The Global Scale of Udemy
Udemy is a global leader in online learning, operating a massive marketplace that connects millions of learners with tens of thousands of instructors. These key metrics from early 2025 illustrate the platform's vast reach and the powerful network effect that drives its growth.
79M
Global Learners
85K
Instructors
250K
Courses Available
$787M
Total 2024 Revenue
A Dual-Engine Business Model
Udemy's success is powered by two distinct but interconnected engines. The B2C Marketplace provides massive scale and content diversity, while the B2B Udemy Business segment drives stable, high-value recurring revenue. This dual approach gives Udemy a unique and resilient position in the market.
🛒 B2C Marketplace
The open marketplace allows any expert to create and sell courses to a global audience of individual learners. Revenue is generated per course sale through a variable revenue-sharing model.
- ✓Vast content library driven by user-generated courses.
- ✓Accessible pricing with frequent deep discounts.
- ✓Attracts a broad demographic seeking personal and professional skills.
🏢 Udemy Business (B2B)
A curated, subscription-based service for companies to upskill their employees. This segment is Udemy's primary growth driver and key to its future profitability.
- ✓Stable, recurring revenue from corporate subscriptions.
- ✓Curated library of top-rated, professionally relevant courses.
- ✓Addresses critical workforce development and reskilling needs.
Revenue Deep Dive: How Udemy Makes Money
B2C Revenue Sharing Model
In the marketplace, an instructor's earnings depend entirely on how a student finds their course. Click a channel below to see the split. This model incentivizes instructors to build their own audience while also benefiting from Udemy's marketing muscle.
Select a Channel
Instructor Share:
Udemy Share:
The Strategic Pivot to B2B
Udemy Business has grown from a side project to the company's dominant revenue source, signaling a clear strategic shift towards the more stable and lucrative enterprise market.
What Sells Best on Udemy?
For instructors, understanding market demand is key to success. The data reveals a stark contrast in earnings between courses that teach high-demand professional skills and those focused on hobbies or general interest topics. This disparity highlights where learners and businesses see the most value.
Average Annual Instructor Earnings by Category
The Power of Niche Specialization
While popular categories are crowded, significant opportunities exist in low-competition niches. Successful instructors often find a "niche within a niche" to stand out, attract a dedicated audience, and build a profitable business. Here are some examples of identified high-opportunity niches:
- 💡Research Paper Writing
- 💡Etsy & eBay Dropshipping
- 💡Unreal Engine Blueprints
- 💡Tax Preparation
- 💡Night Photography
Pathways to Instructor Success
While Udemy offers a platform for anyone to teach, financial success is concentrated at the top. Understanding this "winner-take-all" dynamic and the strategies of elite instructors is crucial for aspiring course creators.
The Instructor Earnings Pyramid
Top 1%
Earn >$50k/year (Capture 50% of all earnings)
Top 4%
Earn >$14.5k/year
~21%
Earn $1k - $14.5k/year
Bottom 75%
Earn <$1k/year
A key differentiator: Courses in the invite-only Udemy Business catalog earn an average of **$2,795/year**, versus just **$963/year** for those not included.
Instructor Spotlight: Success Strategies
Explore the strategies of top-earning instructors. Click on a card to learn more.
Competitive Positioning
Udemy differentiates itself in a crowded market through its unique model. While competitors like Coursera focus on academic partnerships and accreditation, Udemy excels in agility, content diversity, and practical, on-demand skill-building, particularly for the corporate world.
| Feature | Udemy | Coursera |
|---|---|---|
| Instructor Model | Open Marketplace (Anyone can teach) | University & Company Partnerships |
| Content Focus | Practical, professional & hobbyist skills | Academic courses, degrees, specializations |
| Course Volume | ~250,000+ | ~10,000+ |
| Accreditation | No formal degrees (some trade certs) | Offers accredited degrees & certificates |
| Key Advantage | Agility, speed to market, content breadth | Academic rigor and recognized credentials |
