Skillshare Help Center

Earn From Your Teaching

As a Skillshare teacher, you can earn money when members watch and engage with your classes. Your earnings may include royalties from the Skillshare Teacher Fund, engagement rewards (for eligible teachers), referral earnings, and partnership revenue.

Important: Beginning July 16, 2026, updated eligibility requirements determine whether you qualify to receive monthly royalty payments. You can read more about this decision at Update to Skillshare Teacher Earnings.

In this article:

Teacher earnings eligibility (June 2026 update)

To qualify for monthly royalty payments, you must meet both of the following requirements by the end of each earning month:

  1. Reach at least 50 followers: You must have 50 Skillshare followers on the last day of the month.
  2. Meet the publishing or watch-time requirement: You must meet one of these conditions 
    1. have published at least one quality class within the past 18 months and received more than 400 qualifying minutes watched during the month OR
    2. If you have not published a new class within the past 18 months, have received more than 650 qualifying minutes watched during the month.

What counts toward qualifying minutes?

Qualifying minutes include watch time from members with an active paid subscription.

The following do not count toward royalty eligibility:

  • Class trailer views
  • Watch time from free trials
  • Watch time through Free Access Links

Example: To receive a payment on July 16, you must meet the eligibility requirements during June.

How teacher earnings work

Skillshare operates on a subscription model. Each month, a portion of subscription revenue is allocated to the Teacher Fund and distributed among eligible teachers.

Your monthly earnings are based primarily on:

  • Qualifying minutes watched
  • Engagement rewards (eligible teachers only)
  • Referral earnings
  • Partnership revenue, when applicable

How minutes watched are calculated

Your share of the Teacher Fund is based on your qualifying watch time compared with other eligible teachers.

When calculating earnings, Skillshare also considers factors that align payouts with subscription revenue, including:

  • The member's subscription type
  • Whether the member converts from a free trial to a paid subscription
  • Geographic pricing differences
  • Other factors related to paid member activity

Because earnings depend on platform-wide activity each month, it's not possible to estimate future payouts in advance.

Engagement rewards

A portion of the Teacher Fund is reserved for rewarding meaningful teacher engagement.

Currently, engagement rewards are available to active members of the Top Teacher and Rising Teacher programs.

To qualify, eligible teachers must:

  • Be an active member of one of the qualifying programs on the last day of the month
  • Receive at least two new positive student reviews ("Met Expectations" or "Exceeded Expectations") during that month

Teachers who qualify receive a $100 engagement reward, which is paid with their next monthly payment.

Negative reviews ("Somewhat" or "Not Really") do not reduce engagement earnings.

If you earn an engagement reward, you'll receive a confirmation email before your next payment.

If you're not yet part of an eligible teacher program, you can continue earning royalties through qualifying minutes watched and referrals.

When you'll receive payment

Teacher payments are sent through Tipalti on the 16th of each month.

If the 16th falls on a weekend or holiday, payments are sent on the closest preceding business day.

Payments may include:

  • Teacher Fund earnings
  • Referral earnings
  • Engagement rewards
  • Partnership revenue
  • Eligible adjustments

Review our article When and how do I receive payments from Skillshare? to learn more about Tipalti, payment options, and processing times.

All expected payments are subject to our Terms and Teacher Payment Policies.

Tracking your earnings

You can monitor your teaching performance and earnings in your Teacher Stats dashboard.

Your dashboard includes:

  • Minutes watched
  • Monthly earnings
  • Adjustments
  • Partnership revenue
  • Engagement rewards

If you receive an engagement reward or partnership payment, it will appear under Adjustments for that payment month. For questions around adjustments, please check our FAQ, I received a reward or bonus on my monthly payment. How do I track that?.

Visit Where can I find information on my class performance and earnings? for a detailed breakdown of the information displayed on this dashboard.

Still need help?

  • If you have questions about your Teacher Stats, earnings, or payment adjustments after reviewing the resources above, contact the Teacher Support team at teach@skillshare.com.
  • Please note that payments processed through Tipalti are time-sensitive. In accordance with our payment policy, we're unable to investigate, reissue, or adjust payments more than 30 days after the expected payment date. If you believe there's an issue with your payment, please contact us as soon as possible.



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