Skillshare vs. Udemy | The Users’ Experience, Reviews

Do you want to start your course business and looking for an ideal platform to start? 

Skillshare and Udemy are one of the largest marketplaces for creators and students alike. When it comes to uploading and selling courses, both platforms offer similar functionality. The differences are in the way you monetize your courses and minor customization options. 

So, how do these options compare? To answer one of the frequently asked questions by creators, we have prepared a detailed and honest review. The data and analysis are based on our personal experience when testing these marketplaces, real feedback and reviews from users, and discussions from famous forums like Quora and Reddit. 

If you’re looking for a 360-degree comparison of Skillshare and Udemy and our final verdict, this guide has you covered!

SkillshareUdemy
Revenue is mostly based on watch timeRevenue based on course sales
No opportunity to award learners with certificatesCertificates of completion are available
You can offer project-based learning and the support of the communityYou can offer quizzes, assignments, and downloadable resources

All about Skillshare

On Skillshare, you can create and upload pre-recorded video courses and accompanying class projects. The platform promotes your classes to its subscriber base, and you earn royalties based on how much time students spend watching your content. Instructors also have access to tools for class creation, student engagement, and analytics. Skillshare handles the marketing and subscription management. 

Why do creators join Skillshare?

  • Access a worldwide community of learners who are passionate about creative growth.
  • Opportunity to test the waters if you have just started creating courses
  • Your classes become accessed through the Skillshare mobile app as well

Is Skillshare right for you? 

  • Earnings depend on the platform's overall revenue pool and your share of watch time, which can fluctuate.
  • You do not own your student list or the platform’s audience, so there is no direct communication or marketing.
  • You do not have control over course sales and cannot sell courses outright.

Marketing and selling courses 

Skillshare is a popular online course marketplace. Meaning, it handles all marketing and course promotion through its subscription model, targeting a wide audience of learners. They review your content and decide where to feature it (or not)

  • Hero banner carousel on Skillshare homepage
  • The Featured Classes section

As an instructor, you do not directly sell your courses or set individual prices. Instead, you rely on Skillshare to bring students to the platform. 

So, you should use your own channels and your own tools to promote the course. You also need to do everything to increase your watch time so that you can earn money. 

Creating and uploading courses 

Skillshare provides guidelines for video quality, audio, and class format to ensure the class meets their standards. And if it does not? They remove your class just like that. 

Skillshare courses

To create a class on Skillshare, you first need to be approved. If you are approved, you can Created Classes and add your video and audio content, as well as digital downloads. 

Payment methods 

There are a few ways to get paid on Skillshare, including

  • PayPal
  • Direct deposit / ACH
  • Prepaid debit card
  • Wire transfer

You need to earn at least $10 to receive a payout. If you do not meet the minimum, your earnings roll over to the next month. 
Read more: Skillshare Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More

All about Udemy

Udemy is another popular marketplace to sell online courses. Here, you set the price for the courses, and Udemy handles the sales and marketing through its platform.  Instructors can offer additional content like quizzes, assignments, and downloadable resources. 

However, you cannot sell courses elsewhere for a lower price, as Udemy requires exclusivity for courses listed in their marketplace.

Why do creators join Udemy? 

  • Access to a large learner base.
  • Flexibility in pricing your course
  • Opportunities to create and award certificates

Is Udemy everything you need?

  • No control over your branding and marketing
  • High competition
  • High commissions from your sales (takes 63% if the purchase was not made with your referral link)

Marketing and selling courses 

As an instructor on Udemy, again, you have no control over how your courses are handled, promoted, and sold. There are no marketing tools for you to promote your course on the platforms. 

You can also create coupons and offer discounts on the course. But the platform can impose its own discounts and you have no say in there. 

Creating and uploading courses 

Before you create and upload a course on Udemy, you need to make sure it fits the standards. 

Udemy requires that your course should be at least 30 minutes long. To create a course, you provide a title, description, learning objectives, and other relevant information about the course. 

You can upload videos in bulk, and Udemy offers a drag-and-drop interface. After you submit your course, Udemy’s team will review it for quality and compliance with their guidelines

Your content on Udemy includes lectures, quizzes, and Q&As. 

Udemy courses

Payment methods 

The way instructors receive payments with Udemy depends on the location and registered country. Generally, you can get paid via

  • Credit cards
  • PayPal
  • Google Pay and Apple Pay
Udemy payment methods

Read more: Udemy Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More

Users’ take on Skillshare vs. Udemy 

We promised to provide the full perspective on comparing Skillshare and Udemy. What we saw above was the analysis from the instructor’s perspective. 

Let’s have a look at what students who take courses on these platforms generally think. We dig deeper into some review platforms so that you can have a better idea of what the students and learning experience are like. 

Students like Udemy have courses on almost all the given topics. They browse courses on Udemy, especially when they want to learn about a new tool or technology. It is described as a heart resource not only for individual learners but teams and companies as well. 

Businesses especially liked that they could keep track of their employee’s training from the dashboard. As for the downsides, some courses on the marketplace are considered to be there for information dump. Students cannot clearly see which course is right for them since there are so many courses on the same topic. 

Review

As for Skillshare, students view it as a source to acquire new skills, especially as hobbies. They also like the opportunity to contact the instructor of the course to clarify their questions and doubts. 

However, they think that most courses presented here are for beginners, and not all the courses are of good quality. 

Review

As you go through review platforms such as G2 and Capterra, you can picture the large number of students who comment on bad quality of course content or difficulties finding the course they need

But what difference does it make for you? Students who read reviews by others will be less likely to take those courses seriously. Meaning that the courses offered by other instructors also affect you. 

If you want to have control over your student base, build your own reputation, and create a brand, self-hosted platforms like Uteach are a better option. 

Shall you go with Skillshare, Udemy, or something better? 

Besides just giving our take on which platform to choose to sell video courses, let’s see what people who used both experienced. 

For that, we went through discussions on Quora. People who shared their experiences think that:

  • Udemy works better for courses in IT, Programming, Business, Marketing
  • Skillshare works  for courses in creative areas like arts, typography, creative software 

But you know what? These categories are not definite. So, here is our personal experience on when to choose which. 

You can start on Udemy if you 

  • Want more control over pricing your course
  • Need to offer completion certificates to students
  • Are okay with their revenue share model

Go with Skillshare if you

  • Prefer the subscription-based model
  • Focus on class projects besides just courses
  • Are looking for a platform with more collaborative opportunities
Review

However, if your priority is full control, flexibility, and more opportunities to monetize your knowledge, as well as the ability to brand and market your courses as you see fit, you should go with Uteach

With Uteach, you can set your own pricing, keep 100% of your revenue, and have the freedom to directly engage with your students and build your brand without being dependent on platform requirements

Skillshare vs Udemy: Detailed comparison

Still cannot choose between Skillshare and Udemy? Let’s have a side-by-side comparison on their functionality and options

Usage & Limitations

Some platforms put limitations on their main features. Is this the case with Skillshare & Udemy? Here is a rundown of what you can find.

Unlimited StudentsUnlimited Students
Unlimited Courses-
Teacher Landing Profile-

Some platforms put limitations on their main features. Is this the case with Skillshare & Udemy?

With Skillshare and Udemy, you are playing by their rules. Too many requirements for on your course content, teacher profile, etc. But why limit your growth? A self-hosted platform like Uteach gives you full control. You can have unlimited courses, storage, products, and website pages. This will allow you to scale without anyone limiting your potential.  See more details below.  

Builder Opportunities

Whether your business is going to run on a Skillshare website or a  Udemy website, their website builders will decide for you. The website-building functionalities these platforms offer include the following:

Ready-made designReady-made templates
Responsive designResponsive design
-Analytics & Insights

Whether your business is going to run on a Skillshare website or a  Udemy website, their builder opportunities will decide for you.

Having your own website is not just about functionality. It is about building your brand and credibility. Unlike platforms like Skillshare and Udemy, where you do not have your own space, a self-hosted platform like Uteach gives you complete creative control.

You can customize your site, add your domain, and even white-label it for a professional look. It is not just your website. It is a great tool to show your expertise and attract new learners. 

Courses & Learning Products

The platform choice between Skillshare & Udemy largely depends on what products you will be offering. Which platform allows you to better deliver your online courses, quizzes, webinars, digital downloads, and more?

-Free courses
-Drip Feed Courses
-Private Courses

The platform choice between Skillshare & Udemy largely depends on what products you will be offering.

When it comes to creating and delivering your courses, having options matters. Platforms like Skillshare and Udemy are great for basics like free courses and quizzes, but what if you want more?

With Uteach, you create and sell live sessions, webinars, digital products, and even use AI tools to automate course creation. Whether it is offering private coaching or adding drip-fed lessons, Uteach gives you the tools to build more engaging and flexible learning experiences.

Here is the final verdict with the best solution 

Essentially, the best solution is the one that give you all the control to run a successful course business. And if you are determined to make the most income selling courses and not only, we have the best solution for you - Uteach. 

Do not believe us? Let’s go through reviews of some creators who eventually switched from Udemy and Skillshare to Uteach.

Review

The reasons are pretty simple. With Uteach, you can

  • Create and customize your banded website, and no one will ever know it is made with Uteach.
  • Have complete freedom over your marketing and sales. 
  • Get your school’s mobile app on popular marketplaces.

There are no restrictions on how many products or courses you can sell and how you should design them. Hundreds of reviewers describe Uteach as flexible and customizable for your business. 

Review

Do you want to know how to triple sales with the help of Uteach? Claim YOUR free demo now, and let our expert walk you through all the steps of growing your business!

Is it hard to choose a course platform?

Happy customers everywhere

Angel

Angel Rodriguez CPP

Owner - Alliance Training & Testing

If you are looking for a great platform to launch your course then Uteach will meet all your needs. It comes with great templates that are highly customizable. Everything is laid out logically and the white-label is truly white-label. The advanced SEO capability is a major plus.I cannot say enough good things about the Uteach platform and how happy I am that I made the change.

Bekah

Bekah Bottone

English Coach/Motivator

Thank you Uteach, for creating a platform that motivated me to set up a new webpage for my new businesses. I love how everything is included, that I can offer live sessions and also have a way to sell my workbooks. I will be launching my new website soon! The best part about working with Uteach is that they get back to me within a day with exactly what I need to know anytime I have a question.

Ivan

Ivan Bayross

Sales Funnel Creation Consultant, Digital Marketing Strategy Specialist

Uteach, is intuitive, and easy to use. I've been asking Uteach support a ton of detailed questions. I've got perfect, easy to understand / implement answers to all my questions.

Luka

Luca Madonia

Coach

Uteach is absolutely insane. Everything about this tool is right down to the smallest detail. Whit labeling is all available and can be set up completely within a few minutes. I am an absolute FAN of Uteach.

Mark

Mark Dickenson

Coach

Finally found the perfect LMS 💎 I have tried a bunch of LMS and so far this is the best. What I love about Uteach is their templates, I am not stuck with just the standard look for my site and I can customize it easily. Also having unlimited students and no commission fee is great. They have very good support that answers quickly. So far im loving it, easy.

Sazovski

Miroslav Sázovský

Author, lecturer and coach

After 15 years of coaching and mentoring people, we've tried a lot of similar apps and platforms, but this one is truly made for creators. Everything is intuitive, simple and beautiful at the same time.

Excellent
star
star

Uteach is hands down the best platform…

Uteach has everything you need in one place and the layout is so intuitive and easy to navigate. It offers many features but they are not overwhelming and not complicated to get them working.

star

I am very happy

Everything is very user-friendly, simple and looks professional at the same time. Uteach has mobile app,CRM, affiliate system

star

Great lms!

It took just a few minutes to get everything set up, and Uteach made it convenient for users too with step-by-step instructions on how to connect a domain.

star

Way out performs Kajabi

I own a bunch of platforms for creating online courses- Kajabi seems to be the one I kept coming back to- until I found Uteach.

capterrastar
capterra

Fantastic tool for elearning builders.

I have been using it for more than 8 months. I can notice that the new elements or features are adding one by one to make it more powerful tool

capterra

With Uteach my courses are in good hands

I have tested many LMS and Uteach offers me many features. You can take your time to design all your courses and delivers them to your students with ease.

capterra

The Software I've Been Looking For

I wanted a course software that had all the essential features for video courses at a reasonable price. Uteach provided that and more.

capterra

A one-stop-shop LMS. Brilliant!

Building a course is easy, peazy, lemon squeezy, and delivers to students in a coherent fashion.

eLearning Industry