Best online course platforms

A complete review of the most popular Online Course Platforms & Websites for online course building and selling:

In modern times, you can get almost anything online. From clothes, shoes, and daily essential items to even complete, well-furnished houses, you can find and buy them online. Consequently, education has also adopted the online mode of transmission.

There are some very beneficial platforms that offer you productive tools for creating online courses, adopting marketing techniques, creating attractive landing and selling pages, accepting payments from all over the world, and much more.

Such platforms prove to be extremely advantageous for skillful people from different fields like Architecture, Animation, Photography, Health and Wellness, Finance, Marketing, Designing, Music, Crafts, etc.

Types of Online Course Platforms: The online course platforms can be of different types, some are stated as under:

Some learning sites offer you a compilation of courses from different course providers. For example, Udemy, Coursera, etc.
Some sites like Teachable, Podia, and Thinkific allow you to build courses, with the help of the powerful tools they offer.
Learning Management Systems: These systems offer modern teaching solutions, including online assessment tools, content management, tools to conduct virtual classes and quizzes, and much more, all in one integrated platform.
Recommended Reading =>> Top 100 Free Udemy Courses

In this article, we have made a well-researched list of the top best Online Course Platforms and websites. Detailed reviews, comparisons, and Pro-tip are also given so that you can choose the best platform to create your online courses.

Q #1) Which is the best online course platform?

Answer: Teachable, Podia, Thinkific, Kajabi, LearnDash, WizIQ, Academy of Mine, and SkyPrep are some of the best online course platforms.

These are all-in-one platforms and are trusted by millions of instructors as well as learners from across the globe.

Q #2) Which is the best free online platform for teaching?

Answer: Skillshare is the best free online platform for teaching. The platform will not charge you any fees for publishing your courses online. In return, they pay you based on the number of minutes for which the learners have viewed your course.

Apart from this, the platform offers you a ‘New Teacher Program’, to guide you on how to be successful in the field, and gives you tools for course creation, growing followers, and more.

Q #3) What are online platforms for education?

Answer: There are some online platforms that help with online courses.

These platforms act as institutes for the instructors as well as the learners, where the learners have to pay a small sum of fees for getting training/certification in their desired field, and the instructors do not need to find well-paying jobs, they can create online courses, just by staying at their homes, and get paid by teaching their unique, exceptional skills.

Q #4) How do you promote learning in online classes?

Answer: In online classes, you can adopt the following measures to promote learning:

Gamification of learning: If you give rewards/points to students for each lesson learned, you can engage more students.
Videos showing the actual practice of the lessons in real life will be more beneficial as compared to theoretical lessons.
Adopting advanced technologies for building attractive courses and peer evaluation can also be useful in promoting learning in online classes.
Q #5) What factors to consider while choosing an online course builder platform?

Answer: Consider the following factors:

Easy drag-and-drop editing tools.
Data encryption and other data security features.
Pre-built templates to help you build alluring courses in minutes.
You can offer discounts/coupons to the students.
Allows you to offer multiple payment options to students.
Mobile application.

Thinkific is trusted by over 50,000 course creators from all over the world. The platform, which has over 500 employees, comprises 48% of women in its leadership team.

The software offers you SSL certification, secure payment options, open API, and automation tools. You can track your student’s progress, give live or on-demand classes, sell and market your courses, integrate platforms, and much more with this platform.

Features:

Easy to use, drag-and-drop course-building tools.
Pre-built templates and themes.
Tools for giving live lessons, conducting quizzes, giving certificates, and more.
Integration with many platforms.
A custom domain with all paid plans.
Conduct live lessons, give completion certificates to the students, and get API access.
Pros:

API Access
24/7 support
Easy to use online course-building tools
Secure payment options
Cons:

Integration tools are not quite smooth in their functioning.
Verdict: Thinkific offers 24/7 customer support services, through email, chat, phone, and a knowledge base.

A free version is also offered that allows you to have an unlimited number of students, but you can create a limited number of courses with it. The platform will not charge you any transaction fees. Plus, you can accept payments from around 100 countries. The software is powerful and recommendable.

Price: Thinkific offers a free version. Paid plans are:

Basic: $39 per month
Pro: $79 per month
Premier: $399 per month

LearnWorlds is a course-building platform. The software has tools for building, selling, and marketing courses, creating websites, reporting and analytical tools, and more.

LearnWorlds is trusted by companies like Sendinblue, Adidas, and more due to its usability, affordable pricing, and high customer satisfaction.

The platform is GDPR compliant and offers you some very useful integrations, including Google Analytics, Active Campaign, Facebook Pixel, ZenDesk, Fomo, Mailchimp, and many more.

Features:

Get 24/7 customer service and a customer success manager.
Mobile applications for iOS as well as Android users are available at additional costs.
Integrations with API.
Tools for building sites, pop-ups, checkout pages, certificates, and more.
Let’s you process payments through PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, and Pagseguro.
Pros:

Daily data backup.
Reasonable pricing plans.
Mobile application.
The customer support team is nice.
Cons:

Some very useful features are available with the highest-paid plan only.
Verdict: LearnWorlds is an award-winning online course software, which was awarded for High User Satisfaction by Crozdesk in 2022, one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Products by G2.com, and more.

We would recommend the software due to the set of tools offered at competitive prices. They do not charge any transaction fee, plus they give you a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Price: Price plans offered by LearnWorlds are:

Starter: $24 per month
Pro Trainer: $79 per month
Learning Center: $249 per month
High Volume & Corporate: Contact them directly to know the pricing details.

Teachable is one of the best online course platforms, which is trusted by over 100,000 creators from all over the world. It is an all-in-one platform that offers affordable price plans and they take care of your taxes on your behalf. A free version is also offered.

The software can be deployed on a Cloud, SaaS, Web, or Mac/Windows desktop. The ease of use that the software offers is the best part of it, followed by reasonable pricing.

Features:

Tools that let you create a course and customize it.
Allows you to connect your existing website with Teachable, with a custom domain.
Integration with a vast number of tools.
Comprehensive dashboards to get insights about course sales and students.
All the plans grant you to upload unlimited courses, offer unlimited video bandwidth, and let you enroll unlimited students.
Tools to create attractive sales pages and offer your students discounts, coupons, and more.
Pros:

A free version.
Easy to use tools for building courses.
2048-bit SSL certification ensures the safety of personal information.
Cons:

No mobile application.
Verdict: The platform allows you to receive payments in 130+ global currencies. They only work with PCI level-1 compliant payment providers so that all payment information remains secure.

With Teachable, instructors have earned $500 Million to date. The tools it offers for building courses, conducting quizzes, integration and more make the software a highly recommended one.

Price: Pricing plans are as follows:

Pro: $99 per month
Free: $0
Basic: $29 per month
Business: $249 per month

Podia was founded in 2014 to create user-friendly tools for building and selling online courses.

This Cloud-based platform is powerful and affordable at the same time. They offer you 24/7 customer service and integration with many platforms so that you can deliver the best learning experience to your students.

They also offer marketing tools, including email marketing, messaging, building a custom website, and more. The platform is suitable for creators of all ages, coming from all over the world.

Features:

Each plan allows you to build unlimited courses and webinars and get email marketing tools.
Get a Podia sub-domain, included with each plan.
Tools to set up quizzes, offer coupons, on-page live chatting, and more.
Tools to track the progress of your students and send them emails/notifications.
Get a customized, mobile-friendly website, or a Podia subdomain, or use your custom URL.
Pros:

Integration with many platforms.
No per-transaction fee.
Free trial
Cons:

No mobile application.
Verdict: Podia is one of the best online course websites, which is trusted by over 50,000 creators.

It does not charge you a per-transaction fee. You just need to pay the subscription charges, as per your chosen plan. Plus, you can embed content into Podia, from over 1900 other platforms, including Twitter and GitHub.

Price: There is a free trial for 14 days. Price plans are:

Mover: $33 per month
Shaker: $75 per month
Earthquaker: $166 per month

Founded in 2010, Kajabi is one of the best online teaching platforms out there. Kajabi has created more than 300,000 products, helped creators earn more than $3.5 Billion, and helped in building over 100,000 businesses to date.

They also offer you free resources, including 350+ training videos, downloadable resources, and expert instructions, to teach you how to make your business a success.

Features:

Offers ready-to-use templates and lets you build unlimited landing pages.
Integration with Stripe and PayPal to process quick payments.
Automation tools for setting up marketing campaigns.
Fully integrated website building tools, including readymade themes and custom domains.
Pros:

No transaction fee
Mobile application
24/7 customer support
Learning Resources
Cons:

The software runs a bit slow at times, due to being too overloaded with features.
Verdict: Trusted by more than 50,000 creators including entrepreneurs and influencers from all over the world, Kajabi is a popular name. They will offer you a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can use your own domain name to give you 24/7 customer support services and advanced automation and marketing tools.

The software is buggy at times, but the features that it offers are commendable.

Price: Kajabi offers a free trial for 14 days. Price plans are:

Basic: $119 per month
Growth: $159 per month
Pro: $319 per month

LearnDash is one of the best online course platforms that lets you create beautiful-looking online courses, get automated notifications, build and share certificates as well as badges, integrate with your favorite applications, and run detailed reports on students’ enrollment, progress, and performance, and much more.

This Cloud-based software is GDPR compliant, thus you can rest assured about the privacy of your personal data.

Features:

Easy to use drag-and-drop tools for building courses.
Allows you to schedule classes and set start dates.
Integration with PayPal, Stripe, WooCommerce, 2checkout, Mailchimp, Slack, Zapier, and many other highly useful platforms.
Reporting tools for tracking progress, performance, and enrollments.
Supports images, videos, audio, SWF files, HTML5, SCORM, xAPI, and more.
Pros:

Highly useful integrations.
Affordable pricing.
A 15-day money-back guarantee.
Cons:

The learning curve can be long, but once you get along, the platform will be very easy to use.
Verdict: LearnDash offers a 15-day money-back guarantee. You can cancel your subscription and pay nothing within the first 15 days of use in case it does not satisfy you with the services.

There is no free trial or free version, but the pricing plans are comparatively cheap. The quality of customer service is nice.

Price: Price plans offered by LearnDash are:

Basic: $159 per year
Plus: $189 per year
Pro: $329 per year

Ruzuku is a global online course software that is easy to use and is trusted by hundreds and thousands of authors, speakers, coaches, and bloggers.

The platform claims to have helped over 500,000 users in taking online courses offered through Ruzuku. Their customer service is incredible and the software can be deployed on the cloud, SaaS, or Web.

Features:

Accept payments through Paypal or Stripe.
Get comprehensive support and a dedicated account manager.
You have your own domain
Conduct polls, quizzes, and unlimited webinars.
Pros:

No transaction fees.
Free trial
Quick and easy payments.
Cons:

No mobile application.
Verdict: All the plans offered by Ruzuku allow you to enroll an unlimited number of students, build unlimited courses, get unlimited data storage, get dedicated fast servers, and a lot more.

You get a 30-day money-back guarantee, daily backup and integration tools, and bank-level security for your data.

Price: There is a free trial for 14 days. Price plans offered by Ruzuku are:

University: Starts at $125 per month
Up-and-Comer: $83.08 per month
Bootstrapper: $74.75 per month

WizIQ is a cloud-based, one of the best online courses platforms, founded in 2007.

The platform has helped deliver over 70,000 online courses to date, by offering tools for conducting virtual classes, video streaming, assessments, content authoring, and much more.

Features:

Share files such as PPTs, Videos, Docs, PDFs, etc.
Built-in collaboration tools include an interactive, digital whiteboard, screen sharing, and more.
256-bit AES Encryption for your data.
Allows an unlimited number of meetings and participants.
Pros:

Compatible with all devices.
Mobile application.
24/7 live support.
Highly useful integrations.
Cons:

Lacks tools for certification and evaluation.
Verdict: It is an easy-to-use course-building platform that is used by 400,000+ educators and trainers and 4.5 million learners to date.

The software offers a highly useful knowledge base and 24/7 live customer service. We recommend the software to organizations looking for a solution to the remote learning process.

Price: Pricing starts at $25 per month.

Xperiencify was founded in 2019 with the mission of introducing gamification into the learning process so that the course completion rate could rise. Apart from the very useful range of features, the platform offers you some learning resources on marketing, eLearning, and more.

Features:

Get a custom domain.
Gamification of learning: lets you give points/rewards to students each time they come for learning.
Advanced reporting tools for measuring performance, tracking course completion, content popularity, and more.
Can conduct quizzes and assessments.
Tools to build sales pages, funnel pages, etc.
Highly useful integrations.
Pros:

Advanced API access.
Tools to attract students to learn more.
Advanced reporting tools.
You can create your online course for free. Pay when you publish it.
Cons:

No mobile application yet. But they have notified me that one will be offered soon.
Verdict: Each plan offered by Xperiencify creates unlimited courses and enrolls an unlimited number of students. We liked the advanced reporting tools offered by the software.

The only two drawbacks are that they do not offer a mobile application and they do not have the features to build and share completion certificates with the students. But they have notified it through their website that a mobile application and many new features will be on board very soon.

Price: Price plans offered by Xperiencify are:

Launch: $42 per month
Growth: $117 per month
Enterprise: Contact directly for prices.

Founded in 2014, the Academy of Mine is a cloud-based, powerful, and award-winning LMS platform.

The integration tools offered by the software make it easy for you to get your tasks done in a single place. Plus, the platform is available in many languages, including English, Spanish, French, and more.

Features:

Tools to translate the lessons into non-English languages.
Tools for conducting quizzes, assessments, surveys, and evaluations.
Get a custom domain.
TLS 2.0 encryption to keep your data safe.
An integrated dashboard that allows you to manage your courses in a single place.
Pros:

A dedicated account manager.
API access.
Integration with many platforms.
Cons:

The learning curve is a bit steep.
Verdict: The software is costly, but you will love it once you use it. The 24/7 customer services are praiseworthy and the software is easy to use. This all-in-one software is compatible with all devices and gives you standard data security, which makes it a highly recommended one.

Price: Price plans are:

Essentials: $599 per month
Professional: $899 per month
Enterprise: Custom Pricing

Mighty Networks is an online course software, which was built in 2017. The platform currently serves more than 100 million people from all over the world. This scalable platform helps you throughout your journey with learning resources and a dedicated support team.

Features:

Mobile applications for Android and iOS users.
Allows unlimited hosts and members with each plan.
Tools for group messaging and one-on-one messaging.
Collaboration tools include online events, Zoom integration, and more.
API integrations and custom domains.
Verdict: The platform is affordable, gives priority support, even with its lowest-paid plan, and offers integrations that make it a recommended one. With Mighty Networks, you also get access to analytical data that helps you in deciding prices and other factors, while building your online course.

The mobile application offered by Mighty Networks makes the software easy to use.

Price: A free trial is available. Pricing plans are:

Business Plan: $99 per month
Community Plan: $33 per month
Mighty Pro: Contact them directly for pricing.