Udemy vs your own course platform: where to sell
Selling a video course on Udemy or on your own platform: control of price and customers, distribution, how Udemy Business pays instructors and when to use both.
Publish your course on a big marketplace like Udemy, or sell it on your own platform? It's one of a creator's first choices, and its effects last for years: on who controls the price, who owns the relationship with students and how much you keep from each sale.
This guide compares the two models and explains what we could verify about Udemy's rules. The comparison of platforms for selling directly is in the best platforms to sell online courses.
What's the difference between a marketplace and your own platform?
A marketplace is a large catalogue of many instructors' courses, with its own audience and its own rules on prices and promotions. Your own platform is a space under your name, where you decide everything but have to bring the customers.
| Marketplace | Own platform | |
|---|---|---|
| Brings students who don't know you | Yes | No |
| You set price and promotions | Partly | Yes |
| You get students' email addresses | No | Yes |
| You can sell coaching and related products | No | Yes |
| High margin on each sale | Partly | Yes |
| You handle the marketing | Partly | Yes |
Our editorial framework. Exact rules vary between marketplaces.
How does Udemy Business work?
Udemy Business is the catalogue Udemy sells to companies by subscription. In its instructor help page, Udemy explains that each month it allocates 15% of Udemy Business subscription revenue to an instructor revenue pool. Each instructor's share equals their share of minutes consumed: if 3% of all consumption that month happened in your courses, you get 3% of the pool.
In addition, minutes include video, interactive exercises and learning tools, including rewatched and offline minutes. The same calculation applies to Udemy's consumer subscription plans. To take part, courses must be curated into the catalogue and included content must be hosted exclusively on Udemy.
- % of subscription revenue allocated to instructors
- 15
- Business days into the next month before revenue appears
- 7
- % of Starter Plan ad revenue allocated to instructors
- 25
However, for individual marketplace sales Udemy applies different percentages depending on how the student arrives. The official page requires logging in and we couldn't read it; secondary sources contradict each other. Check the percentages in your account before deciding.
A mixed-strategy example
A creator teaches photography. She publishes a two-hour introductory course on exposure basics on a marketplace, at a low price, to get discovered by people searching the catalogue for photography courses. In the introductory course she mentions her website and free content, within the marketplace's rules. On her own platform she sells the full course at $149, a group programme with feedback and a mini-course on lighting. Students from the marketplace who sign up for the free content join her list and receive her launch emails. She also decides not to put the full course into subscription programmes, which would require exclusivity for that content. In practice, the marketplace acts as a shop window and her own platform as the shop. The example is ours: always check the marketplace's current rules on external links.
When does each route make sense?
In other words, a marketplace makes sense when you don't have an audience yet, want to be discovered and accept not controlling price and the student relationship. Your own platform makes sense when you already have an audience and want to build a relationship over time and sell several products to the same people. To sell directly to companies instead of through Udemy Business, see selling online courses to companies.
Which mistakes should you avoid?
- Choosing only on platform price. What matters is who owns the student relationship.
- Putting the same course everywhere. Exclusivity clauses may forbid it.
- Relying only on the marketplace. Rules and visibility can change.
- Ignoring per-channel percentages. Check them in your account.
- No way to bring students onto your list. Without a list, you start over every time.
Key terms. A marketplace is a catalogue of many instructors' courses run by a platform. Your own platform is a sales space under your name. Exclusivity is the obligation not to publish the same content elsewhere.
How we checked. We found that Udemy's page on individual-sale percentages requires logging in, so we don't quote those figures. We read Udemy's help page on how instructors earn from Udemy Business and subscription plans. The page with individual-sale percentages requires login: we didn't read it and don't quote those figures. The example is ours. Contact: hi@heytea.app. Editorial note: we check every figure against the sources listed below and correct mistakes openly.
Frequently asked questions
Is it better to sell on Udemy or on your own platform?
It depends on what you need most. A marketplace like Udemy brings students who don't know you, but sets prices, promotions and the customer relationship. Your own platform keeps price, student data and margin with you, but you bring the customers. Many creators use both for different purposes.
How do instructors earn on Udemy Business?
Udemy explains that each month it allocates 15% of Udemy Business subscription revenue to instructors; each instructor's share equals their share of total minutes consumed across the catalogue. To take part, included content must be hosted exclusively on Udemy.
How much does Udemy take on individual course sales?
Udemy applies different percentages depending on how the student arrives (instructor promotion, organic search, paid acquisition). The official page with the percentages requires logging in and we couldn't read it: check it in your account before deciding, because secondary sources contradict each other.
Can I email students on Udemy?
Only within limits: the student is the marketplace's customer, not yours. On your own platform you have buyers' email addresses and can build the relationship: offer the next course, invite them to a community, ask for a testimonial, always with the necessary consent.
Can you use both?
Yes, with different content. A common strategy is to put an introductory course on a marketplace to get discovered and sell the full course and support offers on your own platform. Watch out for exclusivity clauses in subscription programmes.
Sources
- Udemy, "How do I earn revenue from Udemy Business and subscription plans?". Accessed 19 October 2026. success.udemy.com