Udemy Pricing: Do They Offer a Monthly or Annual Plan?

Last Updated on December, 2024

How expensive is Udemy? How do the costs work with Udemy? Which is better in terms of expenses: individual courses or personal plans? What’s the refund policy?

Are these some of the questions you want accurate and updated answers for?

If so, you’re in the right place.

This article covers EVERYTHING about Udemy costs, with a special section dedicated to teaching you how to get the most value with Udemy.

Hold on; why should you trust me?

Let’s start with a quick summary.

Why Trust Me?

I’ve been using Udemy since 2012 with multiple certificates that upskilled me affordably — I know the platform very well.

I formulated this article after reading the latest Udemy policies and reading several Reddit and Quora threads where there is accurate feedback from real customers. 

Finally, I aim to compare Udemy with competitors and summarize everything as you read through.

The cherry on top is my special Udemy recipe for making the most out of your purchase.

Let’s start with a quick summary.

Udemy Costs 360° Summary

Although I have elaborated all the information in this article, the table below summarizes everything.

Is Udemy Free?

Udemy has over 10,000 free courses and offers trials for all subscription plans. It’s safe to say Udemy is free, but you have the paid options with more benefits.

The quality of free courses comes close to that of the paid courses. However, the subject area and the depth are not the same.

I’ll elaborate on them in the next section.

Udemy Courses Cost Breakdown

Udemy has four learning types, as mentioned in the table above. Let’s look at them in detail next.

Udemy Free Courses

As I said earlier, Udemy offers hundreds of free courses. You can easily browse them on their website, but they are currently unavailable in the Udemy app.

Here’s a glimpse of what you get.

Additionally, I’ve taken enough paid Udemy courses to confirm that the content depth is relatively lower in free courses. 

The instructors who offer free Udemy courses usually have paid versions of the same topic. The typical free Udemy course sometimes covers the full content, and sometimes the foundation. The covered course content varies depending on the lecturer and the course type.

However, even if you don’t want paid courses, you can still learn so much from free courses. For example, I would recommend this Useful Excel for Beginners course (Link) to anyone.

With that covered, let’s dive deep into Udemy’s cost on paid courses.

Udemy Paid Courses

One of the most significant pocket-friendly conveniences with Udemy is that you can buy individual courses. 

Not even MasterClass allows that luxury.

As I’ve mentioned in the summary, the pricing of paid Udemy courses varies between $19.99 and $199.99. However, Udemy constantly offers discounts.

You can simply subscribe to the emails and be notified whenever a special promotion comes up for lower Udemy pricing. Their only rule about discounted courses is that the price cannot be any lower than $12.99, which is fair.

For these prices, the paid courses are, much more profound than any free course. I have also noticed how these courses offer more downloadable resources, whereas most free courses don’t have any.

The personalized certificate is the most impactful difference between free and paid Udemy courses. To ensure the quality of the certification, each course has its completion benchmark requirements. 

After all, you don’t plan on skimming valuable learning content, right? The Udemy app lets you conveniently access the paid Udemy courses. This convenient accessibility increases the value of your investment.

You can learn everything at your own pace as you get lifetime access to all Udemy paid courses. 

And that’s not even the best part.

Most star instructors want to remain at the top while staying relevant as time goes on. That’s why they constantly update the course content with NEW lectures and downloadable materials.

As you have lifetime access to all courses, you can access these new lectures at NO EXTRA COST.

Who Decides the Course Price?

Although Udemy moderates it, course instructors have complete control of Udemy pricing. Because Udemy is well-established, the platform can offer discounts just as much as the course instructor.

Instructors should explicitly request to be included in the Udemy Deals programs. However, similar to course approval on the platform, Udemy has the right to decide whether they should be included or not.

This typically depends on the reviews, number of students enrolled, and overall rating. With that covered, let’s discuss the personal subscription.

Udemy Personal Plan Subscription

Udemy’s monthly personal subscription plan comes at $16.58 per month. 

The Udemy personal plan subscription lets you can access a collection of 10,500+ top-rated courses in all categories. We’re talking about tech, business, art, self-improvement, and many more.

In the past, there has been a slight confusion about whether the personal plan offers you the certification; they do. 

All you need to do is finish each lecture and mark it as complete.

This Reddit thread is an excellent example of that. 

However, I disagree with the OP (original poster) as I have received enough customer support. My advice is to contact Udemy Support. When you contact Udemy, the on-platform agents will assist you with anything.

Although there is no direct refund similar to individual courses, Udemy offers an alternative; I’ll discuss it under a forthcoming topic.

Udemy for Business

If you represent an organization and want to educate your team, choosing Udemy for Business (subscription service) is the most cost-effective solution.

The Enterprise subscription plan is dedicated to teams with more than 20 people. Its typical price is $30/user/month, but you’ll notice that Udemy requests you to contact sales or request a demo.

I assume this is because they tend to change prices over time.

However, this hasn’t been the case with the Team subscription plan, which is dedicated to 5-20 people. The pricing is $30/user/month (same as the enterprise plan). 

However, there’s a clear difference.

The international course collection refers to the online courses delivered in different languages, including French, German, Spanish, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Japanese. 

This makes the platform compatible with different countries.

Then comes the Leadership Academy (subscription model) for groups of 25 or more. The pricing for this is not openly shared and depends on your requirements. Udemy asks for your business email, and they get back to you.

I’ll discuss the refund policies of each subscription model in a later topic.

Next, get to know about each currency Udemy accepts.

Get to know more about Udemy Business in this review. Also look at the bestest best Udemy courses of all time.

Accepted Currencies and Payment Methods

Udemy also allows you to purchase through Apple and Google Play Store.

However, ultimately, it will most likely be the credit or the debit card you use on the platforms. The next subtopic is about getting Udemy discount codes.

Bonus: How to Get Udemy Discount Codes?

Let’s talk about refunds next.

Udemy Refund: Full Explanation

You can get back the price listed for any Udemy paid course. Let’s look at how it works across different plans, including Business Udemy. 

For Individual Courses

Udemy has a fair refund policy, which is straightforward and simple.

Considering individual courses, each course has a 30-day refund eligibility period. By that, I mean you won’t automatically receive the refund simply because you requested it within 30 days.

99% of those who didn’t receive the refund, even if they requested it within 30 days, were because they had watched a significant portion of the course.

Let me explain about Udemy credits and full and partial refunds next.

Will You Always Receive The Cash Back Fully?

(In case you’ve been wondering, none of these features are included in LinkedIn Learning.)

For Subscriptions/Plans (Udemy Personal Plan + Business)

Ever since I can remember, and also currently, Udemy offers refunds for subscriptions, despite what several other online reviews say. 

This applies to any Udemy personal plan, just as much as Udemy for Business.

You get a generous 7-day trial period for personal plans. For Udemy for Business plans, the trial duration is 14 days. So, you can easily get your money back during this period if you’re unhappy with it.

It’s a relief that Udemy for Business offers refunds, whereas most other online learning platforms don’t do so.

Here’s my complete guide on Udemy Refund if you want to learn all about it.

Udemy Vs. Competitors 

Udemy’s top competitors are MasterClass, SkillShare, and Coursera. 

Udemy Vs. MasterClass

MasterClass is mainly known for its celebrity instructors. Being a person who followed it, I can confidently say that Udemy has more content and diversity. However, the industry expertise MasterClass instructors bring is unparalleled.

Think about learning movie directing from Martin Scorcese and cooking from Chef Gordon Ramsay — there’s a unique appeal to it, isn’t there? However, Udemy has more downloadable content, while MasterClass offers only one coursebook. 

The biggest downside of MasterClass is that it doesn’t offer any kind of personalized certification. However, you’ll love it if you love learning from the stars.

Udemy Vs. Coursera

Coursera comes close to the quality that Udemy offers. Coursera’s most significant advantage is that it is heavily affiliated with accredited institutes. Because of that, the average price is much higher. 

If accreditation is your priority, and the price isn’t a deciding factor, you may also like Coursera. However, you should know that Coursera doesn’t have the vast course library that Udemy offers.

Udemy Vs. Skillshare

Udemy offers both individual online courses with lifetime unlimited access and monthly subscriptions; Skillshare only offers monthly subscriptions. If you’re more of a subscription person, you may like Skillshare too.

Like Coursera, Skillshare doesn’t have the big course library Udemy has; it offers only 35,000+ online courses when Udemy offers 210,000+.

Another reason why I personally don’t like Skillshare is because the platform doesn’t provide a certificate of completion. I’m also not satisfied with the instructor base.

With that covered, let me quickly do a price comparison.

Udemy Cost Comparison With Skillshare, Masterclass, and Coursera

I rated Udemy with 5 stars because it’s perfectly balanced; individual courses and monthly plans with generous refund policies and an abundance of courses for which you get completion certificates that you can upload to LinkedIn easily. You can easily purchase any course.

Coursera comes in second place as it offers pretty much the same, but with a smaller course library for a higher price. However, with Coursera, you receive a certificate of completion. 

The third place is a tie between MasterClass and Skillshare, as neither offers personalized certificates of completion. You also don’t get individual courses, although some might love learning from beloved celebrities.

Next, let me tell you who Udemy is ideal for.

Who is Udemy Best for?

I could go on, but I’m sure this draws a clear picture. To make it easier, almost all Udemy courses list down the prerequisites, giving you a clear hint of whether you belong in the group.

Although I briefly covered the next topic earlier, let me quickly explain the purchasing process.

How to Purchase Udemy?

With individual courses, let’s assume you have picked the course you want. For example, let’s pick “The Complete Digital Marketing Guide – 24 Courses in 1”. The image below is the course landing page.

After that, you can either click the Buy Now or Add to Cart buttons. The heart button is there to save them for later viewing. The price is listed in bold letters on the course landing page.

If you have a coupon code, you can click the Apply Coupon button and apply it. Once you click the Buy Now or Check Out from the cart, you will end up on this interface. Check if the country is correct before proceeding. 

As you can see, there are two payment options. Udemy credits will show up here if you have any. If you select the credit/debit card, the menu will drop down to add card details. If you choose to pay with PayPal, Udemy will redirect to PayPal.

Make the payment, and you can start your all-new Udemy course.

I know a lot of readers like my personal secrets to make the most out of all the educational platforms I review. I got you for Udemy as well.

How to Get the Most Value Out of Udemy: My Personal Secrets

There are so many online reviews that you have to check for the credibility of the instructor and the course rating; there are prerequisites.

When I choose courses, I always check the what you’ll learn section. Instructors are benefit-oriented as the platform aims to fulfill specific objectives. Take a moment and confirm the extent to which these learning outcomes tally with your needs.

The same what you’ll learn tab is an excellent indication of constantly updating courses. Some instructors want to stay on top, which ultimately serves you. They add new course content as the world updates. You should try to find courses like these.

For instance, the top digital marketing courses now feature ChatGPT and other generative AI for marketing. 

So, if you see the “NEW!” tag in this area, it means the instructors are updating the course. Since you have lifetime unlimited access to the courses, you’ll get access to new and up-to-date course-related content for free.

That’s smart shopping!

I would also recommend you check the course content. Check the average course duration with the number of lectures and compare it with the total course length in hours and minutes. The longer, the better.

This is the best approach with individual courses. For subscriptions, it’s best to plan out your course completion timeline so you can make the best out of plans billed monthly. This applies to personal and business plans.

You also need to remember that business plans charge annually — you need to plan out the timeline well at your workplace.

Next, let’s look at some of the pros and cons of Udemy. 

Udemy Pros and Cons

Even though it is one of the best online learning platforms, Udemy is not perfect. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of Udemy.

Interested in learning more about this platform? Read our complete Udemy review.

FAQs

Conclusion: Udemy Costs

Udemy’s overall cost plan is one of the most fair and square plans I have seen, surpassing several competitors. The platform is definitely recommendable due to its multiple positive aspects.

As this article thoroughly covers Udemy costs (with my special secrets), I’m sure it’ll help you make the most out of your investments. 

I hope this review was helpful. Feel free to share this with your community to raise awareness and be a resourceful person.