11 Best Online Course Platforms For Course Creators in 2024

Due to the rapid rise of online learning and social distance, online course platforms are exploding. The need for online course portals has steadily increased over the last decade. 

Graduates seeking employment possibilities and professionals seeking a career change are always looking for methods to equip themselves with the necessary skills. As a result, platforms like Skillshare and Udemy encouraged instructors to create freshly developed and revised courses in popular subjects. 

Due to the benefits of online classes deliverability, it is right to say that the gradual overturn from physical modes of studying to online mode has taken drastic alterations. 

As you go from a beginner blogger to a seasoned blogger looking to generate money from your own products, creating a course is a natural progression. However, there are so many specific course platforms to choose from that the simple act of deciding which one is ideal for your course may be daunting.

What is an Online Course Software?

A means that allows you to develop, host, and incorporate a course curriculum on your selected channel is online course software. These curriculum development tools have revolutionized online education by allowing content providers, instructors, and students more freedom. Using a course creation platform gives you total control over the creator’s design, theme, and structure. Consequently, you can break down large and complicated subjects into smaller, more digestible chunks, allowing people to study at their own speed.

Why should I opt for Online Course Software for my business?

Using an online class design software works wonders for you and your organization, whether you are a newbie seeking to create your first course or a skilled professional with experience. 

Don’t believe it? The majority of novices prefer to use course providers or third-party tools to host their classes online. Though this is a secure bet because the advertising and marketing are handled for you, these two alternatives give you little control over your program after it has been hosted. This is why the majority of online instructors advise you to use online course design software.

These platforms have a variety of capabilities, along with the ability to integrate direct mail solutions. These capabilities allow you to keep track of each user’s progress in the lesson (which marketplaces do not allow). This might help you get a better sense of your target audience and their interests. You can target and maintain customers and personalize your campaigns now that you have accessibility to all of this information.

What are the benefits of selling online courses?

There are many reasons why you would want to develop an online course. Some of the most prevalent explanations are as follows:

• Start an online teaching company and start making money.
• To provide your employees with a virtual training platform
• To be able to share your talents and abilities with the rest of the world
• To provide knowledge and add a new revenue stream to your existing business

Type of Online Course Platforms

A plethora of online course platforms exists, varying in their demonstration toes and sorts. Some are discussed and mentioned below:

1. Standalone Platforms: Such services operate independently of your website and enable you to create and host coursework. Learnworlds, Thinkific, and Teachable are examples of these platforms. They let you do formal training, but you’ll need to have your own website and manage your own advertising.
   
2. All-In-One Platforms: A website, marketing, course development tools, email tools, and other features are included in this type of course platform. Platforms like Kajabi and Kartra fall under this category. These systems make administering your online course simple, but you don’t have much control.
   
3. WordPress Platforms: You may utilize a plugin like Learndash, Lifter LMS, or LearnPress if you’re a WordPress site operator and want to add course capabilities to your website. You may use these plugins to develop and host online courses on your current website. This allows you total control over your classes, but it comes with a higher learning slope.
   
4. Online Learning Platform: Online marketplaces offer thousands of different courses to choose from. They handle the customers and sales for you. You may develop and submit your free online courses on platforms like Skillshare, Udemy, and Coursera. People may consider your course and buy it right there on the site. This simplifies things, but they take a percentage of your overall sales, and you hand over management to a network.
   
5. Live Teaching Events: You can conduct live video conferences and events using services like a reach.live, sutra.fit, lu.ma, and joinhologram.com. These tools can be used in conjunction with a current online course, as a method to attract new students, or as standalone courses. The material you can generate is restricted because this is a virtual event venue. Still, it may be an excellent way to engage with others.

What to look for in an Online Course Platform

You’ll want to pick an online learning platform that caters to your specific requirements and the sort, of course, you intend to market. On every medium, though, there are some universal elements to watch for:

• Email automation and integrations – You should also make sure that the platform you pick interacts with your email service provider. Teachable and Thinkific online course platforms connect seamlessly with an array of diverse providers.
• Comments & Engagement – An engaging and interactive platform always attracts the populace. It is always a good idea to vouch for your study platform to be equally informative and engaging for its visitors and prospective customers.
• Seamless Signups – Nobody likes a signup process that is tiring and filled with a series of activities. Hence, look for a platform that features an easy and convenient method of signing up for your course and curriculum.
• Pricing – The platform’s price is crucial to newcomers starting out because there are no assurances that your program will generate enough of it to cover the product’s price. Sure, you had a fantastic launching month, but you need to maintain the pace of paying your monthly expenses.
• Payouts – (Fewer Transaction Fees)- You should also be concerned about the payout timetable. Two of the three sites pay you right away whenever anyone gets access to your product. In contrast, Teachable keeps your money for thirty days until you enroll for their most expensive plan.
• Membership options – Although secondary to the rest listed above, a membership option can help your customers stick around with your educational platform for a specified and longer time.

11 Best Online Course Creator Platforms in 2024

#1 Teachable

Teachable is indeed an online training platform for creating, managing, and selling courses online. It makes creating and launching an online course easier by allowing you to contribute your content without having to worry about the technical areas of the project.

Features:

• An easy to use course builder
• Has powerful course builder features
• You get the ability to create your blog
• You can have mixed media on a single lesson you create

Pricing: Teachable offers three different plans. For $39, you can get a basic package. The most preferred package is $119 and includes 5 admin-level user options, extensive reporting, course completion certificates, no transaction fees, and more. Plan three, which costs $199, offers a more advanced version with more options. This is an example of a business plan.

Pros:

• Teachable is a simple tool to use.
• Teachable focuses on supporting you in the development of your brand.
• It provides a lot of free course alternatives.
• Options for reasonable pricing

Cons:

• There are not many Google Drive and Dropbox connectors.
• There aren’t enough educational components, such as course portfolios and projects, available.
• When it comes to adding material, the course builder is difficult and counterintuitive.

#2 Thinkific

Thinkific is a cloud-based training system that allows online course creators to advertise and sell their courses. It provides you with unique domains and brochureware websites that you can customize using CSS and HTML. It also allows you to create multimedia lessons and attach printable PDF and voice-over presentation slides.

Features:

• Several template course options for you to choose from
• It allows you to make PayPal payment methods
• You can redirect your logos to the home page of the course site
• The platform will enable you to upload learning files on the page

Price: Endless courses and students, drip (planned) material, custom domain, email integrations, and discounts are included in the basic ($49/month) plan.

Basic functions plus memberships and packages, private courses, certifications, advanced HTML and CSS editing, assignments, live Zoom classes, and priority support for $99 per month.

Premier ($499/month) has all of the pro features plus 50-course administrators, an orientation package, and unlimited users.

Pros:

• Thinkific enables you to design eye-catching courses. Everything has its place, and there isn’t an overabundance of it.
• You can get launched for free with Thinkific’s free plan. Despite its limited functionality, you may use it to start your course company for free.
• From all plans, including the free one, you may create as many courses as you want with Thinkific.

Cons:

• Thinkific’s paid plans are somewhat more expensive per month than those of its competitors.
• It may be challenging to get started on Thinkific if you are new to developing online courses.
• Thinkific does not provide seminars or live office hours.

#3 Podia

Podia is a feature-rich web platform for selling online courses, subscriptions, and digital goods. It’s simple to use thanks to the drag-and-drop builder, and it offers a lot of adjustable choices, so you’ll feel like you have complete control over your product.

Features:

• Email Marketing enabled software
• You can create as many online courses as you want
• You can make a professional-looking membership procedure for your customers
• You can turn any page into a sales page

Pricing Podia provides three price options: the starter, mover and shaker plan, which charge a monthly $9, $39 and $89 respectively. Examine the characteristics they offer, and then select the one that best meets your requirements. Podia also provides Free plan for building your basic website and testing the platform.

Pros:

• Offer a framework for your customers to earn money by advertising your items.
• Pricing that is reasonable and depends on the features
• To host your movies, you’ll need a lot of storage and bandwidth.
• Users may now check there without leaving the premises, thanks to a new checkout option.

Cons:

• Podia is limited in terms of design freedom.
• Podia’s email creator requires custom fields.
• The mover plan lacks a membership element.
• Key elements are missing, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel, that will aid in consumer advertising based on interests and activities.

#4 Kajabi

Kajabi is a feature – rich web-based platform that includes web hosting, course authoring, membership site administration, payment processing, and email list maintenance. You can create highly dynamic learning environments with Kajabi’s strong capabilities, which include limitless video hosting, homework assignments, drip material, and more.

Features:

• It can make landing pages. 
• Has the best product creation feature. 
• Kajabi has a blog feature that you can use to advertise your platform
• It has a feature that enables student interactions and discussions

Pricing: Kajabi offers a 14-day free trial during which you may use all of the functionality available in the basic plan, after which you must subscribe to one of the three plans if you want to continue.

Pros:

• Kajabi has a lot of video broadcasting features.
• Email marketing and customer engagement are built-in.
• The pipeline functionality allows you to construct a variety of sales funnels.
• Users may choose from more than 10 well-designed themes and a variety of customization choices.

Cons:

• When compared to its rivals, the pricing plan is more expensive.
• The versatility of blogging functionality is lacking.
• It is not possible to produce certificates natively in this version.

#5 LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a robust online training solution for people and businesses that is dependable and simple to use. LearnWorlds has grown in popularity in recent years by providing training to employees and colleagues, educating customers, and offering courses online.

Features:

• Let’s create landing and sales pages
• Allows a branding and theme editor
• You can customize its notifications
• You get a readymade course catalogue
• Offers an advanced and enhanced JSS and Javascript editing

Pricing Given the breadth of functionality available, LearnWorlds is a premium platform, yet its price is competitive. LearnWorlds provides four monthly price packages: Corporate/High Volume, Learning Centre, Pro, and Starter.

Pros:

• It’s simple to use, straightforward, and adaptable.
• It provides online hosting, vital marketing tools, affiliate program integration, and email marketing services.

Cons:

• The more extensive options are pricier, but you save money on the website builder.
• Although the uploading method does not allow you to organize your files into folders, this is a minor inconvenience.

#6 LearnDash

LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that provides real-world expertise and advice to sizeable academic system, businesses, and a variety of smaller websites and trainers. It comes with various connectors and configurable features that allow you to construct a highly qualified training program.

Features:

• Ability to create unlimited online courses
• It has a unique video progression feature
• There are features directed with automation
• You can easily monetize the courses you provide

Pricing LearnDash is a paid add-on. Basic, Plus Package, and Pro Package are the three price options. The only distinction between the two approaches is the number of site licences included. The Basic Plan allows for one site licence, the Plus Package allows for up to ten, and the Pro Package allows for up to twenty-five. Always keep an eye out for LearnDash’s occasional promotions.

Pros:

• It features a built-in video progression tool that allows video courses to be broadcast.
• The drag-and-drop curriculum builder makes organizing courses in folders a breeze.
• It offers a lot of features that will enable you more flexibility in a lot of areas.
• Automation is started when an email trigger is sent.

Cons:

• For new users, the extensive functionality might be perplexing.
• Payments for the different packages will need the integration of a plugin.

#7 EasyWebinar

EasyWebinar is a versatile webinar application that connects organizations to organize online meetings, remote conferences, training, and marketing webinars. It has the capacity for four multiple speakers and also allows the listener to be a producer. EasyWebinar offers high-quality video streaming with no delay or jitter. It has several good qualities that make it an effective marketing tool.

Features:

• Comes with market landing pages
• Engagement is made easy with live chat features
• Record and archive all your webinar sessions
• Incredible audio experience with TrueVoice technology

Pricing EasyWebinar is available in three different versions: basic, pro, and enterprise. There is no free trial, but there is a 30-day money-back assurance that should give you enough information to make an informed decision before paying an additional or yearly price. As a result, you must pay EasyWebinar in advance.

Pros:

• In a single platform, live and automated webinars are integrated.
• Pricing is reasonable, especially for the pro package.

Cons:

• Themes for your webinar landing pages that appear to be outdated.
• Unlike other platforms, Webinar Room excludes marketing and engagement features.
• For Q&A sessions, live chat is poorly integrated.

#8 Hyax

Hyax is a service that assists artists in starting, running, and managing their internet businesses. It specializes in courses, membership sites, sales funnels, and storefronts, allowing users to monetize in various ways, including selling content or products.

Features:

• It is a customized course builder platform
• You can sell different other products other than your course too
• Seamless user experience for students due to single login feature
• Feature to enable member or blog area

Pricing Hyax offers a variety of options, but the price structure is unique in that you may establish an account, build your course, store, landing pages, and so on, and only pay when you use them.

This allows consumers to sample the product, view, and use all of its features before buying online.

Pros:

• Hyax is adaptable.
• Hyax allows you a great deal of personalization.
• It comes with a slew of marketing and conversion tools.
• It has a variety of revenue streams.

Cons:

• A more costly alternative
• More connections are required.
• If you don’t choose the fast launch option, the setup might take a long time.
• To charge students, you’ll need a Stripe and PayPal account.

#9 Skillshare

Skillshare is a web-based learning platform that offers tens of thousands of creative and entrepreneurial program to educate instructors and students on practical skills. Its goal is to help students excel in their careers, better their lives, and continue doing what they enjoy. Marketing, freelance work, design, and other areas are all covered on Skillshare. Skillshare is both valuable and cost-effective.

Features:

• Add skill tags to increase visibility
• Upload video files right from your desktop
• You can attach other files to your video lessons.

Pricing: New users may get a two-month free trial to Skillshare, which gives them access to an infinite course collection of over 24,000 programm. After the two-month trial period, you may only attend the courses by purchasing a premium subscription for a month or a year.

Pros:

• Provides consumers with on-the-go offline learning.
• On the network, anybody may post a standardized course.
• The interface is very dynamic and well-designed to assist users in switching classes.
• In comparison to other online marketplaces, the price ranges are cheaper.

Cons:

• In contrast to innovative courses, non-creative courses have lesser content quality.
• It has hazy course access since the user must go through a few steps to get to the desired video.
• Some of the programs are not certified, and no certifications are provided.

#10 Udemy

Udemy is the world’s most successful educational tool, accounting for most income produced by online course platforms. Udemy was created with the sole purpose of allowing people to learn new abilities to achieve their desired literacy standards. While exploring the sites on Udemy, you will have a typical experience.

Features:

• A wide variety of courses offered
• No qualification criterion set
• Provides lifetime access

Pricing On Udemy, there is no charge to develop and host a course, and it will help you publish as many free and paid courses as you wish. When you recommend the course to your students, you earn a 97 per cent income share. When no Instructor coupon is used, 50% of the revenue is divided.

Pros:

• With the course quality checklist feature, teachers can ensure that their giving is commercial, professional, and unique to enhance the student’s learning experience.
• Students on Udemy can work on and share their assignments to put their experience and expertise to use to develop their abilities.

Cons:

• Inadequate evaluations
• There is a lack of video captioning and language support.
• There is a lack of mastery validation for the course. The majority of Udemy’s courses aim to those who have little or no experience in a specific field of study.

#11 CreativeLive

CreativeLive is a free online platform that broadcasts live lessons to a global audience. Through presentations and social features like CreativeLive FB, the online course platform links students and teachers. They use consumer input to enhance their courses, which has helped them become pioneers in the creative sector.

Features:

• HD interactive classes are supported
• Serves as an efficient learning platform
• Canmake creative live videos

Pricing Because they frequently have sales going on, CreativeLive’s pricing changes from time to time. You may, however, either acquire a year-long membership that includes around 1500 courses or pay for each course as needed.

Pros:

• It provides a diverse range of low-cost classes given by well-known instructors such as Tim Ferris, Kelly Starret, and Diane Fu.
• It offers excellent quality standards, allowing the platform to be seen by a live crowd.
• This platform allows content consumers who cannot afford to pay for a course can view free seminars from specialists all across the globe.

Cons:

• The fees differ substantially from one class to the next.
• Many of the free workshops are solely focused on photography, neglecting other topics such as health, fitness, and lifestyle.
• Customers that are encountering issues with the platform do not have access to customer communication platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions