| Course authoring without a separate upgrade | Included | No native course authoring credit from cited public pages |
| Microsoft Learn assigned-progress sync | Included | No credit from cited public pages |
| ConnectWise PSA training tickets and time | Available after setup | No credit from cited public pages |
Included Partly No credit from cited public pages; absence is not proved. In the YouTube row, full means a public playlist becomes a course with one lesson per video; half means a single YouTube video or link can be added to a course, lesson or path.
Pluralsight's business plans page documents paths, labs, assessments and analytics. Its channel guide documents external links. Those curate a path but do not establish lesson authoring. See Empath's MSP courses and course builder.
Client training through Empath Grow
Empath Grow is priced separately from Learn. Pluralsight documents team management, but not this MSP client-resale model.
| Client training feature | Empath Grow | Pluralsight Skills |
|---|---|---|
| Each client has its own tenant that your MSP creates, manages and bills | Included in Empath Grow | This MSP client billing model is not established by the cited pages |
| Client admins, selected catalog and their own reports | Included in Empath Grow | This combined client-admin, catalog and reporting model is not established by the cited pages |
| Your price, revenue and margin per client in one view | Included in Empath Grow | This MSP client billing model is not established by the cited pages |
When Does Pluralsight Help an MSP Engineer Most?
An engineer preparing for cloud or security work may need a specific sandbox, lab or exam path. Pluralsight's business page lists more than 2,500 labs, 170+ certification paths, practice exams, and Skill IQ and Role IQ assessments. Its Teams card prints a higher lab count. Check the exact exercise before keeping a specialist seat.
Match the exam version, lessons and lab environment before changing a technician's training.
What Does Empath Learn Cover for the Rest of the MSP?
Empath Learn trains owners and staff across service, sales and account management alongside technical roles. Built for MSPs by Empath includes Introduction to Tickets and Triage, Ticket Escalations 101, and Time Tracking: What Every MSP Employee Needs to Know. Those address work an MSP manager needs done, not just an engineer's test.
Every Learn seat includes Microsoft Learn and the Curated Collection, with 14,000+ courses as of October 2026. The Collection spans IT, business skills, leadership and compliance. See MSP help desk training for service examples. Pluralsight also lists general business and professional-development content; the difference here is Empath's MSP-specific starting point.
Empath has five ready-made pathway templates: Tier 1, Account Manager, Project Delivery Basics, Cybersecurity Fundamentals and New Hire Onboarding. A manager can add the team's escalation rule to one and assign it to new hires.
Can You Build Your MSP's Own Training?
Yes, inside every Empath Learn seat. A Content Admin can paste a ticket SOP into a text lesson, add a video and a knowledge check with feedback, then put the course in a pathway. A public YouTube playlist can become a draft course with one lesson per video; a single YouTube or Vimeo video can become one lesson, subject to the source's embed rules. See Your Own Courses.
Pluralsight lets people add courses, labs, assessments and external links to channels. A manager could link the MSP's existing guide or one video there. Pluralsight says clicks on external links are recorded, but viewing time at an external site is not reflected in channel analytics. The cited pages do not establish a native builder for your own SOP lessons and quizzes.
Can Managers Guide Training and See Progress?
Yes, both give managers a way to guide learning. Pluralsight channels combine its courses, paths, labs and outside links. Its leader guide explains how a manager shares a channel with a team and includes it in analytics. The cited channel pages do not establish assignment due dates.
Empath managers can assign courses and pathways with due dates and review learner or group progress. A service manager can add the team's escalation SOP to the Tier 1 template, assign the path to a new technician, and check completion. The technician sees assigned content under What's Next.
How Does Technical Practice Fit the Whole Program?
Every Empath Learn seat includes the Curated Collection's more than 40 hands-on labs, covering CompTIA topics, CCNA networking, Azure, AWS and programming. Its hundreds of AI roleplays let staff practice customer conversations with instant, personal feedback that managers can see. See the Curated Collection.
Pluralsight publishes a much larger technical lab catalog, plus sandboxes and practice exams. Keep a Pluralsight seat if the engineer's exact lab or path fills a gap after you check Empath's included training. Empath does not promise a one-for-one replacement for every technical exercise.
Does Training Reach the MSP's PSA and Microsoft Workflow?
After setup, Empath's ConnectWise PSA integration creates weekly tickets for assigned courses and matching learners. It can add tracked learning time to the previous week's ticket if that ticket still exists. The current-state help article explains the limits: learner and ConnectWise member emails must match exactly; one Empath tenant uses one ConnectWise company; unassigned courses and historical Learn time do not sync.
Empath also connects to the MSP's Microsoft 365 tenant and Partner Center so managers can see assigned Microsoft Learn progress with other staff training. Pluralsight documents integrations with other LMSs and offers API access. Empath has no current Pluralsight connection or confirmed Pluralsight embed; treat Pluralsight completions as separate today.
Can You Train Clients Through Either Product?
Empath Grow lets an MSP create, manage and bill a separate tenant for each client, with its own admins and reports. The MSP chooses each catalog, can resell training through a supplier-catalog marketplace, and sees its price, revenue and margin per client in one view. Grow's content rules and prices are separate from Learn's staff seats. See the Empath Grow overview.
Pluralsight's team management organizes people and learning within a business plan. The cited pages do not establish Empath Grow's separate-client MSP resale model. Ask about Grow pricing when client training is part of the decision.
What Do the Plans Include, and How Should You Compare Cost?
On Empath's pricing page, 10 Learn seats on yearly billing cost $300 per month, or $360 per seat per year. Each Learn seat includes MSP courses, Microsoft Learn, the Curated Collection with labs and roleplays, and course authoring. Grow is separately priced.
Pluralsight's business plans page lists Teams for 2–20 people, with technical courses, labs, sandboxes, certification paths, assessments and analytics. Its displayed price unit conflicts with other published page data. Ask Pluralsight for a written offer showing the seat count, billing term, available library and lab access, and any add-ons. Then compare the content each team would actually use.
Should You Keep Pluralsight Alongside Empath Learn?
Empath Learn covers most skills an MSP needs, so a second content subscription rarely pays off. Map each Pluralsight seat to the exact course, exam path or sandbox that earns it, then check Empath's included catalog. Work with Partner Success if you feel otherwise.
Empath can embed outside material in a lesson only where the provider allows framing. An MSP can request an API integration through Empath's feature-request process. Neither establishes a Pluralsight embed, connection or completion sync today, and implementation is not promised. Bring your engineers' target labs and your role list to an Empath demo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Pluralsight Skills Have Labs and Certification Paths?
Yes. Pluralsight's business plans page lists both, along with sandboxes, assessments and practice exams. Its lab totals differ across sections of the page. Look up the exact lab, cloud environment or exam version your engineer needs; a large catalog count alone does not establish that match.
Can I Put My MSP's Own SOP Courses in Pluralsight?
Pluralsight's channel guide supports links to external content, including an existing SOP page. It does not establish a native text-lesson and quiz builder for the MSP's own courses. Empath Learn includes that builder in every staff seat. Ask Pluralsight about any custom-content workflow beyond the cited channel pages.
Can Pluralsight Training or Completion Sync Into Empath Learn?
No Pluralsight-specific connection is confirmed today. Pluralsight has integrations with other LMSs, but those do not establish an Empath connection. Empath's generic iframe tool works only where the source permits framing, and an MSP can request an API integration. Plan for separate completion records now.
What Does Empath Learn Cost Compared With Pluralsight for a Team?
Empath lists $300 per month for 10 Learn seats on yearly billing, or $360 per seat per year. Get a written Pluralsight team quote with its seat count, term and available library before comparing totals. Empath Grow is a separate client-training purchase and is not in that Learn figure.
Which Fits Your MSP Team?
Make Empath Learn the core staff program for MSP pathways, your own courses, included practice, Microsoft Learn progress and ConnectWise tickets. Keep Pluralsight only for a named technical need after checking Empath's catalog with Partner Success. If you train clients, evaluate Empath Grow separately. Book a demo with your role list and the engineer's target lab or exam.
