Today there are more than 50 different online course platforms. We compared the top 50 to find the seven best you can use to create and sell your online courses today.
What is the Best Online Course Platform?
1. KLEQ
Our Verdict — Best Of The Best
Price: $1 for the first month, then $197/month
10XPRO is now KLEQ, and it sets the bar for all-in-one course platforms. We think it's the best of the best because one subscription runs your whole course business — courses, memberships, funnels, webinars, community, and email live in one system, so you sell and deliver without stitching five tools together.
The Best Part:
Unlimited everything. One subscription covers unlimited courses, members, admin users, and landing pages, and KLEQ takes a 0% transaction fee on every sale you make.
The Worst Part:
One price, and it's steep. At $197/month there is no cheaper tier, so KLEQ is hard to justify if all you need is a basic course player and a checkout — the math only works when it replaces at least two subscriptions you already pay for.
Get it if you want one platform that sells, delivers, and supports your entire course business.
I recommend you test the full platform for $1 in your first month, then stay on the single $197/month plan — and add the mobile app for $57/month if you need it.
($1 first month)
Best For
KLEQ is best for established coaches and course creators who want their entire business in one account.
Top Features
Grow without limits. Add unlimited courses, members, admin users, and landing pages on one subscription — KLEQ never charges you per course or per member.
Launch from a template. Pre-built campaigns handle automated launches, evergreen webinars, live webinars, memberships, and segmented promotions, so you're not wiring every funnel from scratch.
Pages and funnels built in. Design your landing pages and sales funnels inside the same platform, so the path from ad click to enrolled student never leaves KLEQ.
Coach where you teach. Run groups, private chat, live sessions, and one-to-one coaching right next to your course content.
Plug in your own AI. Connect an OpenAI account and get help writing copy, editing lessons, and generating images without leaving the platform.
Pricing
KLEQ offers one pricing plan:
- KLEQ: $1 for the first month, then $197/month for one license activated on one domain name, with unlimited courses, members, and landing pages.
The optional mobile app costs $57/month.
Try KLEQ today for $1 for the first month.
2. Thinkific
Our Verdict — Best Bang For The Buck
Price: Starts at $54/month
Thinkific is the platform creators pick when they want the school under their own brand — courses, coaching, digital downloads, memberships, and communities all sell from one place. We think it's the best bang for the buck because plans start at $54/month and standard plans include unlimited published courses.
The Best Part:
Sell it every way. Standard plans include unlimited published courses plus native subscriptions, memberships, bundles, payment plans, and coaching — no bolt-on commerce apps required.
The Worst Part:
Free forever is gone. Thinkific no longer advertises a permanent free plan, so a live school means a paid package once the 30-day trial ends — and the branded mobile app is a $199/month add-on.
Get it if you want to own the brand and the customer relationship, not rent a marketplace.
I recommend you take the 30-day trial, then start on Basic at $54/month.
(30-day trial)
Best For
Thinkific is best for creators and training businesses who want a branded school that sells.
Top Features
Build every format. Hosted courses, live events, coaching, certificates, assignments, and compliance activities all come out of one course builder.
Checkout built in. TCommerce sells one-time products, payment plans, subscriptions, bundles, and group orders without wiring a separate cart to your school.
Students who stick around. Discussion spaces and direct messages sit next to your lessons, so the community grows inside the school itself.
Your brand, your domain. Control branding and domains, and push further with your own custom code when the templates stop being enough.
Reporting that scales. Higher tiers unlock deeper analytics and connections to the other tools you use, so your data keeps pace as the student base grows.
Pricing
Thinkific offers four pricing plans:
- Basic: $54/month for one community and 10,000 students.
- Start: $109/month for full commerce tools and unlimited digital downloads.
- Grow: $219/month for three communities and deeper analytics.
- Plus: Custom pricing, for a high-growth custom solution.
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 26% discount. The branded mobile app is a $199/month add-on.
Try Thinkific today with the 30-day trial.
3. Udemy
Our Verdict — Best For Reaching New Students
Price: Free to publish; revenue share applies
Udemy works differently from every hosted-school platform on this list: you publish inside a marketplace where learners are already browsing for their next course. It takes the best for reaching new students slot because distribution comes built in — your course lands in front of buyers you never had to find on your own.
The Best Part:
Free to publish. You can create and host unlimited free or paid courses without paying a platform subscription — Udemy only earns when a course actually sells.
The Worst Part:
You share the sale. When Udemy generates the sale you keep 37% of the net sale amount — and the marketplace controls more of the pricing and the customer than your own branded school would.
Get it if you want a built-in audience before you have one of your own.
I recommend you start with a free instructor account and drive buyers through your own instructor link.
(free to publish)
Best For
Udemy is best for instructors who want new students without paying for a software platform.
Top Features
Built-in marketplace. Your course sits in front of learners already browsing Udemy for their next class, so the marketplace itself can bring you students you never had to chase.
Host for free. Upload unlimited free or paid courses and Udemy delivers them — no hosting fee, no bandwidth bill, no software subscription to keep them live.
Keep more with coupons. Send buyers through your own coupon or referral link and you keep 97% of the net sale amount on those sales.
Feedback built in. Ratings, reviews, questions and engagement data flow in from every student, so you see what lands and what needs a re-record — audience research you would otherwise pay for.
Earn from subscriptions. Eligible courses also earn from Udemy Business and subscription plans — revenue on top of your direct sales.
Pricing
Udemy offers one pricing plan:
- Instructor publishing: Free forever, for instructor account.
Try Udemy today with a free instructor account.
4. LearnDash
Our Verdict — Best For WordPress
Price: Starts at $259/year
You don't have to rent a hosted platform to sell courses anymore. LearnDash earns the best for WordPress slot because it turns the site you already own into a complete course platform — lessons, quizzes, and student records stay on your domain.
The Best Part:
No per-student fees. One license covers unlimited courses and unlimited learners, so a program that doubles its enrollment does not double its software bill.
The Worst Part:
Annual billing only. There is no cheap monthly plan to try it on a live course, and you still need WordPress, hosting, payments, and email around it.
Get it if your course belongs on your own domain and your audience is already there.
I recommend you start on Essentials at $259/year and upgrade to Pro at $399/year.
(free demo)
Best For
LearnDash is best for course owners who want to keep learner data and revenue on their own WordPress site.
Top Features
Build courses fast. The drag-and-drop builder assembles lessons, topics, and quizzes into a full curriculum right inside your WordPress dashboard.
Quizzes that keep score. Build graded quizzes with eight question types, so you can check what each student actually learned before they move on.
Sell it your way. Memberships and subscriptions are built in, so you can sell recurring access or bundled course packages straight from your own site.
See who's slipping. ProPanel tracks enrollment, completion, and at-risk learners from one dashboard on the Pro and Elite plans.
Teach groups, not just seats. Run structured cohorts and sell seats in bulk to organizations, so one company deal fills a whole class at once.
Pricing
LearnDash offers three pricing plans:
- Essentials: $259/year for one license with the course and quiz builders, memberships, and payment integrations.
- Pro: $399/year for one license with AI course outlines, cohorts, and advanced reporting.
- Elite: $599/year for one license with multi-instructor collaboration, front-end course creation, and group management.
Every plan is one license with unlimited courses and unlimited learners, and renews annually.
Try LearnDash today with the 48-hour free demo.
5. Kajabi
Our Verdict — Best All-In-One Platform
Price: Starts at $179/month
Kajabi is what the pros reach for when the whole business has to run in one place. We think it's the best all-in-one platform because courses, coaching, communities, landing pages, email, automation, payments, and analytics live under one roof — replacing several separate subscriptions.
The Best Part:
One login runs everything. Kajabi connects product delivery to pages, email, offers, automation, and payments, so you skip the patchwork of integrations most course builders need.
The Worst Part:
Premium price, plan caps. The monthly bill is high for a course platform, and products, contacts, websites, and admin users are all capped by plan. Check the limits before you commit.
Get it if you want your whole course business on one platform.
I recommend you start with Basic at $179/month, then upgrade to Growth when you outgrow its limits.
(free trial)
Best For
Kajabi is best for established experts and course businesses that want marketing and delivery in one platform.
Top Features
Sell every format. Courses, coaching, communities, memberships, and downloads all live in the same catalog, so one platform covers your whole product line.
Email that runs itself. Send broadcasts and automated email series from inside Kajabi, so a new lead gets followed up and offered your course without a separate email tool.
Pages for every step. Create lead-capture, sales, checkout, and campaign pages with the built-in builder, so your funnel lives on the same platform that delivers the product.
One-time or recurring. Package products into offers with one-time, subscription, or payment-plan pricing, and take payment on the spot.
Numbers you can act on. Track sales, engagement, subscriptions, and customer activity in one dashboard, so you see what sells before you build more.
Pricing
Kajabi offers three pricing plans:
- Basic: $179/month for 5 products and 2,500 contacts.
- Growth: $249/month for 50 products and 25,000 contacts.
- Pro: $499/month for unlimited products and 100,000 contacts.
Annual subscriptions provide a 20% discount.
You can get started with a free trial.
Try Kajabi today with the free trial.
6. Teachable
Our Verdict — Best For Solo Creators
Price: Starts at $39/month
Most solo creators don't want to wire five tools together — they want to sell the course. Teachable earns the best for solo creators slot because it takes you from course idea to hosted product, checkout, payments, and student delivery in one place, and it sells coaching, downloads, memberships, and bundles from the same dashboard.
The Best Part:
Checkout to payout, handled. Teachable runs the checkout, collects the money, and handles taxes in supported flows, so your job ends at making the course.
The Worst Part:
Entry-plan transaction fees. Starter charges a 7.5% platform transaction fee on every sale, and product limits increase by tier — you pay more to publish more.
Get it if you want the shortest path from course idea to first sale.
I recommend you start with the 7-day free trial, then get the Starter plan for $39/month.
(7-day free trial)
Best For
Teachable is best for solo creators who want a straightforward hosted platform for selling courses.
Top Features
Build without the bloat. Organize video, files, lessons, quizzes, and learning content into a course — nothing extra to install or design first.
More than courses. Sell coaching, digital downloads, memberships, and bundles alongside your courses, all from the same platform.
Payments handled for you. Accept payments and offer subscriptions or payment plans without adding a separate cart.
Your students, managed. Handle enrollments, progress, access, and communication from one place, so you spend your time teaching.
Sell across borders. Teachable's payment and tax tools cover global selling where available, so an international student is just another sale.
Pricing
Teachable offers four pricing plans:
- Starter: $39/month for 5 published products with a 7.5% transaction fee.
- Builder: $89/month for 10 published products and 1,000 active students.
- Growth: $189/month for 50 published products and 5 admin users.
- Custom: Custom pricing, for custom product, student, and admin seat limits (contact sales).
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 26% discount.
Try Teachable today with the 7-day free trial.
7. LearnWorlds
Our Verdict — Best For Interactive Learning
Price: Starts at $29/month
LearnWorlds treats the lesson as the product, not the video file. It wins the best for interactive learning slot because you can layer questions, buttons, and transcripts into the video itself, then chain courses into learning paths that end in certificates.
The Best Part:
Learning that talks back. Interactive video, quizzes, and assessments let you build an active student experience without hiring a developer to wire it up.
The Worst Part:
A tax on every sale. The $29/month Starter plan adds a $5 fee on each paid enrollment, and advanced branding and admin controls sit on higher tiers. Sell steadily and the cheap plan stops being cheap.
Get it if your assessments and certificates matter as much as your videos.
I recommend Starter at $29/month, then Pro Trainer at $99/month once the $5 enrollment fees stack up.
(30-day trial)
Best For
LearnWorlds is best for trainers, academies, and education businesses who want assessments, certificates, and interactive lessons.
Top Features
Video that asks questions. Add buttons, quizzes, and transcripts inside the lesson itself, so students respond on screen instead of just watching.
Tests with a payoff. Build quizzes, assignments, and exams, then hand students a completion certificate at the end.
Paths, not piles. Organize courses into structured programs with progression rules, so students follow the sequence you designed instead of wandering.
A whole branded school. The built-in website builder gives you a branded school and sales pages without bolting on a separate CMS.
Learning beyond the lesson. Communities keep students talking after class, and branded mobile apps are an option.
Pricing
LearnWorlds offers four pricing plans:
- Starter: $29/month for 1,000 monthly active learners and one admin, plus $5 per paid enrollment.
- Pro Trainer: $99/month for 2,000 monthly active learners and 5 admins, with no enrollment fees.
- Learning Center: $299/month for 2,000 monthly active learners and 25 admins, plus full white-label.
- Corporate: Custom pricing, for custom learner, admin, and client-group limits (contact sales).
Annual subscriptions provide up to a 20% discount. Starter adds a $5 fee per paid enrollment.
Try LearnWorlds today with the 30-day trial.
Our Top Three Picks
Here's a quick summary of our top three picks:
Here's a quick comparison of our top seven picks:
Tool | Entry Offer | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
KLEQ | $1 first month | Starts at $197/mo |
Thinkific | 30-day trial | Starts at $54/mo |
Udemy | Free to publish | Revenue share |
LearnDash | Free demo | Starts at $259/yr |
Kajabi | Free trial | Starts at $179/mo |
Teachable | 7-day free trial | Starts at $39/mo |
LearnWorlds | 30-day trial | Starts at $29/mo |
Here are the top 50 online course platforms we considered in this review:
- KLEQ
- Thinkific
- Udemy
- LearnDash
- Kajabi
- Teachable
- LearnWorlds
- Podia
- Kartra
- Cerego
- WileyPLUS
- TalentLMS
- 360Learning
- FreshLMS
- Skillshare
- Lambda Suite
- Revel
- Echo360
- CanopyLAB
- RedSeed LMS
- Coachrack
- CourseWebs
- Gurucan
- Stepik
- WP Courseware
- 2U
- AccessAlly
- CourseCraft
- GO1 Platform
- HowNow
- ProProfs Training Maker
- Ruzuku
- Skillo
- Yo!Coach
- Auzmor Learn
- Classroom24-7
- Course Merchant
- ExpertPlus
- Just2easy
- LAMS
- LearnCube
- Open eLearning
- Pocket Study
- Absorb LMS
- Academy of Mine
- Yondo
- Zippy Courses
- Tahoe
- Click4Course
- OpenSesame
Frequently Asked Questions About Online Course Platforms
What is an online course platform?
An online course platform is software that turns your knowledge into a course you can sell. The hosted platforms handle video lessons, student accounts, payments and certificates under your own brand, while marketplaces publish your course to an existing audience and take a cut of each sale. The platforms on this list cover courses, memberships, communities and coaching programs.
Which online course platform is best overall?
KLEQ is our top pick overall. One license covers unlimited courses, members and landing pages, so your course, your membership site and your sales funnel all live in one place instead of three separate tools stitched together.
How do free and paid online course platforms differ?
Free options like Udemy cost nothing to publish but take a revenue share on every sale. Paid platforms charge a subscription and let you keep your students, branding and pricing. Start free to test demand, then upgrade once the share costs you more than the subscription would.
Which online course platform is best for interactive learning?
LearnWorlds is our pick for interactive learning because its interactive video lets you put questions and buttons inside the lesson itself, and built-in assessments and certificates keep students engaged to the finish. Reach for it if completion rates matter as much as sales.
Which online course platform is the best all-in-one platform?
Pick Kajabi when you want the whole business in one login — it combines your courses, email marketing, landing pages and payments, so you never duct-tape a funnel together from separate tools.
Which online course platform is best for solo creators?
Teachable is our pick for solo creators. It is the most direct path from idea to course to sale — you upload your lessons, set a price and start selling, with no pile of separate tools to set up first.
What should I look for when choosing an online course platform?
Focus on how the platform sells for you: checkout, landing pages, email and marketing tools separate a course business from a video host. Then check the practical side: student limits, transaction fees, whether it runs on your own domain, and whether the entry plan is enough to launch a real course.
Who owns my students on an online course platform?
You do on a hosted platform — the student list, the email addresses and the branding are yours to export and market to. On a marketplace like Udemy the student belongs to the marketplace, and that is the real price of the free reach. Decide which one you are building before you upload a single lesson.
KLEQ vs LearnDash: which one should I choose?
KLEQ is our best overall pick, while LearnDash is the one to reach for if your site runs on WordPress. Go with KLEQ for unlimited courses, members and landing pages on one license, and LearnDash to keep everything inside your existing site.
The Bottom Line
To recap, here are the best online course platforms to try this year: