What is Udemy and How Does It Work?

By Corbin HartwickUpdated on March 18, 2022

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In today’s economic climate, having certifications, specific skills, and an impressive résumé can be key to obtaining a job. Have you ever wanted to learn skills or take courses, but didn’t have the time or money to attend an institution?

It would be so convenient if you could use a website to take courses online, learning whenever and wherever it is suitable for you. This is what you get when you sign up with Udemy.

So, what exactly is Udemy?

Udemy is a massively-open online course (M.O.O.C.) website where anyone is free to create and promote courses in the style of traditional post-secondary education. Users can also take courses to earn credit towards technical certification, or just to pick up or improve various job-related skills.

As of the writing of this article, Udemy has over 40,000 courses that have served over 10 million students. Courses require paying a tuition fee to enroll in; the price depends on the instructor who created the course. See our Udemy pricing article for more information.

How Udemy works: 4 things you should know to get started

1. Lots of different skills to discover

Udemy contains courses taught by professionals from all over the world on a variety of topics. Some deal with business and technology skills, others train you in music or the arts, and still others give you pointers on how to stay healthy or fit. There’s bound to be something that you want to learn on Udemy!

Udemy course categories

2. Education made affordable

Courses on Udemy can cost as little as $20, and Udemy has tons of promotional coupon codes that can give you discounts on courses normally priced at $150 to $200! Depending on the percentage discount that you get from a coupon code, you might be able to take an expensive course for as little as $10!

A Udemy course price drops after using a coupon

3. Learn when and how it’s convenient for you

Forget enrollment periods or assignment deadlines. If a course is available on Udemy, you can sign up for it whenever you want. View or listen to lectures, complete exercises, take virtual notes, download supplementary files, and discuss course materials with your instructors and fellow students. There’s no time limit, so every course can be completed at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.

Viewing a Udemy lecture and using the course tools

4. Show off your achievement

When you finish a course on Udemy, you will be awarded a certificate of achievement that you can share or print out! It looks good on your résumé, and some can even be used as evidence of progress towards certain technical certifications!

A Udemy certificate of achievement

That’s Udemy, and how it works, in a nutshell! For the rest of our Udemy course, we’ll go over the process of signing up for Udemy, as well as the fundamental steps for taking a course. We’ll also outline its pricing structure, and how you can use promotional codes to reduce the costs of courses that you enroll in. If there has ever been a skill that you wanted to learn or improve, but didn’t know where to go (or couldn’t get there), have a look around Udemy. Chances are that someone can help you train yourself right in the comfort of your own home!