How Often Does Udemy Have Sales? Free Insider’s Guide To “The Real Truth”

If you have been browsing Udemy’s courses, you may have started to notice something strange…

One-day Udemy courses might be $10 each, but if you come back a week later, they have all of a sudden gone up to $190 for the same course! What the #*!&!

So how often does Udemy have sales? And what is really going on behind the scenes to have such wild fluctuations in the price? Well, for a short and sweet answer, see below!

How often does Udemy have sales? Udemy has sales all year round which can be activated by opening a browser in “Incognito mode”. This is done as Udemy artificially raises prices after several days. Udemy also holds sales during Black Friday, New Years, and a number of other times.

How Often Does Udemy Have Sales In 2024? “The Real Truth”

An Explanation For Why Udemy Prices Are Always Changing

As I touched on briefly above, Udemy is constantly having sales all year round. Ok, but how do you explain their $199 courses then?

In short, it all comes down to a strategy called “Urgency Marketing“. Let me explain…

Odds are, when you first visited Udemy, that same $199 course was originally marked down to the price of around $5-$15.

What you also may have seen was a countdown clock and a marketing slogan like “End the year strong, sale ends October 24”.

Udemy adds this sense of urgency as it triggers new users to the website to act on this incredible sale. So from a business point of view, it makes perfect sense, as this strategy has been proven to work.

Unfortunately, for some users, if you don’t act upon the sale, the prices get hiked up to $199 which is more than 10 X the original price ????.

But in reality, the prices haven’t actually increased… They have only gone up in price on your computer or device. If you don’t take my word for it, you can open up your browser in Incognito (privacy mode) and see the instant price change.

Udemy Artificially Increases Prices, Just Like a Mattress Store

This is all thanks to a thing called a “cookie”, which runs the advertising backbone of the internet. In a nutshell, a cookie tracks your usage online, just like a trail of bread crumbs (creepy stuff).

So since Udemy knows when you first visited their website, they know exactly when to pull the levers and add more urgency.

And if visitors aren’t ready to act on the price that can be found all year round, they artificially increase the price, which is why you are most likely reading this article.

While I wish I could say that Udemy is horrible for doing this, I really can’t as 1,000’s of other companies use this same strategy, simply because it works.

Ok, so how do I revert the pricing back to the original promotion?

Method 1: Visit Udemy In An Incognito Browser

One sure-fire way to revert the Udemy pricing back to its original costs is to open your browser in incognito mode. By doing so, you are stopping Udemy from tracking your cookies and showing you an artificially inflated price.

For most browsers such as Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox, you can simply right-click on the browser icon, then select either “New Incognito Window” or “New Private Window”.

If you are having any trouble, this is a good guide on how to activate privacy mode on all operating systems and browsers. If done correctly, you should now see the original promotion of the Udemy courses (see below).

Method 2: Clear Cookies/ Cache On Your Browser

If for whatever reason the above method didn’t work, you can also try and clear your cache and cookies within the browser itself. Once done, Udemy will see you as a new visitor coming to the website as if it was your first time.

To see how to clear cache/ cookies in your browser, this is a really great and simple guide.

How Much Do Udemy Courses Cost?

While the price of Udemy courses does fluctuate a lot, the proper pricing of Udemy courses can be found all year round which varies from $4.99 – $12. Some even qualify for accreditation if you know how to look.

Anything above these numbers, and it is highly likely that Udemy has artificially raised the prices.

Are Udemy Courses Always $10?

Yes, or thereabouts. When purchasing a Udemy class/ course, it is normal for courses to be $10 (give or take a few dollars). If the pricing increases above $150, you can simply open a new window in incognito mode to revert back to the original promotional pricing. You also won’t need any coupons!

When Does Udemy Have Sales?

As I have shown above, Udemy courses are “always on sale”, or in other words “their courses are at normal rates, then artificially inflated after a certain amount of time”.

However, if you have used the above trick to score yourself a cheap course and signed up for the service, you are unlikely to see these cheap rates again.

This is when the actual Udemy sales can be beneficial. For a list of sales/ promotions, check out the list below.

• January: New Years promotions – great for site-wide discounts
• February: Typically has a 3-day flash sale 
• March: Valentines course sale
• April: Education month sale
• May: Mother’s Day class sales (some courses)
• June: Mid-year madness sales
• July: Summer holiday sales
• August: Back to school sales
• September: typically no sales
• October: End the year strong courses (site-wide)
• November: Black Frday and cyber Monday sales
• December: Christmas sales

When Is The Next Udemy Sale?

In short, Udemy courses are always on sale! Simply put your browser in incognito mode to see the original pricing that all users should be paying!

What Most Popular Courses On Sale On Udemy Right Now?

At this point, you know the answer is all of them. And we’ve done extensive research on their top-rated courses and certificates over the many years we’ve been monitoring them.

However, here are eight of their most popular courses, one from each of their major categories.

• Business: Microsoft Excel – Excel from Beginner to Advanced
• Design: The Ultimate Drawing Course – Beginner to Advanced
• Development: 2021 Complete Python Bootcamp From Zero to Hero in Python
• IT & Software: Learn Ethical Hacking From Scratch
• Marketing: The Complete Digital Marketing Course – 12 Courses in 1
• Music: Complete Guitar Lessons System – Beginner to Advanced
• Personal Development: Life Coaching Certification Course (Beginner to Advanced)
• Photography: Photography Masterclass: A Complete Guide to Photography

Though to be completely honest, with more than 155,000 courses, this is a very small sample of their true range and quality.

What Are My Alternatives To Udemy?

If after reading this you don’t really like Udemy’s sale pricing tactics or you’d simply prefer something more straightforward, you do have options.

For people looking to take many courses across a range of topics, the most economical choice is a subscription service like Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning, or Masterclass. Or if it’s just Math and Science, you can’t beat Brilliant. All four offer free trials so it’s better than a sale on a single course.

If you have a specific topic you want to take a single course on, then you’re better off starting with a platform that specializes in your area of interest. We have a full guide that describes these options (many of them free) in much more detail.

But the quick version: for creative classes try Domestika, for software and technology try Udacity, and for courses supporting the wide range of freelance skills, Learn from Fiverr.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, this guide on how often does Udemy has sales has been helpful for you. If you think that I have missed anything or would like to see more, please let me know down in the comments! 

If you want to see how to get Udemy courses for free, check out my tips and tricks here. Thanks for reading and happy learning!