What Are The Best Online Course Platform For Building Your First Online Course On?

February 19, 2021

As an online course creator, you need an easy way to get your lessons across to learners. For this, you need to use an online course platform.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the best online course platforms. Before we begin, let’s quickly take a look at the main features you should look for in an online course platform.

A COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP CHEATSHEET
TO CREATING, LAUNCHING & GROWING A SUCCESSFUL MEMBERSHIP WEBSITE

Choosing The Right Online Course Platform

Online course creation platforms are learning management systems (LMS) that let you provide educational classes to your students.

Here are a few important things you should be looking for when choosing an LMS for your online course:

  • Customization options. Most online course platforms provide customizable templates that you can use to put your online course together. Ideally, you want most of the basic customization options that will help you put your e-learning course and sales page together.
  • Marketing tools. To make your online course business profitable, you need to be marketing your e-learning course. Look for powerful marketing tools and features in your online course platform. Make sure your platform can help you with things like setting up a sales funnel, collecting email addresses, launching email marketing campaigns, and creating social media marketing campaigns to increase your outreach to more people.
  • Payment processing. Ideally, you want to offer multiple payment plans and gateways to learners. Some platforms offer more advanced payment options than others such as the option to set up recurring subscriptions, one-time fees, multiple payment plans, or coupons.
  • Supported media. If you plan on using a lot of PDFs and images in your online course, you want to choose an online course platform that supports all of the correct formats. Even if you plan on creating a video course and include assessments in it, you have to choose the right tool that lets you use all the different media file types in your online course.

 

A COMPLETE STEP-BY-STEP CHEATSHEET
TO CREATING, LAUNCHING & GROWING A SUCCESSFUL MEMBERSHIP WEBSITE

 

Best Online Course Platforms To Sell On

Here are some of the best online course platforms for instructors:

#1. Thinkific

Thinkific

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for your course creations, Thinkific isn’t a bad idea. It’s a cloud-based software that you can use to manage your payments, clients, and course materials from a user-friendly dashboard.

Key Features:

  • Thinkific provides a drag and drops feature for its users to easily organize web content with just a few clicks.
  • With full access to HTML and CSS, you can do so much more with your sales page or hire an expert to do it for you.
  • Thinkific is very intuitive to use, even for beginners. It offers easy management and support for learners.

Pricing: Thinkific provides a basic package for $39 per month, the Pro plan for $79 per month, and lastly, the Premier plan which costs $399 per month.

Best Online YouTube Reviews

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – You can set up a FREE account*

#2 – The page building editor is really poor

#3 – It is a very mature platform

#4 – You really need to go and use the Pro plan level $99 to remove their branding

#5 – With the medium and larger website plans it can quickly become quite expensive

#6 – Good self-help documentation however email support is slightly hidden.

#7 – No email internal system**

#8 – Loads of choices actually too many choices it all a bit confusing

#9 – it really is only an online course/lesson platform and is missing a lot of things that you find on Kajabi or Podia

#10 – No PayPal functionality

* The free plan is semi crippled

** You have to buy an additional packaged which will cost you $99

 

#2. Teachable

Teachable

Teachable offers one of the largest online course platforms with powerful tools and features. Teachable also has the Discover feature, which is an online course storefront on the platform.

Key Features:

  • Teachable lets users provide multimedia lectures, which helps your students learn better.
  • With over 130 different currencies accepted as payment through Teachable, you can receive payments from students all over the world.
  • Your students also get additional benefits like course certificates. With Teachable, Issuing certificates to students who complete your course is also possible.

Pricing: Teachable’s Basic plans start at $29 per month, the Pro plan starts at $99 per month, and finally, the business plan costs $249 per month that also includes all the features that Teachable has to provide.

 

Best Online YouTube Reviews

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – Semi good landing page building functionality however there a limited selection of pre-design themes

#2 – The checkout pages are not that customizable and are limited in the design choices.

#3 – The Basic plan you are charge a 5% extra per course with the normal credit card free this means you are paying over 7%!

#4 – No email internal system

#5 – Has its own mobile app

#6 – Interface is semi-easy to use compared to some of the other SaaS LMS

#7 – A lot of pieces that you need to run your online business are missing

#8 – If you develop multiple courses on the platform the navigation can become very confusing

#9 – No PayPal functionality

 

#3. LearnDash

One of the most popular LMS WordPress plugins, LearnDash provides a great outlet for someone looking to run online course operations from their WordPress dashboard. Best suited for course creators looking for full control over their course and those who are already using WordPress.

Key Features:

  • With LearnDash, you can create complex quizzes and assessments to target difficult topics with ease in your e-learning experience.
  • You can white-label everything including all the materials to your own brand or business.
  • Your students will be pleased with the awards they get when they complete a quiz or assessment successfully. LearnDash enables you to award anyone who passes a quiz successfully.

Pricing: The Basic plan at LearnDash starts at $159 per year, while the Plus Package costs $189 per year. And the Pro Package costs $329 per year for all the features available plus up to 25 site licenses.

#4. LifterLMS

A powerful online course building solution for WordPress, LifterLMS provides a solution for anyone looking to create, promote, and sell their course within the same platform.

Key Features:

  • You can create easy-to-understand, engaging online courses using the drag and drop builder from a single screen.
  • LifterLMS provides users with the ability to use many popular e-learning file types such as videos, audio, or even images.
  • Integrates with multiple payment gateways including PayPal and Stripe.
  • Works with WordPress and can be integrated with the Mailchimp email marketing platform.

Pricing: LifterLMS starts at $99+ per year. And the Infinity Bundle goes up to $999 per year.

 

#5. Kajabi

Kajabi provides a platform for users to create and sell their online courses easily and efficiently with the use of powerful tools that they provide.

Key Features:

  • With Kajabi, you can create as many pages on your website as you want using the intuitive page builder.
  • You don’t have to worry about solving problems regarding your course creation, as Kajabi provides exceptional customer support around the clock.
  • Kajabi also provides users and course creators with additional blogging and video streaming features.

Pricing: Kajabi’s Basic plan starts at $119 per month, the Growth plan goes up to $159 per month (billed annually). You may also choose the Pro Package for all the features available, which will cost you $319 per month.

 

Best Online YouTube Reviews*

* it’s very hard to find totally honest reviews on Kajabi because almost all the reviews are affiliate driven

 

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – Great data dashboard

#2 – Online training documentation is of a very high standard

#3 – The theme and page building functionality is quite limited and all their websites tend to look the same.

#4 – They offer a number of services you will need to run your online business on one platform

#5 – It not as simple to set up as they make however, to be honest, this will depend on your online experience with building websites and landing pages.

#6 – Expensive compared to some of the other SaaS platforms and WordPress LifterLMS and LearnDash

#7 – No easy way of migrating off their platform however this is the same with almost all these SaaS systems

 

#6. Podia

Podia lets users host webinars, establish a membership community, or live chat with their students to help them understand the course better.

Key Features:

  • The powerful tool lets you customize your online course by combining similar courses together into one masterpiece for your students.
  • Users can download resources such as PDFs, ebooks, and checklists easily from your online course as Podia provides digital downloads.
  • With Podia, you can provide multimedia courses to your students by including video, audio, PDF, images, and text in your courses.

Pricing: Podia starts at $39 per month for the Mover package, while the Shaker package costs $79 per month and provides additional features.

 

Best Online YouTube Reviews

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – Google Value

#2 — Poor eCommerce platform

#3 – Nice landing page builder and editor

#4 – Better backend interface than a number of the other SaaS platforms

#5 – Basic course and lesson UX are more modern

#6 – You can sell digital products on this platform

#7 – Mover packaged $39 per month is semi crippled

#8 – The demo sites don’t look that good in my mind.

 

#7. Kartra

An advanced all-in-one solution for most online course creators, Kartra provides additional functionality that lets you do things such as create checkouts, create a membership site, and much more.

Key Features:

  • You don’t need any third-party integration that lets you use checkout, as Kartra has a built-in checkout feature for its users to take advantage of.
  • Create multiple pages on your membership site using Kartra Pages.
  • You can go as far as creating your own membership site with Kartra.

Pricing: Kartra’s Basic plan starts at $99 per month. The Silver plan would set you back $199 each month, the Gold plan costs $299 per month, and lastly, the Platinum plan will cost you $499 per month to avail all the features Kartra offers.

Also, be sure to check out our article on Kartra vs Kajabi Are You Looking at Both to Build Your First Course on? for more information.

 

Best Online YouTube Reviews

 

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – Kartra has aimed at a similar user base to Kajabi but in my option not as well designed

#2 – Has never really found its customer base it tried to become a white label service for the small digital agency this didn’t really work so it wants back to trying to sell itself as the all one-stop membership solution.

#3 – The prizing structure of the different packages is to my mind confusing almost as bad as Thinkfic!

#4 – Has a tone of inbuilt functionality

#5 – Is one of the best SaaS platforms for selling both digital and physical products

#6 – The founder of this platform are very experienced online marketers

#7 – The page and landing page builder and templates are in design terms dated

#8 – There is a lot to learn connected to this platform that’s good and bad.

#9 – Dependent on your online experience you’re going to love or be totally overwhelmed by this platform

 

#8. LearnWorlds

Using LearnWorlds, you can build a social and interactive online school to create, host, and sell online courses.

Key Features:

  • Start from templates, and build your way up to create amazing quality pages with LearnWorlds for your website.
  • You don’t have to worry about catering to students that speak different languages than you, with LearnWorld’s multilingual support.
  • Easily connect with students all around the world as LearnWorld’s provides a built-in Social Media Network in their platform.

Pricing: The Starter package at LearnWorlds costs $24 per month, the Pro Trainer package costs  $79 per month and the Learning center Package costs $249 per month.

 

Best Online YouTube Reviews

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – Powerful platform

#2 – Aimed, in my mind, at the experience course builder

#3 – Has integrated forum and social networking functionality inbuilt this is powerful

#4 – The Starter plan at $29 per month is a bit crippled plus there a $5 per course free.per courses

#5 – Really powerful course building platform but lacking some of the marketing functionality of some of the other platforms

 

#9. Teachery

Teachery is a simple online course platform that lets you host and sell your online courses.

Key Features:

  • Teachery lets users start from two clean, simple templates to start creating a course with.
  • You don’t need to know the technical stuff as Teachery provides a very intuitive course editor for users to create courses seamlessly.
  • You can also create sales and landing pages with Teachery for your website to drive more traffic to your online courses.

Pricing: Other than the two-week free trial, Teachery’s basic plan starts at $49 per month and the annual plan costs $470 per year.

Best Online YouTube Reviews

 

Main Good & Bad Points

#1 – The complete opposite of LearnWords i.e. its laser focus on making the course building process as simple as possible however this lead to a lack of functionality

#2 – Very simple pricing structure!

#3 – No inbuilt email functionality

#4 – No video hosting functionally

#5 – Very simple page/lesson editor

#6 – Not that flexible page/ lesson editor

 

#10. ZippyCourses

ZippyCourses is an all-in-one online course platform for teaching and selling your online courses.

Key Features:

  • With the option to fully customize your course with ZippyCourses, you can always match everything to your brand aesthetic.
  • With the drip-content feature, you can release content to your students over time.
  • You can sell different versions of your course with access tiers.

Pricing: ZippyCourses provides two pricing plans – the Standard package costs, $99 per month, while the Professional package costs $199 per month.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is an online course platform?

A: An online course platform is a digital platform that allows users to create and sell online courses.

Q: How do I choose the best online course platform?

A: To choose the best online course platform, consider factors such as your course content, budget, desired features, and ease of use. Research different platforms, read reviews, and take advantage of trial periods to find the platform that best meets your needs.

Q: What is a course marketplace?

A: A course marketplace is an online platform where course creators can sell their courses to a wider audience. It provides a centralized location for learners to discover and enroll in a variety of courses.

Q: How can an online course platform help me create and sell my course?

A: An online course platform provides the tools and resources necessary to create and sell courses. It often includes features such as course creation tools, marketing and promotion options, and payment processing capabilities.

Q: What is the difference between a standalone online course platform and an all-in-one platform?

A: A standalone online course platform focuses solely on course creation and sales. An all-in-one platform, on the other hand, offers additional features such as website hosting, marketing tools, and customer support.

Q: What are the different types of online courses I can create?

A: You can create various types of online courses, such as video-based courses, text-based courses, interactive courses with quizzes and assignments, and live or recorded webinars.

Q: What are the best online learning platforms?

A: Some of the best online learning platforms include Udemy, Coursera, Teachable, Thinkific, and Skillshare.

Q: How can I sell my course online?

A: To sell your course online, you can use an online course platform that provides a payment gateway, marketing tools, and a storefront for your course. Alternatively, you can leverage a course marketplace where you can list and sell your course.

Q: How can I create an online course website?

A: To create an online course website, you can use an online course platform that offers website building capabilities. Alternatively, you can build a website using content management systems like WordPress and integrate it with an online course platform or marketplace.

Q: What is the best online course creation software?

A: The best online course creation software varies depending on your specific needs. Some popular options include Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi.

Conclusion

We looked at some of the best online course platforms for instructors. Hopefully, you’re in a good position now to take the next steps.

Which online course platform are you leaning towards and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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