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eLearning

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide

27 min
The image is showing the best online course platforms in the market including: LearnWorlds, Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, and Teachable.

The biggest dilemma you ever have to go through as an online instructor once you decide to start creating eLearning courses is which best online course platform to choose.

Currently, there are many course creation platforms that offer similar features like an LMS – a learning management system can offer – with the addition of eCommerce features to market & sell online courses as well as the storage and distribution of online content.

If you are interested in course development – whether it’s for coaching, teaching online, or corporate training purposes, you need to take into account many selection criteria.

Comparing things like pricing, looking at customer reviews, and what kind of support you expect from the best online course platform are crucial elements when it comes to choosing a course creation tool that suits your specific needs.

This comparison guide of the best online course platforms, which is a smaller branch of the best online learning platforms out there, aims to help you explore your options and decide which one is the most suitable for you.

A standalone online course platform is a hosted platform that has everything you need to create, host, and sell online courses and it is the ultimate tool to use as an edupreneur.

Unlike other platforms (see course marketplaces below) or tools used for course creation, standalone online course platforms offer greater flexibility and freedom in managing your learning resources, choosing the design and look of your business website – and course presentation, promoting your courses, and enjoying the benefits of ongoing support.

A huge advantage of standalone platforms is that you own the data of the users and you can customize the branding.

When searching for standalone best online course platforms, here are your top choices: LearnWorlds, Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, EasyGenerator, Podia, WizIQ, and Academy of Mine.

Platform #1: LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is our very own all-in-one best online course platform that allows you to build your online academy from scratch. Its intuitive course builder allows building engaging elearning content easily and within minutes, it offers course interactivity and its rich community-building tool streamlines the communication between users and instructors.

Who is it for?

It’s ideal for entrepreneurs, individual instructors, educators, small/medium businesses, professional trainers, and internal training for companies that want to train their employees.

LearnWorlds Pricing

LearnWorlds subscription pricing plans are:

*Pricing information retrieved from LearnWorlds on March 21, 2023.

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LearnWorlds Support

LearnWorlds offers responsive 24/7 online support with onboarding for new customers. On top of that, it has the LearnWorlds Academy offering courses to course creators, free elearning resources – ebooks and checklists, and a support desk with how-to guides.

LearnWorlds Reviews

LearnWorlds is rated 4.9 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Reviews from Capterra:

The perfect solution to sell online courses and build your own online academy.’ – Rafael I. (CEO)

LearnWorlds review on Capterra

Reviews from the eLearning Industry:

Best in the product quality and even better in the customer support.’ – Youngju N. (Higher Education)

LearnWorlds review on elearning industry

Perfect balance between quality and price.’ – Teya B. (Digital Illustration Teacher)

Another LearnWorlds review on elearning industry

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #2: Thinkific

thinkific-website

Thinkific is a standalone course platform that helps you sell online courses. As one of the most popular course websites, it provides everything you need to create your online education business including an easy-to-use interface to build courses and rich multimedia to add right to your course content.

Who is it for?

Thinkific is ideal for solopreneurs, small/medium businesses – SMEs, and online trainers.

Thinkific Pricing

Free to join with limited functionality. It offers a 30-day free trial on the Pro plan.

Subscription plans include:

*Pricing information retrieved from Thinkific on March 21, 2023

Thinkific Support

Thinkific has a help support center, a training site with paid courses, an FAQ, a blog, and a lively community, and offers the possibility to hire an expert to help you out with the course creation and development process.

Thinkific Reviews

Thinkific is rated 4.6 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

LearnWorlds Reviews

Reviews from Capterra:

Any school or academy will fit right into Thinkific.’- Brian Moller J. (CEO & Mind Trainer)

Thinkific review on Capterra

Review from G2:

Uncomplicated – It’s a positive and a negative.’ – Sharon H. (Director of Communications)

Thinkific review on G2

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

💁 Compare Thinkific with LearnWorlds
💁 Kajabi vs Thinkific: A Side-by-Side Comparison

Platform #3: Teachable

teachable-website

Teachable is an online teaching platform that serves the everyday instructor. It provides an easy and simple solution for uploading your learning content and creating online courses, customizing your online school, and communicating effectively with your students.

Who is it for?

It’s a great option for new course creators, solopreneurs, coaches, and creative professionals.

Teachable Pricing

Teachable has the following pricing options:

*Pricing information retrieved from Teachable on March 21, 2023.

Teachable Support

Teachable has a knowledge base with how-to guides that can help you get started, a blog, and podcasts.

Teachable Reviews

Teachable is rated 4.6 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Teachable review on Capterra

Review from Capterra:
A great online course platform that’s improving all the time.’ – Steve P. (Founder)

Teachable review on Capterra

Review from the eLearning Industry:

Teachable creates an online platform that is easy to use for both customer and creator.’ – Angela F. (Arts & Crafts)

teachable review on elearning industry

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

💁 Compare Teachable with LearnWorlds
💁 Compare Teachable with Kajabi

Platform #4: Kajabi

As an all-in-one online platform, Kajabi offers the tools to sell digital products, including online courses. Kajabi specializes in building high-converting funnels, sales pages, landing pages, and webinar pages for your online business, and launching advertising campaigns.

Who is it for?

It is for non-techy online course creators, digital entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, creators, and individual instructors selling simple format courses and downloadable.

Kajabi Pricing

Offers a 14-day trial with a credit card. Then it goes to a monthly payment of the subscription plan, which includes:

*Pricing Information retrieved from Kajabi on March 21, 2023.

Kajabi Support

Kajabi’s support is offered during business hours and online. It has a Help Center which can answer most of your questions as well as a Kajabi glossary. On there you will find FAQs, how-to guides, walk-through videos, and getting-started resources.

Kajabi Reviews

Kajabi is rated 4.4 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Kajabi review on Capterra

Review from Capterra:

My go-to solution for courses, live events, evergreen webinars and CRM’ – Brady P.

Kajabi review on capterra

Review from G2:

Not the most user-friendly, but powerful tool nonetheless.’ – Katy M. (Technology Chief of Staff)

Kajabi review on G2

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

💁 Compare Kajabi with LearnWorlds

Platform #5: EasyGenerator

easygenerator-website

EasyGenerator is an easy-to-use platform that has rich interface options. Its simplicity in creating online courses is one of the things it makes it appealing as opposed to other elearning platforms. This tool aims to simplify the course creation process by making it accessible to everyone.

Who is it for?

It is ideal for people who have no elearning background. It is up for use by freelancers, small/medium companies, large enterprises, and non-profit organizations.

EasyGenerator Pricing

Easy Generator has three pricing plans:

*Pricing information retrieved from EasyGenerator on March 21, 2023.

EasyGenerator Support

Easy Generator’s support is available during business hours and offered online through Easy Generator Live. The tool has a knowledge base with articles that are in different categories for easier browsing, a resources page with case studies, and a blog.

Easy Generator Reviews

EasyGenerator is rated 4.8 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Easygenerator review on Capterra

Review from Capterra:

Fantastic elearning tool that is only getting better. They’re actively improving this daily!

Ryan S. (Training Specialist)

Easygenerator on Capterra

Review from the eLearning Industry:

An amazing combination of features and looks.’ – Akhilesh K. (Higher Education)

Easygenerator on Elearning Industry

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #6: Podia

Podia is an online learning platform that offers the ability to create and sell online courses, memberships, and other digital products. Also, it offers a rich resources library and free tools for entrepreneurs who want to build their online store, school, or website.

Who is it for?

It’s great for content creators and artists who want to monetize their content and knowledge with simple learning activities and gated videos. It’s not great for more demanding educators.

Podia Pricing

Podia’s subscription pricing plans include:

*Pricing information retrieved from Podia on March 21,2023.

Podia Support

Podia’s support is 24/7 and it’s offered online. Podia has a Help Center and dedicated live chat hours which allow you to speak directly to the support team.

Podia Reviews

Podia is rated 4.8 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Podia review grade

Review from Capterra:
Simple, great customer service, lacking some important features.’ – Misty D. (Information Services)

Podia review on Capterra

Review from G2:
‘Simple. Easy. Effective.’ – Curtis P. (Marketing and Advertising)

Podia review on G2

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

💁 Compare Podia with LearnWorlds
Find out more Podia Alternatives

Platform #7: WizIQ

wiziq-website

WizIQ is a cloud-based education platform for real-time or self-paced training using your own custom-branded domain. It delivers live and on-demand webinars and it’s a very popular tool amongst online course creators who prefer live training, coaching, or a classroom-like feeling.

Who is it for?

It’s ideal for enterprise employees, individual teachers, trainers, colleges, universities, tutoring, and Test-Prep companies.

WizIQ Pricing

It offers a free 14-day trial and its pricing starts from $25 /month (when billed annually). Then the price varies depending on rooms and attendees, and the number of registered users for their:

For more information, contact WizIQ directly.

*Pricing information retrieved from WizIQ on March 21, 2023.

WizIQ Support

WizIQ’s support has a knowledge base with a collection of articles, user guides, and FAQs. If you can’t find the answer you need in their popular articles, you can submit a ticket to the support team. In their resources section, you will find case studies, video tutorials, whitepapers, and webinars.

WizIQ Reviews

WizIQ is rated 3.7 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

WizIE review grade

Review from Capterra:
Online teaching is best through WizIQ.’ – Hudha L. (Operations Coordinator)

WizIQ review on Capterra

Review from G2:

WizIQ – my best ally to give good teaching and online learning to my students.’ – Miller M. (Teacher in Higher Education)

WizIQ review on G2

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #8: Academy of Mine

academy-of-mine

Academy Of Mine is an all-in-one platform that empowers you to create and sell your courses in professional training, continuing education, and certification. With this platform, you can customize existing features or build new features via API. You can craft interactive content with PPT, PDF, video, and more.

Who is it for?

It’s ideal for academics, large enterprises, public administrations, and small/medium businesses interested in offering training and certifications.

Academy of Mine Pricing

Academy Of Mine comes with a free trial but has no free version. These are the pricing plans it offers:

*Pricing information retrieved from Academy Of Mine on March 21, 2023.

Academy of Mine Reviews

Academy of Mine comes with 24/7 expert customer support through email and live chat and presents a number of case studies to help you get started.

Academy of Mine Support

Academy of Mine is rated 4.9 out of 5 based on Capterra’s user reviews.

Academy of Mine Screenshot

Review on Capterra:

‘The just-right LMS.’ – Daniel N. (Assistant Professor)
Academy of Mine review on Capterra

AOM offers great service and the option to customize a solid foundational LMS.’ – (LinkedIn User – Market Research)

Academy of Mind review

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

WordPress Plugins for Online Courses

If you have a WordPress website and want to deliver online learning, you can either use a standalone platform that will be working on a subdomain of your WordPress site, or a WordPress plugin.

An online course plugin for WordPress will allow you to host courses on your website. Each WordPress plugin offers a different set of possibilities and is either free or paid. With it, you can easily start selling courses without the need to have much technical knowledge.

A word of caution here, combining too many plugins may cause crashes. You must also be aware of the hidden costs associated, while a plugin is cheaper than other solutions, it means you will need to host the content and videos yourself, which might add up to a decent cost as you go on.

Here are the best WordPress plugins for online courses to choose from:

Platform #9: WP CourseWare

WP Courseware - website screenshot

WP Courseware is one of the most promising LMS WordPress plugins out there. Its potential has already been recognized by some of the top universities in the world and many of its tools are used by enterprise training sites. WP CourseWare offers a hassle-free solution that helps course creators build online courses within minutes.

Who is it for?

It is ideal for use by companies of all sizes, enterprises and training providers, and educational institutions including universities that have a technical team on site.

WP CourseWare Pricing

WP Courseware has three subscription packages:

Information was retrieved from FlyPlugins on March 21, 2023.

WP CourseWare Support

WP Courseware support offers a FAQ and support page that can help you find relevant articles. If you are already a user and need assistance, you can always submit a ticket or sign in to the Member portal.

WP CourseWare Reviews

WP Courseware is rated 4.4 out of 5 by Capterra’s user reviews.

WP Courseware review on Capterra

Reviews on Capterra:

Have been using WP Courseware since the beginning and love it.” – Mitch B. (Founder)
It is good but not awesome.” – Lionel T. (Director and Developer)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #10: LearnDash

learndash-webiste

LearnDash is one of the most popular premium WordPress LMS plugins in the market, and with it, you can easily design, promote and sell online courses. Out of the best features it offers is its speed and drag-and-drop course builder that makes the process of course creation enjoyable.

Who is it for?

It can be used by companies of all sizes, enterprises, and educational institutions including universities.

LearnDash Pricing

There are two ways to use LearnDash – either getting the plugin or launching a fully-hosted course website.

LearnDash plugin’s pricing is based on the number of site licenses:

LearnDash Cloud (full-site) comes in monthly and yearly subscriptions:

*Pricing information retrieved from LearnDash on March 21, 2023.

LearnDash Support

LearnDash support is available during business hours. Out of those hours, you can browse their knowledge base to find helpful guides and articles.

LearnDash Reviews

LearnDash is rated 4.5 out of 5 by Capterra’s user reviews.

LearnDash review by capterra

Reviews on Capterra:

After months of testing SaaS and WordPress LMS plugins, LearnDash came out on top.

– Jesus P. (CEO/President)
LearnDash review on Capterra

Very good option for basic LMS functionality.” – Nick S. (Communication Consultant)

LearnDash review

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

💁 Check LearnWorlds as the perfect LearnDash alternative for non-technical users.

Platform #11: LifterLMS

LifterLMS comes with helpful content management tools that can help you offer individual courses, training-based membership websites, and MOOCs. As a free open-source plugin, it allows you to build an LMS that can be enriched with add-ons that meet the unique needs of individuals, small groups, and niche markets.

Who is it for?

It can be used by small-medium businesses, training organizations, or educational institutions.

LifterLMS Pricing

LifterLMS has three subscription packages:

*Pricing information retrieved from LifterLMS on March 21, 2023

LifterLMS Support

If you need help while using LifterLMS submit a ticket and expect to get an answer within 12 hours. As a free user, you can seek assistance in the community forums.

LifterLMS Reviews

LifterLMS is rated 4.9 out of 5 by Capterra’s user reviews.

LifterLMS review on Capterra

Reviews on Capterra:

A customizable LMS tool – that’s right!” – Joe B. (DevOps Engineer)
LifeterLMS review on Capterra
Best LMS tool.” – Gilles C. (Webmaster)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Course Marketplaces

Course marketplaces are like supermarkets for courses. They offer a diverse range of courses from a variety of course creators.

On the one hand, marketplaces take much of the work of creating a website yourself and hosting the courses, but, on the other hand, you lose control of student data and a huge chunk of the income.

Often a misguided perception is that course marketplaces will sell the courses for you, which is not true. There is a lot of competition in course marketplaces, and you will need to work a lot on your own marketing to be successful, as much as if you were using another solution.

However, these websites already have a big number of people using them and if you are not planning to invest in your own brand and website, they can be ideal.

Let’s check which are the most popular course marketplaces you can use:

Platform #12: Skillshare

skillshare-website

Skillshare is a popular course marketplace. It offers course lessons on four specific subject categories that last from 20 to 60 minutes and are made out of a series of small videos, class projects, and a student community that encourages interaction through discussion forums.

Who is it for?

It’s great for instructors who are in the creative field and want to make a side income. Instructors can make money through Skillshare’s royalty system and their referral program.

Skillshare Pricing

Skillshare is free to join, but it comes with specific class guidelines you need to follow.

Skillshare Support

Skillshare’s support has a Help Center that has helpful resources on how to start using Skillshare, as a student or as an instructor.

Skillshare Reviews

Capterra and the eLearning Industry don’t have any reviews for Skillshare. G2 is giving it 3.8 out of 5 ratings based on its user and end-user reviews.

Skillshare screenshot

Reviews from G2:

‘Great service and best educational platform.’ – A Publishing Agency

Skillshare screenshot

‘Skillshare is a solid way to teach and learn on an e-platform.’ – User in Education Management

Skillshare screenshot

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #16: Udemy

udemy-website-screenshot

Udemy is one of the most popular online course marketplaces. The platform offers a unique learning experience and makes course creation possible for everyone. In doing so, it offers a range of online learning materials including PDF documents, PowerPoint, text, and video content amongst many others.

Who is it for?

It is great for course instructors who are just starting out and what to see how the elearning industry works.

Udemy Pricing

To start charging students a fee for courses on Udemy, you will need to become a premium instructor. In such a case, the following conditions apply:

*Pricing adjusted on a global price tier matrix developed by Udemy.

*Pricing information retrieved from Udemy Support on March 21, 2023.

Udemy Support

Udemy offers support to instructors and students through its Help Center. There is also Support for Business which offers specific help and advice to users, admins, and instructors.

Udemy Reviews

Udemy hasn’t got any ratings on Capterra or the eLearning Industry. G2 rates it with 4.4 out of 5 based on end-user reviews.

Udemy reviews stars

Reviews from G2:

‘Now education is cheaper.’ – Alok G.

Udemy reviews on G2

‘Udemy – Cheap and the best learning platform.’ – Mohd Intekhab A (IT Recruitment)

Udemy reviews

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #14: LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning – formerly Lynda.com, is an educational platform that offers professional courses on business, technology-related and creative fields in the format of video lessons. The platform comes as a premium service for LinkedIn users and includes more than 16,000 courses in 7 languages.

Who is it for?

LinkedIn Learning offers solutions for L&D professionals, businesses/employers who want to train their employees, Higher Education, and government institutions.

LinkedIn Learning Pricing

LinkedIn Learning comes with two subscription plans for students:

*Pricing information retrieved from LinkedIn Learning on March 21, 2023.

Linkedin Learning Support

If you need any support with your account on LinkedIn Learning, you can contact the platform via an online chat, or browse the helpful catalog of suggested articles on their support blog.

LinkedIn Learning Reviews

LinkedIn Learning hasn’t got any ratings on Capterra or the eLearning Industry. G2 rates it with 4.4 out of 5 based on end-user reviews.

LinkedIn Learning - Lynda reviews

Reviews from G2:

‘LinkedIn Learning is a very convenient and intuitive learning tool.’ – Peter M. (Civil Engineering Professional)

LinkedIn Learning - Lynda

‘A quick and simple way to train online.’ – Michael C. (Manager, Digital Marketing and Analysis)

LinkedIn Learning - Lynda

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Platform #18: Coursera

Coursera is an online education platform with 23 million users, that is dedicated to offering high-quality online training courses worldwide. While partnering with world-class universities and businesses, it provides students the opportunity to receive certifications from renowned institutions upon joining their paid courses.

Who is it for?

It is aimed at professors who work or are based at a HE partner institution or business but also businesses and enterprises.

Coursera Pricing

Coursera offers free courses, subscriptions, and one-off payments depending on the course or program. It comes with two subscription plans:

*Pricing information retrieved from Coursera on March 21, 2023.

Coursera Support

Coursera offers a range of help articles that can support you throughout your journey.

For additional help, you can contact the Coursera team mainly through email or a contact form. Depending on what type of user you are e.g. university or industry partner or business and the nature of the inquiry you have, you are encouraged to contact them in a specific way. For more information see here.

Coursera Reviews:

Coursera hasn’t got any ratings on Capterra or the eLearning Industry. G2 rates it with 4.1 out of 5 based on end-user reviews.

Coursera reviews

Reviews from G2:

‘Coursera: A more effective way to teach.’ – Lee S. (Medical Student)

Coursera reviews 1

‘Effective and Efficient.’ – AE. (Administrator in Education Management)

Coursera reviews 2

Pros and Cons

Pros:

Cons:

As you can see there are many online course platforms out there. The real quest though is to find the best online course platform, program, or tool that perfectly matches your learning and business needs.

To build a successful online course business and start teaching your students new skills, you need to do thorough research on your options and take those reviews into consideration. Our tip is don’t settle until you are happy with what you get.

Start with the free 30-day trial with LearnWorlds today and see where this takes you!

Your professional looking Academy in a few clicks

Start FREE Trial

Further reading you might find interesting:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Which is the best online course platform?

LearnWorlds is the most comprehensive online course platform a beginner or experienced course creator can choose to create and sell online courses. It offers an intuitive course builder that allows you to easily create engaging e-learning content, including interactive videos, quizzes, and many more interactive elements. With its flexible course builder, you can customize your course and add your branding, making it stand out from other online courses.

In addition to the course builder, LearnWorlds offers a flexible and intuitive site builder that allows you to create a customized online learning environment. Its site builder enables you to leverage the ease of use of choosing from a range of pre-built templates, customize the layout, and add your branding to create a professional-looking online academy.

One of the most powerful features of LearnWorlds is its assessment builder. The assessment builder allows you to create quizzes, assignments, and assessments that will help your students stay on track and understand the material better. You can customize the assessments to fit your course material’s specific needs, including the number of questions, the types of questions, and the difficulty level.

Overall, LearnWorlds is a robust online course platform that offers all the tools and features you need to create and sell high-quality online courses. It’s intuitive, easy to use, with affordable paid plans, and packed with features that will help you create the best online learning experience possible.

What is a course platform?

A course platform is an online tool or software that enables educators and trainers to create, host, and deliver educational content to learners over the internet. These platforms provide a range of features and tools to support the creation, delivery, and management of online courses, including course creation tools, learning management systems, video hosting, assessment and grading tools, and more.

Which online platform is best for students?

If you’re looking for a platform to create online courses for students, LearnWorlds is a great option as a cloud-based e-learning platform. It offers a range of features and tools for online course creation, but also for marketing campaigns and for managing your online courses.

LearnWorlds offers a wide range of features such as customizable templates, interactive video tools, assessments, and certification.

Here are some other popular options to consider:

When choosing a platform for creating online courses for students, it’s important to consider your specific needs, budget, and goals. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, so be sure to compare features and payment plans before making a decision.

What are the benefits of using an online course platform?

There are several benefits to using an online course platform for creating and delivering courses, including:

Overall, online course platforms offer a range of benefits that make it easier and more cost-effective to create and deliver courses to a global audience.

Which platform is best for online courses?

LearnWorlds is the best platform for online courses.

While other platforms like Kajabi, Thinkific, LearnDash, Teachable, and Podia also offer useful features, LearnWorlds focuses on interactive and engaging course creation, making it the top choice for online courses.

Here are some of the reasons why LearnWorlds is the top choice:

What are the top online course platforms?

The following top online course platforms offer a variety of features to create, market, and sell online courses. Each platform has its own unique set of features and pricing plans, so it’s important to evaluate which platform is the best fit for your needs and budget.

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Content Creator at LearnWorlds

Kyriaki is a Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.

Rosemary is LearnWorlds’ Content Marketing Manager. She has over 2 decades of experience in omnichannel marketing and content writing for the IT and SaaS industry. Her expertise lies in crafting effective content marketing strategies that attract, engage, and nurture customers, enabling LearnWorlds to reach its target audiences with precision.