The 12 Best Platforms for Selling Online Courses in 2025: A Practical Comparison

Do not index

The creator economy enables monetizing expertise, with online courses being a primary method. However, the volume of platforms can lead to analysis paralysis. The wrong choice can result in a clunky user interface, unnecessary costs, or a growth ceiling. This guide cuts through the complexity by providing a practical analysis of the best platforms for selling online courses.

This review moves beyond marketing copy to assess each platform's functional strengths and limitations. It includes direct links for your own evaluation. Whether you are launching a signature program, scaling B2B training, or building a learning community, this resource will help you identify a solution aligned with your specific operational goals.

We will examine critical factors like monetization models, student engagement tools, technical requirements, and scalability. For a comprehensive guide and in-depth comparison of various course platforms, you can also consult the Top 12 Best Platforms for Selling Online Courses in 2025. This analysis provides the data needed to select a platform that functions as a strategic asset for business growth.

1. Teachable

Teachable is a hosted platform focused on simplicity and built-in commerce tools, making it a strong choice for first-time creators who need to launch quickly. The platform’s drag-and-drop course builder allows you to structure lessons, upload various content types (video, PDFs, quizzes), and design a professional course storefront without requiring technical expertise.

Teachable's primary advantage is its native commerce engine. It handles global payment processing, automated tax collection (including EU VAT), and affiliate program payouts, which reduces administrative overhead. Sales optimization features like order bumps, upsells, and product bundling are integrated into the checkout flow, providing direct tools to increase average order value.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Supports one-time purchases, subscriptions, payment plans, and course bundles. The built-in, optimized checkout is a significant operational asset.

Student Experience: Provides a clean student dashboard accessible via web or dedicated iOS/Android apps. Features like automatically generated captions and native certificates improve the learning environment.

Limitations: The entry-level "Basic" plan includes a 5% transaction fee on sales. Access to key growth features like affiliate marketing and advanced customization requires upgrading to higher-tier plans.

Best for: Solo creators, coaches, and speakers launching their first digital product who prioritize speed-to-market and an integrated sales toolkit.

Website: https://www.teachable.com

2. Thinkific

Thinkific is an all-in-one platform for creators building a full educational business, offering extensive customization and tools for learning communities. This makes it one of the best platforms for selling online courses if your goal is a branded academy or membership site that can scale from a single course to an enterprise-level operation.

The platform’s strength is its flexibility. Beyond standard course delivery, Thinkific provides dedicated features for communities, live lessons via a direct Zoom integration, and comprehensive assessment tools like assignments and exams. Its built-in payment processor, Thinkific Payments, simplifies transactions and offers modern options like "buy now, pay later," while still allowing users to connect their own Stripe or PayPal accounts if preferred.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Flexible options including one-time payments, subscriptions, memberships, and course bundles. Its free plan is one of the most generous available, allowing you to build and launch one course with zero upfront cost.

Student Experience: Offers dedicated community spaces, event scheduling, and a polished student dashboard. The platform supports a wide array of content types to create rich, interactive lessons.

Limitations: While the core platform is powerful, advanced features like API access and sophisticated reporting are gated behind higher-tier plans. Transaction fees of 5% apply on the Basic plan unless you use Thinkific Payments.

Best for: Entrepreneurs and SMBs aiming to build a scalable online academy with a strong community component.

Website: https://www.thinkific.com

3. Kajabi

Kajabi is a premium, all-in-one platform for established creators seeking to consolidate their entire digital business into a single ecosystem. It integrates a website builder, email marketing automation, sales funnel builder (Pipelines), a CRM, and podcast hosting. This integrated model is designed for entrepreneurs looking to replace multiple software tools with one unified system.

Kajabi’s primary advantage is its advanced marketing automation. Users can build sophisticated "if-then" logic to tag contacts, grant or revoke product access, and trigger targeted email sequences based on student behavior (e.g., lesson completion). This enables a highly personalized customer journey, from lead capture to upselling, making it a strong fit for those looking to implement and scale a complete coaching program. Learn more about building a coaching program.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Offers robust options including one-time payments, subscriptions, and payment plans. Its native checkout, Kajabi Payments, supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BNPL. Unlimited landing pages and sales funnels are included on all plans.

Student Experience: Delivers a premium experience through customizable themes, community features, and an optional branded mobile app for students.

Limitations: The platform has a significantly higher starting price point compared to competitors. Plans also have hard limits on the number of products, funnels, and active contacts, which requires strategic planning for business growth.

Best for: Established creators and "knowledge commerce" entrepreneurs who require a powerful, integrated marketing and delivery solution and are willing to invest in a premium all-in-one platform.

Website: https://kajabi.com

4. Podia

Podia is an all-in-one digital storefront for creators, making it one of the best platforms for selling online courses alongside memberships, digital downloads, and webinars. Its core strengths are simplicity and affordability, providing a low-friction path to bundle multiple product types. The platform includes a website builder, course player, community tool, and email marketing in a single dashboard.

Podia’s "unlimited everything" policy on paid plans (covering courses, students, and bandwidth) offers a predictable pricing model that is advantageous for scaling. Furthermore, its built-in email marketing system allows for creating automated campaigns and segmenting audiences based on product purchases without requiring a third-party tool, simplifying the sales funnel from lead capture to conversion.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Supports course sales, digital downloads, coaching sessions, webinars, and community memberships. Allows for coupons, product bundles, and upsells to increase order value.

Student Experience: The platform offers a clean, straightforward course player and community interface. Creators can issue completion certificates to reward student progress.

Limitations: The entry-level "Mover" plan carries a 5% transaction fee. Key features like affiliate marketing and the ability to use third-party code snippets are reserved for higher-tier plans.

Best for: Creators who sell a mix of digital products (courses, downloads, memberships) and want an affordable, all-in-one solution with integrated email marketing.

Website: https://www.podia.com

5. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a premium, white-label solution for training businesses and educators seeking to build a comprehensive, branded learning academy. It excels in creating highly interactive educational experiences, moving beyond simple video-and-text lessons. The platform is powerful for those who need advanced features like SCORM and HTML5 compatibility, making it one of the best platforms for selling online courses to corporate clients or creating deeply immersive content.

LearnWorlds is distinguished by its focus on learner engagement tools. You can build interactive videos with synchronized transcripts, add quizzes, and overlay clickable elements directly onto video content. It also offers advanced assessments, certificates, and robust reporting that provides granular insights into student progress and engagement. Enterprise-friendly features like API access and SSO options allow businesses to create a seamless, professional training environment.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Offers versatile options including one-off sales, subscriptions, memberships, and flexible payment plans. You can also create course bundles and private courses for B2B clients.

Student Experience: Enables the creation of dynamic learning paths with interactive videos and a wide range of assessment types. It also includes a built-in social network to foster community.

Limitations: The "Starter" plan charges a flat $5 fee per course sale, which is costly for high-volume or low-priced courses. Many of the most powerful features, like full white-labeling and SCORM support, are reserved for the more expensive plans.

Best for: Training firms, corporate trainers, and established edupreneurs who need a robust, customizable platform with advanced assessment and reporting capabilities.

Website: https://www.learnworlds.com

6. Udemy (Marketplace)

Udemy is a global marketplace, not a standalone platform, where your course is listed alongside thousands of others. This model shifts the focus from brand building to leveraging Udemy’s enormous existing student base. For creators without an established audience, it provides an opportunity for visibility and sales without investing in marketing. The platform handles hosting, payments, and provides course creation tools like quizzes and coding exercises.

The key trade-off for this reach is control. Udemy frequently runs site-wide promotions, heavily discounting courses to drive volume. While this can lead to high enrollment numbers, revenue per student is often low. Your course can also be selected for Udemy Business, a B2B subscription service, offering a different revenue stream based on minutes of student engagement.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Operates on a revenue-sharing model. Your share (from 37% to 97%) depends on the traffic source. Instructors receive 97% from sales made via their own referral links, but only 37% from sales driven by Udemy's marketing. There are no monthly platform fees.

Student Experience: Students access courses through a familiar interface via web or highly-rated mobile apps. Features like course translations and Q&A sections enhance learning.

Limitations: You have very little control over pricing due to frequent site-wide sales. You also cannot access student email addresses, making it impossible to build an independent marketing list directly from the platform.

Best for: Subject matter experts who want to generate passive income by leveraging a huge existing audience without managing their own marketing infrastructure.

Website: https://www.udemy.com

7. Skillshare

Skillshare operates on a subscription-based marketplace model. Instead of selling individual courses, creators publish classes and earn royalties from a central revenue pool. This is ideal for instructors in creative fields (e.g., design, photography, writing) who want to tap into a large, built-in audience without managing individual sales and marketing.

The platform's success is driven by its engaged community of millions of members. Earnings are calculated based on the number of premium minutes watched in your classes each month, incentivizing the creation of high-quality, engaging content. While you lose direct pricing control, the trade-off is significant exposure and the potential for steady, passive income. The platform handles all hosting, payments, and member acquisition.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Creators earn monthly revenue from a royalty pool based on total minutes watched by premium members. You do not set a price for your course.

Student Experience: Features a strong community aspect with class projects, discussions, and direct feedback. The mobile app supports offline viewing, making learning highly accessible.

Limitations: Income is not guaranteed and can fluctuate monthly based on watch time and platform-wide engagement. Skillshare has class quality guidelines and may require a minimum number of followers for new teachers, creating a barrier to entry.

Best for: Creative professionals (designers, artists, writers) who produce engaging, project-based content and prefer a hands-off approach to marketing and sales.

Website: https://www.skillshare.com/teach

8. Gumroad

Gumroad is a direct-to-consumer digital storefront, not a traditional Learning Management System (LMS). This makes it ideal for creators who sell a variety of digital products (like ebooks, presets, or templates) alongside their courses and want a single, streamlined checkout process without a monthly fee.

The platform’s core strength is its "Merchant of Record" model. Gumroad handles all payment processing and global sales tax compliance (including VAT), a significant benefit for independent creators. You can set up a product page in minutes and sell via a hosted Gumroad page or by embedding the checkout button directly on your own website, making it one of the top platforms for selling digital products of all kinds.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Supports one-time payments, subscriptions, and payment plans. The platform operates on a simple, transparent fee structure (a flat 10% fee that decreases with lifetime revenue) with no monthly subscription cost.

Student Experience: Delivers course content via a straightforward content library. Students can stream videos or download files, but it lacks the robust quizzing, certification, and lesson progression features of dedicated LMS platforms.

Limitations: The trade-off for simplicity is a lack of advanced course-building tools like graded quizzes or certificates. The flat transaction fee can also become more expensive than a subscription plan for high-volume sellers.

Best for: Creators, artists, and writers who need a quick, no-fuss way to sell video courses and other digital downloads without monthly fees.

Website: https://gumroad.com

9. Payhip

Payhip is a streamlined e-commerce solution for creators who sell digital products, memberships, and online courses. Its strength lies in simplicity and affordability, making it one of the best platforms for selling online courses if you're on a budget or have a diverse digital product line. It provides essential tools, including a course builder with drip content, an integrated store builder, and marketing features like coupons and affiliates.

Payhip is attractive for its direct and transparent model. It functions as a Merchant of Record, handling EU/UK VAT collection, and offers unlimited product uploads on all plans, including its free tier. You can embed your products or entire storefront directly onto an existing website, giving you full control over your brand's presence while Payhip manages the backend checkout and content delivery.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Supports one-time sales, subscriptions, and payment plans for courses, digital downloads, coaching, and memberships. It integrates directly with Stripe and PayPal. The free plan has a 5% transaction fee.

Student Experience: A clean and straightforward learning interface for students. Drip content functionality allows you to release lessons over time.

Limitations: The learning management system (LMS) features are more basic compared to dedicated platforms like Kajabi or Thinkific. Storefront design and branding customization options are simpler and less flexible than more expensive suites.

Best for: Creators on a budget and entrepreneurs selling a mix of digital products (e.g., ebooks, courses, presets) who need a simple, low-cost platform to handle sales and delivery.

Website: https://payhip.com

10. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community-first platform. Instead of adding a forum as an afterthought, it is designed around member engagement, making it one of the best platforms for selling online courses where learning is a collaborative, social experience. It integrates courses, livestreams, discussion feeds, and events into a unified, branded space.

The platform empowers creators to build digital ecosystems where students connect, learn together, and participate in challenges or cohort-based programs. This community-centric approach can boost course completion rates and build a loyal audience. With its powerful native mobile apps for iOS and Android, Mighty Networks ensures engagement continues wherever members are.

Key Features & Considerations

Monetization: Supports one-time payments, subscriptions, and bundled access to courses, community spaces, and events. All paid plans allow for unlimited members.

Student Experience: Offers an immersive, app-like experience with activity feeds, direct messaging, member profiles, and live events. For more details on its community capabilities, see our comparison of the best membership site platforms.

Limitations: Transaction fees (2-3%) apply on the Community and Business plans. Accessing advanced features like deep analytics and fully branded mobile apps requires subscribing to the highest-tier "Mighty Pro" plan.

Best for: Creators and brands who want to build a self-sustaining community around their content and believe social learning is key to student success.