If you’re on the internet searching for the best online course platforms, that means you’re keen on making the right choice for your online course business. You probably want to add this business to an already existing business where you teach people your strategy to success in your chosen field or you simply just want to turn a passion you have into profit.

Whichever one it is, you must know that there are a lot of online course platforms to choose from these days.

How do you know which one is the best for your business?

In this blog post, we’ll compare the most popular online course platforms. We’ll look at each platform’s pricing structure, features, and user base to help you decide which one is right for you.

Before we delve in fully, let’s establish some quick facts

The worth of the eLearning market is predicted to hike to $325 billion in 2025 and $374 billion in 2026.

Online learning through different methods typically requires 40–60% less time than traditional classroom learning.

Judging by the exponential growth predicted in the e-learning space, I think it is a brilliant idea if you decide to create an online course or integrate an online course into your business. You deserve a piece of the pie!

With that out of the way, let’s delve into the meat and potato of this post.

What Is An Online Learning Platform?

An online learning platform is a safe online space/ web portal where students learn and interact. It could be in the form of recorded lectures. The students can learn and consume all the information, or it could be a two-way street allowing the student to interact with the instructor, class fellows, and more.

Technology has brought numerous changes in the life of modern individuals. It’s now much easier to interact and gain knowledge from your home. So, if you are a startup business offering courses, it’s time to grab the opportunity and find an online platform that meets your criteria.

How do I Choose An Online Learning Platform?

Choosing an online learning platform may seem daunting. After all, there is a wide variety of software available out there. It’s a bit challenging to make up your mind, but you need to consider the following:

Find out if the online learning platform is compatible with all devices. Of course, you want your customers to access their class on smartphones, laptops, and whatever smart device they plan on using for the classroom.
The online learning platform must have positive reviews. The reviews and comments are mostly from other users, and thus, it would give you an idea of what to expect. So, when opting for a platform, it’s best to explore what other users share about their experiences.
The online learning platform must be easy for the teacher and the student. You don’t want the customers to feel stuck while studying or exploring the courses. When things are user-friendly, it would be a win-win situation.
See if the online learning platform has been around for some time and is successful with other users in your industry. For example, see what others are doing in your industry. It’s best to find a platform that works in your favor. You need a platform that is very flexible with front-end customization options. You should have the freedom to customize the interface to meet the needs of your brand and learners.

Now that you know how to find the best online learning platforms, you may wonder what’s out there! Worry not; you will soon find out; keep reading.

What are the Best Online Learning Platforms?

1. Thinkific

Overall best online course platform

Thinkific is my overall best online learning platform. If you’re looking to delight your potential learners, command attention, and turn your knowledge into premium learning products using an array of awesomely curated tools and features, Thinkific is the best in the industry.

You can easily create online courses and live lessons followed by a dedicated membership you can manage through the same platform.

Thinkific gives you the freedom to create a professional web storefront to promote your online course without any coding skills, manage sales with its built-in marketing features, engage with your learning community and gain insight into the performance of every decision you make with in-depth analytics.

Thinkific is appropriate for any scale of business and even if you are a startup business, it gives you the flexibility to scale with time.

Thinkific tops my list of best online learning platforms and I recommend it as the overall best tool in the online course industry.

Thinkific Pricing

Thinkific has a free trial period of 30 days for starters and a free package suitable enough for the creation of a first course. Pricing plans go thus:

Free – $0 per month.
Start – $74 per month
Grow – $149 per month
Expand – $374 per month

Pros

It’s user-friendly.
Specialized website to promote sales
Absolute control of data analytics
The free plan has a lot of features good enough to help starters get their feet wet in the online course space
Course quizzes and surveys help teachers follow up with students’ level of understanding of the course
Affiliate selling helps current students share your online course with others and earn afterward. Creates a win-win situation for both teachers and learners.
24/7 Support

Cons

Thinkific can be a bit pricey for a starter

2. Kajabi

Best for customer relationship management

Kajabi is second on my list of best online course platforms. Kajabi enhances you to build all kinds of content to enhance your online course, podcast, coaching program membership-based business. Its marketing tools will help you grow your business by putting your content in front of the right audience. Through one rich Kajabi interface, you can manage customer relationships and process payments for services rendered.

Key Features

Enjoy a wide range of prepared templates to create new content, campaigns, and funnels in minutes.
Access the performance of your coaching program, student engagement, and progress through Kajabi’s intuitive analytics dashboard.
Collect payment hassle-free using Stripe and Paypal integrations
Follow up with your members, and clients through Kajabi’s inbuilt CRM system and email marketing service

Kajabi Pricing

Kajabi gives you a monthly billing option and the annual billing option. You can save 20% on the monthly plans if you opt for the annual plans. So, I recommend annual plans.

Basic plan – $149/month ($119/month for an annual subscription)
Growth plan – $199/month ($159/month for an annual subscription)
Pro plan – $399/month ($319/month for an annual subscription)

Pros

Kajabi Hero Community provides an awesome resource for coaching entrepreneurs
Kajabi University is also a great resource for beginners and other creators who want to scale their business
Excellent customer support service

Cons

Kajabi is limited in its integrations

3. Mighty Networks

Best for unique customization

Mighty Networks is my third pick in my list of best online course platforms. With Mighty Networks, you can give your audience an experience they will never forget through your coaching program. Enjoy awesome customization that allows you to bring your courses, memberships, and offers together in a powerful community under your own brand on iOS, Android, and the web. You can start with a free trial and upgrade much later. Regardless of the number of members you have, the experience is fantastic right from day 1, not just for you as a coach but especially for your members.

Key Features

Enjoy awesome branding and customization options with dedicated iOS and Android apps that are searchable in Apple and Google Play store
Add a paid membership, or design your online courses with dedicated course communities, events, live streaming, and more from the very first day
Create content using the support provided within the Mighty Networks community in terms of free resources, and events

Mighty Networks Pricing

Mighty Networks offers both monthly and annual plans. I recommend the annual plans because they are much cheaper. The annual plans go thus:

The Community Plan – $33 per month
The Business Plan – $99 per month
Mighty Pro – Contact the sales team

Pros

The team behind Mighty Networks regularly updates the app with new features and keeps old ones updated
Flexibility to post content in various formats and accessibility through the Mighty Networks mobile apps simplifies online coaching business
Free resources and community are very helpful when just starting

Cons

Customer service can be sometimes unreliable
There is a learning curve for users that needs to be included in the onboarding process

4. LearnWorlds

Best for online course marketing

LeanWorlds is my 4th pick for the best online course platform. It is the platform for promoting sales of online courses with its drag-and-drop features for creating landing pages that convert.

If you’re an online coaching business owner, then you know the importance of having a platform that is both easy to use and customizable. And that’s exactly what Learnworlds offers – a platform that is extremely user-friendly and can be easily tailored to your specific needs. Plus, with features like assessments, transcripts, digital certificates, and more, you can be sure that your students will have a great learning experience.

Key Features

Onboarding Features – Boost usage, satisfaction, and retention for professional and compliance training, coaching, continuing education, and employee/customer onboarding.
Synchronized Transcript – Make your videos more accessible and much easier to navigate. Boost audience understanding by showing an interactive transcript that is automatically extracted from your video.
Course Analytics – Follow up with video interaction of your students my assessing engagement and completion
Dedicated landing pages – You can create the courses and sell them on your website. The platform will help you deliver a great learning experience to your customers.

Leanworlds Pricing

The starter package will cost $29 per month, but if you opt for annual billing, you can pay $24 per month.
If you are a professional trainer, you can consider Pro Trainer for $99 per month, but it will cost you $79 per month when billed annually.
The most popular plan is the Learning Center, which will cost you $299 per month, but you can save and pay $249 per month when billed annually.
For high volume and corporate, you need to contact them for details.

Each pricing option offers a variety of features, and you can opt for the one that suits your needs.

Pros

Great support from the platform.
It’s easy to set up.
Great overall platform.

Cons

Top-tier packages are a bit pricey

5. Teachable

Best for simplicity

Teachable lets you offer coaching, online courses, and so much more! Among all the online course platforms, I think it is the best for beginners and those who want to try out the coaching business. No matter the type of knowledge you desire to turn into a business, Teachable is a good place to start. Ranging from calligraphy to drone operation, chess playing, pottery, crocheting, knitting, blogging, and podcasting, there is no end to what you can use Teachable to teach online.

My biggest appreciation for Teachable is the simplicity of the interface – No overwhelming features.

Teachable Pricing

Teachable offers 4 pricing plans and they go as follows

Free Plan – It costs $0 and only allows you to preview the features without any difficulty so you can make a decision to buy
Basic Plan – You can pay $29 per month for the Basic plan. When billed annually it goes for $348
Pro Plan -If you opt for Pro, you can pay $99 per month and $1,188 per year when billed annually
Business Plan – You pay $249 per month and when billed annually, you pay $2988 per year.

Pros

It’s easy to use and particularly beginner-friendly
You can provide course completion certificates to graduates of your online course
Dedicated landing and sales pages
Simple checkout page

Cons

Customer service can be better

6. Podia

Best for sales of digital downloads

Podia is an excellent online course platform and a virtual learning environment that allows you to sell courses, membership, and digital products. If selling downloadables is an integral part of your business, Podia is your sure plug. Podia’s simplicity is another plus because it makes it easier for new people to learn how to market their courses on Podia with ample support from the community.

There are lots of examples on the internet showing how people manage to market their courses using Podia and make a lot of sales. Podia offers the sales and marketing features of a full eCommerce website enabling you to pre-sell courses, sell in bundles, create coupons and design upsell pages.

Key Features

Sell in bundles – Stack existing courses and other digital products together and offer them for sale at a custom price.
Quizzes – Create multiple-choice questions at the end of every lesson to access your students’ understanding
Pre-sell Courses – Evaluate the acceptance of your prospective online courses by taking payment before you launch and/or start a crowdfunding campaign.
Sales Coupon – Create coupons with ease and nudge your potential students to buy more for less before an expiry date of your choice.

Podia Pricing

Podia offers 4 pricing plans which are as follows:

Free Plan – You can opt for the Free plan and pay $0 per month, but there is an 8% transaction fee from the payments you receive. With this plan, you get a full website, email marketing, and so much more. You get one download and one coaching product.
Mover Plan – You can consider Mover for $39 per month. For the yearly option, you can get it for $33 per month. There is no transaction fee here. You enjoy unlimited coaching, courses, downloads, and chat support.
Shaker Plan – For Shaker, you have to pay $89 per month, but for the yearly plan, you can pay $75 per month. With this plan, you can run an affiliate program on your course.
Earthquaker Plan – For Earthquaker, you pay $199 per month, but you have to pay $166 per month for the yearly plan. With this plan, you get onboarding calls and a lot more.

There are different features available with each pricing option, so you have to see what’s the most viable option available to you! See what works for you and is as per your budget.

Pros

Podia is simple to understand especially for beginners
Excellent Customer service
Coupon functionality works magic for product sales
A custom website gives the creative freedom to customize your sales pages the way you want.
Unlimited services – There is no cap to the number of emails to send, sales to make, students to admit, content to upload etc
Chat support allows you to stay in touch with your students, providing support and guidance 24/7
The price is competitive for the services provided

Cons

You may not be able to categorize your uploads but Podia is actively working on this

7. LearnDash LMS

Best for WordPress

LearnDash is a learning management system for WordPress. Its compatibility with one of the best content management systems helps you to have all your content in one place. If you are already a blogger or you run a WordPress website for your business, LearnDash LMS is the best in the market. With LearnDash you have complete control when selling your online courses. You have the freedom to define a pricing model of your choice and enjoy more than 300+ payment gateways with Woocommerce integration.

Key Features

Robust User Management – Learners can be organized into groups, with the ability to add members at different levels. You may also enroll a selected group or all learners in one course of your choosing
Drip Feed Content Delivery – Create a schedule that sends content automatically, so you can be sure your students receive it at the right time. Add notifications for when they’re delivered too
Engagement Triggers – Get to know your learners on a personal level and help them succeed. Understand their needs by watching how they interact with the course material or other students in class—you can even use this as an opportunity for engagement!
Opportunity to reward learners – Award certificates, points, and badges as learners complete quizzes or courses. Acknowledge their progress with an individual task reward for each completed challenge

LearnDash Pricing

LearnDash offers 3 pricing options as follows:

For one (1) site, it is $199 per year. You also get a 15-day money-back guarantee.
For ten (10) sites, it is $399 per year. You get a 15-day money-back guarantee.
The unlimited option is $799 per year. You can get a 15-day money-back guarantee.

You can also opt for LearnDash Cloud, a full website. In addition, there are customizable tools and templates.

Pros

Freedom to create groups and deliver courses uniquely for the group in a drip-feed format
It is incredibly easy to get up and running in terms of creating and adding courses
Integration with Vimeo and all video progression features makes LearnDash easy to use
LearnDash’s starter guides make sure that no new user is left wandering
24/7 truly helpful Help Desk

Cons

Lots of features can make LearnDash seem challenging at first sight

8. Academy of Mine

Best for B2B Onboarding

Academy of Mine helps you create, manage and deliver the highest quality educational content in a unique way that works for your business. Academy of Mine provides customers with tools to succeed. It is built specifically towards Professional Training Certifications & Continuing Education. Its white-labeling feature helps you completely customize the Academy of Mine to portray your brand. It is a learning management system that takes away all the techy heavy lifting while you just focus on creating impactful content for your students, staff, or customers.

Key features

100% White labeling – Create your own branded solution to deliver a seamless experience for students with the highest quality tools and materials.
Webinar and Virtual Courses – Integrate your offline business with the convenience of online education. Students can join in-person classes in real-time through live webinars or virtual courses, which are convenient for working parents who want to maintain their work schedule while still getting ahead at school!
Group onboarding – With the Academy of Mine course registration platform, you can group onboarding and sell your courses in bulk to corporations. Allowing them complete access to managing students on the program as well!
Analytics & Reporting – Detailed course analytics including student progress, grades, activity, and statistics, and you can even share and export your reports via Excel.
Certificates – The perfect solution for schools and teachers looking to reward student success with custom certificates that evolve as they improve.
Integrations and API – Use our integrations to seamlessly connect your learners with third-party apps. They can learn and maintain professional knowledge using familiar business tools, all while improving their skills for the modern workplace!

Academy of Mine Pricing

Academy of Mine offers 3 pricing plans. These includes

Essentials – $599 per month for simple training needs
Professional – $999 per month for advanced training needs
Enterprise – Contact the sales team

Pros

All-in-one solution for creators.
Seamless onboarding for staff
Over-the-top 24/7 tech support
Flexible Webpage Builder
Live Webinar Integrations
Bulk Import and Export Data
CRM, Analytics, and other Integrations
Detailed Activity & Audit Log
Translate in non-English Languages
Quizzes, Assignments, Surveys & Evaluations

Cons

There might be a steep learning curve in the beginning but tech support is available to help you through it

9. Simplero

Best all-in-one platform

Simplero is one of the best all-in-one online course platforms. As the name suggests, Simplero helps make coaching business simple for you! Simplero combines customer relationship management with course creation, payment gateway, and, community functionalities all in one place. If speed is important to you as the owner of an online coaching business.

Key Features

High-converting sales opt-in pages – Every Simplero account comes pre-loaded with a handful of high-performing opt-in pages. Tailor one of them to your coaching brand and watch your sales go through the roof
Functional Website – Get a better website built on the same platform that handles your email, product sales, and content delivery
Rich-featured Affiliate management system – Get the word out into the world by rewarding people who share your course with others. Pay affiliates and communicate with them through the same platform.

Simplero Pricing

Simplero offers 3 paid subscription plans that can either be paid annually or monthly. I recommend an annual subscription because it’s cheaper. The pricing plans go thus:

Starter plan – Monthly subscription is $70.80 per month but when paid annually you can get it for $59 per month or $708 per year. This plan offers only one course, one product, and one membership site.
Scale plan – Monthly subscription is $178.80 per month but when paid annually you can get it for $149 per month or $1788 per year. This plan offers unlimited courses, unlimited products, and unlimited memberships.
Skyrocket plan – Monthly subscription is $298.80 per month but when paid annually you can get it for $249 per month or $2988 per year.

You can get a demo and try it for 14 days

Pros

While running email marketing on Simplero:

You can resend it to people who didn’t open your email
You can target people who clicked a link in your email
Freedom to split-test your subject lines
Create templates with different branding for your different programs or audiences
Get reminded when it’s time to write next week’s newsletter

While affiliate marketing:

Two-tier system (upstream and downstream affiliates)
Use PayPal MassPay to pay out your affiliates when you’re ready
Run more than one affiliate program at the same time.

Other things I like about Simplero include

Drip Feed content delivery
Email automation
Create worksheets, quizzes, and a members-only blog content

Cons

You may experience a steep learning curve in the beginning

10. Kartra

Excellent all-in-one platform

Kartra is a one-stop shop for all of your marketing needs. Kartra’s work seamlessly together to make it easy, fast, and fuss-free! So you can focus on what really matters: growing the business with ease. Kartra Analytics takes care of all the data needed to make it thrive, while its many features help you stay on top in an ever-changing world. The individual sections join together seamlessly with one easy interface for everything from analytics through email subscriptions or membership auto-renewal.

Key Features

Multiple price points – You can set up different price points for each product and how you would like to pay. One-time purchases, recurring payments, or installments are all possible options
Sell unlimited products – You can sell unlimited products and services, whether it’s digital or physical items. You also have the option to offer individualized training courses for clients who want more than just a one-time consultation with you
Behavior-Based Automations – Kartra lets you automate a host of actions based on your recipients’ behaviors. For example, send them another message if they haven’t opened the previous email or tag them in an image from their last visit!
High-Performing Email Templates – Get creative with Kartra’s gorgeous templates and components! Make use of the done-for-you hero sections, content blocks, or countdown timers built into Kartra; copy, paste and customize easily so your emails look perfect every time.

Kartra Pricing

Kartra offers both annual and monthly billing for their four (4) pricing plans. The annual billing offers a 25% discount over the monthly billing so I recommend it. Kartra offers the following plans and pricing:

Starter Package – $79 per month when billed annually ($99 per month when billed monthly)
Silver Plan – $149 per month when billed annually ($199 per month when billed monthly)
Gold Plan – $229 per month when billed annually ($299 per month when billed monthly)
Platinum Plan – $379 per month when billed annually ($499 per month when billed monthly)

Pros

You can do almost everything on Kartra. I mean your entire online coaching business can run on Kartra without the need to use any other external service.
Kartra has amazing checkout pages
You can personalize messages with custom tags while sending bulk email
Introduce multiple membership tiers for your community and expose each tier to a different set of content and privileges.
Mobile responsiveness – You can preview your creation for desktop, tablet, and mobile modes. Kartra will ensure they look mint perfect in all of them.
You can brand your videos with your own watermark to declare exclusive rights over your content

Cons

Landing pages are sometimes buggy
Kartra is so feature-rich that it may seem not user-friendly in the beginning
Help desk service can be better
Less attractive interface and sometimes takes too long to find what you need

11. Systeme.io

Excellent for beginners

Systeme.io is another all-in-one digital machine to you run your online coaching business. Using Systeme.io offers features for running email marketing, creating sales funnels, creating online courses, managing affiliates, relating with customers/students, building websites, automate your entire marketing pipeline. Systeme.io stands tall among its peers with an attractive user-friendly interface that easily helps you find anything you are looking for in a few clicks.

Key features

Marketing Emails – You can send your emails easily with the help of a simple drag-and-drop interface that’s integrated into all aspects of marketing.

Pro

Systeme.io gives you the freedom to:

Create your course site with its easy-to-use editor
Integrate your course access with payments from Syeteme.io sales funnels and websites
Give timed access to your course via with drip feature
Send unlimited emails to all of your contacts
Set up automated email sequences
Keep track of your emails with in-depth statistics
Categorize your customers and send tailored emails to specific groups
Speed up the funnel-building process with proven high-performing templates
Integrate your email list, payment system, and membership sites
Automate your funnel steps. Trigger email sequences and give instant access to courses
Almost anything needed for online coaching business management can be done on Systeme.io
Systeme.io free plan is one of the most robust packages in the market hence making it suitable for beginners

Cons

There is no mobile (iOS, Android) version of Systeme.io

Systeme.io Pricing

Systeme.io offers 4 pricing plans that can be billed both annually and monthly. The annual plan helps you save 30% of the monthly plan so I recommend it. The annual pricing for Systeme.io goes as follows:

Free Plan – $0 per month
Startup plan – $27 per month for a monthly plan and $228 per year for the annual plan
Webinar plan – $47 per month for a monthly plan and $396 per year for the annual plan
Unlimited Plan – $97 per month for a monthly plan and $828 per year for the annual plan

I consider Systeme.io the best online coaching platform for beginners. The features offered in its free plan is robust enough for anyone who wants to get their feet wet in the online coaching space.

12. Graphy

Another lovely all-in-one platform

Graphy is also an all-in-one online coaching platform where you can build highly interactive courses with zero tech headaches and give your learners a seamless learning experience.

Graphy offers both web and mobile experiences such that you can monitor your online coaching business from anywhere on any device. Graphy ensures the security of your content by making sure that videos are encrypted and cannot be downloaded by any third-party software.

Key Features

Multilayer Security – Course security is our top priority on Graphy. With state-of-the-art encryption, login restriction, and device protection, Graphy will have you covered at all levels of your course
Live Zoom Sessions – Conduct live classes with a premium Zoom experience where you don’t even need to purchase any licenses; Graphy manages it all.
Offer Subjective Exams and Assignments – Create review questions for insight into your learners’ comprehension level correcting assignments with feedback on their progress.
Conduct Exams using Live Tests – You can create and schedule a test at a specific time to see how your learners will react. All your students should/can take it together at the same time so there are no leaks in the process, then generate results after completion for leadership boards!
Question bank – Store all your questions and quizzes in one place. Use tags & topics to sort questions and create quizzes automatically.

Graphy Pricing

Graphy charges 10% per sale on your course plus an onboarding fee of $999.

Pros

Features offered on Graphy are relatively unique compared to their competitors
Extensive marketing and sales tools from launch to post-sales
Content security from third-party websites
Accessibility via the Mobile app
Question bank functionality
It is easy to set up.

Cons

The landing page builder can be better
More integrations will help the app serve users better

13. Teachery

Teachery is an online course platform built by course creators, so the builders prioritized the features they would want if they were starting to sell online courses all over again. Teachery is a software built to meet the pain point of an average online course business owner. Teachery’s course templates are the perfect way for you to create your own personalized learning experience. They’re designed with a framework that helps students learn and test well, so they can take advantage of all opportunities available in their field!

Key Features

Embed Video, Audio, and Slide Presentations – Teachery can be offered at extremely fair pricing because it allows the folks at YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, Soundcloud, etc, to do what they do best (and you simply use their embed code to bring video or audio content into your course).
Sales Page and Email Capture Pages – Teachery is a platform that makes it incredibly easy for teachers and instructors to create sales pages. If you have existing payment options, Teachery can integrate with them so people purchase right from your website!
Email Integration – Integrating with your email marketing platform is made easy. Whether you want to collect the emails of people who purchase a course or just need an extra way for visitors on landing pages, this integration will help make things simple and quick!
Custom Domain name and SSL certificate – Every course you create in Teachery can have its own unique custom domain. In addition, Teachery secures your custom domain at no extra cost. Once you add a custom domain to a course, an SSL certificate will be generated to give you and your students a safe streaming experience.

Teachery Pricing

Teachery offers 2 pricing plans: monthly and annual plan

The monthly plan is $49 per month.
The yearly plan is $471 per year.

Pros

Teachery is easy to use
Tons of custom branding color options
Easy to navigate sidebar, great for courses with lots of lessons and sub-lessons!
Responsive and mobile friendly
Creation of promo codes/coupons for courses
Simple and relatable analytics to keep track of sales and overall engagement
Unlike some other online coaching platforms, the features are not overwhelming

Cons

There could be some limitations for students when submitting work.

14. Payhip

Payhip emphasizes simplicity. This simple platform lets you sell digital products, courses, and much more with ease. Payhip lets you sell digital downloads, courses, coaching, and more from one simple platform. Payhip is trusted by over 130,000 creators who have successfully turned their passion into profit.

Key Features

One-on-One Coaching – Hold your clients’ hands through 1:1 coaching sessions and make it as simple as possible for them, depending on what they want. With Zoom video calls integrated into Calendly (and more), you can schedule online meetings in advance without needing extra software
Online Courses – Create a fully-functional online course that’s easy to navigate and well-designed. Your students will love the interactive features you’ve included in your content, such as videos or assignments available at their fingertips through digital files which they can access on any device
Completion Certificates – Add completion certificates after every few tasks completed so there are no surprises when the time comes for review sessions later down the line
Sell Digital Downloads – You can sell anything you want, including ebooks and software. Plus design assets like templates or videos will not only increase your revenue generation but establish you as an authority in your industry.

Payhip Pricing

Payhip is offered in 3 straightforward pricing plans. They are

Free Forever – Enjoy all features with unlimited revenues and products at $0 per month. However, there is a +5% transaction fee.
Plus Plan – Enjoy all features with unlimited revenues and products at $29 per month. However, there is a +2% transaction fee.
Pro Plan – Enjoy all features with unlimited revenues and products at $99 per month. There is no transaction fee in this plan.

Pros

Excellent customer service.
Ability to connect your custom domain to payhip
Payhip is also suitable for selling physical products
Excellent Support
Custom website
Ability to sell physical downloads
Good for starters

Cons

Client management side may sometimes be difficult to use
Only suitable for small businesses

15. Udemy

Udemy is one of the largest online coaching platforms that is deemed more suitable for students than for creators. Highly technical subjects can be found on Udemy at the price of a pizza. The students have a broad selection of various courses when they consider Udemy. You can opt to teach on Udemy and follow the relevant instructions. It is very easy to start.

Udemy Pricing

If you want to become an instructor on Udemy, you don’t have to pay a fee but follow the revenue share model.

16. Pinlearn

Pinlearn helps your students succeed with our self-hosted online tutoring marketplace software. You get 100% control of the design, development, and hosting – no need for technical skills. With Pinlearn, you can build a sophisticated online tutor marketplace where teachers connect with students who want to learn from them. You can sign up tutors to create, sell and manage their self-paced courses. With Pinlearn, you just might be the next Udemy

Key Features

Sell Courses – with the best online tutoring software with course-selling features that allow tutors to sell self-paced courses, the admin can add subjects and categories for learners.
1 on 1 Live Session – Tutors can now teach students in real-time using 1 on 1 interactive feature, such as video conferencing and an audio tutor.
Group Webinar Classes – The Tutor dashboard enables tutors to create webinars, and set topics and descriptions for their event in advance. Participants can also sign up using the online registration system or waitlist if there are openings available
White-labelling – Gives you the opportunity to bring your own e-learning marketplace to life. You can build your own Udemy, Coursera, Preply, etc.

Pinlearn Pricing

Pinlearn offers 2 plans that offer a wide array of functionalities They are:

Starters – $699 one-time fee
Professionals – $1499 one-time fee

Note: You can upgrade from Starters to Professionals by paying the difference in price

Pros

It is unbelievably cheap for the function it performs
Pinlearn has a fantastic support team.
Fast response to issues
Suitable for the tutoring business.
SEO Optimised
Mobile Responsive
Course Content Protection
1-year support & updates
Onboarding call & setup help
Free Installation & Setup

The Pinlearn support team barely allows any cons with their fast response to issues

17. Freshlearn

Freshlearn is an online coaching platform that gives you the opportunity to create and market your online course at the price of a junk meal. In less than 60 minutes, you are fully set up to start uploading your content and admitting students to your course. It is an all-around, all-in-one platform that gives you the features of a website, blog, multiple landing pages, video courses, affiliate marketing, Coupon sales, gamification, and so on. When using the Freshlearn platform, you need not rely on coding to sell. You can sell digital products with ease from your website. You get a 14-day trial and no need for any credit card information.

Key Features

The features that make Freshlearn stand out are as follows

Gamification – Give your students reward points as they progress in your course. This strategy helps learners stay curious and automatically increases engagement.
Language Switch – Convert your content to any language and let your students interact with your course in the language they find most comfortable
Course Branding – Upload logos, favicon, and color themes that help distinguish your course from any other one on the internet.
Mobile App – Your learners get to work on the go and enjoy your content from anywhere on any device

Freshlearn Pricing

The pricing is as follows:

Free Plan – For $0 you can enjoy unlimited digital products, payments Integration, custom branding, video hosting, sales page builder, checkout pages, blogging CMS, and lots more
Pro Plan – For $25 per month, you can enjoy all the features in the free plan plus additional features such as custom certificates, dynamic assessments, coupons, custom language, live classes, assignments, drip content feature, white label domain, and lots of third-party integrations.
No Brainer Plan – For $41 per month, you can enjoy all the features in the Pro Plan plus additional features such as gamification, a question bank, an affiliate program, bulk actions, a customizable video player, advanced integrations, custom themes, and so on.

Pros

For the features it offers, Freshlearn is a lot cheaper than the other online coaching platforms
20/7 customer support; it is easy to contact the team
The team is in tune with users’ suggestion

Cons

A highly responsive helpdesk turns all cons into pros

18. Coursera

Coursera is a popular name in the online coaching niche. There are a variety of courses available on this platform. Coursera largely gears toward students and makes it easy to take courses even in difficult subjects. Over the years, Coursera has evolved and is now mostly used by large educational institutions to deliver short courses, certificate courses, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Coursera for business is designed to help you accelerate business transformation while you upskill your employees to thrive in the digital economy.

Pros

Ability to rapidly deploy training for in-demand skills
You can offer your staff content from top universities and companies
Provide hands-on guided learning
You can track and benchmark skills
It is suitable for education at any level
Coursera has an excellent customer support

Cons

Coursera is more suitable for large organizations

Final Thoughts

This post is written for people who are looking to start an online course business and want to know which platform is best for them. While some of the online course platforms mentioned here are suitable for learners who are searching for the best platforms to take online courses, this post is targeted toward those seeking to start an online course business.

With regard to this, here are my top 3 recommendations

Thinkific – Overall best platform
Kajabi – Best for Customer Relationship management
Mighty Networks – Best for Unique Customization

Having gone through the best online course platforms – the key features, pricing, pros, and cons; let’s attend to some frequently asked questions about this subject.

What is the best free online course platform?

The best free online course platform for you will depend on your impending use case. But if you need a hassle-free platform that provides all the features you need to succeed in your business, Thinkific is my top recommendation.

Which is the No 1 online learning platform?

The number 1 online learning platform would differ for a creator and/or a learner. For creators, Thinkific is my number 1 online course platform. For learners, Coursera and Udemy are my top recommendation

Which is the No 1 online learning app?

The number one online learning app is Coursera. If Coursera doesn’t quite meet your desire, Udemy is a very close substitute.

Is Coursera better than Udemy?

Coursera and Udemy are both fantastic online learning platforms. Coursera has lots of academic institutions offering organized, academic-style degrees and certification programs. Udemy on the other hand has more individual/freelance teachers. If you are more interested in attaining certification from popular and reputable institutions, Coursera is your best plug. If you are less interested in certificates and more interested in just attaining the skills, Udemy will suit you better.

Conclusion

If you are looking for an online course platform that has everything you need and more, we recommend checking out our top three choices. They all have great features and will help you learn new skills or improve your current ones.

Some of them have a steep learning curve in the beginning but if their helpdesk is responsive enough to walk you through it, I suggest that you take the time to learn.

In the end, the best online course platforms is/are the ones you know how to maximize for your use case. You can also check out my post on the best online coaching platform.

When you find synergy between what you plan to achieve and the features an online course platform offers, that’s the sweet spot where you want to make a decision.

I hope you find this post helpful.

What online course platform are you using? Is it on my list? Why do you like it? Let me know in the comment section. I personally read every comment. I am hoping to read from you soon.

Muyiwa Felix

Ogunjobi Oluwamuyiwa Felix preferred to be called Muyiwa Felix, is a personal finance coach and Insurance advisor. He creates content that addresses the core of personal finance in Canada, the United States, and the world at large. Daily, he meets up with clients who are interested in financial risk management, income protection, wealth-building, retirement planning, and tax-efficient investing strategies.