The Best Online Course Platforms for Creators (and How to Choose One)
What to look for in a course platform, how to create and sell your first online course, and a rundown of the best-known hosted platforms, WordPress plugins and marketplaces.
In this article
Online learning has become a normal part of how people pick up new skills. It's usually cheaper than traditional education, it takes less time, and learners can fit it around their own schedules. That's why more schools, businesses and independent creators are launching online courses.
Creating and selling a course, though, is not as simple as recording a video and uploading it. You need somewhere to host your lessons, take payments, manage students and market your course. That's where online course platforms come in.
What is an online course platform?
An online course platform is a type of learning management system (LMS) that lets you deliver digital classes. Like a traditional classroom, there's a teacher and learning material, delivered as video, text, PDFs, audio and images. Students can take notes and check their progress with quizzes, tests and assignments.
Typical features include a responsive course website, content editing and uploading, completion certificates, marketing tools, sales and landing pages, and ways to price your course (one-off, subscription or tiered) and collect payment.
What to look for before choosing a platform
There are dozens of course builders, which makes choosing hard. These are the factors that matter most.
- Ease of use and support. The platform should be easy for you to build with, ideally with customisable templates, and easy for your students to navigate. Good customer support matters when something goes wrong.
- Course creation features. List what you need before you choose. You might want quizzes, assignments and tests to assess students, drip-fed lessons, certificates or multiple payment methods. Switching platforms later because a key feature is missing is painful.
- Third-party integrations. Connecting your platform to email marketing tools, CRMs, social media tools and analytics extends what it can do.
- Payment options and fees. Convenient payment options make it easier for students to buy. Check carefully whether the platform charges transaction fees or takes a percentage of your sales on top of any subscription.
- Control and flexibility. Some platforms, especially marketplaces, restrict the kinds of courses you can sell, set your prices for you, or can remove your course under their terms. Less control often also means fewer customisation options. Read the terms before you commit.
How to create and sell an online course
Start with a clear goal: what do you want to teach, and what problem will your course solve for students? Knowing that gives you a clear path to follow.
Work out your budget
Your costs depend on research, content development, equipment, software, analytics and marketing. A professionally produced course can cost a lot, but if you're starting out with your own equipment, such as a microphone, webcam, screen recorder and video editing software, you can create a solid course on a small budget.
Gather your equipment and software
Your virtual classes need to look and sound professional to compete with traditional classes. Most creators need:
- A microphone
- A screen recording program
- Video and audio editing software
- Headphones
- Lighting and accessories
- A USB webcam
Research your students
Before you build lessons, find out what your target students want to learn, which topics interest them, and whether they want a certificate or simply practical skills for their work or business. Then create lessons that meet those needs, and add quizzes, assignments, worksheets and downloadable PDFs to keep students engaged.
Make your course website compelling
If your course site is dull or vague, people will leave as soon as they arrive. Lead with a clear focus statement or punchline, and make the site reflect your brand. A graphic design course for beginners, for instance, should look visually polished from the first glance.
Market your course
Even an excellent course won't sell if nobody knows about it. Optimise your course pages for search engines, promote it on social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and use email to reach people who already follow you.
The best online course platforms for creators
Plans, prices and fees change often, so check each platform's website for current pricing and trial offers before you sign up.
Thinkific
Thinkific is one of the best-known all-in-one course platforms. It lets you build customisable course websites with a drag-and-drop editor and a choice of templates, then upload your content and set up payments.
Highlights include:
- optimised sales pages and a custom domain;
- the option to release a course all at once or drip it out over time;
- built-in video hosting;
- the ability to edit your site's code;
- marketing and email tools;
- a customisable student dashboard.
Higher-tier plans add features such as private courses, memberships, live lessons and support for larger teams.
Teachable
Teachable is an easy-to-use, all-in-one platform with a drag-and-drop builder. You can run your course site on your own custom domain or as a subdomain of an existing site, and Teachable handles hosting and updates.
It includes marketing and analytics tools, a range of payment options and third-party integrations. Check the transaction fees on each plan, as lower tiers have historically charged a fee on every sale.
Kajabi
Kajabi is a premium platform aimed at established creators who want strong marketing and automation. Its standout feature is ready-made marketing funnels (originally called Pipelines): templates for processes such as offering a free ebook in exchange for an email address, running a pre-launch or promoting a webinar. You can then use that list to announce new courses.
You can also build your own automations with "if this, then that" rules, for example sending an email when a student cancels a subscription. Kajabi integrates with other software and notifies you of new purchases.
Podia
Podia is a straightforward platform for hosting and selling courses, webinars, digital downloads and memberships. Setting up a course site is quick, and you can pre-launch courses and add sales pages. It also offers coupons, drip content and a built-in affiliate programme feature, with reporting so you can track how your affiliates perform.
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is built for creators who want to engage students with interactive videos, ebooks, downloadable content and gamification. It supports white-labelling and custom domains, lets students take notes and highlight key parts of lessons, issues certificates of completion, and includes a page builder, coupons and drip-fed courses. Higher plans add live classes, affiliate management, memberships and more admin accounts.
Ruzuku
Ruzuku is designed to help you build a course quickly. You create an outline, then easily edit or reorder steps, and you can run through your course as a student would to check it. Ruzuku hosts audio and video, supports subscriptions, lets you run video broadcasts with slides and group chat, and sends email announcements. It also notifies you when a student posts a question, so it's easy to keep up with queries.
WordPress plugins: MemberPress, LearnDash and LifterLMS
If you already run a WordPress site, an LMS plugin keeps everything under one roof, though you'll be responsible for managing the site yourself.
- MemberPress is a membership plugin with a courses add-on and a drag-and-drop course builder. Its classroom mode gives courses a polished, full-screen design, and its access rules let you sell specific courses under different plans and restrict downloads to logged-in students. You can add discussion forums and connect a large number of other apps and email services.
- LearnDash offers an intuitive drag-and-drop course builder with quizzes, assignments, discussions and video lessons. You can release content all at once or drip it out as students progress, and extend it with add-ons for landing pages and gamification. It doesn't take a cut of your sales.
- LifterLMS is flexible enough to power anything from a small coaching site to a full programme. You can organise courses into categories, modules and lessons, use drip content and course progression rules, and extend it with paid add-ons.
Marketplaces: Udemy and Skillshare
Marketplaces give you access to a large built-in audience, which makes them a good starting point for beginners. The trade-off is less control over pricing and a smaller share of each sale.
- Udemy walks new instructors through course creation step by step, lets you add assignments, quizzes, discussions and coding exercises, and offers tools to research how popular a topic is. Paid courses need to meet minimum requirements, including at least 30 minutes of video and five lectures. Udemy can promote your course through its own marketing, but takes a larger share of revenue on sales it generates than on sales from your own coupons.
- Skillshare hosts short, project-based classes on everything from music, illustration and cooking to business and data skills. Teachers are paid from a royalty pool based on how much their classes are watched, so earnings depend heavily on audience engagement.
Platforms for learners
Not every platform is built for independent creators. If you're on the other side and want to learn, platforms such as Coursera, edX, LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), MasterClass and FutureLearn offer courses from universities, companies and well-known experts, often with certificates. Platforms such as TalentLMS and OpenSesame focus on corporate training. These are useful to study for ideas on course structure, even if you won't sell on them.
How to choose
Think about the size of your existing audience, your budget, the time you can put in and how much control you want. If you're new, a marketplace like Udemy or Skillshare is a low-risk way to learn how to create and sell courses. Once you have an audience and know what works, moving to your own branded platform, whether Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, Podia, LearnWorlds or a WordPress plugin, gives you more control and a bigger share of your earnings.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create an online course for free?
Yes. Some platforms offer free plans or free trials, and marketplaces such as Udemy let you publish without paying upfront, taking a share of sales instead. Paid plans unlock advanced features and lower fees.
Should I sell on a marketplace or my own platform?
Marketplaces bring traffic but give you less control and a smaller cut. Your own platform requires you to drive traffic but lets you set prices, own your student list and keep more revenue.
