Online courses are selling great these days, and it’s an excellent extra income stream for creators. If you have a following and the energy to capture your knowledge in a course format, you will need a platform to host your online course. There are so many to choose from, so we have compiled this comprehensive list to help you determine which software is suitable for your online course.
I purchased a social media and content development course back in November 2023. I wanted to learn how to expand my reach and improve the website for user-friendliness. While taking this fantastic course with loads of information, the founders talked me into creating my own course. I followed their advice and have since created “Networking Is Your Shortcut to Success”. Our team did an extensive amount of research to find the right platforms to use, the software that’s best for online courses, and all the other details on what’s needed to launch a course successfully. This blog post is intended to help you make up your own mind about which option is right for you.
*This post includes affiliate links, which pay us a commission when you buy from them. We have included all the best companies, but we don’t have partnerships with all of them. Please choose based on what’s best for you. If you decide that one of the companies we have links for is the right match, please purchase through our links. Thank you for your support!
Now, on to the comparisons. It’s going to be extensive.
Course Creation and Hosting Platforms
The foundation of a successful online course that sells is a robust platform that allows you to create, host, and sell your educational content. These platforms offer a range of features, including video hosting, quizzes, and certificates, which can help you create an engaging learning experience.
1. Thinkific is an all-in-one platform for creating and selling online courses, building vibrant communities, and monetizing memberships.
Key Features:
- Intuitive Course Builder
- Supports Quizzes, Surveys, and Certificates
- Integrated Payment Processing
- Drag and Drop Course Builder
- Easy-to-Use Website Themes
- Fully Integrated E-commerce
- App Store
- Course Quizzes and Surveys
- Thinkific Academy Course
- Custom Domain
- Coupons & Discounts
- Affiliate Selling
User Friendly:
- Drag and drop templates or create your own, and bulk import content.
- People say their marketing tools are helpful for growth.
- There is an extensive help library, and a live chat is available for paid plans, access Thinkific expert professional help, and Thinkific Academy (some free, some paid).
Community:
There is a Facebook community (34.4K members) and an Expert Marketplace, but this is not like competitor Skools’ robust built-in community.
Payments:
With the account set up, you can directly link your bank account. The account must be verified, which can take 24-48 hours before you can accept payments. You can also update currency from the payments tab (in settings).
Thinkific Payments enables your revenue to be directly deposited daily from your Thinkific account into your registered bank account. The payout schedule will depend on the account verification status and the country in which the business is registered.
Refunds:
Thinkific Payments allows you to offer refunds directly from the Thinkific dashboard. You can access your Orders Report to initiate and track your refunds.
Adds/Changes:
You can change your courses even after they have been published. You do not need to unpublish the course to make edits. You can also update your pricing and make changes easily.
Video Uploading:
All plans include unlimited video hosting; however, each video has a 2GB file size limit. They recommend compressing videos to reduce the file size. Videos can be uploaded directly into your Video Library, or you can use the uploader to add multiple videos at once.
Pricing as of 2024:
- There is a 14-day free trial; but be sure to get a handle on the extra fees.
- Basic – Provides access to core features and essential tools you will need to launch your online course for $49/month (monthly billing) or $36/month (annual billing).
- Pro Plan – Unlock additional features like unlimited courses, more community users, unlimited students, and advanced course building to build an improved student experience. $99/month (monthly billing) or $74/month (annual billing).
- Grow – Grow your online business with more advanced tools that help users sell more and expand into multiple learning products. Add two administrators; you will get phone and priority support along with all the above features. You can remove Thinkific branding and get a bulk email list platform to send emails to your students inside the platform. $199/month (monthly billing) or $149/month (annual billing).
- Premier is also available at $399/month. All the above, plus more.
2. Teachable is recommended for course beginners.
Key Features:
- Customizable Course Pages
- Supports Quizzes and Course Completion Certificates
- Built-in Email Marketing Tools
Pricing as of 2024:
- Free: plan available ($1 + 10% transaction fee)
- Basic: The plan starts at $29/month (plus 5% transaction fees). The website says it’s $39/month, billed annually.
- Pro: This plan is $99/month (no transaction fees). However, their website says it’s $119/month billed annually. There is also a Pro+ plan, which is $199/month billed annually with no transaction fees. Make sure to read the fine print.
3. Kajabi is an all-in-one platform with no transaction fees, including marketing emails, and unlimited landing pages.
Key Features
- All-in-One Platform (Course Creation, Marketing, Website, and Email)
- Advanced Automation and Segmentation
- Built-in CRM
Pricing as of 2024:
- Basic plan starts at $149/month. It includes one website, three products, 10,000 contacts, and 1000 active customers.
- Growth plan at $199/month. Fifteen products and funnels, 25,000 contacts, and 10,000 active customers.
- Pro at $399/month. Pro includes 24/7 support, custom branding, an affiliate program, 100,000 contacts, 100 funnels, and 20,000 active customers.
4. Udemy is the online learning marketplace dedicated to education and has been around for quite some time. I remember their courses back in 2012 when I was in New York. They used to have events at their location. This platform is perfect for individual instructors looking to reach a large audience without marketing their courses. The service provides a simple way to create and host courses without much upfront cost, but you will share your revenue with them.
Key Features:
- Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Platform
- Marketplace for Selling Courses
- Revenue Sharing Model
Pricing as of 2024:
The total revenue is shared with Udemy: instructors typically keep 50% of sales through organic Udemy traffic. According to their website site, in 2024 there will be two sharing models:
- For sales through instructor promotions, the instructors receive 97% of the revenue when the student purchases their content using an instructor’s coupon or referral link.
- For sales that do not occur through an instructor promotion, Instructors will receive 37% of the revenue for any Udemy sales where no instructor coupon or course referral link was used. These sales might occur after a user clicks on a Udemy advertisement or browses the Udemy marketplace for courses.
5. Coursera is an online learning marketplace that has academia involved. Course creators often hold academic or professional credentials and include personnel from universities and major companies.
Key Features:
- Partnerships with Universities and Companies
- Offers Certificates and Degrees
- Financial Aid Available for Students
Pricing as of 2024:
- Course creators must partner with Coursera.
- Pricing for learners/students varies by course or program.
6. Skool offers an unmatched community with courses, various community boards, building tools, live events, and gamification built into the platform. Skool is relatively new in this space; the tool was built with course creation and online community in mind, and it shows. I’ve been using this platform with the course I’ve been taking since November.
The Skool platform is straightforward and easy to use. It has a calendar for events, calls, and webinars and a place to organize all your videos, documents, and other course materials.
Key Features:
- Marketplace for Selling Courses
- Great Community
- All-in-One Space to Organize Course Details
- Ability to Market Additional Courses so that Users can Purchase the Next One When They Finish One
Then, there’s the excellent community board. Skool is perfect for online course creators, educators, and coaches. The social media course I’ve been taking since November 2023 uses Skool, so I’ve gotten really used to it. It’s so user-friendly! That’s why we have an affiliate link with Skool and have chosen Skool to host our “Networking Is Your Shortcut to Success” course on Skool. I need easy, organized, and user-friendly; it’s the best way to be the most passive on services and active in relationships.
Pricing as of 2024:
Their easy $99/month plan includes everything with no hidden fees, making it easy to justify using Skool.
If you choose Skool, please use our *affiliate link. Learn more about Skool’s unique course creation approach. Thank you for your support.
7. LearnWorlds is a feature-packed learning management system. Its target market is professional trainers and large enterprises. It’s an all-in-one platform for everything.
Key Features:
User Friendly – LearnWorlds provides drag and drop features, a high degree of customization (branding elements, layouts & themes), marketing tools, better customer support, and more.
Community – There is a community-building tool kit. Let your users discuss issues, exchange ideas and tips, and share their experiences and advice within a community of practice.
Video Uploading – You must set up the video storage preferences before loading videos; each course has its own library. Click and add or drop and drag; you can upload up to 5 videos at one time.
Pricing as of 2024:
- Starter (Transaction fee is $5 per course sale) allows unlimited paid courses, eBook page builder, exams, 1:1 and group sessions, three different payment gateways, management systems, and more for only $29/month (monthly billing) or $24/month (annual billing).
- Pro Trainer (No transaction fees)costs $99/month (monthly billing) or $79/month (annual billing). Pro offers Starter features, plus mass emails, pop ups, applications for Android and iOS, subscription management, integrations, and more.
- Learning Center (No Transaction fees) is $299/month (monthly billing) or $249/month (annual billing). Learning Center offers all features of Starter and Pro plus interactive videos, branding, reporting, automation, up to 25 team members, personalized onboarding, and more.
- High Volume & Corporate (No Transaction fees)- Contact for Pricing.
Use our *affiliate link if LearnWorlds sounds like the right fit for you.
Let’s Compare and Contrast
- Platform vs. Marketplace: Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi allow you to create, market, and sell your courses on your website. Udemy and Coursera act more as marketplaces where your course is listed alongside others. Skool provides a bit of a combination. It also has a community built in.
- Pricing Models: Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi offer monthly subscription plans with various features based on the plan level. Udemy and Coursera do not charge upfront fees to course creators but take a share of the revenue generated from course sales. Skool has one rate, which is monthly, but you get it all.
- Audience and Reach: Udemy and Coursera have large built-in audiences, offering higher visibility and placing your courses in a competitive market. Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi require you to build and bring your audience but give you more control over branding, pricing, and customer data. Skool is a bit of both. Your course is listed in their community board so that users can see it, but you also need to bring your audience to the platform for them to use the course.
- Feature Set: Kajabi provides an all-in-one solution with more advanced marketing and automation tools. It suits those looking for a comprehensive platform to manage every aspect of their online course business. Thinkific and Teachable focus more on course creation and student experience, with marketing tools available but not as extensive as Kajabi. Some say Skool has a more straightforward interface than Kajabi, as everything is easy to navigate, and you can organize all your course materials in one place.
Community Building
Skool stands out by prioritizing community engagement and interaction as part of the learning experience. This is the main differentiator from platforms like Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi, which offer some community features but are far from what Skool has built in.
Coursera and Udemy are more traditional because they focus on course content delivery with limited emphasis on building a course-specific community. They have forums for student interaction.
Platform Structure
Thinkific, Teachable and Kajabi are more focused on providing course creators with the tools to build and sell courses on their platforms. They offer a range of marketing solutions and sales tools to help with the process.
While Skool includes course creation and management features, it significantly emphasizes social learning rather than marketing and sales.
Udemy and Coursera act as marketplaces where courses are listed and sold, offering a vast audience but less control over branding and pricing. Skool provides a more branded experience similar to Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi.
Focus on Engagement
Skool uniquely incorporates gamification to enhance engagement, making it an attractive option for course creators who believe in the power of community and interactive learning to boost course completion rates and student satisfaction.
While platforms like Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi offer robust tools for course creation and sales, Skool provides a distinctive blend of these features, focusing on building a vibrant learning community. The choice between Skool and other platforms ultimately depends on your priorities, budget, and time allowance for outreach, marketing, and sales. Consider how involved you can be in determining which option is right for you.
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