Udemy Review: Is it The Right Platform for You?

Udemy Summary

Udemy is the biggest online learning platform offering over 210k+ affordable online courses where users can learn new skills or improve existing ones. It offers a wide variety of categories and subcategories from Business, Design, Personal development and much more, leaving users with plenty of choice. Udemy’s courses are designed, created and published by independent instructors and learners can pay for each individual course with a one-off payment or subscribe to a personal subscription plan.

All courses are designed, so you can learn at your pace and fit around your schedule. Udemy’s individual courses start at $12.99 USD and its personal subscription plan costs $20 USD a month, giving you access to 11,000+ courses. When you successfully complete a course, you will receive a certificate, but this certification isn’t officially verified by any external partner. Any Udemy purchased individual course comes with lifetime access and a 30-day refund policy. If you aren’t ready to financially commit, there are also a bunch of free courses to get you started.

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Udemy Pros & Cons

Who Is Udemy for?

You are probably asking yourself, is Udemy right for me?

If a variety of courses is something that you are looking for, then you are considering the right elearning platform. Udemy offers such diversity of courses, there really is no limit to what you could learn with categories like ¨Finance & Accounting¨ to ¨Lifestyle¨.

If you are thinking of a career change and gaining a new professional skill like coding knowledge or maybe you want to dabble in an exciting new hobby like cake decorating, then Udemy has it all.

Its courses vary from beginner to advanced levels so you will certainly find a course that is suited to your skills and ambition. The diversity of its courses really makes Udemy stand out from other competitors like Skillshare or Pluralsight. The fact is that Udemy is open to everyone, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any prior experience.

In short, Udemy is good for:

Udemy Personal Plan

As well as purchasing individual courses, Udemy offers a subscription plan called Udemy Personal Plan which gives you access to 11,000+ of its top-rated courses in tech, business and more.

Udemy for Business

Udemy for Business is for employees to help empower them with relevant and up-to-date knowledge with content that is taught by expert instructors. Udemy for Business offers thousands of courses from its variety of categories. It offers three different plans to choose from:

• Team plan (5-20 users)
• Enterprise plan (21 or more users)
• Leadership Development Programs (Open & Private Programs)

Team

The Team plan is designed for 5-20 users and will give the user access to 8,300+ courses. As well as that you will have features like analytics & adoption reports, custom logo & URL and mobile app access. This plan is for smaller teams and is the most affordable costing $360 per user a year.

Enterprise

The Enterprise plan is for 21+ users, which will have access to 19,000+ courses. Other features include custom logo & URL, creating learning paths, user groups, custom topics, advanced insights and analytics and much more. You can request a demo and its pricing is custom-based.

Leadership Development Programs

Finally, the Leadership Development Programs include 68+ leadership development courses, executive content curated by universities, expert faculty to guide and coach participants, live synchronous events and much more. To find out more you can contact sales for pricing.

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How Much Is Udemy?

There is quite a range of prices, with some courses starting at $11.99 and others going up to $199.99. All of Udemy courses are a one-off payment which is made when you purchase the course, and you get given lifetime access, so even after completing the course, you can go back as many times as you wish.

A course with more information, harder subjects and longer run time will be naturally more expensive, which is pretty understandable. It is important to keep in mind that Udemy is not the one setting the price, that is the job of the instructors. The reputation of the instructor will also have an impact on the price tag.

Once you have an account with Udemy and are signed in, you will quickly notice a high number of discounted courses. When I say discounted, I mean heavily discounted, with some courses originally priced at $194.99 and are now $13.99. Its courses are on a constant year-round promotion of 90% to 95% discounted off the original price.

So, why does Udemy’s marketing strategy include such heavily discounted courses?

Their pricing model is focused on offering a wide range of courses for a lower price so that millions of students enrol, vs offering courses with higher prices with fewer students.

It’s a pretty simple pricing model when you break it down – a lower cost of entry for the many compared to a higher cost for the few. Because Udemy doesn’t provide accredited certificates, the course costs are lower. If you are looking to read in more detail about Udemy’s costs and refund policies, then feel free to check out our detailed pricing article to know all your options.

And if you are on a tight budget, then Udemy offers close to 600 free courses on topics like WordPress, Personal Productivity, Meditation and much more. It is a great way to test your interest and capability in learning a new topic for no cost.

Udemy Personal Plan

If you are someone that likes to have access to thousands of courses through a subscription plan. Then Udemy’s Personal Plan may suit you better. The plan includes a collection of 11,000+ top-rated courses in tech, business, and more.

• Personal Plan: $20 USD monthly

All the courses you can access in the personal plan have an average rating between 4.4 and 5, that include 4,000+ practice exercises and 3,000+ top instructors. You have the option to cancel at any time and a 7-day free trial is included when you first sign up.

Udemy Gift this Course

If you are looking for a gift that is a little different for a friend or loved one, then Udemy offers the option to Gift this course. The course will be sent (via email) to the recipient as a gift, you can decide the date and even leave an optional personalized message.

If, for whatever reason, you aren’t satisfied with a course, you’ll be able to refund the course within 30 days. Most refunds are returned via the original payment method (e.g. credit card) and take between 5 and 10 business days to arrive to your bank account.

If you are looking for something to help your workforce, then ‘Udemy for Business’ could be right for you and your team. It is on-demand learning for teams of 5-20 to help improve skills in business, tech, design and more. If you are curious to find out more about what Udemy for Business offers, you can check it out here.

Udemy in Detail

How To Open A Udemy Account?

The registration process for Udemy is really intuitive. The design and layout of their platform is user-friendly and easy to follow. But let me show you how the registration process looks like:

1. Open a browser and visit www.udemy.com
2. Click Sign Up in the top right corner
3. Add your Full Name, Email and Create a Password
4. You’ll be sent a confirmation email

Once you are signed up you can click on Categories and begin browsing the different courses on offer.

After selecting a category you can pick one of the subcategories which will take you to all the relevant courses. You can then begin to look at each course individually and read a little more in-depth.

Open Udemy Account

Udemy Customer Reviews

To give you a well-rounded Udemy review, I took a look at two major customer review sites; Trustpilot and ConsumerAffairs. This way, we get to hear from a large pool of customers and see what they have to say about the platform.

The Trustpilot reviews are contributed by 1,173 users, and the table below illustrates how they’ve rated the platform on a scale from 1 to 5 stars. Interestingly, nearly 40% have given it a 5-star rating, while an almost equal 40% have rated it with just 1 star.

Digging further into the reviews, I discovered a significant amount of the 1-star ratings revolves around issues with customer service, refund delays and technical glitches. “…they froze my account and told me they can’t issue any refunds either! The customer service was extremely rude” a one-star reviewer said.

On a positive note, those who gave a 5-star rating were delighted with how user-friendly the platform is. Plus great selection of topics and courses and great value for money. “I bought a course and I really love it. The video interface is awesome. The platform is user-friendly and easy to navigate” a happy five-star customer said.

As a whole, when we look at ConsumerAffairs, MasterClass scores a 3.1 out of 5 rating based on 129 customer reviews. It’s worth noting that this pool of customers is smaller compared to Trustpilot. Among these reviews, approximately 30% of users are handing out 5-star ratings, whilst 16% have left a 1-star rating. The complete breakdown is on the table above for you to check out.

The Most Popular Udemy Course

I checked out the most popular courses on Udemy from its 13 categories. Its popularity is based on student popularity and feedback.

Development

2021 Complete Python Bootcamp: Go from zero to hero in Python – This course is to learn Python, a popular programming language, has had over 800,000 students enrolled. It comes with 185 lectures and 24 hours of on-demand video. It’s a bestseller with a 4.5 (out of 5) rating by students with over 450,000 reviews.

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Business

An Entire MBA in 1 Course: Award Winning Business School Prof – In this course you will everything you need to know about business. It has had over 400,000 students enrolled. It includes 8 hours of on-demand video, 33 articles and 31 downloadable resources. Furthermore, it’s a bestseller with a 4.4 (out of 5) rating by students.

Finance & Accounting

The Complete Financial Analyst Course – In this course, you will learn the practical skills of Financial analysis and a successful career in Finance. It includes 18 hours of on-demand video, 11 articles and 491 downloadable resources. Plus, it’s a bestseller with a 4.6 (out of 5) rating from 81,000+ students.

IT & Software

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate 2020 – In this course you will learn AWS (Amazon Web Services). The course is designed for absolute beginners, and it includes 18 hours of on-demand video, 17 downloadable resources and 2 practice tests. It’s a bestseller with a 4.5 (out of 5) rating by students.

Office Productivity

Microsoft Excel – Excel from Beginner to Advanced – In this course you will learn a combination of introduction, intermediate and advanced Microsoft Excel courses. It includes 18 hours of on-demand video and 37 downloadable resources. It’s a bestseller with a 4.6 (out of 5) rating by students.

Personal Development

Become a SuperLearner 2: Learn Speed Reading & Boost Memory – In this course you will learn the skills of worlds fastest readers and memory record holders. It includes 5 hours of on-demand video and 5 articles. It’s a bestseller with a 4.5 (out of 5) rating by students.

Design

The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced – In this course you will learn how to create advanced art, the course will enhance your skills in the world of drawing. It includes 11 hours of on-demand video, 4 downloadable resources and 5 articles. It’s a bestseller with a 4.6 (out of 5) rating by students.

Marketing

The Complete Digital Marketing Course – This course is ideal for pre-launch business owners and website owners wanting to increase their traffic. It includes 75.5 hours of on-demand video, 10 downloadable resources and 33 articles. It’s a bestseller with a 4.6 (out of 5) rating by students.

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Lifestyle

Reiki Level I, II and Master/Teacher Program – In this course you will about Reiki and to take the practice to the next level. It includes 5 hours of on-demand video, 39 downloadable resources and 7 articles. It’s a bestseller with a 4.7 (out of 5) rating by students.

Udemy Instructors

Udemy is the world’s largest online teaching and learning platform. Udemy makes it possible that anyone can become an Instructor. So if you are passionate about a topic and want to empower tens of millions of students to achieve their goals, then Udemy is for you. I wanted to share with you the teachers and the courses that Udemy learners have been enjoying so far.

Top Udemy Instructors

Alan Murray has been training businesses around the world for over 20 years. Alan is a Microsoft MVP and Excel trainer and is the founder of the Computergaga blog and author of the “Advanced Excel Success”. His classes are fun and relaxed and uses real-world practical examples from his experience of training and developing software for businesses. All of Alan’s courses have a 4.4 (and above) out 5 rating, and he has had close to 8,000 students enrol on his courses and counting.

7 Tips To Find Your Udemy Course

If you are now umming and arrrhhing about which course is right for you. I have thought about some tips which may help you to choose the perfect course.

Udemy Filters

A very useful and helpful feature to use is the filter system. Once you have an idea on the Category that you want to learn about for example Development you are then able to start browsing the courses and that’s where the filter comes in pretty handy. You can select multiple filters like the Ratings, Video Duration, Topic, Subcategory, Level, Language, Price, Features or Subtitles (see image below).

All of these filters will help to narrow down your search and find exactly what you are looking for. I found the features is pretty helpful as you can pick the options of having Quizzes or Practice Tests.

Look at the Course Content & Profile

You are able to check out the course content, see what lectures are included and how long each of the on-demand videos are. This gives you a comprehensive overview of the course and shows you how the various course modules are organized.

Read Reviews at Udemy

Every Udemy course has reviews and ratings from past students in the student feedback section that you can check out to see what others think about it. Their review system will allow you to also search for certain keywords within the Search reviews box (e.g. ‘responsive instructor’). As well as a rating option where you can select between Five and One stars.

Check Out the Instructor

An instructor bio is included in each of the courses. You can read a small blurb about him or her, their prior experience, feedback and evaluations from other students and the courses they teach.

This is an ideal way to find more about who will be teaching the course, and some are even open to letting you contact them personally to ask particular questions.

When Was the Course Launched

Udemy courses are (should be) regularly updated and you can find when it was last updated in the header of the course (see image below). This is especially important if you are learning a new software application such as a program in the Adobe Suite as you will want to be learning the latest version of the software.

Quality of the Course Preview

Another great feature is that you can preview the course before purchasing. I think this really is one of the best ways for you to get a feel of what to expect from the course, it’s very useful being able to check the quality of the course preview to give you a taste of what is to come.

Your Budget

Due to Udemy’s pricing strategy with most of its courses heavily discounted its courses really are affordable for most. So if you are looking at it from a financial standpoint it really shouldn’t leave you out of pocket.

A good tip, if you are on a tight budget, would be for you to list the courses by price from lowest to highest price (see image above). Remember there are also a bunch of free courses.

Udemy Alternatives

Skillshare

Best For Creative Courses

4.5

Read review Visit Skillshare

MasterClass

Learn From VIP Instructors

4.7

Read review Visit MasterClass

Coursera

Accredited Certificates

4.8

Read review Visit Coursera

Skillshare: A free trial is included when you subscribe to its monthly or annual membership plan, offering thousands of courses across a broad range of creative categories and more. These classes are often taught with an emphasis on hands-on learning.

MasterClass: this platform offers over 185+ engaging courses covering 11 categories. Its courses are taught by VIPs and celebrities like Anna Wintour and Stephen Curry, a 30-day money-back guarantee is offered, in case you change your mind.

Coursera: If you are after a wider selection of courses with accredited certificates from top Universities or Organizations, then Coursera may be what you are looking for.

Udemy Conclusion

Let’s break it down as to whether Udemy is worth it.

If you are wanting to learn a hobby then Udemy is definitely the right platform for you, and if you look at it from a value for money perspective then hands down YES. It’s also a good option for personal and professional development (e.g. get solid Excel knowledge).

Saying that you may still find that Udemy isn’t the platform for you. So, it may be worth checking out our overview article on Best Online Learning Platforms to compare other learning platforms. If you’re looking for a professional course or degree program, then Coursera would be a good fit or MasterClass if you’re wanting highly engaging video classes from famous instructors.

You will love Udemy because of:

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to help you out.

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Udemy FAQs

Is Udemy Legit?

A question I keep being asked is: Is Udemy legit?

That’s normal, especially when a course can cost under $20, you may be inclined to think that Udemy is a scam.

To put your mind at rest, Udemy was launched in 2010 and its headquarters are located in San Francisco with satellite offices all over the world, so its a well-established organization. It has had over 295 million course enrollments and more than 42,000 instructors and the number is still growing.

Udemy is part of the growing Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) movement that empowers everyday experts to create courses on topics they are passionate about.

Udemy’s marketplace model attracts thousands of instructors, it means that new courses are being added all the time and updated regularly.

In terms of the course quality, I think you have to really consider the purpose of pursuing a course with Udemy. If it’s for your own personal development then why not, but if you are wanting the course to prove something on a more professional level (e.g. with an official certification) it may not be for you.

Anyways to clarify, Udemy is legit and it’s safe to use, you won’t be scammed.

Will Udemy Help Me With My Career?

Udemy courses are ideal for someone wanting to learn or improve their personal development or possibly looking for a career change. It can help you with qualifying for a job if you are lacking skills or even help you to be promoted.

With all paid Udemy courses, you will receive a Certificate of Completion, which you can share with co-workers and potential employers. The certificate demonstrates your accomplishments and the skills you have learnt.

Remember though that Udemy is not an accredited institution, so if it is an employer asking for an official certificate you won’t be able to provide them with one.

Note: If you are actually looking for officially certified courses, you can check out platforms like Coursera or edX.

What Is Udemy Refund Policy?

Udemy believes that its learners should be satisfied with the course they purchase. In case you aren’t, the platform offers a generous 30-day refund policy. To request an Udemy refund, you just need to follow these easy steps:

1. Navigate to your purchase history
2. Locate the course to be refunded
3. Below the course title, click Request Refund and you will be directed to the course refund page
4. Select your refund method either the card you paid with or Udemy credits

How to Become an Instructor at Udemy?

As well as taking a course on the Udemy platform, it also offers anyone the opportunity to become an instructor.

Many of the Udemy instructors are professionals and experts in their field, but anyone who has an interest in a particular topic (within reason) is able to publish a course. Some of the reasons that attracts someone to teach at Udemy are that they can: Teach in own way, Inspire learners and Get rewarded.

How to get Started

The best way to get started is by following these simple steps;

1. Plan your curriculum: You start with your passion and knowledge, and make sure you choose a promising topic, you can use the Marketplace insight tool to help you choose. There are also plenty of resources to help you create your first course.
2. Record your video: Use basic tools like a smartphone or a DSLR camera and a good microphone. It is recommended a course of 2 hours or more for a paid course. There is a support team to help during this process.
3. Launch your course: Once your course has gone through the quality review process, the Udemy team will evaluate and provide necessary feedback. Then your course will be ready to be found on the Udemy marketplace, and you can begin earning revenue.

Instructor Revenue

The amount of money an instructor makes depends on how their course is sold, which can be through a couple of ways, either with instructor promotion or a sale through non instructor promotion. As an instruction, the following gives you an idea of how much money you would make with each course sale.

Instructor Promotion: Instructors receive 97% of the revenue when the student purchases their content using an instructor’s coupon or referral link.

Non Instructor Promotion: Instructors receive 37% of the revenue for any Udemy sales where no instructor coupon or course referral link was used. This could happen when a user clicks on an Udemy ad or browses through the Udemy catalog.

Some of the pros are;

+ No set up costs for publishing your course. It really is completely free.

+ There is no maintenance cost, for keeping your course on the Udemy platform

+ Udemy has more than 50 million users, that means your course will be exposed to big community of learners.

On the other hand, the cons are;

–  You cannot extract the contact details of your learners, so will be unable to build a database.

– Udemy very often discounts the price of its courses which means your course is highly likely to be discounted.

– Lack of support, if you are looking to reach out to an Udemy representative you can only go through the online forum.

To teach at Udemy

What Is Better Udemy or Coursera?

Like Udemy, Coursera offers a wide variety of courses, but one of the main differences is the type of learning programs it offers. As well as individual courses, it offers specializations, professional certificates and degree programs which can range from $9.99 and go all the way up to $50,000. It’s important to consider your budget if you intend on taking one of its Degree or Master programs. Udemys courses can be created and taught be anyone, regardless of their qualifications. Whereas Coursera’s courses and learning programs are designed in partnership with leading Universities and Companies like Stanford and Google. Udemy offers a generous 30-day refund policy if you change your mind and Coursera has 14-day refund policy on individual courses and Coursera Plus. If you are still undecided and want to read in more detail about these two leading online learning platforms, then please check out our detailed Udemy Vs Coursera article.