What are Online Course Platforms?
“Online course platforms are a kind of learning management system (LMS) used to create and run courses, modules, and classes.”
An online course platform (also known as an eCourse platform) is a digital learning environment that allows you to create and deliver interactive courses over the Internet. This can be done via the public Internet or hosted on a private network within your organization.
Why do you need an Online Course Platform?
An online course platform is typically what people think of when they hear the term “learning management system”. Educators and other content creators use LMS to organize courses and lessons such as tests, videos and lectures.
An online course platform aims to help users find relevant content and learn how to do something or solve a problem using that content.
Nowadays, more and more people are interested in self-improvement and gaining knowledge. That’s why online courses are becoming so popular – they allow us to improve our skillset, give us new perspectives, and introduce entirely new concepts to us. We don’t have to go to a school or buy any additional books to become a student. We just need access to the Internet, find the right course, and enrol.
What makes a great online course platform?
From education to corporate training, online courses are becoming popular as a viable means for individuals and businesses to acquire new skills. With some platforms like Thinkific, Podia, kajabi etc, learners can enrol in affordable classes on just about anything their heart desires. As the need for good online courses grows, the opportunity to create your own course also opens up.
There are specific characteristics of a great online course platform that can potentially make learning more fun and engaging, up to our SEO game and allow us to add more tools to our eLearning pedagogical tool belt.
The Online Course Platform should feature editing and customization options.
The content format of the online course includes videos, audio, pdf and images.
An online course platform should be user friendly with marketing and payment features.
A platform should be engaging and available for small to large businesses.
It should also feature assessments, quizzes, assignments and test options.
6 Best Online Course Platforms
Want to build a successful online course? You’d need to choose an online course platform first. There are numerous platforms you can use. This article will highlight the best platforms for building online courses.
Thinkific -Best Overall
What is Thinkific? Thinkific is a platform that allows anyone to create, market and sell their own online courses.
For over a decade, Thinkific has been helping educators build online courses. More than 100,000 students from 120 countries have enrolled in classes built on the Thinkific platform. Various schools, tech companies and Fortune 500 companies have used the Thinkific LMS to create successful online education programs.
Thinkific is the easiest way to create, market and sell your own online courses. Whether you want to teach something you’re passionate about or share your skills with the world, Thinkific makes it easy for you to start teaching online and growing your business.
Key Features
Creates unlimited online courses
Easily create your own beautiful and professionally designed landing pages
Reach out to students in real-time using the built-in chat function
Unlimited video length and bandwidth; Landing page included Video hosting, with free hosting and video embedding.
Unlimited students, you can teach a class of thousands with Interactive discussion forums
Automatic follow-up emails
You can quickly create and organize the course through the drag and drop feature.
Analyze student progress through assessments and certificates.
Support over 30 languages with full access.
Pricing
The base package provides limitless courses, custom domains, and email integration. Thinkific offers three premium options, the first of which is $39 per month. Higher-level subscriptions begin at $79 per month. They include access to different admin accounts, private and secret courses, memberships and bundles, etc.
2. Podia- Best for Webinars and Affiliate Programs
Podia is best for non-techies. Podia is a place where eCommerce sellers, bloggers and business people create beautiful course websites and run membership businesses that sell information products. It is best for webinars and affiliate programs.
Podia was built by and for those who want to make money with digital products. Its powerful features, attractive designs and ease of use are designed to help you accomplish this quickly.
Key Features
Podia uses lead magnets to build interest in your digital items and pre-sells them.
The podia online platform was designed to be the most user friendly and robust app available.
It’s packed with tons of online course creation features to help you sell more courses and courses that convert so you can grow your business.
You can offer subscription plans or sell your courses or memberships on your own website.
It features images, video, pdf and audio.
Drip courses allow you to distribute course information gradually over time, keeping your students engaged and returning for more.
Pricing
Podia offers two plans, Mover ($39/month) and Shaker ($78/month). Shaker offers premium options such as affiliate marketing, blog, membership etc.
3. Kajabi- Best High-End Online Platform for Professionals
Kajabi is a high-end online platform used by professionals to create, study and execute their marketing strategies, regardless of their budget. A social media-based platform, Kajabi uses the ‘social funnel’ method of marketing called “The Pipeline” feature to turn visitors into customers – through a targeted approach that is powerful, laser-focused and entirely invisible to potential buyers.
Kajabi has everything from training modules to virtual assistant tools that can help anyone profiting from affiliate marketing (turning visitors into affiliates) earn more money by implementing all tricks of the trade-in one platform, making it the best online platform for professionals.
Key Features
Kajabi has built-in tools like Marketing Automation, Video Hosting and E-mail Marketing that empower marketing teams to increase sales with recurring revenue.
The built-in dynamic email option lets you send beautiful and professional emails to your audience.
Unlimited video hosting option.
SEO-optimized to rank your courses on Google.
Primary focus on sales funnel.
Pre-made responsive templates allow you to create stunning videos without needing to code anything yourself quickly.
A powerful drag and drop editor
Pricing
Kajabi is an expensive platform to others, and it starts at $149/month. Higher plans start at $99/month that offer premium affiliate marketing features. You can create a pipeline with over 1,000 members through kajabi.
4. Learnworlds- Best For Interactive Learning and Video Creators
Are you an educator, trainer, or presenter looking for new tools to help engage your audience and keep them engaged in your lessons?. Learnworlds is best for interactivity and engaging students through quizzes, tests, assessments and different activities.
Learnworlds is proud to offer a complete, stand-alone online course platform that anyone can use. This powerful learning management system enables you to create, publish and promote your own courses and educational experiences — quickly, easily and with no technical skills required.
Key Features
Engage students through online chats, questions and discussion.
Learnworlds create a variety of tests and quizzes for students.
Engaging videos help in learning effectively.
Interactive videos, e-books, gamification, and downloadable attachments.
Certificate of completion.
Pricing
Learnworlds Stater package includes $29/month. The higher package starts at $99/month with advanced features such as live classes, online certification, subscription, etc.
5. Teachable- Best Online Platform for Beginners
Teachable prides itself on providing a website and online course creation experience that’s easy, efficient, and intuitive. Teachable is an online course building platform that lets you quickly create, distribute and sell your own course. With Teachable, hosting your first course can be done in minutes, not hours.
Teachable has been called the “WordPress of course platforms” because it is designed to be a simple and straightforward alternative to building your own website from scratch or dealing with complicated payment gateways. That’s why it is best for startup businesses.
Key Features
Simple setup.
Powerful admin and publishing tools
Track the progress and result of your students.
For maximum clarity, it allows instructors to create their own content, complete with visual aids and screencasts.
Live discussion with students.
Create professional and money-making sale pages.
Pricing
The basic plan starts at $39/month and the pro plan at $119/month. Pro plan offers features such as affiliate marketing, advance reports, certificates etc.
6– Udemy- Best Platform for launching your first Course
What is Udemy? A one-stop online course platform that offers students a wide range of video tutorials taught by experts in their field of study. It is an online marketplace where millions of students take courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography and much more. If you’re looking for courses on targeted skills, Udemy is your answer.
Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace with over 57,000 courses and 16 million students. More than $300 million has been earned by Udemy instructors in the past year alone.
Key Features
Google Analytics feature tells you how popular a topic or subject is on Udemy.
Udemy works well with desktops and mobile and tablet devices.
It offers Tech Hub with tips and tricks to create your first video.
You can get reviews and suggestions on your sample video.
Get your course featured on the Udemy email blast.
Udemy supports audio lectures, videos, tutorials, assignments and quizzes for students’ understanding and practical learning.
Pricing
Udemy is free if you sell a premium course. Udemy takes a 3 per cent revenue share on teacher discount course purchases and a 63 per cent revenue split on all other course sales.
Summary and Top Picks:
After finding out the best course platforms, you should work on the fact, that if your platform is a list, then you most likely know what to do with it. The list serves as a decision matrix while comparing online course solutions and it is easy to see that some factors are important for a complete solution. These include if the platform will help in statistics and analytics tracking, efficient operation of learner recruitment and management of learners’ recursivity throughout the whole user journey and not just the free sections.
If a platform has all of these characteristics it can reduce costs since learners tend to rejoin courses they already have knowledge about. You will also be able to choose between online and offline learning solutions on a single platform.
Top Picks
Thinkific: Best Overall Online Course Platform
Learnworlds: Best for Interactive Learning
Teachable: Best for Beginners
Kajabi: Best for High-End Information Businesses
