Best Platforms to Sell Online Courses (2026): 9 Options and What They Really Cost

The best platform to sell online courses in 2026 is Kajabi if you want one tool that runs your whole business, Thinkific if you’ll sell several courses and want no transaction fees, and Systeme.io if you’re starting with almost no budget. Teachable, Podia, LearnWorlds, Skool, Payhip and Udemy each win for a specific kind of creator, and we cover all of them below.

Price tags alone are misleading in this category. Several platforms advertise a cheap entry plan and then take 5% to 10% of every sale, while others charge more per month and take nothing. So instead of only listing plan prices, we worked out what each platform really costs at $500, $2,000 and $10,000 a month in course sales, using each company’s own pricing page as of November 2026.

Three picks for three kinds of creators:

Course Selling Platforms at a Glance

What Each Platform Costs at Your Sales Level

Here’s the cheapest suitable plan on each platform at three levels of monthly sales, assuming a $100 course and yearly billing where offered. Card processing of about 2.9% plus 30 cents hits you on almost every platform no matter which one you pick, so it isn’t included here.

Three things stand out. First, the cheap entry plans with a percentage fee stop being cheap quickly. Teachable Starter, Podia Mover, LearnWorlds Starter and Skool Hobby all cost more than the next plan up once you pass roughly $500 to $1,000 a month. Second, Systeme.io is remarkably cheap at every level, though its course tools are simpler than the specialists’. Third, Udemy’s share of organic sales makes it the most expensive “platform” by far once you’re selling, which is why most creators use it for exposure rather than income.

Kajabi looks expensive in this table, but it’s the only platform here that includes full email marketing, a website, funnels and a community in its price. If you’d otherwise pay separately for those, the gap shrinks.

Reviews of the 9 Best Course Selling Platforms

1. Kajabi: Best All-in-One Platform

Price: Basic $143, Growth $199, Pro $399 (monthly rate on annual billing). Fee: none.

Kajabi runs your entire course business from one dashboard: courses, coaching, memberships, a website, email marketing with unlimited sends, funnels, checkout and a community. Customers get a mobile app for iPhone and Android, and the top tier lets you publish a custom-branded app under your business name. Kajabi takes no cut of sales, and its pricing page pitches Basic for creators making their first $10,000 a year and Growth for those heading toward $50,000.

The downside is the starting price after a January 2026 increase, plus a five-product limit on Basic. It’s best for coaches and creators who already have an audience and want to stop juggling separate tools.

2. Thinkific: Best Value for Creators With Many Products

Price: $82, $164 or $374 a month billed yearly. Fee: none.

Thinkific allows unlimited courses, digital downloads and coaching products on every plan, includes completion certificates and communities from the start, and gives you more admin seats than most rivals. Its 30-day free trial is long enough to build and launch a real course before paying.

Keep an eye on the cap of 10,000 active students per site on the standard tiers and the $199-a-month fee for a branded mobile app. For course businesses with several products and a small team, it’s the strongest value in this list.

3. Teachable: Best for Launching a First Course Cheaply

Price: $29, $69 or $139 a month billed yearly. Fee: 7.5% on Starter, none above it.

Teachable is quick to set up, and its built-in Teachable Payments takes care of international checkout and collects sales tax for you. Students get free mobile apps on every plan, and there’s no limit on how many students you can have. The Starter plan is one of the cheapest ways to start selling.

Product caps of 5, 10 and 50 are the main limitation, and certificates only come with the $139 Growth plan. The break-even point sits near $533 in monthly sales: past that, the 7.5% fee on Starter adds up to more than the $40 difference to Builder.

4. Podia: Best for Courses Plus Digital Downloads

Price: $42, $84 or $150 a month billed yearly. Fee: 5% on Mover, none above it.

Podia lets you sell courses, digital downloads, coaching and community memberships from one simple storefront, with built-in email marketing. Its pricing page includes a 14-day free trial with no card required.

Email subscriber limits are low, at 100, 500 and 1,000 on the three plans, so creators with an existing list will likely keep a separate email tool. Podia suits solo creators who sell a mix of small products and want a clean, easy setup.

5. LearnWorlds: Best for Interactive and Professional Training

Price: $44, $79 or $249 a month billed yearly. Fee: $5 per enrollment on Starter only.

LearnWorlds focuses on the learning experience. It supports interactive video, SCORM uploads, certificates, learning paths and an AI course builder, and its higher plans add white-labeling, SSO and client groups for organizations. The 30-day trial gives access to core features.

Its Starter plan leaves out key selling tools like subscriptions and bundles, so most creators will need Pro Trainer. It’s best for trainers, coaches selling to companies and anyone who wants more interactive courses than video plus quizzes.

6. Systeme.io: Best Free and Low-Cost Option

Price: free, or $17, $47 or $97 a month. Fee: none.

Systeme.io’s free plan includes one course, up to 2,000 contacts, three sales funnels, unlimited email sends and a custom domain, with no card required and no expiry. The $17 Startup plan raises that to five courses and 5,000 contacts.

Course tools are more basic than Thinkific’s or LearnWorlds’, and the design options are simpler. For testing a course idea or running a small business on a tight budget, though, nothing else here comes close on cost.

7. Skool: Best for Community-First Courses

Price: $9 or $99 a month. Fee: 10% on Hobby, 2.9% on Pro.

Skool puts the community at the center, with courses, live calls and a leaderboard built around member engagement. Both plans include unlimited members, courses and videos, and the only difference is the fee on each sale.

The $9 Hobby plan looks cheap, but the 10% fee makes Pro the better deal once you pass about $1,300 a month in sales. Skool is best for paid communities and cohort-style programs where members learn from each other, not for polished self-paced courses.

8. Payhip: Best for Selling Courses Alongside Digital Products

Price: free, $29 or $99 a month. Fee: 5%, 2% or none.

Payhip is a simple online store for digital products, memberships and courses, with every feature on every plan. You only choose between a higher monthly fee and a lower transaction fee. That makes the free plan a low-risk way to start.

Its course tools are basic compared with dedicated course platforms. It’s a good fit for creators who mainly sell ebooks, templates or presets and want to add a course without moving to a new platform.

9. Udemy: Best for Reaching a Built-In Audience

Price: free to publish. Fee: Udemy keeps 63% of organic sales and 3% of sales you bring in.

Think of Udemy as a store you rent shelf space in rather than a platform you run. Its revenue share pays instructors 97% when a student buys through the instructor’s own coupon or referral link, and 37% when the sale comes from Udemy’s marketplace or ads. Udemy also sets frequent sitewide sales that push most prices toward $10 to $20.

In exchange, you get access to tens of millions of learners. Many creators use Udemy to build an audience and credibility, then sell premium programs on their own platform.

Costs That Don’t Show Up on Pricing Pages

The monthly plan price is only part of what selling courses costs. Before you commit, budget for these as well.

Card processing. Teachable quotes a domestic card rate of 2.9% + 30 cents on its pricing page, and Thinkific Payments starts at 2.9%. Stripe and PayPal charge similar rates on Payhip, Gumroad and the rest. On a $100 course, that’s roughly $3.20 a sale wherever you sell.

Sales tax and VAT. Selling digital products to buyers in other US states or abroad can create tax obligations. Some platforms collect and remit tax for you through their own payment systems, while others leave it to you or a third-party tool. Check how your platform handles this before your first international sale.

Add-ons. A branded mobile app, extra admin seats, more email contacts or advanced automations often sit on higher plans or cost extra. A branded Thinkific app, for instance, costs $199 extra each month.

Your other tools. If your platform doesn’t include email marketing, a website or a community, you’ll pay for those separately. That’s the main reason an all-in-one tool can work out cheaper than its sticker price suggests.

Features Worth Checking Before You Sign Up

Most platforms on this list can host videos and take payments. The differences show up in the details, so run through this list during your trial.

• Checkout options. Can you offer payment plans, subscriptions, bundles, order bumps and coupons on the plan you’re buying?
• Student data ownership. Can you export your students’ names and emails at any time? On your own platform you should be able to; on Udemy you can’t.
• Drip and access rules. Can you release lessons on a schedule, lock modules until a quiz is passed, or set access to expire?
• Certificates. Some platforms include them on every plan and others reserve them for upper tiers. Teachable, for example, only offers them on Growth.
• Mobile learning. Do students get a free app, and can they download lessons to watch offline?
• Affiliates. A built-in affiliate program lets past students and partners promote your course for a commission.
• Integrations. Check that your email tool, analytics and Zapier or webhooks connect without workarounds.

Your Own Platform or a Marketplace?

This is the first decision to make, because it shapes everything else.

Your own platform (Kajabi, Thinkific, Teachable and the rest) means you set your prices, own your student list and email subscribers, and keep most of each sale. The catch is that you bring every student yourself, through social media, email, search, partnerships or ads.

A marketplace like Udemy brings students to you, but it controls pricing, keeps a large share of organic sales and doesn’t give you students’ email addresses. You’re building on someone else’s audience.

For most creators, the answer is your own platform, with a marketplace as an optional top-of-funnel channel. If you have no audience at all yet, publishing a smaller course on Udemy can be a useful way to test demand before you invest in your own platform.

How to Choose the Right Platform

Common Mistakes When Choosing a Course Platform

• Choosing on the entry price alone. A $9 or $29 plan with a 7.5% to 10% fee can cost several times more than a higher plan once you’re selling.
• Ignoring product and student limits. Teachable caps products, Thinkific caps active students on standard plans and Kajabi Basic allows five products. Check which limit you’ll hit first.
• Paying for features you won’t use. If you already love your email tool, you may not need an all-in-one platform.
• Forgetting migration costs. Moving later means rebuilding courses and re-inviting students, so it’s worth choosing a platform you can grow into.
• Skipping the trial. Every paid platform here offers a trial or free plan. Build one module and run a test purchase before committing.

FAQs About the Best Platform to Sell Online Courses

Which platform should a beginner use for a first course?

Teachable is the easiest paid option for a first course, and Systeme.io is the best free option. Both let you start selling quickly without a large upfront cost.

Which course platform has no transaction fees?

Kajabi, Thinkific and Systeme.io charge no platform transaction fees on any plan. Teachable, Podia and LearnWorlds drop their fees once you move past the entry plan.

Can I sell online courses for free?

Yes. Systeme.io and Payhip both have free plans, and Udemy is free to publish on. Payment processors still charge their standard card fees.

Is Kajabi worth it compared with Thinkific?

Kajabi pays off when you actually replace other tools with its built-in email marketing, website and funnels instead of paying for separate tools. If you only need course hosting, Thinkific is cheaper.

Should I sell my course on Udemy or my own website?

Your own website, for most creators, because you keep more of each sale and own your customer list. Udemy is useful for reaching new learners and testing demand.

What does selling an online course cost in total?

You can start for $0 on Systeme.io or Payhip. Most dedicated course platforms cost $29 to $150 a month at entry level, plus card processing of around 3% per sale. All-in-one tools like Kajabi start at $143 a month.

Can I move my course to another platform later?

Yes, but it takes work. You’ll usually re-upload videos, rebuild lessons and quizzes, and import your student list by CSV. Recurring subscriptions can be harder to move, so ask both platforms how they handle billing migration first.

Bottom Line: Match the Platform to Your Stage