Last updated: 24 October 2026. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. Prices, refund rules and certificate policies re-read on udemy.com, skillshare.com and both help centers on 24 October 2026. See our review methodology.
Udemy vs Skillshare — Quick Verdict
For most people, Udemy is the better pick. You buy a course once and keep it, the catalog is far larger (290,000+ courses), and it is much stronger for tech, business and certification prep. Skillshare wins when creative skills such as illustration, design, photography and video are your main focus and you will use an annual subscription often enough to justify $167.88 a year.
The two refund rules decide a lot. An individual Udemy course can be refunded within 30 days if you have not used much of it. Skillshare does not refund renewals, and its 7-day trial charge is refundable only if you ask within 48 hours and have not used the service since.
If you need a credential employers recognize, skip both and look at Coursera.
Udemy and Skillshare both sell online learning, but they are built on opposite models. Udemy is a marketplace: you buy individual courses and keep them in your library, with a subscription (the Personal Plan) as an optional extra. Skillshare is an annual subscription that opens its whole catalog of short, project-based classes, and it is built around creative work. Which one suits you comes down to two questions: what do you want to learn, and how often will you actually study? This comparison covers price, refunds, certificates, topics, teaching quality and who each platform suits, with every price re-checked on 24 October 2026.
Udemy vs Skillshare: Quick Comparison
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| Factor | Udemy | Skillshare |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog | 290,000+ courses (Udemy, 24 Oct 2026); 28,000+ in the Personal Plan | “Thousands of top-rated classes” from 9,000+ teachers (Skillshare’s own wording) |
| How you pay | Per course, or the Personal Plan subscription | Annual subscription only on the website |
| Price | Courses list near $129.99 on bestsellers, with frequent sales and a new-learner offer “from $14.99”; Personal Plan from $13 a month | $167.88 a year ($13.99 a month, paid annually) |
| Access | Bought courses stay in your library; Personal Plan access ends when you cancel | Access ends when the subscription ends |
| Topics | Everything, strongest in tech, IT certification, business and data | Mostly creative: design, illustration, photography, video, writing, craft |
| Certificates | Certificate of completion on paid courses (not accredited) | Class certificate after finishing every lesson and submitting the project (not accredited) |
| Refunds | 30 days on eligible individual courses; no refunds on subscriptions bought on Udemy.com (US) | No refunds on renewals; 7-day trial charge refundable only within 48 hours if unused |
| Free trial | Personal Plan trials appear in some promotions | 7-day free trial for new members |
| Best for | Tech, business and exam prep you want to keep | Exploring many creative skills in one year |
Prices and policies are as published on 24 October 2026. Both companies change offers often, so check the checkout page before you pay.
The Core Difference: Ownership vs Subscription
Most of the other differences follow from this one. A course you buy on Udemy is yours for as long as your account exists, including the instructor’s later updates. Pay once during a sale and you can return to it in five years. Skillshare works like a streaming service: one fee opens every class, and the day the subscription lapses, so does your access.
Ownership suits learners who take a handful of courses deliberately and want them for reference later, such as a Python bootcamp, an Excel course or AWS exam prep. A subscription suits people who like to graze, watching three illustration classes this week and a photography class the next. The risk with a subscription is paying for months you do not use. The risk with ownership is buying courses you never start, which is one reason Udemy’s refund window matters.
Udemy also sells a subscription now
Udemy’s Personal Plan is the closest thing to Skillshare’s model. On 24 October 2026 Udemy listed it at “Starting at $13.00/month”, billed monthly or annually, with access to 28,000+ of its top courses, certification prep and AI coding exercises. That is a curated slice of the 290,000-course marketplace, not the whole thing. It behaves like Skillshare in one important way: you keep nothing when you cancel. It also differs from individual Udemy purchases on refunds, which we cover below.
| Udemy individual course | Udemy Personal Plan | Skillshare | |
|---|---|---|---|
| You keep access after you stop paying | Yes | No | No |
| Catalog you can use | The courses you bought | 28,000+ courses | Whole Skillshare catalog |
| Typical cost | One sale price per course | From $13 a month | $167.88 a year |
| Refund window | 30 days (eligible courses) | None in the US unless the law requires it | Renewals: none |
Udemy: Best for Tech, Business, and Lifetime Access
Udemy is the largest open course marketplace online. On 24 October 2026 its about page listed 290K+ courses, 90K instructors, 84 million learners and courses in 78 languages. Anyone can publish a course, so quality ranges from excellent to thin, and the platform’s real strength is depth in technical and professional subjects that Skillshare barely covers.
Why Choose Udemy
- You keep what you buy: an individually purchased course stays in your library, so there is no subscription to remember to cancel.
- Breadth: 290,000+ courses across every subject, from Kubernetes to watercolor.
- Strong in tech: long, project-based programming, data and cloud courses from instructors such as Angela Yu, Colt Steele and Stephane Maarek, whose AWS courses are a standard first stop for certification prep.
- Business depth: Excel, financial modeling, project management, product and marketing courses with real detail.
- Certification prep: practice exams for AWS, Azure, CompTIA, PMP and other third-party exams. Skillshare does not offer exam prep.
- A refund window on courses: eligible courses bought individually can be refunded within 30 days, though Udemy can refuse if “a notable amount of the course has been consumed or downloaded” (Udemy refund policy).
Udemy’s Limitations
- Uneven quality: there is no editorial gate before publishing. Read the rating, the number of ratings, the “last updated” date and a few recent reviews before buying.
- Confusing pricing: list prices, sales and first-visit offers change constantly, which makes the real price hard to predict.
- Less community: a Q&A tab per course, but little of the project-sharing culture Skillshare has.
- Subscriptions are not refundable: the Personal Plan carries no 30-day guarantee when bought on Udemy.com in the US.
How to pick a good Udemy course
- Filter by rating (4.5+) and look for courses with thousands of ratings rather than dozens.
- Check the “Last updated” date. For software, anything older than two years may teach outdated versions.
- Watch the free preview lectures to judge the instructor’s pace and audio.
- Read the one- and two-star reviews: they tell you what the course is missing.
- Wait for a sale if the price shows near list, and keep the 30-day refund window in mind.
For the standouts in each category, see our guide to the best Udemy courses, or read the full Udemy review.
See Udemy’s current course prices
Skillshare: Best for Creative Skills on a Subscription
Skillshare describes itself as a home for creative people: on 24 October 2026 its pricing page advertised “thousands of top-rated classes in design, art, entrepreneurship, and more with zero ads”, 9,000+ teachers and 11 million+ members. Classes are short, usually built around one project you make and share, and the catalog leans hard toward illustration, graphic design, photography, animation, video editing, writing and craft. Where Skillshare is good it is very good. The problem is how narrow that range is.
Why Choose Skillshare
- One fee, every class: the annual membership covers the whole catalog, so you can try ten creative skills without paying ten times.
- Strong creative teachers: illustration, design, lettering, photography and video are where the catalog is deepest.
- Project-based: most classes end with a project you upload, which keeps you making rather than only watching.
- Learning Paths: curated sequences of classes toward one skill, which helps beginners who do not know where to start.
- No ads: Skillshare promises an ad-free experience. One Reddit thread in April 2026 complained about ads appearing in the Udemy mobile app.
Skillshare’s Limitations
- Thin in tech and business: programming, data science and professional subjects exist but rarely go deep.
- Certificates are light: Skillshare does issue a class certificate once you watch every lesson and submit the class project (Skillshare help), but it is a record of completion, not a credential an employer will check.
- Subscription only: cancel and you lose everything, including classes you were halfway through.
- Strict refunds: no refunds on renewals, and a narrow 48-hour window after a 7-day trial charge.
- Short format: great for a taste of a skill, less good for reaching a professional level.
For the full breakdown of what Skillshare charges and how its trial works, see our guide to how much Skillshare costs.
Pricing Compared: When Each Is Cheaper
The math depends on how many courses you will finish in a year. On 24 October 2026 Skillshare charged $167.88 a year ($13.99 a month, paid annually), and its website showed no month-to-month plan. Udemy prices individual courses: bestsellers listed at $129.99 when we checked them on 22 October 2026, but sales and first-visit offers (“courses from $14.99” on 24 October) bring most purchases well below that. Udemy’s Personal Plan starts at $13 a month.
| Your habit in a year | Cheapest option | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 tech or business courses | Udemy, bought on sale | Five courses at sale prices usually cost less than a year of either subscription, and you keep them |
| 10+ short creative classes | Skillshare annual | One $167.88 fee covers unlimited classes |
| Several long tech courses a month | Udemy Personal Plan | From $13 a month for 28,000+ courses, if you stay busy |
| One creative skill, one big course | Udemy (or Domestika) | A single purchase beats a year of subscription you will not use |
| You are not sure you will study | Udemy individual course | The 30-day refund window limits the downside |
The hidden costs on each side
On Udemy, the trap is paying list price. A sale or new-learner offer runs most weeks, so if a course shows near $129.99, wait a few days or check our Udemy coupon guide. The second trap is the course library you never open: refunds stop at 30 days.
On Skillshare, the cost is recurring. An annual membership renews automatically, Skillshare sends a reminder about 30 days before, and it does not refund renewals (Skillshare refund policy). Put the renewal date in your calendar the day you join. A subscription you stop using is the most expensive option of all.
Refunds, trials and canceling compared
| Situation | Udemy | Skillshare |
|---|---|---|
| Unhappy with one course | Request a refund within 30 days; may be refused if much of the course was used | Not applicable: you pay for the subscription, not the class |
| Charged after a free trial | Personal Plan: cancel the trial before it ends to avoid a charge | 7-day trial: contact Support within 48 hours of the charge for a one-time refund, if unused. 14-day or longer trials: no refund |
| Renewal you forgot about | No refunds on subscriptions bought on Udemy.com (US) | No refunds on renewals |
| You live in the EU or UK | Local refund periods apply (14 days in the UK, Germany and France) | 14-day cooling-off period under local law |
| Bought through the iPhone or Android app | Refunds go through Apple or Google | Refunds go through Apple or Google |
Sources: Udemy refund policy, Udemy subscription refund exceptions and Skillshare refund policy, all read on 24 October 2026.
Certificates and Accreditation
Neither platform gives you an accredited credential. Udemy issues a certificate of completion on paid courses, which is fine as a LinkedIn line but is not a formal qualification. Skillshare also issues a class certificate: you earn one for each class where you watch every lesson and submit the project (Skillshare help center). Older guides, including earlier versions of this page, said Skillshare issues nothing; that is no longer true.
Employers rarely look at either certificate. A Reddit thread from October 2026 about platforms sponsored on YouTube put it plainly: nobody takes the certificate seriously, but the skill shows up in your work. If a recognized credential is part of the goal, use a Udemy course to prepare for a third-party exam (AWS, CompTIA, PMP), or choose a platform whose certificates carry a university or employer name. See whether Coursera certificates are worth it for that route.
| Credential goal | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Show you finished a course | Either | Both issue a completion certificate |
| Pass an industry exam (AWS, CompTIA, PMP) | Udemy prep + the vendor’s exam | The exam is the credential; Udemy has the practice tests |
| A certificate with a company or university name | Coursera | Google, IBM, Meta and university certificates |
| A creative portfolio | Skillshare projects | The work you post matters more than any certificate |
Head-to-Head: Which Is Better By Topic
| Topic | Winner | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Programming and web development | Udemy | Long, project-based bootcamps and frequent updates |
| Data science and AI | Udemy | Python, machine learning and AI courses with real depth |
| Cloud and IT certification | Udemy | AWS, Azure and CompTIA prep with practice exams |
| Business, Excel and marketing | Udemy | More depth in analytics, finance and digital marketing |
| Illustration and drawing | Skillshare | Project-first classes and an active creative community |
| Graphic design | Close, slight Skillshare edge | Skillshare for exploring styles; Udemy for full software courses you keep |
| Photography | Skillshare | More short classes for creative and hobby photography |
| Video editing and YouTube | Close | Skillshare for creative editing; Udemy for complete Premiere Pro or DaVinci courses |
| Writing and craft | Skillshare | Broad range of short classes in creative writing and making |
| Exam prep | Udemy | Skillshare offers no exam preparation |
Graphic design and illustration in more detail
This is the one category where the choice is genuinely close. Skillshare’s strength is variety: dozens of short classes on lettering, character design or color theory from working illustrators, each ending in a project. Udemy’s strength is the complete software course, such as a 20-hour Adobe Illustrator or Figma course you keep and come back to. Beginners who want to find their style usually get more from a Skillshare year; people who need to master one tool for a job usually get more from one Udemy course.
Programming, data and business skills in more detail
Here the gap is wide. A typical Udemy web-development or Python bootcamp runs to dozens of hours, with coding exercises, downloadable projects and an instructor who answers questions in the course Q&A. Skillshare has programming classes, but most are short introductions. The same holds for Excel, financial modeling, SQL and project management: Udemy has several complete courses per topic, often updated for the current software version, while Skillshare covers the basics. If the skill is for a job, budget for Udemy, or for a structured option such as Zero To Mastery or Coursera.
Video and YouTube skills
In the r/videography thread we read, working videographers said the same thing about both platforms: you learn the camera faster by shooting and by assisting on real jobs, and free YouTube channels cover a lot of the basics. Paid courses help most when you want a structured path through one editing tool or a business topic such as pricing client work. For that, a complete Udemy course is usually the better buy.
Which Should You Choose?
- Career changer or upskilling in tech or business → Udemy. The catalog, the instructors and the ability to keep what you buy all point one way.
- Hobbyist creative who wants to explore → Skillshare. If you will work through design, illustration or photography classes every week, the annual fee pays off.
- Preparing for an IT or cloud exam → Udemy. Practice tests are the reason to be here.
- You want one creative course to keep → Udemy or Domestika. A one-time purchase beats a year of subscription.
- You want a credential employers recognize → neither; use Coursera.
- You want structured tech learning with a community → Zero To Mastery sits between the two. See our ZTM vs Udemy comparison.
Can you use both?
Yes, and it can be the cheapest way to cover two goals. Buy the two or three Udemy courses you need for work during a sale, then use a Skillshare year for creative exploration. Just put the Skillshare renewal date in your calendar, because the renewal is not refundable.
Who should skip both
Neither platform is the right first stop if you need a formal qualification for a regulated job (nursing, accounting, teaching), if your employer already pays for LinkedIn Learning or Udemy Business, or if you learn best with live feedback from a person. For a portfolio-based career change into design or development, a mentored program or a structured certificate usually does more than a stack of self-paced videos. And if you only need one narrow skill, a free YouTube series or the software maker’s own tutorials may be enough.
Better Alternatives to Consider
Depending on your goal, another platform may beat both:
| Platform | Best for | Price (24 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Coursera | University and company certificates (Google, IBM, Meta) | $59 a month or $239 a year (normally $399) for Coursera Plus |
| Domestika | Creative courses you buy once and keep | Per course, with frequent sales |
| Zero To Mastery | Structured tech-career courses with a strong community | From $25 a month |
| MasterClass | Inspiration from famous practitioners | From $10 a month, billed annually |
Domestika is the closest match to what Skillshare does well, with one difference that matters: like Udemy, you buy a course and keep it. In the r/Gouache thread we read, painters split on it, with one preferring Domestika’s one-time purchases and another preferring Skillshare overall. Read our Zero To Mastery review for the middle option on the tech side, and Skillshare alternatives for nine more platforms routed by goal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Udemy or Skillshare better value?
It depends on volume. If you take one to five courses a year, Udemy is usually cheaper: buy each on sale and keep it. If you will work through ten or more short creative classes, Skillshare’s $167.88 annual membership is better value, as long as you keep using it.
Is Udemy better than Skillshare?
For most people, yes. Udemy has a far bigger catalog (290,000+ courses), stronger tech and business courses, certification prep and courses you keep. Skillshare is better for hobby creative skills such as illustration, design, photography and video.
Is Skillshare or Udemy better for graphic design?
It is close. Skillshare is better for exploring styles through short project classes. Udemy is better if you need a complete course in one tool, such as Illustrator or Figma, that you can keep.
Can I use Udemy and Skillshare together?
Yes. Many people buy the Udemy courses they need for work during a sale and use a Skillshare year for creative exploration. Note the Skillshare renewal date, because renewals are not refunded.
Which has better instructors?
Udemy has more well-known tech instructors, such as Angela Yu, Colt Steele, Jose Portilla and Stephane Maarek. Skillshare has many working creatives who are less famous. Anyone can teach on both, so judge each course by its ratings and recent reviews.
Does Skillshare have a free trial?
Yes. Skillshare offers new members a 7-day free trial. If you are charged after it and did not mean to continue, contact Skillshare Support within 48 hours of the charge for a one-time refund, as long as you have not used the service since.
Does Skillshare give certificates?
Yes. Skillshare issues a class certificate when you watch every lesson in a class and submit its project. It is a record of completion, not an accredited credential.
Does Udemy give refunds?
Eligible courses bought individually can be refunded within 30 days, though Udemy may refuse if much of the course has been watched or downloaded. Subscriptions bought on Udemy.com, including the Personal Plan, have no 30-day guarantee in the US.
How much does Skillshare cost per month?
On 24 October 2026 Skillshare’s website listed one plan: $167.88 a year, which works out to $13.99 a month paid annually. The website showed no month-to-month plan.
How much does Udemy cost?
Individual courses list near $129.99 on bestsellers but usually sell for much less during sales and new-learner offers. The Personal Plan subscription starts at $13 a month for 28,000+ courses.
Did Coursera buy Udemy?
Coursera and Udemy completed their combination on 11 May 2026. Udemy said nothing about learners’ access, subscriptions or pricing changed on day one, and courses you own stay in your library.
Is Skillshare good for beginners?
Yes, for creative skills. Classes are short, end in a small project and include Learning Paths that sequence classes for beginners. It is weaker for beginners in programming or data.
Related: if neither suits you, our Skillshare alternatives guide routes nine other platforms by what you want to learn.
Verdict
For most learners, Udemy is the better choice. You keep what you buy, the catalog is far larger, it is much stronger in tech and business, and buying on sale keeps the cost low. Skillshare is worth it when creative skills are your main focus and you will use the annual membership often enough to cover $167.88 a year. Decide before the renewal date, because Skillshare does not refund renewals.
If you want a credential alongside your learning, skip both and look at Coursera, whose Google and IBM certificates carry more weight with employers.
Free Courses and Free Trials
Both platforms let you try before you pay, in different ways. Udemy keeps a catalog of free courses (its free-courses page advertised 450+ on 24 October 2026), mostly short introductions that work as samples of an instructor’s style. Paid Udemy courses also include free preview lectures, so you can watch part of a course before buying it. Skillshare offers new members a 7-day free trial of the whole catalog.
The two approaches suit different buyers. A Udemy preview tells you whether one specific course is good. A Skillshare trial tells you whether the subscription as a whole is worth it, which is the bigger decision. If you start a Skillshare trial, cancel before day seven unless you have already decided to stay: the refund window after the first charge is only 48 hours, and only if you have not used the service since.
| Way to try | Udemy | Skillshare |
|---|---|---|
| Free content | Free courses plus free preview lectures on paid courses | The whole catalog during the 7-day trial |
| Free trial of a subscription | Personal Plan trials in some promotions | 7-day trial for new members |
| Safety net after paying | 30-day refund on eligible individual courses | 48-hour refund after a 7-day trial charge, if unused |
Udemy Business vs Skillshare for Teams
Both platforms sell to employers, and the comparison follows the consumer one. On 24 October 2026 Udemy’s Team Plan cost $30.00 a month per user for 2 to 50 people, billed annually, with access to 28,000+ courses, certification prep and adoption reports; its Enterprise Plan, for more than 20 people, is priced through sales and adds an international collection of 30,000+ courses. Skillshare for Teams cost $159 a seat a year for teams of two or more, with discounts from 30 seats.
| Udemy Team Plan | Skillshare for Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $30 a user a month, billed annually ($360 a year) | $159 a seat a year |
| Team size | 2 to 50 (Enterprise for larger groups) | 2+ (discounts from 30 seats) |
| Catalog | 28,000+ business and technical courses | Creative and soft-skill classes |
| Best for | Upskilling in tech, data, leadership and compliance | Design, marketing and creative teams |
For a technical or mixed team, Udemy’s business catalog is the stronger buy despite the higher price. For a small design or social team, Skillshare for Teams costs less than half as much per seat.
Apps, Learning Experience and Support
Both platforms have iPhone and Android apps and let you study on a browser. Udemy’s mobile app supports offline viewing, which Udemy mentions in its instructor documentation, and its courses mix video with quizzes, practice tests, coding exercises and an AI assistant. Skillshare’s classes are shorter, usually a handful of videos and a project, and its interface is built around browsing and following teachers.
Customer-review scores split sharply. On 24 October 2026 Trustpilot showed Skillshare at 4.0 from 4,233 reviews, with reviewers praising the variety of creative classes and the project format. Udemy stood at 1.6 from 1,974 reviews; Trustpilot’s summary of recent reviews pointed to login problems, freezing videos and frustration with customer service. Trustpilot reviews skew toward people with a problem, and Udemy’s scale means more of those, so read the score as a signal about support rather than course quality. The pattern matches Reddit: one r/Udemy poster in October 2026 missed being able to reach Udemy by phone. Udemy now routes help through its help center and a virtual assistant.
| Udemy | Skillshare | |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot (24 Oct 2026) | 1.6 from 1,974 reviews | 4.0 from 4,233 reviews |
| Mobile apps | iOS and Android, offline viewing | iOS and Android |
| Course format | Long courses with quizzes, practice tests and coding exercises | Short classes ending in a project |
| Support | Help center and virtual assistant | Help center and email |
Udemy vs Skillshare Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| Udemy | Keep courses you buy; 290,000+ courses; deep tech, business and exam prep; 30-day refund on eligible courses; frequent sales; well-known instructors | Uneven quality with no editorial gate; confusing list-versus-sale pricing; weak Trustpilot score for support; Personal Plan not refundable in the US |
| Skillshare | One annual fee for every class; strong creative teachers; project-based classes; Learning Paths; no ads; 4.0 on Trustpilot | Thin in tech and business; access ends when you cancel; no refunds on renewals; short classes rarely reach professional depth |
The pattern is consistent: Udemy is a store with uneven shelves and a generous return policy on single courses, and Skillshare is a well-kept creative club with a strict membership contract. Choose the one whose weakness you can live with.
Does the Coursera–Udemy Merger Change Anything?
Coursera completed its combination with Udemy on 11 May 2026. In the announcement, Udemy CEO Greg Hart said that for learners “nothing about your experience, access, subscription, or pricing changes today”, that people keep access to their courses and certificates, and that the two platforms would not be integrated on day one (Udemy news, 11 May 2026).
That matches the worry we read on r/Udemy in April 2026, where a buyer asked whether a one-year subscription would survive the deal. For now, Udemy.com still sells courses and the Personal Plan as before. Over time the companies say they will offer a combined catalog, so check our Coursera vs Udemy comparison if you are choosing between the two. Skillshare is unaffected: it is a separate company.
What Udemy and Skillshare Learners Say
We read Reddit threads from the past year on both platforms. The same points came up repeatedly:
- Practice beats any course for creative work. In r/videography, working videographers said a few days assisting on a real shoot teaches more than either platform, and that free YouTube channels cover many basics.
- Subscriptions surprise people. A buyer in r/Udemy in October 2026 was charged more than expected for a subscription an hour after signing up. Read the billing terms at checkout, on either platform.
- Some prefer owning. In r/Gouache, one painter preferred buying single Domestika courses to paying for a Skillshare subscription; another found Skillshare better overall.
- Certificates are not the point. In r/NoStupidQuestions, commenters agreed nobody treats these certificates as a qualification, but the skills help at work.
- Quality varies on Udemy. Instructors and learners alike describe a crowded marketplace where ratings and update dates matter more than the platform name.
Teaching on Udemy vs Skillshare
Many searches compare the two from the teacher’s side. The models differ in the same way the learner side does. On the Udemy marketplace, instructors are paid when someone buys their course. In Udemy Business, Udemy puts 15% of monthly subscription revenue into an instructor pool and splits it by each instructor’s share of minutes consumed, and Personal Plan earnings are also based on engagement (Udemy instructor help). Skillshare pays teachers royalties from minutes watched by paying members; since 1 January 2026 a teacher needs at least 75 minutes watched in a month and at least 50 followers to qualify (Skillshare teacher earnings update).
In practice, Udemy rewards a course people will buy, and Skillshare rewards a body of classes people keep watching. One Udemy instructor on r/Udemy reported revenue down 90% between January and April 2026, so treat any income claim with caution and read each platform’s current instructor terms before building a course.
How We Compared Udemy and Skillshare
We read both platforms’ pricing pages, refund policies, certificate policies and company pages on 24 October 2026, compared their catalogs by subject, and read recent learner discussions on Reddit. We did not buy a new subscription for this update. We earn a commission when you buy through some links on this page (Udemy, Coursera, Domestika, MasterClass and Zero To Mastery); our Skillshare links are not affiliate links. Commissions never decide the verdict. See our review methodology.
Related: the full Udemy review, our best Udemy courses guide, how much Skillshare costs, MasterClass vs Skillshare, the Udemy Personal Plan review and the best Zero To Mastery courses.