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If you have considered Udemy, you may still not be clear about how its pricing works and what exactly is included. As well as paid courses, Udemy also offers a decent selection of free courses, but what’s the real difference between its paid and free courses?
In this detailed Udemy pricing guide, I’ll do my best to explain how much Udemy costs and what you are really getting for your money.
What Is Udemy: An Overview
Udemy is the largest online learning platforms, offering over 213,000+ courses across 13 main categories and dozens of subcategories from Business, Design, Health & Fitness and much more. Its courses are affordably priced, and the focus is on learners gaining a new skill or developing an existing one. All courses are designed, so you can learn at your own pace and fit it around your schedule. Once you successfully complete an Udemy course, you’ll gain a certificate, be mindful that this isn’t an accredited certificate, it’s just an acknowledgment of completion. A great way to get started is by checking out the 500+ free courses Udemy has to offer.
Table of Content
Udemy Costs Overview
Udemy offers the widest range of courses from any online learning platform. Udemy’s 213,000+ courses are constantly being added to covering 13 categories and dozens of subcategories. The pricing of Udemy courses varies depending on the course and the instructor, but generally, courses range between $19.99 and go up to $199.99 USD. Udemy often runs promotions and discounts, so the price of a course can vary depending on when you purchase it. It doesn’t only offer individual courses, it provides a subscription service for companies and organizations called Udemy for Business. A couple of different plans are available the Team plan costing $360 USD per user, per year and the Enterprise plan, which is customized based on the number of users, with a minimum of 21 users. Additionally, Udemy offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all its courses, so if you aren’t satisfied with the course you have purchased, you can get a refund within the first 30 days of enrollment. Overall, Udemy provides a wide range of affordable courses, making learning new skills accessible to learners around the world.
Free Courses
Paid Courses
Udemy Personal Plan
Udemy for Business
Courses
501
213,000 +
8,000+
24,000+
Topics
25
150+
150+
150+
Udemy app
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
QA with instructor & other students
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Learning Insights & admin functionality
No
No
No
Yes
Refunds
N/A
30-day refund policy
N/A
30-day refund policy
Pricing
N/A
$19.99 – $199.99 USD
$16.58 USD per month (7 – day free trial included)
Team Plan
$360 USD a month Enterprise Plan
Custom Priced Leadership Development Programs Contact Sales
Udemy made quite a significant change to its free courses as of April 2020. The platform used to offer thousands of free courses. Currently, you can find just over 500+ courses for free on its platform. You may be thinking, darn, I missed out on a bunch of free courses. Well, that is true, but have you considered that quantity doesn’t always mean quality. This is just one of the reasons that Udemy made the change to its free courses, so that learners can really appreciate the value between free and paid courses.
Browse free Udemy courses
Udemy’s new free courses are more limited than its paid courses, which makes sense, especially when you are trying to differentiate between free and paid courses. The new free courses must be no more than 2 hours of video content, and their option to direct message and QA with the teacher and other students is not available anymore. The objective of the free experience is to get a taste of the topic and the instructor before deciding on whether you want to commit to a paid course or not.
Udemy’s paid individual courses are reasonably priced somewhere between $12.99 to $199.99 USD. It often runs promotions on its courses offering heavy discounts on its courses (see image below). If you want to be the first to be alerted about its course discounts, you can subscribe to its promotion emails to be notified. The only prerequisite regarding discounted courses is that the price cannot be any lower than $12.99 USD.
Udemy’s Discounted Courses
Some may think that the slashing of its prices is maybe a marketing strategy to encourage you to buy the course. But whichever way you look at it, you are still getting an absolute bargain.
What’s included in an Udemy Paid Course?
You may still be asking yourself; What’s actually included with a paid Udemy course? Let me highlight below what you actually get when you splash the cash.
Certificate of completion
30-day money-back guarantee
Access to course via the Udemy app
Lifetime access to the course material
Learn at your own pace
Who decides the Cost of Udemy’s Courses?
As the instructor is the curator of Udemy’s Courses, it is their responsibility to determine the price of the course. Both the instructor and Udemy can offer discounts on courses at anytime.
Instructors can choose to participate in the Udemy Deals Program. This means that Udemy will use data to optimize your course discounting in different currencies. It isn’t always guaranteed that all courses are included in Udemy’s promotions, as a number of elements like course topic, enrollment, rating, reviews are considered before it is considered for inclusion in the deal.
If you prefer to subscribe to a subscription plan over paying for an individual course, then the Personal Plan is your answer. The Personal Plan subscription will give you access to a collection of 8,000+ top-rated courses in tech, business and much more. A 7-day free trial is included when you first sign up for the subscription, and it’s billed monthly or annually, and you can cancel at anytime.
Udemy doesn’t only offer individual courses, it also has Udemy for Business. Udemy for Business focuses on upskilling and empowering your remote workforce to learn what they need and when they need it.
Its 6,000+ course collection are chosen by the content team, ensuring they are of the highest quality for businesses. The process for choosing the courses can be based on Course reviews and ratings, Number of enrollments, Instructor reputation and more. As well as that, the content team keeps an eye on the market, ensuring new courses are added weekly so that new skills and demands are up-to-date.
Udemy for Business Plans
Each of the plans that Udemy for Business offers are to meet the needs of all organizations, no matter the size.
Enterprise Plan: (21 or more users) = Contact sales for customized pricing
Team Plan: (5 – 20 users) = $360 USD/ user/ year (plus applicable taxes)
Leadership Development Programs: (Open & Private Programs) = Contact sales
Udemy for Business doesn’t only offer courses in English. Its courses are for global employees with content available in French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese.
The international content is taught by subject-matter experts in their native language in courses ranging from IT, web development, soft skills, business marketing and design.
You can purchase an Udemy course using most major international a credit or debit cards like Visa, MasterCard, American Express, JCB and Discover.
Other payment methods may include the following (this does depend on your device, location and what country you have your Udemy account in) ;
Boleto Bancario: in addition to our other payment methods, Brazilian students can purchase Udemy courses using a Boleto Bancario.
Cash Payments and Bank Transfers may be an option for students in several Latin American nations, as well as some countries in Europe and Asia.
PayPal is a supported method of payment for Udemy courses in most countries.
Udemy Refunds
If you aren’t satisfied with your purchased course at Udemy, you are entitled to a refund within 30 days of purchasing. The easiest way to request a refund is through your web browser. All you need to do is navigate to your purchase history, locate the course you wish to refund and click Request Refund(see image below).
Udemy Request Refund
Then you will select Refund method (see image below) where you can choose to have the refund to your original payment method, or you can choose to receive Udemy credits instead.
Before clicking Submit, you just need to select a Refund reason and a brief description as to why you are requesting one.
Udemy Refund method
Then, after your refund request has been submitted, you will be sent an email confirming it has been processed. It usually takes 5-10 business days for the refund to appear in your account.
Udemy Alternatives
Hopefully, now you have a clearer picture of how Udemy’s cost and pricing works. That could have left you feeling unsure about the platform whether it’s right for you. If that is the case, I have together some alternative platforms for you to consider.
Skillshare
If you prefer a platform that offers a subscription model, then Skillshare could be the answer. This elearning platform is aimed at creatives and entrepreneurs with access to over 35,000 courses on its paid subscription plan.
Skillshare is an alternative to Udemy
Be aware that Skillshare doesn’t issue completion certificates, but some of its courses are created by top industry professionals and big companies like MailChimp, Google or Moz.
If you like the idea of your course being taught by a celebrity, then MasterClass has you covered. This online platform is currently offering 180+ classes across a wide range of exciting categories from Food, Design & Style, Science & Tech, Sports & Gaming and more.
MasterClass is an alternative to Udemy for its subscription plan
It works on a subscription model that is billed annually with monthly installment plans available. It has new classes added every month and you can download and watch its classes offline.
If it is important for you to receive an accredited certificate on course completion, then Coursera may be a good option as it partners with secondary educational institutions like Stanford, The Imperial College of London or Duke University.
Coursera is an alternative to Udemy for its accredited certificates
You can join most Coursera courses for free, however, if you are looking to get a certificate, you will need to pay for the course (or program). There are different types of elearning programs available: individual courses (start at $49 USD), Specializations (start at $49 USD), Coursera Plus Subscription ($59 USD/month or $399 USD/year) and complete degrees (starting at $9,000 USD).
As we sum up this detailed cost and pricing guide for Udemy, you should have a comprehensive understanding of how it all works. Let me briefly summarize below;
If you only want to commit to an individual course, that is reasonably priced and with the possibility of it being discounted, then Udemy has you covered. It has a course catalog of 213,000+ courses on pretty much any topic you desire (within reason). Its courses are constantly being added to and updated by its instructors.
Udemy for Business offers three different plans depending on the size of your team. For smaller businesses, the Team Plan would be ideal for 5 – 20 users, costing $360 USD/ user/ year. For larger organizations, the Enterprise Plan is for 21 or more users, and you would need to contact sales for a customized price. Finally, the Leadership Development Programs offer a couple of options for 5 or more seats or 50 or more seats. For this, you will need to contact sales for a quote.
Lastly, if you do decide that your purchased course isn’t for you, you are entitled to a 30-day money-back guarantee. The refund request is really straightforward to do, and you can expect the money to be back in your account with in 5-10 business days. I’ve highlighted below Udemy’s Pros and Cons, so you can see easily see the platform’s strengths and weaknesses, if you want to read in more detail you can check out our Udemy Review Article.
Udemy’s Pros
Affordable: Udemy’s courses are reasonably priced, ranging from $19.99 USD and go up to $199.99 USD.
Free Courses: Udemy is currently providing almost 600 courses for free, covering a good selection of categories.
Refund Policy: Udemy offers a generous refund policy of 30 days, if the course isn’t what you were expecting, you are entitled to your money back in the first month.
Wide Selection: Udemy offers the biggest pool of courses, more than 213k+ over 13 categories.
Udemy’s Cons
Not Accredited: Udemy’s courses are not accredited by an external body or organization, if you are looking for this it’s best to check out Coursera.
Quality Assurance: In some cases, the quality of the course may not be the highest as anyone can create a course at Udemy and the quality can vary from course to course.
Udemy Costs: FAQ
Does Udemy charge monthly?
Yes, Udemy offers a monthly option with its personal plan costing $16.58 USD per month. The plan includes access to 8,000+ courses and 4,000+ practice exercises and a 7-day free trial is included which you can cancel at anytime in case you change your mind.
Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to help you out.
If a more comprehensive review on Udemy is what you are looking for, then give it a read here. I hope you have a clearer understanding of Udemy’s costs are and what’s right for you.
Article Updates:
08/17/23 – Udemy Personal Plan Updated
07/17/23 – Udemy Personal Plan
06/22/23 – What is Udemy? An Overview
05/09/23 – Udemy Costs: FAQ
03/27/23 – Udemy Pros & Cons
03/08/23 – Udemy Costs Overview
10/22/21 – Leadership Development Programs
Catherine Cooke
Hey. I am Catherine and I have been working as a freelancer for many years now. In 2005, I graduated from a BA honours in Art & Design from BCU and then went onto complete a Master’s Degree in Teaching from UEL. The skills I gained from learning and teaching have led me to create Upskillwise, a place for learners like myself to find the best possible resources and courses to train and upskill themselves, either personally or professionally. If you have a question, please feel free to ask me anything or leave me a comment.
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I have a question
8 months ago
Hello,
Do I need a subscription to have a lifetime access to one course that I pay for?
Hey Qhamani, Thanks for your comment. When you successfully complete a course you should be able to download your certificate of completion. You can read this support article from Udemy to show you how. Hopefully, that helps 🙂
Kristine
1 year ago
What if you have a single person LLC and want to expense this. $399 a month is way too much! They should make this scale with number of employees.
Hey Kristine, It is true it is a lot of money for one person. I imagine you are looking at the Team plan for $360 per user. It is maybe worth contacting Udemy and requesting a demo to see if it is even something you would enjoy. Good luck with it 🙂
bernice hanney
1 year ago
i want to know how to get my refund back into my payment method account instead of what ive been given,credit for courses.i do not want another course.i have emailed three times and no response
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Hello,
Do I need a subscription to have a lifetime access to one course that I pay for?
Hey, When you purchase an individual course at Udemy you will get full lifetime access to it. Which course is it that you are wanting to purchase?
Hello,
I bought a new course at an 85% discount I think I paid R179 but the original price of the python course by Dr. Angela is R1200.
I would like to ask if will I get the Certificate after Completion.
Hey Qhamani, Thanks for your comment. When you successfully complete a course you should be able to download your certificate of completion. You can read this support article from Udemy to show you how. Hopefully, that helps 🙂
What if you have a single person LLC and want to expense this. $399 a month is way too much! They should make this scale with number of employees.
Hey Kristine, It is true it is a lot of money for one person. I imagine you are looking at the Team plan for $360 per user. It is maybe worth contacting Udemy and requesting a demo to see if it is even something you would enjoy. Good luck with it 🙂
i want to know how to get my refund back into my payment method account instead of what ive been given,credit for courses.i do not want another course.i have emailed three times and no response
Hey Bernice, Thanks for your comment. Udemy offers a 30-day refund guarentee you can read its policy here. I hope that helps you 🙂
Personal plan???
Hey Steve. What is it you want to know? 🙂
Thank you for sharing such a good information.
You are welcome. Happy it is helpful 🙂
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Happy you like the content and hopefully helps you on deciding what’s best 🙂
Nice article, thanks for sharing informative content. I like the content of the post.
Thank you, Apoorva. Happy to hear you like the content of the post 🙂
Nice article, thanks for sharing informative content. I like the content of the post.
Thank you. Happy the content is informative and helpful 🙂
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Thanks Pankaj. Happy it is helpful 🙂
Nice article, thanks for sharing informative content. I like the content of the post.
Thanks so much. I am happy the content is so informative and helpful for you 🙂