How Much Can You Make Selling Online Courses? [2026]
Millions of people worldwide have been using online courses to learn new skills and update the current ones. The demand for these courses is booming as they offer lots of benefits. Course creators have seized this opportunity by offering courses on various subjects. This industry will likely grow further, allowing course creators to make more money.
Course developers make anywhere from $100 to $10,000 monthly selling their courses. The yearly income can range from $1000 to $100,000 per year. A few popular course creators in the top bracket make more than $50,000 every year. The money you can make selling online courses depends on several factors.
Related: How to Price your Online Courses?
How Much Can You Make Selling Online Courses? [2026]
Will Your Course Help the Students Make Money?
Courses that train students and help them make money from their newly learned or updated skills are the most in demand. They help students learn something new and make money from their improved knowledge and skills. These courses are on the subjects of information technology, career development, business, personal finance, and more. Courses on these topics are more profitable, but it also means more courses and competition in these niches.
Courses in other niches like gardening, pet training, and hobbies have lower demands, so they are priced lower and earn their creators less money.
Courses on popular subjects sell most in the following price ranges:
- Digital marketing: $75-$400
- Data science and analytics: $75-$400
- Finance and investments: $75-$400
- Programming and coding: $50-$300
- Graphic design: $50-$300
- Entrepreneurship: $75-$300
- Personal development: $50-$250
- Health and fitness: $40-$200
- Language learning: $30-$200
The above price ranges do not include the higher prices for the above subjects. Some courses in the above subjects can cost hundreds or a few thousand dollars, especially the degree courses available from accredited universities and business schools.
The Competition Level
Career-oriented courses are popular, but this niche is highly competitive due to strong demand from students. For example, hundreds of courses can be found on the digital marketing subject. High competition should not dissuade you from developing a course in your area of expertise, as you are likely to succeed more in that field. With better course content and effective marketing, you can make your course stand out and sell it more.
Marketing
Do not think your job ends after posting your course online or at a course-selling platform, and you will start getting students. Marketing plays an important role in the success of online courses. While course hosting platforms offer the hosting solution and help students find relevant courses, they do not market your courses.
Use your social media accounts, direct marketing, content marketing, and other promotional techniques to market your courses. You will send interested students to your course landing page through marketing links. You will get better results from your social media marketing if you have built a large following over time by offering valuable content to your followers and engaging with them regularly.
Related: Tips to sell Online Courses using Email Marketing
The Course Price
It can be difficult to price your course correctly, especially if it is on a popular topic where many other courses are already selling. Those popular courses may offer their content at lower prices as they have become popular with high reviews. They can profit well even at a lower price because they sell more. If you price your course too low, you will fail to recover your production cost and make a good profit.
Higher prices can deter potential students as similar popular courses may be available at lower prices. You must balance your investment and profit with the market price to sell your course in good numbers and avoid making losses. Highlight your course’s benefits over current courses to get your desired price. You can highlight your course’s updated content or extra learning materials to differentiate it.
The Income Bracket of Your Target Audience
Those in the higher income bracket will be ready to spend more. At the same time, those joining courses to start earning or improve their current income are ready to spend higher even if their current income is low. They understand the importance of education and upskilling and consider investments in online courses as worth it to secure their future and financial stability.
Your Expertise and Reputation
Potential students check the credentials of the instructors when selecting online courses. Your expertise niche and level will determine how high you can price your course, as you cannot price it more than the courses offered by educators with higher-level credentials. However, if you have built a reputation and are known as an expert in your core subject, you can expect better course sales. You should inform about your credentials directly and indirectly through your website, blogs, bylines, social media accounts, and other channels.
Participate in industry events and highlight your awards and recognitions to bolster your credentials in your domain. Make sure prospective students can confirm your credentials from independent sources. Experts, teachers, instructors, and educational institutions with solid reputations can price their courses higher and still get students.
The Content Quality
If possible, buy a few similar courses high in demand before developing your course to check what makes those courses sell more. You will get an idea about the type of content students want. This step will help you learn what makes a course successful and how successful course creators structure online courses.
At the same time, you must use your own course structure and curriculum style. Consistent positive reviews will improve your course’s ranking on the course platform and help sell it more. High-quality, valuable, and engaging content ensures higher satisfaction, leading to positive reviews and attracting more students.
Related: How to sell Advertising Spaces within Online Courses?
Conclusion
The money you can make selling online courses depends on many factors. Online courses for students planning to enter the professional field or professionals planning to acquire or improve skills are in high demand and can be priced higher. Courses on complex topics require instructors with a high level of skills and expertise, so they are priced higher. Those with live sessions cost more than those with only downloadable digital content.
The level of competition, the content quality, the value the student gets, and the topics covered in the course are some elements that determine how much you can price your online course. Courses that help people upskill and earn more can be priced higher.
