If these past few months have taught us anything, it’s that humans naturally crave learning. With newfound free time on our hands, we dove into hobbies and crafts—baking bread, painting rooms, learning piano. This drive to learn and grow is fundamental to who we are.
But where can you find qualified instruction for what you want to learn?
Sure, you could search YouTube and get millions of results. But are any of them actually good? Do they teach correctly? Even the best YouTube tutorials waste the first five minutes promoting their channel. What if there was a way to learn step-by-step, building knowledge systematically in an online format?
That’s precisely what online course marketplaces like Udemy deliver. In this digital learning era, these platforms offer thousands of courses across virtually every subject, often at affordable prices. Let’s explore this online course marketplace and determine if it’s right for you in this comprehensive Udemy review.
What Is Udemy?
Udemy is an online course marketplace featuring over 150,000 courses. Launched in 2010, it seeks to “improve lives through learning.” This mission runs deep, as the founder grew up in a Turkish village with limited access to education. When he gained internet access, he taught himself complex math problems online—becoming so proficient that he won national competitions. He created the company to give others the same learning opportunities, helping them reach their goals and pursue their dreams. With over 33 million minutes of video content in more than 65 languages, Udemy is fulfilling that vision.
How Udemy Works
To use Udemy, create an account with your full name, email, and password. After registration, the site prompts you to select 5 interests to get started.
Once your account is complete, you gain access to a library spanning over 3,000 topics. These topics are organized into categories—from business to lifestyle—with each category containing dozens of subcategories to explore.
While browsing courses, you can filter by rating, length, price, level, or language. Each course displays its listed price, typically $100-$200—but thanks to Udemy’s frequent sales, most actually cost $10-$15. As you browse, you’ll see course ratings and enrollment numbers.
When you find an interesting course, simply click to view its dedicated page. Here you’ll find comprehensive details: course previews, curriculum breakdown, requirements, and student reviews. After reviewing everything, purchase the course using your credit card or PayPal.
Each course divides into sections, then into shorter videos. These bite-sized 5-10-minute segments make digesting 10-20+ hours of content manageable. While watching, you can adjust playback speed, skip around, enable closed captions, or read transcripts. Below each video is a Q&A section for feedback from students and instructors. Many courses include quizzes and certificates to test your knowledge, plus you get lifetime access to learn at your own pace.
Is Udemy Reliable?
With Udemy, anyone can become an instructor. While this ensures abundant content across many topics, it compromises reliability. There are no tests, gatekeepers, or fact-checking systems, so information could be completely wrong. Marketing classes have taught unethical methods, while others have promoted phishing or scamming techniques. Additionally, courses covering frequently updated software like WordPress or Adobe may lag several versions behind, rendering them obsolete.
Video quality is equally inconsistent. Many low-quality, scammy videos are essentially extended advertisements for the instructor’s books or products. However, the review system should theoretically catch these issues, as poor courses should receive negative feedback.
However, even the review system has flaws. While course reviews can help judge quality, they don’t always accurately reflect the content. Udemy requests initial reviews just 20 minutes into courses—far too early to assess whether the methods actually work. Though students are encouraged to complete full reviews after finishing, people are more likely to respond to quick pop-ups than return later to write detailed assessments.
Despite these concerns, some major companies trust Udemy. The platform proudly displays partnerships with Pinterest and Adidas for employee training. Udemy maintains an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau and offers decent customer service.
To balance course unreliability, Udemy offers a reliable 30-day money-back guarantee for any reason. If a course fails to meet expectations, simply request a refund. Don’t abuse this policy though—frequent refund requests may result in account suspension. Still, it provides valuable protection against disappointing purchases.
Are Udemy Certificates Valid?
The biggest question with online courses is whether you’ll receive credit for your efforts. With Udemy, the answer is no.
Since anyone can teach on the platform, courses lack accreditation. While you can earn completion certificates, most employers don’t recognize them. You can’t earn college credits or CEUs from these classes. Udemy remains valuable for skill development—like Excel proficiency or coding—but you must still demonstrate abilities through job performance or separate testing.
Is Udemy Cheap?
Udemy can be affordable—if you shop strategically. Most courses list at around $200 but frequently go on sale for 90% off. In practice, most courses cost $10-$15. While some sites advertise Udemy coupons, only ones from Udemy or instructors themselves are legitimate. Udemy’s coupons are site-wide and correspond to regular sales occurring every ten days. Instructor coupons appear in their profiles or through email newsletter signups.
$10-$15 per course represents excellent value, especially considering what’s included. Course purchases grant lifetime access, allowing you to learn at your own pace and return for refreshers. This includes access to any future course updates, keeping your skills current. The 30-day money-back guarantee further protects your investment against worthless courses.
How To Be Smart With Udemy
Udemy can be valuable—but strategic use maximizes effectiveness. First, recognize it’s not accredited—but it’s excellent for personal learning and hobbies. You won’t get certified in Excel mastery, but a quick demonstration to your boss proves competence. And you don’t need certification to improve your garden or increase flexibility—making Udemy’s courses perfect for these goals.
Research courses thoroughly before purchasing. Watch preview videos to assess teaching quality and production value. Read reviews carefully—do they provide specific details about how the course helped, or just vague praise? Investigate the instructor’s profile to see how they’ve applied their own methods and what success they’ve achieved. After all, you wouldn’t want social media marketing advice from someone with only 300 followers.
Udemy Alternatives
Udemy vs LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning offers numerous courses as well—but operates on a subscription model providing access to all content rather than individual purchases. Unlike Udemy, LinkedIn Learning provides some professional credit—completion certificates display on your LinkedIn Profile, carrying more weight with employers. They also vet instructors; not everyone can teach.
However, Udemy covers more topics than LinkedIn Learning. While LinkedIn Learning focuses on business and technology, Udemy expands into subjects like baking, painting, or chess. LinkedIn Learning may also cost more—subscriptions run $29.99 monthly. For single-topic learning, this costs significantly more than Udemy’s $10 courses. Since LinkedIn Learning uses subscriptions, you lose course access when you cancel, unlike Udemy’s lifetime access.
Udemy vs Treehouse
Treehouse also follows the subscription model at $25 monthly. They offer a free 7-day trial for full course access and include forums below each video for questions and instructor interaction.
However, Treehouse lacks mobile apps, restricting access to computers only. Furthermore, it exclusively offers tech-related courses, potentially missing your learning interests. The cost still exceeds single Udemy courses, and users have reported difficulties cancelling subscriptions.
Conclusions For Udemy
You can learn virtually anything with Udemy—but approach it strategically. Due to variable video quality and the review system’s limitations, you’re not guaranteed industry-standard information. While Udemy likely won’t advance your professional or academic credentials, it excels for personal learning. The low prices and extensive topic range make it an excellent tool for personal growth and acquiring new skills just for fun.
