10 Best Online Course Platforms (I Tried Them All)

You’ve been sharing your expertise on LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, your blog—you name it. 

Your audience is impressed.

Businesses are hiring you as a consultant, and even some of your followers are beginning to ask if you offer one-on-one coaching sessions.

Then it clicks…

Wait, why not start an online course? You could turn your knowledge into a steady income stream and deliver value at scale.

However, as you’ve noticed already, choosing the right online course creation tool can be overwhelming. There are so many options each claiming to be the best. So where do you start?

That’s where I come in. Over the past nine months, I’ve been testing over 25 online course software programs to see where each thrives and lacks.

In this guide, I will walk you through the best online course platforms. You will learn where each platform excels and what it’s like to create a course on them.

A Quick Summary of the Top Online Course Platforms

Here’s an executive summary of my top 4 picks for the best course creation platforms and where each thrives. 

1. Thinkific: A balanced choice for functionality, ease of use, and affordability.
2. Circle: Best for building an active, engaging course community
3. Teachable: Ideal for beginners, with features to help you launch fast.
4. Kajabi: Perfect if you need an all-in-one platform for creating, marketing, and selling online courses.

You can also refer to the comparison table below, where I’ve summarised all the 10 course creation software and their best features.

For detailed reviews and best-use cases, read on to find the ideal platform for your needs.

What Makes the Best Online Course Creation Platform? How I Made This List.

After testing 30 online course creation tools, one thing is clear—there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Some tools excel in student engagement, while others offer, more sophisticated course design and delivery.

That said, the “right” solution will vary depending on your budget, digital business model, and your specific needs.

For example, if building a cohort-based learning environment is your priority, you’ll want to go with platforms like Circle, Kajabi, or Mighty Networks that support community features and live sessions.

With these considerations in mind, I developed a selection process so that only the best platforms made it to this listicle. Here’s how I approached it:

Firstly, I focused on four core groups that I believe many course creators fall under:

• Content creators – Bloggers, YouTubers, TikTokers, and similar creators who want to monetize their audience by offering courses and building an engaged community around their content. 
• Coaches and consultants – Those looking to monetize their expertise through self-paced courses, memberships, live workshops, or coaching sessions.
• Info businesses – Entrepreneurs creating scalable, information-driven products, often in a series format or membership-based structure.
• Educators – Experts who require tools to deliver detailed, structured content with assessments for learning outcomes, like graded assignments.

Next, I eliminated platforms that fall under these categories:

• LMS Platforms: Mostly used by corporates to train their employees or education systems like universities. The reason for excluding them is that they are complex and overkill for individual creators who need a quick, independent setup.
• Course Marketplaces (e.g., Udemy, Skillshare): While these platforms can help you reach a broad audience, they also take a significant revenue share, limit access to student data, and restrict your ability to build direct, long-term relationships. It’s similar to running a community on Facebook—convenient but with limited control.
• WordPress LMS Plugins: While effective for those familiar with the WordPress ecosystem, these tools require technical setup and ongoing management, which can be overwhelming for beginners. Dedicated course platforms provide a simpler, low entry barrier and there are minimal headaches involved during setup.

After filtering out the options, I evaluated the rest of the platforms based on a few more core qualities to ensure they fit the perspective and needs of an average course creator, online coach, and education business.

• Ease of Use: Surprisingly many online course platforms have outdated, clunky, and slow-loading interfaces. I removed any that weren’t intuitive or responsive.
• Student engagement tools: Course completion rates are key for creators, so I prioritized platforms with features to encourage active learning like, live sessions, quizzes, gamification, progress tracking, and interactive assessments.
• Course management: The ideal platform allows easy course uploads in multiple formats (audio, video, text) with advanced control over delivery, such as drip-feeding or organizing material by membership tiers.
• Community features: Community engagement directly impacts student retention and completion rates. I prioritized platforms with robust community tools like discussion boards, group chats, live events, and shared spaces to help students connect and learn together.

Now, let’s explore the best online course platforms and evaluate their performance based on these criteria.

10 Best Online Course Platforms to Choose From

1. Thinkific – Best for creators and educators
2. Circle – Best for community-centric courses
3. Teachable – Best standalone online course platform for starters.
4. Kajabi – Best for built-in marketing features
5. Podia – Best for beginners
6. Mighty Networks – Best for paid community memberships
7. LearnWorlds – Best for SCORM Compliant courses
8. FreshLearn – Flexible for various needs
9. Simplero – Best for coaching businesses
10. Ruzuku – Simple, effective option

#1: Thinkific

Feature-rich and budget-friendly (best course platform for most creators)

Thinkific topped my list as the best online course platform and for a good reason. 

It offers a good balance between pricing and functionality allowing you to create unlimited courses and enroll unlimited students across all paid plans. It also provides diverse student assessment options like quizzes, surveys, assignments, and exams, which help you measure and support student progress.

With Thinkific, you can design various course structures, including self-paced, scheduled, and cohort-based learning models. You can also drip-schedule your course materials allowing students to absorb content at a manageable pace. 

Beyond courses, Thinkific lets you sell additional digital products, such as downloads, coaching sessions, and community memberships. 

Overall, Thinkific is an excellent choice for creators and online coaches seeking a comprehensive and affordable platform to sell courses and other educational products.

Overview of Thinkific’s Course Design Interface and Student Experience

Thinkific’s interface is clean and intuitive, so even if it’s your first time creating an online course, you won’t have to worry about designing courses that look amateurish.

The platform allows you to structure your course curriculum using Chapters that house individual Lessons.

Within each lesson, you can add a wide range of content formats, including videos, text, audio, PDFs, quizzes, surveys, presentations, and more.

You can upload course materials from your local storage or import them from cloud platforms like Google Drive and Dropbox.

Once the course content is in place, you can set up additional options like drip scheduling to pace content delivery and customize the course player’s appearance to match your brand.

From the student’s view, Thinkific’s course player follows a familiar sidebar layout, displaying chapters and lessons on the left. 

I especially like the progress indicators displayed as round, colored stacked checkmarks in the sidebar, which give students a visual sense of their progress.

The video course player is spacious, with an option to expand it fully, removing the sidebar for an optimal viewing experience.

Thinkific Features

• Full video content hosting
• Supports various content formats including videos, text, PDFs, webinars, and multimedia files from software like Adobe Captivate and Articulate Storyline.
• Student assessments and certification
• Bulk content upload
• Simple landing page and sales funnel builder
• Course bundling
• Integrations through Thinkific Apps
• Affiliate program

Thinkific Pricing

Thinkific offers competitively priced plans. Starting at $49 per month, you can create unlimited courses, build a single community, and add up to five digital downloads, with no limit on the number of students. 

Thinkific previously offered a free plan, but it has since been discontinued. However, you can explore its features with a 14-day free trial to determine if it fits your needs. Here’s a simple breakdown of Thinkific’s pricing:

• Basic: $49 per month
• Start: $99 per month
• Grow: $199 per month
• Expand: $499 per month
• Plus: Custom pricing

Thinkific Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Thinkific for Online Course Creation

Thinkific strikes an impressive balance when it comes to ease of use, affordability, and functionality. It enables you to create advanced courses and includes robust student engagement features that many online course creation tools struggle to match. It also supports multiple payment processors, including Stripe and PayPal, and integrates with third-party checkout systems like Checkoutjoy. Choose Thinkific if you’re looking for a dedicated online course platform that offers excellent value for money across all its plans.

Also read: Best Thinkific alternatives.

#2: Circle

Best online course platform for building community-centric learning experiences.

A community is becoming an essential part of online courses. That’s because students no longer want to take a course and get a certificate.

Instead, they also want an online space where they can connect with like-minded course takers, learn together, and grow. That said, communities can encourage peer learning which can improve course completion rates and knowledge comprehension and application.

When it comes to building community-based learning experiences, no online course platform does better than Circle.

Circle is a versatile community platform that enables you to create dedicated spaces for courses, live coaching, discussions and exclusive digital resources such as ebooks, templates, audio, and cheat sheets.

Unlike traditional online course platforms, Circle makes the community the central focus of its offerings. Inside your course membership community, you can engage students through discussion boards, group chats, gamified rewards, and live events.

However, unlike dedicated online course platforms like Thinkific, Circle has limited student assessment tools. Its course builder only supports quizzes. But you won’t have to worry if issuing certificates or advanced student assessments isn’t something you’re looking to do in your courses.

Overview of Circle’s Course Design Interface and Student Experience

In Circle, courses are built around a community experience. Each course exists as its own “Space” within the larger community structure. You can choose from three main course formats:

1. Self-Paced – students get immediate access to all course materials with no set start or end times. 
2. Structured – content is released gradually based on each student’s enrollment date.
3. Scheduled – content releases on set dates for all students at once. 

Once you choose a course structure, Circle allows you to organize the curriculum with “Sections” and “Lessons.”

In each lesson, you can upload video files (up to 4GB per file) or embed content from external content hosting platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Circle course builder allows you to add files such as PDFs, cheat sheets, and templates to your course lessons to enhance learning. 

You can also:

• Enable comments for interaction within lessons.
• Enforce video completion, requiring students to watch at least 90% of each video before marking it as complete.
• Auto-advance students to the next lesson upon completion of the current one.

From a student’s perspective — Circle’s course player is simple and clean, with a right sidebar that lists the curriculum for easy navigation. 

Although it lacks the customizability of platforms like Kajabi, this minimalistic design reduces setup time making it ideal for quick course launches.

I’ve written a detailed Circle guide, so take a look to understand more about the platform.

Circle Features

• Customizable community spaces
• Paywalls
• Native live streaming
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android devices
• Course quizzes 
• Leaderboard and badges

Circle Pricing

Circle has four plans that support course creation capabilities:

• Professional: costs $99 per month
• Business: $219 per month
• Enterprise: $399 per month
• Circle Plus: custom (white-label community app)

Circle Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Circle for Online Course Creation

Circle best suits educators and coaches focused on building interactive, community-based courses. It allows you to establish a peer learning environment which can improve knowledge comprehension and course completion rates. If your priority is to cultivate an active learning community rather than merely deliver content, Circle is solution to go with.

Also read: Circle vs Kajabi.

#3: Teachable

Best online course platform for beginners.

Teachable is one of the most popular online course platforms because it allows you to launch your first course for free. Many platforms like Kajabi don’t offer free plans, and others, like Thinkific, have phased out theirs. With Teachable, you can build your first digital product without upfront costs — which is ideal if you’re validating your online course idea.

In terms of functionality, Teachable is more comprehensive. It accommodates different course delivery methods, including self-paced and drip-fed content. 

Additionally, Teachable provides greater flexibility for each lecture, allowing various content types—such as text, video, quizzes, and assignments—within a single lesson

You’re also not limited to creating online courses as you can also sell other digital products like membership subscriptions and digital downloads like e-books, templates, and PDF files.

Teachable also includes website-building tools that are basic but functional to build a storefront for your digital products. You can customize essential branding elements like colors, fonts, and logos.  
And if you know a thing or two about coding you can use its Power Editor which allows for advanced customization using HTML, Liquid, and CSS.

Additionally, Teachable enables you to build sales funnels to boost conversions. While they’re not as sophisticated as what you’d find in Leadpages, or ClickFunnels they’re effective, especially if you’re on a tight budget and not ready to invest in more advanced funnel-building tools.

Overview of Teachable’s Course Design Interface and Student Experience

Teachable provides a straightforward course builder. After signing up, you enter your course title and description, then organize your curriculum manually or use its AI assistant to streamline the initial setup.

Courses are structured in “Sections” and “Lessons.”

Each lesson can include various content formats like text, images, videos, PDFs, audio, code snippets, and embedded media. You can combine these media formats within a single lesson and even embed additional resources like PDFs or templates to aid further in learning. 

Once you’ve added your course materials you can add assessments in the form of quizzes and open-ended questions.

For open-ended responses, students can upload assignments directly through the platform — which is useful for instructors who want to assign tests and have students submit their work through the platform.

In addition to course content, Teachable enables other interactive features like student comments within lessons and live video sessions via Zoom integration. 

Like Thinkific, Teachable displays the curriculum in a classic sidebar layout in its course player that includes an active progress indicator. 

Teachable Features

• Course Assessments
• Diverse digital product delivery including courses, digital downloads, and live lessons.
• Course bundling
• Simple sales page and website  builder
• Native email marketing tools
• Robust checkout and payment processing
• Affiliate program for course promotion

Teachable Pricing

Teachable offers a free plan that allows you to launch an initial course without upfront costs. For advanced features like website customization and email marketing, Teachable requires upgrading to a paid plan:

• Basic: costs $59 per month
• Pro: costs $159 per month
• Pro+: costs $249 per month
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

Teachable Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Teachable for Online Course Creation

Teachable offers an accessible solution for building and delivering online courses. Its intuitive interface allows creators to design structured content with diverse media types, assessments, and supplementary resources without needing extensive technical skills. The course platform is also scalable with pricing tiers that cater to beginners as well as experienced instructors and large education businesses.

#4: Kajabi

Best all-in-one digital business platform for coaches and knowledge entrepreneurs.

Kajabi is a full-suite platform to help you build, market, and grow your digital course business. With Kajabi, you can create courses, build a website, set up marketing funnels, and manage email campaigns—all from a single platform. 

Kajabi has one of the best online course creation tools you’ll ever find. It lets you build digital courses, hold live sessions within lessons, create assessments and quizzes, and issue completion certificates

In addition to courses, Kajabi supports other digital products like coaching, downloadable resources, and podcasts, giving you the flexibility to diversify your offerings.

One of my favorite tools is Creator Studio. Essentially it lets you repurpose existing content into new formats across multiple social platforms. For example, you can clip highlights from webinars or cohort sessions and share them as engaging short videos on social platforms like TikTok, boosting your visibility and extending your reach without extra work.

Kajabi Features

• Sales funnel builder
• Website builder with numerous templates
• Support for live course sessions
• Student assessments and certification options
• Built-in email marketing
• Integrated payments via Kajabi, Stripe, and PayPal
• Mobile apps for creators and learners

Kajabi Pricing

Kajabi is not the cheapest online course platform you’ll find. But given the value it offers, it’s worth every penny. Here’s a simple breakdown of its paid plans. 

• Kickstarter: $69 per month
• Basic: $149 per month
• Growth: $199 per month
• Pro: $399 per month

Kajabi Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Kajabi to Build and Sell Online Courses

Kajabi is the best course platform for creators and coaches who want to develop, market, and sell digital products without relying on third-party integrations. It’s also reasonably priced and easy to use.

Also read: Circle vs. Kajabi.

#5: Mighty Networks

Best for building branded social communities for your digital courses.

Mighty Networks started as a community platform but has evolved to include online course creation tools. I’ve tested it myself, and the platform has impressed me continuously with its unique blend of community and course-building features. 

Mighty Networks provides more flexibility than most community-based course platforms. Within your main community, you can create a unified space for discussions, chats, events, and courses. 

Think of it as, a “mini-community” within the larger community, where each segment feels part of an interconnected experience rather than separate, compartmentalized sections. 

Inside your course spaces, you can directly engage members through community posts, polls, and quizzes, and even host live events like 1-on-1 coaching sessions, AMAs, and workshops.

This integration makes Mighty Networks a compelling course platform for building interactive, community-driven learning.

Overview of Mighty’s Course Design Interface and Student Experience

Mighty Networks has a simple online course creation tool. Similar to Circle, courses are part of a community space.

The platform offers two course templates — Cohort Course and Content-Only Course. Choose the Cohort Course if you’re looking to build a community-focused learning experience. But if you want to start with a standalone course and add community features later, go with the Content-Only option.

Once you’ve selected your preferred template, you can then structure your course curriculum with Sections and Lessons. You can either create the outline manually or use its AI tools for faster setup.

Within each lesson, Mighty Networks lets you add various media uploads (videos, images, PDFs) and external embeds (from platforms like Wistia, YouTube, and Vimeo).

Mighty Networks offers several lesson delivery settings, including Sequential (drip scheduling), Timed, and Scheduled.

Additionally, you can control when a student can mark a lesson as complete. For instance, you can require students to watch at least 70% of a video before advancing to the next lesson.

You can then engage your students with quizzes and live sessions, and award custom badges as they hit milestones or complete courses.

Once you’ve added your video lesson, the course player will be displayed at the center with the course curriculum on the left sidebar—just like many course platforms we’ve covered here. 

Although the customization options aren’t as extensive as platforms like Kajabi, Mighty Networks’ course player is intuitive and user-friendly, ensuring a smooth learning experience without distractions.

Mighty Networks Features

• Flexible and customizable community spaces
• Native live streaming
• Gamified learning
• Ambassadors program
• Drip courses
• Run challenges
• Community white-labelling 
• Branded apps
• Automations

Mighty Networks Pricing

Mighty Networks offers four paid packages, with course creation available starting from the mid-tier plans. Note that the basic Community plan does not include course-building tools:

• Community plan: $49 per month
• Course Plan: $119 per month
• Business Plan: $219 per month
• Path-to-Pro Plan: $360 per month

Mighty Networks Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Mighty for Online Course Creation

Mighty Networks is an excellent platform for creators looking to build interactive and engaging learning environments. It offers an unmatched blend of community and courses. It’s also highly customizable and offers extensive engagement features including polls, icebreakers, group chats, and gamification.

Also read: Mighty Networks vs. Circle.

6. Podia

Best for simplicity and affordability.

Podia is a no-nonsense platform for creators who want to sell digital products, courses, and coaching without paying a fortune. Like Kajabi, it provides an all-in-one setup but is geared toward affordability and simplicity.

To start with, Podia is built for simplicity. The interface is clean and intuitive, focusing on essentials. Just hit “Add Products” choose what you’re selling (courses, downloads, webinars, or coaching), and you’re ready to go. 

If you’re not sure where to start, Podia’s dashboard has a step-by-step tutorial pinned up top helping you quickly navigate the platform and launch your first product in no time.

What’s even better, you can bundle several products (say, a course, a free ebook, and a coaching session) and sell them as one allowing you to add value and increase your revenue per sale.

Podia includes email marketing right out of the gate. You can send broadcasts or set up automated sequences triggered by actions like new sign-ups, purchases, or tags. It’s simple and effective, letting you manage email marketing in one place.

However, I didn’t love its website and landing page builders. They work fine but with limited customization options. If you want to build unique landing pages that feel uniquely yours, you’ll want to consider other options like Leadpages or Unbounce. 

Regardless you get access to built-in blogging, so you can create content to promote your products and establish some authority without extra tools.

Podia Features

• Course assessments and certification
• Simple online store builder
• Built-in email marketing and blogging tools
• Ability to bundle multiple digital products
• Google analytics integration
• Affiliate marketing 

Podia Pricing

Podia is one of the most affordable online course platforms. Its entry-level plan (Mover) starts at $39 per month, covering website building, email marketing, digital product sales, and custom domain support. The Shaker plan which costs $89 per month adds advanced features, including affiliate program creation, PayPal integration, and free migration from other platforms.

Podia Pros and Cons

Bottom Line: Why Choose Podia to Build and Sell Online Courses

Podia is perfect for creators who want a straightforward digital products online. It’s affordable, effective, and covers the essentials without complicated systems.

Which Course Platform Should You Choose? Decision Guide

Choosing the right online course platform depends on your goals, budget, and specific requirements.

Are you a first-time creator?

• Go with Teachable or Thinkific if you need a robutst and intuitive platform to get started.

Do you plan to build a community around your course?

• Choose Circle or Mighty Networks if community engagement is a priority, with interactive spaces, gamification and live events.

Are marketing tools a key consideration?

• Opt for Kajabi for advanced email marketing, funnel building, and automation features.

Is budget a major constraint?

• Consider Podia if you need an affordable solution with essential course and digital product features.

Do you need SCORM compliance and interactive video tools?

• Go with LearnWorlds for compliance and multimedia tools suited for corporate training or high-engagement learning.

FAQs: Best Online Course Platforms

What is the best platform to sell online courses?

Kajabi and Thinkific are both excellent options depending on your budget and feature needs. Kajabi offers more advanced marketing features, while Thinkific is great for simplicity and ease of use.

Which platform is best for community-building?

Circle is ideal for fostering an engaged learning community. It includes interactive spaces, gamification, and live streaming options to keep learners connected.

Can I host live sessions on these platforms?

Yes, platforms like Circle and Kajabi support live sessions. Teachable also integrates with Zoom for live classes.

Which platform is the most affordable for beginners?

Podia and Fresh Learn both offer affordable entry-level plans, but Podia doesn’t have transaction fees, which can be a plus if you’re on a budget.