Online course platforms are types of learning management systems (LMS) that provide users with access to digital classes.
There are multiple platform options available to online course creators for selling their courses.
You can either go with an online course marketplace like Udemy or you can build your own course website using a self-hosted solution.
The e-learning and online course market are soaring to new heights and estimated to be worth $325 billion by 2025.
With higher education shifting from lectures to virtual classrooms, you can also profit from online course platforms.
BEST ONLINE COURSE PLATFORMS IN 2020
1. Thinkific
Thinkific is my first choice because It's indeed the only platform you need to create and sell your online courses.
I recommend the Thinkific platform as my #1 choice for course creators and entrepreneurs who are serious about creating, marketing, and selling their online courses.
You can easily integrate Thinkific with over 1,500 apps by using Zapier without the need for a WordPress plugin.
By hooking up with your email provider, you can send highly targeted campaigns to the right segments of your audience at the right time.
You can sign up and get a One-Month Free Trial for their most popular Pro Plan. If you want more course sales from the start, this plan gives you the ability to create unlimited courses. It also features memberships and bundles, advanced pricing options, landing pages, certificates, and marketing tools.
Get started today with a One-Month Free Trial of their Pro Plan with my special link below.
2. SkillShare
Skillshare is a large marketplace focused on creative education. Topics include anything from graphic design and music production to fine art and cooking.
They also have classes on more technical topics like data science, analytics, and e-commerce. Skillshare has over 24,000 lessons, more than 4 million students, and over $5 million paid to teachers.
Skillshare is free for creating a premium course experience. They pay instructors $10 for paid membership referrals and monthly royalties for each minute of content watched.
Lessons on web design, email marketing, photography, painting, personal branding, and creative topics are the most popular.
The quality of the classes is reliable. Skillshare prides itself on professional, high-quality courses. They can help with outlining your course based on the needs of their audience, and can also assist with production.
Sign up with Skillshare and get 2 months of free classes.
3. Teachable
BEST PLATFORM FOR BEGINNERS ($0-399/MO)
Teachable is my #3 choice for e-learning platforms. By creating an account, you’re joining 22,000 other instructors creating excellent teaching platforms for their students.
You can choose to use the online course platform for free (with $1 + $0.10 for all transactions) or select one of their three plans ranging from $29/month to $399/month.
I recommend their most popular Professional Plan at $79/month as it’s the first plan with zero transaction fees. It also has graded quizzes, custom completion certificates, advanced website theme customizations, and support for up to 5 admin users.
Get started with your Teachable plan and you’ll get a premium course creation bundle.
4. LearnDash
THE MOST TRUSTED LMS FOR WORDPRESS USERS
LearnDash is an impressive online course platform that integrates with WordPress. Some big websites using LearnDash include Yoast, Infusionsoft, the University of Michigan, and WP Elevation.
One of their first helpful features that interact me is their “Focus Mode,” which blocks out all distractions when students run through a course.
Their Gradebook* technology takes LMS to another level. This technology gives students an overall grade based on quiz and homework scores, creating a weighted average for teachers to review.
If you’re a teacher looking for grading systems that compete with the features of college curriculums, LearnDash is a fantastic choice.
Get started today with full 30-day money-back guarantee on their annual plans.
5. Kajabi
BEST HIGH-END ONLINE COURSE PLATFORM FOR PROFESSIONALS ($119/MONTH)
Kajabi is a high-powered course builder for in-depth courses. It features powerful course site themes, robust email marketing automation, upsells and digital products, a customizable checkout, and blogging functionality.
If you’re an established business and want to try one of the more advanced platforms on the market, Kajabi is a solid choice.
Start your free 14-day trial.
6. LearnWorlds
SELL PROFESSIONAL, SOCIAL, ENGAGING COURSES ON ONE PLATFORM ($24/MONTH)
Learnworlds is at the future of eLearning and has everything you need to create and sell an online course.
You can use their library of responsive templates and styles to build your course site and even add additional information pages – About, Pricing, Contact, etc. – all easy to make with Learnworlds.
When you want to market your course, you can use a full custom domain and white-label your content. For example, Learnworlds will create your custom mobile app for your course and provide coupons and discounts to market to your students.
They offer social media integration, analytics to optimize your sales, a strong knowledge base, and 24/7 support.
Learnworlds is a great online course builder and my overall #6 choice.
Get a free 30-day trial at my link below.
CONCLUSION
The first step to sell online courses is to start with your end goal in mind and work backward. How are you going to transform your students’ lives and how will they be different once they’ve completed your course?
You should start your course by planning the transformation your students will achieve.
To understand what your students want to learn, hang out in forums related to your topic, and look at the top questions people are asking. Quora is an excellent place for this.