Udemy Review
Udemy is a US-based online enrichment and education course provider. The platform enables subscribers to watch different courses and educational content on demand. Udemy was founded in 2009 and currently has over 44 million students, 183,000 courses, and 65 course instructors. If you have a passion or a skill, you can teach a course on Udemy and get paid for sharing your knowledge with others.
Pros
- Wide target audience of learners – Udemy has over 44 million students and over 480 enrolments, so you are likely to be able to find willing students.
- Earn passive income – there are 0 fees to publish your courses on the platform. You can earn each time a student watches one of your courses.
- Fast processing time for payouts – receive your funds in your bank account within 1 to 2 working days from the time you request a withdrawal.
- Short minimum course duration – each course only needs to have at least 30 minutes of video content and at least 5 lecture or learning modules.
Cons
- Maximum pricing limit – Udemy operates on a per course basis and you can only charge up to $199.99 per course and cannot offer monthly subscriptions.
- Potentially high fees – if a student purchases your course without using your coupon or link, you will only get 37% of the profit from the sale.
How Does Udemy Work?
Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, Udemy is one of the largest e-learning platforms with over 185k courses and 49+ million learners.
Udemy allows you to;
- Earn money selling your course.
- To earn passive income while working with the site.
- Sell your courses online.
- Connect to over 49 million learners.
- Design courses to help students learn new actionable skills.
How Much You Can Earn With Udemy?
You can make $1000 to $4000 per month selling your courses on Udemy. Your earnings will depend on factors such as;
- Amount of courses you produce.
- Size of your audience.
- Quality of your course.
- How long you’ve been on the platform.
However, there are a number of limitations on the platform that you cannot avoid. For instance, no matter how extensive your course is, you can’t price it for more than $199.99.
Who is Udemy Best for?
Udemy is best for instructors who want to sell their courses and earn money. It is also best for professionals looking to learn and improve their professional skills.
Udemy Benefits: What Does Udemy Offer?
Upload New Courses
You can upload your courses anytime.
Earn Steady Income
You will be paid if students buy your course.
Connect With Instructors and Building Relationships
Building networks with other instructors helps you to be more engaged and more productive.
What Topics Can You Teach on Udemy?
Udemy lets you publish an online course on almost every topic. However, you cannot teach topics related to:
- Sexuality.
- Nudity and attire.
- Dating and relationships.
- Weapons instruction.
- Violence and bodily harm.
- Animal cruelty.
- Illegal or unethical activities.
- Misinformation and misleading content.
- Sensitive or otherwise inappropriate topics or language.
- Content for young people.
Check out the Udemy’s Restricted Topics page for more information.
Top Udemy Categories
Udemy offers courses in a range of categories, including top categories like:
- Design
- Development
- Marketing
- IT & Software
- Personal Development
- Business
- Photography
- Music
Top-Selling Courses on Udemy
Some of the best selling topics on Udemy include:
- Python
- AWS Certification
- Excel
- Web Development
- Data Science
- Javascript
- Microsoft Certification
- Unity
- Machine Learning
- Digital Marketing
- Graphic Design
- English Language
- Project Management
Udemy Course Requirements for Instructors
When publishing your course on Udemy, you must;
- At least have at least 30 minutes of video content and.
- At least 5 lectures or learning modules.
- Pass through quality review process.
- Provide valuable education content.
- Have quality HD videos (720p or 1089p).
- Have a unique course landing page.
- Course image in line with Udemy image standards.
- Completed intended learners section.
- Have a complete instructor bio and profile picture.
Udemy course length: from 30 minutes to 100 hours.
Udemy Course Quality Checklist
The platform has broken down its Course Quality Guideline into 2 parts: required and recommended.
| Required | Recommended |
|---|---|
| HD video quality (720p or 1080p) | Lots of engagement from your side |
| Good audio quality – Audio that comes out of both channels and is synced to video | Super helpful supplemental resources |
| Minimum of 5 lectures | An innovative approach to presenting the material |
| At least 30 minutes of video content |
Source: Udemy Course Quality Checklist
Udemy Pricing / Udemy Fees for Instructors
There’s no fee associated with creating and hosting a course on Udemy, and you can publish as many free and paid courses as you’d like. However, Udemy operates entirely on the revenue share model. Here is how Udemy revenue share model works.
- Instructor Promotion
You’ll get a 97% revenue when students purchase your course using your coupon code or course referral link.
- Udemy Organic
You’ll get a 50% revenue share when students find your course organically – meaning they purchase without your coupon code or referral link.
- Paid User Acquisition Channel Sales
You’ll get a 25% revenue share in most cases. For Udemy to help you optimize your sales, they partner with affiliates globally who advertise your course.
In this case, the revenue share may vary depending on the partner or costs of advertising. But Udemy sets aside 75% to pay for advertising costs and pay to partners who advertise your course.
Note: You can control your inclusion via the Udemy Marketing Boost program.
For sales made through iOS and Android apps, Apple and Google charge a 30% fee of the total sale.
Udemy Premium Instructor
While anyone can create a free course on Udemy, you need to become a premium instructor to charge students a fee for your courses.
Nonetheless, there are no fees associated with becoming a Udemy premium instructor, and you’ll most likely get approved within two days after submitting your application.
Plus, applying as an Udemy premium instructor is simple:
- Start building a course.
- Click the List Price field from the course management page.
- Enter your price for the course and hit save.
- Continue with publishing your online course.
Udemy Payout Terms and Options?
Udemy pays via direct bank depository (Instructors within US only), PayPal, or Payoneer. It does not have a minimum threshold you must reach to request for withdrawals. You can view expected payment dates on your Revenue report.
Udemy Reviews: is Udemy Legit?
Udemy is a legitimate company that has been around the world since 2010. It has a rating of 3.9 on Consumer Affairs, 4.3 rating on Google Play Store, 4.8 rating on App Store, and a 2.6 rating on Trustpilot.
Most instructors indicated that the site is easy to access and upload courses. Other instructors also liked the company’s in-built payment processing system. Unfortunately, some instructors complained about Udemy’s slashing of course prices and unreliable support team. With that said, Udemy is a legit and trustworthy e-learning platform.
| Website | Rating |
|---|---|
| Google Play Store | 4.3 |
| App Store | 4.8 |
| Consumer Affairs | 3.9 |
| Trustpilot | 2.6 |
What Are the Udemy Pros & Cons?
Udemy Pros
- Udemy markets your courses.
- Passive income opportunity.
- Easy to access and navigate.
- Udemy gives you insights into your target market
Udemy Cons
- No flexible pricing plans.
- Lack of support from the company’s customers’ agents.
How Good is Udemy Support and Knowledge Base?
Udemy has a comprehensive online knowledge base with frequently asked questions, articles, guides, blogs, and video tutorials. You can also contact the support team via social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
Udemy Review Verdict: is Udemy Worth It?
Udemy has a solid reputation as a forward-thinking company. You can make $1000 to $4000 per month selling your courses on the platform. While it does not have a minimum withdrawal limit, you can withdraw your earnings via direct bank deposit, PayPal, and Payoneer.
Additionally, you’ll earn 97% revenue on sales made by you and 50% revenue when students find your course on Udemy search engines. Even though the platform regularly discounts the prices of most courses, it is legitimate and safe.
How to Start Earning With Udemy?
Step 1 – Create Your Course Landing Page
The course landing page (CLP) is the page where potential students will land after selecting your course. It is one of the most important parts of your Udemy success as students decide whether to purchase your course based on the information you include on this page.
Landing page elements you need to include:
- Course title
- Course subtitle
- Course description
- Course image
- Preview video
- Your bio
However, you don’t have to worry about the landing page design itself, as Udemy provides a template that’s the same for everyone.
The only thing you have to deal with is to market your course the best way possible and showcase the value students will get out of it on the CLP.
Step 2 – Price Your Course
You have 2 options when it comes to pricing your course:
- Free course – you can launch your course for free to generate a following and get your name out there.
- Paid course – alternatively, you can set the price for your courses if you want to charge students right from the start. Note that you can choose the cost between $20 and $200.
When you’re just starting and trying to find the right course price, consider leveraging a discounts strategy.
Step 3 – Submit Your Course for Review
As mentioned above, the Udemy team reviews each course that instructors publish on their platform. However, the review process doesn’t take long, and you’ll know the answer within two business days.
Plus, if for any reason your course gets rejected, Udemy will let you fix the issue and resubmit your course for the new review procedure.
Sites Like Udemy
| Company | Udemy | Teachable | LearnDash | Thinkific |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logo | 
| 
| 
| 
|
| Pricing per month | Free | $29 to $249 | $159 (annually) | $39 to $399 |
| Trial period | 7 days | N/A | No free trials | 30 days |
| Best for | Online learning | Building courses on WordPress | Creating courses | Creating courses |
Udemy vs. Teachable
Teachable Summary
- Low transaction fees from $1 + 10%
- Get paid instantly with Teachable payments
- Offer 3 different payment gateways
- Detailed transaction reports available
Teachable is one of the best alternatives to Udemy. While Teachable is a one-stop-shop platform that lets you easily create and publish your online course, you’re all alone when it comes to marketing. On the other hand, Udemy helps you with the marketing side and even advertises your course.
In addition, Udemy pays you 97% revenue on sales made by you compared to Teachable, which allows you to earn 100% on every sale. Like Udemy, Teachable offers you analytics tools to help you understand where you are generating sales.
Udemy vs. LearnDash
Udemy and LearnDash have different uses. As we’ve seen, Udemy lets you publish your online course for sale, while LearnDash is a learning management plug-in for WordPress that allows you to build courses on your WordPress website easily.
While LearnDash pricing plan starts at $159 per year, the Udemy pricing plan is not specified. Compared to Udemy, LearnDash has a 15-day money-back guarantee.
Udemy vs. Thinkific
Thinkific Summary
- User-friendly platform
- Has multiple platforms
- Support is available 24/7
- Has comprehensive user guides and tips on how to create an online course
Like Udemy, Thinkific lets you create and publish your online course. However, the main difference between the two platforms is that Udemy helps you with marketing while Thinkific offers flexible site design and requires marketing efforts from your side.
Like Udemy, Thinkific allows you to create unlimited courses. While Thinkific allows you to customize your website design, Udemy does not have web design customization features. Compared to Udemy, Thinkific allows you to set a custom domain.
Udemy FAQs
What is Udemy?
Udemy’s mission is to improve lives through learning. It is a global online learning platform that features extensive, multi-language courses on various topics taught by expert instructors.
It allows experts to put their courses in front of a large audience of learners who are eager to upgrade their skills and knowledge. In addition, Udemy has 64k+ instructors, 680-course enrollments, and over 10500 enterprise customers.
Does Udemy own my course?
Udemy provides a marketplace where you publish your online course.
Will Udemy promote my course?
The best thing about Udemy is that they help you with marketing and may even advertise your course if you opt-in for it.
Does Udemy offer a money-back guarantee to its students?
Udemy offers a 30-day money-back guarantee, and if for any reason a student requests a refund within this timeframe, Udemy issues the refund from your account automatically.
How can I download Udemy app?
You can download Udemy App on Google Play Store and Apple Store devices.
Is there a monthly fee on Udemy
Udemy does not have a monthly fee. However, you can subscribe to Udemy teams at $240 per year.