9 Best Online Course Creation Platforms for Entrepreneurs

As an entrepreneur, you may have valuable knowledge and skills that others would benefit from learning. Creating an online course allows you to package your expertise into a digital product you can sell repeatedly, providing a passive income stream for your business. 

The top platforms for creating and selling online courses offer a range of features to help you build engaging content, market your course effectively, and provide a seamless learning experience for your students. From user-friendly course builders to advanced marketing automation tools, these platforms empower entrepreneurs to create successful online education businesses. 

Best for: All-in-one course creation and promotion

Podia is an excellent choice if you want to keep everything under one roof. With Podia, you can easily create and sell online courses, digital downloads, webinars, and memberships. This user-friendly platform boasts a clean, modern design that's sure to impress your audience.

One of Podia’s standout features is its simplicity. You don't need any technical skills to set up a professional-looking site and start selling your products. Plus, Podia's customer support team is known for being incredibly helpful and responsive so you can get assistance whenever you need it.

Pros

• Sell courses, downloads, and memberships all in one place
• Simple to set up and customize your site
• Free plan available 

Cons

• Lacks some advanced features that other platforms offer

Notable Features

• Unlimited courses, coaching, and more on some plans 
• Add-on email marketing tools to engage your audience
• Standalone, cohort, and drip courses available 
• Native video hosting 

Pricing

Podia has four plans with per-transaction fees: a Free plan ($0 per month + 10% fees), a Starter plan ($9 per month + 8% fees), a Mover plan ($39 per month + 5% fees), and a Shaker plan ($89 per month + no fees). There are discounts available if you choose to pay annually. 

Best for: Professional course creators

Teachable is one of the most widely used online course platforms for good reason. It offers a range of powerful features and customization options that make it a top choice for experienced course creators. 

With Teachable, you can create engaging multimedia lectures, quizzes, and assignments to keep your students interested and on track. The platform also handles all the technical aspects of running an online course, such as hosting, security, and payment processing, so you can focus on creating great content.

Pros

• Easy-to-use course builder with drag-and-drop functionality
• Advanced website customization options to match your brand
• Tech-driven features help users build meaningful courses 

Cons

• Charges transaction fees on lower-tier plans, which can eat into your profits

Notable Features

• Built-in payment processing features 
• Artificial intelligence (AI)-based course starter tool helps to build curriculum, sales pages, and more 
• Coupon codes and order bumps to help you sell more courses
• No-code course and web page builders

Pricing

Teachable offers five plans with lower-cost plans incurring per-transaction fees: a Free plan ( $1 + 10% transaction fee), a Basic plan ($59 per month + 5% transaction fee), a Pro plan ($159 per month, no fees), a Pro+ plan ($249 per month, no fees), and a Business plan ($665 per month, no fees). There are significant discounts offered if you choose to pay annually. 

Best for: Reaching a wide audience

Udemy is one of the largest online learning marketplaces with more than 62 million students worldwide. If your goal is to reach as many people as possible, Udemy could be a great fit for you. The platform hosts courses on a wide range of topics — from business and tech to personal development and creative skills.

One of the unique aspects of Udemy is that it handles all the marketing for you. When you publish a course on Udemy, it becomes part of the platform’s vast catalog and can be discovered by millions of potential students. Udemy also runs frequent promotions and discounts, which can help drive sales for your course.

Pros

• Access to a huge global audience of learners
• Udemy handles marketing and promotions for you
• Solid course creation tools and resources

Cons

• High competition due to the large number of courses available

Notable Features

• Udemy's Teaching Center offers helpful resources for instructors
• Robust course analytics to track student engagement
• Option to offer your course for free or at a discount
• Ability to create coupon codes for targeted promotions

Pricing

Udemy doesn't charge any upfront fees to create and host a course. Instead, it takes a share of your course sales. For courses discovered through organic search or promotions, instructors receive 37% of the course revenue. For courses you promote directly, you keep 97% of the revenue. 

Best for: All-in-one business platform 

Kajabi bills itself as an all-in-one platform to sell courses, build memberships, host podcasts, and more. If you're looking for a comprehensive solution to run your entire knowledge business, Kajabi could be a good choice. In addition to online courses, Kajabi also offers tools for email marketing, landing pages, websites, and more.

One of Kajabi’s standout features is its “Pipelines” tool, which allows you to create automated marketing funnels to promote your courses and products. Kajabi also offers a range of customizable themes and templates so you can create a professional-looking site without any design skills.

Pros

• Comprehensive set of tools for running an online business
• Powerful marketing automation features
• No transaction fees 

Cons

• Higher price point compared to other course platforms

Notable Features

• “Pipelines” tool for creating automated marketing funnels
• Ability to create membership sites and online communities
• Built-in affiliate program tools 
• Comprehensive analytics and reporting

Pricing

Kajabi offers four plans: Basic ($149 per month), Growth ($199 per month), Pro ($399 per month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). Discounts apply if you choose to be billed annually. 

Best for: Course creators on a budget

Thinkific is a popular online course platform that offers a generous Basic plan with no transaction fees, making it a great option for course creators on a tight budget. With each plan, Thinkific offers users unlimited courses and students with an extensive number of additional features included in all plans. 

One of the highlights of Thinkific is its user-friendly course builder, which allows you to drag and drop course content and multimedia elements. Thinkific also offers a variety of predesigned themes and the ability to customize your course site with your own branding.

Pros

• Unlimited courses and students 
• User-friendly course builder with drag-and-drop functionality
• Ability to create and sell memberships, bundles, and digital downloads

Cons

• Limited email marketing features compared to other platforms
• Some features are only available on higher-tier plans

Notable Features

• Fully integrated ecommerce suite included in all plans 
• Built-in discussion forums for student engagement
• Course sharing on Spotify 
• Access to Thinkific’s Accelerator Program 

Pricing

Thinkific offers four plans: Basic ($49 per month), Start ($99 per month), Grow ($199 per month), and Thinkific+ (custom pricing). Discounts are available if you opt to pay annually.

Best for: Interactive learning experiences

LearnWorlds is an online course platform that focuses on creating interactive and engaging learning experiences. The platform offers a range of unique features like interactive video, ebook authoring, and social learning tools to help you create courses that keep students engaged and motivated.

LearnWorlds also offers a high degree of customization with the ability to create branded course players, landing pages, and websites. Plus, the platform supports unlimited paid courses on all plans and unlimited free and paid courses on higher-tier plans. 

Pros

• Focus on interactive learning experiences
• Unique features like interactive video and ebook authoring
• Exams and quizzes included 

Cons

• Transaction fees apply for its lowest-tier plan 

Notable Features

• Interactive video with quizzes, surveys, and links
• Ability to create and sell ebooks and digital downloads
• Social learning tools like course discussions and study groups
• Built-in affiliate management and marketing tools

Pricing

LearnWorlds offers four plans: Starter ($29 per month + $5 per course sale), Pro Trainer ($99 per month), Learning Center ($299 per month), and High Volume & Corporate (custom pricing). Discounted pricing is available for users that are billed annually. 

Best for: Coaching and consulting businesses

Simplero is an all-in-one platform that combines online courses, email marketing, and customer relationship management (CRM) features. It's a good choice for coaches, consultants, and service-based businesses that want to offer online courses alongside their other offerings.

One of Simplero’s standout features is its built-in scheduling tool, which allows you to easily book coaching calls and appointments with your clients. Simplero also offers a range of marketing automation tools to help you nurture leads and engage your target audience.

Pros

• All-in-one platform with courses, email marketing, and CRM features
• Built-in scheduling tool for coaching and consulting appointments
• Powerful marketing automation features

Cons

• Higher price point compared to other course platforms
• May have a steeper learning curve due to its many features

Notable Features

• Ability to create and sell memberships and subscriptions
• Built-in scheduling and appointment booking
• Advanced segmentation and automation for email marketing
• AI bot credits included in all plans 

Pricing

Simplero offers three plans: Starter (starting  at $70.80 per month), Scale (starting at $178.80 per month), and Skyrocket (starting at $298.80/month). Pricing varies by the number of contacts, and customers who choose annual billing can access substantial discounts. 

Best for: Cohort-based courses

Pathwright is an online course platform that specializes in cohort-based learning where students progress through a course together as a group. This approach can lead to higher engagement and completion rates compared to self-paced courses.

With Pathwright, you can create multimedia lessons, assignments, and quizzes as well as set start and end dates for your cohorts. The platform also offers features for student collaboration like discussion forums and group projects.

Pros

• Specializes in cohort-based learning for higher engagement
• Tools for student collaboration and group work
• Clean and intuitive user interface

Cons

• No custom domain available for its lower-tier plan 

Notable Features

• Ability to set start and end dates for cohorts
• Group discussions and project work for collaborative learning
• Automatic progress tracking and reminders for students
• Customizable completion certificates

Pricing

Pathwright offers four plans: Starter ($99 per month), Essentials ($199 per month), Complete ($499 per month), and Enterprise (custom pricing). The platform offers scholarships and discounted pricing for annual billing. 

Best for: WordPress users 

LearnDash is a popular learning management system (LMS) plugin for WordPress. If you already have a WordPress site and want to add online courses to your existing content, LearnDash could be a good choice.

With LearnDash, you can create multimedia courses, quizzes, and assignments, and then integrate them seamlessly with your WordPress theme. LearnDash also supports advanced features like prerequisites, course points, and certificates.

Pros

• Integrates seamlessly with WordPress sites
• Advanced features for course gamification and engagement
• Highly customizable and extensible with add-ons

Cons

• For many features, you must purchase an add-on 

Notable Features

• Advanced quizzing with question banks and randomization
• Gamification elements like course points and badges
• Course cloning and creation wizard 
• Detailed reporting and analytics on student progress

Pricing

LearnDash offers several different pricing options: LearnDash Plugin for WordPress sites (starting at $199 per year), MemberDash Plugin (starting at $199 per year), and LearnDash Cloud (starting at $29 per month). Prices vary by the included number of sites and features. You can further customize your LearnDash plan with the platform’s extensive number of add-on features, starting at $49 per year.