There has never been a better time to start teaching online.
Online learning is a rapidly growing business. By 2025, the global e-learning market is projected to reach $350 billion – and 90% of companies already offer some form of online learning for their employees.
So if you’ve been thinking about creating learning products to share your knowledge with more people and grow your business – now is the time to do it.
Ready to join the movement? We’ve selected the best online teaching platforms in 2024 – through rigorous research, testing, and customer reviews – so you can pick the platform that suits you and start making more money from teaching in no time.
Click the links below to skip ahead:
- 15 best free online teaching platforms in 2024
- How are online learning and online teaching platforms different?
- How to choose the best online teaching platform for your business
- How to monetize your content with a custom online course
15 best online teaching platforms in 2024
| Best for: Creating a wide range of digital learning products | Pros:
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| Best for: Mobile-first microlearning content | Pros:
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| Best for: Offering free online courses | Pros:
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| Best for: Finding creative audiences | Pros:
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| Best for: One-to-one coaching | Pros:
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| Best for: Flexible pricing options |
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| Best for: Managing multiple instructors and admins | Pros:
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| Best for: Advanced analytics | Pros:
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| Best for: Delivering employee training | Pros:
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| Best for: Security and creator copyright | Pros:
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| Best for: Specialist training management | Pros:
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| Best for: Monetizing WordPress websites | Pros:
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| Best for: Live online teaching | Pros:
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| Best for: Creating micro-credential courses | Pros:
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| Best for: Simple learning product builder | Pros:
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One of the best online teaching platforms around, Thinkific takes care of your teaching business from A to Z. Thinkific is an all-in-one scalable solution for course creation, community-building, and membership monetization – and it’s beginner-friendly too.
Get started with a free plan to create a beautiful website, engage your audience with communities, and sell courses the way you want, from subscriptions to one-time payments. With a simple drag-and-drop course builder and AI-powered tools, you can have your first course up and running in less than a day.
Here are some of the top features for teaching:
- Wide range of digital learning products – including online courses, digital downloads, coaching, and webinars
- Community-building tools to create a thriving learning community
- AI-driven marketing features to build high-performing sales pages and automated email flows for engaging your learners
- Flexible pricing structure – including subscriptions, bundles, one-time payments, and more
Looking to drive additional revenue? With no-code app solutions like Branded Mobile, you can unlock additional revenue streams for your business, while spotlighting your brand with your own white-labeled mobile app.
And if you need any extra features, get access to a whole range of third-party app integrations in the Thinkific App Store to help you level up your course business and start earning more money from your expertise.
Thinkific’s best-in-class customer support is also there to help you every step of the way, whether you’re a first-time creator or an enterprise business. You can also join the Thinkific Studio – an expert creator community – to learn from people who have been there, done that, and are ready to give you all the support you need.
The other platforms wanted to nickel and dime me on everything… Thinkific’s packages are simplistic and easy to follow. I love how user-friendly it is, and there is a ton of support. I like knowing that when I need something, I can get a response quickly.”
– George Pitts, Thinkific Creator
Pros:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop course website builder
- Advanced email marketing & automation
- Host live events
- Community-building features
- Comprehensive marketing tools and integrations
- Extensive 3rd party App Store
- 24/7 customer support
- Drive additional revenue and offer your content via your own white-labeled mobile app
- Built-in digital product payment processing, with powerful selling tools to streamline check-out and taxes
Cons:
- Limited choices for website designs
- Need to upgrade to paid plan to access all features
Pricing:
- Free plan available
- Paid plans start from $36 per month
Standing out in the online teaching world, The Leap offers creators a unique approach to course creation. The Leap focuses on ultra mini-courses for tappable social-media style learning content that’s ridiculously simple to build.
The mobile product builder lets you create, publish, and promote your products for mobile audiences – and built-in email marketing features help you set up automated flows to engage your audience and get your creative content in front of more eyeballs. The Leap also offers a customizable link-in-bio storefront for showing off and selling your digital products.
- It’s free to use + 0% transaction fees
- Powered by AI – get your first draft in minutes
- Simple, intuitive, built for creators
This all-in-one platform has everything you need to start teaching online – including content creation, payment processing, and customer engagement. And the Leap is mobile-led so your audience has instant access to your content on-the-go and on their phones. The result? Teaching learners online is a piece of cake.
“The Leap has made it so easy to offer my digital products to my community and grow my business. Being able to offer digital downloads, courses and consulting all on one link has been a game changer for me.”
Keenya Kelly, The Leap Creator
Pros:
- AI-powered content authoring tools
- Quick to set up and sell learning products
- Mobile-first product builder
- Great for beginners and intuitive to use
- Built-in link-in-bio store
- Customizable landing pages
- Mix-and-match content cards for tappable lessons
Cons:
- Tailored to microlearning products
- Fewer customization options than some alternatives
Pricing:
- Free plan available
- Paid plans start from $19 per month
One of the biggest online teaching platforms on the market with more than 40 million students, Udemy’s mission is to make high-quality education accessible to people worldwide.
It’s free to create a course on Udemy. But unlike some Udemy alternatives, not every creator can get paid for their courses on the platform – it’s a curated process.
If you want to charge for your course, you’ll have to apply to become a Premium Instructor and get approved by the platform first. Udemy Premium Instructors are paid by revenue share rather than direct sales – so your income can be unpredictable. Your learning content also has to feature at least five learning modules and be 30 minutes long or more to pass the platform’s strict quality guidelines.
To help you get started, Udemy offers guidance for first-time course creators building their online courses – from advice on video equipment to feedback on the actual content. You also have the chance to be featured in Udemy’s marketing materials, which can bring your courses to a wider audience.
And this online teaching platform offers comprehensive analytics so you can assess how your content is performing compared to others on the platform.
“Teaching on Udemy has provided me with two important elements: the opportunity to reach more learners than I ever would be able to on my own and a steady stream of extra income.”
Deborah Grayson Riege, Udemy Creator
Pros:
- Millions of students on the platform
- Decent marketing support
- Built-in analytics and insights
Cons:
- Need approval to create paid courses
- Strict requirements on length and type of course
- Udemy keeps up to 63% revenue share on paid courses + transaction fees
Pricing:
- There is no fee for teaching free courses on Udemy
- Paid plans start at $35 per month for learners
Related: Udemy vs Thinkific – A detailed comparison
If you’re thinking of teaching a course for creatives, designers, photographers, or entrepreneurs, you’ll probably find your target audience on the online course marketplace Skillshare.
Skillshare has over 35,000 paid courses on topics from marketing to illustration to productivity. Anyone can sign up and create a free course – but your course has to be in Skillshare’s premium catalog to get paid for your content.
Skillshare differs from other platforms by charging students a monthly subscription fee to unlock all premium course content. This fee is then allocated to creators.
There are two ways to earn money on Skillshare:
- Royalties: 30% of Skillshare’s total membership revenue is funneled to creators – who are paid based on the number of minutes of watch time their courses get.
- Referrals: When you create a new course, you’ll get a referral link to send to your followers. If they sign up for a Skillshare subscription, you’ll receive 60% of their first subscription payment.
This pricing model means it’s difficult to predict how much you’ll be paid each month for your learning products – and you have less control over your earnings compared to other online teaching platforms in this list.
Unlike other platforms, Skillshare also focuses on short-form course content (around five minutes each) and classes rarely exceed two hours – they prioritize practical knowledge that can be implemented immediately. Learners are supported by community discussions to boost social learning opportunities and encourage collaboration.
“Teaching on Skillshare gives me the financial flexibility to take on only the work I’m most passionate about.”
Tabitha Park, Skillshare Creator
Pros:
- Engaged specialist community
- Tailored to creatives
- Extensive library of courses
Cons:
- Need to be approved to earn money from the platform
- Creators are only paid based on watch time and referrals
- Limited options for additional digital learning products
Pricing:
- There is no fee for teaching free courses on Skillshare
- Membership plans start from $32 per month
Related: Skillshare vs Thinkific – A detailed comparison
If you’re an experienced creator who already knows what it takes to build a successful course, you might consider Teachable as your online teaching platform.
When it comes to creating digital learning products, Teachable gives creators a wide range of customization features. These help you bring the look and feel of your course as close to your brand as possible. You don’t have to know how to code to create your first course – but keen coders can use the Power Editor to make custom changes.
“Teachable is a super easy-to-use platform that helps me create and launch my online courses quickly.”
Ben Collins, Teachable Creator
As Teachable lets you create courses independently, you can choose your pricing model – sell your learning products for a one-off fee, through a payment plan, or as a subscription. Teachable also has a range of built-in marketing tools. Use them to collect feedback, email segments of your audience, notify students about upcoming courses, and more.
Pros:
- Built for experienced course creators
- Effective in-built marketing tools
- Customizable pricing options
Cons:
- High 10% transaction fee on a free plan
- Limited community-building features
- Poor customer support
Pricing:
- Free plan available
- Paid plans start $39 per month + 5% transaction fee
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Whether you’re looking to create and sell courses or find e-commerce solutions, Podia has a range of tools available to build the business you want.
Podia is designed to handle multiple types of digital learning products, including:
- Courses
- Digital downloads
- Webinars
Podia also offers easy-to-use templates for creators and makes selling digital products in your online store straightforward – though it lacks many of the customization options available on other online teaching platforms.
“I use Podia to manage my marketing, sales, and payments for my online business.”
Felicia Reed, Podia Creator
Publishing a course on Podia is straightforward. You have the option to publish your content right away or create a basic pre-launch campaign to generate interest. Any other digital products you’ve produced can also be sold alongside your course as bundles.
Start your own brand community with a membership section on the platform and create premium content offerings for your paying subscribers to take your business up a notch. Just beware of high transaction fees on both free and paid plans.
Pros:
- Sell a range of digital learning products
- Basic community-building tools
- Flexible course pricing options
Cons:
- Lacks customization tools
- Limited types of multimedia content
- Course-creation and sales page features are less powerful than competitors
Pricing:
- Free plan available + 10% transaction fee
- Paid plans start at $4 per month + 8% transaction fees
Related: Podia vs Thinkific – A detailed comparison
If you’re looking to build a digital teaching business from scratch, LearnWorlds brings together a range of features to help you quickly create multiple courses and manage multiple instructors on the same platform. This platform offers helpful tools like an interactive video editor and automatic video transcripts to save time when you’re creating courses in bulk.
Every new school on LearnWorlds has its own space to build a digital community and encourage student interaction. The platform also offers different permission levels, so your instructors can teach and start community discussions but can’t modify your courses, for example. Each student has an individual profile where they can showcase their learning progress.
To help you prioritize mobile learning, LearnWorlds also offers tools for building your own branded iOS and Android app (for an extra fee) – with in-app purchases and custom push notifications too.
“LearnWorlds helped me build an independent online slow-lifestyle mobile photography course. For me, it is very important that you can build an Interactive video editor and add automatic video transcripts.”
Pros:
- Add multiple admins and instructors
- Edit permissions and access
- Customizable learner profiles
Cons:
- No physical inventory management for non-digital products
- Limited integrations and customization options
- High cost to access reporting features
Pricing:
- Starts at $24 per month + $5 per course sale
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Like many of the online teaching platforms in this list, Kajabi helps you create and manage multiple types of digital learning products from courses to podcasts.
What makes Kajabi stand out is the marketing tools – including a custom website, landing pages, and emails. Build a whole marketing funnel from a sales page to follow-up emails and everything in between, then monitor your marketing strategy using built-in analytics to see what works and what needs adjusting. What lets it down is the lack of customization options available for websites and landing pages.
Kajabi is also pricier than other platforms out there – if you want to offer more than 3 learning products, you’ll need to upgrade to the Kajabi Growth Plan for $159 per month. And there are limited options for creators looking to create digital downloads.
“There are some platforms out there that will take part of your revenue. Kajabi doesn’t do that”
Molly Rouse, Kajabi Creator
Pros:
- Create a range of learning products
- Email marketing tools
- Email-to-purchase analytics
Cons:
- Limited customization options
- Complex course navigation
- Poor customer support
Pricing:
- Starts at $55 per month for 1 learning product
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Focused on bite-sized training for organizations, SC Training (formerly EdApp) is tailored to microlearning. SC Training offers intuitive tools for building employee education programs at scale, built for frontline teams. SC Training lets you deliver the training experience your team needs – including blended learning and group training.
Among its top features, SC Training offers companies the chance to white-label their own courses for training and onboarding employees, partners, and customers. SC Training also features over 80 templates for quick custom course creation with options to add gamification, including:
- Games
- Quizzes
- Videos
- Assessments
- Images
SC Training has an extensive course library of pre-built, editable training content, including accredited courses for safety, compliance, and employee wellbeing. Plus, all learning can be delivered right to your employees’ mobile devices for training on the go.
“SC Training helps us address learning barriers that our learners face like microlessons, where learners can complete a lesson when they have 15 minutes to spare.”
Kate Turner-Mann, SC Training user
Pros:
- 80+ ready-made course templates
- White-labeling options
- Library of pre-built courses
Cons:
- Built solely for employee training
- Best suited to bigger organizations
- Limited monetization options
Pricing:
- Free plan available for up to 10 learners
- Paid plans start at $5 per learner per month
Whether you offer one-to-one coaching, live group lessons, or self-paced learning, Wise offers a range of features to help you scale with ease. Wise is a complete online teaching platform for live courses, including:
- Zoom integration
- Interactive AI-powered quizzes
- Lesson agendas
- Leaderboards
- Learner performance reports
Wise caters to a wide range of teaching businesses, especially coaches and tutors – take advantage of automated WhatsApp and email reminders so your clients never miss a session.
This online teaching platform also puts emphasis on security with DRM encryption to ensure you retain control over your content. Add device restrictions to prevent unauthorized access and put limits on screen recording too.
“Wise has been crucial for my business. It allows me to connect with students easily and share materials without worrying about them being shared on social media.”
Bledar Gjika, Wise Creator
Pros:
- Tailored to one-to-one and group coaching
- Use interactive quizzes during live sessions
- Set automated session reminders
Cons:
- Few marketing tools
- Limited integrations
- Live sessions only work with Zoom
Pricing:
- Free plan available
- Paid plans start at $49 per month
Arlo is an online teaching platform designed for instructor-led training. Their training management software is tailor-made to give companies full control over how they deliver courses to employees, including tools for selling and promoting training content.
With Arlo, you can schedule courses, assign instructors, generate automated course certificates, and more. Choose to host courses in-person or online, depending on where your learners are.
Arlo is best for:
- Internal training providers – e.g. for upskilling employees
- External training providers – e.g. for teaching paying customers
- Training companies offering blended learning – e.g. instructors providing face-to-face, live online, and eLearning training.
Integrate your existing website or build a new site using Arlo’s out-of-the-box tools – and take advantage of a wide range of integrations, including Zoom, Xero, SurveyMonkey, and more.
If you’re looking to build an online course from scratch, Arlo probably isn’t the platform for you. This platform is designed as a management tool for promoting, delivering, and tracking learning products – but it doesn’t have robust features for course creation.
“Arlo integrates extremely well with our website and has a lot of flexibility for managing public and private training.”
Anton R, Arlo Creator
Pros:
- Specialist training management platform
- Schedule in-person and online courses
- Assign instructors and admins
Cons:
- Not suitable for first-time course creators
- No course-building interface
- No community-building features
Pricing:
- Starts at $179 per license per month
- Additional $0.90 per free registration + $1.80 per paid registration
Already have a WordPress website? Take a look at LearnDash for online teaching. LearnDash is a powerful WordPress plugin that adds course-selling functionality to your WordPress site.
LearnDash offers creators:
- Customizable courses and quizzes
- Flexible pricing models
- Certificates
- Good data security
With a range of course-creation tools, LearnDash offers an easy drag-and-drop interface to help you build your first online course. Add certificates and grades to your course to give learners a sense of achievement – and customize the design to match your branding.
LearnDash is a simple way to monetize your WordPress site. Sell access to any content on your website – including your blog, podcast, or courses – and start earning money immediately.
“I instantly knew that I could create a business with LearnDash as my foundation”
Adam Barragato, LearnDash Creator
Pros:
- Built for WordPress websites
- Monetize the content on your site
- Works with any WordPress theme
Cons:
- No live course features
- Limited community-building tools
- Very basic marketing features
Pricing:
- Starts at $25 per month
Related: Learndash vs Thinkific – A detailed comparison
If you’re looking to teach online classes live to learners, Maven may be the platform for you. Tailored to live teaching, Maven offers over 400+ cohort-based courses ranging from data engineering to leadership.
With emphasis on active learning, accountability, and peer-to-peer feedback, Maven aims to create dynamic online learning experiences.
- Cohort-based courses
- Live lessons
- Interactive learning experiences
Maven also offers creators a wide range of resources to help you get your first course up and running, including the Maven Course Accelerator program and an extensive resource library – including templates, how-to guides, and more.
The Maven instructor community gives you the chance to connect with other educators – and get their tips on teaching live lessons online.
“Maven was so much easier to navigate than previous course platforms. It helped me reinforce my learning, keep track of organization, and enabled me to do live problem solving”
Snow Montemayor, Maven user
Pros:
- Tailored to live lessons
- Extensive onboarding resources
- Instructor community
Cons:
- Limited to cohort-based courses
- Lack of customization
- Few marketing tools
Pricing:
- Free to use until someone enrolls in your course
- 10% transaction fee on each paid enrollment
Partnering with universities and institutions, OpenLearning provides AI-driven tools to help creators build short courses and online degrees, with tools for content authoring, design, and delivery.
OpenLearning is tailored to micro-credentials – short-form courses designed for upskilling and reskilling employees and as a top-up for an existing qualification. The platform includes helpful features for training learners at scale, including:
- Automatic grading
- Auto-generated learner portfolios
- Branded certificates of completion
- Branded courses and landing pages
For institutions, OpenLearning offers a branded portal with a custom domain. Plus OpenLearning helps teachers build learning communities to promote collaborative engagement – and a more dynamic learning experience.
“OpenLearning provided us with the necessary agility to respond to market trends and demands in almost real-time with a savvy product and seamless delivery experience.”
Eve Ollerenshaw, OpenLearning user
Pros:
- Tailored to institutions
- Create short courses and micro-credentials
- Custom branded portal
Cons:
- Less intuitive than other platforms
- No email marketing tools
- Less suitable for small businesses
Pricing:
- Starts at $1170 per year ($97.50 per month)
For creators looking to monetize their audience, FreshLearn offers a no-code platform for offering online teaching and digital products. Create courses and assessments, host live lessons, and keep track of everything with a comprehensive analytics dashboard.
And thanks to their marketing tools, FreshLearn makes it easy to create coupons, discounts, and email campaigns to increase conversions. Plus connect a custom domain for your teaching website for a branded experience.
There’s an easier way to create content for your audience with their “lego” builder that creates a simple way to build courses using blocks. But while the design process is simple, it lacks a lot of the customization available on other platforms in this list – and there are limited options for automation.
“The support is the best I’ve ever experienced for a software company. They are responsive and resolve issues fast.”
Adeah W., FreshLearn Creator
Pros:
- Customizable digital learning products
- eLearning mobile app available
- Good customer support
Cons:
- Limited customization options
- Limited automation features
- Gamification tools only available on higher tier plans
Pricing:
- Starts at $29 per month
How are online learning and online teaching platforms different?
Online teaching platforms are ideal for Creator Educators looking for a better way to share their knowledge – allowing you to choose when and how you want to work and reach as many learners as possible. Create a learning product once and sell it thousands of times.
In other words, there are no limits to what you can accomplish.
While online learning and online teaching platforms are two sides of the same coin, there’s a subtle difference between them.
Here’s what you need to know.
Online learning platforms – also known as online course marketplaces – are often centralized to provide a wide selection of courses for users to choose from. Sometimes these courses are created by individual contributors or use courses offered by higher education institutions (e.g. edX). Other platforms (e.g. Treehouse or Lynda) commission custom courses to add to their content library. Find the best online learning platforms here.
Online teaching platforms provide all the tools you need to create and sell an online course from scratch – including templates, payment processors, and marketing features for promoting your learning products. Both individuals and companies use online teaching platforms to create employee training, masterclasses, customer onboarding programs, and more. Online teaching platforms are ideal for creators looking to build an online course business.
How to choose the best online teaching platform for your business
Online teaching platforms provide the tools you need to create a complete learning experience on the web, including building, designing, and promoting your digital learning products.
The tools and features you’ll find in online teaching platforms can be very different, depending on which one you choose. Here are 5 key features and differences to keep in mind:
- Independent vs integrated: Some online teaching platforms are standalone while others integrate into your existing website or membership site.
- Teaching styles: Many platforms allow you to create self-paced courses, others focus on live teaching, and some offer a blended learning approach.
- Pricing: Some online teaching platforms are free to use or require a monthly subscription while other platforms only charge for transaction fees when you make a sale.
- No code vs code: Some platforms offer no code creators like drag-and-drop editors for building your own digital learning products, others require custom coding.
- Marketing tools: Look out for online teaching platforms that also include built-in marketing tools, including automated email flows, customizable landing pages, and more.
- Community-building: Some platforms offer built-in community-building features – including forums, memberships, Q&A sessions, and chats – to create a more dynamic teaching experience and help engage your learners and customers.
Depending on the online teaching platform you choose, you can unlock a range of features for your business. In some cases, you don’t even need a website—you can build an online store, a course, and a community all in one place, with web hosting and free themes covered as well.
Use these top features to help you pick the best platform for online teaching, depending on your business’ needs. Want to learn more? Check out our guide to How to Create a Wildly Successful Online Course for more tips.
How to monetize your content with a custom learning product
Choosing the best online teaching platform doesn’t have to be a headache. By thinking about your audience, your expertise, and your goals for your business, you can find the top platform for your needs.
Looking for an easy way to monetize your content? Create custom digital learning products for your business – including online courses, masterclasses, memberships, communities, and more. Get started and build your first digital product with Thinkific today.
This blog was originally published in October 2023, it’s since been updated with the newest information in September 2024.
