heise academy

heise academy is the online training arm of heise, the German IT publisher, and teaches software development, IT security, cloud, networks and AI to working IT professionals. Its tagline is "Online-Weiterbildung für IT-Professionals" (online further training for IT professionals), and all content is in German. The site says that with "über 40 Jahren Erfahrung im IT-Journalismus" (over 40 years of experience in IT journalism) heise brings that know-how together with expert knowledge, and it counts "Über 800 Unternehmenskunden & mehr als 60.000 User" (over 800 corporate customers and more than 60,000 users). It serves individual developers and administrators who want to keep their skills current alongside their job, and companies that want a shared training library for their IT teams.

Formats

Three formats make up the catalog:

• Videokurse (video courses) are self-paced recordings, "jederzeit und überall" (anytime and anywhere).
• Classrooms are live online courses taught by experts over several weeks. Every classroom is recorded in full, with only the breaks cut, and the recording is available on demand afterwards. Accompanying materials are usually uploaded within 24 hours of a session. Pass holders sign up for a live classroom in the campus until shortly before it starts, places permitting, while single-ticket buyers receive their participation link by email at least 48 hours before the event.
• Webinare are recordings of webinars from heise's editorial teams and partners.

All learning happens in the academy Campus, a browser-based learning environment with full-text search inside videos, a notes function, learning progress and certificate downloads. The FAQ is clear that there are no native iOS or Android apps, but the campus is optimized for mobile browsers with full functionality. Content is streamed only, with no offline download, and video quality adapts automatically to the connection.

What the catalog covers

The site lists skills in "über 60 Themen" (more than 60 topics), grouped into networks and systems (Linux, macOS, Windows, Windows Server, mobile device management), IT security (backup and recovery, ethical hacking, IT forensics, IT-Grundschutz, network security, encryption), software development (continuous delivery, DevOps, Java, JavaScript, microservices, Python, game development, tools and frameworks), web technologies (app development, quality assurance and testing, UX design, web development), AI and data science (data analysis, databases, machine learning), IT and project management, and cloud (AWS, Azure, cloud administration and development, containers, Kubernetes, Microsoft 365).

For a coding learner the app development topic page shows what the video courses look like. Examples, with the running times the page prints:

• Moderne Webentwicklung mit React, by Sebastian Springer, 08:14h.
• Essenzielles JavaScript für React, by Prof. Dr. Erik Behrends, 02:39h.
• Serverless programmieren in AWS mit Node.js, Python und Go, by Gernot Glawe, 09:49h.
• Der JavaScript-Kurs für Softwareentwickler, by Golo Roden, 07:57h.
• Der Crashkurs: Frontend-Entwicklung mit Angular 12, 04:53h.
• Asynchrone Programmierung mit Kotlin Coroutines, 01:30h.
• A five-part Flutter and Dart series, from an introduction through navigation, forms, data modeling and testing, at 03:00h per part.

The continuous delivery page adds GitHub Actions und Azure Bicep, an infrastructure-as-code course (05:12h).

Upcoming live classrooms lean toward AI and security. Examples on the home page: Moderne KI-Agents entwickeln, on function tools, MCP and multi-agent systems, with Rainer Stropek; KI in der Cybersecurity, on attack and defense in the era of LLMs and deepfakes, with Frank Ully; Microsoft 365 Copilot im Unternehmen, on building agents with Copilot Studio and Foundry, with Dr. Dieter Janzen; CRA in der Praxis, on strengthening cybersecurity in product development; and courses on information security and network security in the public sector. The academy Pass page says learners get access to "mehr als 100 TOP-Expertinnen und -Experten" (more than 100 top experts).

Pricing

heise academy publishes its prices, all including VAT:

• Essential Pass: on-demand only, 49,- € per month or 495,- € per year. It includes 240+ video courses, recordings of 140+ partner webinars, and heise academy certificates.
• Professional Pass: 1.175,00 € per year for a single license. It adds live access to 20+ new classrooms per year and the recordings of 70+ classroom sessions, on top of everything in the Essential Pass.
• Single purchases: video courses and classrooms can be bought individually through self-checkout. Live classrooms are listed "ab 895,00 €" (from €895), and individually bought courses and classrooms stay available "zeitlich unbegrenzt" (without time limit).

Passes renew automatically. Private customers can cancel up to four weeks before the end of the term; business customers have a six-week notice period. Payment is by credit card, direct debit, invoice or PayPal for individual purchases and passes; the Enterprise Pass takes card, direct debit or invoice.

Certificates

The FAQ explains what a learner receives. After all sessions of a classroom, there is a "Teilnahmebescheinigung" (certificate of participation) for the whole classroom, plus one per session for live attendance or a fully watched recording. For video courses, the certificate is issued once the course is completed. All certificates sit in the campus profile. These are participation certificates from heise academy.

Funding and teams

A "Geförderte Weiterbildung" (subsidized training) section says that, depending on eligibility, "übernimmt der Staat bis zu 100 % der Kosten" (the state covers up to 100% of the costs), with separate options for employees, companies and job seekers.

For organizations, the Enterprise Pass gives employees access to all on-demand content and live events. Pricing depends on the number of licenses, with graduated rates, and is quoted on request. An admin manages licenses centrally, adding users, pausing and reactivating licenses and resending invitations; licenses can be extended at any time and reassigned once in the first year. A testimonial from the COO of Byte Heroes GmbH says employees use transcripts to research topics and that the academy supported the company's move to Windows Server 2022 with Hyper-V.

Beyond courses, heise sells two specialist services, heise KI PRO and heise security PRO, with expert analysis and a community, and offers whitepapers and an annual program to download.

Who it suits

heise academy suits German-speaking developers, administrators and security staff who want a steady stream of practical, expert-taught content and value heise's editorial background. The Essential Pass is a low-cost way into the video library; the Professional Pass suits those who want live classrooms with Q&A. IT teams can share an Enterprise Pass with central license management. Learners eligible for state funding can have training costs covered.

It does not suit learners who need English-language courses, and anyone who wants to study offline will find that content is streaming only.