A Udemy side hustle is the closest thing to "record once, get paid for years" that most people can actually pull off. You build a video course about something you already know, upload it to a marketplace with tens of millions of learners, and Udemy handles the hosting, payments, refunds and most of the marketing. The catch is that Udemy keeps a big slice of each sale, prices are discounted constantly, and a single course rarely pays the rent.
This guide walks through exactly how Udemy instructor payment works as of 2026, what the platform requires before you can charge for a course, how to pick a topic that sells, and what income to realistically expect. If you are still deciding whether teaching online is your thing at all, the side hustle quiz is a fast sanity check.
How a Udemy side hustle works
Udemy is an open marketplace: anyone can apply to become an instructor, and there is no fee to publish. You create the course, set a price from Udemy's preset price tiers, and Udemy lists it in search results, recommendations and promotional emails. When someone buys, Udemy collects the money, holds it through the refund window and pays you your share.
There are three ways your course earns money:
- Marketplace sales — a student finds and buys your course on Udemy.
- Instructor coupon and referral sales — a student buys through a link or coupon you shared.
- Subscription royalties — your course is included in Udemy's Personal Plan or Udemy Business, and you are paid from a royalty pool based on how many minutes subscribers watch.
Udemy instructor payment and revenue share (2026)
This is the part that decides whether a Udemy side hustle is worth your time. Udemy's published revenue share, as of 2026, breaks down like this:
| How the sale happened | Your share | Udemy's share |
|---|---|---|
| Student found your course on Udemy (search, browse, Udemy ads) | 37% | 63% |
| Student used your instructor coupon or course referral link | 97% | 3% |
| Personal Plan and Udemy Business subscriptions | Share of a royalty pool by minutes watched | Pool set at 15% of subscription revenue from January 2026 |
The subscription share is the one that has moved. In a November 2023 notice, Udemy scheduled the instructor pool to drop from 25% to 20% in 2024, 17.5% in 2025 and 15% in January 2026, while leaving the 37% marketplace share unchanged. If most of your income comes from subscribers, expect it to be smaller per minute than it was a few years ago.
The practical lesson: the 97% coupon rate is where the money is. Every student you send yourself, from a YouTube channel, newsletter, LinkedIn post or blog, is worth roughly 2.6 times more than a student Udemy finds for you.
How and when Udemy pays you
- Methods: PayPal or Payoneer, with direct deposit available for US instructors. Payout vendors can charge their own transaction fees.
- Schedule: Monthly, usually within the first 10 business days of the month.
- Hold period: Students have 30 days to request a refund, so earnings are held about 30 days after the month they were made. A January sale is typically paid in early March.
- Threshold: Since September 2025, Udemy only sends a payout once your balance reaches $25. Balances below that roll over.
- Taxes: You must submit a tax form (W-9 for US instructors) before you are paid. Udemy income is self-employment income, so set money aside; the self-employment tax calculator shows how much.
Udemy course requirements and pricing
Udemy runs every new course through a quality review before it goes live. For a paid course, you need:
- At least 30 minutes of video in total.
- At least five lectures.
- HD video (720p or higher) with clear audio that is synced to the picture.
- A complete landing page: title, subtitle, description, learning objectives, an image and a promo video is strongly recommended.
- An approved premium instructor account with payout and tax details.
Free courses are capped at two hours of video and do not pay. They can still be useful to collect reviews and build an audience you can later market a paid course to.
How pricing works
You choose a list price from Udemy's preset price tiers. In reality, most marketplace sales happen during Udemy's frequent site-wide promotions, when courses drop to low sale prices. Some instructors opt into Udemy's deals program to be included; others stay out to protect their price. Your instructor coupons let you set your own discounts on top.
How much can you make on Udemy?
Udemy does not publish average instructor income, and the figures you see on YouTube come from the outliers. Here is the honest version: a first course in a crowded niche with no outside audience often earns somewhere from nothing to a few dozen dollars a month. A well-made course on an in-demand skill with good reviews can earn a few hundred dollars a month for years. The instructors earning full-time income typically have many courses, a clear niche, and their own email list or channel feeding coupon sales.
Run your own scenario below. Plug in a realistic price (think sale price, not list price), your expected monthly students and the 37% organic share, then try it again at 97% to see what bringing your own students does.
Online Course Revenue Calculator
See what one course could earn per month on Udemy, Skillshare and your own Thinkific site.
You can also use the standalone course revenue calculator to compare Udemy against selling on your own site.
How to start a Udemy side hustle: step by step
- Pick a teachable skill with proven demand. Search Udemy for your topic and look at the bestsellers: number of students, number of reviews and when they were last updated. Lots of reviews means real demand. Outdated top courses mean an opening.
- Narrow it down. "Excel" is saturated. "Excel for property managers" or "Power Query for accountants" is easier to win. Specific outcomes sell better than broad overviews.
- Outline before you record. Write the end result a student gets, then break it into sections and 3–10 minute lectures. Each lecture should teach one thing.
- Set up a simple recording space. Clean audio matters more than video. A decent USB mic, soft light and a quiet room beat an expensive camera.
- Record and edit in batches. Screen recordings work for software and business topics. Cut long pauses and mistakes, but do not chase perfection.
- Build a landing page that sells. Use the words students search for in your title, list concrete outcomes and record a 1–2 minute promo video.
- Submit for review and publish. Fix anything flagged in the quality review, then launch.
- Drive your first students with coupons. Share an instructor coupon with your network, a relevant community or your audience to get early enrollments and honest reviews.
- Improve and expand. Answer Q&A, update outdated lectures and build a second course in the same niche so students can buy from you again.
Recording setup for Udemy courses
You do not need a studio. Most successful courses are recorded at a desk with a USB microphone, a webcam for talking-head intros and a light in front of you. A USB condenser microphone is the single biggest upgrade, because Udemy reviewers and students will forgive average video but not echoey or noisy sound.
Record in a small room with soft furnishings, turn off fans and notifications, and do a 30-second test before every session.
How to promote your Udemy course
Udemy's algorithm favors courses that already sell and get good reviews, so your first few weeks matter. A few tactics that work:
- Use instructor coupons on your own channels. They earn you 97% and help the course gain momentum.
- Create free content around the topic. Short YouTube tutorials, LinkedIn posts or a blog can link to your course. If you want to sharpen those skills, see our guide to a digital marketing side hustle.
- Send educational announcements. Udemy lets you message your students; use it to share bonus lessons and announce new courses.
- Keep the course updated. "Updated 2026" signals freshness and helps conversion.
Pros and cons of teaching on Udemy
Pros
Udemy is the easiest way to sell a course without an audience.
Cons
You trade control and margin for reach.
Udemy vs. Skillshare vs. Thinkific vs. Teachable
Udemy is a marketplace. Skillshare is a subscription library. Thinkific and Teachable are tools for selling courses on your own site. Here is how they compare as of 2026 (verify prices before you commit, since they change often):
| Platform | Cost to you | Your share | Who brings students | Who owns the students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udemy | Free | 37% organic, 97% your coupons, royalty pool for subscriptions | Mostly Udemy | Udemy |
| Skillshare | Free | Share of a royalty pool by minutes watched | Skillshare | Skillshare |
| Thinkific | Paid plans from roughly $40–$54/mo | Up to 100% minus payment processing | You | You |
| Teachable | Paid plans from roughly $29–$39/mo | 100% minus fees (7.5% on Starter) | You | You |
Many instructors use Udemy for discovery and a site like Thinkific for their higher-priced flagship course. That combination is a common path for Better Side Hustles readers who start on a marketplace and grow from there.
The Udemy affiliate program
You do not have to teach to earn from Udemy. The Udemy affiliate program runs mainly through the Impact network and pays a commission on courses bought through your links. Udemy's partner help pages describe a baseline commission of roughly 10–15% (they list both figures in different places) and a 7-day cookie, and a purchase of any course within that window counts. Commissions on refunded sales are reversed.
A 7-day cookie is short, so this works best for bloggers and YouTubers who recommend specific courses to readers who are ready to buy. Project your numbers with the affiliate commission calculator.
Common Udemy mistakes to avoid
- Making the course too long. A focused three-hour course that delivers one clear result usually gets better reviews than a bloated 20-hour one that students never finish.
- Skipping the promo video. It is often the first thing a buyer watches. Show your face, state the outcome and keep it short.
- Ignoring Q&A. Slow or missing answers lead to bad reviews, and reviews drive Udemy's search ranking.
- Publishing one course and waiting. Income usually compounds across a catalog, because students who like one course buy the next.
- Forgetting quarterly taxes. Udemy does not withhold tax for US instructors, so track your earnings from the first payout.
Bottom line
A Udemy side hustle is a good fit if you have a practical, in-demand skill and would rather spend time teaching than building a website and running ads. Go in expecting a slow start, build more than one course in the same niche, and push your own students through coupon links to earn the 97% share. If you would rather keep more of each sale and own your student list, compare Thinkific, and browse more ideas on the Better Side Hustles blog.
Frequently asked questions
Is Udemy a good side hustle in 2026?
It can be, if you treat it as a slow-build asset. Udemy brings the students, handles payments and runs the marketing, so you only have to make the course. The trade-off is a low cut on organic sales (37%) and heavy discounting. Most instructors earn modest amounts; the ones who do well publish several courses in one niche and drive their own traffic with coupon links.
How does Udemy instructor payment work?
You earn a revenue share on each sale: about 37% when a student finds your course through Udemy, and about 97% when they buy through your instructor coupon or referral link. Subscription and Udemy Business minutes are paid from a separate royalty pool. Udemy pays monthly through PayPal, Payoneer or (in the US) direct deposit, roughly 30 days after the month of the sale closes, once your balance passes the $25 threshold.
How much do Udemy instructors make?
There is no typical number. Many first courses earn under $100 a month, while a small group of instructors with large catalogs earn full-time incomes. Your result depends on topic demand, course quality, reviews and whether you bring your own audience. Plan for a few hundred dollars a month from a solid course in a busy niche, and treat anything above that as upside.
What are the requirements to publish a paid course on Udemy?
A paid Udemy course needs at least 30 minutes of video spread across at least five lectures, plus a completed course landing page and Udemy's quality review. You also need an approved instructor account with your payout and tax details on file. Free courses are capped at two hours of video and do not earn money.
When does Udemy pay instructors?
Udemy pays once a month, usually within the first 10 business days. Because students can request refunds for 30 days, earnings from a given month are held and paid out about a month after that month ends, so a January sale typically lands in early March. Payouts only go out when your balance is at least $25.
Does Udemy have an affiliate program?
Yes. The Udemy affiliate program runs mainly through the Impact network and pays a commission (roughly 10–15% baseline, per Udemy's partner help pages) on courses bought within a 7-day cookie window. It is separate from instructor earnings, so you can promote other people's courses even if you never teach.
Better Side Hustles Editorial Team. We research side hustles the practical way — platform fees, real pay ranges and what it takes to land your first dollar. How we write our guides.
Last reviewed October 26, 2026. Pay ranges are estimates and vary by city, season and effort. This article may contain affiliate links; see our disclosure.
