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In 2015, the revenue generated via. e-learning was $105 billion. Now, according to Market research firm Global Industry Analysts, e-learning is likely to grow to $325 billion by 2025.
That’s a huge leap which shows many people are shifting from classroom to e-learning. People want to learn things from the comfort of their homes with their own schedules & that’s an advantage for online course instructors.
If you have an idea that could benefit others or you want to teach a skill to make some passive income, you should better create an online course with the help of a platform.
Now, there are many best online course platforms for instructors that allows them to create courses within the platform. But which one is the most suitable for their online business?
In this post, I have listed 6 of them based on the benefits, drawbacks and the plans they’re offering. So, if you are looking for such platforms to host your courses but couldn’t decide which one to go for, this post is for you.
Read More:
- 11 Platforms to take Online courses (both free & paid)
- 18 Amazing skills you can learn while chilling at home
6 Best Online Teaching Platform For Teachers
1. Teachable
If you’re not much familiar with course creation and want to use an online platform that is beginner-friendly, Teachable is the one you should go for.
Benefits
- Teachable offers a free plan enough to get started as a beginner.
- You can easily customize Teachable as per your brand and look so it matches your website.
- It’s not preferable to host large video files on your website as it can make your site slow. But with Teachable, you can host unlimited videos even with their free plan.
- They have a feature called course compliance wherein you can ensure that students completely go through your course content.
- The course-completion certificate feature along with course compliance makes it suitable to host academic courses as well.
- Their customer support is top-notch & they also offer a course creator community for all the creators where they can interact.
- It’s quite cumbersome managing both your online business and setting up your very first course. Well, Teachable eradicates this problem as it is quite easy to set-up.
- Teachable being a secure platform ensures they protect all your content. This means you don’t have to worry about any hacking activities.
Drawback
- The free plan is quite limited. If you are looking to grab some advanced features or want to have affiliates, upgrade your plan.
- There is a transaction fee on free and basic plans.
Teachable Plans
1. Free Plan
This plan offers most of the features for free. It includes.
- Unlimited everything except for unlimited students
- Integrated payment processing
- Student management
- Lecture comments
- Basic quizzes
- No fees for free courses.
However, the biggest disadvantage of using the free plan is that there is a fee of $1+10% for every product you sell. This means if you sold a course for $50, you’ll get $46 for each sale.
2. Basic Plan
The basic plan will cost you $29 per month (billed annually) or $39/month and along with the free plan features, you get some additional features like
- Unlimited students
- 5% transaction fee
- Instant payouts
- admin-level users
- Product support
- Course creator training
- Custom domain support
- Coupon codes
- Drip course content
- Integrated affiliate marketing
- Integrated email marketing
- Third-party integrations.
The transaction fee is only 5% which is great compared to the free plan. So, taking the last example, you’ll receive $47.5 for every sale you make.
3. Professional Plan
This plan is considered the best plan out of all because it offers everything that the basic plan offers along with
- 3 more admin-level users (5 in total)
- Priority product support
- Graded quizzes
- Advanced theme customization
- Advanced reports
- Unbranded website
- Course completion certificates
- Course compliance.
The professional plan will cost you $99 per month (billed annually) or $119/month & there are no transaction fees. This means you can keep 100% of your earning.
4. Business Plan
It will cost you $249 per month (billed annually) or $299/month and is especially for businesses. The business plan offers every Teachable feature’s and there are no transaction fees. Here are the additional features.
- Total of 100 admin-level users
- Manual student imports
- Bulk student enrollments
- Custom user roles.
Which Plan is Good For You?
The way you can decide which plan is suitable for you is by realizing where you stand.
If you’re a beginner who just wants to test the water, go with the free plan. But please remember, the free plan is not suitable for the long-term business and at some point, you have to consider the premium plans.
The basic plan is great for people who want to take advantage of basic features and have a tight budget.
The professional plan is the best plan among all because it provides most of the features with zero transaction fees.
The business plan is suitable for businesses and large groups who can take advantage of 100 admin-level user’s features where they can manage multiple courses & teams at once.
2. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is also a great platform where you can create your courses with a lot of flexibility.
It is not a platform that will waste your time trying to figure out how to put everything together. Instead, LearnWorlds is known for its simplicity of the functions that guide the users, even if they have no experience in managing online courses.
Benefits of Using LearnWorlds
- I have seen many people saying they like the simplicity of this platform. They can easily set-up and customize their courses, which they find hard on other platforms.
- LearnWorlds offers regular updates and upgrades that ensure their platform is bug-free. So, even if you face any error while playing around, you can expect it to be quickly fixed to improve the user experience.
- Customer support is something we expect to be quick and thankfully, LearnWorlds offers a great service.
- Their basic plan offers some advanced features that are not seen in other platform’s basic plan.
- You can create an infinite number of courses.
- It offers a 30-days money-back guarantee.
Drawbacks of Using LearnWorlds
- Don’t have a free plan.
- The basic plan has only 24/5 customer support.
- LearnWorlds charges a $5 fee on every sale you make in the basic plan.
LearnWorlds Plans
1. Starter
The starter plan starts at $24/month (billed annually) or $29/month that offers all the basic features like
- Admin
- Unlimited paid courses
- Pages Builder (3 pages)
- 4 Payment gateways
- Coupons
- Basic Integrations
- Free SSL certificate
- Drip Feed Courses
- 24/5 e-mail support.
- However, it has a $5 fee on every sale you make.
2. Pro Trainer
The Pro Trainer plan starts at $79/month (billed annually) or $99/month includes all the starter plan features along with other features like
- 5 Admins/instructors
- Unlimited landing pages
- Complete website builder with blog
- Subscriptions & Memberships
- Installments
- Fully customizable Course Player
- Customizable checkout page
- Custom Certificates
- SCORM / Multimedia files
- Affiliate Management
- Zapier & Premium Integrations
- Question Banks
- Onboarding call
- 24/7 Priority e-mail support
There are also no transaction fees, which is a great relief.
3. Learning Center
It will cost you $249/month (billed annually) or $299/month and packs all the features required to create and manage your online courses smoothly. Here are the features.
- 20 Admins / Instructors
- Bulk Student Upload
- Full White-label Options
- Integrations with API
- Interactive video
- Auto Customer Insights
- Advanced Affiliate Management
- Webhooks Integrations
- Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Custom iOS & Android App (extra fee)
- 2 hours Premium Onboarding
- 24/7 Premium Support
Final Thought
LearnWorlds is another good online course platform with an impressive list of tools. You can consider it if you want nice customer support & tons of ways to interact with your students.
3. Thinkific
Thinkific is another powerful online course platform you can use to host your online courses.
If you are someone who just wants to concentrate on creating courses and avoid indulging hours in trying to figure out how the platform works, Thinkific is the all-in-one platform.
Benefits of Using Thinkific
- There are no transaction fees even in the free plan. Unlike Teachable, Thinkific offers no cut on any of its plans, which is a great relief.
- It is quite easy to use and intuitive. They provide a great course creation experience where you can easily create your curriculum and draft your courses. It is also an integrated website where you don’t have to worry about plugins and membership services. Simply, great for a non-tech person.
- Thinkific customer support is quite quick to reply and ready to guide you.
Drawback of Thinkific
- There is no membership option in free and basic plans which I think was required. However, you can get them in the professional plan.
Thinkific Plans
1. Free Plan
The Free plans offer all the core features and there is no fee cut. This means you can keep 100% of your earning. Here are the features.
- 3 Courses
- Unlimited students
- Quizzes & surveys
- Content hosting
- Instant access to your funds
- Student notifications
- Full e-commerce
- Upsell offers.
2. Basic Plan
It will cost you $39 per month (billed annually) or $49/month that offers all the tools needed to launch your first course. It has all the features from the free plan plus.
- Unlimited courses
- Coupons
- Email students
- Drip content
- Affiliate reporting
- Custom Domain
- Email Integrations
- Zapier triggers
- Manual student enrollments and exports.
3. Professional Plan
The professional plan will cost you $79 per month (billed annually) or $99/month & has all the features offered in the basic plan. Additionally, you get access to more features perfect for small online businesses.
- 2 Site admin accounts
- 5 Course admins/authors
- Private & hidden courses
- Advanced course pricing options
- Memberships and bundles
- Certificates
- Advanced Customization
- Priority Support
- Assignments
- Communities
4. Premier Plan
The premier plan offers all the features at $399 per month (billed annually) or $499/month. This plan is most suitable for big businesses who want to create a business empire via Thinkific.
- Total 5 admin accounts
- 15 Group analysts
- Total of 50 Course admins/authors
- Single Sign-on (SSO)
- Onboarding package
- Unlimited growth package
Final Thought
If you are looking for a platform that offers better site design and customization tools, Thinkific is the one you should go for. Usually, Startups and Big companies are the most preferred ones.
4. Podia
Podia came to the picture in 2014 and it is one of the newest online course platforms for instructors in this list. It has all the tools needed to get started for creating and selling your courses.
As stated by them, you don’t need any third-party plugin or platforms for integration as Podia provides all of them.
Benefits of Using Podia
- Like Thinkific, they also don’t have any transaction fees and you can keep 100% of your earning.
- Podia has all the tools and features needed to create and launch your course. So, basically, you don’t need any third-party tools.
- It has a simple user interface that even a non-tech guy can easily play with it. You don’t have to worry much about the technical stuff and can pay more attention to course creation.
- Podia has affordable plans starting from $39/month (annually billed).
- It offers a lot of helpful guides and tutorials enough for you to figure out all the features to create courses easily.
- Podia offers a 14-day free trial for its paid plans. So, if you are ensure to invest money in it, you can take advantage of this offer.
Drawback of Using Podia
- Limited customization and design options
- They don’t provide any free plan and you have to start with the basic plan. However, a 14-day trial is enough to decide whether it is worth your time.
- Podia’s built-in e-mail marketing tool is not as robust as other providers
Podia Plans
1. Mover
This plan will cost you $32.5/month (billed annually) or $39/month great for starters looking to launch their first course. It has the following features.
- Your very own storefront
- Online courses
- Digital downloads
- Email marketing
- Messaging
- Zero transaction fees
- Unlimited everything
- 24/7 support
2. Shaker
Shaker plan will cost you $65.8/month (billed annually) or $79/month which offers all the features from Mover plus some additional features like.
- Memberships
- Blog
- Embedded Checkout
- Affiliate marketing
- Third-Party Code
- free migrations.
Shaker is the better option if you want to grow your business with the help of affiliate marketing.
Final Thought
If you’re looking for an affordable platform that offers all the features, Podia is the way to go. Not only it’s beginner-friendly where you don’t have to fret much, but it also gives a great user experience.
5. Ruzuku
Ruzuku is an easy-to-use platform best for people who want to stay away from technical stuff. It is a beginner-friendly platform that is quite fast to use.
Benefits of Using Ruzuku
- Ruzuku allows you to duplicate your courses which is good for split testing.
- If you hate transaction fees, then the good news is Ruzuku doesn’t have any transaction fees for any of its plans.
- Ruzuku has a flexible course content delivery system where you can grant access to all the lessons at once, alternatively, or provide them as drips over an extended period of time.
- An easy-to-use platform that doesn’t require any technical knowledge.
- Ruzuku has a simple UI that makes sure you don’t fribble around the settings. It is more of a teacher-oriented platform that makes it quite favorable.
- It offers a 14-day trial plan.
- 100% money-back guarantee within 30 days.
Drawbacks of Using Ruzuku
- All the plans are costly compared to other platforms.
- No free plan.
- Customization options are very limited.
- Email is the only way you can communicate with the support team.
Ruzuku Plans
1. Bootstrapper
This plan starts at $74.75/month (billed annually) or $99/month offering the following features.
- Single Instructor
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited video, audio, and data hosting
- 0% transaction fees
- Your customers pay you directly
- Accept payments via PayPal or Stripe
- Basic commerce with coupons
- Comprehensive support
2. Up-and-Comer
Up-and-Comer starts at $83.08/month (billed annually) or $149/month offering all the features from Bootstrapper along with additional features such as
- Unlimited webinars
- Polls and quizzes
- Subscriptions & payment plans
3. University
This plan will cost you $125/month (billed annually) or $199/month offering extra features like
- Your domain
- Multiple Instructors
- Multiple Site Managers
- Dedicated Account Manager
Final Thought
Ruzuku has costly plans compared to other platforms but the features they are providing are worth your investment. They are incredibly easy to use but are very limited to customization. So, it’s worth checking out Ruzuku and you can take advantage of their free trial.
6. Kajabi
Kajabi is an all-in-one platform to sell digital products online great for digital entrepreneurs and small businesses.
It is a good choice for businesses of all sizes and most importantly, I find it a better option for bigger companies that have enough clients.
Benefits of Using Kajabi
- They offer beautiful sale pages, themes & site design which is great for people who want an eye-catching design.
- Great customer support team.
- Kajabi has built-in email marketing that gives you the freedom to create beautiful emails and automated campaigns without using any other tool
- Create membership sites, with the option to drip-feed the content over time..
- Kajabi is fairly easy & intuitive to use once you know how to play around.
- No transaction fee in any plan.
Drawbacks of Using Kajabi
- The plans are highly-priced. Not good for people who have a tight budget.
- Beginners can have a hard time figuring out how it works. But you can take help from customer service.
- A few complaints about fewer customization options.
- They don’t offer any free plan.
Kajabi Plans
Basic
Their basic plan starts at $119/month (billed annually) or $149/month, which provides the following features.
- 3 Products
- 3 Pipelines
- Unlimited Landing Pages
- Unlimited Marketing Emails
- 10,000 Contacts
- 1,000 Active Members
- 1 Website
- 1 Admin User
- Kajabi University
- 0% Transaction Fee
- Webinars & Events
- Ready to Use Templates
- Assessments (Quizzes & Surveys)
- Chat Support
- Automation
Growth
The growth plan is the most popular plan among others that offers the following features at $159/month (billed annually) or $199/month.
- 15 Products
- 15 Pipelines
- Unlimited Landing Pages
- Unlimited Marketing Emails
- 25,000 Contacts
- 10,000 Active Members
- 1 Website
- 10 Admin Users
- Kajabi University
- 0% Transaction Fee
- Webinars & Events
- Ready to Use Templates
- Assessments (Quizzes & Surveys)
- 24/7 Chat Support
- Advanced Automations
- Ability to Remove Kajabi Branding
- Affiliate Program
Pro
Pro plan is targeted for small businesses and organizations which cost $319/month (billed annually) or $399/month offering more freedom and features.
- 100 Products
- 100 Pipelines
- Unlimited Landing Pages
- 2,000,000 Marketing Emails
- 100,000 Contacts
- 20,000 Active Members
- 3 Websites
- 25 Admin Users
- Kajabi University
- 0% Transaction Fee
- Webinars & Events
- Ready to Use Templates
- Assessments (Quizzes & Surveys)
- 24/7 Chat Support
- Advanced Automations
- Ability to Remove Kajabi Branding
- Affiliate Program
- Code Editor
Final Thought
Kajabi is a great online course creation platform for those people who don’t want to use multiple different services. If your someone who wants to have every tool in one place, Kajabi is the right platform to go for. You can create and sell beautiful online courses & run your entire business from one place.
Which Online Course Platform Should You Go For Being An Instructor?
All of the mentioned platforms are good in their own ways. Some provide better features in a basic plan whereas others don’t have many customization options. However, if I have to choose a platform among all, I would go according to the business I am running.
Teachable is a great overall online course platform for instructors suitable for any type of business whereas Thinkific is best for big companies and teams. Apart from this, if you’re on a tight budget, choose Podia.
In the end, it isn’t about my choice. It’s all about your needs and expectations. Just choose the one suitable for you and try their free trial to see whether it fulfills your expectation.
