The best course creation platform depends on one choice: do you rent a hosted platform or own a WordPress site? Hosted platforms such as Teachable, Kajabi, Podia, Thinkific and Skool get you live fastest. A WordPress course site with an LMS plugin such as Learnomy takes more setup, and in return you own the site, the student data and the design.
This guide compares both routes fairly, judged on how it feels to build a course and run a business around it. It names no prices, because plans change. Check each vendor’s own pricing page for current figures.
Course creation software and course builder platforms
Course creation software is the tool you build lessons in. A course builder platform adds hosting, checkout and student logins around that builder. Hosted examples are Teachable, Kajabi, Podia and Thinkific. On WordPress, a plugin such as Learnomy is the course builder and your site is the platform. Look for a builder that lets you arrange modules and lessons quickly, attach quizzes and preview as a student.
Two ways to create and sell a course
Hosted platforms are software you rent. You sign up, build your course inside their editor, and they run the servers, checkout and student logins. Everything sits behind their account system.
WordPress is software you own. You install an LMS plugin on your own site, choose a theme, and connect payments. You or your host handle updates and backups. The course lives on your domain and your database.
Neither is better for everyone. A hosted platform removes technical work. WordPress removes limits on design, data and business model. Most of this guide is about knowing which of those two matters more to you.
Quick comparison
| Option | Type | Best for | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learnomy with Reign | WordPress | Courses plus a community you own | You manage hosting and updates |
| LearnDash | WordPress plugin | Structured, assessment-heavy courses | Selling and community are separate pieces |
| Teachable | Hosted | Course-focused creators who want a clear builder | Limited control over design and data |
| Kajabi | Hosted | Courses, email and marketing in one account | More menus to learn |
| Podia | Hosted | Courses, downloads and memberships from one simple dashboard | Lighter community tools |
| Thinkific | Hosted | Course sellers who want a dedicated course platform | Add-ons and plan tiers decide features |
| Skool | Hosted | Community first, with a classroom | Fixed layout, little room for your brand |
Treat this as a starting filter. Feature sets on hosted platforms change often, so confirm anything that decides your purchase on the vendor’s site.
1. Learnomy with Reign: a WordPress course site you own
Learnomy is our own LMS plugin for WordPress. It installs free, and the free version covers courses, lessons, quizzes, certificates, Stripe and PayPal checkout, memberships with trials, and coupons. Checkout works without WooCommerce, so selling a course is a settings screen rather than a separate shop project.
The paid Learnomy plan adds assignments, a weighted gradebook, advanced quizzes, drip content and prerequisites, learning paths, cohorts, team seats, subscription management and Stripe Connect instructor payouts. It also adds SCORM, xAPI and LTI. You start on the free version and add what you need as the school grows.
The design layer is Reign. The theme styles Learnomy with no add-on, so your catalog, lesson pages and student dashboard match the rest of your site. Because Reign is a community theme, you can also add BuddyNext for profiles, an activity feed and spaces, Jetonomy for forums and Q&A, and WB Gamification for points and badges. Those are separate plugins that install free.
The cost model is a theme licence per site, yearly or lifetime. There is no per-member fee and no share of your sales. The pricing page has current figures.
- Pros: you own the content, students and revenue; no cut of your sales; a community can sit beside the courses; design is fully yours.
- Cons: you or your host handle updates, backups and security; you make more decisions up front; a younger ecosystem than the biggest hosted brands.
2. LearnDash: structure for serious courses
LearnDash is a long-standing WordPress LMS plugin. Its course, lesson and topic hierarchy suits curricula with a lot of assessment, and it has a deep quiz engine. Many course sellers on WordPress use it.
Authoring happens in the WordPress admin. Selling usually means pairing it with a payment or membership plugin. A community around the course is another plugin on top. That is a normal WordPress pattern, but it means you assemble the stack. If you already run it, Reign has a LearnDash add-on that styles it. If you are weighing it against other plugins, our LearnDash alternatives guide goes through the options.
- Pros: rigorous structure; strong assessment tools; a large WordPress ecosystem.
- Cons: several separate pieces to set up; authoring is admin-based.
3. Teachable: a clear, course-focused builder
Teachable is a hosted platform built around courses. Its builder arranges content into sections and lectures, and quizzes attach without much friction. A first-time creator can learn it quickly, and the vendor handles hosting, checkout and student accounts.
What you give up is control. Your pages follow the platform’s templates, and your student list lives in their system. Which payment options and fees apply depends on the plan you pick, so read that carefully before building.
- Pros: approachable builder; no hosting work.
- Cons: limited design freedom; your data sits on their platform; fees and features follow the plan.
4. Kajabi: courses and marketing in one account
Kajabi is a hosted platform that bundles courses with a website, email marketing and sales funnels. If you want the course and the marketing machinery in one login, that breadth is the appeal.
The trade-off is the same breadth. There are more menus and settings than a purpose-built course tool, so expect a longer learning curve before your first course is configured. Think of it as a business platform that includes courses.
- Pros: marketing tools included; one account for most of the business.
- Cons: steeper learning curve; you rent the whole stack.
5. Podia: simple upload and publish
Podia keeps building deliberately simple. You upload video and written content, arrange it into modules and publish. It also handles digital downloads and memberships from the same dashboard.
That suits a creator who already has finished material and wants it live fast. It is lighter on community and engagement features than some alternatives, so check that it covers the way you want students to interact.
- Pros: little to learn; quick for existing content.
- Cons: lighter community tools; less room to grow into a larger school.
6. Thinkific: a dedicated course platform
Thinkific is another hosted platform focused on courses. It offers a course builder, quizzes and certificates, along with community options. As with other hosted tools, what you get depends on the plan, so compare the feature tiers on their site.
- Pros: focused on courses; hosting handled for you.
- Cons: features vary by plan; you work within its design limits.
7. Skool: community first
Skool puts the community at the centre and adds a classroom for courses. Members land in a feed and a leaderboard, and the lessons sit beside it. It is a good model when conversation is the product.
The cost of that simplicity is flexibility. You work inside a fixed layout, with limited room for your own brand and your own data. If you want that same blend on a site you own, see how Reign compares on our Skool alternative page. You can combine Learnomy for courses with BuddyNext for the community, and the Skool migration guide explains how to move.
- Pros: community and courses together; simple to start.
- Cons: fixed layout; limited customisation and data control.
How to choose between hosted and WordPress
Ask these questions in order.
- Who will maintain the site? If nobody on your team wants to touch updates, a hosted platform or managed WordPress hosting is the safer start.
- How much do you care about owning the student list? On WordPress it sits in your database. On a hosted platform you export it when you can.
- Is the community part of the offer? If members should talk to each other, look at WordPress with a community plugin or at Skool.
- How will your business model change? Memberships, cohorts, instructor payouts and a marketplace are easier to add when you control the stack.
- What happens if you grow? Per-sale fees and per-member plans scale with your success. A flat licence does not.
- How soon do you need to be live? If the answer is “this week”, hosted wins.
What it costs to run, in words
Hosted platforms usually charge a subscription, and some also take a share of each sale on certain plans. Your student list and pages stay with them. WordPress costs hosting plus a plugin and theme licence, and Reign and Learnomy take no share of your sales.
Use our community cost calculator with your own numbers rather than trusting a headline price from anyone, including us.
Questions to ask any vendor before you build
Whichever route you lean towards, put these to the vendor or test them in a trial. They take an hour and save a rebuild.
- Can I export my students, my content and my sales records, and in what format?
- Which payment methods work in the countries my students live in?
- What happens to my pages and student accounts if I cancel?
- Can I use my own domain, my own email sender and my own branding on every screen a student sees, including the login and the certificate?
- How are refunds, coupons and failed payments handled, and who sees the records?
- What does the mobile experience look like for a student watching a lesson on a phone?
On WordPress the answers are yours to set, because you hold the database and the domain. On a hosted platform the answers are in the vendor’s terms, so read them once before you commit your catalog.
What the build experience is really like
Most comparisons miss this. You will spend more hours inside the authoring screens than your students ever spend on the checkout page.
On a hosted platform, the builder is tuned for speed and the structure is pre-decided. That helps if you want to stop deciding things. On WordPress, you choose your own structure and design, which takes longer at the start and pays back when you need something the platform did not plan for.
The blank page is the hardest part on any platform. No software writes your curriculum for you. Draft your outline in a document first, split it into modules of a length a student can finish in a sitting, and then build it. That habit helps more than any tool.
Who should pick what
- First-time creator with finished material: Podia or Teachable keep things simple.
- Creator who wants marketing built in: Kajabi.
- Community-led business: Skool, or WordPress with Reign, BuddyNext and Learnomy if you want to own it.
- Serious assessment and structure: LearnDash, or Learnomy’s quizzes and gradebook.
- School, academy or membership with several instructors: WordPress, because payouts, cohorts and your own design matter more as you grow.
If you want to see the WordPress route working, the best WordPress LMS theme guide compares the options on that side, and the LMS picker narrows it for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best course creation software?
It depends on your route. Hosted tools such as Teachable or Podia are quickest to start, and Learnomy on WordPress is best if you want to own the site and add a community.
What is a course builder platform?
It is a tool that lets you assemble modules, lessons and quizzes, and usually sells and delivers them too. Hosted platforms bundle everything, while on WordPress the builder is an LMS plugin on your own site.
What is the best course creation platform for beginners?
A hosted platform such as Podia or Teachable is usually the easiest start. You upload content, arrange it and publish, and the vendor runs the rest. If you can handle WordPress basics, Learnomy’s free version is also approachable.
Is WordPress good for selling online courses?
Yes. WordPress with an LMS plugin gives you full control of design, data and business model. You manage hosting and updates yourself, or pay a host to do it. Learnomy’s free version includes checkout through Stripe and PayPal.
What is the difference between a hosted platform and a WordPress LMS?
A hosted platform is rented software with everything included and limited control. A WordPress LMS runs on your own site, so you own the content and the student data and choose the design. The cost is more setup work.
Do I pay a cut of my sales?
It depends on the platform and the plan. Some hosted plans take a share of sales, so check the vendor’s fee page. With Reign and Learnomy you pay for the licence only, and neither takes a share of what you earn.
Can I add a community to my course?
Yes. Skool is built around one. On WordPress you can add BuddyNext for profiles, a feed and spaces, and Jetonomy for forums. Reign styles all of it, as the course community build guide shows.
Can I move courses from another platform?
Often, with manual work. Content such as videos and text usually exports in some form, but student progress rarely moves cleanly. Plan the move course by course and test on a staging site first.
Do I need design skills?
No. Every option here handles layout for you. On WordPress, pick a theme such as Reign that styles your LMS, then adjust colours and typography.
Try the WordPress route
If owning your course business appeals, open the Reign demos and click through a course as a student. Then follow the course community build guide to set up Learnomy and the community pieces in order.