6 Best Websites to Sell Study Notes Online in 2026

You’ve already done the hard work. You sat through the lectures, got your head around the material and created a set of notes that actually make sense. The question is, why are those notes just hanging out in a folder?

There’s a real market for student-made study materials in 2026, and a handful of platforms make it surprisingly easy to turn your academic effort into passive income. If you want to make a few extra dollars a month or build up a consistent side income over a full semester, here are the best sites to sell study notes online today.

1. Docsity

If you are going to start with only one platform, do Docsity first.

Docsity is the world's largest marketplace for academic documents, with over 20 million registered users in over 190 countries. Scale matters a ton as a seller. Your notes don’t just sit there and get found. They get indexed by search engines and surfaced to millions of students already on the platform with premium subscriptions in hand.

The model is clean and clear. You upload your document, set a price in premium points (20 to 500 points, up  to $32 per download) and get paid each time a premium user downloads it. There are no hidden fees; what you see when you upload is what you get in your pocket. You can withdraw via PayPal at any time you want.

Docsity accepts PDFs, Word docs, Powerpoints and more, on just about any subject area – law, medicine, engineering, business, economics and more. High school notes sell as well as postgraduate ones. According to Docsity, some sellers earn about $100 per month, while reliable high-volume sellers earn over $2,000 per month.

If you want global reach with no upfront cost this is your starting point.

Payout: PayPal upon request 
Best For: Volume sellers, International students, Any subject , Any level

2. Stuvia

Most platforms don’t allow you full control over your pricing, but Stuvia does.

You set the price, Stuvia takes a 30% commission and you keep the remaining 70%. Minimum listing price is $2.50, and you can also combine multiple documents together so that you can attract more buyers at a slightly discounted price. No listing fees and you only pay only when you sell.

The platform is available in 127 countries and has a particularly strong user base in the UK, the Netherlands and South Africa, so it's a smart choice if your course materials are tied to a European or Southern African institution. Stuvia’s search functionality is based on course codes and university names, meaning that buyers come with high intent and know exactly what they are looking for.

One thing to note is that you keep copyright of your documents and can post the same content elsewhere (except flashcards, for which Stuvia claims perpetual rights). Once your account reaches the $10 minimum, payments are processed through Stripe.

Payout: Stripe (weekly once threshold hit) 
Best for: Setting your own price, South African and European student market

3. DocMerit

DocMerit has the highest seller payout ratio on this list, with 85% of every sale going directly to you and the platform keeping 15%. You set your own price (minimum $1.50), and payments go into your PayPal account within 48 hours of a sale,  no waiting until the end of month, no surprise deductions.

There’s no charge to join the platform, no exclusivity, and an analytics dashboard so you can see what documents are working and why. Notes can sell hundreds of times from just one upload, so it’s a true passive income play for students with organized, in-demand materials.

DocMerit has over 1 million sellers on its platform and is growing steadily through 2025. If you care about keeping a larger percentage of your earnings, DocMerit is a serious alternative to the bigger names.

Payout: Paypal payment up to 48 hours after each sale 
Best for: Sellers who want the highest percentage of their earnings

4. StudySoup

StudySoup is different from any other platform on this list and that difference is worth knowing before you sign up.

Instead of uploading your existing notes and waiting for downloads, you apply to be an Elite Notetaker for a specific class at your university. If accepted, you agree to upload weekly notes and exam study guides throughout the semester. Other students in your class pay to subscribe to your uploads. 

Elite Notetakers can make anywhere from $300 to $500 per course and the best Notetakers are said to earn more than $2,300 in a single semester. The fact that it’s recurring income is really attractive, especially when you consider the uncertainty of one off downloads on other platforms.

The tradeoff: StudySoup owns the notes you upload, and you will not be able to sell them anywhere else. This is an important limitation to consider if you are thinking about cross-posting. It also only includes undergrad and grad courses with 50+ students enrolled, so smaller classes won’t qualify.

If you’re a student in a large lecture course in the U.S. and want reliable, structured income during the semester, StudySoup is worth applying to.

Payout: Paypal or direct deposit (minimum $50) 
Best for: U.S. college students teaching large courses looking for consistent semester income

5. Oxbridge Notes

Oxbridge Notes is at the top end of the market.

The platform was originally designed for students at Oxford and Cambridge universities but now comprises leading universities in the UK, Ireland, US, Canada and Australia. On this platform, students of law, medicine and postgraduates are willing to pay $30 to $100 or more for comprehensive and well-structured notes from a reputed institution.

The application process is competitive and the platform takes about 40-50% commission, which is more than most. But often the higher price points make up for that – one sale at $80 with a 50% split still gets you $40, which is comparable to sites where notes go for $10.

Payout: PayPal or bank transfer 
Best for: Law, economics, PPE or medicine students at leading universities

6. Course Hero

Course Hero is the largest academic content provider in the US, with a large user base and strong brand recognition among college students.

As a seller, you can upload study material and earn credits or cash each time another user unlocks your documents. This model is less transparent than other platforms – you can earn vastly different amounts per upload – but the size of the platform means notes in high demand get a lot of exposure. Course Hero is a tutoring platform as well, so if you are a tutor, you can supplement passive document sales with active tutoring income in the same account.

It’s not the highest-paying option, but for US students trying to reach the broadest possible audience, it’s hard to ignore.

Payout: PayPal 
Best for: US students looking for the broadest reach, particularly in STEM and business topics

How to Get the Most Out of These Platforms

Some things that make a real difference in all of these:

Use concrete headings. Make sure to include your University name, Course code, Subject and Year on every document title. Buyers are asking for that information.

Then upload and format. Clean headings, clear table of contents and pdf format always win over messy uploads. First impressions decide if someone adds to cart or keeps scrolling.

Crosspost when possible. Most platforms permit non-exclusive uploads, so you could have the same document on Docsity, Stuvia and DocMerit at the same time. The exceptions are Nexus Notes (3-year lock in) and StudySoup (they own your notes outright).

Concentrate on high demand subjects. The most common buyers on any of the platforms on this list are always looking to buy law, medicine, engineering, business, and nursing courses.

Final Thoughts

2026 is one of the easiest passive income streams a student can build to sell their study notes. The content is already there. The platforms take care of all the distribution.

Most people do best starting at Docsity. It has 20 million+ users which gives your notes instant exposure and the pricing model is as transparent as it gets. Adding Stuvia or DocMerit for cross-posting is then the fastest way to get the most out of your notes, and Oxbridge Notes if you’re at a top school.

You do the work one time. There's no reason it should stop paying you back.