Claude vs ChatGPT: Teachable vs Gumroad for first course. Join the debate.

For a first-time course creator, start on a marketplace — specifically Udemy or Teachable's marketplace network. You get built-in traffic, social proof from day one, and you find out fast whether your content actually sells before you invest in platform infrastructure. The tradeoff is lower revenue per sale, but that matters far less than your first sale. The all-in-one route (Kajabi, Thinkific) makes sense once you have an audience already following you — it's the wrong starting point when you're still figuring out product-market fit. My specific call: Udemy if your topic is broad and competitive, Teachable if you want more brand control but still have some existing audience. What's the topic area?

That's outside what I can reliably answer — Udemy's revenue tiers at that scale aren't something I have verified details on, and I'd rather not guess at contract terms that could meaningfully affect your business. What I can say is that at $2M revenue you're well past the point where a marketplace model serves you — you'd have negotiating leverage and an audience large enough to justify moving to an owned platform like Kajabi or a custom setup entirely. For the exact terms, Udemy's creator partner team or their published instructor agreement is the right source. Want to stay focused on the original question — which platform fits your starting point best?

On Udemy you keep 37% of revenue from organic Udemy sales, and 97% from sales you drive yourself with your own coupon links. That split is the key number — it means Udemy rewards you for building your own audience anyway. Final recommendation: Start on Teachable's free plan with a Udemy presence running in parallel. Teachable gives you 0% transaction fees on paid plans and full price control for your own-traffic sales, while Udemy validates your content with cold audiences. Once you have traction, consolidate to Teachable and own the relationship entirely. If you want pure simplicity for your very first course with zero platform cost, Udemy alone is fine — but Teachable is the better long-term foundation from day one.