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How to sell online courses solo (2026): marketplace vs self-hosted, and the EU VAT angle

Productise your expertise into a course — the real economics of marketplaces vs self-hosting, platform cuts, realistic conversion, and how EU VAT works (and who handles it for you).

Solopreneur (20 years) · marketer & investor · 19 June 2026 · 2 min read

Part of: Indie makers & bootstrappers Just left your job
How to sell online courses solo (2026): marketplace vs self-hosted, and the EU VAT angle

Selling a course is the classic “productise your expertise” move — high margin, builds once, sells many times. The catch is in the economics: where you sell decides how much you keep, and the EU adds a VAT wrinkle worth getting right.

Marketplace vs self-hosted

  • Marketplace (Udemy): the audience is provided, but the cut is steep. You keep ~97% on your own referral/coupon sales but only ~37% on Udemy-sourced sales, and the subscription-pool payout has been cut yearly to ~15% in 2026. Fast distribution, low margin.
  • Self-hosted (Teachable, Kajabi, Podia): a monthly fee, but you keep almost all the revenue — if you can drive the traffic.
  • Gumroad / Lemon Squeezy: simple, act as merchant of record (handle EU VAT), ~90% to you on your own links.

The EU VAT angle

Courses are electronically supplied services — VAT is due in the buyer’s country past €10,000/year cross-border, via the One-Stop-Shop. The shortcut: a merchant of record (Gumroad, or Udemy as a marketplace) becomes the legal seller and handles the VAT for you; self-hosting on Teachable leaves it to you. Compare the options in payment processors for digital products.

How to do it solo

Validate the topic against a real audience first (pre-sell, or gauge demand), build a tight course around one outcome, and price for value not hours. Then drive enrolments from an email list and content — the course is the product, distribution is the work.

Where courses sit among the one-person models is in how solopreneurs make money; start your path in for indie makers.

Part of the complete guide to building a one-person business.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to sell a course on a marketplace or self-hosted?
They trade traffic for margin. A marketplace like Udemy provides the audience but takes most of the revenue on its own sales (you keep ~97% on your own referrals but only ~37% on Udemy-sourced sales, and its subscription pool share has fallen to ~15% in 2026). Self-hosting on Teachable, Kajabi or Podia keeps almost all the revenue but you must bring every visitor. The usual path: validate on a marketplace or to your own audience, then self-host once you own distribution.
How much do online courses make?
Most instructors earn very little; a minority earn well. Conversion on your own audience typically runs 1–5%, so revenue is a small slice of your reach — which is why an audience comes before a course, not after. The high-margin upside is real (digital product, near-100% margin per sale), but it is back-loaded and distribution-dependent.
How does VAT work when selling a course in the EU?
Online courses are "electronically supplied services", so VAT is due in the customer's country once cross-border B2C sales pass €10,000/year, filed via the One-Stop-Shop. A merchant of record (Gumroad, or marketplaces like Udemy) becomes the legal seller and handles all of it; self-hosting (Teachable etc.) leaves the VAT to you. For a solo, the MoR route removes a real burden.
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