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10 Best Websites to Sell Online Courses in 2026

Shashank Dubey

Content & Marketing, Wbcom Designs · Published Dec 7, 2023 · Updated Jun 29, 2026

If you want to sell online courses, one of the first decisions is where the course business should live. Some creators prefer hosted platforms that handle checkout and delivery in one place. Others want more control, better ownership, and the ability to grow beyond a simple course catalog.

Updated June 2026

That choice matters because the platform affects pricing flexibility, branding, audience ownership, memberships, and how easily you can evolve into a broader education business later.

This guide compares ten of the best websites to sell online courses and explains where each option fits best. If you want to go deeper on the hosted versus self-owned decision, the online course platforms comparison covers that in full.

What to Compare Before Choosing a Course-Selling Platform

Before you compare brand names, clarify what kind of business you want to run.

Hosted simplicity: easier setup, less control, monthly fees and often transaction fees on top
Owned platform: more flexibility and full data ownership, more operational responsibility
Membership model: recurring access, premium content, private resources
Community model: groups, discussions, member retention, long-term engagement

The best platform is usually the one that matches the business model you want next, not just the easiest one to start today.

10 Best Websites to Sell Online Courses

1. Learnomy

Learnomy is a free WordPress LMS plugin built for course creators who want to own their platform outright. Unlike hosted SaaS tools that charge monthly fees and take a cut of your revenue, Learnomy installs directly on your WordPress site and gives you complete control over your content, learner data, and earnings from the start.

The most significant difference is the fee structure. Hosted platforms charge monthly subscriptions ranging from $33 to over $300 per month, and several take a percentage of your revenue on top of that. Learnomy has no monthly platform fee and no transaction cut. You pay for your own WordPress hosting, and that is it.

Learnomy is built specifically for WordPress, which means it integrates naturally with membership plugins, community tools, and LMS extensions you likely already use or plan to add. Download Learnomy to get started, or try the live Learnomy demo first to see how it works before installing anything.

Best for: course creators who want full data ownership, zero platform fees, and a WordPress-native course business.

What stands out:

Free plugin with no recurring platform cost
0% transaction fees on every sale
Your learner data stays on your server, not a vendor’s
Integrates with WordPress membership and community plugins

Main consideration: you run your own WordPress install, which means hosting and maintenance are your responsibility. More on the project at learnomy.app.

2. WordPress with LearnDash

A self-owned WordPress site with LearnDash is a strong long-term foundation for creators who want full control over branding, content, memberships, SEO, and platform direction. It is less immediate than a hosted platform, but it is often the better choice for building a real education business rather than just launching a single course.

Best for: creators and businesses that want ownership, flexibility, and long-term growth room.

Why it stands out:

Full control over your site, content, and learner relationships
Stronger fit for memberships, SEO content, and broader business growth
Easier to evolve into a course-plus-community or premium learning platform
No platform vendor sitting between you and your learners

Main consideration: more operational responsibility than hosted tools.

3. WordPress with LifterLMS or Tutor LMS

WordPress with LifterLMS or Tutor LMS is another strong owned-platform route, particularly when the business needs a membership-heavy model or a more modern course-building interface. Both are capable LMS plugins with active development and good WordPress ecosystem integration.

Best for: self-owned course businesses that want flexibility without relying on one hosted platform vendor.

Main consideration: you still need to run the WordPress stack properly, including hosting, updates, and backups.

4. MemberPress

MemberPress is different from the hosted tools on this list because it belongs in the WordPress-owned-platform category. It is well suited to education businesses that want access control, memberships, and stronger ownership inside WordPress rather than on a third-party SaaS.

Best for: WordPress course businesses with a membership-first model.

Fee structure: annual plugin licenses start at $179 per year. No monthly SaaS fee and no transaction cut.

Main consideration: requires a WordPress stack and full operational ownership of your environment.

5. Teachable

Teachable is one of the most common starting points for creators who want a hosted course platform with low technical friction. It is straightforward and easy to explain to first-time course sellers who do not want to manage a WordPress setup immediately.

Best for: creators who want hosted simplicity and a faster initial launch path.

Fee structure: the free plan takes a 10% transaction fee on every sale. Paid plans remove that cut and start at $59 per month, billed whether or not you make sales that month.

Main tradeoff: less ownership and less flexibility than a self-owned WordPress platform. Your learner data lives on Teachable’s infrastructure.

6. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is often considered by creators who want a more learning-focused hosted platform with stronger course experience features than simpler generalist tools. It can be a fit for premium course brands that still want a hosted environment rather than managing WordPress.

Best for: hosted education brands that care about learner experience and branded delivery.

Fee structure: plans start at $29 per month. The entry-level plan also charges $5 per course sold, which adds up quickly at volume. Higher tiers remove that per-sale fee.

Main tradeoff: more complexity than simpler hosted tools, while still limiting platform ownership compared with WordPress.

7. Podia

Podia is attractive when the business sells more than courses. It is often used by creators who also sell downloads, memberships, or other digital products and want a simpler all-in-one system without juggling separate tools.

Best for: creators selling multiple digital product types from one hosted place.

Fee structure: there is a free plan with an 8% transaction fee. Paid plans start at $39 per month and drop that transaction cut.

Main tradeoff: weaker as a deeper LMS compared with more education-focused platforms. Better for digital product sellers than dedicated course businesses.

8. Thinkific

Thinkific is another mainstream hosted course platform for creators who want structured course selling without building an owned WordPress setup. It is often evaluated alongside Teachable and LearnWorlds when comparing hosted LMS options.

Best for: creators comparing mainstream hosted LMS platforms.

Fee structure: there is a free plan with a limited feature set. Paid plans with the full course-building toolkit start at $79 per month.

Main tradeoff: less flexible than a self-owned WordPress course business. Your content and learner data sit on Thinkific’s infrastructure.

9. Kajabi

Kajabi is usually positioned as an all-in-one premium business platform rather than just a course tool. It makes sense when the business also needs funnels, email marketing, and a more centralized hosted system managed in one place.

Best for: higher-budget creators who want an all-in-one hosted business stack.

Fee structure: plans start at $149 per month. There is no free plan. Higher tiers run $199 and $399 per month. At that cost, a well-configured WordPress site with premium plugins typically costs less annually.

Main tradeoff: expensive, and still less ownership than WordPress. Platform risk is higher when your entire business depends on a single vendor at that price point.

10. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks becomes relevant when community matters as much as the course itself. It is usually a better fit for creators who want to sell access and interaction, not just lessons delivered through a course player.

Best for: community-led education and membership-driven learning offers where ongoing participation is the product.

Fee structure: plans start at $33 per month. Higher tiers add per-member pricing, so costs can scale unpredictably as your community grows.

Main tradeoff: the community emphasis does not automatically make it the best choice for every course business. If structured course delivery is the priority, dedicated LMS tools are usually stronger.

Hosted Course Platform vs Your Own WordPress Website

This is usually the real decision.

Hosted platforms are easier at the beginning. They reduce setup friction and give you a faster path to launch. But they also limit how much control you have over SEO, content architecture, memberships, platform features, and long-term business direction. The monthly fees accumulate whether your course is selling or not.

A WordPress course website takes more setup effort, but it gives you much more ownership. That becomes increasingly valuable if you want to add content marketing, memberships, private resources, learner communities, or multiple learning products later. Learnomy is the free entry point into that owned stack. You can download Learnomy and have a working course environment on your own WordPress site without paying any platform vendor.

How Course-Selling Platforms Evolve into Owned Membership and Learning Communities

Many creators start by looking for a place to sell one course. The more useful version of that question is: where can this become a real platform?

If you want stronger retention, better customer ownership, and room to grow into memberships or learning communities, a self-owned WordPress setup usually becomes more attractive over time. That is where LMS plugins, memberships, and community layers connect into a broader education business instead of just a course storefront.

These related guides support that path:

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best free website to sell online courses?
For a free, self-owned option with no transaction fees, Learnomy is the strongest WordPress-native choice. Hosted platforms with free plans such as Teachable, Thinkific, and Podia take a percentage of every sale (8-10%) instead of a monthly fee, which is a real cost once revenue grows.

What is the best website to sell online courses overall?
That depends on whether you want a hosted platform like Teachable or Thinkific, or a self-owned WordPress setup with more long-term control. For ownership and zero platform fees, Learnomy and WordPress with LearnDash are the strongest options.

Is WordPress better than Teachable or Kajabi?
For ownership and flexibility, usually yes. For pure setup simplicity on day one, hosted tools are easier to get started with. The fee difference becomes significant as your revenue and learner base grow.

Can I sell memberships and courses from the same site?
Yes. This is one of the strongest reasons many businesses eventually move toward WordPress-based course platforms, where LMS and membership plugins can be combined on the same installation.

Should I choose based on launch speed only?
No. Platform ownership, growth potential, and fee structure matter much more over the life of the business. A faster launch on a SaaS platform may cost more in fees over two years than setting up WordPress correctly from the start.

Final Thoughts

The best website to sell online courses is the one that fits both your current launch needs and your longer-term business direction. If you want simplicity and are comfortable with monthly platform fees, hosted tools work. If you want control, zero fees, and room to grow, WordPress becomes far more compelling.

Learnomy is worth a close look for anyone on that WordPress path. It is free, charges no transaction fees, and keeps your learner data on your own server. That is a different starting point than any SaaS platform on this list.