This article outlines how revenue from subscription-based learning solutions like Udemy Business and Subscription Plans are calculated and paid to applicable instructors.
- Learn more about Udemy Business and how to get your name in front of employees at leading companies.
- Review answers to frequently asked questions instructors have about the Personal Plan subscription.
- Review answers to frequently asked questions learners have about the Starter Plan subscription.
Table of contents
- Udemy Business revenue calculation
- Udemy Business payment schedule
- Personal Plan and Starter Plan revenue calculation for learner engagement
- Starter Plan ad revenue calculation
- Udemy Subscription payment schedule
- Personal Plan revenue reporting
- Starter Plan ad revenue reporting
- Subscription bonuses
- If a course is not included in the Personal Plan collection, how do instructors earn revenue when their course is offered for free as part of a Personal Plan promotion?
Udemy Business revenue calculation
On Udemy Business, instructors are compensated based on learner engagement. This differs from the Udemy marketplace model, where instructors are compensated based on course purchases.
Each month, Udemy allocates 15% of monthly subscription revenue from Udemy Business customers as the instructor revenue pool.
Each instructor's share of this amount is equal to their share of the total minutes consumed across all Udemy Business courses. For example, if 3% of all consumption in Udemy Business courses for a given month occurred in your courses, you'd receive 3% of the Udemy Business instructor revenue pool for that month.
Consumption is calculated as minutes spent watching videos or actively using on-site interactive learning tools like practice tests, quizzes, coding exercises or Udemy AI Assistant. It includes re-watched minutes and minutes consumed using the mobile-only offline viewing feature.
While the total instructor revenue pool has consistently grown over time, fluctuations in your courses' relative share of consumption will also factor into the revenue you earn from Udemy Business each month.
Labs and assessments in Udemy Business Pro are paid outside of the Udemy Business revenue pool.
Udemy Business payment schedule
Generally speaking, Udemy Business revenue is added after 7 business days of the following month under the Udemy Business tab on your revenue report. For example, your Udemy Business revenue for the month of January would appear in your January revenue report, after 7 business days have elapsed in February.
For courses with multiple instructors, revenue will be divided amongst co-instructors according to the revenue share active at the time of calculation/reporting. Each instructor's earnings will appear in their individual revenue report.
Personal Plan and Starter Plan revenue calculation for learner engagement
Instructors are also compensated for participation in Personal Plan and Starter Plan based on learner engagement, via the same calculation as Udemy Business described above. Revenue from learner engagement for Personal Plan and Starter Plan will appear under the Personal Plan tab of your revenue report.
Please note: The terms of participation for Subscription Plans are the same as they are for Udemy Business: instructors must opt into the Udemy Business program, they must have courses curated into the collection for their relevance and quality, and they must host included content exclusively on Udemy.
- Learn more about the terms of participation.
Starter Plan ad revenue calculation
Instructors with qualifying courses will receive a share of the ad revenue generated from Starter Plan. Each month, an ad revenue pool will be calculated based on Starter Plan ad revenue, minus Udemy and third-party fees. 25% of the amount attributable to eligible ad surfaces on qualifying courses will be allocated to instructors. Your individual share will be proportional to the minutes consumed of your qualifying courses relative to the total minutes consumed across all qualifying courses that month.
To determine whether a course qualifies, we'll consider factors such as inclusion in Starter Plan and course consumption. Learn more.
Udemy Subscription payment schedule
Subscription Plan revenue will be posted a few days before it’s paid out, approximately 30 days after the close of the month, in which the relevant consumption took place. For example, September earnings from Subscription Plans will appear in the September statement around the first week of November and will be paid out shortly after.
Annual subscription payments are included as part of monthly instructor revenue calculations. A prorated portion of each subscriber's annual total is added to the instructor revenue pool each month.
Personal Plan revenue reporting
Revenue from Personal Plan will be attributed to the Personal Plan channel in your instructor revenue report.
Starter Plan ad revenue reporting
Ad revenue from Starter Plan will appear in your instructor revenue report, in a category that is separate from the channel mentioned above.
Subscription bonuses
Instructors are eligible to receive bonuses from new enrollments in Udemy’s Personal Plan and Starter Plan subscriptions. Learn more in the sections below.
Bonus amounts are reflected in your Revenue Report as Subscription Bonuses, under the Other category.
Please note:
- The following bonuses are only applicable to Personal Plan and Starter Plan subscriptions. They do not apply to subscriptions to Udemy Business.
- Bonuses will be calculated and paid according to Udemy's standard payment schedules as provided in the Subscription Bonus Policy.
Enrollments through instructor coupons and referral links: If an instructor’s coupon or referral link leads to a new consumer Personal Plan or Starter Plan subscription sign-up and payment rather than a course purchase, that instructor is eligible to receive a bonus.
In the current iteration of the program, the bonus is calculated as 50% of the net revenue from the payment for the new subscriber’s first month in the subscription. If the subscriber paid for a full year upfront, the bonus is calculated as 100% of the net revenue from the new subscriber's prorated first month in the subscription. As with course purchases, bonuses from subscriptions that are refunded before payout will be deducted from the expected payout amount.
Enrollments through course landing page visits: If an instructor’s course landing page is the last landing page visited by a learner within 24 hours prior to the learner purchasing a subscription, the instructor is eligible for a one-time bonus.
Instructors can earn a bonus, as determined by Udemy in its sole discretion, if all of the following conditions occur:
- A learner purchases a qualifying Udemy consumer subscription;
- Your course landing page was the last paid course landing page visited by the learner within 24 hours before purchasing the subscription; and
- The learner was not already enrolled in the course at the time of the abovementioned visit.
Based on the above eligibility criteria, the bonus is calculated as 16% of the net initial subscription fee of a qualifying monthly Udemy consumer subscription, and 3.2% of the net initial subscription fee of a qualifying annual Udemy consumer subscription. For further information on net subscription fees, please visit our Instructor Terms.
Enrollments through the labs upgrade offer: If a learner is not subscribed to Personal Plan, after they click “Start Practice” in a lab included in a course, they may be prompted to enroll in the subscription to gain access. When a learner successfully purchases Personal Plan after clicking “Start Practice” and completing the checkout process, the instructor of that course is eligible to receive a bonus.
Based on the above eligibility criteria, the bonus is calculated as 16% of the net initial subscription fee of a qualifying monthly Udemy consumer subscription, and 3.2% of the net initial subscription fee of a qualifying annual Udemy consumer subscription. For further information on net subscription fees, please visit our Instructor Terms.
If a course is not included in the Personal Plan collection, how do instructors earn revenue when their course is offered for free as part of a Personal Plan promotion?
Courses opted into the Udemy Deals Program may be offered to learners at no charge as part of a promotional offer when they purchase a Personal Plan subscription. When this occurs, your revenue share will be calculated based on the Gross Amount permitted by the Promotions Policy.
- For more information, please refer to Udemy’s Promotions Policy.