Why I’m Moving My Courses Off Udemy — and What It Means for Independent Instructors
Leaving Udemy was a major decision — one that grew from both frustration and a desire for more control over my courses and students. If you’re also considering leaving Udemy, know that it’s not just about platform preference — it’s about ownership.
Over the past few years, I’ve invested hundreds of hours into building cloud-focused courses, especially around Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and automation with Terraform. Like many instructors, I turned to Udemy to share my knowledge, gain visibility, and generate income. And at first, it worked.
Udemy helped me reach new students I would never have reached on my own. It gave me early traction, a sense of validation, and a reason to keep improving my content. For that, I’m grateful.
But over time, the cracks began to show.
What Udemy Gave — and What It Took Away
As my catalog grew, I noticed that students who had once enrolled through my own platform, FoggyKitchen.com, started signing up through Udemy instead. Courses I had full control over — in pricing, communication, packaging, and updates — were now sitting on a platform where I could barely reach my learners and had almost no say in how my work was sold.
Even worse, niche courses that served a clear but smaller audience started to suffer. Udemy’s algorithmic promotion favors volume and popularity over precision and depth. That’s fine for some topics, but for more specialized content, it meant slow death.
Yes, I was getting enrollments. But the revenue? A fraction of what I would earn selling the same course directly. Leaving Udemy wasn’t an easy decision. After years of creating high-quality content on the platform, I realized the trade-offs were no longer worth it. Here’s why I left Udemy and what came next.
The Hidden Cost of Visibility
There’s a deeper issue here. When platforms take over the entire relationship with the student, the instructor becomes a commodity. And the business becomes unpredictable. A single algorithm change, promotion cycle, or market shift can crush your income overnight.
Even when you do everything “right” — solid content, high ratings, fast responses — the outcome is often out of your hands.
I realized that the price of visibility was control. And that tradeoff no longer made sense.
Leaving Udemy to Build on My Terms
After leaving Udemy, I finally had the freedom to price and package my courses the way I wanted. That’s why I’ve decided to remove two of my most specialized OCI courses from Udemy:
They are now available exclusively on my own platform as part of a new package: 🌌 OCI Serverless Infrastructure Bundle
On FoggyKitchen, I can:
- Set fair pricing
- Offer bundles and subscriptions
- Communicate directly with my learners
- Share updates without restrictions
- Build a real relationship with my audience
FoggyKitchen.com has existed for years, and while it’s not massive, it’s known and trusted in my niche. It’s time to build on that foundation.
What Happened Since I Made the Move
Since I first pulled two courses off Udemy, the landscape has only reinforced my decision. In 2025, I removed most of my niche courses from the platform — including those that were no longer part of Udemy Business — and made them available exclusively on FoggyKitchen.com. After leaving Udemy, I finally had the freedom to price and package my courses the way I wanted.
Some examples include:
OCI MySQL Heatwave and more…
These are now part of focused, hands-on bundles or all-in-one packages — with lifetime access, fair pricing, and frequent updates. One of the hardest parts of leaving Udemy is realizing how much of your business you don’t actually own.
What Stays on Udemy
Not everything is going away. Some of my best-performing courses, especially those that made it into Udemy Business, will remain. When Udemy works, it really works — and I’m not turning my back on the opportunities it can still provide.
But for niche content, the future is clear: ownership, not dependency.
Want to See What I’m Building Outside of Udemy?
Explore the latest hands-on OCI courses — built for professionals who want control, depth, and practical results.
🎓 Browse Courses on FoggyKitchen
🧠 Start with the Flagship Terraform/OpenTofu Course
📦 Check Out the All-in-One Infrastructure Bundle
A Note to Fellow Instructors
If you’re also building specialized content and feeling the pinch of platform dependency, I invite you to think about the long game. Platforms can be helpful, even necessary at first. But eventually, if you’re not building something of your own, you’re building for someone else. If you’re also considering leaving Udemy, know that it’s not just about platform preference — it’s about ownership. For me, leaving Udemy was the beginning of a more sustainable and authentic journey as an educator.
Thanks for reading. And if you’d like to connect or talk about platform strategy, feel free to reach out.
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Check also other courses:
How to automate Oracle Cloud Infrastructure with Terraform/OpenTofu (2025 Edition)
