IncomeWikiCategoriesCreator BusinessCreator Platforms
Udemy
Created by @namkyu · Updated Sep 3, 2026
Created by @namkyu · Updated Sep 3, 2026
Udemy is an online course marketplace where instructors can publish video courses and earn revenue from direct course sales, subscriptions, and eligible business learning programs. Students discover courses through Udemy's marketplace, promotions, instructor referral links, and subscription products.
For instructors, the platform lowers the technical barrier to selling courses because hosting, checkout, video delivery, student accounts, reviews, and marketplace discovery are handled by Udemy. The tradeoff is lower control over pricing and customer relationships, and revenue share varies significantly depending on how the student was acquired.
Item | Details |
|---|---|
Main use | Publishing and selling online courses |
Best for | Educators, professionals, creators, and subject-matter experts |
Instructor account fee | $0 |
Direct instructor promotion revenue share | 97% of Net Amount |
Marketplace sale revenue share | 37% of Net Amount |
Udemy Business instructor pool | 15% of monthly subscription revenue in 2026 |
Minimum standard course length | 30 minutes of video |
Minimum lectures | 5 |
Minimum video quality | 720p HD |
Free course maximum video length | 2 hours |
Instructor payout threshold | $25 |
Payment methods | PayPal, Payoneer, Tipalti, and U.S. direct deposit where eligible |
Udemy does not charge instructors a fee simply to create an instructor account or host courses.
Instead, Udemy generally makes money through revenue sharing.
The economics depend heavily on how the sale happens.
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.
A typical Udemy instructor workflow is:
Choose topic → Build course → Upload lectures → Submit for review → Publish → Students enroll → Instructor earns revenue
Udemy handles infrastructure such as:
Course hosting
Video playback
Student accounts
Checkout
Reviews
Marketplace discovery
Course delivery
The instructor focuses mainly on:
Topic selection
Course creation
Teaching
Course updates
Student engagement
Promotion
This makes Udemy one route into an Online Course Business without building a complete course platform independently.
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.
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
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
Udemy also offers subscription-based products rather than only individual course purchases.
Udemy Business compensates participating instructors based on learner engagement rather than individual course-sale revenue.
In 2026, Udemy currently allocates:
15% of monthly Udemy Business subscription revenue
to the instructor revenue pool.
An instructor's share depends on their share of eligible learner consumption.
For example:
If your courses represent 3% of qualifying consumption for the month:
You receive approximately:
3% of the instructor revenue pool
Consumption can include:
Video watching
Re-watched content
Practice tests
Quizzes
Coding exercises
Certain interactive learning activity
This means Udemy Business economics reward engagement rather than simply course enrollment count.
Instructor referral links can also generate bonuses when they lead to new eligible Personal Plan or Starter Plan subscriptions rather than one-time course purchases.
Under the current program, eligible instructors can receive a bonus based on the subscriber's first payment.
Current bonus treatment includes:
50% of Net Revenue from the first monthly payment
For annual prepaid subscriptions, 100% of the prorated first-month Net Revenue
These programs can change, so instructors relying heavily on subscription acquisition should check the current terms.
Udemy instructor payments do not normally arrive immediately after a course sale.
A simplified transactional payment schedule is:
Month 1 → Student purchases
Months 1–2 → Refunds and adjustments processed
Month 3 → Eligible instructor payment
Payments are typically sent within the:
first 10 business days of the payment month
The minimum instructor payout is currently:
$25
Balances below $25 generally roll forward until the minimum is reached, with remaining balances handled according to Udemy's year-end payment policy.
Current instructor payout methods include:
PayPal
Payoneer
Tipalti for eligible instructors
Direct deposit in the U.S.
External payment providers may apply their own fees or currency conversion charges.
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.
Platform | Best Fit | Main Difference |
|---|---|---|
Udemy | Marketplace-based course sales | Built-in student marketplace |
Teachable | Independent course businesses | Greater control over storefront and customer relationship |
YouTube | Free educational audience building | Advertising and audience monetization rather than direct course marketplace |
Own website | Maximum control | Requires separate hosting, payments, course delivery, and acquisition |
Choose Udemy when:
Marketplace discovery is valuable
You do not want to build course infrastructure
You want a low-cost way to test a course topic
You already have an audience and want simple course delivery
Choose Teachable or another independent course platform when:
Brand control matters more
You want greater customer ownership
You want more control over pricing and sales funnels
Many instructors use both marketplace and independent channels at different stages.
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.
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.
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.