Course platforms and learning management systems host online courses: video lessons, quizzes, assignments, certificates and progress tracking. The category covers two different markets. Creators and businesses selling courses to the public need sales pages, checkout, coupons and memberships. Companies training their own staff or customers need to assign courses, track completion and produce reports for compliance.
Decide which of the two you are buying for before anything else, because the features barely overlap. If you sell courses, compare the total cost at your expected revenue, since transaction fees on lower tiers can exceed the subscription. If you train employees, compare the price per active user, the reporting, and the connections to your HR system and single sign-on.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|
 Thinkific | Best for experts and small academies selling courses, memberships and live cohorts | $40/mo | 30 days |
 LearnWorlds | Best for course sellers and trainers who need interactive video, exams and SCORM uploads | $24/mo | 30 days |
 TalentLMS | Best for companies assigning and tracking staff training, including SCORM compliance courses | Free plan | 14 days |
 Teachable | Best for creators selling a few courses or coaching offers to buyers in many countries | $29/mo | 7 days |
 Kajabi | Best for coaches and creators who want courses, email marketing and checkout in one account | $143/mo | 14 days |
5 of 5 tools
The ranking
In order, with what each tool is for and what it costs. Use the filters above to narrow the list.
Best for experts and small academies selling courses, memberships and live cohorts
Thinkific is a course platform for experts and academies selling courses, communities and memberships, with unlimited courses on every published plan. Sales through Thinkific Payments carry no platform fee, while Stripe or PayPal sales add 5%, 2% or 1% by plan.
$40/mo
30-day free trial
Best for course sellers and trainers who need interactive video, exams and SCORM uploads
LearnWorlds is a course and training platform for course sellers, coaches and corporate trainers, with interactive video, exams and SCORM uploads. Starter adds a $5 fee to every paid enrollment; Pro Trainer and higher plans charge none.
$24/mo
30-day free trial
Best for companies assigning and tracking staff training, including SCORM compliance courses
TalentLMS is a cloud learning management system for companies that train employees, partners or customers, with a free plan for up to 5 users. Paid plans are priced in tiers of active users, starting with Core for up to 40.
Free plan
paid from $119/mo
Best for creators selling a few courses or coaching offers to buyers in many countries
Teachable is a course platform for creators selling courses, coaching and digital downloads, and it collects and remits sales tax in more than 45 countries. Starter adds a 7.5% fee to each sale; Builder and higher plans charge 0% through Teachable's checkout.
$29/mo
7-day free trial
Best for coaches and creators who want courses, email marketing and checkout in one account
Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for coaches and creators who sell courses, coaching, communities and other digital products. Plans have flat monthly prices capped by contacts and products, and sales through Kajabi Payments carry card fees but no revenue share.
$143/mo
14-day free trial
Head to head
Feature-by-feature matchups between leading LMS & Course Platforms tools, with a clear verdict.
Methodology
We compare the tools on this page using what can be checked from the outside: published pricing and plan limits, documented features, and each vendor's own security, compliance and support documentation. This is desk research, not hands-on testing. Where something can only be judged by using a product, we say so rather than imply we measured it.
What we weigh here:
How the order is set:
Buyer's guide
The cheapest plans often take a cut of each sale. Teachable's Starter, at $29 a month billed yearly, takes 7.5%, so $2,000 of monthly sales costs $150 in fees on top of the plan; Builder, at $69 billed yearly, charges 0% through teachable:pay. LearnWorlds' Starter adds $5 to every paid enrollment, which makes it cost as much as Pro Trainer at 14 paid enrollments a month on monthly billing. Kajabi and Thinkific charge no platform fee on sales through their own payment systems but add one on other gateways: Kajabi 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan on Stripe sales, Thinkific 5%, 2% or 1% on Stripe or PayPal. Work out your expected monthly sales, add each plan's fees to its price and compare the totals.
Course platforms such as Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific are built around checkout, email, affiliates and memberships. A training LMS such as TalentLMS is built around assigning courses, tracking completion and keeping records, and it prices by active users rather than by sales features. Some tools sit on both sides. LearnWorlds sells courses and also handles staff and customer training with due dates, user groups and SCORM uploads, and Thinkific's Plus tier adds SCORM and single sign-on for business training. Decide which job comes first, then check the features that job needs.
Features that training buyers expect are often gated by plan. Certificates start on Teachable's Growth, Thinkific's Start and LearnWorlds' Pro Trainer, at $139, $82 and $79 a month billed yearly. SCORM packages work on every TalentLMS plan, the free one included, and on LearnWorlds from Pro Trainer, with up to 20 uploads. Thinkific supports SCORM on Plus alone, and Kajabi and Teachable don't support it at all.
Moving platforms means rebuilding courses. Kajabi says importing an existing course is a manual job, and Teachable's bulk student imports start on its Growth plan. LearnWorlds offers done-for-you migration and names Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable among the platforms it has moved customers from. Before committing, check which exports a platform offers, such as Kajabi's CSV export of contacts, and whether help with migration is available.
FAQ
Entry plans billed yearly cost $24 a month for LearnWorlds Starter, $29 for Teachable Starter, $40 for Thinkific Basic and $143 for Kajabi Basic; monthly billing costs more. TalentLMS, which prices by active users, has a free plan for up to 5 users, and its Core plan costs $119 a month billed yearly for up to 40. Fees change the real cost of the cheapest plans: Teachable Starter takes 7.5% of each sale and LearnWorlds Starter charges $5 per paid enrollment, so on $2,000 of monthly sales Teachable Starter's fee is $150, more than the plan itself.
Kajabi and Thinkific charge no platform fee on sales through their own payment systems, on any plan, though Thinkific adds 0.5% to each paid sale where it assesses tax, which covers sales to US and Canadian buyers. Both charge extra on other gateways: Kajabi adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan on Stripe sales where Kajabi Payments is offered, with PayPal exempt, and Thinkific adds 5%, 2% or 1% on Stripe or PayPal sales. Teachable charges 0% from Builder, $69 a month billed yearly, through teachable:pay, and LearnWorlds drops its enrollment fee from Pro Trainer, $79 billed yearly. Card processing applies everywhere.
A course platform is built to sell to the public: Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific center on checkout, email, affiliates and memberships. A corporate LMS such as TalentLMS is built to assign training to staff, partners or customers and track it, with branches for separate departments, expiring certificates, and SCORM, xAPI and cmi5 support on every plan. The line isn't strict. LearnWorlds sells courses and also runs staff and customer training with due dates and user groups, Thinkific's Plus tier adds SCORM and single sign-on, and TalentLMS can sell courses through Stripe or PayPal.
It depends on where your buyers are, and the platforms take on different amounts of the work. Teachable collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST in more than 45 countries. Thinkific, on Thinkific Payments sales, collects and remits sales tax for US and Canadian buyers and can calculate UK and EU VAT, which you then remit yourself. Kajabi calculates tax at checkout through Quaderno but doesn't file or remit it, and LearnWorlds can use Stripe Tax to calculate, collect and report tax. Where the platform doesn't remit, filing stays with you, so check your obligations with an accountant.
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