7 Best Online Course Creation Platforms in 2024 | Teachable vs. Thinkific vs. Kajabi vs. Podia
Summary
TLDRThis video script offers an in-depth review of top course creation platforms, highlighting the differences between course creation platforms and marketplaces, and between all-in-one and specialist platforms. It provides updated insights on platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, Thrive Cart, and others, discussing their features, pricing, and suitability for various business needs. The script aims to guide online course creators in choosing the right platform for sustainable and scalable revenue.
Takeaways
- π The importance of choosing the right course creation platform for online selling is emphasized, with a distinction made between course creation platforms and course marketplaces like Udemy and Skillshare.
- π¬ A course marketplace offers exposure but limits earning potential due to commission structures, whereas a course creation platform allows selling directly and owning customer data for future marketing.
- π The difference between all-in-one platforms, which offer a suite of features for running an online business, and specialist platforms, which focus on course creation and student experience, is highlighted.
- π οΈ All-in-one platforms are recommended for those seeking simplicity and a single solution, while specialist platforms are better for those who already have other tools or require more customization.
- π Teachable is praised for its curriculum builder and payment processing but criticized for recent price increases and decreased functionality.
- π Thinkific is noted for its lesson types, including assignments and surveys, and its switch to a one-step checkout process, enhancing the buying experience.
- π ThriveCart is recognized for its customizable checkout platform and its introduction of ThriveCart Learn for course creation, though it requires external video hosting.
- π Circle is identified as user-friendly and suitable for community-focused courses, with mobile apps and interactive features, but may not be ideal for those seeking passive income without community involvement.
- π― Kajabi stands out as an all-in-one platform offering a wide range of features including website creation, blogging, and community building, with a focus on simplicity and an established ecosystem.
- π° Podia is presented as a budget-friendly all-in-one option with a minimalist design, suitable for those valuing simplicity but possibly limiting for those needing advanced features.
- π System is highlighted as the best budget course creation platform with a free plan, offering a lot of features but currently lacking in customization options.
Q & A
What is the main difference between a course creation platform and a course marketplace?
-A course creation platform is a digital tool used to build and sell online courses directly through your business, while a course marketplace is a website where you can contribute courses to a catalog that includes other instructors. Marketplaces offer exposure but limit your earning potential due to their commission payout structure.
Why is it important to own your content when selling courses online?
-Owning your content allows you to maintain full control over your intellectual property and gives you the freedom to market and sell your courses without being restricted by a marketplace's commission structure or rules.
What are the three essential features Melissa looks for in an all-in-one course creation platform?
-The three essential features Melissa looks for are website creation, email marketing, and digital product creation, which includes the ability to create and sell online courses.
What is the advantage of using a specialist course creation platform over an all-in-one platform?
-A specialist course creation platform excels at course creation, student experience, payment processing, and product delivery, allowing you to choose other specialist tools to complete a tech stack that suits your specific needs.
What are some of the pros and cons of using Teachable as a course creation platform?
-Pros include an easy-to-use curriculum builder and strong payment processing. Cons are limited analytics dashboards, fewer customization options in the sales page builder, and recent price increases with decreased functionality in their plans.
How does Thinkific's course creation process differ from Teachable's?
-Thinkific offers a few lesson types that not all platforms offer, including assignments, surveys, and more customizable quizzes. It also switched to a one-step checkout flow, which reduces friction in the buying process.
What is unique about ThriveCart's approach to course creation?
-ThriveCart initially started as a checkout platform and later introduced a course creation feature called ThriveCart Learn, allowing users to create and sell courses entirely within the ThriveCart platform.
Why might Circle be a good choice for online course creators?
-Circle is great for business owners interested in selling memberships or courses with virtual elements or community, as it offers community spaces and is highly user-friendly for both business owners and members.
What are the key advantages of using Kajabi as an all-in-one platform?
-Kajabi allows you to sell online courses and digital products, create a full website, publish a blog or podcast, run a community, sell services, and build your email list all in one place, making it a comprehensive solution for online business owners.
How does Podia compare to Kajabi in terms of pricing and features?
-Podia is more budget-friendly than Kajabi and offers a simplified, minimalist platform for creating courses and selling digital products. However, it might lack advanced customization and features compared to Kajabi.
Outlines
π Choosing the Right Course Creation Platform
The script introduces the importance of selecting a suitable course creation platform for selling online courses. It distinguishes between a course creation platform and a course marketplace, emphasizing the limitations of marketplaces like Udemy and Skillshare in terms of revenue and customer retention. The speaker, Melissa, recommends course creation platforms for scalable and sustainable business growth and outlines the differences between all-in-one and specialist platforms, highlighting the benefits of each for different business needs.
π οΈ Detailed Review of Teachable and Thinkific
Melissa provides an in-depth review of Teachable, a specialist course creation platform, discussing her experience as a former employee and customer. She praises Teachable's curriculum builder and payment processing but criticizes its limited analytics and sales page builder. The review compares Teachable with Thinkific, another specialist platform, noting Thinkific's updated features, lesson types, and improved checkout flow. Thinkific's pricing model, including a free plan with no transaction fees, is also highlighted as a strong selling point.
π ThriveCart and Circle: Platforms with Unique Offerings
The script explores ThriveCart, initially a checkout platform, which introduced 'ThriveCart Learn' for course creation within its platform. It emphasizes ThriveCart's customizable checkout process and the need for external video hosting. Circle is presented as a platform for community building with course offerings, noting its user-friendly interface and mobile apps. The review discusses the benefits of community interaction and the importance of mobile accessibility in online business.
π’ Kajabi and Podia: All-In-One Platforms for Business Owners
Kajabi is introduced as a top all-in-one platform, allowing for course creation, website building, community management, and more. The review highlights Kajabi's comprehensive features and customization options, as well as its established ecosystem of third-party specialists. Podia is presented as a budget-friendly alternative, offering a simplified platform for selling courses and digital products, with an optional email marketing add-on. The review notes Podia's minimalist design and straightforward pricing structure.
π System and Other Platforms: Budget Options and WordPress Integration
System is highlighted as a budget all-in-one platform with a free plan for selling one course without transaction fees. The review mentions its flexible curriculum builder and the lack of customization options for course branding. Other platforms like Experien ify, Cartra, LearnWorlds, Gumroad, Patreon, High LEL, LearnDash, Squarespace, and Wix are briefly discussed, with comments on their unique features, pricing, and suitability for different business needs.
π Final Thoughts on Selecting a Course Platform
The script concludes with advice on choosing a course creation platform based on a needs assessment, listing must-have features and comparing platforms accordingly. Melissa encourages testing different platforms through free trials and trusting one's instincts in making the right decision. She emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution and that the best platform is the one that fits the individual business's needs at the moment.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Course creation platform
π‘Course Marketplace
π‘Revenue
π‘All-in-one platform
π‘Specialist platform
π‘Customization
π‘Analytics dashboard
π‘Payment processor
π‘Community
π‘Gamification
π‘SCORM compliance
Highlights
The importance of choosing the right course creation platform for online course selling.
The distinction between course creation platforms and course marketplaces like Udemy and Skillshare.
The earning potential limitations on course marketplaces due to commission structures.
The advantage of owning your content and the ability to market to your students directly.
The comparison between all-in-one platforms and specialist platforms for course creation.
The benefits of all-in-one platforms for business owners looking to simplify their operations.
The specialization of platforms that excel in course creation and student experience.
Teachable's strengths in curriculum building and student interface.
Thinkific's updates impacting its review and comparison with Teachable.
The one-step checkout flow improvement in Thinkific enhancing the buying process.
Thrive Cart's introduction of course creation feature 'Thrive Cart Learn'.
The necessity for video hosting outside of Thrive Cart for its course platform.
Circle's focus on community and interaction for online course selling.
Kajabi's all-in-one platform capabilities for online business owners.
Podia's budget-friendly all-in-one platform offering for online course creators.
System's budget course creation platform with a free plan for selling one course.
The concept of creating a needs assessment to choose the right course creation platform.
The idea that there is no one-size-fits-all best platform, but rather the best fit for individual business needs.
Transcripts
if you're thinking about creating and
selling online courses then one of the
most important tools you'll need is your
course creation platform but there are
countless options available and a lot of
them are very different from each other
so today I'm going to share my updated
reviews of the best course creation
platforms to help you decide which one
is right for you hey I'm Melissa and
welcome back to wit and wire where we
help everyday experts turn their skills
and passions into profitable online
businesses before I can compare specific
platforms we first have to talk about
two key distinctions first is the
difference between a course creation
platform and a course Marketplace a
course creation platform is a digital
tool used to build and sell online
courses directly through your business
on the other hand a course Marketplace
is a website where you can contribute
courses to a catalog that includes other
instructors for example to well-known
course marketplaces are udemy and
skillshare although marketplaces offer
exposure your earning potential will
always be limited by their commission
payout structure you do own your content
but you'll only earn a percentage of the
revenue and speaking from experience my
old skillshare earnings peaked around
$100 to $200 per month and that was with
thousands of students enrolled you also
don't get email addresses for your
students which means that you can't
Market to them in the future and that's
a huge problem because several studies
show that existing customers spend more
and more often than new customers
meanwhile at wit and wire I use a course
creation platform to sell directly
through my business and I consistently
earn five figures per month in Revenue
as an online course creator that's why I
recommend choosing a course creator
platform not a Marketplace if you're
serious about adding scalable
sustainable Revenue to your business
that brings us to our second key
distinction which is the difference
between an all-in-one platform versus a
specialist platform an all-in-one
includes all of the essential features
needed to run a profitable online
business and when I do research the
three Essentials I look for are website
creation email marketing and digital
product creation which includes the
ability to create and sell online
courses I think all-in ones are a great
fit for business owners who want to
simplify and keep everything in one
place you might miss out on some
customizations or features but for the
right business owner I think the
trade-off is worth it on the otherand
many businesses already have a website
or email marketing setup or both so an
all in-one platform might be too
expensive or overkill for your needs
instead you'd be better off with a
specialist course creation platform
these tools lack the full website and
email marketing functionality of an
Allin one but they truly excel at course
creation student experience payment
processing and product delivery and they
leave space and budget for you to choose
other specialist tools to complete a
tech stack that suits your needs I'll
share my top picks for both all-in ones
and Specialists coming up so now that
we've covered those key distinctions
it's time to review today's top course
creation platforms one by one let's
start with teachable teachable is a
specialist course creation platform and
for full disclosure I was the director
of marketing engagement at teachable and
I worked there full-time for four years
before I left to run wit and wire
full-time more importantly I was a
paying customer both before and after I
was an employee so So based on my
experience I want to share some updated
and honest pros and cons about how
teachable Stacks up against today's
competitors first here's a preview of
the curriculum builder in teachable you
can easily outline your course by adding
sections which group lessons into themes
or weeks then within a lesson you can
use teacha's block-based Editor to add
video text embeds or PDFs in any order
which gives you the flexibility to
customize each lesson to suit your
learner needs once published teachable
uses what I call the classic sidebar
View which means that your students will
see a clickable curriculum outline on
the side and their active lesson on the
main screen after testing countless
tools over the years I still think
teachables curriculum Builder is Best in
Class the block-based editor is simple
yet customizable and the student
experience is clean and uncluttered they
also have a strong payment processor so
teachable automatically handles and
remits Us sales tax and EU UK vat tax
that said I think their analytics
dashboards and sales page builder are
pretty limited for example the sales
page builder has fewer block types and
and customization options than other
course platforms although as a
workaround you can build sales pages on
your primary website instead and have
those CTA buttons go to your teachable
checkout pages that tip actually applies
for any specialist platform on this list
but here's the real problem within the
last year or so teachable has increased
their prices while decreasing each
plan's functionality and when I look at
my side-by-side course platform
comparison which you can download for
free in the description I have found it
increasingly hard to argue that
teachable offers the best value for
online business owners so if you're
currently using teachable and you're
happy with it I would stick with what's
working but if you're just getting
started it might make more sense to
consider one of our upcoming picks for
example our next course creation
platform is thinkific thinkific is
another well-known specialist platform
and think giic versus teachable has been
debated for years since they're probably
the two most similar platforms on this
list then GIC has released quite a few
updates since my last course platform
comparison which has had a meaningful
impact on my review so let's take a look
in think giic you build your course by
adding chapters which house individual
lessons when you add a new lesson your
first prompted to select a lesson type
and to Spotlight one of think iic's
advantages they offer a few lesson types
that not all platforms offer including
assignments surveys and more
customizable quizzes here's one example
of an individual video Lesson and you
can see the settings include a video
upload an optional text area and
optional
experience which uses the classic
sidebar view since my last review one
crucial Improvement we have to talk
about is thinkific switch to a onstep
checkout flow as a comparison a two-step
checkout flow requires buyers to create
a username and password first before
moving on to the second step where they
add payment details and finalize their
purchase this extra step adds friction
to the buying process but fortunately
thinkific switched to the one-step
checkout flow in 2022 and since then
they've continued to up update their
payment processor called t-commerce
including their new Sales Tax Solution
which collects and remits taxes from US
and Canada based buyers on your behalf
for all platforms I recommend reading
the company's help articles to see if
your country is supported and if your
needs can be handled one last selling
point for thinkific is its pricing you
can get started on their free plan and
fully sell an online course with no
added transaction fees which sets them
apart for transparency some of the
features we covered are on the paid
start or basic plans but all plans
include unlimited courses and unlimited
students and I think most business
owners will find their plans
straightforward and value packed you can
visit Whit and wire.com thinkific to get
started for free and by the way if
you're finding this review helpful I
hope you'll give it a thumbs up and
subscribe to Whit and wire so we can
continue sharing more simplified online
business tutorials in the future your
support makes a difference and I really
appreciate it now let's move on to an
interesting pick Thrive cart Thrive cart
is another specialist platform and it
was initially built as a checkout
platform for services digital products
and physical Goods in fact their
checkout platform is still excellent and
one of their top advantages since it's
one of the most customizable options
available now previously you had to
integrate your Thrive cart checkout
pages with another specialist platform
like thinkific or teachable to actually
deliver your digital products but in
2021 thrivecart introduced a new course
creation feature called thrivecart learn
which allows all Thrive cart users to
create and sell online courses entirely
within the Thrive cart platform here's a
preview of the curriculum Builder where
you can add modules and then individual
lessons within each lesson you'll use
Thrive cart's block based Editor to
fully customize your content from
embedding videos through adjusting fonts
and colors I recommend my full Thrive
cart learn tutorial Linked In the
description if you want to learn more
but crucially unlike the other course
platforms we've discussed thrivecart
does not natively host files or videos
so it's important to know that if you do
choose Thrive cart you'll need to host
your videos elsewhere this feature might
be provided by your video recording or
editing tool but you might need a second
tool just for hosting which you can
often find for under $5 per month in
case it's helpful I've added some recks
to our free course platform comparison
Linked In the description the student
experience in Thrive cart is
user-friendly and similar to other
course platforms and the fonts and
colors are highly customizable one
reason why Thrive cart has become so
popular is because their one-time
lifetime price point is unmatched in
value in fact even if you purchase
Thrive Car Pro which I use and recommend
as well as the optional learn plus
add-on that total is still comparable to
or less than just one year subscription
to the average course platform on this
list and that value is tough to beat so
although it has its quirks as all
platforms do this year value of Thrive
cart has made it one of our top
specialist picks for online course
creators so you can learn more by
visiting Whit and wire.com thrivecart or
by watching our full tutorial Linked In
the description by the way you can see
the price points for all of these
Platforms in the free course platform
comparison I mentioned which you'll find
at Whit and .com/srobiyt
you can create different types of spaces
within your circle Community for example
you might add a post space to facilitate
discussion an event space to share your
upcoming schedule and a course space to
create curriculum within a course you
can add sections that group your
individual lessons then within a lesson
Builder you have the option to show or
hide primary media like a video and use
circles block-based Editor to include
additional text files or resources for
your students you can also enable or
disable comments to encourage discussion
on the student side here's a preview of
one course space which shows their
progress as well as an individual lesson
which uses the classic sidebar view
along the right Circle also has both IOS
and Android apps so your members can
interact on the go and I've noticed an
increasing demand for mobile
accessibility in our industry it's worth
mentioning too that circle is incredibly
userfriendly for both business owners
and their members which is a huge
Advantage because the easier a platform
is to use the more likely people are to
actually use it and to get results also
since community and two-way instructor
interaction are growing Trends in the
online business industry I think circle
is a great choice for any business
owners interested in selling memberships
or courses with virtual elements or
community so I do have an extended
tutorial Linked In the description or
you can visit Whit and wire.com Circle
to start a free 14-day trial that said
if you envision building truly passive
income from your courses and you don't
know if leading a community is right for
you then it might not be the right fit
the fifth platform is kajabi we've
focused on Specialists so far but it's
time to switch gears and talk about
kajabi which is currently our number one
pick in the all-in-one platform category
for online business owners not only can
you sell online courses and digital
products with kajabi but you can also
create a full website publish a blog or
a podcast you can run a community sell
services and build your email list all
in one place if you use the majority of
those features then kabi's price point
really packs a punch I do have a full
kajabi tutorial Linked In the
description but for today's review I
want to spot the course creation
experience first here's a preview of the
curriculum Builder where you can add
modules and lessons then within each
lesson you can feature a video audio or
neither and you can add additional
information with the Rich Text Editor
you can also attach downloadable
resources and enable or disable comments
on the student side you have the choice
between a classic sidebar layout called
momentum or you can use this second
layout called Premiere both are
customizable with their own pros and
cons so it'll come down to your personal
preferences I think kabi is a great
choice for business owners who value
Simplicity and the ease of managing
everything in one place as another
Advantage because they're well
established kajabi also has a wide
ecosystem of thirdparty Specialists and
service providers so whether you want a
kajabi website template or a virtual
assistant or somebody to build your site
it's easy to find support as your
business grows that said the downside of
Simplicity is constraint and if you're
looking for advanced site customizations
or email automations then KOB may not be
able to do exactly what you want it to
do it's still highly capable but if you
know you have a specific Vision then an
all-in-one platform in general may not
be right for you overall I think kajabi
is an excellent fit if you want not only
a course creation platform but an
all-in-one home for your business and if
you're curious to check it out you can
visit Whit and wire.com kajabi to unlock
an exclusive extended 30-day trial that
gives you two extra weeks to see what
you think so again that's Whit nwi.com
kajabi to get started as an alternative
platform number number six is podia
podia is another great all-in-one
platform and compared to kajabi they're
a bit more budget friendly and in fact
even if you're looking for a specialist
platform Pia's price point is comparable
so it might be worth considering I would
say podia is known for their simplified
minimalist platform which lets you
create a basic website publish a Blog
create a community and sell courses and
digital products you can also purchase
an email marketing add-on called podia
email which is what makes it a true
all-in-one experience and as an FYI
Pia's standard pricing is tiered based
on features but the podia email add-on
is priced based on your subscriber count
so alternatively you could also choose
another email marketing platform if
their's lacks must have features now
Pia's simple ux and friendly pricing
have long been two of their biggest
strengths but for some the minimalist
features might feel limiting for example
here's a preview of Pia's course
curriculum Builder where you can add
sections that house individual lessons
there are currently five lesson types
and if you want to want to create a
video Lesson you'll choose add files
from there you'll upload your video file
and use podia refreshed block-based
Editor to add PDFs or text to the lesson
this is a huge Improvement on the
previous lesson editor which didn't let
you add both a video and a PDF resource
to the same lesson but they still don't
have quizzes assignments or gamification
which might be deal breakers for some
business owners but not all I also
wanted to share this preview of the
student view which is again very minimal
you can add your logo and colors to the
top navigation but the white sidebar and
white background are default settings
that can't currently be changed the
website builder is also very basic so I
would say if you like Simplicity then
podia could be worth the try but if you
want customization or Advanced features
then it might not be the right pick for
you platform number seven is system
system is another all-in-one platform
and they're another budget alternative
to kajabi or podia but the specific
reason why they're on our list is
because system is currently the best
budget course creation platform for
online business owners and they have a
free plan that lets you sell one course
with no transaction fees in the
curriculum Builder you can add modules
with individual lessons and the lesson
Builder is very flexible with a lot of
blocks to choose from for some it might
feel overwhelming but it does give you a
lot of options on the other hand you
don't currently have the option to
customize the colors of your course
Beyond this drop- down menu the request
for custom course branding is currently
on systems public road map but there's
no set timeline for a tool with this
many features system was much easier to
learn than I anticipated and although
the interface isn't as modern as some
competitors if you're looking for a free
platform I think system is a solid
choice and you can check them out at
Whit nwi.com system I also wanted to
share a lightning round with a few
platforms I'm often asked about that
didn't make the top ranks experien ify
offers the most gamification features
for online course creation but as a
student I find it hard to navigate the
course experience without the classic
sidebar with the outline but that's a
personal preference not a deal breaker
cartra is another all-in-one platform
platform but I consistently find kajabi
easier to use both as an admin and as a
student and as of the time of this
recording it's also slightly more
expensive than kajabi learn worlds lets
you add interaction points to your
videos and it's the best choice if you
need scorm compliance gumroad and
patreon are grouped because they have
the same core issues not only do they
lack a true course creation tool but the
real issue is that you pay patreon 5 to
12% of your income or gumroad 10% and
both are far too high at scale so I
can't recommend them high LEL is an
all-in-one platform that includes deal
creation and CRM management so if client
work is part of your long-term growth
strategy it might be worth exploring but
for transparency my testing to date has
been minimal learn Dash is our top pick
if you're looking for a WordPress plugin
rather than a standalone platform I
would only explore this if you're
confident in your WordPress skills
Squarespace allows you to build and sell
online courses directly through your
Squarespace site the catch though is
that they'll take a 9% trans transaction
fee unless you purchase a paid monthly
add-on called digital products and that
add-on price alone is comparable to some
of our specialist piic so since there's
not an obvious money saving decision
it'll come down to which platform you
prefer Wix also lets you create and sell
courses and I hear positive things from
wit and wire students but I haven't
tested it myself I know we've covered a
lot but I do want to share this key
takeaway there is truly no such thing as
a best course creation platform there
are just different options that suit
different businesses that said the way I
would recommend choosing is by creating
A needs assessment where you'll list any
must have features that are important to
you you can start by asking if you need
an all-in-one or a specialist and then
get more specific about your needs from
there then once you have your list it'll
be much easier to compare platforms
either using our free side-by-side
comparison Linked In the description or
by starting one or two free trials based
on today's recommendations and after
working with hundreds of course creators
I can confidently say that most of us
won't have one one right tool just the
one that feels best for you right now I
would run a few tests see what feels
right for you and then trust your gut
that any decision you make will be a
good one overall if this video has been
helpful for you I hope you'll give it a
thumbs up and subscribe to wit and wire
so we can share more simplified online
business tutorials in the future and
while you're here here's another video I
think you might
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