Looking to make money from your online courses? There are a number of course builder LMS (Learning Management System) platforms that enable you, as a teacher, to create online courses and make money. When I first started, I would build out entire online courses with zero help. It would take 3 to 6 months to even launch. Now, with these online course builders, you can get up and running THIS weekend.
These sites allow you to get setup with no technical experience with a true drag and drop fill-in-the-blank setup.
Best Online Course Builder
Thinkific – Easy Course Builder, Three Courses and No Revenue Split
Thinkific will enable you to create, market, sell, and deliver your own online courses. With Thinkific, you have the freedom and flexibility to run your course business however you choose. It gives you control over site design, content, course pricing and student information.
For each purchase made, you get paid instantly and you have full control over your data.
Pro's of Thinkific
- Three Courses for Free
- Free to Get Started
- No Revenue Split
- Drag & Drop Platform
- Easiest Platform to Use
It offers several subscription plans including a free plan that allows you to create up to 3 courses. That means you can create your course for free, charge a higher amount & keep ALL of your money. This is perfect for content creator teachers & coaches who want to put their content online & upsell their one on one coaching services.
Related: Click Here for Our Full Thinkific Review
After testing all of these out, I have selected Thinkific as the best possible platform for 2020. I launched Unstoppable Affiliate using Thinkific. Unstoppable Affiliate is my on-demand course that teaches you how to make money with affiliate marketing. It's on-demand because you learn & implement at the same time. That allows you to speed up the results.
Click the link below to setup your free account. There is no charge to get setup and there's no charge for your first three courses.
Thinkific
Other Online Course Builders (Not Thinkific)
LearnWorlds.com – Build An Online Community Around Your Courses
LearnWorlds is a powerful, and reliable LMS course and community solution for individuals and organizations. They have combined a built-in social network with the course-builder. (which we have found that if you combine the community with a timed-launch, then you'll convert more sales & retain more customers)
Now – do we recommend LearnWorld? Yes! The platform is super easy to use and one of the best builders for highly professional looking pages. They are push-button easy.
If you are want to make the MOST money teaching courses, then you will want to implement a community. I recommend launching every 8 weeks and shutting down the program to help that enrollment. Then, repeat and do it all again.
With LearnWorlds, you can make money in two main ways; through enrollment fee and advertising. You can earn from learners’ payments for your courses. You may also earn from Google Adsense which is “pay per click” program. With Google Adsense, you earn money each time your learners click on a Google-served advert.
It offers a free 30 day trial and several subscription packages starting out at $29 per month. For $99 per month, you get unlimited courses with 5 instructors. So you can start building a brand and bring on teachers to help you build the brand.
If you decide to build a brand, then I recommend the $299 per month plan that allows you to white label everything and bring on up to 20 instructors to help you with teaching.
Udemy.com – The Largest Online Course Builder
FEATURES OF UDEMY
Udemy is a leading online learning and teaching site. It enables people to acquire various skills through online courses. It also enables people to explore their hobbies as well as advance their careers as online instructors.
In Udemy, once you create and publish a course, it can earn you money for a long time without any additional work from you. While Udemy is the most popular course builder for teachers, they take a huge chunk out of your earnings.
HOW MUCH DOES UDEMY CHARGE
- Instructor Promotion: 97% revenue share on sales made by instructors where the student purchases their course using an Instructor’s coupon or course referral link (there is a 3% administrative processing fee, 4% in the territory of Japan)
- Udemy Organic: 50% revenue share on organic Udemy sales where no Instructor Coupon is used. Udemy and the instructor share equally on these sales, which might occur after a user browses the Udemy marketplace for courses, or makes a purchase via a Udemy promotion
Note on In-App Purchases: For sales on the Udemy iOS and Android apps, Apple and Google charge a 30% fee on the total sale.
- Paid User Acquisition Channel Sales: 25% instructor revenue share in most cases. In order to optimize your sales, we partner with affiliates across our global networks or pay for advertising for your course (you can control your inclusion via the Udemy Marketing Boost program, more info here).
Depending on the partner or the costs of the advertising, the revenue share may vary but will be 25% in most cases. Udemy sets aside 75% to pay for advertising costs and/or partner payouts that help us acquire those new users.
Joining Udemy is very simple. You just sign up and create an account. For you to be able to earn money on Udemy, you will need to apply to become a premium instructor. You can then earn money every time a student purchases any of your courses.
Upgrading to a premium account is free and Udemy does not charge any transactional fees when delivering payment to instructors. However, Udemy does keep a percentage of each sale depending on the transaction.
Teachable.com – Over 68,000 People Use Teachable to Monetize Their Knowledge
Teachable Course Builder is one of the leading platforms in online course creation. It allows you to easily build an online school, where you post your online courses. Use the platform to build text-based, audio and video courses.
You control the pricing of your courses and earn for every student who purchases your course. You can choose to be paid directly by students or you can process payments via Teachable at a small fee.
HOW MUCH DOES TEACHABLE CHARGE?
You can choose to use the online course platform for free or select one of their three plans ranging from $29 per month to $399 per month.
The free version charges $1 plus $0.10 for all transactions. They have a professional plan at $79 per month. The professional plan has zero transaction fees and comes with graded quizzes, certificates and website customization.
Joining Teachable and creating courses is free. All you need to do is sign up with your email and create a school. There is a free plan but you can upgrade by subscribing for more benefits such as an unlimited number of courses and students.
Ruzuku – LMS Course Builder with Built-In Live Webinar
Ruzuku is another great platform that you can use to sell online courses. It offers a video streaming option unlike most course creation platforms that offer little to no interaction with students. With Ruzuku, you can host webinars at any time during your course and interact with students in real-time.
Related: Click Here for a 14-Day Free Trial to Ruzuku
Tutors and course creators sell their courses and services on Ruzuku website. In order for learners to access the courses, they have to pay for the service as enrollment fee. This fee will vary depending on the service and duration. You will earn from the student’s payments. Ruzuku does not deduct any money from the students’ payments and the students will pay you directly.
Ruzuku charges $149 per month for unlimited courses and unlimited webinars. As a starving teacher, I look at these prices and want to run away. But remember, when you're charging for your courses, it takes 1 or 2 sales per month to cover the cost of the subscription. If your style of teaching requires live webinars and you charge higher prices, then this one is for you.
SkillShare – LMS Membership Platform
Skillshare Course Builder provides instructors with the opportunity to earn money using a membership platform. You can earn money through monthly royalties depending on the amount of minutes watched in your classes. You can also earn a referral bonus for every student you refer to Skillshare Premium Membership.
On SkillShare, the more the minutes students watch your courses, the more revenue you will earn. This means that the quality of your classes determines the amount of money you make.
How Much Does Skillshare Charge for Their LMS
Publishing courses on SkillShare is free but there is a subscription fee if you want to upgrade to a Premium account. I don't trust Skillshare since they force you to signup without being transparent on their pricing upfront.
WizIQ.com
WizIQ helps you create and sell self-study courses and mock tests, but its most outstanding feature is the ability to host live classes. While similar to webinars, WizIQ's virtual classrooms are packed with teaching tools such as whiteboards, live YouTube video streaming, screen sharing, live chat, and a polling option.
With WizIQ, you can earn money from every purchase of your published courses.
It offers several subscription plans as well as a free trial.
Finally, just get started!
It does not matter which site you get started on. If one site does not work for you, don’t quit! Move on to the next site until you find the one site that will help you make your dreams of teaching online and making money a reality.
Once you start taking action, you'll have one in the bag – then two – then three passive income streams online.
Frequently Asked Questions about Online Course Platforms
These online course builders host your course and do not require you to purchase outside hosting.
Thinkific
Teachable
WizIQ
Ruzuku
LearnWorlds
Skillshare
We recommend Thinkific for ease of use. Click Here to Get Setup with Thinkific
Thinkific allows you to create your account and start building your course for free. You can build up to three courses of free without splitting a revenue percentage.
They have a very intuitive system that allows you to drag and drop, copy and paste content. It lays everything out beautifully.
Thinkific
Yes. Online courses offer one of the best business models to entrepreneurs. I created my first course 15 years (before online platforms) and was able to successfully quit my full time job.
Teachers can make six figures on the site by using the tools and resources online. Here are the top ways I make income on the side: Sell lesson plans to others using Teachers Pay Teachers. Create online courses using Thinkific or Udemy (or all of them). Become an online tutor. Get paid to write and post articles with money pantry. Click here for more ways.
I just signed up with Thinkific and I have to say it’s one of the best course platforms I’ve ever seen. I was able to create my own course and hook it up with a payment processor within a weekend.
Just signed up with Thinkific and yes, it’s as easy as you say. I am in love with the platform.
Thanks!