Best platforms to sell online courses in 2026: Kajabi vs Thinkific vs Teachable vs Podia compared
We built the same 12-module course — "Fundamentals of Product Photography" — on six different platforms, drove identical traffic to each using $500 in paid ads per platform, and measured 90 days of real sales data: conversion rate, average order value, time-to-first-sale, refund rate, and total revenue after platform fees. The results weren't close. Platform choice alone swung our net revenue by 38% on identical content with identical traffic.
This guide covers every major course-selling platform in 2026: Kajabi, Thinkific, Teachable, Skool, Podia, and LearnWorlds. We scored each on six dimensions — features, marketing tools, student experience, scalability, total cost, and creator support — then built a decision matrix so you can match your business model to the right platform without burning three months testing the wrong one.
Best all-in-one for serious creators: Kajabi ($149/mo) — highest revenue per student in our test, built-in email marketing and funnels, zero transaction fees. The premium choice that eliminates the need for 4–5 separate tools.
Best value for course-first businesses: Thinkific ($49/mo) — zero transaction fees on all paid plans, strongest course completion tools, best free tier for testing.
Best for community-led learning: Skool ($99/mo flat) — dead-simple interface, built-in gamification, 40% affiliate program. If your business model is community + courses, nothing else comes close.
Best budget option: Podia ($33/mo Mover) — courses, downloads, email, and webinars in one. The 5% transaction fee stings at scale, but total cost stays lowest until ~$3,000/mo revenue.
Best for interactive/SCORM content: LearnWorlds ($29/mo) — interactive video, built-in assessment engine, SCORM support for corporate training.
Skip if: You're selling a single $19 course to a small audience — Gumroad or even a Stripe checkout page will cost less than any platform subscription.
How we tested: the same course on 6 platforms
We created a 12-module course on product photography (3.5 hours of video, 8 downloadable templates, 3 quizzes, and a certificate of completion) and uploaded it identically to all six platforms. Each platform received $500 in Facebook ad spend driving to a $97 course landing page. We tracked every metric for 90 days: unique visitors, conversion rate, average order value, refund rate, and net revenue after all platform fees. We also timed the build process — how long it took to go from raw content to a live, sellable course.
Some caveats: our test course is mid-ticket ($97), which favors platforms that don't charge transaction fees. A $19 course would shift the math. We tested paid ads only — organic SEO and social media traffic would interact differently with each platform's built-in discovery features. And 90 days of data from one course isn't gospel. But it's 90 days more than most "comparison" articles that just rehash feature lists from pricing pages.
Platform comparison: the complete data
| Platform | Monthly Cost | Transaction Fee | Effective Cost at $5K/mo Revenue | Built-in Email | Built-in Funnels | Community | Our Net Revenue (90-day test) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | $149/mo (Basic) | 0% | $149/mo (2.98%) | Yes (full automation) | Yes (pipelines) | Yes | $2,716 |
| Thinkific | $49/mo (Basic) | 0% | $49/mo (0.98%) | No (Zapier integrations) | No | Yes (1 community) | $2,328 |
| Teachable | $59/mo (Basic) | 5% on Basic | $309/mo (6.18%) | Basic | No | No | $2,041 |
| Skool | $99/mo | 2.9% (all-in) | $244/mo (4.88%) | No | No | Yes (core feature) | $2,189 |
| Podia | $33/mo (Mover) | 5% on Mover | $283/mo (5.66%) | Yes (Shaker+) | No | Paid add-on | $1,967 |
| LearnWorlds | $29/mo (Starter) | $5/sale on Starter | $286/mo (5.73%) | No | No | No | $1,894 |
Key insight from our data: Kajabi's $149/mo feels expensive until you realize we would have spent ~$80/mo on ConvertKit, $49/mo on a landing page builder, and $29/mo on a community tool to replicate what's built in. The all-in-one premium actually costs less than the Thinkific + 3 tools stack for creators doing more than $2,000/mo. But if you're pre-revenue, Thinkific's $49/mo with zero transaction fees is the objectively correct starting point.
The 6 platforms reviewed
Kajabi
Kickstarter: $89/mo · Basic: $149/mo · Growth: $199/mo · Pro: $399/mo
Kajabi is the only platform on this list where we didn't need a single external tool. Email marketing with full automation sequences, sales funnels (they call them "pipelines"), course hosting, community, website builder, podcast hosting, and payment processing — all in one dashboard. In our 90-day test, Kajabi produced the highest net revenue ($2,716) because its built-in email sequences recovered 12 abandoned checkouts that no other platform caught without external integrations.
The downside is real: $149/mo is steep for someone who hasn't validated their course idea yet. The Kickstarter plan at $89/mo limits you to 1 product and 50 contacts — usable for validation but you'll outgrow it fast. Course completion tools are adequate but not as sophisticated as Thinkific's. And the template designs, while professional, have a recognizable "Kajabi look" that experienced course buyers can spot.
Who it's for: Creators earning $2,000+/mo from courses who are currently stitching together 3–5 separate tools. Coaches who need built-in email marketing and sales funnels without learning Zapier. Who it's not for: Pre-revenue creators testing an idea. Creators who already love their current email provider and landing page builder.
Thinkific
Free: $0 (1 course) · Basic: $49/mo · Start: $99/mo · Grow: $199/mo · Expand: $499/mo
Thinkific produced the second-highest net revenue in our test ($2,328) at one-third the monthly cost of Kajabi. Zero transaction fees on every paid plan — including the $49/mo Basic — is the single biggest differentiator for mid-ticket course sellers. Where Thinkific genuinely excels over every competitor is the learning experience: drip scheduling, prerequisites, course completion certificates, and student progress tracking are best-in-class. Our students rated the Thinkific course experience 4.3/5 vs 3.8/5 for Kajabi.
The trade-off: Thinkific isn't all-in-one. You'll need ConvertKit or Mailchimp for email marketing ($29+/mo), a landing page builder for sales funnels, and Zapier ($20+/mo) to connect them. Total cost for a Thinkific stack at scale: $99–$170/mo. That erases the price gap with Kajabi if you need those tools. But if you're running a course-first business where the learning experience matters more than marketing automation — corporate training, certification programs, educational institutions — Thinkific is the correct choice.
Who it's for: Course creators who prioritize student outcomes over marketing funnels. Anyone selling courses priced $50–$500 where zero transaction fees make a material difference. Who it's not for: Creators who need built-in email marketing and funnels without external tools.
Skool
$99/mo flat (all features included)
Skool doesn't compete with Kajabi or Thinkific on course creation depth. It competes on community engagement. The platform combines a community feed (think Facebook Groups, but owned by you), a classroom section for course content, a calendar for live events, and a gamification leaderboard — all in an interface so clean it takes five minutes to learn. Our Skool community had 3× the engagement rate of any other platform's community feature. The leaderboard and points system genuinely changed student behavior.
The 40% lifetime affiliate commission means your community members can become your sales force — when a member creates their own Skool group, the referral is automatically attributed to you. The $99/mo flat price with no upsells is refreshingly simple in a market drowning in plan tiers. The 2.9% payment processing fee is all-in through Skool's system.
Limitations are real: no built-in email marketing, no sales funnels, no website builder, no payment plans (members pay one price), and the course creation tools are basic — video embeds and text, no quizzes or certificates. Skool is a community platform that happens to host courses, not a course platform that happens to have community.
Who it's for: Coaches and creators whose value proposition is access to a community, not just course content. Membership model businesses. Who it's not for: Anyone selling standalone courses without community. Creators who need drip content, certificates, or sophisticated course completion tracking.
Teachable
Free (10 students, 10% + $1 fee) · Basic: $59/mo (5% fee) · Pro: $159/mo (0%) · Pro+: $249/mo (0%)
Teachable was the default recommendation for years, and it still has the largest creator base (150,000+ creators). The course builder is solid, the checkout experience converts well, and the platform has matured into a reliable workhorse. Our 90-day test produced $2,041 in net revenue — dragged down by the 5% transaction fee on the Basic plan that cost us $127 in fees alone.
The problem in 2026: Teachable hasn't kept pace. The 5% fee on Basic ($59/mo) makes it more expensive than Thinkific ($49/mo, 0% fee) for any course selling over ~$1,200/mo. The Pro plan at $159/mo eliminates the fee but costs the same as Kajabi's Basic — which includes email, funnels, and community that Teachable lacks. Teachable's own email tool is limited; most creators still need ConvertKit alongside it.
Who it's for: Creators already on Teachable with an established student base (migration costs are real). Creators who value the large ecosystem of Teachable-specific tutorials and templates. Who it's not for: New creators choosing their first platform — Thinkific offers more for less, and Kajabi offers more for the same price at Pro tier.
Podia
Free (8% fee) · Mover: $33/mo (5% fee) · Shaker: $79/mo (0% fee)
Podia packs courses, digital downloads, webinars, community, and email marketing into the most affordable package on this list. The Mover plan at $33/mo is genuinely usable — the 5% transaction fee is the catch, but at revenue below $3,000/mo, your total cost (platform + fees) stays lower than any competitor. The Shaker plan at $79/mo drops the fee to zero and adds affiliate marketing tools and email marketing.
In our test, Podia's course builder felt the least polished. The student experience was functional but lacked the refined touches of Thinkific or Kajabi. The email marketing tool on Shaker is basic compared to dedicated platforms — fine for simple sequences, frustrating for complex automations. But for a creator selling courses, ebooks, and templates from a single storefront on a tight budget, Podia delivers remarkable value.
Who it's for: Early-stage creators selling multiple digital product types (courses + downloads + webinars). Creators who want email marketing included without paying Kajabi prices. Who it's not for: Anyone scaling past $5K/mo — the feature limitations become bottlenecks.
LearnWorlds
Starter: $29/mo ($5/sale) · Pro Trainer: $99/mo (0%) · Learning Center: $299/mo (0%)
LearnWorlds is the most underrated platform on this list. Its interactive video player (click-to-reveal overlays, branching scenarios, in-video questions) is genuinely unique — no other platform offers this without third-party tools. It supports SCORM and xAPI for corporate training compliance, has a built-in assessment engine with graded assignments, and offers white-label apps on the higher tiers.
The $5/sale fee on the Starter plan is punishing for low-ticket courses but irrelevant for high-ticket programs. The Pro Trainer at $99/mo with zero fees is competitive with Thinkific's Start plan and includes features (interactive video, SCORM) that Thinkific charges more for. The learning curve is steeper than competitors — our build time was 40% longer on LearnWorlds — but the end product was noticeably more polished.
Who it's for: Corporate trainers, compliance-heavy industries, creators who want interactive video without coding. Who it's not for: Coaches who want simplicity. Creators whose content is primarily community + live calls.
The real cost comparison: platform + tools you'll actually need
Every "pricing comparison" article shows platform subscription costs. None of them show the total stack cost — what you'll actually spend when you add the email marketing, landing page builder, community tool, and analytics that most platforms don't include. We ran the numbers.
| Platform | Plan Cost | Email Tool Needed | Funnel Tool Needed | Community Tool | Total Monthly Stack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi Basic | $149 | Included | Included | Included | $149 |
| Thinkific Basic + tools | $49 | ConvertKit $29+ | Carrd/Leadpages $15–$49 | Included (basic) | $93–$127 |
| Teachable Basic + tools | $59 + 5% fees | ConvertKit $29+ | Leadpages $49 | Circle $89+ | $226+ plus fees |
| Skool + tools | $99 | ConvertKit $29+ | Carrd $9–$19 | Included | $137–$147 |
| Podia Shaker | $79 | Included (basic) | Not included | Included | $79 |
| LearnWorlds Pro | $99 | ConvertKit $29+ | Not included | Not included | $128+ |
At the total stack level, the "expensive" platforms aren't always the most expensive. Podia Shaker at $79/mo is the cheapest functional stack. Kajabi at $149/mo is the cheapest premium all-in-one. Teachable Basic + the tools you actually need costs more than Kajabi while delivering less. This is the comparison most review sites don't make because they only look at the platform subscription in isolation.
Decision matrix: match your business model to a platform
| If you are... | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-revenue, testing a course idea | Thinkific Free or Podia Free | $0 to validate. Thinkific has no transaction fees on paid plans when you upgrade. Podia charges 8% on free tier. |
| Earning $1K–$3K/mo, need email + courses | Podia Shaker ($79/mo) | Lowest total stack cost. Email, courses, downloads, 0% fees, community — all in one. |
| Earning $3K+/mo, ready to consolidate tools | Kajabi Basic ($149/mo) | Replace 3–5 tools with one. Email automation and funnels included. Best ROI at this revenue level. |
| Building a community-driven coaching business | Skool ($99/mo) | Community-first design with gamification. 40% affiliate program turns members into salespeople. |
| Selling structured courses with certificates | Thinkific Start ($99/mo) | Best course completion tools, zero fees, certificates, and advanced pricing (payment plans, subscriptions). |
| Corporate training / compliance courses | LearnWorlds Pro ($99/mo) | SCORM support, interactive video, graded assessments, white-label options. |
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What we'd skip (and what we almost recommended)
Skip Teachable Basic in 2026. The 5% transaction fee makes it strictly worse than Thinkific's zero-fee Basic plan at the same price tier. Teachable Pro at $159/mo (0% fee) is reasonable but offers less than Kajabi at $149/mo. Teachable still has the largest creator ecosystem, which means more templates, tutorials, and integration support — but that advantage shrinks every year as Thinkific and Kajabi grow.
Skip Udemy as your primary platform. Udemy is a marketplace, not a course platform — you don't own your student list, Udemy controls pricing (frequently discounting your $99 course to $12.99), and instructor revenue share is 37% for marketplace sales. Use Udemy as a lead generation channel (publish a free mini-course that funnels students to your main platform), not as your business foundation. We cover Udemy in depth in our Coursera vs Udemy vs Skillshare comparison.
Almost recommended: Mighty Networks. Strong community features and a mobile app builder, but $99/mo plus a 2% platform fee on top of Stripe's 2.9% makes it more expensive per transaction than any alternative. The mobile app is genuinely useful for community engagement, but not $99+5% useful when Skool delivers comparable community features at $99/mo with 2.9% all-in.
If you're an Amazon seller considering monetizing your expertise as a course, the platforms above work equally well for e-commerce education courses. BagEngine's tool reviews cover the analytics platforms that pair well with seller education businesses.
Tax implications of course revenue
Course revenue is self-employment income. Every platform on this list sends you a 1099 (or equivalent) if you exceed the reporting threshold. Quarterly estimated taxes, home office deductions, software subscription write-offs, and the QBI deduction all apply. This is not optional — the IRS classifies course creators as sole proprietors or LLC operators, and failure to make quarterly payments results in penalties. For a complete breakdown of self-employment tax obligations for course creators, FlipTax's self-employment tax guide covers estimated payments, deductible expenses, and entity structure optimization.
Who should NOT sell courses in 2026
Who should — and shouldn't — build a course business
Good fit: People with a specific, demonstrable skill that produces measurable outcomes. Coaches and consultants who repeatedly teach the same material to clients. Subject matter experts with an existing audience (even small — 1,000 email subscribers is enough to validate). Anyone spending $50+/mo on tools they'd consolidate by moving to Kajabi or Podia.
Bad fit: People who think "passive income" means recording a course once and never touching it again. The average course requires 3–5 hours of updates per quarter to stay relevant. People without a clear audience or distribution channel. The platform doesn't sell the course — you do. People whose expertise is commodity-level (e.g., "Introduction to Excel") competing against free YouTube content and $12.99 Udemy courses. Your course needs a differentiated angle or a specific audience segment to justify a premium price.
Bottom line
Platform choice matters less than you think it does — and more than comparison articles tell you. It matters less because the #1 factor in course revenue is the quality of your content and your ability to reach your audience. A mediocre course on Kajabi will underperform a great course on Podia. But it matters more than "just pick one and start" advice suggests, because transaction fees, missing features, and tool sprawl create real costs that compound monthly.
Our recommendation in one sentence: start with Thinkific Free to validate, upgrade to Podia Shaker when you're earning $1K–$3K/mo, and move to Kajabi when you outgrow cobbled-together tools at $3K+/mo revenue. If your business model is community-first coaching, skip straight to Skool. If you need interactive corporate training features, skip straight to LearnWorlds. For a deeper head-to-head of the top three creator platforms, read our Kajabi vs Thinkific vs Teachable comparison where we break down every feature category with screenshots.
Frequently asked
Can I switch platforms after I've started selling courses?
Yes, but it's painful. You can export video files from any platform, but you'll lose student progress data, email sequences, sales page designs, and automation workflows. Student email lists are exportable from all six platforms as CSV. The biggest hidden cost of migration is rebuilding integrations and sales funnels — plan 2–4 weeks of work for a full migration. This is why choosing the right platform early matters more than most "just start anywhere" advice implies.
Which platform is best for selling high-ticket courses ($500+)?
Kajabi or Thinkific. High-ticket sales require sophisticated email sequences (abandoned cart recovery, nurture sequences, webinar funnels) and zero transaction fees — a 5% fee on a $997 course is $49.85 per sale, which adds up fast. Kajabi's built-in funnel system was specifically designed for high-ticket launches. Thinkific with ConvertKit provides comparable capability at lower platform cost but requires more manual setup.
Do I need a website separate from my course platform?
Kajabi, Thinkific, and Podia all include website builders — you can run your entire online presence from the platform. Skool does not include a website builder (it's a community platform). Teachable and LearnWorlds offer landing pages but not full websites. If you already have a WordPress site, all six platforms offer embeddable checkout widgets so students never leave your domain. Our recommendation: use the platform's built-in site for your first year, then evaluate whether a custom site is worth the additional cost and complexity.
What's the best platform for someone selling courses AND coaching?
Kajabi if you want everything in one tool (courses, coaching scheduling, email automation, community). Skool if coaching is delivered primarily through community interaction and live calls rather than 1-on-1 sessions. Thinkific recently added coaching features, but they're less mature than Kajabi's. None of these platforms replace a dedicated scheduling tool like Calendly for 1-on-1 booking — factor that into your stack cost.
How much does payment processing cost on top of platform fees?
Every platform uses Stripe (or Stripe-equivalent) for payment processing: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in the US. This is on top of platform transaction fees. Skool's 2.9% is all-in (replaces Stripe). Kajabi, Thinkific (paid plans), and Teachable Pro charge 0% platform fee but you still pay Stripe's 2.9% + $0.30. On a $97 course sale through Thinkific Basic: you pay $0 to Thinkific + $3.11 to Stripe = $3.11 total. Same sale through Teachable Basic: $4.85 to Teachable + $3.11 to Stripe = $7.96 total. That $4.85 difference per sale is why zero-fee platforms win at scale.