Operations
Part of A planning framework for online course marketing
Online course marketing platforms compared for creators who teach
Course marketing platforms compared for creators who teach, covering pricing models, built-in tools, and which option best fits each instructor's needs.
What to take away
- Online course marketing platforms differ most on transaction fees, affiliate tooling and how hard they are to leave. Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, LearnWorlds, Circle and Open edX are the main options compared here.
- Transaction fees bite hardest at low volume. A 5% cut of a $200 course is $10 per sale, before the payment processor's own fee.
- Affiliate features are not equal. Some platforms run affiliate tracking natively, while others need a third-party tool bolted on.
- Public earnings claims need a reasonable basis under FTC rules. Treat vendor case studies as leads, not proof.
How Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, LearnWorlds, Circle and Open edX compare
The seven platforms below all market and sell online courses. They split on published monthly price, transaction fees, affiliate tracking and exit paths. Pricing changes often, so treat the figures as of 2026 and verify at checkout.
Course platform comparison
Kajabi
- Best fit
- Solo creator
- Published price
- $149-$399/mo
- Transaction fee
- None most plans
- Affiliate tracking
- Native
- Exit check
- Export learners/files
Teachable
- Best fit
- Marketplace discovery
- Published price
- Free; $39-$159/mo
- Transaction fee
- Fee lower tiers
- Affiliate tracking
- Native paid tiers
- Exit check
- Check marketplace rules
Thinkific
- Best fit
- First cohort
- Published price
- Free; from $49/mo
- Transaction fee
- None paid tiers
- Affiliate tracking
- Native or app
- Exit check
- Export course file
Podia
- Best fit
- Small catalog
- Published price
- Free; $39-$199/mo
- Transaction fee
- None
- Affiliate tracking
- Native
- Exit check
- Export email list
Platform comparison
Best fit
- Kajabi
- Solo creator who wants one bill
- Teachable
- Creators who want marketplace discovery
- Thinkific
- Teacher testing a first cohort
- Podia
- Small catalog of courses and downloads
- LearnWorlds
- Training business that needs records
- Circle
- Cohort teaching where discussion is the product
- Open edX
- Institution with engineering staff
Published price
- Kajabi
- Tiers commonly $149 to $399 per month
- Teachable
- Free tier; paid tiers often $39 to $159 per month
- Thinkific
- Free plan; paid plans often from about $49 per month
- Podia
- Free tier; paid plans commonly $39 to $199 per month
- LearnWorlds
- Plans typically $29 to $249 per month
- Circle
- Plans commonly $89 to $399 per month
- Open edX
- License free; managed hosting typically from low hundreds per month
Transaction fee
- Kajabi
- None on most plans
- Teachable
- Fee on lower tiers, none on top tier
- Thinkific
- None on paid tiers
- Podia
- None
- LearnWorlds
- None on standard plans
- Circle
- None
- Open edX
- None from Open edX
Affiliate tracking
- Kajabi
- Native affiliate tools
- Teachable
- Native on paid tiers
- Thinkific
- Native or app
- Podia
- Native affiliate tools
- LearnWorlds
- Built-in or integration
- Circle
- Limited native affiliate tools
- Open edX
- Needs separate tooling
Exit check
- Kajabi
- Export learners and files
- Teachable
- Check marketplace rules
- Thinkific
- Export course file
- Podia
- Export email list
- LearnWorlds
- SCORM and certificate export
- Circle
- Export posts and members
- Open edX
- Full data control
Table date: January 2026. Figures are typical ranges; re-check each vendor's pricing page before publication.
Kajabi bundles website, checkout, email, funnels, affiliates and course delivery. It suits a solo creator who wants one bill and no integrations. Published tiers commonly run $149 to $399 per month, with no transaction fee on most plans.
Teachable is course-first with a marketplace attached. It suits creators who want discovery traffic. The free tier carries a transaction fee, often around 10% plus $1 per sale. Paid tiers commonly run $39 to $159 per month and drop the fee.
Thinkific leans on course structure and free plan entry. It suits a teacher testing a first cohort. Paid plans commonly start near $49 per month and drop the platform transaction fee.
Podia covers courses, downloads, memberships and email on one flat monthly price with no transaction fee. It suits a small catalog. Paid plans commonly run $39 to $199 per month. There is a free tier.
LearnWorlds adds assessments, certificates and SCORM. It suits training businesses that need records. Plans typically run $29 to $249 per month, with a setup fee on higher tiers. It charges no platform transaction fee on standard plans.
Circle is community-first with courses attached. It suits cohort teaching where discussion is the product. Plans commonly run $89 to $399 per month, with no transaction fee. Native affiliate tracking is limited, so check before you recruit affiliates.
Open edX is open source and self-hosted. It suits institutions with engineering staff. The license is free; hosting and maintenance are not. Managed hosting commonly starts in the low hundreds of dollars per month.
Picks by creator type:
Best fit by creator
- Solo creatorKajabi, for one bill and no integrations.
- Cohort teacherCircle, when discussion carries the course.
- Training businessLearnWorlds, for certificates, assessments and SCORM records.
- InstitutionOpen edX, when you have engineering staff to run it.
Score each platform against your own model, not a feature grid. The online course marketing comparison only holds once you know whether you sell self-paced, cohort or membership.
Where the money leaks
Run the arithmetic on your own numbers before you pick a tier.
Where the money leaks
- $200Course price
- 5%Platform transaction fee
- 2.9%Payment processor rate
- $184Left before affiliate commission
- Platform transaction feeprice x fee rate
- Payment processor feeprice x processor rate, plus any fixed per-transaction charge
- Refundthe full price back, and on some processors the original fee is not returned
- Affiliate commission: price x commission rate, paid on a sale you might have made anyway
A $200 course sold through a 5% platform fee and a 2.9% processor rate leaves roughly $184 before affiliate commission. Add a 30% affiliate cut and you are near $124. That is the number to compare against a flat monthly fee.
Affiliate programs are where platforms diverge most. If you plan to recruit affiliates, check the cookie window and the payout schedule. Native tools commonly use a 30 day cookie window and pay monthly. If not, you need a separate tool. The online course marketing tools that handle this are usually priced separately.
What to test before you commit
Run the same trial on every finalist:
Trial checklist before committing
- Create course with free and paid lessons
- Publish sales page and buy with discount code
- Issue refund and confirm access loss
- Enroll second learner and check email sequence
- Export learner list and course file
- Delete staff seat and confirm access revoked
- Buy your own course with a real card, a coupon code and one tax state turned on. Note the amount charged.
- Refund that order and record how long the money takes to come back, and whether the processor fee returns.
- Click your own affiliate link and confirm the sale is credited to the affiliate with the right commission.
- Export the learner list to CSV and open the file in a spreadsheet.
- Export one course to SCORM and load it in a second tool.
- Check the tax line on the receipt against the rate your state charges for digital goods.
Record the manual steps beside the license price. A platform that saves $30 a month but costs four hours of setup each launch is not cheaper.
What the rules require
Objective claims about earnings or results need a reasonable basis before you publish them, per the FTC advertising substantiation policy. That applies to your own sales page as much as a vendor's.
If you solicit reviews or run an affiliate program, the FTC guidance for marketers using reviews covers fake feedback, conditioned incentives and undisclosed relationships. Disclose paid links.
Sales tax on digital goods varies by state. New York taxes many downloaded digital products sold to a buyer in the state. California generally does not tax a downloaded file. Confirm with your state revenue department, or a CPA, before you set up checkout.
Common questions
Does an all-in-one platform always win?
No. It wins when the integrated workflows perform well and the exit path is clean. If you need SCORM or certificates, a specialist may fit better.
Should I pick on transaction fee alone?
No. Compare the fee against a flat monthly price at your expected volume. A 5% fee on fifty $200 sales is $500, which may exceed a year of flat pricing.
How often should I re-check the platform?
Review after any material release or pricing change. Set a full fit, cost and exit review at a fixed interval. Name the trigger that forces an earlier one. For conversion benchmarks across cohorts, see how to improve online course marketing.
