Udemy review (2026): great value if you vet the course, and know the fine print
Udemy can be the cheapest way online to learn one practical skill, as long as you never pay list price, check the course before buying and understand what the Personal Plan does when you cancel.
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Our verdict (editorial opinion)
Udemy is excellent value for specific, practical skills such as a programming language, a cloud certification exam, Excel or a design tool, bought on sale from a well-reviewed, recently updated course. It is a marketplace, so quality varies a lot. The certificate is not accredited. The Personal Plan subscription trades lifetime ownership for breadth, and you lose progress if you cancel.
Last verified: 31 October 2026 · Research-based review (no hands-on testing claimed) · Prices shown are US list prices from official pages unless marked otherwise
The short version
- What it is: an open marketplace. Udemy's pricing page lists 250,000+ courses, made and priced by independent instructors. Since 11 May 2026 Udemy has been owned by Coursera, but it is still sold separately.
- Two ways to pay: buy a course once (lifetime access to that course) or subscribe to the Personal Plan (a curated subset of the catalog, plus practice tests and coding exercises, only while subscribed).
- Refunds: eligible individual course purchases can be refunded within 30 days, with abuse limits. Subscriptions bought on udemy.com get no refund unless local law requires one.
- Certificates: Udemy's help center says it is not an accredited institution. Certificates of completion show you finished a course, nothing more.
- The real skill is choosing: the same topic can have a brilliant course and a padded one side by side. Our 5-minute vetting method is below.
Who Udemy is for (and who should skip it)
Good fit
- People who need one concrete skill quickly (Python, SQL, Excel, Figma, Premiere, React)
- IT certification candidates (AWS, Azure, CompTIA, PMP prep), where practice tests are a strength
- Budget learners willing to wait for a sale
- Self-starters who don't need deadlines
- People who want to keep a course for reference years later
Poor fit
- Anyone who needs an accredited or employer-recognised credential. Look at Coursera instead
- Learners who need deadlines, graded feedback or a cohort
- People who won't spend five minutes vetting a course before buying
- Subscribers who want to keep certificates after cancelling the Personal Plan
- Advanced specialists. Many courses target beginners and intermediates
How Udemy works
Instructors (individual practitioners, small studios, sometimes companies) record and upload courses, set a list price and answer student questions. Udemy hosts, markets and processes payments. Courses are self-paced video with downloadable resources, quizzes, coding exercises, assignments and Q&A boards. There are no deadlines and no cohort. Udemy now also includes AI features such as an AI assistant in courses, and the help center handles support through an automated assistant first.
Because anyone who meets Udemy's quality checks can publish, Udemy covers niche topics nobody else does. That openness is also why quality ranges from outstanding to poor, and why reviewers such as PCMag rate the platform "average" while praising individual courses.
What you'll actually pay
| How you buy | What it costs | What you get | Refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single course at list price | Set by the instructor; list prices are often high | Lifetime access to that course while Udemy holds the license | 30 days for eligible purchases |
| Single course on sale | Udemy runs discounts very frequently; the sale price is what most people pay | Same as above | 30 days for eligible purchases |
| Personal Plan (monthly or annual) | Starting at $13.00/month, billed monthly or annually, as shown on udemy.com/pricing on 31 Oct 2026 (US). The monthly-billed rate may be higher than the starting price; it varies by region and promotion | Curated subset of courses, practice tests, coding exercises, only while subscribed | No refunds unless required by local law; free trials can be cancelled before charging |
| Udemy Business | Per seat, sold to companies | Business collection for employees | Contract terms |
Udemy shows prices in local currency and they differ by country, account and day. On 31 Oct 2026 Udemy's US pricing page showed the Personal Plan "starting at $13.00/month", billed monthly or annually, with access to 28,000+ courses. "Starting at" means your actual rate depends on billing period, region and promotion. Udemy's billing FAQ says subscription fees vary by location and promotions. Check the current price on Udemy's official pricing page before you buy.
Why Udemy is "always on sale"
Instructors set list prices, and Udemy runs promotions so often that the struck-through price is rarely what anyone pays. PCMag criticised this "questionable price marketing". The practical rule: never pay list price for a Udemy course. If a course is at full price today, add it to your wishlist and check back in a few days.
Personal Plan vs buying courses: the trade-off nobody explains
| Buy individual courses | Personal Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Lifetime access to each course you buy (while licensed) | Only while subscribed; ends at the end of the billing period after you cancel |
| Catalog | Any of the 250,000+ courses | A curated subset of courses (creators cite figures in the tens of thousands) |
| Progress and certificates | Yours to keep | Udemy's FAQ: progress and certificate access are lost if you cancel or let it expire, even if you resubscribe later |
| Pause | n/a | Udemy's Personal Plan FAQ says you may be offered a pause on a monthly subscription, but not on all accounts |
| Refund | 30 days for eligible purchases | None, unless local law requires it |
| Best for | 1–3 specific courses a year | Several courses a month, or exploring |
Two traps to check:
- Make sure the course is actually in the plan. Not every course is included, and learners on Trustpilot describe subscribing for a course and finding it still had to be bought. Search the course while logged in and check it is marked as included before you pay.
- Download your certificates while subscribed. Udemy's FAQ is explicit that certificate access via subscription courses is lost on cancellation. Save the PDF and add it to LinkedIn before you cancel.
Break-even is simple: if you'll take only one or two specific courses this year, buy them on sale and keep them. The subscription pays off when you are working through several courses a month.
Refunds and the fine print
From Udemy's refund policy (help center, 31 Oct 2026):
- Eligible courses can be refunded within 30 days of purchase. After that, Udemy won't process the request, because instructors are paid after 30 days.
- Udemy may refuse refunds for suspected abuse, including when a notable amount of the course has been consumed or downloaded, when you've requested refunds for the same course more than once, or when you've requested excessive refunds.
- Some purchases are only refundable as Udemy credits, not cash. The refund page tells you which.
- Subscriptions (Personal Plan and similar) bought on udemy.com have no 30-day guarantee and no refunds or partial refunds, unless the law in your account's country requires one. A separate help article lists those countries and their deadlines, and the clock starts on the first day of a free trial.
- App purchases made on iOS or Android are refunded by Apple or Google, not Udemy.
How to request a course refund: on a web browser (not the app), go to Purchase history → find the course → Request refund → choose original payment method or credits → choose a reason → Submit. Udemy says bank refunds can take 5–10 business days or longer. Decide quickly: watching half the course and then asking is exactly what the abuse rule targets.
How to cancel the Personal Plan: on the web, open your account's Subscriptions page and cancel. Access continues to the end of the billing period shown there. Cancel app-store subscriptions in Apple or Google settings.
How to vet a Udemy course in 5 minutes
- Last updated date. For software, cloud and AI topics, anything not updated in the last 12–18 months is a risk. Version numbers in the curriculum are a quick tell.
- Rating count, not just stars. 4.6 from 40,000 reviews is more reliable than 4.9 from 60. Udemy ratings skew high, so a 4.3 is a warning.
- Sort reviews by most recent and read the 2- and 3-star ones. They tell you what is outdated or padded.
- Watch two preview lectures, one from the start and one from the middle. If the pace or audio bothers you now, it will in hour 20.
- Look at the Q&A tab. Recent unanswered questions mean the instructor has moved on.
Worked example (illustrative): you want to learn SQL for analytics. Course A: 4.7 stars, 120,000 ratings, updated two months ago, projects on a real dataset, instructor answering Q&A this week. Course B: 4.9 stars, 180 ratings, updated 2021, 40 hours of video with no exercises listed. A is the better buy even at a higher sale price. Learners on r/Udemy repeatedly say the same thing: choosing a well-known instructor with a recent update matters more than the course title, especially for AI courses, where recent posts complain about padded or outdated content.
Udemy certificates: what they are and aren't
Udemy's help center states that Udemy is not an accredited institution. Its certificates of completion show you finished a course but can't be used for formal accreditation. Free courses and practice-test-only courses don't issue certificates. Employers treat them as evidence of initiative at best.
Where Udemy shines is preparation for real certifications: courses and practice exams for AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, CompTIA, PMP and similar. The credential employers care about comes from the exam provider. Udemy is the cheap study material.
Udemy after the Coursera merger
Coursera completed its combination with Udemy on 11 May 2026, and Udemy became a wholly owned subsidiary. As of our check, Udemy and Coursera still run separate sites, catalogs, accounts, prices and refund policies. Older reviews that predate the merger are still mostly accurate on how Udemy works day to day. Watch for changes to the Personal Plan and catalog over the coming months, and recheck the official pages.
Pros and cons
What we like
- Enormous catalog (250,000+ courses) including niche topics
- Lifetime access to purchased courses
- Sale prices make single courses very cheap
- Strong for IT certification prep and practice tests
- Preview lectures, ratings and Q&A let you judge before buying
- 30-day refund window on eligible courses
- Practitioner instructors teach how tools are used at work
What to watch out for
- Quality is inconsistent; ratings skew high
- Perpetual-sale pricing makes list prices meaningless
- Certificates are not accredited
- Personal Plan: no refunds (unless law requires), pause not available on all accounts, and progress and certificates are lost on cancel
- Refunds can be refused if you've watched much of a course
- Some courses are outdated or padded, especially in fast-moving AI topics
- Support is mostly an automated assistant first
What learners say
| Source | Recurring praise | Recurring complaints |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube: a reviewer who says he bought 40+ Udemy courses over 7 years (L-DDGKlCziE) | Variety, self-paced lifetime access, practitioner instructors, previews and ratings help choose, good for exam prep | Quality varies because Udemy doesn't make the content; the certificate is mainly for personal tracking |
| YouTube: Personal Plan review by the same creator (iXozKcSkeTY) | Breadth for career explorers and changers; hands-on exercises; AI assistant | The creator's links are affiliate links, so treat the enthusiasm accordingly. His quoted prices don't match other trackers |
| YouTube: Richard Walls – Career Coach, "Udemy Review – Are These Online Courses WORTH IT?" (Mar 2024) | Strong for certification-exam prep such as AWS and PMP | Says a Udemy completion certificate on its own won't mean much to an employer |
| YouTube: CourseCorrect, "Coursera vs Udemy vs LinkedIn Learning" (Dec 2025) | Good for picking up a quick practical skill | Anyone can upload, so quality varies; not the platform for a CV credential |
| Reddit (r/Udemy, r/OnlineCourseReview) | Great courses exist from well-known instructors | Padded or outdated AI/ML courses; inflated ratings; Personal Plan doesn't include everything |
| Trustpilot | Individual instructors praised | Refunds refused, Personal Plan billing, AI-assistant support, courses that weren't in the plan. Trustpilot showed 1.6/5 from 1,976 reviews when we loaded it on 31 Oct 2026; check live |
| PCMag | Breadth and some excellent courses | Questionable price marketing; not every course is vetted |
Where Udemy is genuinely best
- Cloud and IT certification prep: practice exams and exam-focused courses at a fraction of bootcamp prices.
- Programming tools and frameworks: project-based courses you can code along with.
- Office and productivity software: Excel, Power BI, Notion and similar.
- Creative software: Premiere, After Effects, Blender, Photoshop.
- Hobbies and niche topics that universities don't teach.
Udemy vs the alternatives
| Platform | Model | Credential | Keep access? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Udemy | Buy per course or Personal Plan | Completion certificate (not accredited) | Purchased: lifetime | One practical skill cheaply |
| Coursera | Plus $59/mo or $399/yr, or per program | Partner-branded certificates; degrees | No | Recognised credentials |
| LinkedIn Learning | Via Premium, employer, university or library | Profile certificate | No | Business and software basics |
| Skillshare | US$167.88/yr subscription | None accredited | No | Creative projects |
| freeCodeCamp / YouTube | Free | freeCodeCamp certifications | Yes | Coding on zero budget |
Read our Coursera vs Udemy comparison for a detailed head-to-head.
How we researched this review
We have not bought or used Udemy for this review. It is built from Udemy's own pricing, help-center and terms pages (read on 31 October 2026), publicly posted learner reviews and discussions, YouTube reviews by long-term users (transcripts read in full and paraphrased below), and the pages that currently rank for this topic, which we checked so we could cover what they miss. We note where a figure comes from a third party rather than the official site. We do not give star ratings or numeric scores, because we have not tested the product hands-on.
We could not capture live checkout screenshots, so we cannot show what checkout looks like in your country. Prices vary by region and change with promotions. Check the current price on the official page before you pay.
Udemy FAQ
Is Udemy legit?
Yes. Udemy is a long-established company and, since May 2026, part of Coursera. The platform is legitimate. What you need to evaluate is each individual course.
Are Udemy certificates accredited?
No. Udemy's help center says Udemy is not an accredited institution. Its certificates of completion show you finished a course but can't be used for formal accreditation.
Do employers accept Udemy certificates?
They are seen as evidence of initiative, not a qualification. Use Udemy to prepare for recognised exams (AWS, CompTIA, PMP), or to build projects you can show.
What is Udemy's refund policy?
Eligible course purchases can be refunded within 30 days, subject to abuse limits. A refund may be refused if you consumed or downloaded a notable amount of the course, and some refunds are paid as Udemy credits.
Can I get a refund on the Udemy Personal Plan?
Generally no. Udemy's subscription billing FAQ says subscriptions have no 30-day guarantee and no full or partial refunds unless the law requires one. Free trials can be cancelled before they convert without being charged. Subscriptions bought through Apple or Google are refunded by those stores.
Is Udemy lifetime access really lifetime?
For courses you buy, access lasts as long as your account is in good standing and Udemy holds the license to the course. Personal Plan access only lasts while you're subscribed.
What happens if I cancel the Personal Plan?
You keep access until the end of the billing period. After that, Udemy's FAQ says your course progress and certificate access for plan courses are lost, even if you resubscribe later. Courses you bought separately aren't affected.
Can I pause the Udemy Personal Plan?
Sometimes. Udemy's Personal Plan FAQ (checked 31 Oct 2026) says you may be offered the option to pause a monthly subscription, but it isn't available on all accounts. Otherwise you can cancel and keep access to the end of the billing period.
Does the Personal Plan include every Udemy course?
No. It covers a curated subset. Check that the course you want is marked as included before subscribing.
How much does the Udemy Personal Plan cost?
On 31 Oct 2026 Udemy's US pricing page showed it starting at $13.00 a month, billed monthly or annually. Udemy says fees vary by location and promotion, so check the live price on the pricing page.
Why are Udemy courses always on sale?
Instructors set list prices and Udemy runs promotions very frequently, so the sale price is effectively the normal price. Don't pay list. Wait a few days for the next sale.
Are there free Udemy courses?
Yes, there are many free courses, but they don't include certificates, Q&A or direct messaging with the instructor.
Can I download Udemy courses for offline viewing?
The Udemy mobile app lets you download lectures of courses you have access to for offline viewing, where the instructor allows it. Downloading heavily may affect refund eligibility.
Is Udemy good for AWS or CompTIA prep?
Yes, it's one of Udemy's strongest uses. Pick a recently updated course and practice tests from a well-known instructor, then sit the real exam with the vendor.
Udemy or Coursera: which is better?
Udemy for a specific practical skill you want to own cheaply, Coursera for recognised certificates and structured programs. They have the same owner since 2026 but are still sold separately.
Did the Coursera merger change Udemy?
Not yet in day-to-day use. As of 31 October 2026 Udemy still has its own site, catalog, accounts and refund policy. Recheck official pages for changes.
How do I contact Udemy support?
Through the Udemy help center, which starts with an automated assistant and escalates to a person if needed.
Are Udemy courses AI-generated?
Some learners complain about low-effort or padded AI-topic courses. Vet each course by update date, recent reviews and preview lectures.
Sources and last verified
Last verified: 31 October 2026. Official pages were read on that date. Third-party figures are attributed and dated where we cite them.
- Udemy pricing page (Personal Plan starting at $13.00/month; 28,000+ courses in plan) — checked 31 Oct 2026, US
- Udemy help: refund policy (30 days for eligible courses; no subscription refunds unless required by law) — checked 31 Oct 2026
- Udemy help: billing for subscriptions FAQ (trials, cancellation, no refunds, app stores) — checked 31 Oct 2026
- Udemy help: Personal Plan FAQ (not all courses included; progress and certificates lost on cancel; pause on some accounts) — checked 31 Oct 2026
- Coursera investor news: combination with Udemy completed
- YouTube: Daniel | Tech & Data, Udemy review after 7 years — creator uses affiliate links
- YouTube: Richard Walls – Career Coach, Udemy Review – Are These Online Courses WORTH IT?
- YouTube: CourseCorrect, Coursera vs Udemy vs LinkedIn Learning
- YouTube: Udemy Personal Plan review — creator uses affiliate links
- PCMag: best online learning services
- Trustpilot: Udemy — score changes
- Reddit r/Udemy discussion