How to Sell Your Online Courses by 2021?
These are the top online courses for thought leaders.
Everybody has an idea they can share. It doesn’t matter if you want to learn how to grow a garden in urban areas or how to start a business.
There are many opportunities to share your knowledge in the world, no matter where it comes from or whether you have ever taught.
We hear it all the time. It’s a shame, because it is possible to make a lot of money selling courses online to anyone who is interested. The average Udemy instructor makes around $7,000 which is quite solid for passive income.
These are not the highest-earning people. You could make six figures if you work hard and create courses that offer high value for your customers.
You need a platform to publish and sell your online courses. While Shopify works great with an app, what about standalone platforms for selling online courses only?
Continue reading to find out about the top online courses platforms, their pricing and the people they are most suited for.
Top Online Course Platforms Table of Contents
- Teachable
- Thinking
- Podia
- Teachery
- Ruzuku
- Udemy
- Kajabi
- Academy of Mine
- SkillShare
- iSpringMarket
- WizIQ
- LearnWorlds
- LearnDash
Best Online Courses – Teachable
Prices: Starting at $29 per month and ending at $249 per month. For “Basic” features such as email marketing, drip courses content, coupon codes, and custom domains, the cheapest platform is $29 per month. The cheaper platform comes with a 5% transaction cost.
Teachable has been my favorite, as it was originally intended to solve some of the issues people saw with Udemy (below). Teachable is a beautiful builder, but it’s not as focused on cookie cutter templates like Udemy.
The integrated blog allows you to improve SEO by offering multi-language support. Discussion forums and quizzes help to keep people engaged. Marketing tools offer amazing solutions, including email marketing, couponing, landing pages, international payment and affiliate program.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Teachable is for people who want to have solid features at a reasonable price. Monthly rates are among the lowest on the list. The feature set is quite impressive, as can be seen from the listing.
Teachable supports all media types, but we recommend this option for those who need the best marketing integrations. You can integrate with other marketing tools such as MailChimp and Ontraport through the Zapier app.
Pricing: Starting at $0 per Month to $499 Per Month.
Thinkific makes it easy for course creators to get started without spending a lot. With unlimited student support and course upselling possibilities, you can create three courses free of charge. A payment gateway is included. You can upgrade to the basic plan for $49 per month. This will allow you to access sales pages, promotions, email integrations, marketing and drip content.
Thinkific’s course designer is a key reason why it stands out from the rest. If you don’t wish to, there’s no need to learn any code. You can organize your content using a drag-and-drop editor. This allows you to stack and move the content vertically.
Thinkific’s pricing structure has many great benefits. You can start your course free of charge (something not available with competitors Teachable), and the additional three plans are also broken down in a logical manner.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Anyone who is interested in creating a new online course I recommend Thinkific. It is easy to use and has a powerful interface. You can also build your store without having to have your own website or hosting.
Thinkific offers a similar proposition to Teachable if you’re looking to create a free plan.
Pricing: From $39 per Month (Mover plan), to $179 Per Month (Earthquaker Plan). The mover plan allows for online course hosting, digital downloading, and email marketing. This platform doesn’t have transaction fees at any price, even for the lowest tier.
This system is only used to build a website in one of the following three categories: digital downloads, selling memberships, and online courses. This is a great way to cut through the clutter of online commerce. Podia is a simple interface to design your website. The interface is easy enough to use for beginners. Users in the digital downloads and online courses industries have more options.
For whom is this online course platform best?
This app is designed for people who find Gumroad or its competitors too complicated or make it difficult to pay high transaction fees. Podia provides a great user experience and a quick launch process for online courses.
Pricing $49/month or $470/year
Teachery has a $49/month option for those who are just starting out and need to make payments for their course marketplace. There are no transaction fees. You can also pay $470 for the whole year if you need to save some cash.
This pricing plan is the easiest and most straightforward, with an uncommon characteristic – no transaction charges.
Although it may seem that other platforms offer a simpler platform for a lower price or absolutely free, you will soon realize that you need to upgrade your plan to access more advanced tools. Your profit margin won’t grow as much due to the existing fees.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Teachery will help you sell online courses if you’ve tried other platforms, and are fed up with commissions and upgrades that reduce your profit margins. The existing plan will include all functionality and support. Upgrades are not required. There are no transaction fees.
Pricing: Starting at $74.75 per Month to $199 Per Month.
Ruzuku begins with a basic plan starting at $74.75 per monthly when billed annually. Upgrade to $83.08 per instructure or spend $125 per monthly on support for multiple instructors using your course builder.
Ruzuku, another online course selling platform, is packed full of features. The course management process is simple and can be used to sell any type of media file. Your students can keep track of their progress and encourage them to connect with others in the community.
You can integrate MailChimp and receive automated emails letting you know about upcoming courses. The Ruzuku system also integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and offers teleconferencing, daily backups, and support via phone, email, chat, and social networks.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Ruzuku supports audio, video, and PDF courses. You can also host webinars and interact with customers via live chat. Ruzuku allows you to stream and download content and can also be used to create memberships and send drip content based upon course timing.
Ruzuku is a great choice for those with little technical knowledge or who want to be up and running quickly. It’s very similar to WordPress’ backend in many ways, making it easy to use.
Pricing: No Charge (but you lose 50% of your sales if Udemy brings you a student).
Udemy has been praised as the best online learning platform for those who are looking to start small and not spend a lot. You can start your course for free, even though you won’t have access to a lot of support or freedom. You will have to donate a percentage of your revenue to Udemy, up to 75%.
Udemy is the best platform for selling and building courses online. Although it has received mixed reviews online, Udemy’s network is unparalleled in bringing in students and increasing your sales. You can create your course in the Udemy dashboard. Once you’re done, you have access to the millions potential students in Udemy.
You can process any credit card. However, Udemy retains 50% of the revenue when you help students to enroll in the course. If you bring in students without Udemy’s help, 100% of the revenue will go to you.
For whom is this online learning platform best?
This course is great for anyone who is nervous about creating a website or who wants to save money. It is also completely free to start. Udemy focuses primarily on video courses but you can upload other materials such as audio and PDFs. To gain access to the huge community, you are basically giving up some control over your course.
Prices: Starting at $119 per Month to $319 Per Month (billed annually).
Kajabi is $119 per month for the basic package. This includes a single website and three pipelines. Three products and unlimited access to marketing email. This is the best online course platform if you want to provide a great learning experience, with an easy checkout and unlimited access to digital products at a very affordable price.
Kajabi is a master at creating sales funnels and landing pages. This solution gives you all the tools that you need to convert prospects to fully-paying customers.
We love the fact that all of your email marketing campaigns can be managed within Kajab. There is no need to sign up for a third-party platform. If you already have a Kajabi-based e-mail marketing platform, this solution will seamlessly integrate with the following:
Kajabi offers a robust blogging platform if you take content marketing seriously, which we assume you do. Kajabi’s blogging functionality is far superior to WordPress.
For whom is this online learning platform best?
Kajabi offers one of the most advanced solutions for creating online courses platforms. It’s ideal for speakers, solopreneurs, coaches, authors, etc. Anyone can create a website that is sleek and professional to promote their online courses (and other products).
Kajabi is extremely user-friendly, despite the many functionalities and features it offers. Kajbai has several templates that will help you create an online course if you don’t have one yet.
- Mini teaser-style courses
- Comprehensive courses
- Evergreen training
- Products that are membership-based
Simply insert your content in one of Kajabi’s themes, and you can add or remove any elements that you feel are necessary.
It really is that simple.
Best Online Learning Platform SkillShare
Pricing SkillShare’s pro plan starts at $10
If you are only looking for one option to teach your students, you can create a premium course for free. You will need to upgrade to earn royalties or premium membership referrals.
Skillshare can be used to offer online courses to your email list. It costs a monthly fee. This could be the right platform for you if you are looking to grow your online course business and teach new skills quickly.
The platform offers a membership plan that allows students to access a variety of premium courses. If you aren’t looking to create your own course website, Skillhare offers you the simplicity you need to sign up and start an online course.
It is important to remember that you must pay for your Skillshare premium course if you want to be paid for your education opportunities.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Skillshare makes it easy for beginners to get started quickly without needing to use automation tools or email marketing tools. Access to everything, from project communities to videos lessons and more, is available. You can even get hands-on experience.
Prices: Starts at $499 per Month
This is probably the most expensive option of all the course platforms we have seen. It starts at $499 per month. If you’d like, you can also pay $4999 for the entire year and receive two months of free service. The professional plan costs $899 per month or $9500 if paid annually. This is slightly lower than the regular plan.
We recommend the Academy of Mine platform for creating your own online courses and selling them online. It is an all-in one solution that allows you to launch your brand online and sell courses.
A fully-hosted template can be used to create landing pages, galleries and course offer pages. Academy of Mine is an excellent choice because it offers a complete learning management and course creation system. You can create chapters or units and distribute timed quizzes and certificates. A forum is also available for chat.
To sell your courses, accept PayPal credit cards. You can also tap into many marketing features such as the affiliate program and live webinar.
For whom is this online course platform best?
Academy of Mine provides a comprehensive learning management system that is hard to resist. It’s possible to sell audio, video, or text courses. This is a great option for people who wish to sell memberships immediately, or who don’t want to use other marketing tools such as email blasts and connecting with customers. Although the price is high, there are many features that make this an attractive option.
Academy of Mine offers custom-built solutions. Academy of Mine’s strength lies in their ability to customize the LMS platform to meet the requirements of customers. All plans include free development hours.
This is the best way to build a community around your course, thanks to the forums, live chats and marketing tools.
Pricing – The price you pay for this solution will depend on how many learners are actively engaging with your courses. For $77 per month, a learning portal that has up to 500 users will cost you $147 per month. A learning portal that has 1,000 learners will cost you $147 per month. On an annual billing basis, the cheapest package will accommodate 2,000 users at $277 per month. Any higher than this qualifies to receive a custom quote.
iSpringMarket was created to provide tutors with a straightforward and efficient way to host, market, and sell their online courses.
iSpring Market lets you set up an online school and manage it from a large website. This is a simpler system that provides a set of tools to create a basic online course storefront. Each course is placed on its own page, each with details such as user reviews and program outline.
Your courses can be delivered using standard documents (XLS/DOC, PDF), presentations or PPT (Powerpoint Presentations), as well as media files such MP4, JPG and FLV. The platform also allows you to host and sell webinars. It’s also possible to host and sell webinars within the platform.
For whom is this online course platform best?
iSpring Marketplace is the platform you need to quickly set up your online training center, establish a customer base and monetize your eLearning content. This platform is also great for companies who offer certification to their employees as part of their online training business.
Prices: Starting at $25 per Month
One of the most affordable online courses platforms, you can start building your course sales starting at $25 per month and billed annually. You can also get a free trial and a plan. WizIQ may not be the most well-known option for downloading content, but it is very affordable.
The WizIQ system offers two options, the online academy and virtual classroom. This unique feature makes the WizIQ system stand out. The online academy can be used to upload videos and other files for sale. Students can follow along at their own pace and have access to assessments, tests, and document sharing. The interactive whiteboard allows students to share their learning with each other, which is a big plus in mobile learning.
The virtual classroom module, on the other hand, can be used for audio and video calls, breakout rooms, and polling. This is great for students who want to interact with you live and also allows you to sell your content.
For whom is this online course platform best?
WizIQ’s best feature is its free plan. This is great news for all. You also get tools to interact with students in real-time. It may seem more difficult, but you can charge more for courses that allow students to communicate with the instructor via phone or video.
Pricing: LearnWorlds is one of the most popular online courses platforms. It’s affordable and easy to use everything, from teaching to gamification tools, starting at $29 per month. The Starter plan includes a custom domain, unlimited paid courses, coupons, and a payment gateway.
LearnWorlds can be used as a page builder or marketing tool to anyone who’s ever dreamed of starting their own schooling business. LearnWorlds allows anyone with an internet connection to create a great online education platform. It has multiple teachers and offers a comprehensive course catalog.
Multiple instructors can be added to your course. You can also choose the type of teaching you wish to have. Instructors can create courses in your environment but they cannot change the general settings.
You can be the administrator of your school and offer any course you wish, along with many earning opportunities. Access to school-branded apps is also possible. You can also upload videos from Vimeo and your computer to these tools.
Editing components of your course can be done on both mobile Android and iPhone devices. You can even import content from SoundCloud and Microsoft Word.
For whom is this online course platform best?
LearnWorlds provides simplicity and allows for connections between students and teachers via an online community. While most discussion forums are focused on course-related information and the communities are for social interaction, many will be focused on the community. This platform offers many tools that can be used to create a variety of courses.
Pricing – The pricing is set each year, making it quite affordable in comparison to other top tools. $159/year is the cost for website support. You’ll need to pay $189/year if you want to have 10 sites licensed. You can upgrade to for 25 sites by paying $329/year.
LearnDash has been a great tool used by many Fortune 500 companies as well as top educational institutions. LearnDash is loved for its speed, amazing online course materials, and feature set.
LearnDash is a top-of-the-line full-suite tool. It includes access to features that allow learners to reward them, distribute information and sell courses in any way they choose. It is affordable because the pricing is on an annual basis. To get started, you only need to spend a small amount.
One of the best things about LearningDash, is that it’s also a WordPress plugin. It can be added to any existing WordPress site without the need to create your own environment. The user-friendly solution includes access to tools that enable you to create multi-tier courses, where content can be delivered according to the knowledge of a person.
You can also frip-feed your content to your audience using a schedule and lesson timers. You can also display gradebooks to students, market courses with shopping carts or memberships, and many other features.
For whom is this online course platform best?
LearnDash offers the best online courses for those who want to integrate educational experiences into existing WordPress sites. This all-in one solution includes automated email marketing tools, support to countless media types and more. You have the option to allow other people to create courses on your website.
The Best Online Course Platforms
To test these tools for yourself, I recommend you check out each of them. Teachable and Academy of Mine remain my favorite platforms, as they offer tons of marketing tools. Let me know if you have any questions regarding the best platforms for selling and publishing online courses in the comments below.
I love this LIVE webinar called 7 steps to launch your own profitable online course that will explain lots more about the topics I talk about here.
