As of May 25, 2020, there are over 5.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. As most of the world was on a mandatory or voluntary lockdown, millions have spent weeks in isolation. Many have turned to learn something at this time using the best online course platforms.
The downfall of this virus outbreak is that many are out of jobs or unable to conduct business as usual. However, the upside is that there has never been a better time to create or take an online course.
While many are turning to binge-watching Netflix, those determined to escape the rat race are taking the time to upgrade their skill sets and advance their business.
The question is… what are the best online course platforms in 2022? In this article, we’ll compare the top platforms you should be using to launch your first online course and advance your career.
Let’s dive in.
What are the benefits of online learning with the best course platforms
Online learning has really grown over the past few years. People all over the world have information or knowledge they want to share with the world.
We’re seeing traditional universities, including online courses, in their syllabus. It is a fact that you should never stop learning if you want to be successful.
The good this is that now it’s easier than ever to attain knowledge. This is possible because of the numerous online course platforms that are available at your fingertips.
The best online course platforms allow you to create courses and anyone to take a class from anywhere. E-learning and online training are so common already. Also, online learning is replacing traditional learning methods at such a high rate that if you do not jump in right now, you could miss the wave.
According to Research and Markets, the online course industry is estimated to grow to $325 billion by 2025.
There is a vast amount of great online course platforms available out there. Thus it can be challenging to decide on the best platform for you.
In this article, we’ve reviewed and put together 10 best online course platforms for e-learning to help you choose the best one for you. Read on to discover them.
What are the best online course platforms?
So, what are online course platforms?
Well, online course platforms are types of Learning Management Systems (LMS) that allow users to create and learn courses digitally with ease.
They’re a form of virtual classes similar to traditional courses in many ways, including having a teacher who provides instructions or training via text, audio, video, or PDF files.
Students, on the other hand, follow the lessons, and they can take notes, perform exercises, or take an exam.
So, what are the best online course platforms out there? The best platforms should make it easier for you to create courses, teach your students, and automate your sales processes. Also, Students should be able to quickly and seamlessly access the courses.
Here are the best online learning platforms:
Udacity
Udacity is a great online course platform for e-learning that’s mainly focused on people interested in advancing their technology careers. Technical skills are their strong side.
Udacity, therefore, is the best online global technology training platform, which offers a curriculum of excellent nano degree programs.
Graduates who have gone through their courses are highly preferred by technology companies to train their personnel.
If you have great expertise in technology, then Udacity might be the perfect option for you to create and sell your courses. One of the best things about it is that it’s user-friendly, whereby you’re only required to fill out a simple application, complete an assessment, and then do an interview.
Udacity features
Udacity Pricing
The Nanodegrees found in Udacity cost $399 per month. However, you can find about 200 completely free courses, but they do not offer a certificate.
Podia
Podia is a user-friendly e-learning platform that allows users to create, host, and sell their courses. The best thing about this platform is that there are no transaction fees.
Podia allows you to create your course website by following a simple three-step process, thus within no time, your site will be up and running. It has a clean interface that’s simple enough for beginners.
In addition, you can create a membership site that can help you grow your online community. This platform allows you to run an affiliate program, where you can view all of your affiliates, useful reporting, and even make payouts. This is unique from this platform and can help you promote your content faster.
Podia is excellent for those looking for a reliable membership functionality and can scale up their sales with the help of affiliates.
How much does Podia cost
Their prices start at $39 per month, which supports hosting for online courses and digital downloads. It also has a premium version and a 14 days free trial.
Academy of Mine
Academy of Mine is probably the most expensive, but most robust online course platforms. Just a heads up, their price tag begins at $499 per month.
Academy Of Mine is an all-in-one solution that allows you to construct your online course site, launch it, and start selling in minutes.
The platform offers the option of a hosted template that comes with landing pages, course offering pages, and galleries without the need to create them yourself. Academy of Mine is a complete course creation and learning management system making it an excellent choice for both courser creators and learners.
How much the Academy of Mine Membership cost
Users can get two months free if they opt to pay $4999 for the full year. The professional plan goes for $899 per month, or a total of $9500 when paid yearly.
Furthermore, users can utilize various marketing features supported by the platform, including an affiliate program, email marketing, and live webinar that justify the premium price.
Ruzuku
Ruzuku is another excellent online course platform that starts with a basic plan. The platform allows you to create a step-by-step online course using their learning platform, PDFs, and text.
You can create your course, edit the steps with ease, launch it, and start selling it within minutes. With this platform, any media file can be uploaded for selling to your customers.
In addition, Ruzuku allows you to run webinars and engage with your customers through live chat. Further, the platform integrates with MailChimp, which helps you send automated emails to notify learners of upcoming courses. It also integrates with other tools like Stripe and PayPal, to accept payments.
What is the Ruzuku platform price?
$74.75 per month when billed annually
Key features
Ruzuku has a desirable community that will help your students learn.
If you have beginners’ knowledge, then Ruzuku might be the best option for you as it will help you create a friendly course easily and comes with great features.
Kajabi
Kajabi is an excellent online course platform for in-depth courses created by professionals.
The platform excelled at its dominant course site themes, fantastic check-ups, digital products, robust email marketing automation, and blogging functionality.
Also, Kajabi has marketing automation tools that allow you to segment users in your email list and send professionally-branded emails at certain times.
If you’re a speaker, author, coach, or an established business looking for a sophisticated online course platform, Kajabi is an excellent choice.
Kajabis pricing
The basic plan starts at $119 per month. It supports a single website, three products, three pipelines, and unlimited access to marketing emails.
WizIQ
WizIQ is another of the platforms that allow instructors to easily set up virtual classrooms for live interactive online classes. The platform is great for people on a budget as their prices start from $27.
More than 400,000 instructors use WizIQ to teach over 4 million students across 200 countries.
Also, It has unique features that enable live training, including video streaming, discussion boards, and mobile options. Plus, does not need a credit card for the trial.
WizIQ Pricing
WizIQ has a free plan that’s great for everyone. Corporate leaders or instructors can leverage it to reach their audiences live anywhere in the world.
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is an affordable online course platform. This platform gives you access to numerous tools for teaching and gamification.
LearnWorlds allows you to build a fantastic course site and market your courses. Better yet, you can set up an online education site with multiple instructors and a complete course catalog, as well.
As the admin of your online school, you can offer different courses and access unique tools that will help you build your brand.
One nice feature I found on LeanWorlkds is that you can edit your courses to ensure they are responsive to mobile devices, both Android and iPhone.
LeanWorlds Pricing
Prices start at only $29 per month. The starter plan gives you access to a custom domain, unlimited paid courses, coupons, payment gateway, and more.
So, If you want to build and offer fabulous courses and a seamless online connection with teachers and students, LearnWorlds is can be your pick choice.
LearnDash
LearnDash can be described as the most trusted online course platform, which is used by countless Fortune 500 companies. It integrates with WordPress.
LearnDash’s course builder blends well with email campaigns. In other words, you can match your content with an email campaign schedule to send lessons according to a program, making this a great platform for online bloggers.
A unique feature of LearnDash is Gradebook technology. Gradebook is a technology that allocates students an overall grade based on homework and quiz scores, Taking a considerable amount of weight of the teachers when grading.
LearnDash is user-friendly and also allows you to create multi-tier courses in which you can deliver content according to a person’s knowledge or learning stage.
If you want to build an educational experience with grading systems, LearnDash is an excellent choice.
How much does LearnDash cost?
Its pricing starts at $159 per month, making it quite comfortable compared to some of the other leading platforms. One of the main benefits and why it starts price goes up a bit it is because it can be installed in your word press site to run your courses from your platforms. If you are specialized in course it is worth the extra price tag.
Thinkific
Thinkific is a user-friendly online course platform that comes with a robust set of features, marketing tools, membership site integration for your courses, and reliable 24/7 customer support.
Their free plan allows you to create three courses. It comes with unlimited student support, course upselling opportunities, and there are no transaction fees involved.
Moreover, Thinkific allows you to organize and customize your course using a simple drag and drop editor. Additionally, the high-quality course designer makes Thinkific great compared to the competition.
In short , If you want to create a new online course, market it and sell it, Thinkific is a solid choice.
Thinkific pricing
It has a free plan with limited features. The basic plan costs $49 per month. It gives you access to sales pages with coupons and promotions, email marketing, and integrations. One of the best options to start free and grow with the platform according to your progress and needs.
1. Skillshare
If you’ve ever wanted to share your expertise online and are comfortable with creating video lessons, then Skillshare might be the best option for you.
Skillshare is very hands-on which makes it one of the best online learning platforms Rather than just giving passive lessons, it encourages participation. It provides its instructor’s tools to create video lesson courses as well as a “class project” in every single course.
Each class is about 10-25 minutes long, and students can take them at their own pace.
As a teacher, once you have 25 students in a single class, you meet eligibility for Skillshare’s Partner Program, where you can start making real cash. The payment works out to roughly $1-$2 per student.
Skillshare states that their top teachers make up to $40,000 per year.
As a student, you have access to all of Skillshare’s courses for a monthly subscription of $8.25 per month.
Udemy
Udemy is one of the most popular online course platforms in the world. If you are on the internet you must have heard of it. They allow their teachers to create straightforward courses using videos, PowerPoint slides, PDF documents, and YouTube videos to teach students from around the world.
Once you publish your course on Udemy, they will market it for you. Every time someone buys your course, Udemy takes 50% of the revenue. You also have to price your course between $20 and $200, which is quite restrictive.
Overall, it’s the most prominent course platform for creating an online courses. The pricing is pretty limited, and Udemy takes a big cut. However, it’s a high starting point for anyone looking to create an online course.
As a student, Udemy is an incredible resource to learn anything for a low price. It’s a powerful platform to learn the skills you need to make money online.
3. Teachable
Was launched after Udemy instructors wanted more control over the price of their courses.
Teachable created a platform that lets you offer online courses right from your site (rather than on the platform). You get to control the student data, branding, and pricing as a teacher.
Teachers can publish their courses and use the platform for free. If someone buys your class, you pay $1 plus 10% to Teachable. For example, let’s say you price your course at $100. You’ll pay $1 + $10 to the platform as a service fee. In the end, you’ll make $89 profit off the course.
As a student, you can access all of the courses right from their website. Due to COVID-19, The platform is offering a few of their premium courses for free for a limited time.
How to choose the right online course platform for you?
Conlusion
Create online courses is not an easy task but one is finished is really rewarding and can become a passive income. Also, if you create and sell one or more courses online your are becoming experienced in a niche or task that is in high demand right now.
The rank of the best online learning platforms for 2022 is designed to help you choose the best for you. However, whit this list, you can start right away to learn or teach. The use of any of these platforms will put you ahead of anyone using the others.
Finally. If you have a goal of learning or teaching. I encourage you to not give up! Discipline and consistency are the keys to reaching your goal. Create a plan for your project and start now.
See you soon.
PS: I recently started a Computer Science course on Hardvard a 100% free. You can do it through their web page CS50 or through eDX if you are interested in their certificate.
Been loving every second of it. Highly recommend if you are interested in studying at Hardvard as I do.
FAQS
What are the free online course platforms?
most online course platforms are free and you pay for the courses. However, if you are looking for free quality courses I would recommend edX where you have professional and university level education for free.