Building and selling an online course is one of the best ways to make money off your blog. Once you’ve built your awesome course, you can sell it over and over again, giving you unlimited income potential.

But first, you need to find the right online course platform to host your content.

The best online course platforms make it easy to upload your course content and sell it to your readers. Not only do they host your course, but they also help you create high-converting sales pages and offer payment gateways for your customers.

How to find the best online course creation platform

More people are taking online courses than ever to learn new things and gain new skills. In fact, experts predict that the e-learning industry will be worth $325 billion by 2025!

As a blogger, you’re in a perfect position to create and sell an online course to your readers. After all, you’ve already established yourself as an expert in your niche.

With an online course, you can go one step further in helping your readers solve their problems and achieve their goals.

Bloggers have achieved massive success selling online courses in all types of niches, from how to raise goats to how to decorate cookies to how to start investing in the stock market.

And thanks to online course platforms, you can easily share and sell your course with your readers. When searching for the best online course platform, these are a few factors to keep in mind:

• Easy user interface: You want a course creation platform that’s easy to navigate, both for you on the back-end and your students on the front-end.
• Collects payments. The best online course platforms make it easy and straightforward for your students to purchase your course with a credit card, Paypal, or other payment method.
• Holds various types of content. The course platform should make it easy to upload videos, create quizzes or interactive content, upload assignments, or communicate with your students.
• Sales pages and other marketing strategies. The best online platforms to sell courses help you make persuasive sales pages, though you can also outsource this to another platform (like if you use a separate landing page builder).
• Allows you to hold promotions. As a course creator, you want control over how much your course gets sold for, as well as the ability to offer promo code discounts or limited time sales.

11 best online course platforms to sell your course

So, what is the best platform for online courses? Here are my favorite online course creation platforms to sell your online course.

Note that most of these online course platforms offer free trials, so you can test them out before you make a commitment.

1. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds has proven to be one of the best online creation platforms on the market over the past few years. Not only does it help you sell courses, bundles and online memberships, but it also makes it easy to design high-converting sales pages and set up profitable marketing funnels.

The team’s customer service is top-notch, and it provides free master classes and other resources to help you make the most of the platform and succeed as a course creator.

LearnWorlds also integrates with lots of other marketing tools; for instance, you can easily connect it to an email marketing service like ConvertKit or AWeber.

Why LearnWorlds?

• The platform offers a variety of active templates to help you build custom online courses
• Has an intuitive drag-and-drop, block-based builder so you can redesign its templates and create high-converting sales pages for your course
• Comes with an analytics feature that helps you track and optimize sales
• You can create membership sites for your students on LearnWorlds
• You can easily integrate LearnWorld with your social media or other marketing platforms
• Allows you to create coupons and discounts
• Students are offered a certificate of completion at the end of each course
• Your students can highlight and take notes on the platform
• The site has a custom mobile app for iOS users
• The team offers 24/7 tech support whenever you need help

Pricing

If you’re a newbie course creator, LearnWorlds’s Starter plan starts at $24 per month. With this option, there is a $5 fee per course sale, and four payment gateways: Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal and Shopify.

It allows one admin, and basic integrations such as Google Analytics, Facebook, Fomo, ZenDesk, and more. Note that free courses cannot be offered with this plan.

The Pro Trainer plan is for professional trainers. One thing that makes this plan stand out is the availability of unlimited and paid courses.

You can also create unlimited landing pages since it comes with a complete website builder and a blog. Additionally, it supports up to five admins or instructors.

LearnWorlds’ most popular plan is the Learning Center plan. It supports up to 20 admins, allows you to inbox students in bulk, and offers interactive videos (you can add video quizzes, titles, pointers, watermarks, and buttons to your videos, for example). This plan also supports Zoom and Webex.

2. Thinkific

Thinkific is a user-friendly online course platform that lets you easily upload videos, build quizzes, and organize your course content. With a Thinkific plan, you can build a fully customizable website for your course, so everything is consistent with the branding and color scheme of your blog.

Thinkific also offers advanced payment options that make it easy for customers to buy your course. And it integrates with lots of different marketing tools and platforms so you can easily set up sales funnels.

Finally, Thinkific helps you support your students with features such as lesson completion tracking, automated progress emails and course discussions.

Why Thinkific?

• User-friendly drag-and-drop builder to organize your course and design a gorgeous site
• Customize an automatic system of learning and curating content to optimize platform visits
• You have full control over site design, content, course pricing, student information, and more
• You get paid instantly and own 100% of your data
• Users can create their custom domain names to represent their specific brands
• Advanced payment options make it easy for customers to buy
• Integrates with a variety of marketing tools and platforms

Thinkific pricing

If you’re on a budget, you’ll love that Thinkific comes with a free plan. While the free plan has a limit on how many courses you can sell, it allows you to have unlimited students. Plus, you can create quizzes and surveys and get instant access to your funds.

The Basic plan includes all those features, but it also lets you upload unlimited courses. You’ll get a custom domain, as well as the ability to email students. Plus, you can set up coupons for your course (holding limited time sales can be a powerful motivator to get people to buy your course).

The Pro plan has all the features of the Free and Basic plans, plus two admin accounts, private courses, advanced customization, certificates of completion, and more.

The Premier plan is pricier; it costs $499 per month, and is suitable for creators who have a huge education empire. It supports up to five site admin accounts, 15 group analysts, 50 course admins, bulk emails and enrollments, and the option to import students from another platform or database.

3. Teachable

Teachable is another favorite among course creators, who love it for its ease of use, robust features, and attractive user interface. Not only does Teachable offer advanced website customization, but you can also include graded quizzes and certificates of completion for your students.

With Teachable, it’s easy to upload your course content, create a professional-looking sales page, and hold ongoing or limited time promotions. Plus, it integrates with a variety of email marketing services, making it easy to funnel new students into an automated “welcome to the course” email sequence.

Why Teachable?

• It gives you total control over the look and feel of your course, sales page, and pricing
• Features a one-click checkout
• Has optimized sales pages to help you market your course
• Offers a variety of payment options, including international payment plans for different currencies
• Provides one-on-one training sessions

Teachable pricing

Teachable’s Basic plan costs $29/month. The Pro plan comes with all the features of the Basic Package, plus other additional features such as course certification, for $99/month.

The Business plan offers all premium features available for $249/month. Here are some key features from each plan:

• Basic: Instant payouts, two admin-level users, unlimited students, 5% transaction fees, integrated email marketing, and third-party integrations.
• Pro: Five admin-level users, graded quizzes, unbranded website, instant payouts, course completion certificates, integrated affiliate marketing, and course compliance.
• Business: Instant payouts, 20 admin-level users, priority support, manual student imports, bulk student enrollments, custom user roles, them customization, and group coaching calls.

4. Kajabi

While Teachable is an excellent option for beginner course creators, Kajabi might be the right choice if you’ve built a robust “knowledge business.” Along with hosting your online courses, Kajabi also lets you set up membership sites and coaching programs.

Its popular features include a blogging functionality, robust email marketing automation, powerful course site themes, and a customizable checkout and upsell process.

Why Kajabi?

• You can build out a robust platform of online courses, membership sites, and coaching programs
• Categorize your users by their courses or payment plans
• Send scheduled emails to your students
• Pricing depends on the number of courses and active users you have
• Build a website without writing any code
• You can upload videos alongside other types of content to the platform

Kajabi pricing

The Basic plan comes with one website, an admin console, 1,000 active members, and 10,000 contacts for $119 monthly. The Growth plan costs $159 monthly and supports a website, 25,000 contacts, ten admins, 10,000 active members, 15 products, and 15 pipelines.

Kajabi’s Pro package, its most expensive plan, supports up to 3 websites, 25 admins, 100,000 contacts, 20,000 active members, and 100 products for $319/month.

5. TalentLMS

TalentLMS is a cloud-based LMS software with a training program that supports the growth of its users. With TalentLMS, you can personalize your style and offer services based on your users’ preferences and language.

TalentLMS offers a free plan for users who already have their own website and blog but are looking for a course platform to sell up to 10 courses.

Why TalentLMS?

• You can design personalized certificates
• Integrates with about 200 other services through Zapier
• The site offers a collection of information and graphics options to its users

TalentLMS pricing

TalentLMS has a free plan that supports up to five users but no more than 10 courses. This free option also comes with unlimited email support. The paid options include the Starter, Basic, Plus and Premium plans, which start at $59/month.

6. LearnDash

LearnDash offers a unique WordPress Learning Management System (LMS) that allows you to create and sell custom courses from your WordPress blog. You can add all the bells and whistles you want, from videos to quizzes to graded assignments to certificates.

The site’s “focus mode” creates a distraction-free learning environment for students. And its drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to design your course ecosystem.

Plus, LearnDash integrates with a variety of payment gateways and email marketing platforms.

Why LearnDash?

• Allows you set up your school from WordPress and works with any WordPress theme
• Uses drag-and-drop page builders like Elementor to help you easily customize and design your course ecosystem
• Supports just about any type of media you want to upload into your course
• Lets you create and sell online courses, course bundles, membership sites, and subscriptions
• Offers lots of features for your course, such as quizzes or points for learners as they complete sections

LearnDash pricing

LearnDash’s prices are annual, not monthly; the most affordable plan works out to just $13.25/month (at the time of writing).

7. Ruzuku

Ruzuku is an LMS platform that lets you publish and sell courses and track your students’ progress. You don’t need to be a tech-savvy course creator to use Ruzuku; the platform comes with step-by-step instructions on how to get started.

While Ruzuku’s user interface isn’t as snazzy as some of the other platforms on this list, it still comes with most if not all of the features you’d need, such as hosting and streaming audio and video and accepting payments from different gateways.

Note that at the time of writing, Ruzuku only integrates with MailChimp, which could be a drawback if you use a different email marketing service.

Why Ruzuku?

• Comes with an interactive community for a better learning experience
• Accept payments from online wallets such as PayPal
• Enables the creation of free courses
• Comes with a step-by-step guide for every stage of the course creation process
• Offers a 100% free trial for 14 days

Pricing

The Bootstrapper option goes for $74.75 per month, the Up-and-Comer option goes for $83.08, and the University option costs $125, billed annually.

8. WizIQ

WizIQ is an LMS with a unique feature: It lets you hold live classes. You can deliver live learning with its HD video conference, online whiteboard, and real-time messaging among your students.

If live teaching isn’t your thing, WizIQ also lets you upload your pre-recorded content and sell it to students. Your students will be also be able to learn on-the-go with WizIQ’s mobile and tablet app.

Why WizIQ?

• Offers tools for you to hold live classes and trainings with unlimited participants
• Supports HD video conferencing and real-time messaging
• Also allows you to upload and sell pre-recorded course content
• Lets you create multimedia tests and assignments in a variety of formats formats
• Offers a WizIQ mobile and tablet app for Android and iOS users

WizIQ pricing

The pricing begins at $25 per month, billed annually, but you’ll have to get in touch with the support team to find out exactly how much you’ll pay for each plan. The screenshot above shows a more detailed look at the features of each WizIQ plan.

9. Podia

Podia is a straightforward online course platform that makes it easy to upload and sell online courses, webinars, memberships and other digital products. A Podia plan comes with a customizable home page, or you can connect your pre-existing website to your Podia school.

It has a built-in live chat tool that allows you to communicate with your students. Unlike some other course platforms, Podia’s plans don’t seem to integrate with email marketing platforms. Instead, you could use the email marketing tool that comes with Podia.

Why Use Podia?

• Lets you publish and sell courses and host webinars for your audience
• Comes with its own email marketing tool and a live-chat tool
• No transaction fees
• You can add coupons and memberships easily
• Shaker plan integrates with Zoom and lets you create your own affiliate program

Podia pricing

Podia basically has two plans: Mover and Shaker. The Mover plan is best for beginner course creators launching their first digital products, while the Shaker option is for more established creators.

10. Udemy

Udemy works a little differently than the other online course platforms on this list. The others are Learning Management Systems (LMS) that help you share and sell your course to students. With these platforms, you’re responsible for marketing your course and bringing in students (i.e., your blog readers).

But Udemy is a course marketplace, meaning there are already millions of students signed up looking to take online courses. On one hand, using a marketplace like Udemy could get a lot more eyes on your course. On the other hand, you haven’t built up a relationship with these students, and there’s a lot more competition.

Plus, you won’t have total control over the pricing of your course, since Udemy independently decides to run discounts and promotions all the time. So if you want more control over your course and pricing options, stick with one of the online course creation platforms above.

But if you’re eager to get your course online free of charge, Udemy could be a good option to explore. Some course creators will also publish lower-cost courses on Udemy as a way to attract new students, who then go on to purchase their higher-end course on a separate LMS.

Why Udemy?

• You can upload and sell courses free of charge
• You’ll get your course in front of Udemy’s millions of registered students
• The site has an instructor dashboard that monitors your growth and keeps you on track
• You can create courses in multiple languages

Again, Udemy is a course marketplace, so it works differently from the other course creation platforms on this list. Instead of selling to students in your email sales funnel, you’ll sell to students who are using Udemy’s platform.

Udemy pricing

Udemy is an open marketplace for users to create and publish free or paid courses at no charge. However, to access the platform’s premium features, it costs approximately $360 plus tax every year.

11. Alison

Like Udemy, Alison is another course marketplace where students go looking to learn new skills. Alison has more than 2,000 free courses and 18 million users globally.

If you begin your publishing journey on this platform, you’ll have access to free training courses for creators that will teach you how to create content that is engaging and valuable to your readers.

On Alison, you won’t be selling your online course, but rather offering it for free. However, it is possible to earn money via advertising revenue or if students purchase a certification for your course.

Why Alison?

• Alison has more than 18 million learners from all over the world
• Allison gives you a platform to build your brand
• Even though the courses are free for learners, tutors can earn up to 40% of the advertising revenue generated on Alison
• As a course creator, you will also earn additional revenue when learners purchase certifications for a course you offered
• You can create courses in different languages

What are the best platforms for online courses? Final thoughts

Selling online courses is one effective way to skyrocket your income as a blogger. You already have an audience of readers who look to you as an expert in your niche. Building and selling an online course is one more way to communicate with your audience and help them achieve their goals.

When choosing the best online course platform, think about what features are most important to you and your potential students. Whether that includes an attractive user interface, the ability to “gamify” your lessons with points and badges, or something else, there’s a platform on this list to meet your needs.

About Rebecca Safier

Rebecca Safier is a blogger and digital marketer who teaches others how to use SEO and other best practices to build profitable blogging businesses.