Best Online Course Platforms

The unfortunate events of the last year have forced most people into isolation. This has been detrimental to so many people’s health and wellbeing, but the newfound free time has also given many the opportunity to learn something new.

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Online Course Platforms give experts a place to share their knowledge with the world. Every platform is a little bit different, but the central theme of them all remains the same. 

Distance learning is an opportunity for businesses and gurus alike to sell their courses to just about anyone around the world, which brings us all together in a way.

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Today I’m going to be giving you a quick snapshot of 20 of the best online course platforms where you can create, sell, or take online courses.

1.Thinkific 

thinkfik

Thinkific is an all-in-one platform that lets you create and sell your courses online. This is a great option for entrepreneurs looking to get started in online education because they offer one course for free. 

Pros

  • Create a free account to give it a try
  • Easy to create a course website
  • Community forum

Cons

  • Limited course templates
  • Limited file size uploads for images and videos
  • No course marketplace to market your course

Available Pricing Plans

Thinkific offers four different membership tiers, each with various perks and features. Pricing plans are as follows:

  • Free
  • $49/month
  • $99/month
  • $499/month

2.LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a great option for a variety of course creators. They offer features such as a course builder, certificates, quizzes, progress tracking, and more. 

Pros

  • Create an infinite number of courses
  • Excellent branding and theme editor
  • 30-day free trial 

Cons

  • Cheaper packages don’t give 24/7 customer support
  • No way to verify who takes your quizzes

Available Pricing Plans

LearnWorlds offers three plans with the following prices:

  • $29/month
  • $99/month
  • $299/month

3.Teachable

Teachable

Teachable is a straightforward platform with a clean, user-friendly interface. This platform is geared towards new course creators looking to break into this marketplace. 

Pros

  • Offers a free trial to get started
  • Ability to offer student plans
  • Features a built-in email marketing tool

Cons

  • No course marketplace
  • Not as many course customization options as competitors
  • 5% transaction fee unless you have a Professional plan

Available Pricing Plans

Teachable offers three different plans, all billed monthly:

  • $29/month
  • $99/month
  • $249/month

4.Teachery

Teachery

Teachery is an online course platform that allows you to create and sell courses without the hassle of knowing WordPress or web coding. That being said, this is a great option for anyone looking to get started. 

Pros

  • Seemingly endless number of course and page templates
  • Free plan available
  • Simple and easy to use -no coding needed

Cons

  • Limited customer support

Pricing

Teachery memberships cost $49/month or $479/year.

5.Kajabi

Kajabi

Kajabi is a software used for the creation, marketing, and sale of online courses. While it’s more expensive than some of its competitors, this is a great option for anyone who likes to keep all of their work in one place. 

Pros

  • User-friendly with lots of tools
  • Allows creators to market their products
  • Excellent customer support

Cons

  • More expensive than some competitors
  • Limited ability to customize quizzes in courses
  • Not able to create course certificates

Available Pricing Plans*

Kajabi offers three different plans. Members receive 20% off any plan if billed annually:

  • $149/month
  • $199/month
  • $399/month

6.Podia

Podia new

Podia is another near all-in-one online course platform that allows you to create, market, and sell your online courses. 

Pros

  • Affordable plans
  • 24/7 customer support via live chat
  • Built-in email marketing tool

Cons

  • Limited course customization options
  • Course marketing limited to email (no sales funnels)
  • No course marketplace 

Available Pricing Plans

Podia offers three different plans, each with progressively more extensive features:

  • $39/month
  • $79/month
  • $179/month

7.LearnDash

LearnDash

LearnDash is a WordPress LMS plugin that essentially turns your WordPress site into an online learning platform. 

Pros

  • User-friendly course builder (if you’re familiar with WordPress)
  • Flexible quiz builder
  • Affordable

Cons

  • Limited payment options for your customers
  • WordPress learning curve

Available Pricing Plans

LearnDash has three plans:

  • $199/year
  • $229/year
  • $369/year

All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

8.Ruzuku

Ruzuku

Ruzuku is an online learning platform that allows users to create and sell their course content. This platform is easy to use and great for beginners with limited tech experience. 

Pros

  • Flexibility for pricing your courses
  • Easy to use 
  • Responsive email support team

Cons

  • Limited course customization options and templates
  • Customer support is only available via email

Available Pricing Plans*

Ruzuku offers three pricing tiers. All plans are billed annually.

  • $74.75/month
  • $83.08/month
  • $125/month

9.Academy of Mine

AcademyofMine

This is a great platform for businesses that created distance learning content for their employees. 

Pros

  • 24/7 tech support
  • Course exam customization
  • Ability to create courses in multiple languages

Cons

  • Not easy to use
  • Limited tutorials on how to get started

Pricing

Pricing plans start at $899/month.

10.WizIQ

WizIQ new

WizIQ is a cloud-based learning management solution for higher ed institutions and businesses. This online course platform allows users to customize courses and prepare testing material. 

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Ability to customize your platform
  • Video chat with blackboard
  • Ability to record lessons

Cons

  • Flash player makes some interactive tools unreliable 
  • Customer service is hit or miss

Pricing

Contact WizIQ for pricing.

11.Udemy

udemy

Udemy is one of the largest online learning platforms, offering over 130,000 different courses. This platform allows instructors to create their own courses and sell them through Udemy. 

Pros

  • Easily adaptable course structure
  • Udemy marketplace
  • SEO rankings 

Cons

  • No access to students’ email
  • Udemy takes a commission on sales
  • Not as customizable as their competitors

Pricing

Udemy allows you to create and host unlimited courses for free.

12.Shaw Academy

ShawAcademy

Like many others on this list, Shaw Academy is an online course marketplace where anyone can sign up and receive instructional materials in various fields of study.

Pros

  • Easy for students to sign up
  • Online course marketplace

Cons

  • Difficult to cancel a membership

Pricing

Shaw Academy memberships cost $69.99/month.

13.Skillshare

Skillshare

Skillshare allows teachers to create courses for free and get paid royalties (based on the number of minutes their courses were viewed per month).

Pros

  • Free to create courses
  • Course marketplace
  • Ability to offer courses for free

Cons

  • Instructors are not vetted
  • Video quality varies from course to course 

Pricing

Creating courses is free on Skillshare.

14.LinkedIn Learning

LinkedInLearning

This is an online learning platform that requires every course instructor to submit an application. So, you get to learn from certified experts.

Pros

  • Free trial
  • Courses offered in multiple languages
  • Online course marketplace

Cons

  • Overwhelmingly large library of courses
  • Some courses might seem less personal 

Pricing

LinkedIn Learning costs $29.99/month with a 33% discount when billed annually.

15.Treehouse

Treehouse

Treehouse is an online learning platform devoted specifically to technology-based courses like web design, web development, mobile development, and game development. 

Pros

  • Easy to use
  • Free trial
  • Affordable pricing

Cons

  • Inconsistent course quality
  • Free trial requires a credit card

Available Plans

Membership costs $25/month or $199/month for a tech degree plan.

16.Coursera

Coursera

Like LinkedIn Learning, Treehouse, and others, Coursera might not be best for someone looking to break into online teaching. However, this is a great option for students looking for online certification in many different fields. 

Pros

  • Accredited university degrees
  • Free courses
  • High-quality courses

Cons

  • Pricing might be confusing
  • Not all courses are for complete beginners

Pricing

Coursera pricing varies from course to course.

17.Kartra

Kartra new

Kartra is a marketing tool that allows instructors to customize their marketing via sales funnels and email lists. 

Pros 

  • Easy to use
  • Customizable marketing
  • Analytics

Cons

  • Bit of a learning curve
  • May not be worth the money

Pricing

Available plans include:

  • $99/month
  • $199/month
  • $299/month
  • $499/month

18.PinLearn

PinLearn

PinLearn is an online learning company devoted solely to education in technology. 

Pros

  • Open-source and transparent
  • Fully customizable 

Cons

  • No marketing or sales funnels

Pricing

PinLearn costs $399/year, but a one-time payment of $999 can get you a lifetime membership.

19.Zippy Courses

Zippy Courses

Zippy Courses is marketed as an all-in-one tool for creating and selling your online courses. 

Pros

  • Easy to use the platform
  • Allows email marketing

Cons

  • No free trial
  • Difficult to customize courses

Pricing

Zippy Courses offers a plan for $199 and an upgraded plan for $299.

20.BitDegree

BitDegree

BitDegree is another online course platform that provides instructional material specifically for digital computing skills. This may not be the best option for instructors looking to sell their courses, but it is a good option for students looking to expand their digital skillset. 

Pros

  • Live courses available
  • Good customer service 
  • Lifetime access to reference material
  • Industry-recognized certification

Cons

  • Certifications are not accredited 

Pricing

BitDegree pricing varies from course to course.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur looking to sell a course or a student looking to expand your skill set, your options for online learning are seemingly endless.

If you know exactly what you’d like to get out of your online learning or teaching experience, then a little bit of research will set you up for a successful run in this marketplace. 

Author Bio

Caitlin Sinclair is the property manager at Prose West Cypress. With five years of property management experience and many more in customer service, she has a passion for her community and looks forward to making Prose West Cypress the place to call home.

 

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