With over 5 billion internet users worldwide, businesses are now tapping into E-commerce to expand market reach, which was inaccessible through traditional brick-and-mortar stores. However, success doesn’t end with merely establishing an E-commerce website. 

Tools are needed to do well in this competitive market. One tool is the Content Management System (CMS), which provides the framework and functionality needed for businesses to create, optimize and manage their online stores. 

WordPress dominates the CMS market, and surely using it will help in your business success. However, it takes the right and proven strategies to boost your online store, and this article is here for that. 

Why Choose WordPress for an E-commerce Website?

In the early days of WordPress, they were used primarily for blogging, but they have been adding more features and plugin libraries. Now, 43.5% of all websites are using WordPress, which shows its influence in content creation and digital management worldwide. 

Source

Among other CMS platforms, WordPress dominates the market – holding 62.6% shares. This highlights the benefits WordPress offers to its users.

• Flexibility and Customization

WordPress offers customization options through its library of themes and plugins. The open-source nature of WordPress allows deep customization, where businesses can create features and functionalities tailored to their branding.

WordPress, being an open-source software, is free to use. Though there are premium themes and plugins that can be bought, they are more affordable than other e-commerce platforms when it comes to subscription fees. 

Google now uses mobile versions of a site’s content, which makes mobile-friendly websites important. WordPress themes are mobile-responsive, making online stores seamless across all devices. Also, this design will allow businesses to cater for users who prefer smartphones and tablets when shopping.  

WordPress comes with search engine optimization (SEO), where businesses can improve the visibility of their stores in search engine results. You can customize links, meta tags, and mobile responsiveness to enhance the website’s SEO performance.

As the leading CMS platform, you’ll have access to an active and vast community of developers, designers and users who can provide resources, including tutorials, documentation, forums, and professional support.

Setting up Your WordPress E-commerce Store

Businesses should establish a WordPress-based E-commerce store — from choosing a hosting provider to selecting themes and plugins — to set up their online business for success.

1. Choose the Right Hosting Provider

Cyberattacks are increasing due to reliance on IT systems, and e-commerce is their prime target because they handle and store sensitive information – from customers’ names, payment card data, and addresses to birthdates. This is why choosing the right hosting provider is important for security and speed. 

A good host helps make sure that your website has fast loading times to retain customers and improve conversion rates, as a slow website negatively impacts sales because of high bounce rates. Choose a hosting provider that provides security features, such as SSL certificates, firewalls, and regular backups that protect your data.

2. Install and Configure E-commerce Plugins

After choosing the hosting provider, install the e-commerce plugins needed for the functionality of your website. Select a responsive, fast-loading customizable theme that is mobile-friendly, such as Storefront, Shopkeeper and Astra, as they are known for ease of customization and speed – a significant portion of online shopping on mobile devices.

3. Select a Suitable E-commerce Theme

A theme will make a store appealing to the users, reflecting its brand. You can use WooCommerce, a leading WordPress plugin. With it, you can set up product pages, manage inventory, handle payments, and customize aspects of your stores.

Other plugins are also plugins available for your needs, such as:

• Easy Digital Downloads – selling digital products
• WP eCommerce – more traditional e-commerce experience
• Ecwid – integrating store with social media platforms

Optimizing Your WordPress Store for Conversions

After setting up your WordPress E-commerce store, you need to optimize it for conversions, as one of any other business’s goals is to enhance UX and increase sales conversions. Strategies for optimization include:

Craft a Seamless User Experience (UX)

Site structure and navigation play a role in creating a seamless user experience (UX), affecting how customers interact with your website. Key points in improving these are having simple navigation, effective product pages and a streamlined checkout process.

• Simple Navigation: Ensure that your website is intuitive. Organize your menu and make essential information accessible. Your structure should also let users find what they need easily with just a few clicks.
• Effective Product Pages: Product pages should be visually appealing and informative by incorporating high-quality images, detailed descriptions, pricing, and customer reviews, helping customers make decisions.
• Streamlined Checkout Process: Customers won’t complete the checkout process if it takes too long, so simplify it by minimizing the number of steps and using autofill options on forms and multiple payment methods for convenience.

Utilize Effective Call-to-Actions

Call-to-actions are buttons on your site, telling customers the action to take and driving sales to the e-commerce site. Make your CTAs stand out using contrasting colors and clear action-oriented text, which encourages users to take action. For example, “Add to Cart”, “Get Started”, or “Buy Now”.

You may also experiment with different formats and placements using A/B testing to determine which version yields the highest conversion rates based on real user data.

Implement Trust Signals and Security Measures

Building trust with potential customers through trust signals and security measures helps increase conversions to your e-commerce store, as customers will feel confident in their purchasing decisions.

• Make sure that your website has SSL certification for secure connections of transactions. You may also reassure customers about their safety during shopping by displaying security badges and trust seals.
• Positive feedback can influence potential buyers’ decisions as it establishes the trust and credibility of your brand, so encourage customers to leave reviews.
• Consider money-back guarantees, easy return policies, and transparent shipping information to alleviate concerns about purchasing from an online store.

Ensuring Optimal Store Performance

A well-performing website not only enhances customer satisfaction but also encourages repeat visits, increasing conversions and sales. Maintaining high performance for your WordPress e-commerce store provides a positive user experience and favorable search engine rankings.

Regular Site Maintenance and Updates

Regular updates and maintenance help protect your site from vulnerabilities and improve performance. Neglecting these can slow loading times, broken features and security risks.

You can use tools (Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom) to monitor site performance, as they provide insights into loading speeds, help identify any issues affecting user experience, and suggest improvements.

Managing and Securing Customer Data

As customers trust you with sensitive information, you should maintain high standards of data protection that not only comply with regulations but also build customer confidence.

• Comply with regulations by being transparent about data collection and usage practices.
• Regularly back up your website to safeguard against data loss that may potentially be due to hacking or technical failures.
• Schedule backups based on update frequency–daily for active sites or weekly for less frequently updated ones.

Scaling Your WordPress E-commerce Store

As your business grows, scaling your WordPress e-commerce store becomes essential to meet increasing demand and ensure a seamless shopping experience for customers.

Expand Product Lines and Categories

Expanding your offerings is a natural way to scale your e-commerce store. You can identify market trends and opportunities and manage inventory efficiently to meet customer demand.

• Identify market trends and opportunities: Conduct regular market research, analyze customer feedback and observe competitors to stay attuned to market trends. You can use Google Trends and social media analytics to spot emerging opportunities for your brand.
• Managing inventory: Tracking your inventory can help you streamline operations and prevent stockouts or overstock situations. Inventory management tools like TradeGecko or Zoho can help you track stock levels, manage orders, and forecast demands.

Enhance Site Performance for High-traffic

As your business grows, your e-commerce store visitors will also increase. Optimizing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and leveraging caching help handle this high traffic and maintain optimal performance. Your site should be able to handle spikes in traffic without compromising user experience.

A Content Delivery Network allows users to access data from the nearest location, which reduces latency. Additionally, a clean database helps improve site speed to cater to higher traffic. Consider removing unnecessary data such as spam comments, post revisions, and unused plugins.

Integrate Third-Party Platforms and Services

Integrating third-party platforms improves your site’s functionality and user experience.

• Select payment gateways that offer flexibility and security.
• Make sure that shipping options are easy to configure.
• Provide real-time tracking information.

CRM can also help track customer interactions, manage leads, and automate marketing efforts. This allows businesses to tailor communications based on customer behavior and maintain customer relationships effectively.

Case Studies: Successful E-commerce Sites Built with WordPress

Lugz is a footwear brand that rebuilds its website using WordPress and WooCommerce to maximize performance, efficiency and conversions. With these, they were able to streamline enterprise resource planning integration and minimize time to create data structure and import product data.

French Today helps you speak French in actual conversions. This successful e-commerce website is powered by WordPress and WooCommerce sold over 20 recorded audiobooks with a vast collection of blog posts on language and culture in France.

Final Thoughts: WordPress Is a Go-to CMS for E-commerce

WordPress offers e-commerce businesses opportunities to build, optimize, and scale online stores successfully. With the right strategies, it can be a go-to CMS for e-commerce ventures looking to thrive in the competitive digital marketplace. 

Start your journey to e-commerce success and explore the potential of WordPress to power your online store today!

Featured image by Shoper on Unsplash

While there are no shortcuts to success, there are shortcuts to a more efficient workflow. We may not think about them much, but these keyboard shortcuts have helped millions of people make their daily—even hourly—workflows faster and more efficient. 

Some of our favorite shortcuts at WordPress.com help us bypass menus, create post drafts with a single click, quickly access bulk management options, and effortlessly find useful blocks in the editor. Let’s take a look and see how you can use these same shortcuts right now.

1. Command Palette with ctrl+K (or cmd+K)

First up is the Command Palette—think of it like a Swiss Army knife for your site. 

What It Does: Instead of clicking around menus and hunting for the right setting or page, you can press ctrl+K on Windows or cmd+K on Mac to instantly open a WordPress-specific search bar. From there, you can access pages, posts, settings, and even plugins. It’s your shortcut to just about anything you need in WordPress. The Command Palette is accessible when you are logged into your site and have a Block theme activated. 

How to Use It: Press ctrl+K on Windows or cmd+K on Mac to open the command palette. Start typing what you’re looking for, like “new post” or “theme settings,” and hit enter when the option pops up. Voilà! You’re instantly taken where you need to go.

Productivity Boost: This shortcut is a lifesaver when you’re deep in your workflow and don’t want to break your concentration by clicking through menus. It’s especially useful for developers or site owners juggling multiple tasks.

2. Quick Post drafts from the toolbar

If you’ve ever been struck by a brilliant idea while browsing your site, you know the frustration of having to navigate to the dashboard to jot it down. Enter the Quick Post Draft shortcut! This lets you start a new post directly from the admin toolbar without breaking your flow.

What It Does: Start drafting a post from anywhere on your WordPress site (while logged in) by clicking the “+ New” icon in the admin toolbar and selecting “New Post.” No more navigating to the dashboard, and no more interruptions.

How to Use It: While logged in, click the “+” icon in the toolbar, select “New Post,” and start typing. That’s it! You’re already in draft mode, ready to get your thoughts down. Simply save the post as a draft for later, or let those creative juices fly right then and there.

Productivity Boost: This is perfect for those moments when inspiration strikes, whether you’re looking at your homepage or checking your latest blog post. Instead of wasting time going to the dashboard and clicking through menus, you’re writing instantly.

3. Bulk Edit posts, pages, or products

If you’re managing a large WordPress site with a lot of content, you’re probably familiar with the hassle of updating multiple posts or products, one by one. The Bulk Edit feature can save you loads of time by letting you edit several posts, pages, or WooCommerce products all at once.

Note: In order to use the Bulk Edit feature for Posts, ensure you’re using the Classic view. Follow this support guide for more details.

What It Does: You can modify categories, tags, status, author, and more across multiple items in just a few clicks. Whether you’re managing a blog, an eCommerce store, or a portfolio, bulk editing makes site management much faster.

How to Use It: Go to the Posts, Pages, or Products section of your WordPress dashboard. 

Select the items you want to update using the checkboxes on the left-hand side, choose “Bulk actions,” then select “Edit.” Clickk Apply.

From there, you can change multiple settings at once, including categories, tags, and visibility.

Productivity Boost: This shortcut is a game-changer for anyone managing content-heavy or product-rich sites. You can handle mass updates without touching each individual post or product, making it a must-have for developers, content managers, and site owners.

4. Use / to search for blocks in Gutenberg

If you’re using the Gutenberg block editor, you might have found yourself scrolling endlessly through the block library to find the exact block you need. Well, guess what? You don’t have to! The slash-command (/) lets you search for any block instantly, speeding up your workflow.

What It Does: Typing / followed by the block name (like /image or /heading) pulls up the block you need instantly and without endless scrolling.

How to Use It: While in the Gutenberg editor, type / followed by the name of the block you want to add (e.g., /image or /quote). Select the block from the dropdown, and boom, you’re good to go!

Productivity Boost: This shortcut is a massive time-saver for anyone working in the block editor. Whether you’re building complex layouts or writing a blog post, it eliminates the need to manually search for blocks.

Ready to save time with keyboard shortcuts?

There you have it—four simple yet powerful shortcuts that can dramatically improve your WordPress experience. Whether you’re looking to speed up content creation, navigate more efficiently, or manage large batches of posts, these tips will help you work smarter, not harder. 

And remember, WordPress is packed with these kinds of hidden gems, so don’t hesitate to explore and find even more ways to streamline your workflow.

Time is precious—let WordPress help you make the most of it. Looking for a powerful managed WordPress host? Check out WordPress.com’s plans that offer unmatched speed, unstoppable security, and unlimited site visitors.

Looking for the best online course platform to launch your first online course? 

Research suggests that the US online learning industry will hold $687 billion of value by 2030. The big market right? Making money by teaching online can be a hot trick in 2024. 

If you are an online course creator or knowledge entrepreneur, you must look for the right online course builder. 

Today, I’m here with the top 20 online course platforms to help you create and sell online courses. At the same time, I’ll also tell you everything you need to know about online course creation in 2024. 

Let’s dive in!

What is an Online Course Platform?

An online course platform is a collection of tools and services to help knowledge entrepreneurs create, manage, and sell online courses.

The main goal of an online course creation platform is to make the course management process easier for you. Most platforms need limited to no prior technical expertise to launch courses. 

In addition to courses, there are options to manage communities, memberships, coachings, email campaigns, sales funnel, etc inside one platform. There are several types of course platforms available. 

Why Do You Need An Online Course Platform?

There are some crucial reasons behind using an online course builder. 

1. Easy to Get Started: Using a dedicated course platform makes things easier. You will get an easy setup on these platforms. Most of the hosted platforms come with drag-and-drop course builders which makes it simple for anyone to create a course online without any coding skills.

2. Monetization Opportunity: You can easily earn money by selling courses online with the course platforms. The platforms let you market courses, and other digital products, and accept payment from customers.

3. Integrations with Useful Tools: Many platforms integrate with several third-party tools. These tools automate online teaching tasks for you. For instance, email marketing integrations can notify users when new lessons are available.

4. eLearning Features: Online course platforms come with built-in features to engage students. For example, the tools offer interactive features like drip content, gamification, badges, certificates, etc. 

5. Progress Tracking & Other Metrics: Most platforms allow instructors to monitor students’ progress and other key metrics. So, you can easily see valuable insights for course improvement.

Types of Online Course Platforms

There are different types of online course creation platforms available. Think about Udemy or Coursera. Or, think about Kajabi or Thinkific. Seems different, right? 

Let’s know the various online course platforms available for building an online course:  

1. Dedicated Online Course Platform

These specialized course platforms are tailored for hosting, building, and marketing online courses. They are dedicatedly designed as a standalone platform. 

Example:

Platforms like Thinkific, Kajabi, Teachable, and EzyCourse are examples of the best online course platforms for hosted or standalone functionality. These platforms typically offer features specifically suited for course creation. 

2. All-in-one Course Hosting Platforms 

These platforms provide a comprehensive solution that extends beyond course creation. In addition to offering course creation tools, they offer hosting services, marketing features, payment support, community creation, etc.  

Example: 

Top online course platforms like Kajabi, EzyCourse, and Podia can be examples of all-in-one online platforms. 

3. Enterprise level Learning Management Systems (LMS)

Standalone LMS platforms are tailored for extensive learning management, especially for online universities and colleges or training programs. These platforms are often customized to suit the specific requirements of each institution. 

Example: 

iSpring Learn, TalentLMS, LearnWorlds, etc are good examples of enterprise-level Learning Management Systems (LMS). 

4. Online Course Marketplaces

Online course marketplaces are platforms where you can upload your courses for students to access. You can list your courses without any upfront investment and benefit from the platform’s existing user base. While these marketplaces offer free listings, they typically charge a percentage of your course revenue. 

Example: 

Platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Skillshare, edX, Khan Academy, etc. 

5. WordPress LMS Plugins

If you have a WordPress site, you can host your online courses directly on it using WordPress LMS plugins. You can seamlessly integrate with your WordPress site to create and manage courses without migration.

Example: 

Popular WordPress LMS options include Tutor LMS, LearnDash, and LifterLMS.  

How to Choose the Best Online Course Platform

Before choosing the best course platform, consider some key factors. First of all, as an online course creator, you should keep these things in mind- 

There are plenty of course platforms available in 2024. The right platforms should include these aspects: 

1. Several content/course types like text, video, audio, quizzes, assignments, etc. 

2. User-friendly interface offering an easy-to-use interface and a responsive design

3. Optimized landing page and website builder

4. Easy customization options according to your branding needs. 

5. Marketing and sales features like email marketing, automation, lead generation, payment processing, and affiliate programs

6. Branded LMS mobile apps

7. Third-party integrations

8. Detailed analytics tools

9. Pricing plans according to your budget

10. Scalability of the platform

20 Best Online Course Platforms Reviewed in 2024 

Now let’s get a detailed overview of the top 20 best platforms to create online courses. I am going to compare the platforms with important aspects like features, pros, cons, pricing, etc. 

1. EzyCourse (Best all-in-one Online Course Platform) 

EzyCourse is an all-in-one online course platform for courses, communities, memberships, etc. It’s a feature-rich, budget-friendly, and easy-to-use platform to simplify the course creation process. 

If you are looking for a platform to sell online courses, build a vibrant community, and monetize with memberships, then EzyCourse will be helpful for you. EzyCourse is a feature-rich platform that offers 16+ revenue streams. It includes digital or physical products, chats, live events, appointments, and many more. 

The EzyCourse community feature lets you create a Facebook-like community inside the platform to boost student engagement. Moreover, the Site Builder of the platform is highly customizable. What’s more, you will get a branded mobile app for offering courses on the go.

Notably, EzyCourse comes with tons of course features including live lessons, gamification, quizzes and assignments, drip content, bundling, coupons, cross-selling and upselling, etc. Also, you can see detailed analytics directly from your dashboard. EzyCourse is rich in email marketing options that help you send and automate emails with ease. 

All these features have made EzyCourse one of the top online course platforms for creating and selling online courses. And more importantly, EzyCourse is one of the low-cost course creation platforms starting at $31/month.  

EzyCourse Features

• 20+ revenue streams

• 13 lesson types, 7 different pricing options in courses 

• 250+ amazing pre-made templates

• Drip-scheduled courses system

• Native certificate builder 

• Built-in advanced and graded quizzing system

• Smart upsells to make a more profitable sale

• Group or private chat options 

• Real-time push notifications & popup notifications

• Complete white-label branding 

• Branded Android & iOS mobile app

• Built-in email marketing features 

• A smooth, one-click magic checkout process

• Plenty of third-party integration

• And many more

EzyCourse Pros

• All-in-one platform 

• Feature-rich course builder 

• User-friendly and easy-to-use

• Cost-effective course platform 

• Webhook integration to connect with platforms like Zapier, Pabbly, etc

• Extra add-ons to extend functionalities

• Extremely interactive platform with communities & chat options 

• Accept payment with all popular payment getaways like PayPal, Stripe, Google Pay, AliPay, FastSpring, Razorpay, etc.

• Useful email marketing feature to send and automate email 

• 24/7 dedicated customer support

EzyCourse Cons

EzyCourse Pricing

You can start exploring the online course platform with a free sign-up. There are four different pricing plans if you pay yearly-

• Basic plan – starts at $35/month

• Pro plan – starts at $99/month

• Unlimited plan – starts at $199/month

• Elite plan – starts at $299/month

                                                                                                                                                                         

2. Thinkific (Best Online Course Platform for Features)

Thinkific is one of the best platforms for creating online courses, communities, and memberships easily. The platform comes with customizable course templates to let you design your courses. 

Thinkific offers some course creation features such as live lessons,  quizzes, assignments, easy content import, etc. Plus, options like bundles, coupons, and cross-selling enhance monetization opportunities in courses. 

Coming with a branded mobile app, Thinkific lets you offer your courses on mobile under your brand. Moreover, there are live lessons and events for real-time interaction and engagement.

However, Thinkific has some limitations. It doesn’t offer funnel features, or native email marketing, lacks community features, blogging tools, etc. Also, there are a few negative feedbacks on the customer support of the platform. 

Thinkific Features

• Pre-designed templates available

• Intuitive drag-and-drop course creator

• Efficient bulk content import 

• Engage students through live lessons and webinars

• Customizable branded mobile app 

• Thinkific App Store for various third-party tools

• Thinkific Community building feature

• Options for monetization through membership programs

Thinkific Pros

• All-in-one course platform

• No transaction fees

• User-friendly intuitive interface 

• Seamless integration with various platforms like Zapier, Mailchimp, PayPal, etc.

• Plenty of resources to create online training, customer examples, help centers, etc. 

Thinkific Cons

• High prices of premium plans

• Lacks funnel feature

• No built-in blogging tool

• Lacks native gamification elements

• Lacks native email marketing integrations

• Limited design options

• Limited features in the Thinkific mobile app 

• Basic community feature

• Poor customer support

Thinkific Pricing

The most popular Thinkific plan is the Grow Plan at $149 per month. Thinkific comes with six different pricing plans, including –

Looking for the best online course platform other than Thinkific? Check out the 20 Affordable Thinkific Alternatives in 2024. 

 

3. Teachable (Best Platform for Creating an Online School with Marketing)

Are you looking for a beginner-friendly free online course platform? Teachable can be a good one for you.

Teachable helps you to take courses, coaching, and digital downloads. This is a feature-rich course builder offering features like AI integration, flexible payment options, and several sales & marketing tools. 

Moreover, Teachable simplifies content uploads by Dropbox and Google Drive integration. Also, there are flexible pricing plans in courses that allow creators to offer single or bundle courses for one-time fees, or subscriptions. You can also boost sales with coupon codes.

Also, there is a native email marketing tool to manage communication with students easily. You can get feedback and insights from Google Forms and surveys within the platform. All these features made Teachable the best platform for online courses especially. 

Teachable Features

• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder.

• Multiple integrations with popular platforms like Google Analytics, Zapier, MailChimp, etc 

• Wide range of payment options & accepts payment in 130 currencies

• Several marketing and sales integrations

• Digital product selling 

Teachable Pros

• Easy-to-use platform

• Customizable course structure and design

• Plenty of third-party integrations

• Useful marketing and sales tools

• Detailed analytics and reporting tools

• iOS mobile app

Teachable Cons

• Poor customer support 

• Impose transaction fees on the free and basic plan

• Limited control over branding

• For advanced features, the pricing gets higher 

• Lack of marketing features

• Lack of immediate revenue

• Lack of templates

Teachable Pricing

Teachable starts with a free course builder.  However, for more features, you will need to upgrade to the Pro plan. Teachable offers pricing plans including Free, Basic, Pro, Pro+, and Business – 

• Free plan

• Basic plan- starts from $59/month

• Pro plan- starts from $159/month

• Pro+ plan- starts from $249/month

• Business plan- starts from $665/month

However, if you do not feel like Teachable is a good option, you may look for some Teachable alternatives.  

4. Kajabi (Expensive & Feature-rich Online Course Platform)

Kajabi is the first and one of the best online course creation platforms to host online courses. It’s an all-in-one platform designed for the knowledge entrepreneurs. 

The platform offers a wide range of powerful features, including a course builder, email marketing tools, membership sites, webinars, and detailed analytics.

If you are with a high budget, Kajabi may suit you. Plus, it’s suitable for online tutors who want a feature-rich platform. Using Kajabi, you can get marketing and sales tools to market your course to more students. Moreover, there is a detailed analytics and reporting to let you gain insights easily. 

However, Kajabi is not a good choice if you are short on budget. If you need websites like Kajabi at a lower price, you can check other platforms included here. 

Kajabi Features

• Interactive online course builder

• Pre-built landing pages 

• Native email marketing 

• Powerful sales and marketing integration 

• Membership sites

• Live webinars

• Detailed analytics and reporting 

Kajabi Pros

• A comprehensive feature set to scale your business

• All-in-one platform

• User-friendly interface

• Comprehensive training resources

• Effective AI tools to help you launch products

• Powerful marketing and sales tools

• Easily track progress and make informed decisions 

Kajabi Cons

• Way more expensive than other platforms

• Limited capability for selling physical products 

• Less flexibility in website design 

• Additional costs for integrations with tools like WebinarJam, Klaviyo, or Accredible

• Limited file history 

Looking for the best Kajabi alternative? 

Kajabi Pricing

Kajabi comes with different pricing plans: Basic, Growth, and Pro. The Basic plan starts at $149/month. 

• Kajabi Basic: $149

• Kajabi Growth: $199

• Kajabi Pro: $399

5. Podia (Best Free Online Course Platform)

Podia is an excellent course platform that offers a beginner-friendly free plan. If you want to start your online school with a low to zero budget, this free online course builder can help you.  

You can create online courses and make a community inside your platform. This platform allows course hosting, membership sites, and digital downloads. 

There are some useful marketing features like email marketing tools, affiliate marketing, and other essential integrations. However, Podia lacks some features other platforms have on the list.

Moreover, it takes transaction fees in the free, starter, and mover plans. Overall, Podia can be a good choice for online creators with a low budget. 

Podia Features

• Robust email marketing features 

• Membership sites 

• Plenty of selling options

• Course migration for free

• Detailed analytics and reporting

• Drip courses to deliver content section-by-section 

Podia Pros

• Easy to use and beginner-friendly

• Simply track sales, student engagement, and other metrics

• Useful features like email marketing, membership sites, and webinars

• Affordable pricing plans

• Good customer support  

Podia Cons

• No open API is available 

• Not enough customizable page design 

• Limited features compared to others

• Transaction fees 

• No assignment creation and submission 

Podia Pricing

Podia is a free online course platform with different pricing plans including Starter, Mover, and Shaker – 

• Free plan (10% transaction fees)

• The Starter plan starts at $9/month 

• The Mover plan starts at $39 per month

• The Shaker plan starts at $89 per month

6. LearnWorlds 

LearnWorlds is an all-in-one platform designed for online course creation. The platform helps you create and sell courses, memberships, and coaching programs without much hassle. 

With a variety of multimedia uploading options, you can create courses effortlessly. One of LearnWorld’s standout features is its interactivity. The platform offers a fully interactive video player, allowing you to add videos, images, quizzes, tables of content, links, and more. This course creation platform also includes an AI feature that can help you on how to create an online course. 

In addition, LearnWorlds provides community-building tools that facilitate smooth communication among students and tutors. This interaction-based education encourages learners. Overall, LearnWorlds can be one of the best online course authoring platforms with a higher-cost premium plan. 

LearnWorlds Features:

• Interactive video learning with transcripts and performance stats

• Create online classes with customizable course player 

• Graded/ungraded assessments, quizzes, and assignments

• Gamification features for self-assessment and motivation

• Attendance tracking and automated enrollment

• Shopping cart plugin with multiple payment gateways

LearnWorlds Pros: 

• Beginner-friendly online class platform

• Effortless tracking of sales, engagement, and metrics

• Drip courses for easy content delivery section-by-section

• Includes email marketing, membership sites, and webinars

• A variety of gamification features to help creators engage their learners

• Live webinars and interact with their learners in real-time

• No additional transaction fees

LearnWorlds Cons: 

• Not an all-in-one course platform

• Lacks built-in email marketing feature

• Limited features in the lower-tier plans

• Basic reports and analytics features

• Not enough customizable website design 

• Poor customer support 

LearnWorlds Pricing

LearnWorlds offers these pricing plans: 

• Starter Plan: $29 monthly

• Pro Trainer Plan: $99 monthly

• Learning Centre Plan: $299 monthly

• High Volume & Corporate Plans: Custom pricing

Also Read: LearnWorlds Alternative

7. New Zenler

New Zenler is an online course creation platform packed with features covering course creation, community building, funnel creation, email campaigns, and built-in webinars.

It offers a budget-friendly pricing plan and includes all essential functionalities. However, it may not offer as many learning resources as other platforms like Kajabi, Thinkific, or EzyCourse. New Zenler focuses on ensuring a positive student experience. You can explore its features with a free trial on its basic plan.

In addition to course creation features, New Zenler provides tools for website development, blogging, course sales, community building, mobile apps, marketing campaigns, and so on. 

New Zenler Features 

New Zenler Pros

• Feature-rich and keeps improving

• Very affordable all-in-one in its beta phase

• Innovative and evolving

• Very affordable all-in-one with all the needed features and more

• Great support and an engaged community of fellow users

New Zenler Cons

• Still in beta and may still have some bugs

• Limited course design

• Not the easiest to use

• Outdated community feature

• Old-school course website design 

New Zenler Pricing

8. LearnDash (Best WordPress LMS Plugin)

LearnDash is one of the most popular WordPress LMS plugins with fast performance, rich features, and impressive course designs. 

How to create online courses with LearnDash? The WordPress plugin covers most of the essential features needed for creating online courses. For example, it has features like content scheduling, course selling, learner rewards, and automated triggers.

LearnDash is mobile-friendly for learning on the go. Plus, you will get customer support from experts using a ticketing system. Overall, LearnDash is a versatile learning management system covering several organizations of all sizes and industries. 

LearnDash Features

• Multi-tier course creation

• Content drip feeding 

• Built-in dynamic forums 

• Certificates and badges

• Automated email notifications and detailed reporting 

• Premium Front-End Course Creation add-on available 

• Monetization tools include shopping carts, memberships, subscriptions, course bundles, and licenses.

LearnDash Pros

• Email automation to streamline communication with students.

• Offers stunning course completion certificates which makes it one of the best online course creation platforms with certificates  

• Supports popular payment gateways 

• More flexibility in design 

• Allows integration with marketing tools like MailChimp, WooCommerce, and WPForms for effective promotion and lead generation

LearnDash Cons

• A costly option as you add more extensions for more features

• Not SCORM-compliant 

• Lacks built-in video conferencing tools

• Requires to rely on third-party integrations for live sessions and other features 

LearnDash Pricing

LearnDash pricing plans are set annually. You can start with – 

• $199 for a single-site license 

• $399/year for10 site licenses

•  $799/year for unlimited site licenses 

Unfortunately, there’s no free trial. However, you can cancel within 30 days if it doesn’t meet your needs.

9. LifterLMS (WordPress Based LMS)

LifterLMS is a widely used WordPress LMS plugin for creating and managing online courses.

With LifterLMS, you can effortlessly develop online courses, offer a rich learning environment for your audience, and enhance community engagement on your website.  

The plugin supports multi-tier courses where you can add course modules, lessons, categories, and more. Moreover, there are some advanced features such as drip content, course progression tracking, and group memberships. Overall, LifterLMS is one of the best platforms for selling online courses in WordPress. 

LifterLMS Features

• Course creation and management

• Student profiles and front-end login

• Memberships and access control

• Analytics and detailed reporting

• Mobile responsiveness

• Coupons and promotions

LifterLMS Pros

• Easily create engaging online learning communities

• Simple course builder to add course materials with ease

• Integrates with third-party services like Divi, and WooCommerce 

• Drag-and-drop course builder

• Flexible payment options

• Built-in membership features

LifterLMS Cons

• Requires management of WordPress website and regular updates

• Expensive extensions

• Lack of modern front-end design

• To access payment gateways like Authorize.net, PayPal, Stripe, and WooCommerce, you have to pay $99 each.

• Customizing colors requires custom CSS

LifterLMS Pricing

• Infinity Bundle: 749.50/year

• Universe Bundle: $249.50 /year

• Earth Bundle: 149.50 /year

• Core Plugin: Free

• Addons are available separately, typically starting at $240 per year.

10. Udemy (Best Online Course Marketplace)

Udemy is the most popular online course marketplace. However, it’s not a hosted online course platform, so it lacks customization compared to other platforms.

With over 49 million students, it offers a vast reach for course creators. You can easily sign up as an instructor and publish your course without creating membership sites.

How to create a course in Udemy? It’s easy and offers resources to assist you in creating the best online course. Plus, you will get Marketplace Insights to choose topics in high demand. Being an authoritative site, Udemy increases your chances of ranking in search engines.

You can use the custom coupon tool for enrollment incentives. However, Udemy operates on a revenue-sharing model, where instructors receive 37-97% of the revenue for Udemy sales.

It provides features like simple instructor onboarding, marketing promotions, and 24/7 support. Thus, Udemy stands out as one of the best online learning platforms as a marketplace. Also, there are some other sites like Udemy I have kept in the listing. 

Udemy Features: 

• Simple instructor onboarding

• Marketing promotions and Coupon tool

• Marketplace Insights tool

• Revenue share mode

• 24/7 support from the help center

Udemy Pros:

• Access to millions of potential students on the platform

• Excellent support and a helpful knowledge base

• No upfront costs, subscriptions, or sign-up fees

• A range of marketing tools to enhance your course’s visibility

• Great SEO and Paid Ads support

• Teaching Center provides valuable resources on course creation

Udemy Cons:

• Instructors have limited control over course pricing

• Higher competition due to the large number of courses available

• Less flexibility in course marketing 

• Takes a healthy share of your revenue 

Udemy Pricing: 

• Free enrollment for course instructors

• Udemy takes a 3% share of sales from coupons or referral links

• For other sales, Udemy takes a substantial 63% share of the revenue.

11. Coursera

If you’re a college professor or a senior professional at a major company, Coursera appears as an alternative to standalone course platforms.

Coursera offers a dedicated teaching portal for teachers to make an online course. The online course marketplace lets students enroll in courses with authentic accreditations with college degrees. As there is a range of excellent free and premium courses on Coursera, the competition is higher.

Once accepted as a Coursera instructor, you’ll gain access to a teaching portal. The portal provides content creation assistance and training resources. Overall, Coursera is one of the best online learning platforms on our list. 

Coursera Features: 

• Dedicated teaching portal for teachers

• Video courses that make learning easier

• Track progress to track student course progress, grades, and completion

• In-app tests and expert assistance.

• Offers certifications from popular universities.

Coursera Pros: 

• Rewards for the most popular course instructors 

• Professional growth opportunity for instructors

• Easily track progress and analysis  

• Access an active community that can answer questions

• Interactive student learning experience

• Big marketplace to create and sell online courses

Coursera Cons: 

• A complex pricing structure

• There is less student and teacher interaction than other course platforms 

• Higher competition in selling courses 

• Less flexibility in course design 

Coursera Pricing: 

Coursera comes with two pricing plans:

12. Skillshare (Online Course Marketplace Like Udemy)

Skillshare is another course marketplace site like Udemy. This popular online learning platform has 13 million+ users. It offers a diverse range of courses within the marketplace. 

Being a teacher, you can use Skillshare to sell your courses on different topics such as design, photography, illustration, writing, and much more. Wondering how to build an online course on Skillshare? You can develop online courses, and market them to the audience by the platform’s existing user base. 

However, the payout structure of Skillshare is less favorable compared to other options. Also, creators will get a portion of revenue based on average course viewing time. It may result in low earnings. Additionally, there’s limited control over visibility. 

Moreover, Skillshare is designed to encourage collaboration and community engagement. It keeps a subscription-based model, offering both free and premium membership options. 

Skillshare Features: 

• A mobile app for learning on-the-go

• Skillshare’s royalty system and referral program

• Easy instructor onboarding

• Features like small videos, class projects, and a student community 

Skillshare Pros:

• Easy to get started for instructors 

• Offers easy bite-sized learning

• Supportive discussion forum for students 

• Valuable resources on course creation

Skillshare Cons:

• Limited class content to only 4 categories

• Low-quality course material in several cases

• Negative reviews from users

• No certificate of completion 

Skillshare Pricing: 

       

13. TalentLMS 

TalentLMS is a highly versatile and feature-rich learning management system suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. 

This course creation tool enables users to easily create and manage courses, quizzes, and surveys. Besides,  TalentLMS offers customization options with branding and logos, tracks learner progress, and manages effective communication with announcements, messages, and forums. 

What’s more, it seamlessly integrates with third-party tools such as Zoom, Salesforce, and Shopify. With its intuitive interface, TalentLMS makes it easy to create and deliver content. Moreover, users can benefit from its robust reporting and analytics features. 

TalentLMS Features: 

• A fun, game-like environment to encourage users

• SCORM, cmi5 & xAPI compliant  

• A cloud-based LMS with AI integration

• Many customization options including a customized landing page, custom domain, and automation and notifications

• Several third-party integrations 

TalentLMS Pros: 

• Clean and user-friendly interface

• Offers iOS and Android mobile app

• Offers ready-made courses with TalentLibrary

• Comes with an assessment-building tool 

• Gamification and e-commerce features included 

TalentLMS Cons:

• Poor customer support 

• Limited course design options and a variety of content

• Limited features in discussion forums

• Pricing may get higher based on the number of users

TalentLMS Pricing:

TalentLMS pricing has five different plans. The Starter plan takes $89/month to get started in the standard plan. 

Standard plans:

• Free: $0

• Starter: $89/month

• Basic: $189/month

• Plus: $369/month

• Premium: $569/month

Active plans:

14. Teachery 

Teachery streamlines online course creation for creators with its user-friendly interface. It provides two templates for building courses, along with unlimited lessons and student resources.

In the higher plan, Teachery offers unlimited courses, lessons, and students, along with the ability to sell memberships, bundle products, and create sales and landing pages. Besides, the platform also connects with popular integrations like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and Zapier.

While Teachery offers robust course creation features as a course builder, it does have some limitations. It isn’t optimized for digital downloads or services like coaching. Additionally, the platform lacks native community features and doesn’t provide video/audio hosting.

Teachery Features:

• Drip lessons

• Analytics tools to view your student’s course activity 

• Custom domains

• Customizable landing pages

• Several course content including videos, audio, text, and presentations 

• Affiliate links, promo codes, and discounts

Teachery Pros:

Teachery Cons:

Teachery Pricing:

• Monthly plan: $49/month

• Annual plan: $470/year

15. WizIQ

WizIQ is a cloud-based education platform designed for real-time or self-paced training, offering webinars both live and on-demand. It’s favored by online course creators who need a live training or classroom-like experience.

WizIQ is ideal for enterprise employees, individual teachers, trainers, colleges, universities, tutoring, and Test-Prep companies. WizIQ Support includes a knowledge base with articles, user guides, and FAQs. 

WizIQ Features:

• Virtual Classroom to host virtual classrooms with HD video conferencing, online whiteboard, and real-time messaging

• Mobile learning offers course content on Android and iOS devices.

• Easy course builder

• Diverse course options with multimedia support in 9 formats

WizIQ Pros:

• Deliver high-definition live learning

• Interactive virtual classroom

• eLearning reporting and analytics

• Mobile app available on iOS and Android

• Course authoring with test and assessment capabilities

• eCommerce features

• White-label online course software

WizIQ Cons:

WizIQ Pricing:

WizIQ starts with a free 14-day trial and you have to contact sales to know prices. 

• Professional

• Enterprise 

• Pay-per-use 

16. Mighty Networks (Best Online Community Platform with Courses)

Mighty Networks is a specialized online community platform along with courses. Whether you prefer live or pre-recorded courses or a blend of both, Mighty Networks has you covered. 

You can customize your Mighty Space to include the features you need for your course, from discussions to live events. It easily incorporates various content types like audio, video, text, and PDFs, along with discussions and questions for each module. 

Plus, you can bundle your courses with additional options like live events, discussion forums, or group coaching sessions. Plus, the platform seamlessly integrates with Mighty Network’s top-rated community management software.

How to create a course to sell in Mighty Network? The platform makes monetization with course and community easier with sales and marketing tools. With a built-in ConvertKit integration, you can seamlessly connect your email list with your courses. 

Mighty Networks Features:

• Create pre-recorded content

• Engage with members in real time through live course delivery

• Dedicated course community for enhanced interaction

• Unlimited members in communities

• Chat and messaging tools for seamless communication

• iOS and Android Apps for on-the-go access

Mighty Networks Pros:

• Unlimited members and community spaces

• Beginner-friendly interface for easy navigation

• Fully customizable community spaces to align with your brand

• Conduct live sessions at your convenience

• Establish and manage community rules according to your preferences

• Explore various monetization opportunities within your community 

Mighty Networks Cons:

• Limited customer service, especially for users outside the US

• Upgrading plans for course building can lead to increased costs

• Lack of built-in marketing tools

• Transaction fees applied to all sales

Mighty Networks Pricing:

• Courses: $119 per month (When paid monthly)

• Business: $219 per month (When paid monthly)

• Path-to-Pro: $360 per month (When paid monthly)

• Mighty Pro: Contact sales for pricing information

17. Ruzuku

Ruzuku is one of the best free online course platforms to simplify your online course creation journey. It offers pre-built customizable templates, marketing tools, and support for unlimited courses and students.

Its intuitive course builder allows for the creation of various course types. The course platform makes it easy to get started with self-paced, and live courses including unlimited video, audio, and file hosting.

Ruzuku offers unlimited students and courses, along with data storage. Another good thing about Ruzuku is that it doesn’t impose any transaction fees. You will also get additional functionalities like webinars, polls, and quizzes in higher plans. Unlike the best online learning platforms in our list, Ruzuku offers fewer features. 

Ruzuku Features

• Diverse payment options including Stripe, Paypal, or custom payment systems

• Enhanced student engagement with discussion prompts, course-wide Q&A forums, and interactive video broadcasts

• Versatile document hosting

Ruzuku Pros

• Adding course content is easy

• Advanced teleconferencing tools

• Dynamic discussion forums

• Responsive customer support via phone and Skype.

• Effective course-building tools for creating well-structured course material and self-study courses.

• Attractive course interface

Ruzuku Cons

Ruzuku Pricing

Ruzuku offers three pricing plans, starting from free, with the Pro plan priced at $199 per month.

• Free

• Core: $99 per month.

• Pro: $199 per month

18. iSpring Learn (Best Enterprise Learning Management System) 

iSpring Learn is another cloud-based learning management system (LMS) on our list. iSpring Learn enables fast course creation, assessment building, and audience management.

One of its standout features is the integrated authoring toolkit – iSpring Suite. It enables the creation of interactive courses with video tutorials, quizzes, and other lesson types.

The platform’s flexibility makes it suitable for any organization. But iSpring Learn is suitable for organizations that need comprehensive solutions with course creation, mobile learning, and robust training management.

iSpring Learn Features:

• An integrated authoring tool named iSpring Suite 

• Free mobile apps for Android and iOS 

• Over 20 detailed reports for both groups and individuals.

• 24/7 customer support

iSpring Learn Pros:

• Automate training management tasks

• Responsive customer support

• Detailed reporting

• Free mobile app available 

iSpring Learn Cons:

• Limited features compared to others

• Limited customization options

• Authoring tools can be difficult to use

• Limited custom user profile fields

iSpring Learn Pricing:

iSpring Learn pricing plans include Start and Business plans. You have to pay- 

• $2.87 per user per month for 100 learners.

• $3.14 per user per month for 300 learners.

• $2.83 per user per month for 500 learners.

19. Kartra (Best All-in-one Marketing Platform to Sell Courses)

Kartra is an all-in-one marketing platform to help creators sell courses, checkout carts, sales pages, funnels, and campaigns. You can use Kartra to sell memberships, gather leads, handle email lists, and schedule live sessions.

While Kartra isn’t primarily made for building courses and digital products, it’s still included in the list. The platform provides features like drip content and the ability to add resources to a paid membership area. 

Kartra Features

• Internal marketing and sales management

• Kartra Marketplace to sell your marketing funnel

• Excellent help desk 

• Zapier Integrations seamlessly integrate with several marketing tools 

Kartra Pros

• All-in-one marketing tool

• Easily collect payments via credit card and PayPal

• Drag-and-drop page builder to create sales pages. 

• Responsive customer support through support tickets and live chat

Kartra Cons

Kartra Pricing

20. Graphy

Graphy is the top online course platform in India. It comes with a white-label course website and mobile app to let you build courses under your brand. 

Moreover, the course builder offers tools for marketing and student engagement. Graphy gives a mobile app at the $499/month plan. However, Graphy lacks some course creation features like bulk import, checkout, lesson types, tiered pricing, etc. 

Graphy Features

• Offers branded mobile app

• Unlimited courses, memberships, paid communities

• Multi-language support

• SCORM lessons

Graphy Pros

Graphy Cons

• Landing page builder is outdated and needs improvement

• Lacks a student attendance feature for live classes

• High transaction fees

• High prices of mobile app

• No gamification features

Looking for a Graphy alternative? You may check platforms like EzyCourse here. 

Graphy Pricing

Which is the Best Online Course Platforms in 2024 for you?  (Expert Pick)

The right online course platforms can make or break your course business. So, be careful before making an informed decision.  

Whether you’re a newbie or an experienced teacher, EzyCourse can be the best online course creation platform to create and sell online courses in 2024.

Consider the wide range of features, user-friendly course creation, customization options, marketing features, pricing, etc of the platform. 

What is the best online course platform according to you? Let us know. 

If you have any queries regarding our course creation platform, feel free to reach us. Happy online course creation journey!