Course Marketplace vs Own Platform

A course marketplace (Udemy, Unacademy, Skillshare) hosts your courses alongside thousands of competitors. Students discover you through the marketplace's search, but the marketplace controls pricing, takes a large commission (25-63%), owns the student relationship, and can discount your course without permission. Your own platform (using tools like Skolasti, Teachable, or Kajabi) means you host courses on your branded website. You control pricing, keep all revenue (minus payment processing fees), own student data, and build a direct relationship. The tradeoff: you're responsible for driving traffic — the marketplace won't send you students. For coaches with an existing audience (YouTube subscribers, Instagram followers, WhatsApp groups), an own platform almost always makes more sense. You're already generating traffic — why send it to a marketplace that takes a cut and shows competitors?