Udemy

When a student purchases a course using the instructor's coupon or referral link, the instructor currently receives:

97% of the Net Amount

The Net Amount is the student's payment after applicable taxes and certain transaction fees.

For example, if the applicable Net Amount were:

$50

the instructor share would be approximately:

$48.50

before taxes or any co-instructor revenue allocation.

This is why instructors with their own audience can have very different economics from instructors relying entirely on Udemy marketplace discovery.

If a sale occurs without an instructor coupon or referral link, the instructor currently receives:

37% of the Net Amount

These sales can include students who:

• Find the course through Udemy

• Click a Udemy advertisement

• Browse marketplace recommendations

For example, on a hypothetical $50 Net Amount:

$50 × 37% = $18.50

would go to the instructor before applicable taxes or co-instructor splits.

The difference between 97% and 37% makes acquisition source one of the most important economics variables for instructors.

Before recording, determine whether there is actual demand.

Udemy provides Marketplace Insights for researching topics.

Potential questions include:

• Are students searching for this topic?

• How many existing courses compete?

• What do top courses cover?

• Is the topic too broad?

A focused course often has a clearer value proposition than a generic course.

For example:

"Python"

is broad.

"Python automation for finance analysts"

is more specific.

Outline the course before recording.

A simple structure might be:

Introduction
→ Core concept
→ Practical demonstration
→ Real project
→ Summary

Do not record hours of material without deciding what the student should be able to do after completing the course.

A standard Udemy course currently needs at least:

• 30 minutes of video

• 5 separate lectures

• Valuable educational content

• HD video at 720p or 1080p

• Properly synchronized audio

• Course landing page

• Instructor profile

The course description must currently contain more than:

200 words

to meet the minimum quality checklist.

Minimum requirements should not be treated as a recommended course length.

A useful course should be as long as necessary to deliver the promised outcome.

You can begin creating a course without approval.

Before publishing the first course, Udemy requires instructor identity verification.

To sell paid courses, instructors also need to become Premium instructors.

Completed courses go through Udemy's Quality Review Process.

If problems are identified:

Submit → Review → Required changes → Fix → Resubmit

Once approved, the course can become publicly available in the marketplace.

The landing page is the main sales page for the course.

It includes information such as:

• Title

• Subtitle

• Course image

• Description

• Instructor information

• Learning outcomes

• Curriculum

The title should clearly communicate the topic and outcome rather than relying on vague marketing language.

Courses can include:

• Video lectures

• Articles

• Assignments

• Quizzes

• Practice tests

• Coding exercises

Video remains the primary teaching format for standard courses.

A course should be organized into logical sections rather than one continuous long recording.

Every paid course includes a referral link.

A referral link does not necessarily change the price shown to the student.

If a student follows the instructor referral link and purchases within the applicable attribution period, the instructor can receive the higher instructor-promotion revenue share.

The current referral attribution period is:

24 hours

This creates a simple creator acquisition workflow:

YouTube / Newsletter / Website → Udemy referral link → Course purchase → 97% instructor share of Net Amount

Research topic → Publish course → Optimize course page → Gain reviews → Udemy marketplace generates enrollments

This is the simplest model.

The instructor relies primarily on:

• Udemy search

• Recommendations

• Udemy advertising

• Platform promotions

The advantage is access to existing marketplace demand.

The disadvantage is the lower:

37% marketplace revenue share

on applicable transactional sales.

Publish useful content → Build audience → Share Udemy referral link → Student purchases → Higher instructor revenue share

Possible acquisition channels include:

• YouTube

• Newsletter

• Blog

• Social media

• Existing clients

An instructor with an audience can use Udemy primarily as:

Hosting + checkout + course delivery

while generating their own demand.

This can materially improve transaction economics because eligible instructor-promoted purchases pay a 97% share of Net Amount.

Publish Course A → Analyze students → Create advanced Course B → Cross-promote → Build topic portfolio

A course can lead students into related courses.

For example:

Beginner Python
→ Python Automation
→ Python Data Analysis

A coherent portfolio can create repeat student revenue more effectively than publishing unrelated courses.

Course production can require substantial time.

Research demand before recording ten hours of content.

Use:

• Udemy Marketplace Insights

• Existing course reviews

• Search demand

• Student questions

Look for specific problems that existing courses do not fully solve.

Students can tolerate relatively simple visual production more easily than distracting audio.

Udemy requires audio that is synchronized and does not interfere with the learning experience.

Before recording the entire course, create a test video.

Check:

• Microphone noise

• Volume

• Echo

• Screen readability

• Video resolution

A longer course is not automatically better.

A clear two-hour practical course can be more valuable than a 20-hour course containing unnecessary material.

Start from:

What should the student be able to do?

Then create the curriculum required to reach that outcome.

If you already generate traffic, use the course referral link rather than sending users to a generic Udemy search page.

Eligible direct instructor promotion purchases currently produce a much larger instructor revenue share.

Courses involving:

• Software

• AI tools

• Marketing platforms

• Programming frameworks

can become outdated quickly.

Updating the course helps preserve:

• Student satisfaction

• Reviews

• Search relevance

A successful course can create ongoing maintenance work.

Negative reviews can identify recurring issues such as:

• Outdated lectures

• Missing examples

• Poor explanations

• Audio problems

• Incorrect expectations

Do not react to every individual complaint, but repeated themes can reveal useful course improvements.

The main business model is selling educational content.

Topics can include:

• Programming

• Business

• Marketing

• Design

• Productivity

• Professional skills

Courses can generate repeated sales after the original production work is completed.

However, successful courses still require updates and support.

Creators with existing audiences can use Udemy as a paid education product.

For example:

YouTube tutorial → Udemy advanced course

This can complement a broader Creator Business.

A course can also support another business.

For example:

Consultant publishes course → Student learns from instructor → Business discovers instructor → Consulting inquiry

In this case, course revenue may be only one part of the value created.

Instructors can build several related courses and create a catalog around one expertise area.

This can create:

• Cross-sales

• Repeat students

• Stronger instructor profile

• Broader marketplace visibility

An instructor-driven transaction can pay 97% of Net Amount.

A normal marketplace transaction currently pays 37%.

This is a major difference.

Do not estimate potential revenue using only the advertised course price.

Udemy frequently markets courses through discounts and promotions.

The course's displayed list price is therefore not necessarily the amount most students actually pay.

Instructor economics should be based on:

Actual Net Amount × applicable revenue share

rather than headline course price.

Udemy provides marketplace distribution and customer infrastructure.

The tradeoff is that instructors do not have the same level of direct customer ownership as they would on a fully independent course platform.

Poor reviews can make future sales harder.

A rushed course can create a negative reputation that is difficult to reverse.

Successful courses can require:

• Student Q&A

• Content updates

• New lectures

• Technical maintenance

Topics involving fast-changing technology can require frequent updates.

Popular categories contain many established courses with:

• Thousands of reviews

• Large student counts

• Strong instructor brands

Choosing a narrower problem can sometimes be more realistic than competing directly with broad category leaders.

Yes.

Udemy currently charges no fee simply to become an instructor or host courses.

Revenue sharing applies when courses generate paid revenue.

For eligible instructor-promoted sales, instructors currently receive 97% of Net Amount.

For normal marketplace sales without an instructor coupon or referral link, instructors receive 37% of Net Amount.

A standard course currently requires at least 30 minutes of video and at least five lectures.

Free courses currently cannot exceed two hours of video.

Transactional sales generally follow a payment cycle in which eligible Month 1 revenue is paid in Month 3 after refunds and adjustments.

Payments are typically sent within the first 10 business days of the payment month.

The current instructor payment threshold is $25.

Yes.

Students can discover courses through Udemy's marketplace, promotions, advertising, and recommendations.

However, marketplace-generated sales currently have a lower instructor revenue share than eligible instructor-promoted sales.