LearnDash vs LifterLMS | Which Is The Best WordPress LMS (2026)

TL;DR: LearnDash vs LifterLMS: Which WordPress LMS Plugin Is Right For You? (2026)

Both plugins turn a WordPress site into a full online course platform that you own. They differ in how they package and price their features.

LearnDash is a premium WordPress LMS plugin. Its entry plan includes the course builder, advanced quizzes, memberships, certificates, and Stripe and PayPal payments, and it’s the stronger choice for structured learning.

LifterLMS is a free WordPress LMS plugin with paid add-ons. The free core is generous, and bundles add payments, community, coaching, and marketing tools. The full set costs far more than LearnDash.

Pricing & Free trial
LearnDash starts at $350 a year. It has no free plan, and you can try a live demo before you buy.

LifterLMS has a free core plugin. Paid bundles start at $398 a year (Introductory first year $199; renews at the stored full annual price.), and you can test every add-on on a 30-day demo site for $1.

Choose LearnDash if you want one license that covers teaching, memberships, and payments at a predictable price.
Choose LifterLMS if you want to start free, or you need built-in community and private coaching and can pay for the top bundle.

Try LearnDash | Try LifterLMS

If you want to sell courses from your own WordPress site, LearnDash and LifterLMS are the two plugins you’ll hear about the most.

Both are complete learning management systems. They add courses, quizzes, certificates, memberships, and payments to a site you own, with no per-student fees and no cut of your sales.

But they’re packaged very differently.

LearnDash sells one license with almost everything inside. LifterLMS gives away its core plugin and charges for add-ons, either one at a time or in bundles.

That difference decides what you’ll pay and how much setup you’ll do. In this comparison I cover what each one costs over two years, how their core features differ, and which one is the better e-learning solution for your business.

LearnDash vs LifterLMS: The Main Differences

LearnDash puts its features into three plans. LifterLMS spreads them across a free core plugin and more than 30 add-ons.

	LearnDash	LifterLMS
Pricing model	Three annual plans with features built in	Free core plugin, plus paid add-ons and bundles
Starting price	$350 a year	Free core. Bundles from $398 a year (Introductory first year $199; renews at the stored full annual price.)
Free option	No free plan. Live demo before purchase	Free core plugin with unlimited courses and students
Payments	Stripe and PayPal included on every plan	Payment gateways need a paid add-on or bundle
Memberships	Included through MemberDash on every plan	Included in the free core
Quizzes	8 question types on every plan	Basic quizzes in the core. Advanced Quizzes needs Infinity Bundle
AI tools	AI course outline and quiz builder from 1 site	None listed
Community and coaching	Through integrations such as bbPress	Social Learning and Private Areas add-ons in Infinity Bundle
Price for every feature	Plan discontinued a year on Elite	$1,598 a year on Infinity Bundle (Introductory first year $799; renews at the stored full annual price.)
Refund policy	Check the terms at checkout	30-day money-back guarantee

Read: The best online course platforms right now

LearnDash vs LifterLMS Overview

Both plugins run inside WordPress, so you supply the hosting, the theme, and the maintenance. Here’s what each one is and what it includes.

What Is LearnDash?

LearnDash is a premium WordPress LMS plugin used by course creators, training companies, and universities. It’s now part of the Liquid Web family of WordPress products.

LearnDash is built around learning structure.

You get a drag-and-drop course builder, a quiz builder with eight question types, assignments, certificates, and controls over how students move through a course. Memberships and subscriptions come built in through MemberDash, and Stripe and PayPal are included on every plan.

In other words, you can call LearnDash the WordPress LMS for people who take teaching seriously and want everything under one license.

But it has no free version, and community and email marketing depend on other plugins.

Read my full LearnDash review for a closer look.

Main LearnDash Features

• Drag-and-drop course builder with lessons, topics, and shared course steps
• Quiz builder with 8 question types, including essays and sorting
• Drip content, prerequisites, video progression, and focus mode
• Assignment management, certificate builder, badges, and points
• Memberships, subscriptions, and bundles through MemberDash
• Stripe and PayPal payments on every plan
• AI course outline and quiz builder from the 1 site plan
• Advanced reporting, gradebook, and student notes from 1 site
• Group management, seat sales, and an instructor role on Elite

What Is LifterLMS?

LifterLMS is a WordPress LMS plugin with a free, open-source core. More than 10,000 creators use it, according to the company.

The free core is a real product.

It includes unlimited courses, memberships, students, and teachers, along with a course builder, quizzes, drip content, prerequisites, certificates, and achievement badges. You can build and run a free course without paying anything.

To sell that course, you need a payment add-on. To go further, you buy more add-ons or a bundle.

In other words, you can call LifterLMS a modular LMS. You start free, and you pay for each layer you add, which gets expensive once you need the advanced tools.

Main LifterLMS Features

• Free core plugin with unlimited courses, memberships, and students
• Multi-tier drag-and-drop course builder
• Quizzes, question banks, drip content, prerequisites, and course tracks
• Certificates, achievement badges, and personalized emails based on learner behavior
• Coupons, course bundles, bulk sales vouchers, and native sales pages
• Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce add-ons from the Earth Bundle
• Sky Pilot theme, email marketing, and forms add-ons from the Universe Bundle
• Social Learning, Private Areas, Assignments, and Advanced Quizzes in the Infinity Bundle

LearnDash vs LifterLMS Pricing: How Much Do They Cost

Neither plugin charges a monthly platform fee or takes a share of your sales. You pay an annual license, your own hosting, and your payment processor.

LearnDash Pricing

LearnDash has three annual plans. Each one includes unlimited courses and learners, and you can try a live demo before you buy.

• 1 site: $350 a year
• 1 site: $350 a year
• Elite: Plan discontinued a year

1 site covers what a solo course creator needs. You get the course and quiz builders, memberships, certificates, and Stripe and PayPal.

1 site adds the AI course builder, advanced reporting, weighted grading, and student notes. Elite adds group management, seat sales, an instructor role, and ratings and reviews, which matter mostly to training companies.

LifterLMS Pricing

LifterLMS has a free core plugin and three annual bundles. The bundles carry a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a 30-day demo site with every add-on costs $1.

• Core plugin: free
• Earth Bundle: $398 a year, Introductory first year $199; renews at the stored full annual price.
• Universe Bundle: $598 a year, Introductory first year $299; renews at the stored full annual price.
• Infinity Bundle: $1,598 a year, Introductory first year $799; renews at the stored full annual price.

Read those prices carefully. LifterLMS advertises the first-year price, and every renewal is charged at the full price.

The Earth Bundle gives you payments, cart abandonment recovery, and the Name Your Price add-on. The Universe Bundle adds the Sky Pilot theme and the email marketing and forms add-ons.

But the tools that match LearnDash’s teaching features, such as Advanced Quizzes, Assignments, and Groups, sit in the Infinity Bundle.

LearnDash vs LifterLMS Pricing Comparison

Here’s how the plans line up. All prices are per year.

	LearnDash	LifterLMS
Free option	None	Core plugin
Entry paid plan	1 site at $350	Earth Bundle at $398
Mid plan	1 site at $350	Universe Bundle at $598
Top plan	Elite at Plan discontinued	Infinity Bundle at $1,598
First-year discount	None listed	50% off with a code on new orders
Transaction fees	None	None
Payment gateways	Stripe and PayPal on every plan	Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce from the Earth Bundle
Advanced quizzes and assignments	Every plan	Infinity Bundle only
Courses and students	Unlimited	Unlimited

LearnDash vs LifterLMS: Real Cost Over Two Years

With hosted platforms, I compare costs at $10,000 and $50,000 a month in sales. That doesn’t separate these two.

Neither plugin charges a transaction fee, and both use your own Stripe or PayPal account. So processing costs the same on both, about $305 on $10,000 of sales and $1,525 on $50,000, assuming a $200 average sale and US card rates.

The real difference is the license, and LifterLMS’s first-year discount hides it. So I’ve compared what each plan costs over two years.

Plan	Year 1	Year 2	Two-year total
LearnDash 1 site	$259	$259	$518
LearnDash 1 site	$399	$399	$798
LearnDash Elite	$599	$599	$1,198
LifterLMS Earth Bundle	$199	$398	$597
LifterLMS Universe Bundle	$299	$598	$897
LifterLMS Infinity Bundle	$799	$1,598	$2,397

In year one, LifterLMS looks cheaper at every level except the top. By year two, it costs more at every level.

The gap is widest where it matters most. LearnDash Elite gives you every LearnDash feature for $1,198 over two years. The LifterLMS Infinity Bundle, which you need for advanced quizzes and assignments, costs $2,397.

Both also need WordPress hosting, a theme, and someone to handle updates, which hosted platforms include in their price. You can check the processing math on your own prices with my Stripe fee calculator.

LearnDash vs LifterLMS Features: How They Compare

I’ve compared the two plugins on the six features that matter most to an expertise business.

Feature	Winner	Why
Course creation and learning structure	LearnDash	8 question types, assignments, and progression controls on every plan
Community	LifterLMS	A Social Learning add-on and private group discussions
Coaching	LifterLMS	Private Areas for one-to-one coaching content
AI features	LearnDash	An AI course outline and quiz builder
Email marketing and automation	LifterLMS	Behavior-based emails in the free core, plus email and SMS add-ons
Other marketing and sales features	LearnDash	Payments and memberships on the entry plan, plus seat sales

It’s three each.

But look at the pattern. LearnDash wins on teaching and on what’s included. LifterLMS wins on the features around the course, and most of those sit in its most expensive bundle.

Feature #1: Course Creation and Learning Structure

The course builder decides how you organize content and how much control you have over student progress. I’ve included memberships here because both plugins use them to package courses.

LearnDash

LearnDash organizes a course into sections, lessons, and topics, and you arrange them with drag and drop. Shared course steps let you reuse a lesson in several courses, which saves time when you’re creating online courses that overlap.

Its assessment tools are the best I’ve seen in a WordPress plugin. The quiz builder has eight question types, including essays, sorting, and fill in the blank. You can require a pass mark, limit attempts, set time limits, and collect assignments. Video progression holds students on a lesson until they’ve watched the video.

All of that is on the 1 site plan. 1 site adds weighted grading and report cards. Memberships and subscriptions come through MemberDash, so you don’t need a separate membership plugin. The trade-off is a busier settings area that takes time to learn.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS organizes a course into sections and lessons in a builder that runs on one screen. It’s cleaner than LearnDash’s, and a setup wizard and demo course walk you through your first build.

The free core covers a lot. You get quizzes with question banks and time limits, drip content, lesson and course prerequisites, and course tracks that group several courses into a certification. Memberships are in the core too, with sitewide restrictions and automatic enrollment.

The gaps show up when you need more. Advanced question types, assignments, course cohorts, and student notes are separate add-ons, and they come bundled only in the Infinity Bundle. So a course that needs graded assignments costs far more to run on LifterLMS than on LearnDash.

Winner: LearnDash. It includes advanced quizzes, assignments, and progression controls on its cheapest plan. LifterLMS has the easier builder and the better free tier.

Feature #2: Online Community & Engagement

Community keeps students engaged between lessons and gives members a reason to stay subscribed. Neither plugin includes one by default, so what matters is how you add it.

LearnDash

LearnDash has no community feature of its own. It focuses on the course, and it leaves discussion to other WordPress plugins.

Its official integration is bbPress, which adds forums you can tie to a course so only enrolled students can post. Many LearnDash sites also use BuddyBoss for a social network with profiles, groups, and activity feeds. Both work, and both add another plugin to maintain.

Inside the course, students get focus mode and lesson comments, and the 1 site plan adds notes with messages between students and group leaders. That’s useful for cohort support, and it isn’t a community. If discussion is central to what you sell, compare a dedicated community platform too.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS has its own community add-on called Social Learning. It adds a Facebook-style area to your site with profiles, timelines, and discussion, which keeps students on your site instead of in a Facebook group.

It also supports private group discussions tied to a membership, members-only forums through bbPress, and lesson comments. So you can build a community layer without leaving the LifterLMS family of add-ons.

The catch is the price. Social Learning and Groups are advanced add-ons, and they come bundled in the Infinity Bundle. Paid LifterLMS customers on the Universe Bundle and above also get a private Facebook group and a weekly mastermind with the LifterLMS team, which helps you run the business and isn’t a feature for your students.

Winner: LifterLMS. It offers a native community add-on. LearnDash relies on bbPress or BuddyBoss.

Feature #3: Coaching Tools

Coaching is usually the highest-priced offer in an expertise business. A course plugin doesn’t have to run the call, but it should give you a way to sell and deliver private support.

LearnDash

LearnDash has no coaching feature. It’s built for courses and groups, and it doesn’t offer scheduling, private client areas, or session tracking.

You can get close with what it has. Assignments let you give individual feedback on submitted work. On the 1 site plan, the notes feature lets a student and a group leader exchange messages inside a course. On Elite, group management lets you run a small cohort with its own leader.

For real coaching, you’d add a scheduling plugin or a tool such as Calendly and sell sessions through WooCommerce or MemberDash. That works, and it leaves you with separate pieces that you connect and maintain yourself.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS treats coaching as an upsell to a course. Its Private Areas add-on gives each student a private space on your site where you can post content, feedback, and discussion that only the two of you see.

You can sell that private access as an add-on to a course or as part of a higher-priced membership. For a coach who works mostly through written feedback, resources, and check-ins, that’s a practical setup inside WordPress.

It doesn’t handle the call itself. LifterLMS has no scheduler or video room, so you’d still use Calendly and Zoom for live sessions. Private Areas is also an advanced add-on, which means the Infinity Bundle. An Events add-on covers virtual and in-person instructor-led sessions.

Winner: LifterLMS. Private Areas gives you a way to sell and deliver one-to-one support. LearnDash has nothing built for coaching.

Feature #4: AI Features

AI can now draft a course outline or a quiz in minutes. Among WordPress LMS plugins, this is still a new area, and the two differ sharply.

LearnDash

LearnDash includes an AI course outline and quiz builder from the 1 site plan. You describe a topic, and it generates a structured outline with lessons that you then edit and publish.

The quiz builder works the same way and drafts questions from your subject. For someone staring at a blank course, that removes the slowest part of the build. You still have to supply the expertise and check every question.

It’s limited to course creation. LearnDash’s AI doesn’t write sales pages or emails, and I haven’t found a connection to outside AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT. It’s also missing from the 1 site plan, so the cheapest license has no AI.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS doesn’t list any AI features on its features or pricing pages. I haven’t found an AI course builder, quiz generator, or writing assistant among its add-ons.

What it offers instead is guidance. The setup wizard, a free quickstart course, and the instructional design prompts in the builder help you structure a course by hand. For a first-time creator, that teaching is useful.

Because both plugins run on WordPress, you can add AI through other plugins or draft content in Claude or ChatGPT and paste it in. That works with either one, so it doesn’t change the comparison. If AI inside the LMS matters to you, LearnDash is the only one that has it.

Winner: LearnDash. It has an AI course and quiz builder, and LifterLMS has none.

Feature #5: Email Marketing and Automation

Email brings students back to a course and brings buyers back to your next offer. Neither plugin is an email platform, so I’m comparing what’s built in and how well each connects to one.

LearnDash

LearnDash includes learner notifications. You can send automatic emails when a student enrolls, completes a lesson, passes or fails a quiz, or hasn’t logged in for a set number of days.

Those are course messages. For newsletters, lead nurturing, and sales sequences, you connect one of the email marketing platforms through an integration or Zapier. LearnDash also integrates with checkout tools such as ThriveCart and SamCart, which carry their own follow-up features.

What it lacks is anything aimed at buyers who don’t finish checkout. I haven’t found cart abandonment recovery in LearnDash, so you’d get that from WooCommerce or your cart tool. For most course creators, the notifications plus a tool like Kit are enough.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS builds more of this in. Its free core sends personalized emails triggered by learner behavior, such as an enrollment, a completed lesson, or an earned achievement.

Paid add-ons extend that. The Earth Bundle includes cart abandonment recovery, which follows up with visitors who leave the checkout. The Universe Bundle adds Mailchimp and Kit add-ons that sync students to your list, and a Twilio extension that sends text messages. A Zapier app connects the rest.

It still isn’t an email platform. You can’t build a full newsletter or a branching sales sequence inside LifterLMS, so you’ll pair it with an outside tool as you would with LearnDash. But more of the connection work is done for you.

Winner: LifterLMS. It adds cart recovery, text messaging, and direct email add-ons to its behavior-based emails. LearnDash covers course notifications and leaves the rest to integrations.

Feature #6: Other Marketing and Sales Features

A WordPress LMS also has to take payments, package offers, and help you sell courses online. Here I compare checkout, pricing options, and business sales.

LearnDash

LearnDash includes selling tools on every plan. Stripe and PayPal are built in, and MemberDash handles one-time prices, subscriptions, memberships, and course bundles without another plugin.

It also integrates with WooCommerce, ThriveCart, and SamCart if you want a more advanced checkout. On the Elite plan, you can sell group seats to companies and let each client manage its own team, and you can collect ratings and reviews on your courses.

For your site design, LearnDash works with any theme and integrates with Elementor. It doesn’t include a page builder of its own, so your sales pages come from WordPress or a tool from my list of landing page software.

LifterLMS

LifterLMS has the longer list of selling tools. Its Access Plans let you set one-time prices, subscriptions, payment plans, free access, and members-only pricing for the same course.

You also get coupons, course bundles, bulk sales vouchers, native sales pages, and preselling. Add-ons bring gifting, Name Your Price, and advanced coupons. The Universe Bundle includes the Sky Pilot theme, which gives you a matching design for the whole site.

But none of it earns money on the free core, because payment gateways are paid add-ons. You need the Earth Bundle to charge a card. So the plugin with the most selling features is also the one that costs more before you can make your first sale.

Winner: LearnDash. Payments, subscriptions, and memberships come with its cheapest plan, and it can sell seats to organizations. LifterLMS has more pricing options once you’ve paid for a bundle.

LearnDash vs LifterLMS: Pros and Cons

These are the practical strengths and weaknesses you’ll notice once you’re running a course site on each plugin.

LearnDash Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Advanced quizzes, assignments, and certificates on every plan	No free plan or free version
Stripe, PayPal, and memberships included from 1 site	No native community or coaching features
Predictable pricing, with every feature at Plan discontinued a year	AI builder and advanced reporting need 1 site
AI course outline and quiz builder	Group management and the instructor role need Elite
Seat sales and group management for business customers	Settings take time to learn
No transaction fees or per-student fees	You handle hosting, updates, and security

LifterLMS Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Free core plugin with unlimited courses and students	You can’t take payments without a paid add-on or bundle
Clean one-screen course builder with a setup wizard	Renewals are charged at double the first-year price
Native add-ons for community and private coaching	Advanced quizzes and assignments need the Infinity Bundle
Flexible pricing with Access Plans, vouchers, and coupons	The full feature set costs $1,598 a year
30-day demo site for $1 and a 30-day money-back guarantee	No AI features
Cart abandonment recovery and text messaging add-ons	More add-ons mean more to update and maintain

LearnDash vs LifterLMS Verdict: Which One Should You Choose

Both are excellent WordPress LMS plugins, and you won’t make a bad decision with either one. But they suit different situations.

• You want to sell courses with the least fuss: choose LearnDash 1 site. Payments, memberships, and advanced quizzes are included for $350 a year.
• Your course needs graded assignments, exams, or certificates: choose LearnDash. Those tools are on every plan.
• You train companies and sell seats: choose LearnDash Elite.
• You want AI to help you build courses: choose LearnDash 1 site.
• You have no budget and want to build before you pay: choose the free LifterLMS core. You can add the Earth Bundle when you’re ready to sell.
• You want community and private coaching inside your LMS: choose the LifterLMS Infinity Bundle, and budget for the renewal price.
• You only need one or two extras: choose LifterLMS and buy those add-ons individually.

For most course creators, I’d choose LearnDash.

It gives you stronger teaching tools, it includes payments and memberships on the cheapest plan, and its price doesn’t jump at renewal. Its top plan costs half of what LifterLMS charges for a comparable feature set over two years.

I’d choose LifterLMS in two cases. The first is a creator who needs to start for free. The second is a business built on community and coaching that’s willing to pay for the Infinity Bundle.

And if maintaining a WordPress site sounds like more work than you want, a hosted option from my list of the best online course platforms will suit you better. My guide to building an online course business covers how to make that call.

You can see LearnDash’s plans and live demo or download LifterLMS for free and test it on your own site.

LearnDash vs LifterLMS: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main difference between LearnDash and LifterLMS?

The main difference is packaging. LearnDash is a premium plugin that includes its features in three annual plans from $259 a year. LifterLMS has a free core plugin and sells payments, advanced quizzes, community, and other features as add-ons, either individually or in bundles.

Is LifterLMS really free?

The LifterLMS core plugin is free and includes unlimited courses, memberships, and students. You can’t accept payments with it, though. Selling a course needs a payment gateway add-on or the Earth Bundle, which costs $398 a year, or $199 in the first year with a discount code.

Is LearnDash cheaper than LifterLMS?

LearnDash is cheaper for most paid setups. Its plans cost $259, $399, and $599 a year. LifterLMS bundles renew at $398, $598, and $1,598 a year after a half-price first year. LifterLMS is cheaper only if the free core or one or two add-ons cover your needs.

Does LearnDash have a free trial?

LearnDash has no free plan or free trial. It offers a live demo you can explore before you buy. LifterLMS offers a free core plugin, a 30-day demo site with every add-on for $1, and a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid bundles.

Do LearnDash and LifterLMS charge transaction fees?

No. Neither plugin takes a percentage of your sales or charges per student. You pay your payment processor’s standard rate, which is about 2.9% plus 30 cents per sale with Stripe in the US. You also pay for your own WordPress hosting.

Which is better for quizzes and assignments?

LearnDash is better. Its quiz builder has eight question types, including essays and sorting, and assignment management is included on every plan. LifterLMS includes basic quizzes and question banks in its free core, and its Advanced Quizzes and Assignments add-ons come in the Infinity Bundle.

Can I build a membership site with LearnDash or LifterLMS?

Yes, with both. LearnDash includes MemberDash on every plan, which handles membership tiers, subscriptions, and course bundles. LifterLMS includes memberships in its free core, with sitewide content restrictions, automatic course enrollment, and members-only pricing. You need a payment add-on to charge for a LifterLMS membership.

Do LearnDash and LifterLMS work with Elementor?

Yes. Both plugins work with Elementor and with any well-coded WordPress theme. LearnDash lists an official Elementor integration. LifterLMS also offers its own Sky Pilot theme and page builder in the Universe Bundle and above.

Does LearnDash or LifterLMS have AI features?

LearnDash includes an AI course outline and quiz builder on its Pro and Elite plans. It generates a lesson structure and quiz questions from a topic you describe. LifterLMS doesn’t list any AI features on its features or pricing pages.

Is LearnDash Cloud still available?

Liquid Web now sells LearnDash as a WordPress plugin, and its pricing page lists only the three plugin plans. The old LearnDash Cloud sales page redirects to the plugin page. Existing LearnDash Cloud sites are still supported through Nexcess, Liquid Web’s hosting brand. Check with Liquid Web before you plan around a hosted version.

Is LearnDash scalable?

Yes. LearnDash has no limits on courses or learners, and its Elite plan adds group management, seat sales, and instructor roles for organizations. How well it performs with thousands of students depends on your WordPress hosting, so plan for a capable host as you grow.

Should I use a WordPress LMS plugin or a hosted course platform?

Choose a WordPress LMS plugin if you want full ownership, no transaction fees, and control over design. Choose a hosted platform such as Thinkific or Kajabi if you’d prefer not to manage hosting, updates, and security. Hosted platforms cost more each month and take less work.

By Jawad Khan for Learning Revolution

See also:

• LearnDash Review: Our Top WordPress LMS Choice
• The Very Best Online Course Platforms Right Now