Udemy Review (2026): Is It Worth It for Course Creators?

Before picking a platform to start selling online courses, read my review of Udemy. I'll share the pros and cons of the platform and compare it to the other top online course providers.

The short verdict: Udemy is a useful tool for testing a course idea and reaching a built-in audience, but it's a poor choice for building a sustainable course business. The revenue share has gotten worse every year, you don't own your student relationships, and the platform controls your pricing, discounting, and payouts.

What Makes Udemy Different?

Two things set Udemy apart from every other course platform:

1. Udemy has the largest course marketplace by far, with built-in traffic and millions of students browsing daily.
2. Udemy has the worst financial model for instructors of any major platform, and it has gotten worse each year since 2023.

Udemy Overview and Pricing

Udemy has the biggest online course marketplace in the world. You build your course with video and written content, sell it through a Udemy sales page, and Udemy handles payment processing. There are no monthly fees for instructors. Udemy makes money by taking a percentage of every sale.

Unlike other course platforms, Udemy requires you to apply to become a premium instructor. Application is free, but approval takes up to two days. Courses must meet minimum quality standards including at least 5 lectures, 30 minutes of video content, and no links to paid content off Udemy.

Udemy's Revenue Share Model (2026)

• 97% to you when a student buys through your own referral link or coupon
• 37% to you when a student finds your course organically through the Udemy marketplace
• 25% to you when Udemy markets your course through their affiliates and ads
• 15% to you for Udemy Business (enterprise subscription) sales, down from 25% in 2023 and 20% in early 2025

The 97% rate sounds great, but most instructors don't drive enough of their own traffic to rely on it. The majority of sales come through Udemy's platform, where you keep only 37 cents on the dollar. Udemy also runs frequent site-wide promotions that discount your course to $9.99 or $14.99 regardless of your listed price, and you cannot opt out.

Udemy by the Numbers

Udemy has over 75,000 instructors, 220,000+ courses, and more than 70 million registered students in 75+ languages. Enterprise users of Udemy Business include Lyft, Booking.com, SurveyMonkey, and General Mills. Udemy reported $729 million in annual revenue in 2023, making it one of the largest online learning platforms in the world.

Udemy Review: The Good and Bad

Pros

• Built-in marketplace traffic. Millions of students browse Udemy daily without any marketing effort from you. For testing a course idea, this is hard to replicate.
• Strong review system. Udemy's community actively leaves course reviews, which builds social proof and helps courses surface in search.
• Free to publish. No monthly fees, no upfront costs. You only give up revenue when a sale happens.
• Built-in payment processing. No separate Stripe or PayPal account needed.
• 97% payout on self-referred sales. If you drive your own traffic with a coupon link, you keep almost everything.
• Good for new-niche discoverability. Udemy's search and recommendation engine can surface your course to students who have never heard of you.

Cons

• You keep only 37% of marketplace sales. Udemy's revenue share has worsened every year. Organic marketplace sales now return just 37 cents per dollar.
• Udemy Business payouts cut to 15%. Enterprise subscription sales pay instructors just 15%, down 40% from 2023 levels.
• You don't own your student relationships. You cannot collect student email addresses. Your students belong to Udemy. If the platform changes its algorithm or terms, you have no direct way to reach your audience.
• Forced discounting. Udemy runs site-wide promotions that reduce your course to $9.99 or $14.99 without your approval. You cannot opt out of the Deals Program.
• Price cap of $199.99. Expert-level courses in high-demand fields are artificially limited regardless of market value.
• No subscriptions or payment plans. Udemy only supports one-time purchases. No membership models or installment options.
• Approval required. You must apply and wait up to two days for instructor approval before publishing.
• Slow payouts. You wait 2-3 months for payouts because Udemy holds payments before disbursing.
• No custom domain. Your course lives on Udemy's URL, not your own site.
• No customization. You're locked into Udemy's page layout and branding.
• No phone support.

Can You Still Make Money on Udemy?

Yes, but it's getting harder. Instructors who built large audiences in the early days (2015-2020) benefited from less competition and better revenue splits. The marketplace is far more crowded now, and the revenue share has deteriorated significantly.

Multiple instructors with established catalogs have publicly reported 30-67% revenue declines year over year, especially for non-AI topics. Udemy's CFO has acknowledged the company is intentionally shifting revenue toward Udemy Business subscriptions, where instructor payouts are just 15%. One widely cited Trustpilot review from an instructor with 80,000 students and 60+ courses described going from a livable income to “pocket money.”

The best current use case for Udemy is as a lead generation channel: publish a course to reach new students, use your own coupon links to keep 97% of referred sales, and direct your best students to your own platform where you own the relationship. Using Udemy as your primary or only course platform is a strategy with significant and growing long-term risk.

Who Is Udemy Best For?

• Validating a new course idea with zero upfront investment
• Reaching new audiences where Udemy has established marketplace traffic
• AI and tech-related courses, which Udemy's algorithm currently favors
• Instructors who drive their own traffic and use Udemy primarily for the 97% self-referred payout

Udemy is not a good fit for creators who want to build a brand, own their student relationships, price their courses freely, or generate recurring revenue through subscriptions or memberships.

Alternatives to Udemy

If you want to keep more of your revenue, set your own price, and own your student list, the platforms below are meaningfully better options than Udemy for building a course business.

• Thinkific: Read our full review. 0% transaction fees, unlimited courses, phone support on Grow plan. Starts at $36/month annually.
• Kajabi: Read our full review. All-in-one with email marketing and sales funnels built in. Starts at $143/month annually.
• Teachable: Read our full review. Fast setup, flexible lesson builders, EU VAT handling. Starts at $29/month annually.
• Podia: Read our full review. Affordable, unlimited products, built-in email marketing. Starts at $33/month annually.
• LearnDash: Read our full review. Best for WordPress users who want full ownership. $199/year.

Read our detailed breakdown on the top Udemy alternatives for a full side-by-side comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Udemy pay instructors?

It depends on how the student found your course. If they buy through your own referral link or coupon, you keep 97%. If they find your course organically through Udemy's marketplace, you keep 37%. For Udemy Business (enterprise subscription) sales, you keep 15%. For affiliate-driven sales, you keep 25%.

Is Udemy free for instructors?

Yes, there are no monthly fees to publish on Udemy. Udemy takes a percentage of each sale rather than charging a subscription. However, on the organic marketplace sales, you keep only 37% of revenue, so “free to publish” doesn't mean you keep most of what you earn.

Can you make a living on Udemy?

It's increasingly difficult. Instructors with large catalogs in competitive niches have reported significant revenue declines as Udemy shifts focus to Udemy Business subscriptions and the marketplace becomes more crowded. AI and tech courses are currently favored by Udemy's algorithm. For most instructors, Udemy works better as a supplementary lead-generation channel rather than a primary income source.

Does Udemy own your course content?

No. You retain ownership of your course content. However, by publishing on Udemy, you grant them a license to distribute and promote your content, including discounting your course price without your approval.

Can Udemy discount my course without asking?

Yes. Udemy runs frequent site-wide promotions that reduce course prices to $9.99 or $14.99. Instructors are automatically enrolled in the Deals Program and cannot opt out. Many students have learned to wait for these promotions rather than paying full price, which significantly reduces your average effective revenue per sale.

Can I get student emails from Udemy?

No. Udemy does not give instructors access to student email addresses. Students belong to Udemy's platform, not to you. This is one of the most significant long-term disadvantages of building a course business solely on Udemy.

What is Udemy Business?

Udemy Business is Udemy's enterprise subscription product sold to companies for employee training. Instructors whose courses are included receive payouts currently at 15% of the subscription revenue pool, down from 25% in 2023. Udemy is actively growing the Business segment, meaning more of the platform's revenue is shifting to this lower-payout model.

Is Thinkific better than Udemy?

For building a sustainable course business, yes. Thinkific charges 0% transaction fees on all paid plans, lets you set your own price with no cap, and you own your student email list. The tradeoff is you need to drive your own traffic. See our full Udemy alternatives guide for a detailed comparison.