Looking to sell online courses, but confused by the huge number of online course platforms?
In this post I draw on my two decades of e-learning industry experience to highlight the best online learning platforms and help you narrow your list. It’s a great companion to my free course platform selection guide.
(Psst. If you already have a platform, be sure to check out the next steps at the end of this post.)
Table of Contents
Make choosing an online course platform easier
One of the most important things to know about choosing the best online course software is that most platforms out there are not designed to sell online courses. They are made to deliver internal corporate training or to support academic programs.
And here’s another important fact:
Even those that will work for selling online courses come in a lot of different flavors. Pick the wrong flavor for your online course business needs and you will have headaches.
So, to help narrow your field of choices (and avoid headaches!), I’ve organized this post into the following categories of online course platforms:
- Standalone Platforms (Great for solo edupreneurs, small businesses)
- All-In-One Platforms (Run your Web site and course site together)
- WordPress Options (For those who want to keep it all in WordPress)
- Marketplace Platforms (Get a pre-made market for to sell courses online)
- Video Platforms (If your main focus is on selling videos)
- Small Business-Extended Enterprise (For more complex needs)
- Moodle Plug-Ins/Add-Ons (Make Moodle into a selling machine)
It may seem like a no-brainer, but just having a clear idea of which of the categories above you fall in – along with knowing that only a small subset of online course platforms are meant for selling course – will make your life MUCH easier.
Keep in mind that I think all of these are strong choices.
I have my preferences, but depending on your specific needs, any of these could be a good fit. Also, if a company offers an affiliate program, I will usually participate (here’s my affiliate disclaimer) – that doesn’t cost you anything, and I don’t see why I shouldn’t get at least a little benefit from sending some business to a company.
I have more experience with some of the online course platforms listed here than others, but I have vetted them all at a high level to make sure – based on my decades of experience – that they are a good fit for edupreneurs and smaller education and training businesses that want to sell online courses.
I encourage you to use the comments area to share any experiences you have had with these platforms – good or bad. (And, be sure to check them out for what others have said.)
Now, let’s move on to the list.
All of the online learning platforms listed here are strong choices, but I know it can be helpful for an expert to just say “look at this one, it’s a top choice” if you want to sell courses. So, here’s my all around top choice: Thinkific.
Check it out. You can create a free course right away, they are very upfront about how their different plans compare, and most importantly, I hear consistently from readers that that they have had a good experience with Thinkific.
Just use the button below to get one month free of Thinkific’s Pro + Growth Plan.
Standalone Online Course Platforms
These are hosted platforms geared toward solo edupreneurs or small businesses that want a turnkey way to create their own branded site to sell online courses. (Also, unlike Udemy, which is discussed below in a different category, they allow you full control over your user data.)
While the feature sets are relatively similar, they can be very different in their “look and feel” as well as in how focused they are on helping course entrepreneurs succeed – e.g., by providing good resources, educational content, strong support. Be sure to check out the free trial options, where available, so that you have a chance to kick the tires before committing.
Thinkific
Thinkific provides a truly full-featured software solution to help you create, deliver, and market and sell online courses. A big vote of confidence for this platform is that my friend Dorie Clark – a bestselling author multiple-times over, guest on the Learning Revolution podcast, and generally a very smart and business-savvy person – has used it for her online courses. Similar to Teachable below, there is a free plan, but …
… get this …
… Thinkific does not charge transaction fees on any of its plans, paid or free. (You still don’t quite get to sell online courses for free because your payment processor – e.g., PayPal, Stripe – will always charge you a transaction fee.)
Finally, I’ll mention that the Thinkific App store really stands this platform apart from most of its competitors. With the app store, you’re able to easily integrate a wide range of other platforms to help you create more impactful learning experiences and market your courses much more effectively.
Thinkific’s Basic paid plan – which comes with a bump in the features you get access to – starts at $49 per month ($39, if paid annually). Definitely worth checking out. (Here’s our full Thinkific review.)
Link: https://www.thinkific.com
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds seems to have a lot of momentum right now. The company positions itself as a “premium” option that provides for high interactivity, social learning tools to complement standard course content, and white labeling.
The company also puts a lot of emphasis on its tools for building sales pages for courses – and these do indeed look impressive. You can even test them out without signing up through a simulator that LearnWorlds provides. Recently (July 2020), LearnWorlds also added in full website builder capability.
You can try LearnWorlds free for 30 days (no credit card required), then pricing starts at $29 per month ($24, if billed annually). The company charges $5 per sale on its starter plan, but no additional fees on its other plans.
Unlike many of the company’s here, LearnWorlds also offers services for uploading and converting your content, developing courses, and customizing your LearnWorlds school. And, it is one of the few platforms on this page that supports SCORM. All in all, it looks like a very good option, deserving of the “premium” label.
Use the code LEARNINGREVOLUTION50 when checking out at LearnWorlds and you will get 50% off for the first month of a Pro plan or higher. (Full Learnworlds review here)
Link: https://www.learnworlds.com/
Teachable
Teachable was one of the first platforms to launch in this catagory and remains one of the most popular. It got started out of frustration with Udemy (listed below) – in particular, with the way in which Udemy controls information about and access to students. In response, the Teachable team has created a platform that enables you to offer online courses “on your website and control your branding, student data, and pricing all from one place.”
Teachable pricing starts at $39 per month ($29 if paid annually) for its basic plan. With the lowest level paid plan you still pay a 5% transaction fees on all sales. Transaction fees disappear once you jump up to the next level. All plans include unlimited courses and students. (Here’s my full Teachable review.)
Link: https://teachable.com/
Podia
Podia started out as “WithCoach” and a platform that was aimed primarily at coaches. More recently, the company has repositioned as a full-featured, but easy-to-use platform for selling online courses, memberships, and digital downloads in one place – and it has been gaining a lot of momentum. Some of its key selling points are:
- no transaction fees (other than whatever you pay to your payment processor – i.e., Paypal or Stripe),
- no limits on courses or users, and
- a strong focus on supporting affiliate marketing of your products.
With its basic plan starting at $39 per month (two months free with an annual plan), Podia seems to be rapidly gaining a lot of momentum. (Full Podia review here.)
Link: https://www.podia.com
Click4Course
One of the newer additions to this list of online course platforms, Click4Course compares well with well-established platforms like Teachable and Thinkific and seems strong in its testing, survey, and certificate capabilities. It also offers the interesting feature of being able to configure whether a site is displayed for internal training – in which case a login screen is presented – or selling courses – in which case a catalog is presented.
There’s a 30-day free trial (no credit card required) and the month fee is $79 ($65, if paid annually), for unlimited learners plus a 10% processing fee per course sold.
Link: https://www.click4course.com/
Pathwright
I had the pleasure of interviewing Pathwright co-founder Paul Johnson on the Learning Revolution podcast, and he also connected me with Jason Blumer, who has used the Pathwright platform with great success.
The starter plan – which allows for 1000 active learners and unlimited courses – is $99 a month ($89, if paid annually), and Pathwright does not charge any e-commerce fees (though your gateway – e.g., Stripe – still does, as usual).
Link: http://www.pathwright.com/
Zippy Courses
Originally developed as WordPress plug-in, Zippy Courses is now a standalone platform. The person behind it is Derek Halpern, who is a well-known and respected marketer who certainly knows a thing or two himself about how to create and sell online courses.
I’ve participated in a couple of courses that use Zippy Course (one was Derek’s own course, another was by a well-known course development coach who pitches Teachable in the program, but is actually using Zippy Courses to deliver it!). All in all, a very solid platform that will get you up and running – and, of course, selling online courses – quickly.
Pricing starts at $99 per month with no transaction fees.
Link: https://zippycourses.com
All-In-One Platforms
This category of online course software provides everything you need not just to create and sell online courses, but also to manage your full Web presence. They combine elements of a Web content management system (CMS) with marketing and customer relationship management tools (CRM). I plan to do a round-up post on this type of platform soon, but for the time being, I can say that choice I would most seriously consider in this category is:
Kajabi
Kajabi describes itself as “the one system you need to market, sell, and deliver your knowledge online.” As it happens, selling online courses is a big part of the equation. Along with courses, you’re able to sell memberships, training portals, file downloads, and pretty much any other digital product you can come up with.
For many people who just want to sell an online course – and who are already set with a Web site and marketing tools – this may be overkill. Then again, if you don’t have those things or simply want to get everything under one roof, Kajabi may be just the ticket. And Kajabi has done a lot in the past year pr so to add new features – like a full-fledged e-mail marketing system/
The company massively upgraded its Web page builder capabilities in 2019, making it more powerful than ever for creating Web sites and courses. And, in early 2020, Kajabi released Kajabi Email, featuring a powerful visual editor to to create attractive, high-converting e-mails fast. The Web page builder and e-mail capabilities are included with every plan.
You can try Kajabi for 14 days for free. Once a paid plan kicks in, pricing starts at $149 a month ($119 if paid annually). (Full Kajabi review here.)
Link: https://newkajabi.com/
Kartra
If you are really serious about running a digital products business – one that goes beyond just offering courses – then Kartra is a powerful solution. The platform gives you everything you need to build out a professional looking, feature rich Web site without having to hire a designer or know coding. Integrated capabilities include an e-mail platform, memberships, sales funnels, video hosting, management, and tracking, lead capture, a help desk platform for your customers, and a calendar capability for booking and managing customer appointments.
From a course standpoint, Kartra will work best if your focus is on video content – it does not have the level of course creation, student management, or assessment capabilities that the more course-focused platforms covered here have. But if video is your thing, and you want a ton of marketing muscle, Kartra is hard to beat. Plans start at $99 per month. (Full Kartra review here.)
Link: https://home.kartra.com
New Zenler
New Zenler describes itself as “the first ever course platform built around sales & marketing.” That seems like a bit of a stretch, but it is definitely positioned as an alternative to Kajabi at a significantly lower price point. In other words, you can create courses with it, but also run just about every other aspect of your online business – from your website to e-mail campaigns and sales funnels to online communities.
This is definitely one you are going to want to check out. The platform seems to be in perpetual “beta” right now, but use the link provide here and you can skip having to wait for an “invitation” – you’ll be able to try New Zenler for free right away. (Full New Zenler review here.)
Link: https://www.newzenler.com
WordPress for Selling Courses Online
If you are wondering how to create an online course with WordPress – and, of course, sell it – there are plenty of WordPress plug-ins and themes available to help you out. These can be a particularly good option if you want to sell online courses from your own website, though keep in mind that you will need more technical skills if you go this route. The following are my current top choices.
LearnDash
LearnDash, in my opinion, is pretty much the gold standard for serious WordPress learning management system (LMS) plug-ins and the recent release of version 3.0 has made it even better. It is a very feature rich platform that was clearly developed by people serious about e-learning (and the founder, Justin Ferriman, does have a long background in e-learning).
Pricing starts at $159 for the basic version and tops out at $329 for the Pro version. Note: These are one-time, not monthly fees and they represent an insane amount of value for what you get. To continue getting updates and support, there is an annual renewal fee that is half of the initial license fee.
Once you’ve got a license, LearnDash offers a range of integrations and add-ons –WooCommerce, bbPress, Stripe, and Zapier, among many others – for free. And there are also a number of premium add-ons – including a connection to the GrassBlade LRS (for you e-learning geeks out there) – that look quite useful.
Overall, this is serious e-learning at a very reasonable price. (BTW – If you are going to go with LearnDash, I suggest using it in combo with BuddyBoss to add great membership/community capabilities.) (Full LearnDash review here.)
Link: http://www.learndash.com/
AccessAlly
If you want to combine the ability to sell online courses with the ability to manage a full-featured membership site – a powerful combination for edupreneurs – then AccessAlly is arguably the best choice there is.
The platform really leverages the full capabilities and flexibility of WordPress while also adding in great membership features and a learning management system (LMS) plug-in that includes notable features like the ability for students to submit homework assignments and get private feedback.
You get all of this without having to be a WordPress whiz. It’s basically plug-n-play, but there is also a comprehensive “done for you” option is you want to get up and running with a course and membership site quickly.
The Pro plan is $129 per month / $108 with a yearly subscription. If you are serious about a membership model, this is definitely one to check out. (Full AccessAlly Review here.)
Link: https://accessally.com/
Course Cats
David Siteman Garland, the guy behind Course Cats, definitely knows what he is talking about when it comes to online courses. He has created quite a few successful ones himself and has taught many others how to do it.
Course Cats was born out of his own frustration with trying to make WordPress – which is great for so many things – into an easy-to-use platform for hosting online courses. Now you get to benefit from his efforts. As the Garland puts it, Course Cats gives you “everything you need to create your own amazing course Web site without needing a web developer, a graphic designer, a psychiatrist and a team of 1,000 nerds!”
A subscription is $59 per month or $497 a year – and either includes a “concierge” service to get you up and running. If you use, or plan to use WordPress, definitely take the 30-day free trial for a spin. (Full Coursecats review here.)
Link: http://coursecats.com
LifterLMS
LifterLMS has the very strong selling point of being free for the base version: you can search for and install it using the usual plug-in screen in WordPress. This means you can easily try out the system within your WordPress site before deciding whether it is right for you.
You pay only if you decide to use any of the various add-ons available for the system. These range from e-commerce to various marketing tools and integrations. These are $99 each, or you can purchase a Universal Bundle for $299 that includes all of the standard add-ons. (You can actually try out the Universal Bundle for a month for $1.)
Link: https://lifterlms.com/
Marketplace Online Course Platforms
These are online course platforms that, in addition to providing ways to author/assemble courses, also provide an existing marketplace in which to sell online courses. I’ve only included what I consider to be the top contenders here. For more extensive list of options in this category, see Looking for an Alternative to Udemy?
OpenSesame
If you happen to be an expert, or manage experts (e.g., if you represent a training firm or association) that is developing offerings at this level of sophistication,OpenSesame might be the first place you want to check out. You can also upload video, and the company claims that courses published in its system can be accessed by any learning management system (LMS). So, for example, if you know there are businesses out there that would want your content, but are going to want it on their own LMS, this could be a very powerful option. The company takes 40% of any sales you make through its platform.
Link: https://www.opensesame.com/sell-online-elearning-training-courses
Skillshare
Skillshare provides instructors with tools to create courses composed of video lessons and a “class project.” (All classes are have these two elements.) Classes are normally 10-25 minutes long, broken down into short videos, and they are all pre-recorded and self-paced. Once you have enrolled more than 25 learners in a class, you become eligible for participation in Skillshare’s Partner Program and can earn money through the royalty pool managed by the company – usually $1-2 per enrollment, according to the company. (Unlike Udemy – discussed below – Skillshare sells subscriptions to all of its content rather than to individual courses.) Once you are a partner, you’ll also get compensated for new Premium Members ($10 per) you bring to Skillshare through your Teacher Referral link. The Skillshare site reports that “Top teachers make up to $40,000 a year.”
Link: https://www.skillshare.com/teach
Udemy
The folks at Udemy say “Our goal is to disrupt and democratize education by enabling anyone to learn from the world’s experts.” From what I can tell, they have been doing a pretty good job at it. The Udemy platform gives subject matter experts a simple, straightforward way to assemble content like PowerPoint slides, PDF documents, and YouTube videos into a coherent course experience. You can then publish into the Udemy marketplace and use a variety of tools to promote your masterpieces. Udemy is free for instructors – the company makes it’s money by keeping 50% if it sells your course. If you make the sale, you keep 97% (Udemy takes a 3% transaction fee). Keep in mind that your are currently required to price your courses in $5 increments between $20 and $200 on Udemy (source) – quite restrictive, in my opinion. Even so, ThinkTraffic reports that some some instructors have been having quite a bit of success.
Link: http://www.udemy.com/teach
(Again, see my post Looking for an Alternative to Udemy? for other options in this category.)
Video Platforms for Selling Courses
To be clear, pretty much all of the platforms covered on this page enable you to upload video and create video-based courses. But most of them don’t offer true app-based delivery of those courses on mobile devices and none, other the ones listed in this section, support delivery into “over the top,” or OTT, channels like Apple TV, Roku, and FireTV.
It costs more to distribute through OTT apps, but if you have the type of content that is likely to be consumed through a TV screen – e.g., health and fitness training, musical and artistic instruction – it could be well worth spending a bit more to be a first mover in the OTT space. Here are some options that work well for instructional content.
Uscreen
Uscreen gives you everything you need to upload, organize, brand, publish, and monetize your videos and is a great option even if you have no interest in OTT distribution. But if you want to go that route, it’s a powerful option. Once you’ve got your videos uploaded and configured, you can launch your own branded OTT apps with zero coding skills. Uscreen also enables HD live streaming and provides a range of tools – discussion, avatars and profiles, commenting – to help you build a community around your videos.
After a two-week free trial, Uscreen starts at $149 per month ($99 if paid annually). You have to jump up to higher level plans to get the full range of features, and the company doesn’t make its pricing for OTT distribution (Apple TV, Roku, etc.) clear on the site. (It’s not cheap, but if you have that kind of audience, it’s worth it, IMHO). (Full Uscreen review here.)
Link: https://www.uscreen.tv
Muvi
Coming soon! (Full Muvi review here)
Link: https://www.muvi.com/
Small Business – Extended Enterprise Platforms
Most of the online course platforms listed on this page are geared towards solopreneurs or small, start-up businesses. While they can work for larger businesses, I’ve found over time that more established training and education companies may want to jump up to a different level if they:
- Sell business-to-business and may need to set up separate portals for each customer
- Need to award continuing education credit learners
- Already have an extensive catalog of courses built out in SCORM or TinCan-based authoring tools like Articulate, Captivate, Lectora, or isEazy.
- Plan to build out a catalog of courses and don’t want to be “trapped” by using proprietary LMS tools
- Need to manage online and classroom-based courses in the same system
- Need complex assessment capabilities (creating questions and answer pools, randomizing questions, ability to analyze the performance of individual questions – i.e., item analysis)
Because many course sellers do have these needs, I decided to create a separate “learning management system for small business” page.
On my short list in this category are platforms like LearningCart (full review) and TalentLMS (full review). For a full range of options, check out Learning Management System for Small Business.
(Note: The online course platforms listed on that page are not out of the question for solo entrepreneurs, but they are probably a better fit, in most instances, for small-to-mid-sized businesses that are doing/planning a relatively high-volume of course sales (or big businesses, but those aren’t really a target for this site).
Also, if you happen to represent a trade or professional association, be sure to check out the LMS reviews on ReviewMyLMS.
Moodle Plug-Ins /Add-ons to Sell Online Courses
These will tend to apply more in academic or academic-oriented markets where platforms like Moodle and Canvas have a big foothold, but they will also be helpful to commercial edupreneurs who have adopted these platforms. Also, if you need a platform that can handle multi-byte (e.g., Chinese) or right-to-left (e.g., Arabic) language, Moodle may be your best bet.
CourseMerchant
If you happen to have already gone down the Moodle path (widely used open source LMS) for your course delivery needs, then you may want to check out CourseMerchant. While Moodle itself provides a very basic e-commerce option, CourseMerchant helps you take things to a much more sophisticated level – including the ability to bundle courses, offer discounts, and sell multi-seat licenses that allow for the seats to be easily allocated to learners. The CourseMerchant folks are also behind CourseIndex.com, a network that enables you to promote and sell online courses through affiliate marketers.
Link: http://www.coursemerchant.com/ Link: http://www.courseindex.com
LMS Checkout
LMS Checkout is another option for selling Moodle or Totara courses. You can set up an account easily on the LMS Checkout Web site, download the plugin to install into your Moodle or Totara site, and connect to Paypal or Authorize.net to as your payment gateway. You get quite a bit of control over modifying the the theme for you e-commerce site so that it will look as much like your Moodle site as possible and you can even integrate with Salesforce in just a few clicks. All-in-all, a very good option for getting a level of e-commerce functionality that just isn’t available in Moodle itself.
Link: https://www.lmscheckout.com/
Next Steps for Choosing a Platform
What now?
If you haven’t already, definitely grab the free selection guide for online course platforms. It costs nothing, and it will help you make the right choice faster and smarter.
You may also want to check out the individual reviews of top course platforms that have been published here on Learning Revolution. This also includes comparisons of online course platforms like Teachable vs Thinkific and New Zenler vs Kajabi.
The LMS reviews on ReviewMyLMS are also very helpful as these come from actual users.
As you are considering your options, be sure that you are clear about what type of online course business you are. It really does matter when selecting a platform.
Next Steps Once You Have a Platform
As you probably realize – having a platform doesn’t do you a lot of good if you don’t know how to create an online course – just follow the link to get my guidance on how to design an online course.
And then, of course, there is the whole issue of how to launch your online course successfully and continue to market it over time.
Be sure to check out the free Learning Revolutionary’s Toolbox. It’s chock full of tools and tips to help edupreneurs with all aspects of creating and growing a successful online course business.
Finally, keep in mind that while online courses are very popular right now, they are only one of many ways to monetize your expertise.
See you at the Revolution!
Jeff
P.S. – If you have used/had success with any of the online course platforms covered on this page, or have others you would like to see on the list, please comment and share below. Also, if you found it useful, please share this page with others by using the social buttons to the left or at the bottom of this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are questions I get asked frequently about online course platforms.
What is the best online course platform?
There is no single best platform for online courses, there is only the best platform for you. To find it, make sure you understand which type of online course business you are and get very clear about your critical business objectives and the types of learning outcomes you aim to help your students achieve. This will help you identify the platform features that are truly most important for you and help you narrow your choices dramatically. The spreadsheet I include with my free platform selection guide can then help you go through a clear process to make your choice.
What is a learning management system?
A learning management system, or LMS, is a software platform for hosting and delivering online courses, registering students, and tracking their progress through the courses. If you are shopping for a platform to sell online courses, you are bound to run across the term and it is useful to understand how these online course platforms differ from traditional LMSes, most of which were designed for corporate training or academic degree programs, not for selling courses. I’ve written in more detail about what an LMS is here.
How do I create an online course?
Most online course platforms feature tools that you can use to author online courses. These are usually pretty intuitive and make it possible to use a combination of text, images, and videos to create courses. Most also include the ability to add quizzes and tests, discussion forums, and other interactive features. If you are going to create a large number of courses or if you really need your courses to follow e-learning standards like SCORM, you may want to be careful about using the tools in an online course platform. Most do not follow e-learning standard, and you may find it very hard later to get your courses out of the platform. So, you may want to consider using an online course authoring tool separate from the platform.
Keep in mind, too, that having the tools is only the starting point. You will need to follow a good process for creating your course.
Note: This page contains affiliate links. If you click on these links and end up making a purchase, Learning Revolution will receive a small commission. This does not add to the cost of the products for you and it provides a small amount of income to help keep Learning Revolution going. You can view our affiliate disclosure here.
Will your online course platform still be here tomorrow?
Kushami
It allows you to track add xAPI, cmi5, SCORM content support as well as Video Tracking support too.
Daniel Carr
Troy Hudson
Jeff Cobb
DEEPAK KUMAR SINGH
You can also try http://prodicallearning.com/ platform if you want to creat and sell courses with your branded name at very affordable price.
Thanks
corinne
Great article btw
Jeff Cobb
Calvin
Donna
Jeff Cobb
Eric Wilson
Isaac Mathis
Alex
Selling online courses as I understand it could be about how a professional training business like say the guys who bring you GTD (VitalSmarts) required a “customer” training LMS to scale the business of learning. They use the Thought Industries platform, which is similar to others like Skilljar, LearnUpon or Docebo? I’m sure each has their areas of expertise, benefits, etc. But curious if there is value in expanding on this post with a quick write up about how pla...
Jeff Cobb
Bruno Serratrice
Jeff Cobb
Andre Du Toit
I am busy setting up a LearnPress site and would like for small local colleges/clients to create their own branded section with pre-loaded courses that they can choose from or load their own to sell, similar to Thinkific with a bonus of pre-loaded courses. I have a multivendor site where clients can create their own e-commerce shop and would like to have the same for e-learning. Is this really possible with learnPress and if yes do you know of any documentation/guide...
Sebastien
Thanks for the great info! What do you think of MOOC’s (like edX or Moodle)?
Thanks,
Jeff Cobb
Faustine
Thank you!
Jeff Cobb
Bruce
Jeff Cobb
Rachel
Jeff Cobb
Hamza Hajeir
I’m looking for a platform that performs all-in (as Udemy) , and supports courses in other languages than English.
I’ve designed a course in Arabic and it’s up to recording now. I need a guidance for a better choice, As Selling and Marketing isn’t my preferred area.
Jeff Cobb
Will Schulz
Jeff Cobb
ali
Jeff Cobb
James
Vonza is an all-in-one platform to create and sell online courses, products, build funnels, design a beautiful website without needing 20 different apps and spending thousands of dollars. Try it out at http://www.vonza.com
Jeff Cobb
Bill
Thanks so much for putting this incredible guide together! Have you also heard of Virtually (https://vrtlly.me/build)?
It’s the only online courses platform that I’m familiar with that takes place live and requires minimal effort to put together. All the video editing and PDF creation is done on your behalf.
Jeff Cobb
Denise C Allen
Jeff Cobb
Shaunte McFarland
Christie Ramsey
Jeff Cobb
Chris
Thanks for this article. Have you ever stumbled upon a platform that combines physical and digital sales? We have a course made up of digital videos and a physical book. (For reasons I won’t go into here, the book cannot be digitized and needs to remain physical.) Currently, we provide it only through our wordpress site, which requires us to manually fulfill each order through KDP (the same POD provider used by Amazon) and then grant member-only access to the videos, streamed via...
Jeff Cobb
If others reading here use or offer another solution that would help Chri...
Carl
I’ve looked through this list twice and it is absolutely brilliant. It is up-to-date and listed according to its type. I’d love to see you include Plantoost, it is worth a look!
Jeff Cobb
Sudheer M
Jeff Cobb
Frida Renlund
Jacqueline Litvak
Thanks!
Jeff Cobb
Don Peterson
Jeff Cobb
Discourse
Jeff Cobb
Alix B Reed
Jeff Cobb
Tracy Goorde
Jeff Cobb
Jerry Neece
Jeff Cobb
Andrew Morrow
Maycee
https://www.freelancermap.com/freelancer-tips/12434-create-course-sell-freelance-knowledge
Not gonna lie, I had no idea th...
Jeff Cobb
Bibhash Roy
Jeff Cobb
Marco
Very interesting article! I still have a question bugging me though: in your research were you also able to identify if there is any platform that allows to sell courses where the instructor is different than the account owner? I would like to set up a little business where I instruct the Instructors, shoot the course, direct and produce the videoclips, follow any marketing activity around the course. Then, I would get right to use and eploitat the results from them, sharing revenue...
Jeff Cobb
Amy Olivieri
Jeff Cobb
karisma
Florian Selch
Jeff Cobb
Nada
Amazing post, and pretty useful list for online course creators. Also appreciate the time and effort you put into making people’s lives easier and answering everyone’s comments around here.
Passing by, I wanted to drop here another platform that fits the all-in-one category. It’s https://kyvio.com and it’s the perfect match for people with a low budget and high expectations. I would highly appreciate it i...
Liam Dalriada
Jeff Cobb
Ben Cryer
Simpliv works because it makes coding accessible to any interested student, provides practical recommendations for students who want to learn how to code but doesn’t understand how these new skills might apply to their current job.
Jeff Cobb
Ana
Diana Navarro
Alice Williams
Mike
Jeff Cobb
Dainis Graveris
–
There are so many options available – am I the only one getting overwhelmed?
Still there must be a reason why Thinkific vs Teachable keyword is being searched on Google 800 TIMES every month.
–
These two are heavyweights and I would say in 90% of cases these options will be far better than all the small solutions.
The thing is there is NO BEST online course pla...
Jeff Cobb
Dainis Graveris
It’s super specific, though still surprised that you found a LOT of cases where these two options are not a good fit.
Can you make one common example, Jeff – please?
Jeff Cobb
Sue
Jeff Cobb
Alice
I am developing learning materials directed to patient education (ie drugs side effects, appropriate use etc). So, I expect a high heterogeneity of learning materials and many learners who will likely pick very different course choices. Course bundles would apply, such as “diabetes learning bundle” or “breast cancer learning bundle” etc, but also with a huge variety.
The question is: in your opinion, would any of the platforms or plugins be better ...
Jonathan Turkle
Jose
Looking for fitness/gym video online course platform with socialising.
Looking into Uscreen and Muvi… but I might be wrong.
Any thoughts/directions on this please?
Thanks
Mikhail
You may consider SubscribeStar.com as a standalone platform for your subscription-based (or donation based) courses business. We have transparent pricing, flexible business flow, customizable page layout and friendly staff. Please, drop me a line and I will help you with anything in regard to your online course platform.
Ivar
Jeff Cobb
Peter S
https://www.talentlms.com/blog/a-way-to-prevent-cheating-in-elearning/
Gourav Kakkar
Tom @ We Create Online Courses
https://wecreateonlinecourses.com/
gurvinder kaur
Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie, Ph.D.
I have five professional degrees in subjects that I am passionate about to my core. I want to attract self-directed students. All the other online hosts that I thoroughly researched or used focused on what I call “recreational learning.” My courses are serious investigations to make a sizable income.
Lea...
Jeff Cobb
Kathie-Jo Arnoff
Thanks for sharing your comment about LearnWorlds and similar tools. We were planning to use a full-blown LMS (quite costly) to deliver courses for professional development. Per your suggestion, I checked out LearnWorlds and was quite impressed. Do you have any updates on how it’s going? Have you used the drip marketing? –Kathie-Jo
Tina
Jeff Cobb
siva
Good comprehensive list, and hats off for your effort.
I want to create a technical course ( having mostly PPTs and screen-cast videos).
I thought of creating the same in Udemy because they will market the courses.
Do other sites do market sellers content? Or Is it seller to market by themselves?
Thanks
siva
Linda Taylor
Your Learning Revolution is so informative. Thank you. I’m wanting to create a website for Enrolled Agents to earn their annual CPE credits. The material is going to be a self-study course using a downloaded written course to their computer. After they have studied the material, they go back to my website and take a test, it they pass with 70% I submit the credits to the IRS and then I send the student a certificate of completion that they can download and keep in their file. The stude...
Jeff Cobb
Peter
Shannon Zarb
1. I’d like to be able to run both prerecorded instructional videos and live presentations.
2. I’d like to have the ability for real-time student engagement.
3. It needs to be intuitive, easy for the user, and not cost a bundle. I’d also like to retain ownership of the materials but have some “marketing” support from the platf...
Lisa
Thank you for a comprehensive post. There is so much choice out there, the more you read the more confusing things become. I am hoping you can simplfy and point me in the right direction.
I am setting up an education website, where I will primarily sell recorded webinars. I have a wordpress site and purchased webinar ignition (WI) under the assumption that I could record webinars and offer them through WI. I have just found out that this isn’t the case. So now I am looking f...
Jeff Cobb
Rita S
Jeff Cobb
Robert
Jeff Cobb
Barbara
Jeff Cobb
Bob Galivan
Jeff Cobb
Marjory
Jeff Cobb
Robert Junis
http://honeycoach.com
Robert Junis
HoneyCoach allows you to sell without fixed costs, and allows you to sell single videos, online classes and coaching programs. It’s worth to check it, folks.
Do My Essays
Jeff Cobb
Mike
I tried still cannot really figure the difference between LMS and authoring tools.
Is authoring tool a part of an LMS ?
I actually thought authoring tools are just platforms used to link texts, pictures, videos and audios to form a flow in a presentation… so not so sure how that was independently used for elearning in the past
Thanks very much
F.Mike
Jeff Cobb
mike
Thanks very much for your nice reply
Joseph
Sell courses AND individual lessons?
IE. 50 videos…
50$ for entire course. 1$ Per video lesson.
Jeff Cobb
Tiffany
Jeff Cobb
Jeff Cobb
Tal
Jody
thanks!
Mark
https://flyplugins.com/wp-courseware/
I wasn’t the lead on that project, but the developer who was evaluated several of the WordPress LMS options and it came down to LearnDash and WP Courseware. I believe the pricing model may be similar though. You may want to contact them.
Oliver Pascual
I was looking for some useful Online Courses online and suddenly found your post. You have shared very useful information about the online course platforms which will surely make the process of choosing easier for everyone.
Each platform is described in detail and I also appreciate that you’ve encouraged everyone to share their online platforms at your blog post. This way, people looking for online training can get an excellent and wide selection of the latest platforms that ...
Lindsey Mercer
Let’s say I start with Thinkific but a year from now ultimately decide to shift over to another platform like WordPress / Learn...
Jeff Cobb
Really, it comes down to the nature of your content and how much you rely on the tools contained within any specific platform to create your courses. If you rely on those tools heavily, then you will have to redo quite a bit when you go to a new platform. Maybe not a big ...
Ally
(eg Rainmaker, Academy Mine…)
After taking a subscription of any type of these platforms – what will happen to the website, domain and contents upon cancellation? Are they easily transferable?
E.g. because I’ve learnt to make my own website and features and can do so without paying expensive subscription fees? Or I find cheaper prices else where?
Thanks
Jeff Cobb
Terry Jarrell
1: Collect payment at registration
2: Provide on-demand viewing 24/7
3: Confirm the course was completed prior to delivering a ...
Lisa
Did you get a response to your post. Your situation is very similar to mine and I would be interested in the answer.
Diane Richards
Isabelle
Camila Alvarez
For any questions please write us to [email protected]
Kellie
I’ve found Currclick and Outschool so far and I think Teachable is one as well.
Any others any of you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Jeff Cobb
Kay
Many thanks in advance!
K
Jeff Cobb
Thomas
Great list! Thanks! I was wondering if you could add / review our platform as well for the creation of mobile courses: https://www.guidiance.com
Highly appreciated! Thanks
Jeff Cobb
Phillip Dacus
You will want to update your content here, if you are not already working on this. In your review of Udemy, you say that classes must be priced between $20 and $50. According to the information on the check list for classes; “Courses must be priced in $5 increments between $20 and $200”
https://s3.amazonaws.com/udemy-images/support/Quality+Checklist+EN.pdf
Jeff Cobb
Phillip Dacus
Jeff Cobb
Fulton Smith
Jeff Cobb
Pascall
Jeff Cobb
Tom Whalen
Pamela Young
Sell Online Courses - Free Signup and Setup Now
All plans come with free custom branding, which includes your logo, a welcome banner/message area, and a background color/image. Click here for an example.
Dylan Jorgensen
Jeff Cobb
Rodolfo Siles
BigmusBlog
Abey
Jeff Cobb
Jay
We do have an integration with IDEAL at Academy Of Mine. Please send us an email at [email protected] and someone will reach out to discuss.
Thanks
Jay
Greg
Greg
Jeff Cobb
Bob Oliver
Thanks for sharing 🙂
nathan
Here is another that is a great website which has allot ot offer for people starting to develop there business skills and help get there business started in just 3 days. head to the website and check it out http://bit.ly/2eYWwwz
if you would like to do a article about this site or add it to your list that would be great. Some of the leaders ...
Heidi
Jeff Cobb
Vincent Mateljan
Bill Bernhardt
But, the main problem with Teachable is that their a...
Brandon
I’m honestly not sure what you expect from Teachable. I’m not a customer of theirs, as I built my courses with Thinkific. However, they’re a courses site. they don’t do mailing lists, nor as far as I know is there a courses provider who does also do mailing lists. They are two totally different products.
Also, you can’t expect their customer support to give support for something written in one of their blog posts. They support their product, an...
Daniela
Rodney Waterman
Nilesh
With same platform you can conduct live classes and can provide recorded one.
You guys should try http://www.edugyaan.com
EduGyaan is another company who provide better platform at low cos.
Marie
Andrea Hope
Freida
Sasi
You can visit and can signup to it from here http://www.learnyst.com
Daniel B
Divine Valentin
Anthony Miller
tom cruise
Farouk
Just find out Thinkific using stripe , for 0 payment term but sadly stripe doesn’t recognise Malaysia. So sad ????
Great post Jeff. Thanks a lot!
Raf
David Garcia
Thank you for your help
David Garcia
Carson
Lawrence
Jeff Cobb
Mohdy MS
Amy
Chanel
Olivia
Jeff Cobb
Phil Spokes
You get the benefit of all the MATRIX features, but without having to commit to monthly fees – you only pay a small percentage of what you sell. We also give you full support, free of charge.
We are offering some fantastic deals for early adopters, or if you want to g...
Fr. Lev
We tried Moodle and were OK w/ it except that there were security issues. We wound up being hacked and our webhost didn’t much ...
Jeff Cobb
Paco de Onís
Bob
Shane
Lisa Denke
Catherine
This is the platform many online marketers like Brendon Burchard...
Karen
Olivia
Mark Gill
Tim Andersen
Ed Lamaster
Denise DeLuca
Sophie
Tthe difference is choosing between bigger promoted sites like Udemy where you might get more visibility for your online course, or a smaller platform where you basically do your own promo.
For a starter, price is also key factor. Thanks for sharing , now checking all these links
Jeff Cobb
Tyler Basu
Jeff Cobb
Marc
Great article. Do you have any knowledge of platforms specifically targeting creators and consumers of learning courses for children, k-8? My company produces engaging, video animation educational/earning programs for kids (and their parents) covering core foundational subjects such as language arts, science, history, etc. They are available on our own company site as well as Udemy, Gumroad, Teacherspayteachers, but for the most part these sites are not specific to children.
Marc
Nick
We are an online courses platform in China (http://www.pbsedu.com/). We have more than 1 million registered users. My email address is [email protected]
Cheers,
Nick
Karan Brar
Is there any way that I keep using my own domain but integrate with multiple platforms listed above?
I do not want to use their hosting but keep my domain at one place.
Regards,
Karan
Myschoolbase.com - No.1 student online platform
Dave Mitchell
Dave Mitchell
Yiannis Panagopoulos
Malak Sedra
Frances
Christina O.
Jess
Chris Wilson
Lawrence
tariq ahmad
https://www.udemy.com/learn-build-a-modern-responsive-website-for-themeforest/
Robert
Amjad Judeh
Cliff Krahenbill
For instance, you are led to believe that using your on domain name is a feature but once when you go to use it, you are going to be charged $99.00 and be sold an SSL cert that has a reoccurring monthly fee of $25.00.
You need to ask about hidden charges and fees and u...
Jeff Cobb
JB
Mark Smith
Amanjot
WizIQ has come a long way during last few months. We all know about its much loved Virtual Classroom. Now, it’s spreading wings in a direction. It recently launched Online Academy Builder – A DIY platform that allows users to create their own online teaching website in a few minutes. A lot of other improvements have also been made. You can find more details on the website – http://www.wiziq.com/
Regards,
Am...
Phil
Great list thanks. Do you know of any particular LMS that offers interactive video with one or many students in the same way that Adobe Connect does? The standard webinar format is OK but most seem to only have a text chat option for the students which can be limiting in terms of teaching.
Thanks
Phil
Nikki
I have one question, being a real novice. I want to use a platform for on-line learning that not just allows for pre-taped videos, slide shows with audio, and other “static” mediums. I want a platform that allows for live teaching where I can either see the individuals (as I teach self-care/body work), hear the individuals and their questions (but they see me), and/or get their chats (latter being less desirable – other two being more as they create a real live cla...
Natasha
I also want to be able to sell webinars and other courses on the same platform. Any suggestion?
Lokesh Sahal
I’ve just launched a platform: https://trainingalley.com. It will allow you to sell Webinars and have a personal chatroom, social group for your students. Also, it will support Interactive Classes created with authoring tools like Articulate, Captivate, etc. You can contact me through the site.
Regards,
Lokesh
Rajiv Sathian
To sell courses online you can use Moodle as the LMS wherein you can create any number of courses and add course content related to them.
Moodle has a robust system which can be used by site owners to manage and maintain courses.
To sell them online you can use WordPress as the CMS wherein due to its simple and easy to use interface will help you to create a great user-interface for buyers on your site.
We have come up with a plugin which integrates both Moodle and WordPress whic...
Jeremy
Rajiv Sathian
Since the discussion is related to creating and selling courses online.
With the experience we have in this field, I recommend Moodle to be the best place to create courses online, you may find Moodle to be tedious but trust me once you start using it you will find it to be very handy.
But when the plan comes to sell courses in Moodle, yes it is not easy so I would recommend use WordPress as front-end to create a dedicated site to sell your courses online.
Looking into these requiremen...
Eric
Roz Bahrami
John
webeasystep
Susan
Melanie
http://www.refineddata.com
I’m curious which platforms you most highly recommend for their use of open-source code and value? Thank you for this post!
Jeff Cobb
Panos Siozos
For a fresh approach I suggest you have a look at http://www.learnworlds.com, a white-label platform for creating your own online school and full-fledged professional training community (disclosure: I am a co-founder there)
With LearnWorlds you have everything you need to easily create rich online courses (that combine videos, texts/images, formal and informal as...
Jeff Cobb
Panos Siozos
It would definitely be a very interesting choice for your audience
Looking forward to the next update:)
Stephan Pineau
Training Orchestra provides an “ERP for Training Companies” to manage the back end (orders, invoice, schedule, profitability…). Our training management software for training companies bring the experience of more than 250 clients, and just received the Brandon All Gold award.
http://www.training-...
el mustapha ben bihi
Peter
Don’t forget Eventase! It’s a fully customizable platform just like the one you mentioned, but with some more advantages. Check it out – http://www.eventase.com
Cheers,
Peter
Kevin
Darlynn
Conrad
If you’re trying to find your profitable idea or grow your course, check out our free course on the subject here: http://profitablecourseidea.com
Rob
Thank you
Istvan Holczer
thank you Jeff for the listing of the platforms!
Is it possible to upload and try to sell the course on different and several sites?
Ad absurdum: is it possible to upload them to ALL learning sites / platforms?
Thank you and bye
Steven
PJ
Jimmy Donnellan
Jeff Cobb
scott cochran
Christopher Perrin
What if I want to sell over 20 online LIVE courses as part of a growing K-12 online academy? Mainly, I want a clear means of offering and selling the courses and registering new students.
Is Canvas Catalog a decent option?
Jeff Cobb
Nick
usefedora.com
neri Life Choma
Thanks for this comprehensive article. I already built my Elearning program and website with wishlist plugin, and all my videos are hosted on Vimeo. I would like to know about platforms to market my training program.
are there platforms that let me list my program for a marketing fee?
Thanks!
Jeff Cobb
Char
Try:
http://www.courseindex.com
Greg Jeffries
Matt
Miranda
– Create and sell courses on your own site, under your own brand
– Content importer allows easy import of videos & pdfs in bulk
– Create courses out of multiple file types (video, PDFs, MP3s, Text, Quizzes, Surveys, and tonnes of outside sites like typeform forms, Articulate, Storyline… the list goes on!)
– Full e-com...
Jimmy Newson
Thanks for the great article. I have a question for you or anyone here. My company is preparing a number of training programs for 2015. In reviewing all the platforms available, what do you think about putting a single course on multiple platforms. Can that be done? My thinking is some of these platforms have built in (huge) audiences who are accustomed to purchasing online courses, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have access to as many potential students as possible by ...
Ton Bil
Chris du Plessis
James Ashford
Do you think it’s better to sell courses on your own website or to sell them on another. For example, Tony Robbins has his website, but then he sells his courses on Business-Mastery. Brendon Burchard has a website but then sells his courses on HighPerformanceAcademy.
Just wondered what your thoughts were.
Cheers
Jeff Cobb
PharmPsych Team
Hey! We enjoyed reading your article. But, the majority of the companies listed on this page are for long term courses/classes. At PharmPsych Sites we cater mostly to Continuing Education professionals in the medical field, many of whom just need a short term solution. In the medical field information changes quickly, and most of our users do not want to have a long term course. We make it easy and simple to do that.. In fact, our prices are below the range of what you listed; we also h...
Jeff Cobb
Tarun Rai
I would like to share our WordPress plugin with your readers especially the ones who would like to sell their Moodle courses online. This plugin works with your WordPress website and integrates WordPress and Moodle with WooCommerce to sell Moodle Courses online.
You can take a look at the details here. http://wisdmlabs.com/woocommerce-moodle-integration-solution/
Hope to get added to y...
Leslie Edelman
Thanks a ton for these resources. Im looking specifically for a user controlled (interactive) video platform for training people on how to use a specific product, reviewing features and troubleshooting. We dont need to sell anything, but would love to track which video’s get watched most so that we know where the interest or pain points are for the product. I’ve looked at Engajer as a platform, and some of the training platforms here seem like a good fit, but not sure abo...
Roy Nelson
https://www.apnacourse.com/tutoring
They have decent enough platform, have gone through their own MOOCs hosted on platform.
Some points about them i liked,
– course can be completely private, with my own audience. (download restricted)
– no revenue sharing (pay as you go model, charged per consumption hour at the month end)
Has anybody tried it and...
Alina
Martin Broughton
We would love to show you a demo some time if you had a spare hour or so, be great to get your detailed thoughts.
Once again, many thanks for the mention.
All the best and I look forward to hearing from you.
Martin Broughton
[email protected]
Ryan
Jacob Bradley
We sent a note to you in May about adding Click 4 Course to this list, but we’re not sure if you got it. Would you be able to at it? Based on services you’ve listed, it would be a great addition to this list. We hope to hear back from you, and also see our service on your list!
Thanks,
Jacob Bradley
Support Team
[email protected]
http://www.click4cours...
Ruth Collis
Ann Mary
Michael
Jeff
Jeff
Keegan
Thanks! Keegan
Indigo
David Garcia
John Nyquist
Jeff Cobb
Edvance360
steve
Sean Power
Jeff Cobb
Jeff
Kevin
Bob Berry
thanks!
Jeff Cobb
Morgen
We’re 100% customisable and you can configure the front-end to go with any design or hosting service you’re currently using.
Jacob
Thanks! Jacob
stephane caron
Thanks so much for those great infos. That should most definitely help me with my plans to start up a training platform. Thanks to your infos, I can now narrow my search for the best tool to use.
I wish to put online downloadable checklists, videos and emit certificates. And one thing also that I wish to be able to do is allow my trainees to download mobile device friendly version of my lists and videos.
Any obvious suggestions ?
Mary
Jeff Cobb
Rupali
How does it compare to these others?
Mahalo for this fine information!
Jeff Cobb
Matt Craig
it’s called scooltv. https://scooltv.com
Kunjan
I have one question, if you can help. Security is always a challenge in e-learning content. Any suggestions to ensure that viewers can not download the video.
Jeff Cobb
Mattia Toso
For the pretty angry instructors on Udemy pricing model, i’d like to suggest Kunerango (http://www.kunerango.com/en/landing).
Thanks
gwen
Jeff Cobb
Bharat
William
http://www.planningforfailure.com/post/63542124884/udemy-takes-more-from-instructors-censors-critics
Some pretty angry instructors in the comments area.
Hope this helps
Katie Hurst
Thank you for including OpenSesame on your list. If you or any of your readers have questions or would like to know more, please let me know!
libby
Abe Crystal
Dinesh Takyar
I feel that nowadays it isn’t difficult to build your own training website using Paypal as the payment gateway.
What do you think could be the disadvantages of going your own way?
Jeff Cobb
Just using Paypal as a payment gateway and one of any number of approaches to managing access to content (like, for example, a membership plugin) can work just fine. The platforms listed here all manage access rights as an integrated part of the software and have done a good bit to streamline the e-commerce process. Many of them also streamline authoring of educational content and make it easier to integrate content, assessments, and social interaction (e.g., discussion boards) i...
Ashley
Sohail Khan
Lindsey H
Jeff Cobb
Carol
Jeff Cobb
Jane
Bernadette Carter
Alberta
I have a course available on Udemy that needs to be updated. Udemy is great for those who want to offer free courses that have high video and audio quality. Udemy knows what interest their customers. Most of their customers are other Udemy instructors.
They are redoing their pricing and have finally stopped providing free previews of courses. Mine and some other instructors courses were copied and sold to rip-off companies that repackage portions of your video and charge $5...
Mike
What amazed me is that I am using a professional recording setup and have been delivering courses for over 7 years with excellent comments from my students.
I would like to grow my audience but will find another way.
Ton Bil
Stephanie Tanner
Em
Joan
Recently I tried http://www.emagister.co.uk and I had a good results.
Stephen