ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your priority is getting learners without spending heavily on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

🥇 My pick: Udemy

Udemy explicitly has no fee to create and host courses, and its Marketplace Insights tool lets you research student demand, search volume, and revenue potential before you build the course. support.udemy.com

The trade-off is revenue share: for sales generated organically through Udemy rather than your own promotion, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue. But if you bring the student yourself through your coupon/referral link, the share is 97%. support.udemy.com

That makes Udemy particularly attractive when you don't have an audience yet: you're effectively exchanging some margin for marketplace distribution.

🥈 Skillshare is worth considering

If your course is about design, illustration, photography, video, writing, freelancing, or another creative skill, Skillshare can be interesting. Teachers earn primarily from a pool based on qualifying watch time and engagement rather than conventional course purchases. support.udemy.comhelp.skillshare.comwww.ruzuku.com

However, there's an important 2026 wrinkle: since July 16, teachers need at least 50 followers plus a watch-time/publishing requirement to qualify for monthly royalty payments. help.skillshare.com

So for a brand-new creator with zero audience, I'd favor Udemy first.

What I'd do on a tight budget

Don't buy Kajabi/Teachable/Thinkific yet. Those are useful when you already have an audience; they generally don't solve your biggest initial problem—finding learners. A marketplace does. www.ruzuku.com

Instead:

1. Research 5–10 course topics on Udemy Marketplace Insights.
2. Pick a narrow problem with clear buyer intent, rather than a huge topic like "Learn Marketing."
3. Build one excellent, focused course.
4. Optimize the title, thumbnail, description, curriculum and reviews for marketplace discovery.
5. Use organic content (YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit where appropriate) to get your first students/reviews rather than buying ads.
6. Once you have traction, consider adding your own storefront so you can capture more of each sale.

Bottom line: For a new creator with little money and little/no existing audience, Udemy is probably the best first marketplace. Skillshare is the runner-up, particularly for creative subjects.

If you tell me your course topic + roughly how much you want to charge, I can recommend the best marketplace and a low-budget launch strategy for that specific course.

If your priority is getting in front of learners without spending much on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

Why I'd pick Udemy

You don't pay to create or host courses, and Udemy has its own marketplace where learners can discover courses. support.udemy.com

The tradeoff is revenue share: you receive 37% of the net amount on sales generated without your promotion, while you receive 97% when the student buys through your coupon/referral link. So you're effectively trading some margin for Udemy's ability to bring you buyers. support.udemy.com

That makes it particularly attractive when you're starting with little or no audience.

Skillshare is worth considering—but with a caveat

Skillshare can also provide discovery without you buying ads. Teachers earn from a subscription-based royalty pool based largely on qualifying minutes watched. help.skillshare.com

However, as of July 16, 2026, Skillshare requires teachers to have at least 50 followers plus additional publishing/watch-time requirements to qualify for monthly royalties. help.skillshare.com That makes it less attractive as your very first marketplace if you're starting from zero.

My low-budget strategy

I'd do this:

1. Publish one narrowly focused course on Udemy.
2. Use Udemy's marketplace demand to validate whether people actually buy the topic.
3. Don't spend heavily on ads initially.
4. Optimize the title, thumbnail, description and first few lectures around the exact problem learners are searching for.
5. Once you have traction/reviews, consider moving toward a platform you control—where you keep more revenue and own more of the customer relationship.

Bottom line: If you're a brand-new creator with no significant audience + very little ad budget, choose Udemy first. If your subject is primarily design, illustration, photography, creative software, or similar, I'd seriously test Skillshare alongside it.

If your priority is getting in front of learners without spending much on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

🥇 My pick: Udemy

You don't pay to create or host a course, and Udemy explicitly says instructors can publish free and paid courses without a hosting fee. support.udemy.com

More importantly for your situation, Udemy itself supplies marketplace traffic. In 2025, Udemy reported more than 90,000 instructors and said 85% of its marketplace traffic originated outside the U.S. www.sec.gov

The tradeoff is revenue share:

• 97% of net revenue when a student buys through your instructor coupon/referral link.
• 37% when the sale comes through Udemy without your promotion—for example, marketplace browsing or certain Udemy advertising. support.udemy.com

For a cash-strapped beginner, I'd gladly accept the lower organic share if it means you don't have to buy the traffic yourself.

🥈 Skillshare is worth considering

Skillshare can also put your classes in front of an existing subscriber base, but its economics are different: teachers primarily earn based on qualifying watch time from paid members. www.sec.govhelp.skillshare.com

There's an important 2026 wrinkle: starting July 16, Skillshare requires at least 50 followers plus either recent publishing with sufficient watch time or a higher watch-time threshold to qualify for monthly royalties. help.skillshare.com

So I wouldn't make it your only bet as a brand-new creator.

What I'd do with a tiny budget

Don't start by paying for ads.

1. Put your first course on Udemy.
2. Choose a narrowly defined topic with obvious learner intent—e.g. “Excel dashboards for nonprofit managers” rather than “Learn Excel.”
3. Use Udemy's marketplace/search data to validate demand before spending weeks producing it.
4. Make the first course exceptionally focused and outcome-oriented.
5. Use your first students' questions/reviews to create a second, related course.
6. Once you have some traction, consider moving your best-selling material to a platform you control, where you can keep more revenue.

In other words: marketplace first for discovery, owned platform later for margin and customer ownership.

If you tell me your course topic + approximate price ($20, $50, $100, etc.), I can compare Udemy vs. Skillshare vs. other marketplaces specifically for that niche and tell you where I'd launch first.

If your priority is getting discovered without spending much on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

My ranking for a shoestring-budget creator

1. Udemy — best overall bet

Udemy is unusually well suited to your situation because you don't pay to create or host a course, and its marketplace can generate sales without you bringing every learner yourself. For sales generated through Udemy's marketplace rather than your own promotion, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue; sales through your own coupon/referral can pay 97%. support.udemy.com

It also has Marketplace Insights, which lets you investigate learner demand, search volume and revenue for potential topics before you spend weeks creating a course. support.udemy.com

Udemy instructor information

2. Skillshare — worth considering for creative subjects

Skillshare also has marketplace discovery and doesn't require a monthly platform subscription to teach. But I'd put it second for a brand-new creator: as of July 16, 2026, teachers need 50 followers plus a publishing/watch-time requirement to qualify for monthly royalties. Earnings are primarily tied to qualifying watch time and engagement rather than individual course purchases. help.skillshare.com

Skillshare teacher earnings information

What I'd do with $0–$100

Start on Udemy, not a standalone course platform. Pick a narrowly defined problem with demonstrable search demand, use Marketplace Insights before recording, and make the first course relatively focused rather than trying to build a giant "complete" program.

Then use your first course to learn:

• what learners actually buy
• which lessons they finish
• what questions/reviews reveal about demand
• which related course you could create next

Once you have some organic traction, then consider moving toward your own branded platform, where you keep more revenue but have to generate much more of the traffic yourself.

Bottom line: For a new creator with little money and no established audience, Udemy is probably the strongest first marketplace; Skillshare is a good second choice, especially for creative subjects.

If your priority is getting in front of learners without spending much on ads, I’d start with Udemy, with Skillshare as a secondary option.

My pick: Udemy

Udemy doesn't charge instructors to create/host courses, and its marketplace can generate sales without you buying ads. For sales that happen organically through Udemy—for example, someone browsing the marketplace—the instructor share is currently 37% of the net amount. If you drive the sale through your own coupon/referral link, the share is 97%. support.udemy.com

That's a pretty attractive trade for someone who has more time than marketing budget: you're essentially paying Udemy with a percentage of revenue in exchange for access to its existing learner marketplace.

There's also a potential second discovery channel through Udemy Business, where instructor compensation is based on learner engagement rather than individual course purchases. support.udemy.com

Skillshare: worth considering, but I'd rank it #2

Skillshare can work particularly well for creative subjects, but its economics changed significantly in 2026. As of July 16, teachers need at least 50 followers plus a publishing or watch-time requirement to qualify for monthly royalty payments. Earnings are primarily based on qualifying watch time and other engagement/referral factors. help.skillshare.com

So for a brand-new creator with zero audience, I'd rather test Udemy first.

What I'd do on a tight budget

1. Pick one narrow, searchable course topic rather than a huge "complete course."
2. Research the marketplace before recording—look for topics with substantial learner demand but mediocre existing courses.
3. Publish on Udemy first.
4. Make the course title/thumbnail/first few minutes extremely competitive; marketplace discovery doesn't help much if people don't click or finish.
5. Use free organic promotion—YouTube shorts, LinkedIn, Reddit communities where appropriate, etc.—but don't make paid ads a prerequisite.
6. Once you've validated that people actually buy/watch the course, consider putting a higher-priced version or complementary products on your own platform.

Bottom line: If you're starting from $0–$100 marketing budget and little/no audience, Udemy is probably the best first marketplace to test. You trade margin for distribution, which is exactly the trade-off that makes sense when cash—not time—is your constraint. support.udemy.com

If you tell me your course topic + target learner, I can also compare the best 3 marketplaces for that specific niche and tell you where I'd launch first.

If your main constraint is “I have little/no audience and don’t want to buy ads,” I’d prioritize a true marketplace over software that merely hosts your course.

My ranking for a new creator

Why I’d start with Udemy: the marketplace model is specifically designed to put courses in front of learners who are already searching for things to learn, rather than requiring you to generate all the traffic yourself. The tradeoff is that you surrender more control over pricing and revenue compared with owning your own storefront. www.ruzuku.com

Skillshare is worth considering, especially if your course is in areas like design, illustration, photography, animation, branding, or other creative subjects. Skillshare says it promotes selected high-quality classes through search, browse, recommendations, and curated placements. help.skillshare.com However, its economics changed substantially in 2026: teachers now need at least 50 followers plus additional publishing/watch-time requirements to qualify for monthly royalties. help.skillshare.com

Gumroad is a different proposition. Its Discover marketplace can recommend your products to prospective customers, but you first need to reach a $100 balance from genuine sales and pass its review process before becoming eligible for Discover. Marketplace-discovery sales also carry a 30% fee. gumroad.com So I wouldn't choose it primarily for cold-start discovery.

What I'd do on a tight budget

Start on Udemy → validate the topic → build an audience → eventually move/expand into your own storefront.

The key is not just uploading a course and hoping. Pick a specific search-driven problem (“Excel dashboards for nonprofit managers,” rather than “Learn Excel”), make the course inexpensive enough to generate initial enrollments/reviews, and optimize the title, thumbnail, description, and curriculum around what learners are actually searching for.

If you tell me what your course is about and roughly how long it is, I can recommend the best marketplace for that specific topic and show you how I'd position it to get organic learners.

If your priority is getting discovered without spending much on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

My ranking for a cash-strapped new creator

1. Udemy — best overall bet

Udemy is explicitly a marketplace, so learners can find courses through its own search and marketplace activity rather than you having to generate all the traffic yourself. It also provides Marketplace Insights, showing demand, search volume, and revenue information for potential topics. support.udemy.com

There's no fee to create or host courses. The tradeoff is revenue share: Udemy says instructors receive 37% of net revenue on sales that don't use an instructor promotion, while instructor-driven coupon/referral sales pay 97% of net revenue. support.udemy.comsupport.udemy.com

That's actually a reasonable trade for your situation: you're giving up some revenue in exchange for access to an existing learner marketplace.

Udemy for instructors

2. Skillshare — worth considering if your subject fits

Skillshare can provide built-in exposure, but its economics have changed substantially in 2026. Teacher royalties are based largely on qualifying watch time, and as of July 16, 2026, teachers need at least 50 followers plus additional publishing/watch-time requirements to qualify for monthly royalty payments. help.skillshare.com

So I'd favor Skillshare if you're teaching something like design, illustration, photography, animation, branding, or other creative skills, rather than making it your default for every type of course.

Skillshare for teachers

What I'd do in your shoes

Don't spend on ads initially. Instead:

1. Pick a narrowly defined problem people are already searching for.
2. Use Udemy's Marketplace Insights before recording anything.
3. Make the course highly practical and outcome-focused.
4. Optimize the title/subtitle around the learner's problem, not your credentials.
5. Publish a strong free preview/intro.
6. Use your own social/content efforts to generate the first students and reviews.
7. Once you have evidence that the topic sells, consider building an independent course business where you keep more of each sale.

The key distinction is marketplace vs. course-hosting software: Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, etc. can give you a nicer storefront, but they generally don't solve your biggest problem as a new creator—where the first learners come from.

Bottom line: start with Udemy, validate demand, then graduate to your own platform once you've built an audience.

If your priority is “get discovered without spending much on ads,” I’d start with Udemy.

My budget-conscious ranking

Why Udemy wins for a new creator: it is explicitly a marketplace, has no instructor fee, and provides Marketplace Insights for researching learner demand before you build. support.udemy.com

The tradeoff is revenue share: for sales generated through Udemy's marketplace rather than your own promotion, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue. If you personally bring the buyer through your coupon/referral link, the share is 97%. support.udemy.comsupport.udemy.com

One important 2026 caveat: Skillshare

Skillshare can be attractive if your course is creative—illustration, design, photography, branding, animation, crafts, etc. But its economics have become less beginner-friendly. Since July 16, 2026, Skillshare has new eligibility requirements for monthly royalty payments, following an earlier 50-follower requirement introduced in January. help.skillshare.com

So I wouldn't choose Skillshare primarily because it's free to upload.

What I'd do with a very small budget

Put your first course on Udemy, but don't just upload it and wait.

1. Use Udemy's Marketplace Insights to find a topic with existing demand but manageable competition.
2. Make the course narrowly outcome-focused rather than a giant “complete guide.”
3. Optimize the title, thumbnail and first few lectures for marketplace conversion.
4. Get your first legitimate reviews/students through your existing network or organic content—not paid ads.
5. Once you've proven people will buy, consider moving toward your own storefront, where you keep more of each sale.

Bottom line: If you have little/no audience and don't want to buy ads, Udemy is probably the best first marketplace. If you already have an audience, a direct platform can become more profitable because you aren't surrendering marketplace revenue share.

If you’re a new course creator with little or no ad budget, prioritize platforms that already have learner discovery rather than just course-hosting tools. The trade-off is that marketplaces usually take a bigger cut and give you less control over the student relationship. creatorstackclub.com

My shortlist:

What I’d do with a very small budget:

1. Put a discovery-friendly version on Udemy
   • Make it a focused “solve one problem” course (for example, “Excel dashboards for small businesses” rather than “Complete Excel Mastery”).
   • Use learner search data and reviews to refine your topic. creatorstackclub.comwww.mightynetworks.com

2. Build your own asset at the same time
   • Collect emails from interested learners.
   • Create a higher-priced version later on Thinkific or Teachable where you control pricing and customer relationships. creatorstackclub.comwww.mightynetworks.com

3. Avoid paying for premium all-in-one tools early
   • Platforms like Kajabi are powerful, but they make more sense once you already have sales volume or an audience. www.mightynetworks.com

A simple rule:

• No audience → Udemy/Skillshare first
• Small audience → Thinkific/Teachable
• Established audience → your own platform + email funnel

If you tell me your course topic (business, coding, fitness, language, creative, professional skills, etc.) and whether you already have any audience, I can narrow this to the best 1–2 options.

If your main constraint is “I don’t have an audience and I can’t afford ads,” I’d start with a marketplace, not Teachable/Kajabi/Thinkific. Those are better once you already have traffic to send to your course.

My pick: Udemy

Udemy is probably the strongest fit for a first course because:

• No upfront course-hosting fee. You can publish free or paid courses without paying a monthly platform fee. support.udemy.com
• Built-in learner marketplace: Udemy can sell your course to people browsing/searching its catalog, meaning you aren't solely responsible for generating traffic. On sales it generates without your coupon/referral, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue. support.udemy.com
• Its Marketplace Insights tool gives you data on learner demand, search volume, and revenue for potential topics—very useful when you're trying to avoid wasting months creating something nobody searches for. support.udemy.com
• You can potentially get additional revenue from Udemy Business and subscription programs, where instructor payouts are based on learner engagement. support.udemy.com

The tradeoff is that you give up pricing/control and a substantial portion of marketplace revenue. But for “I need learners more than I need maximum margin right now,” that's a reasonable trade.

Runner-up: Skillshare

Skillshare makes sense if your course is in design, illustration, photography, video, animation, creative careers, or another creative subject. It has a built-in community and pays teachers primarily according to learner watch time rather than individual course purchases. www.skillshare.comhelp.skillshare.com

One important 2026 wrinkle: you now need at least 50 Skillshare followers plus the applicable watch-time/publishing requirement to qualify for monthly royalty payments. www.skillshare.comhelp.skillshare.com So I wouldn't choose Skillshare solely because it looks easy to monetize from zero.

What I'd do on a tiny budget

1. Validate the topic on Udemy first.
Use Marketplace Insights before recording everything.

2. Make one narrowly targeted course.
“Excel for beginners” is crowded. Something like “Excel dashboards for nonprofit program managers” gives you a much clearer search/marketing angle.

3. Optimize for marketplace search rather than buying ads.
Title, subtitle, thumbnail, course outline, reviews and early student engagement matter enormously when you don't have an audience.

4. Don't build your own course website yet.
Once you've proven that strangers will pay to learn your topic, then consider moving/upgrading your business infrastructure.

Bottom line: Udemy first for most new creators seeking organic learner acquisition; Skillshare first if you're specifically teaching creative skills. I'd spend your scarce money on better course production and topic validation, not ads.

If you tell me what your course is about and roughly what you'd charge, I can tell you which marketplace is likely to give you the best shot at organic learners.

If your main constraint is “I need the marketplace itself to help me find learners”, I’d start with Udemy.

Why I'd pick Udemy first

You can get started without paying to host the course. For sales generated organically through Udemy's marketplace, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue; sales through your own instructor promotion/referral link pay 97%. support.udemy.com

More importantly for your situation, Udemy has Marketplace Insights, which gives you information on student demand, search volume, and revenue for a topic. That lets you avoid spending weeks making a course nobody is searching for. support.udemy.comsupport.udemy.com

The tradeoff is that Udemy is highly competitive and its marketplace pricing can be aggressive. So I wouldn't try to win with a giant, generic course like “Complete Excel Course.” I'd target a specific problem + specific learner, e.g. “Excel Dashboards for Nonprofit Managers.”

My low-budget strategy:

1. Use Udemy Marketplace Insights to find a topic with existing demand.
2. Make a narrowly targeted course rather than a huge one.
3. Optimize the title/thumbnail around the learner's search intent.
4. Get your first reviews ethically through people who genuinely take the course.
5. Let Udemy's marketplace supply discovery before spending on ads.
6. Once you know what sells, consider moving your highest-value offer to your own platform.

One important 2026 wrinkle: I would not make Skillshare your first bet if you're starting from zero, because its new 50-follower threshold makes the initial monetization hurdle considerably higher. help.skillshare.com

If you tell me what topic your course is about and roughly what you'd charge for it, I can rank the best 3 marketplaces for that specific course and show you the lowest-cost path to your first 100 learners.

If your #1 constraint is “I have little/no audience and don’t want to buy ads,” I’d start with Udemy.

My ranking for a new, budget-conscious creator

Why Udemy: it is explicitly a marketplace, so learners can discover your course through Udemy search, browsing and promotions rather than you having to generate all the traffic yourself. There is no fee to create/host courses. Udemy says instructors receive 37% of net revenue on sales not generated through their own coupon/referral, while sales through an instructor's promotion pay 97%. support.udemy.com

Udemy also provides Marketplace Insights, which lets you investigate learner demand, search volume and revenue for potential topics—very useful when you're trying to avoid spending money on a course nobody wants. support.udemy.com

Skillshare is my second choice, particularly if your course is in illustration, design, photography, video, animation or another creative field. But its economics changed substantially in 2026: as of July 16, teachers need at least 50 followers plus additional watch-time/publishing requirements to qualify for monthly royalties. help.skillshare.com

What I'd do with a $0–$100 marketing budget

1. Validate the topic on Udemy Marketplace Insights first.
2. Make a tightly focused course rather than a giant “complete guide.”
3. Optimize the title/thumbnail around what learners actually search for.
4. Use Udemy's marketplace to get your first students and reviews.
5. Don't spend heavily on Facebook/Google ads until you've proven people will buy.
6. Once you have traction, consider adding your own platform so you're not dependent on marketplace economics.

Bottom line: for your particular situation, Udemy is the strongest starting bet. If you're teaching a creative subject, I'd seriously consider Skillshare alongside it, but I wouldn't make Skillshare your only channel until you've built the required following.

Udemy instructor information
Skillshare — teach on Skillshare

If your main constraint is “I have little/no audience and don’t want to buy ads,” I’d start with a marketplace rather than an all-in-one course platform.

My pick: Udemy

For a new creator, Udemy is probably the strongest fit because its marketplace is designed to put courses in front of people already searching for things to learn. There’s no fee to create or host courses, and Udemy says marketplace sales that aren't driven by your own promotion currently pay instructors 37% of net revenue. Sales through your own coupon/referral can pay 97% of net revenue. support.udemy.comsupport.udemy.com

That tradeoff is actually attractive when you're cash-constrained: you give up margin in exchange for access to Udemy's existing learner traffic.

Second choice: Skillshare

Skillshare is worth considering if your course is particularly suited to creative skills, design, productivity, or project-based learning. Its model is different: teacher earnings are primarily based on qualifying minutes watched from the Teacher Fund rather than individual course purchases. Skillshare changed its teacher-earnings eligibility requirements in July 2026, so I'd check those requirements before committing. help.skillshare.com

What I'd avoid initially

Platforms such as Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, and similar hosted-school products are better once you can bring your own audience. They give you more control over branding, pricing, and the customer relationship, but they generally don't solve your biggest problem right now: discoverability. www.ruzuku.com

The bigger strategy: don't try to make one giant “complete course.” On Udemy, research a specific learner problem with existing search demand, create a focused course around it, and use the marketplace to validate demand. Udemy even provides a Marketplace Insights tool for researching course topics. support.udemy.comsupport.udemy.com

If you tell me your course topic and roughly how much you can spend ($0, $50, $100/month, etc.), I can compare the best 3 marketplaces for that specific course and tell you where I'd launch first.

If your priority is getting discovered by learners without spending heavily on ads, I’d start with Udemy.

My ranking for a cash-strapped new creator

Why Udemy wins: you don't pay to create or host courses, and Udemy's marketplace can generate sales you didn't personally acquire. For marketplace sales where you aren't supplying the coupon/referral, instructors currently receive 37% of net revenue; sales generated through your own promotion pay 97%. support.udemy.com

Udemy for instructors

Skillshare is the runner-up, especially if your subject is creative. But there's an important 2026 catch: starting July 16, teachers need at least 50 followers plus a publishing/watch-time requirement to qualify for monthly royalties. That makes it less attractive if you're starting literally from zero. help.skillshare.com

Skillshare teacher earnings information

I wouldn't start with Teachable if your problem is audience acquisition. It's excellent for owning the storefront and customer relationship, but you're largely responsible for bringing learners yourself. Its Starter plan is currently $29/month when billed annually ($39 month-to-month). support.teachable.com

What I'd do in your shoes

Put your first course on Udemy, not your own LMS. Pick a narrowly defined topic with obvious learner intent, use Udemy's marketplace/search data to validate the topic before producing 10+ hours of content, and focus on getting your first reviews.

Once you have traction, you can add your own platform and use Udemy as a discovery channel, rather than trying to build an audience from scratch.

If you tell me what your course is about, I can also compare Udemy vs. Skillshare specifically for that niche and tell you which one is more likely to bring you organic learners.