Don't Do It Yourself

5 Best Online Course Platforms [Updated for 2023]

The wealthiest bloggers in the world make 80% of their income from online courses and can earn upwards of $100,000 per month in passive income (full study here).   Most are not technical wizards, they just rely on e-learning tools to allow them to easily create and sell courses.

Course platforms are designed to make it easy for you to create and sell your online courses.  They handle payment and student access, course design and navigation, hosting your videos, and helping you market your courses.  All this makes it easy for you to focus on the important stuff like creating content.

If you have a course idea you think will sell, then picking the right online learning platform is the first step to building your own 6-figure per month education empire.

I’ve analyzed dozens of online learning providers and boiled the list down to my top five favorites.  In this comparison of online course platforms, I’ll review the pros and cons of each.

Advertising Disclosure

Note, this post does include some affiliate links, but that does not impact my honest recommendations.  If you visit a course website through one of my links and ultimately sign-up, you pay nothing extra, but I earn a small commission which helps me provide all this content to you for free.

Best Online Course Platforms Guide

Online Course Platform Ratings

Course Platform
OverallOnline Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 1 Star
Ease of Use for
creators
Online Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 4 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 4 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 Stars
Flexibility to
customize
Online Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 4 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 1 Star
Marketing toolsOnline Course Platform Review - 4 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 5 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 3 StarsOnline Course Platform Review - 1 Star
AffordabilityAverage with good free
option
Most expensive, but
includes many tools
you'd otherwise pay for
separately
AverageAverageFree to start but very
high transaction fees
Editor's NotesMost flexible platform.
Best place to get started
for free and upgrade
later as your needs grow.
Read my full Thinkific review
Robust all-in-one toolkit.
No need to pay for a
separate sales funnel
builder or email mgmt.
Read my full Kajabi review
Avoid high transaction
fees on lower plan tiers.
Read my full Teachable
review
Great customer service
and affordable plans.
Read my full Podia
review
Main advantage is a
course marketplace.
Otherwise, Udemy is very
limited in all regards.
Read my full Udemy
review
Visit Thinkific
Visit Kajabi
Visit Teachable
Visit Podia
Visit Udemy

Pricing & Cost Comparison

Course Platform
Free option
Monthly billing tiers$0 / $49 / $99 / $199$149 / $199 / $399$39 / $119 / $299$39 / $79$0
My Pricing Plan GuidesThinkific Pricing Plan GuideKajabi Pricing Plan GuideTeachable Pricing Plan GuidePodia Pricing Plan GuideUdemy Pricing Plan Guide
Discount for annual pre-payment25%20%20-26%17%0
Transaction fees0%0%0-5%0%3% for your own referrals, 50% for marketplace sales

Note: 3rd party payment processors like Stripe and PayPal will typically take 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction and are not associated with course plans.  This is standard for any credit card charge on the Internet.

Read my detailed Pricing Plan Guide that gives you a side-by-side comparison of ALL the price plans across online course platforms.

Course Creation Feature Comparison

Course Platform
Visual page builder
Bulk import course
content
Custom domains
Multi-language
support
Multiple instructors
Prerequisites (content
locking)
Quizzes, surveys,
exams