Does Udemy Work? Udemy is a popular learning platform to learn just about any topics online and people still consider this as a good place to learn.
Is this the best online tool for massive open online courses (MOOS)?
During the past few years, the trend of online education and learning has gained significant popularity, like Udemy, which is still constantly growing with time, but many questions, does Udemy work?
Are such online tools really effective? Let’s explore the answer.
After reading my review you will learn more about this online platform and you will also learn about the best place to learn how to make money online.
Udemy Review
Summary
Name: Udemy
Website:https://www.udemy.com/
Pros: A lot of resources for any subject
Cons: No community support to guide you with the training
Star Rating:/ 4/5
Bottom Line: Sometimes you get stuck on the training and nobody will guide you through. I suggest that you try my #1 recommendation as it has a community of over 800,000 online entrepreneurs willing to guide you through the training.
Online courses are a highly convenient option in today’s hectic life especially if you have a very busy schedule or have lots of familial responsibilities on your shoulders.
The main issue, however, is to find the right platform from where you can get your desired education.
The second most important and yet very difficult task is to find the courses that completely fit all of your requirements and cover everything that you want to learn.
If you are also one of those people who is thinking along the lines of taking online courses, then you must have heard about Udemy.
But, the actual question is, does Udemy really work or is it just a waste of time and money? – Let’s find out together.
What is Udemy?
Udemy is an online educational tool that provides different kinds of courses to people from all walks of life.
The tool offers a huge number of courses on different kinds of topics offered by both expert and non-expert instructors.
These courses are delivered to the customers via video.
Udemy – An Introduction
Udemy was developed by a software designer Eren Bali and was introduced to the public in the year 2010.
As mentioned above, Udemy is an online marketplace for educational programs that offer a variety of more than 30,000 courses to choose from.
Although the number of available courses is extremely high, it makes it a complex task for you to tell which one is really worth taking.
A lot of similar courses show a good number of students and ratings, but their prices vary significantly from one another, which make you doubtful about their authenticity.
The various topics on which the courses are offered include arts & crafts, business, technology, languages, software, lifestyle, games, science, music, sports and more.
Pricing
The prices vary from course to course, depending on the contents of the course and the instructor’s skills and expertise.
The majority of the courses cost from $29 to $299.
However, the higher paying courses can go up to around $900 as well or even more.
Although, Udemy sometimes offers some special discounts on some of their courses, the pricing of Udemy, in comparison to other similar software and learning websites is still pretty high.
The prices of other websites generally don’t go beyond $100 for regular courses, for which Udemy would charge $200+.
Udemy generally charges a one-time fee for each course.
This seems like a good thing, but, most of the times you end up getting only the sample lessons for that price and are required to either learn the remaining part on your own or pay more for other courses for learning the rest of the areas.
However, not all of the courses require you to pay a one-time fee.
Some of them give you the option to choose whether or not you’ll like to pay all at once for the course you want to learn, but the number of such courses is very limited.
Is Udemy Better than Other Similar Tools?
Let’s take a quick look at several aspects of Udemy that will help us determine if it’s better than other similar tools or not.
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Cost
First of all, as we mentioned above as well, Udemy is quite pricey in comparison to other similar websites and platforms.
You can easily take two to three different courses from other websites for the price of one course from Udemy.
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Academic Accreditation
The second most crucial thing to consider is that those other such tools offer the courses that are meant for universities and educational institutions, with the same curriculum and topics.
Udemy, on the other hand, offers you courses that don’t have academic accreditation and are more like YouTube tutorial videos that you can easily watch on YouTube as well without having to pay anything.
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Criteria for Instructor
Another alarming thing is that there is no certain criterion set by Udemy to be an instructor on their website.
Anyone can join Udemy to create their courses and charge as much as they seem fit, whereas, on other websites, the instructors have to meet certain benchmarks pertaining to their education and experience for teaching a specific course.
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Availability of Instructor’s Biodata
One more off-putting thing about instructors at Udemy is that there is no descriptive bio data about them that can tell you in detail what actually makes them qualified for teaching you a certain course.
All you can see there are just a photograph and a brief introduction, which doesn’t suffice when you have to pay a good amount.
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Quantity vs. Quality
It is also noticed by many people that the instructors at Udemy seem more concerned about the promotion of their courses but are least concerned about the quality of the course.
Their major aim is to make as much money as they want because they are the ones who set their prices and they always show their ratings on a higher side, which clearly shows where their focus lies.
Considering all above points, it is pretty evident that Udemy is nowhere to be termed better than other similar tools and needs to be more customer oriented to compete with others.
Summary Overview
Udemy Review
Summary
Name: Udemy
Website:https://www.udemy.com/
Pros: A lot of resources for any subject
Cons: No community support to guide you with the training
Star Rating:/ 4/5
Bottom Line: Sometimes you get stuck on the training and nobody will guide you through. I suggest that you try my #1 recommendation as it has a community of over 800,000 online entrepreneurs willing to guide you through the training.
Is it Simple to Use?
Udemy is neither very simple to use nor its very complex.
Coming towards its interface, their course search toolbar is the only thing that we have found to be great so far. You can look up the courses, reviews, and even the students of specific courses that can help you in selecting your course.
Conversely, due to the availability of too many options, you may end up really muddled and may not be able to decide the course you want to take.
Moreover, the unrealistic reviews and ratings also add up to your confusion because it’s extremely rare to see any courses at Udemy that have less than 4-5 star ratings. Weird, isn’t it?
Apart from the search toolbar, the other options and menu can be hard to use. There are a lot of buttons and back buttons, and they are in a very disorderly position, so it can take a while for you to become accustomed to it.
Pros of Udemy
- There is a wide range of courses available.
- You can access Udemy anywhere you like on various kinds of devices.
- Courses remain available for an indefinite time period.
- You can learn as per your convenience and speed.
- You can view a few selected lectures before purchasing them.
Cons of Udemy
- The majority of the courses at Udemy are not accredited from any colleges or institutes unlike MOOC courses from other sources. Lack of certificate makes the whole course a total waste of time when it comes to job hunt because your course won’t be recognized by any potential employers.
- The course videos are very slow and take a lot of time to buffer, which they keep on doing after every 10-15 seconds.
- The way an instructor teaches may or may not work for you, which depends on many factors that include the pace of the instructor vs. the pace of your learning, the accent of the instructor and how deep the instructor goes into the topic while elaborating it.
- If the interaction isn’t good enough then the videos can get pretty boring to watch, which may leave you distracted.
- The majority of the courses are targeted for the beginners, so, the people looking for advanced level courses generally don’t end up happy.
- Since Udemy allows anyone and everyone to be an instructor on their website, it makes you question their skills and expertise when it doesn’t go that well.
- Due to the plethora of courses on Udemy, you will find hundreds of courses on the same topic with varying prices that can go from least to most. Therefore, it can be really troublesome to find the one that contains the specific content that you need.
What are Users Saying About Udemy?
We came across a number of Udemy users, the majority of which seemed disgruntled and highly disappointed with the tool.
As per many users, it is extremely difficult to find good quality courses in the first place.
And in many instances, the courses the customers pay for are removed before they could even take them.
A lot of users also mentioned receiving false discount emails from Udemy in which they claim to offer discounts on some specific courses, and upon purchasing, the price turns out to be 3-4 times more than what’s stated in the email.
Moreover, there are many users whose accounts get closed for no apparent reason and their inquiries don’t solve the problem either.
Apart from these issues, users find Udemy’s toolbar quite difficult to navigate.
The courses don’t always cover everything mentioned in the curriculum, and many of the instructors don’t seem fit for their job.
And since the ratings for almost all the courses are pretty high – it is really hard to figure out which ratings are real and which aren’t.
Lastly, there is a total lack of instructor support at Udemy. The instructors are very nonresponsive to emails and even complaint tickets, which is enough to drive the users crazy.
Is it Popular?
Considering the reviews and ratings on Udemy’s own website and the courses, the tool seems extremely popular.
However, the ratings only range between 4 and five stars, which also make it pretty evident that those are not genuine.
For checking whether Udemy’s popularity is true or not, the independent reviews and customer reviews outside Udemy’s website are a good place to start.
As discussed above, the customers are highly dissatisfied with Udemy due to its major flaws.
And, as far as the rating is concerned, the users don’t rate it more than 2.5-3 stars, which shows the clients’ utter disapproval for Udemy.
Conclusion
VERY GOOD!
With everything switching to online, the people don’t need to physically go anywhere to study and can use their smartphones and other devices for the same purpose.
However, it is only possible when you have a good online learning tool that provides you with the authentic and certified education.
Udemy is a legitimate platform to learn a lot of topics but it certainly needs some improvements and I consider it good although it is not my recommendation.
Udemy may have its benefits, but for the most part, it’s is better to find an alternative platform.
There are plenty of things that need to be changed by Udemy for making it an ideal online education tool, and until that happens, we’d suggest you find some other ways of learning what you want.
If you need proper online training, I have a recommendation for you. Wealthy Affiliate offers top level online training with a community of over 800,000 online entrepreneurs with varying degrees of expertise.
They offer the training you cannot find in Udemy.
Feel free to ask questions, post comments or subscribe to my email list so that you will be the first to get the updates and offers.
You may also visit me so I can answer your questions directly at Wealthy Affiliate.com as it is where I hang out with my buddies most of the time ( link to my profile page ).
At a Glance
Udemy Review
Summary
Name: Udemy
Website:https://www.udemy.com/
Pros: A lot of resources for any subject
Cons: No community support to guide you with the training
Star Rating:/ 4/5
Bottom Line: Sometimes you get stuck on the training and nobody will guide you through. I suggest that you try my #1 recommendation as it has a community of over 800,000 online entrepreneurs willing to guide you through the training.
Nate says
You’ve gone into very good detail about Udemy. I’ve personally never bought into their courses. I know for a fact that reputation should come before price, I recommend that most people do their homework online before buying into courses like these. Thank you so much for this review, I will take it into consideration.
Den says
Hi Nate,
Udemy is not a bad platform to learn lessons online. There are just some flaws that need to be addressed.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Ian says
Hi Den,
I actually looked into the Udemy program and was about to check it out. But I decided to do some more research and ran into some pages of users who mentioned some of the same flaws you saw like, receiving false discounts and accounts getting closed for no apparent reason so I decided to not move forward.
I actually ended up going with Wealthy Affiliate myself and I can personally vouch for everything you stated about the program. It is truly a great community. So thanks for the honest and thorough review.
I wish you the best!
Den says
Hi Ian,
Udemy is a good platform but it has some flaws and I am glad you did not pursue your plan. There is a platform that offers better training and community support.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Steen says
Hi Den! I have looked at Udemy before. Well, I have never taken a course from there. So, of course, I have no idea how expensive they really are.
What I found was that it is a huge platform too. That there were courses almost in all subjects. But that they have no academic relevance and that prices really are so high.
Really gives me substance for thought. I know there are other platforms that give this kind of lessons for free. I even use one called MosaicHUB and here you may not see videos but you can get in touch with experts around the world. I know there are also other options.
So my question is, do you know where you can get better information that also has academic relevance?
Steen
Den says
Hi Steen,
If the topic you want is about online business, nothing beats Wealthy Affiliate. They cover everything, and there are more than 800,000 members of the community willing to guide you whatever online business you may want to start.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
anamcknight says
Hi Den!
I found your content to be very informative and I love that you offer excellent and honest recommendations, I really appreciate that, it’s not easy to find a site like yours, that gives a lot of value and it’s specially honest. I also liked your post about selling coffee online, I had never thought of that! I might use this tip on my website!
Thank you!
Den says
Hi Ana,
Glad that you found my post informative. Udemy may have its benefits but my recommendation will out weight them all.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Eric says
I had never heard of Udemy before your article so it was nice to learn what exactly it is. Sounds to me like there are certainly much better options out there to look into before going with them. One more thing, can you clarify whether people like Udemy search toolbar. I noticed you said in Simple to use that it’s great but when I got down to what users say you mention it’s quite difficult to navigate.
Den says
Hi Eric,
I found the search toolbar great but other users find it difficult to navigate. My opinion is not the same as their opinion as I must say.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Mitch says
I have taken a few Udemy courses and they were ok. I agree the price range can vary greatly from course to course. The class i took was $29 and I just got the basics for the topic I was studying.
Wealthy Affiliate looks like a great place to learn. I checked them out and they have good ratings and a lot of members who are always willing to help out. I like that their membership is free to get started.
Thanks for sharing,
Mitch
Den says
Hi Mitch,
The only thing that is missing with Udemy is the community. It is the one big advantage of Wealthy Affiliate. They have the community to help you out when starting.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
YourVirtualCareer says
In my personal experience with Udemy you just have to find the high-rated courses/instructors for the subjects you’re interested in. I can’t speak for every course, but I have had some which were ok and some which I requested a refund. The biggest issue I have is getting responses from questions I submit to the creator of the courses. I haven’t purchased anything lately due to the lack of response and cost.
Den says
Hi,
Udemy is a good learning platform but they do not have the support of a community when you get stuck in the training. You can only get responses from the creators of the training and sometimes the responses are not that quick if you get a response at all.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
isaac says
Hi there. Many thanks for this review. I’ve heard about Udemy, and most of them a good recommendation. Your review bring a different side of this online learning tool which is valuable since I am also thinking of learning few things online myself.
On the alternative, do you have any suggestion? I’m thinking of learning about coding and website building. The cheaper it is the better lol!
Den says
Hi Isaac,
Udemy is a good platform to learn online, but the only problem is they do not have a community to guide you through the lessons. If you get stuck you have to go back through the whole process. In Wealthy Affiliate, you have top notch training plus the community to guide you through the lessons. It is free to join by the way.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Roopesh says
I did not know that the prices of these courses are higher in comparison to other places. In addition the high price that one would be paying, does not always give you full access. As you mentioned, you get only sample lessons.
That does not sound very fair. I think if one is going to invest so much of money, the least that they could do, is offer a trial as to what the course is exactly about. Thanks for the review, but will be sticking to the authority institutions.
Regards,
Roopesh
Den says
Hi Roopesh,
If you pay a high price for a course, you should get what you paid for it , otherwise it is logical to find better platforms offering more value with less money involved.
Thanks for the comments,
Den
Jojo says
Thank you for a very good and detailed review.
Unfortunately too many people are into their online businesses with no other aim than to make money. Of course everybody wants to make money but it is fair to do so by giving value to people. By teaching people what they want to learn and helping them to solve their problems, they will happy to pay for it. In the long run it is better for business as well, as happy customers will return and give the vendor a good reputation which in turn will attract new customers.
Just look at Wealthy Affiliate, they would hardly be where they are today if their customers was unhappy with their services.
Den says
Hi Jojo,
Udemy is a good platform but it lacks in terms of community support. You will be left on your own. This is where Wealthy Affiliate has the greatest advantage. The support of over 800,000 online entrepreneurs in the Wealthy Affiliate community is incomparable to any other platform that exists today. You are right, Wealthy Affiliate will be what they are today if the services they offer are short of being excellent.
Thanks for the comments,
Den