YouTube has unveiled Courses, a new feature allowing creators to offer structured, multi-lesson learning programs. 

The feature, currently in beta and available to a limited subset of creators, aims to provide viewers with in-depth educational content while offering creators a new revenue stream.

Courses appear across various sections of YouTube, including the Home feed, Watch Next recommendations, search results, and a dedicated Courses section under Explore.

How Courses Work

Participating creators can charge one-time fees for their courses or offer them for free. 

Paid courses are ad-free, while free courses may include advertisements. Most of the revenue from course sales goes to the creator.

The new feature includes several tools to enhance the learning experience. Creators can add custom quizzes for each video and create a discussion section for audience engagement. 

Viewers benefit from progress tracking, a completion badge in the YouTube app, and a detailed information panel displaying course length and content.

To create a course, eligible creators use YouTube Studio on their desktops to enter course details and add videos. While course creation is limited to desktops, video uploads can be done via mobile devices.

Refund Policy

To purchase courses, viewers must be at least 18 years old and use a computer or Android device, although they can watch purchased content on any device where YouTube is available.

YouTube has implemented a refund policy for courses. Viewers who still need to view their course can request a refund within seven business days of purchase. Refunds may also be available if videos or features related to the purchased course don’t work as expected.

“We hope to roll Courses out to more Creators, devices, and countries/regions in the future,” YouTube stated on the support page.

Creator Feedback

In the comment section of vidIQ’s X post on Courses, several creators and creator economy enthusiasts have shared their thoughts on YouTube’s new feature.

“This is great,” wrote Moses Kabandana, host of “The Moses Kabandana Podcast.” “I’m currently hosting my smartphone podcast course elsewhere, even though YouTube is where I post most of my videos. It’ll be great to host my courses there, too,” 

“It’s becoming increasingly obvious why online coaches need to be on YouTube,” wrote Sakhu, YouTube Lead Gen.

Empowering Creators

The latest update builds on YouTube’s ongoing efforts to improve the platform’s experience for creators and users.

The company recently rolled out new features for Premium subscribers – an AI-powered ‘Jump Ahead’ function and picture-in-picture capabilities for Shorts.

In June, YouTube revealed it was experimenting with allowing creators to design and publish their unique visual effects for the platform’s short-form video product, Shorts.

The platform also launched “Playables” in May, a feature that allows users to play over 75 free games directly on YouTube.