Udemy is usually the first name a new teacher knows, so the question arrives naturally: why build my own school when Udemy already has the students? It's a fair question with an unfair answer, because the deal changes completely depending on which side of it you're standing on. Here are both deals, with Udemy's own published numbers. Facts checked September 17, 2026.
The deal Udemy offers
Udemy's promise is real: tens of millions of learners browse its marketplace, and your course can be found by people you never reached. The price of that promise, per Udemy's own instructor terms:
- You keep 37% of net revenue on organic marketplace sales (sales through your own coupon pay 97% — but those are buyers YOU brought, which is worth sitting with).
- Subscription streams pay 15% as of January 2026 — down from 25% in 2023, cut in steps announced by Udemy itself. The direction of travel is not subtle.
- Udemy sets the effective price. Its perpetual promotions commonly sell courses around $10–20 regardless of your list price — great for volume, fatal for positioning.
- Udemy owns the student. Buyers are Udemy customers, marketed Udemy's other courses (including your competitors'). You don't get an email list; you get a Q&A box.
The deal your own school offers
- Your price — $27/month or $470/year if your teaching earns it, in whatever billing rhythm fits. No surprise sales you didn't run.
- Your students — their emails, their progress, the relationship, under your brand. Your next offer has a warm audience.
- The majority of every sale — you keep 60% via the built-in checkout, with payments handled for you.
- But you bring the traffic. No marketplace browsers. Your students come from your circle, small ads, and being findable.
The same course, both ways: the math
| Udemy (organic marketplace) | Your TeachClub school | |
|---|---|---|
| Realistic sale price | ~$15 (promo-priced by Udemy) | $27/month (your price) |
| Your share | 37% of net → ~$5.50, once | 60% → $16.20/month, recurring |
| 100 students = | ~$550, one time | ~$1,620/month while subscribed |
| Student relationship | Udemy's | Yours — list, brand, next offer |
| Who brought the student | Udemy (that's the fee's justification) | You |
That table is honest in both directions: Udemy's $550 required no marketing from you, and that's genuinely worth something. The question is what you're building — a royalty trickle from a marketplace's shelf, or an asset with your name, your list, and recurring revenue. One is income; the other is a business.
The hybrid most working teachers land on
- A Udemy course as discovery — inexpensive, broad, optimized to be found. Accept the 37% as a marketing cost.
- Your own school as the destination — mentioned in your Udemy bio and course as "go deeper": your price, interactive teaching, a tutor that answers, your relationship.
- The funnel is one sentence: marketplace browsers become $15 samplers become $27/month students of yours.
The bottom line
Udemy answers "how do strangers find me" and charges 63% plus the customer relationship for it. Your own school answers "how do I build something that's mine" and charges you the marketing. Since a school now costs an afternoon and $27, the either/or is obsolete — start the asset, and let the marketplace be a billboard for it if you like. Just never confuse the billboard for the business.