Choose a platform
Best online course platforms, compared on price and fit
Thinkific includes payment plans and certificates on its lowest plan, and LearnWorlds adds them on Pro Trainer. Kajabi and Podia bundle a website builder and email marketing with your courses. Skool and Circle are built around the community, with courses inside it. Lockers starts free with unlimited members and courses and sells a course at a one-time price.
Match the platform to how you sell
- To start with no monthly fee, Lockers Free costs $0 with unlimited members and courses.
- For payment plans at checkout, Thinkific Start and LearnWorlds Pro Trainer both list them.
- For SCORM files from corporate training, LearnWorlds Pro Trainer allows up to 20 SCORM uploads.
- For email marketing and a website from the same vendor as your courses, look at Kajabi or Podia.
- When the community is the product and courses support it, look at Skool, Circle, Mighty Networks or Lockers.
- For a branded mobile app, Kajabi includes one on its Pro plan and Thinkific sells one as a $199 a month add-on.
Prices at a glance
| Platform | Free plan | Lowest paid plan | Highest listed plan | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lockers | Yes, $0 | Pro: $49 a month or $470 a year | Pro: $49 a month or $470 a year | 14 days of Pro, no card |
| Teachable | No | Starter: $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly | Growth: $189 a month, or $139 a month billed yearly | 7 days |
| Thinkific | No | Start: $109 a month, or $82 a month billed yearly | Expand: $499 a month, or $374 a month billed yearly | 30 days |
| Kajabi | None listed | Basic: $179 a month, or $143 a month billed yearly | Pro: $499 a month, or $399 a month billed yearly | Yes, length not listed |
| Podia | None listed | Mover: $49 a month, or $42 a month billed yearly | Earthquaker: $179 a month, or $150 a month billed yearly | 14 days, no card |
| LearnWorlds | None listed | Starter: $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly | Learning Center: $299 a month, or $249 a month billed yearly | 30 days |
| Skool | None listed | Hobby: $9 a month | Pro: $99 a month | 14 days |
| Circle | No | Professional: $89 a month billed yearly | Scale: $419 a month billed yearly | 14 days, no card |
| Mighty Networks | Yes, after the trial lapses | Launch: $79 a month, or $950 a year | Growth: $354 a month | 14 days of Growth, no card |
Teachable, Thinkific and Circle also offer custom plans above the ones shown, and Mighty Networks offers Mighty Pro at a price set with its sales team.
Lockers
Lockers lets you get paid for what you know through courses and event tickets, or a paid membership on Pro, inside a community you run. Free costs $0 and includes unlimited members and courses, 1 GB of files and 120 minutes of stored video, and YouTube embeds do not count toward that limit. Pro costs $49 a month or $470 a year per Locker and adds 25 GB, 1,200 minutes of video, one custom domain, quizzes, written responses, certificates, release timing and an AI tutor.
You can sell a course at a one-time price from $1 to $10,000 through your own Stripe account to members of your community. Lockers takes 5% of each course or ticket sale on Free and 1% on Pro, and Stripe processing is charged separately. Your first Locker can try Pro free for 14 days with no card.
Lockers fits people who want their buyers inside a community with their course. If you need coupons, installments, bundles or SCORM at checkout today, Thinkific or LearnWorlds fit that need. Compare Lockers side by side on our pages for Teachable, Kajabi and Podia.
Teachable
Teachable Starter costs $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, for up to 5 products with a 7.5% transaction fee. Builder costs $89 a month, or $69 billed yearly, for 10 products with no transaction fee on Teachable Payments. Growth costs $189 a month, or $139 billed yearly, for 50 products and adds certificates and the option to remove Teachable branding. Teachable lists coupons, bundles and built-in email marketing among its features, offers a 7-day trial and a 30-day guarantee, and has no free plan.
Teachable fits course sellers with a small number of products who want sales tools such as coupons and bundles. Our Teachable pricing guide breaks down each plan.
Thinkific
Thinkific Start costs $109 a month, or $82 a month billed yearly, and includes unlimited courses, quizzes, assignments, certificates, bundles, payment plans, memberships and a custom domain. Grow costs $219 a month, or $164 billed yearly, and adds API access, three communities and removal of Thinkific branding. Expand costs $499 a month, or $374 billed yearly, and adds ten communities. A branded mobile app costs $199 a month on top of a plan. Thinkific has no free plan and offers a 30-day trial, and Thinkific Payments charges 2.9% for card processing.
Thinkific fits structured courses that need graded assignments or payment plans.
Kajabi
Kajabi Basic costs $179 a month, or $143 a month billed yearly, for 5 products, one community and 2,500 contacts. Growth costs $249 a month, or $199 billed yearly, for 50 products and 25,000 contacts. Pro costs $499 a month, or $399 billed yearly, for unlimited products, three communities, 100,000 contacts and a branded mobile app. Kajabi takes no cut of sales, and in the US Kajabi Payments charges card processing from 2.7% to 2.9% plus 30 cents depending on the plan. Using a third-party payment provider adds a fee of 0.5% to 2%. Kajabi offers a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Kajabi fits people who already have an audience and want email marketing and a website from the same vendor as their courses.
Podia
Podia Mover costs $49 a month, or $42 a month billed yearly, for 50 products with a 5% transaction fee. Shaker costs $99 a month, or $84 billed yearly, for 150 products with no transaction fee. Earthquaker costs $179 a month, or $150 billed yearly. Every plan includes community, courses, downloads, coaching, events, a website with a custom domain, and Podia Email for 100 to 1,000 subscribers depending on the plan. Podia offers a 14-day trial with no card, and card processing costs 2.9% plus 30 cents.
Podia fits creators who sell several kinds of products and want them on one website.
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds Starter costs $29 a month, or $24 a month billed yearly, plus $5 for each paid enrollment. Pro Trainer costs $99 a month, or $79 billed yearly, with no enrollment fees, and adds payment plans, certificates and up to 20 SCORM uploads. Learning Center costs $299 a month, or $249 billed yearly. LearnWorlds offers a 30-day trial.
LearnWorlds fits structured training programs and corporate training that arrives as SCORM files.
Skool
Skool Hobby costs $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee, and Skool Pro costs $99 a month with a 2.9% transaction fee. Skool's transaction fee includes card processing. Both plans list unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, along with a custom URL and affiliates. Skool offers a 14-day free trial.
Skool fits community-first groups that keep their courses inside the group. Our Skool pricing guide and Lockers and Skool comparison cover it in more depth.
Circle
Circle Professional costs $89 a month, Business costs $199 a month and Scale costs $419 a month, all billed yearly, and Circle Plus is priced with its sales team. Transaction fees run from 2% on Professional to 0.5% on Circle Plus. Courses come with every plan. Circle offers a 14-day trial with no card and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Circle fits larger communities that want workflows and API access, which start on the Business plan. See our Circle pricing guide and Lockers and Circle comparison.
Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks Launch costs $79 a month, or $950 a year, and includes courses and events with the community. Scale costs $179 a month and adds APIs and third-party integrations. Growth costs $354 a month. Mighty Pro is priced with the sales team. Mighty Networks offers a free trial.
Mighty Networks fits hosts who want courses and events inside their community network. See our Lockers and Mighty Networks comparison.
Pricing pages for each platform
- Lockers: https://lockers.social/pricing
- Teachable: https://teachable.com/pricing
- Thinkific: https://www.thinkific.com/pricing/
- Kajabi: https://kajabi.com/pricing
- Podia: https://www.podia.com/pricing
- LearnWorlds: https://www.learnworlds.com/pricing/
- Skool: https://www.skool.com/pricing
- Circle: https://circle.so/pricing
- Mighty Networks: https://www.mightynetworks.com/pricing
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