It's indisputable that online education is redefining learning and personal growth. Universities too have begun offering entire degrees remotely. Naturally, platforms like these are becoming ubiquitous. Udemy are thriving with millions of learners.
For those who aren’t familiar, Udemy is a platform that connects learners with educators. Whether you want to craft and sell a course or enroll as a student, it's definitely worth considering.
Our extensive review of Udemy offers insights you wouldn't want to miss. We dive into metrics crucial for both course creators and students, enabling well-informed decisions before you join.
What is Udemy?
Launched in 2009, Udemy is a dynamic learning marketplace, seamlessly linking instructors and students. Courses are crafted by individuals from diverse professions. Thus, whether you're a veteran in accountant , WordPress software engineering or a mathematician, you can showcase your expertise globally.
Since launching over a decade ago, Udemy has grown in popularity, educating more than 50 million learners. This translates to over 150,000 courses and in excess of 295 million enrollments. Regarding educators, Udemy boasts over 57,000 instructors.
Not limited to English speakers, Udemy offers courses in over 65 languages, showcasing its status as a prime destination for online education.
Udemy’s Course Collection – Catering to Creators and Students Alike
This review caters to both aspiring course creators and eager students. By looking at each perspective, you can decide if this platform aligns with your goals.
Udemy Students – The Basics
For those keen on acquiring new talents, Udemy excels at providing online educational opportunities with over 150,000 courses available.
Listing every subject is impractical here, but rest assured that the vast diversity of course creators likely offers what you seek.
To begin, simply locate the type of course search for the course you're eager to embark upon. Want to explore blockchain tech? A quick search reveals more than 1,000 specialized courses.
These range from foundational blockchain literacy to cryptocurrency trading, and even full-fledged programs on Solidity – simply select your course, purchase, and start learning at your pace.
Moreover, you own permanent access to courses on Udemy, allowing lifelong learning.
Choosing a Course
With so many individual courses at Udemy – and when faced with copious courses aiming at similar topics, one might ponder the criteria used by the platform to distinguish quality?
With a staggering number of over 150,000 courses, Udemy cannot scrutinize them all beforehand. Fortunately, previous and current learners can provide valuable course ratings and reviews.
This feedback mechanism bears resemblance to eBay’s, where buyers evaluate their purchases. Consequently, unless it’s a newly-launched course, you should have ample reviews to reference.
Continuing with our 'blockchain' focus refined to ‘Solidity’, we encounter 29 course options. Hence, sorting by user ratings is wise.
This brings us to 'Ethereum and Solidity: The Complete Developer’s Guide' by Stephen Gride. This course holds an impressive 4.5-star rating from nearly 10,000 reviews and spans 24 hours over 250 lectures.
Exploring a Course Before Payment
Upon selecting a course of interest, you can explore its components thoroughly, focusing on what you'll learn and the necessary modules.
We appreciate that previewing select modules through video is possible. This helps determine the course's suitability, as different learners benefit from varied presentation styles.
How Much do Udemy Courses Cost
Course fees on Udemy vary, starting from $0 to over $100. However, the sweet spot for most courses falls between $10 and $30.
Intriguingly, Udemy frequently offers massive discounts, often cutting prices by 85% or more. These discounts suggest intrinsic course value, yet the real worth is gleaned from past student ratings and reviews.
Still, with averages between $10 and $30, Udemy courses present significant value. For example, the mentioned Solidity course costs merely $15, bringing over 250 lectures packed into 24 hours of advanced content.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Another safeguard when purchasing through Udemy is the ability to 30-day money-back guarantee . Be it any reason, should a course fall short of your expectations, Udemy’s return policy ensures full refunds across all formats.
Credit and Accreditation Post-Course Completion
The flexibility of learning on Udemy means you can expedite mastery of a skill or subject far quicker than at traditional educational institutions.
For instance, an accounting Bachelor’s degree could demand 3-4 years, whereas similar material could be absorbed on Udemy in half that time, utilizing periods traditionally reserved for holidays.
However, it’s crucial to acknowledge that Udemy certificates do not carry the same weight as university degrees. This might or might not impede your ability to profit from your newfound skills.
After addressing what learners may expect from Udemy, the subsequent portion of our review will shift focus toward those intending to create content.
Udemy Course Creators – The Basics
Essentially, if you possess a skill people would pay to learn, then Udemy is right for you . Let's say you're adept at building WordPress sites. Without formal certification, but with substantial hands-on knowledge, Udemy provides a tiered platform to construct and offer your course.
Most Udemy offerings feature video-based content alongside practical activities. A course might prompt you to complete tasks before transitioning to subsequent modules, which typically last 5-15 minutes contingent on topic complexity.
Many modules include quizzes to enhance comprehension. As elaborated further, Udemy's course-building infrastructure is remarkably beginner-friendly.
Proficiency in course development isn’t necessary, as Udemy’s user-friendly tutorial steers you through designing a course step-by-step, empowering you to capitalize on your expertise.
Building Your Course
Reiterating the mentioned point, Udemy supports its course creators letting you emphasize your core teaching skills. The platform’s design simplifies the creation journey from start to finish.
Begin with Udemy’s comprehensive video series outlining the entire process of crafting a course from scratch.
Interestingly, Udemy offers resources with guidance on course construction itself. The platform presents a complimentary version, while external creators propose their premium alternatives, providing all requisite instruction to launch your Udemy course promptly.
Another helpful aspect is Udemy’s technical guidance. This spans from optimizing your camera and lighting setup to obtaining and installing screencasting tools.
Udemy gives you the chance to have your course assessed by their team before it goes live. This is completely free, and it ensures all kinks are ironed out before your course reaches the public eye.
How Much can you Make?
Now, the big question is, how much money are you looking at making from your Udemy courses? Well, that's tricky, because there's not a one-size-fits-all answer to this. Several factors come into play here.
Getting Your Pricing Right
At the top of the list, Udemy gives you a degree of autonomy in terms of pricing. to set your own prices They suggest pricing your course content between $10 and $30 per hour.
If, for example, your course runs for 10 hours, the guidance is to charge anywhere from $100 to $300. However, don't get your hopes too high for reaching the upper end of this bracket, especially when there's already a wealth of established courses offering similar knowledge.
Thus, you must be strategic with your pricing. Imagine you've built a course on how to construct your own blockchain. Your first move should be to check how similar top-tier courses are priced. If courses brimming with 5-star reviews are going for $15, pitching yours at $60 might leave you without a single enrollee.
Conversely, launching a fresh course without ratings or reviews, your best bet to capture attention might be undercutting competitors with a lower price.
Building up Your Feedback
Similar to selling e-books on Amazon, offering your course on Udemy at a competitive price can attract learners. With positive experiences, these students might reward you with excellent feedback and 5-star ratings.
Over time, as your course attracts positive reviews, you'll notice it climb higher in search rankings. Initially, you might have started on page 10 for blockchain courses. Gradually, this could move up to page 2.
With these improvements, you can consider adjusting the price upwards to match your leading competitors. If you're confident about the value your course provides, this should naturally work in your favor.
The Volume Game
It's not uncommon to find online courses being sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. However, most Udemy sellers stick with the $10-$30 sweet spot. Saying that, if your course gains popularity, there's potential for substantial earnings.
To put into perspective how lucrative Udemy courses can be, consider Ethereum and Solidity: The Complete Developer's Guide.
Previously mentioned, priced at $15, this course has garnered almost 10,000 rave reviews. If you dig deeper, you'll find it has been bought by over 43,000 students, translating to around $645,000 in sales.
Keep in mind that Stephen Grider, the course creator, has a portfolio of 26 courses on Udemy. In total, over 556,000 learners have signed up for his courses. This amounts to revenue in the millions, which is astonishing.
Yet, before forecasting your financial success, remember Udemy's commission structure.
How Much Does Udemy Take?
As a commercial platform, Udemy operates on a profit-share basis. This basically means that for every sale you make, Udemy claims a portion of the revenue.
It's comparable to YouTube taking a slice of your ad earnings despite your effort in creating the content. This is just the reality of platforms like these.
Initially, Udemy's revenue-sharing model might appear complex, as it varies based on how students discover your course.
- Organic: If a student finds your course organically, say through a search, Udemy splits the revenue 50/50. For sales via the iOS or Android app, note that Apple and Google collect a 30% fee from gross income.
- Instructor Promotion: Should you recruit a new Udemy student who enrolls in your course, you keep 97% of the sales. To qualify, they must use a specific coupon or referral link. This benefits both parties: Udemy gains a new customer, and you take home more revenue.
- Paid User Acquisition Channel Sales: Through third-party affiliates promoting Udemy, if a new user buys your course, you retain only 25% of the income.
This paints a clear picture of how varied your cut can be—from as little as 25% to as much as 97%—all dependent on student acquisition channels.
Is the revenue model fair?
The positive side is that you incur no fees to develop or release your course, reducing the risk to just your invested time. Importantly, publishing a course gives you access to Udemy's vast 50-million-member community.
Udemy Public Reviews and Ratings
Given the sheer numbers involved, Udemy publishes on its website it becomes evident that both educators and learners flock to this platform. To gauge sentiment, it's worthwhile to assess the reviews and ratings available publicly.
Over at TrustPilot Interestingly, despite its sprawling audience, the platform holds a modest 3/5 rating from just 495 reviews, a small fraction compared to Udemy's declared 50 million members.
Ratings are similarly scant on the Consumers Affairs website, currently reflecting a 2/5 rating derived from a mere 92 reviews, which should be taken with a grain of salt.
In contrast, reviews on Google Play are more robust with over 212,000 ratings, scoring an impressive 4.4/5. Similarly, the Apple Store reflects positivity with a 4.6/5 rating from 17,000 reviews.
Best Blockchain Courses at Udemy
With a solid grasp of Udemy's mechanics, let's delve into some top-tier blockchain courses offered on the platform. currently available at the platform.
Introduction to Blockchain and Bitcoin: A Primer with George Levy
If you're eager to grasp the essentials of blockchain technology, turn to George Levy's Blockchain and Bitcoin Fundamentals course, a highly economical choice at just $16.
Structured into three significant parts, it first clarifies blockchain technology, then covers vital Bitcoin terminology and principles. Lastly, it delves into Bitcoin's fundamentals.
Comprising 3 hours of on-demand video and a few downloadable materials, the course has been very well-received, with over 58,000 enrollments and a strong 4.5/5 rating from over 17,000 reviews.
Comprehensive Cryptocurrency Investment Guide by Mohsen Hassan
For those more intrigued by cryptocurrency and blockchain from an investment angle, Mohsen Hassan's Complete Cryptocurrency Investment course might catch your eye, guiding you through becoming a skilled cryptocurrency trader.
Begins by advising on purchasing cryptocurrencies through exchanges or brokers, swiftly moving into fundamental analysis. Then, it teaches securing investments, performing technical analysis, and building a safe cryptocurrency portfolio.
Despite its recent release, over 2,846 students have taken the course, boasting a 4.7/5 rating from 434 reviews. Importantly, it's priced at just $16, offering access to 12 hours of on-demand videos across various devices.
Complete Blockchain A-Z: A Guide to Creating Your First Blockchain by Hadelin de Ponteves and Kirill Eremenko
For a career leap into blockchain technology, consider Blockchain A-Z: Learn How To Build Your First Blockchain, crafted by Hadelin de Ponteves and Kirill Eremenko, offering a comprehensive breakdown on creating a blockchain.
Delivers insights into cryptocurrency transactions, smart contracts, and the expansive blockchain ecosystem. You'll learn to create a cryptocurrency and deploy smart contracts. Some Python knowledge is recommended for the practical components.
Understanding Python is necessary for completing the hands-on elements. Priced at $16, this course provides lifetime access along with 14.5 hours of on-demand video, 11 articles, and 3 downloadable resources.
Business Blockchain 2020: Ushering in the New Industrial Era by 365 Careers
Lastly, there's a nod to Blockchain for Business 2020: The New Industrial Revolution by 365 Careers. This course targets businesses aiming to harness blockchain's power.
Starts with a rundown of blockchain basics, followed by mining, decentralization, smart contracts, and cryptography concepts. Post technicalities, it covers business applications of blockchain to elevate your enterprise.
Udemy provides an opportunity for course creators to have their content evaluated by a team member before it's launched. This service is free of charge and can help catch any shortcomings prior to going public.
Udemy Review: The Verdict
In summary, it’s clear to see how Udemy Now here's the million-dollar question – how much can you potentially earn by selling courses on Udemy? Well, there's no straightforward answer here, as earnings can vary significantly based on multiple factors.
Most importantly, Udemy grants you the liberty
. The platform suggests that you set a price of between $10 to $30 for every hour of course content.
Udemy
Pros
- Huge Range of Subjects
- Well Designed & Easy to Use Platform
- Mobile Apps
- Reasonable Pricing
- Special Pricing Offers
Cons
- Lack of Academic Credentials
- Pricing Can be Inconsistent
