Ubunya vs Skillshare
Skillshare pays by the minute watched. Ubunya lets you set the price.
Skillshare is a subscription library of short creative classes. Learners pay one membership, about $168 a year, and teachers are paid from a monthly fund according to minutes watched, once they pass Skillshare's eligibility thresholds. Ubunya works the other way round: you set your own fees, learners pay you directly, and your programmes run as cohorts under your own name.
The short answer
Choose Skillshare if
- You teach short creative classes and want a built-in audience.
- You're happy to be paid by minutes watched instead of by sale.
- You don't need live sessions, cohorts or your own brand.
Choose Ubunya if
- You want to set your own programme fees.
- You run cohorts with live sessions, feedback and graduation.
- Learners pay you directly, by bank, mobile money, card or an employer.
- You want your own community and alumni network.
Skillshare and Ubunya at a glance
- Learner price
- Skillshare: One membership, about $168/year
- Ubunya: Whatever you charge
- How you're paid
- Skillshare: Share of a monthly fund, by minutes watched
- Ubunya: Learners pay you directly
- Price to you
- Skillshare: Free to teach
- Ubunya: One plan agreed with you, paid by invoice in your currency. Every feature is included.
- Best for
- Skillshare: Short creative classes
- Ubunya: Cohort programmes
Feature by feature
| Feature | Ubunya | Skillshare |
|---|---|---|
| Community feed, categories and polls | Class discussions and projects | |
| Courses, lessons and progress | Short video classes | |
| Points, levels and leaderboards | ||
| Live sessions | Live rooms in the browser, with breakout groups and recording | Occasional live sessions |
| Admissions | Application forms with a review queue | |
| Cohorts | Intakes with seats, dates and class times | |
| Attendance | Online and in person, with QR check-in | |
| Certificates | Issued on completion, with a public check page | |
| Small groups | Squads inside each cohort | |
| Impact reporting | Impact reports and follow-up surveys | Minutes watched |
| Payments made outside a card checkout | Bank transfer, M-Pesa, UPI, Pix, card and cash recorded, with receipts and balances | Skillshare membership only |
| One payer for many learners | An employer or sponsor pays for several learners | Skillshare Teams, sold by Skillshare |
| WhatsApp and SMS | WhatsApp and SMS reminders and announcements | |
| Email broadcasts and automatic sequences | Announcements to followers | |
| Phone app | Installable app under your own name and logo | Skillshare's app |
| Web address | ubunya.com/yourname, or your own domain | A page on skillshare.com |
| Developer access | Public API, MCP server and CLI | |
| Fee on what learners pay | 0% | Paid from a fund, not per sale |
Skillshare details as of November 2026, from Skillshare: teacher earnings update, 2026, Skillshare: earn from your teaching and published reviews. Prices and fees change, so check Skillshare's site before you decide.
Paid by the minute or paid by the learner
On Skillshare you don't set a price. Learners pay Skillshare a membership, and each month Skillshare sets a Teacher Fund that's shared out mostly by minutes watched. To earn at all, teachers have to meet thresholds such as publishing regularly and passing a minimum of minutes watched by paying members.
On Ubunya you set the fee for each programme and learners pay you directly, in instalments if you like, by bank transfer, M-Pesa, UPI, Pix, card or cash. Ubunya takes 0% of it.
Cohorts, not just a membership
Skillshare classes are short and self-paced, with a project at the end. Ubunya starts from the programme: you open an intake with a start date, seats and class times, people apply, your team admits them, and they move through the cohort together until graduation.
Every learner has a record that follows them: which intake they joined, which sessions they attended, what they paid and which certificate they earned. When a funder or board asks how the last cohort went, the answer is already there.
If you only need an open membership that anyone can join with a card, Skillshare may be all you need. If you admit people into programmes that start and finish, that structure is what Ubunya is for.
Getting paid the way your learners pay
Skillshare collects one membership fee and pays teachers from a shared fund. Many of the organisations we work with are paid by bank transfer, mobile money such as M-Pesa, UPI or Pix, a company cheque, a card on their own machine (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) or cash at the first session, often in instalments.
Ubunya records each payment against the learner's fee account, issues a receipt, shows the balance and reminds people before an instalment is due, by email, WhatsApp or SMS. Nothing is taken from what your learners pay: Ubunya charges 0%.
When an employer pays for ten staff, one payer covers all ten seats and gets one invoice, while each learner still has their own place in the cohort.
Where Skillshare is the better choice
No platform suits everyone. Skillshare does these things better than Ubunya:
- A built-in audience for creative topics.
- Nothing to sell: the membership brings learners to your class.
- Short classes are quick to make.
Moving from Skillshare to Ubunya
- Request a community. We set it up with your name, logo and colours, at ubunya.com/yourname or on your own domain.
- Import your members from a CSV export, with their names, emails and phone numbers.
- Recreate your programmes and courses. Lesson videos can be uploaded or embedded, and we can help with the move when we agree your plan.
- Invite members to sign in. Their history starts in Ubunya from the next intake.
Questions
How do Skillshare teachers get paid?+
Skillshare pays teachers from a monthly Teacher Fund, mostly according to minutes watched by paying members, and only once a teacher meets its eligibility thresholds. Check Skillshare's teacher help centre for the current rules.
How much is Skillshare?+
Skillshare's annual membership is about $168 a year (around $14 a month), with discounts and team plans. Check skillshare.com for current prices.
Skillshare or Ubunya: which should I choose?+
Choose Skillshare to publish short creative classes into a subscription library. Choose Ubunya to run your own paid programmes as cohorts, with your own fees, brand and community.
Other comparisons
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