18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (2024)

Table of Contents

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.

The best online course platforms

    • Standalone Online Course Platforms
      • Platform #1: LearnWorlds
      • Platform #2: Thinkific
      • Platform #3: Teachable
      • Platform #4: Kajabi
      • Platform #5: EasyGenerator
      • Platform #6: Podia
      • Platform #7: WizIQ
      • Platform #8: Academy of Mine
    • WordPress Plugins for Online Courses
      • Platform #9: WP CourseWare
      • Platform #10: LearnDash
      • Platform #11: LifterLMS
  • Course Marketplaces
    • Platform #12: Skillshare
    • Platform #13: Udemy
    • Platform #14: LinkedIn Learning
    • Platform #15: Coursera

Standalone Online Course Platforms

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (1)

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:

  • Starter: $29/month (plus $5 per course sale)
  • Pro Trainer: $99/month
  • Learning Center: $299/month
  • High Volume & Corporate: contact the sales team for a custom quote

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

Your professional looking Academy in a few clicks

Start FREE Trial

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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (2)

Reviews from Capterra:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (3)

Reviews from the eLearning Industry:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (4)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (5)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It is SCORM and HTML5 compliant.
  • It offers reporting and analytics.
  • It is very easy to set up a school and create courses.
  • It allows course authoring with interactive videos and ebooks.
  • It has an eCommerce option enabled and comes with a range of payment gateways including PayPal, Stripe (and via Stripe: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna, and more).
  • It offers integration with Zapier and email automation tools like MailChimp, Active Campaign, AWeber, Moosend, and more.
  • It allows for custom learner navigation paths (completion requirements).
  • It has very customizable landing pages, a blog, branding, and a course player.
  • It comes with a built-in online community.
  • It has an advanced affiliate management tool that allows you to launch your own affiliate program.
  • It allows you to create membership sites or sell digital downloads.
  • It comes with API and Single-Sign-On access.
  • It includes an all-powerful Assessment Builder for quizzes, exams, assignments, gradebook, and certificates.
  • It provides strong marketing features like high-converting sales pages and customized checkouts.
  • It offers a truly white-labeled option and the opportunity to use a full custom domain for your own website.
  • It features the LearnWorlds Academy which offers elearning resources and a selection of free courses for online course creators.
  • It comes with the option to ‘sign up with social media’ – social logins.
  • It allows you to conduct real-time video lessons through a Zoom integration.

Cons:

  • It has no pre-built sales funnels.
  • It has limited gamification options (badges).
  • It does not support TinCan.
  • Its many options might be confusing at first glance.

Platform #2: Thinkific

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (6)

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:

  • Free Plan – $0
  • Basic – $49/month
  • Start – $99/month
  • Grow – $199/month
  • Thinkific Plus – Customized pricing

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (7)

Reviews from Capterra:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (8)

Review from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (9)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It includes a landing page builder.
  • It offers built-in sales and marketing tools.
  • It has various integrations with popular software.
  • It is a cloud-hosted platform you can connect your domain with.
  • It has a white-label option.
  • It has 24/7 support.

Cons:

  • It offers limited control over website design.
  • It can be difficult to build complex courses.
  • It does not support SCORM, TinCan, or AICC.
  • It doesn’t include social features.
  • It focuses more on sales features rather than learning.

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

Platform #3: Teachable

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (10)

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:

  • Free plan: $0/month (limited functionality and $1 + 10% per transaction)
  • Basic plan: $59/month (plus a 5% transaction fee)
  • Pro plan: $159/month
  • Business plan: Customized pricing

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (11)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (12)

Review from the eLearning Industry:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (13)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It has a simple and easy-to-use course authoring with quiz capabilities.
  • It has a landing page editor and blogging capabilities.
  • It comes with built-in eCommerce features.
  • It includes built-in affiliate, marketing, and sales tools.
  • It comes with a built-in email marketing tool.
  • It offers an app that is common to all schools.

Cons:

  • Its learning/teaching and assessment capabilities are limited.
  • It does not support SCORM or TinCan.
  • It offers limited customization options on landing pages and branding.
  • It has no social or community-building features.
  • Its customer support is not very responsive. It has limited white-labeling options. e.g. sign-ins and emails cannot be white-labeled.

💁 Compare Teachable with LearnWorlds
💁 Compare Teachable with Kajabi

Platform #4: Kajabi

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (14)

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:

  • Basic Plan: $149/month
  • Growth Plan: $199/month
  • Pro Plan: $399/month

*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.

Review from Capterra:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (16)

Review from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (17)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It offers a 14-day trial.
  • It comes with its own email list marketing automation tools.
  • It offers various integrations with popular software.
  • It provides sales pipelines/funnels building capabilities.
  • It offers a collection of beautiful themes.
  • It allows the creation of landing pages.
  • It features upsells, customized checkouts, and blogging functionality.

Cons:

  • It can be tricky to set up.
  • It has expensive pricing options.
  • It offers limited control over website design.
  • It doesn’t offer many learning features and focuses more on small digital product sales.

💁 Compare Kajabi with LearnWorlds

Platform #5: EasyGenerator

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (18)

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:

  • Pro: $96/monthly (1 author, 10 courses, 100 learners)
  • Team: $479/monthly (5 authors, unlimited courses, unlimited learners)
  • Enterprise: you need to contact EasyGenerator for custom pricing (unlimited authors, unlimited courses, and unlimited learners)

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (19)

Review from Capterra:

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

Ryan S. (Training Specialist)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (20)

Review from the eLearning Industry:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (21)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It is easy to use.
  • It has a free trial.
  • It has a drag-and-drop functionality.
  • It doesn’t need coding skills to operate.
  • It allows you to see learners’ results at no extra charge.
  • It is compatible with most LMS platforms out there.

Cons:

  • Its drag-and-drop feature doesn’t always work on mobiles.

Platform #6: Podia

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (22)

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:

  • Free plan
  • Mover: $39/month
  • Shaker: $89/month
  • Earthquaker: $119/month

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (23)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (24)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (25)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It has a 14-day free trial.
  • It provides unlimited courses.
  • It has sales page customization options.
  • It offers affiliate marketing options within the platform.
  • It allows you to have your own membership subscription.

Cons:

  • It doesn’t offer a community area on the platform.
  • It lacks learning tools like grading, assessment/assignments, and certificates.
  • It is very limited in its capabilities, suiting smaller video-based learning and downloadables only.
  • There are no white-label options

💁 Compare Podia with LearnWorlds
Find out more Podia Alternatives

Platform #7: WizIQ

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (26)

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:

  • Virtual Classroom (Professional & Enterprise, or Pay-Per-Use plans), and
  • LMS (Elite and Infinite plans).
  • WizIQ Meet (Professional, Business & Enterprise plans)

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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (27)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (28)

Review from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (29)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It comes with a free 14-day trial.
  • It features a virtual classroom.
  • It offers elearning reporting and analytics.
  • It provides the opportunity to teach in a virtual classroom.
  • It has a mobile app (mLearning) that is available on Apple and Android
  • It comes with course authoring with test and assessment capabilities.
  • It has eCommerce features.
  • It offers a white-label option.

Cons:

  • It does not support SCORM or TinCan.
  • There are no gamification options.
  • Its customer support representatives are difficult to reach after setup (based on online reviews).

Platform #8: Academy of Mine

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (30)

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:

  • Essentials: $599/month
  • Professional: $899/month
  • Enterprise: custom pricing

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (31)

Review on Capterra:

‘The just-right LMS.’ – Daniel N. (Assistant Professor)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (32)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (33)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It supports SCORM.
  • Its support team is very responsive.
  • It comes with a flexible website builder.

Cons:

  • It needs a lot of work to customize the site.
  • It only offers a few video guides to help you learn how to work with the platform.
  • Its price is very high.

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (34)

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:

  • Teacher: $149 (2-site license)
  • Professor: $179 (10-site license)
  • Guru: $299 (25-site license)

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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (35)

Reviews on Capterra:

Have been using WP Courseware since the beginning and love it.” – Mitch B. (Founder)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (36)

It is good but not awesome.” – Lionel T. (Director and Developer)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (37)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It offers instructor and student grade books.
  • It offers two payment gateways, PayPal and Stripe.
  • It sends automated emails to students based on their activity.
  • It includes advanced testing tools like timers and retakes limits.
  • It comes with a collection of integrations you can choose from.
  • It has a streamlined course creation process and offers certifications, and custom email notifications.

Cons:

  • It is not SCORM-compliant.
  • It doesn’t have a free trial but offers an on-site demo.
  • It doesn’t come with its own payment gateway, so to gain monetization ability, you need to integrate it with an eCommerce plugin.

Platform #10: LearnDash

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (38)

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:

  • 1 site license: $199/year
  • 10 site licenses: $399/year
  • Unlimited: $799/year

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

  • Monthly: $29/month
  • Yearly: $299/year

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (39)

Reviews on Capterra:

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

– Jesus P. (CEO/President)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (40)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (41)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It has a free trial.
  • It has an automated mailing system.
  • It offers course completion certificates and achievement badges.
  • It supports PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, and Authorize.net.
  • It includes a graphics pack with backgrounds and other design elements.
  • It integrates with drag-and-drop editors that create a more visual design experience.
  • It provides the possibility to integrate with marketing tools including MailChimp, WooCommerce, and WPForms.

Cons:

  • It can get expensive as you get more add-ons to it.
  • It is not SCORM-compliant.
  • It doesn’t have any video conferencing tools.

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

Platform #11: LifterLMS

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (42)

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:

  • Earth Bundle: $149/year
  • Universe Bundle: $360/year
  • Infinity Bundle: $1200/year

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (43)

Reviews on Capterra:

A customizable LMS tool – that’s right!” – Joe B. (DevOps Engineer)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (44)

Best LMS tool.” – Gilles C. (Webmaster)

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (45)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It has a free trial.
  • It has an automated mailing system.
  • It offers course completion certificates and achievement badges.
  • It supports PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, and Authorize.net.
  • It includes a graphics pack with backgrounds and other design elements.
  • It integrates with drag-and-drop editors that create a more visual design experience.
  • It provides the possibility to integrate with marketing tools including MailChimp, WooCommerce, and WPForms.

Cons:

  • It can get expensive as you get more add-ons to it.
  • It is not SCORM-compliant.
  • It doesn’t have any video conferencing tools.

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:

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (46)

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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (47)

Reviews from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (48)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (49)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It offers a supportive discussion forum where students exchange feedback.
  • It provides the ability to take many courses for the same price.

Cons:

  • Its class content is limited to only four categories.
  • There is no certificate of completion or any other formal recognition.

Platform #16: Udemy

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (50)

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:

  • No starting fee but very high commissions on sales of up to 75%.
  • 50% per course sale when students come through organic search on Udemy or search engines.
  • 37% when students come through their paid user acquisition channel.
  • 97% on course sales when you sell through your own links. Udemy keeps a 3% administration fee.

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (51)

Reviews from G2:

‘Now education is cheaper.’ – Alok G.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (52)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (53)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • There is no setup cost.
  • It is geared towards self-paced learning and video courses.
  • There is no need for highly technical knowledge.
  • There is an Udemy app available for iOS and Android.

Cons:

  • There is very limited interaction with students.
  • There is high competition between course creators.
  • There is no possibility of personal branding.
  • It has control over prices and often sells courses for incredibly low prices.
  • There is no data ownership or control over branding – It keeps emails, and user data and does not share this information with its instructors.
  • Visibility depends on your own marketing, the platform only promotes courses that are already popular.

Platform #14: LinkedIn Learning

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (54)

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:

  • Monthly: 1-month free trial, then €39,33/month
  • Annually: 1-month free trial, then €19,66/month

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (55)

Reviews from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (56)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (57)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It is highly recognizable and valued in the B2B community.
  • It comes with a one-month free trial.
  • It provides personalized course recommendations for users.
  • It offers certification upon course completion.
  • It allows you to assess learning progress using quizzes.
  • It has offline learning access to learn on the go.
  • It grants you access to other premium career features.

Cons:

  • Pricing for teams and instructors is unclear unless you contact the platform directly.
  • Joining as an instructor may be challenging.

Platform #18: Coursera

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (58)

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:

  • Team: $399/user/per year
  • Enterprise: There is a customized price for large enterprises, you need to contact Coursera to get a quote.

*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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (59)

Reviews from G2:

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (60)

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

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (61)

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • It offers a variety of learning options and activities.
  • It awards students with different types of certificates and degrees.
  • It offers high-quality educational tools and instructor interactions. (for instructors)

Cons:

  • It is limited to educators in partner institutions. (for instructors)
  • Its course creation options are less flexible compared to other platforms. (for instructors)

Which Online Course Platform Will You Choose?

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:

  • How to Teach Online
  • The Best Kajabi Alternatives Reviewed
  • The Benefits of Building a Customer Education Program [Guide]
  • Top Thinkific Alternatives Reviewed
  • The Best Teachable Alternatives Reviewed

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:

  • Udemy is one of the largest online course marketplaces, offering a range of tools and resources to help you create and promote your course. You can create courses on any topic and sell them on the platform.
  • Teachable is a platform designed specifically for creating and selling online courses. It offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of customizable modules.
  • Thinkific is another popular platform for creating and selling online courses. It offers a range of tools for course creation, marketing, and management.
  • Kajabi is an all-in-one platform that offers course creation tools, website-building tools, and marketing features. It is more expensive than some of the other options but may be worth it if you want a comprehensive solution.

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:

  • Accessible to a wider audience: Online course platforms allow you to reach a global audience, as anyone with an internet connection can access your courses from anywhere in the world.
  • Convenience and flexibility: Online courses can be accessed at any time and from anywhere, providing students with the flexibility to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. This is particularly useful for busy individuals who may not have the time to attend in-person classes.
  • Cost-effective: Online course platforms can be more cost-effective than traditional classroom-based learning, as they eliminate the need for physical classrooms, textbooks, and other materials.
  • Customizable: Most online course platforms offer a range of customizable features, such as branding options to reflect your messaging, course structure, assessment tools, and even SEO tools, allowing you to create and promote a course that meets your specific needs.
  • Enhanced learning experience: Online course platforms can offer a range of interactive and multimedia features, such as videos, quizzes, and discussion forums, that enhance the learning experience and help students to retain information better.
  • Analytics and tracking: Online course platforms often provide in-depth data analytics and tracking features that allow you to monitor student progress, identify areas where students may be struggling, track conversions, and make data-driven decisions to improve your course content.

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:

  • Interactive and engaging course creation: LearnWorlds offers a variety of interactive course creation features, such as gamification and interactive video, that make the learning experience more engaging and immersive.
  • Customizable templates: LearnWorlds offers a range of customizable templates that allow you to create a course that matches your branding and style.
  • Mobile responsiveness: LearnWorlds courses are fully responsive on all devices, making it easy for students to access your content from any device.
  • Mobile app builder: The platform also includes a mobile app builder that allows course creators to build their own branded mobile app for iOS and Android devices. The LearnWorlds mobile app builder is a powerful tool that allows users to fully customize their app with their own branding, logos, and colors.
  • Advanced analytics: LearnWorlds provides advanced analytics and tracking features that allow you to monitor student progress, identify areas where students may be struggling, and make data-driven decisions to improve your course content.
  • Excellent customer support: LearnWorlds offers excellent customer support, with a dedicated team available 24/7 to answer any questions or resolve any issues that may arise.

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.

  • LearnWorlds: An all-in-one platform that offers a variety of tools to create and sell online courses. It includes features such as a course builder, landing page builder, a powerful assessment builder, marketing tools, and a mobile app builder.
  • Kajabi: A comprehensive platform that offers a range of tools to create, market, and sell online courses. It includes features such as course creation tools, a landing page builder, email marketing tools, and an affiliate program.
  • Thinkific: A user-friendly platform that allows users to create and sell online courses with ease. It offers a variety of features such as course creation tools, customizable templates, and marketing tools.
  • LearnDash: A popular platform that offers a range of features to create and sell online courses. It includes features such as course creation tools, customizable templates, and the ability to create advanced quizzes and assignments.
  • Teachable: A simple yet powerful platform that enables users to create and sell online courses. It offers features such as a course builder, customizable templates, and the ability to create quizzes and surveys.
  • Podia: An all-in-one platform that allows users to create and sell online courses, digital downloads, and memberships. It offers features such as course creation tools, a landing page builder, email marketing tools, and the ability to create a membership program.

(Visited 67,100 times, 31 visits today)

Kyriaki Raouna

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 Georgarakou

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.

18 Best Online Course Platforms Comparison Guide (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Jamar Nader

Last Updated:

Views: 5861

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (75 voted)

Reviews: 90% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jamar Nader

Birthday: 1995-02-28

Address: Apt. 536 6162 Reichel Greens, Port Zackaryside, CT 22682-9804

Phone: +9958384818317

Job: IT Representative

Hobby: Scrapbooking, Hiking, Hunting, Kite flying, Blacksmithing, Video gaming, Foraging

Introduction: My name is Jamar Nader, I am a fine, shiny, colorful, bright, nice, perfect, curious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.