Online courses are a great way to share your knowledge, grow your audience, and earn money online. Whether you want to teach a hobby, a skill, or a profession, there’s a market for your online course. However, creating and selling online courses is not as easy as it sounds. You need a reliable and powerful platform that can help you design, deliver, and market your courses effectively.
That’s where learning management systems (LMS) come in. An LMS is a software application that allows you to create, manage, and sell online courses. It provides you with the tools and features you need to create engaging and interactive courses, manage student enrollments and progress, and promote your courses to potential customers.
But how do you choose the best LMS platform for your needs? There are so many options available in the market, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. How do you compare them and find the one that suits your goals, budget, and preferences? In this blog post, we will help you answer these questions by comparing the 7 best LMS platforms for selling online courses in 2023. We will look at their key features, pricing plans, ease of use, customer support, and more. By the end of this post, you will have a clear idea of which LMS platform is the best fit for you.
The 7 Best LMS Platforms for Selling Online Courses in 2023
Here are the 7 best LMS platforms for selling online courses in 2023:
1. LearnDash
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create and sell courses on your own website. It gives you full control over your course design and delivery, as well as access to the WordPress ecosystem of plugins and themes.
Some of the features of LearnDash include:
- Advanced course builder, quizzes, assignments, and certificates to create engaging and interactive courses
- Drip content, course points, badges, and leaderboards to motivate and reward your students
- Integrations with WooCommerce, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, and more to sell your courses and automate your workflows
- Support for multiple instructors, course licenses, subscriptions, memberships, and more
LearnDash starts from $199/year for a single site license. You can also opt for higher plans that include more features and sites.
2. Paradiso LMS
Paradiso LMS is an all-in-one platform for course creation, management, and marketing. It offers a range of features and integrations that make it easy and convenient to create and sell online courses.
Some of the features of Paradiso LMS include:
- Gamification, drip content, course bundles, and certificates to enhance the learning experience
- Customizable website, landing pages, and branding to showcase your courses and attract customers
- Integrations with payment gateways, CRM, eCommerce, and more to streamline your business processes
- Analytics and reports to track your course performance and student progress
Paradiso LMS offers a free trial and then starts from $29/month for up to 50 users. You can also request a custom quote for larger plans.
3. Kajabi
Kajabi is a one-stop solution for creating and selling online courses, memberships, and coaching programs. It includes everything you need to build a professional online course business from scratch.
Some of the features of Kajabi include:
- Customizable landing pages, website design, and marketing tools to create a stunning online presence
- Drip content, quizzes, assessments, and certificates to deliver high-quality courses
- Built-in email marketing, sales funnel builder, and analytics to grow your audience and revenue
- Support for multiple products, pricing plans, coupons, affiliates, and more
Kajabi offers a 14-day free trial and then starts from $149/month for up to 3 products. You can also choose higher plans that include more products, contacts, and features.
4. Thinkific
Thinkific is a cloud-based platform for creating and selling courses. It has an easy-to-use interface and many customization possibilities for educators.
Some of the features of Thinkific include:
- Gamification, drip content, course bundles, and certificates to enhance the learning experience
- Marketing tools and integrations with Zapier, Mailchimp, Stripe, PayPal, and more to promote your courses and accept payments
- Support for multiple instructors, course reviews, course compliance, and student feedback
- Custom domains, SSL certificates, and hosting included
Thinkific offers a free plan that allows you to create up to 3 courses. The paid plans start from $49/month for unlimited courses.
5. Teachable
Teachable is a platform for creating and selling courses with your own branding. It has a drag-and-drop course builder, quizzes, assignments, and certificates to create engaging and interactive courses.
Some of the features of Teachable include:
- Drip content, course compliance, and student feedback to deliver high-quality courses
- Integrations with Zapier, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Stripe, PayPal, and more to sell your courses and automate your workflows
- Support for multiple instructors, course licenses, bundles, coupons, and more
- Custom domains, SSL certificates, and hosting included
Teachable offers a free plan that allows you to create up to 10 students. The paid plans start from $39/month + 5% transaction fees.
6. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is a platform for creating engaging and interactive courses. It has a course builder with a video editor, interactive elements, ebooks, and transcripts to create rich and immersive courses.
Some of the features of LearnWorlds include:
- Drip content, gamification, certificates, and social learning features to enhance the learning experience
- Integrations with Zapier, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Stripe, PayPal, and more to promote your courses and accept payments
- Support for multiple instructors, course reviews, course compliance, and student feedback
- Custom domains, SSL certificates, and hosting included
LearnWorlds offers a 30-day free trial and then starts from $29/month + $5 per sale.
7. Podia
Podia is a platform for selling online courses, digital downloads, and memberships. It has unlimited hosting, blogging, and email marketing tools to help you create and sell your products.
Some of the features of Podia include:
- Drip content, coupons, bundles, and upsells to deliver high-value products
- Integrations with Zapier, Zoom, Mighty Networks, and more to streamline your business processes
- Support for multiple products, pricing plans, memberships, and more
- Custom domains, SSL certificates, and hosting included
Podia offers a 14-day free trial and then starts from $39/month.
How to Select the Best LMS Platform for Selling Online Courses
Now that you have an overview of the 7 best LMS platforms for selling online courses in 2023, how do you decide which one is the best for you?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The best LMS platform for you depends on your specific needs, goals, budget, and preferences. However, here are some factors that you can consider when comparing different LMS platforms:
- Features: What features do you need to create and sell your courses? Do you need advanced course creation tools, quizzes, assignments, certificates, gamification, drip content, etc.? Do you need marketing tools, integrations, analytics, etc.? Do you need support for multiple instructors, products, pricing plans, etc.?
- Pricing: How much are you willing to spend on an LMS platform? Do you prefer a monthly or annual subscription? Do you want a free plan or a free trial? Do you mind paying transaction fees or extra charges for additional features or users?
- Ease of use: How easy is it to use the LMS platform? Do you need any technical skills or coding knowledge? Is the interface intuitive and user-friendly? Is the course builder simple and flexible? Is customer support responsive and helpful?
- Reviews: What are other users saying about the LMS platform? Are they satisfied with the features, pricing, ease of use, customer support, etc.? Are there any common complaints or issues that you should be aware of?
By considering these factors, you can narrow down your options and find the best LMS platform for selling online courses in 2023.
Which Is the Best LMS Platform for Selling Online Courses?
As you can see, there are many great LMS platforms for selling online courses in 2023. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each one can suit different types of educators and learners.
However, if we had to pick one, we would recommend LearnDash as the best LMS platform for selling online courses in 2023. Here’s why:
- LearnDash is a WordPress plugin that allows you to create and sell courses on your own website. It gives you full control over your course design and delivery, as well as access to the WordPress ecosystem of plugins and themes.
- LearnDash has a very reasonable pricing plan that starts from $199/year for a single site license. You can also opt for higher plans that include more features and sites. There are no transaction fees or hidden charges involved.
- LearnDash has an advanced course builder that allows you to create engaging and interactive courses with quizzes, assignments, certificates, and more. It also has a responsive and helpful customer support team that is available via email and forums.
- It has many LearnDash Addons available to add more functionality to your LMS Platform.
If you want to try out LearnDash and its compatible WordPress theme for yourself, you can sign up for a free LearnDash theme demo here.
