A course hosting platform is a website that enables instructors to create and host their courses online. Course hosting platforms provide tools and features that make it easy for instructors to create and manage their courses, as well as track student progress.

There are a variety of course-hosting platforms available, each with its own set of features and benefits. Selecting the right platform for your needs can be a challenge, but there are a few things to keep in mind that will help you make the best decision.

Consider what features and tools you need in a course hosting platform. Do you need a platform that offers built-in course creation tools, or one that integrates with third-party authoring tools? What kind of tracking and reporting features do you need? Make sure the platform you select offers the features and tools you need to create and manage your courses effectively.

Also, consider the price of the course hosting platform. Platforms can vary widely in price, from free to hundreds of dollars per month. Determine how much you are willing to spend on a course hosting platform, and then select a platform that fits within your budget.

Top 4 Best Course Hosting Platforms

  1. Podia – Best overall
  2. Thinkific – Best for customization
  3. Teachable – Best for beginners
  4. Kajabi – Best for professionals

1. Podia – Best overall

PRICING: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $39/month.

Podia is an easy-to-use digital products platform that makes it simple to sell online courses, masterminds, eBooks, webinars, and more. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re a seasoned pro, Podia has everything you need to turn your knowledge into income and make a real difference in the world.

With Podia, you can start selling in minutes, without any prior experience or design skills. Plus, their powerful tools make it easy to create beautiful products that your customers will love. And because they’re a fully hosted platform, there’s no need to worry about hosting fees or technical problems. Just create your account, add your content, and start selling.

KEY FEATURES:

  • All-in-one tool for businesses to sell their online courses
  • Host unlimited files and videos, offer payment plans, drip content, quizzes and more with their online courses
  • Sell digital downloads like eBooks, PDFs, checklists, cheat sheets, and more
  • Built-in community feature that helps you earn a recurring income by establishing members and creating a space for them to discuss and view your products in one place
  • Offer one-on-one coaching or webinars with Zoom and YouTube integrations
  • Email marketing tools to broadcast your services
  • Messaging chat widget to help close deals
  • Custom website that’s easy to build and works with all devices
  • Affiliate marketing tools to set custom commission terms, invite affiliates, and much more

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Platform is simple and easy to navigate, which makes it easy for both you and your students
  • Upselling feature is fantastic and easy to implement
  • Integrations and tools that will help you manage your business and market to your audience
  • Platform is constantly being updated, adding new features with each update

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Organizing products is made difficult with the lack of categories and filters

2. Thinkific – Best for customization

PRICING: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $49/month.

Thinkific is a powerful, yet easy-to-use platform that enables you to create and sell online courses. With Thinkific, you can create beautiful course websites, design engaging courses, and manage all of your students and finances in one place. Plus, our built-in marketing tools help you promote your courses and reach your target audience. Whether you’re a first-time course creator or an experienced entrepreneur, Thinkific can help you achieve your online teaching goals.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Large library of website themes with no coding experience necessary
  • Advanced customization options to make your courses exactly how you want them
  • Integrations with some email list platforms and CRMs
  • Highly optimized sales pages
  • Live lessons and cohort options to deliver your courses live
  • Community and membership tools to help grow your audience and give your students the opportunity to reach out and collaborate with each other
  • Progress tracking to help you see how your students are doing
  • Assessments and certifications

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Simple and free plan to start learning the platform
  • Ability to edit the code on your website
  • Customizable course assessments and certifications
  • Affiliate marketing assistance and reporting
  • Marketing automation

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Could use more integrations
  • Slightly more difficult to get set up compared to competitors

3. Teachable – Best for beginners

PRICING: Free plan available. Paid plans start at $39/month.

Teachable is a platform that enables educators to create and sell online courses. Teachable’s features include course creation tools, payment processing, student management, and marketing tools.

Teachable’s courses are delivered through a customizable online school that can be branded to match the look and feel of the educator’s website. This platform provides educators with everything they need to create and sell beautiful online courses, websites, and sales pages easily.

Thanks to Teachable, educators can focus on what they’re good at: teaching.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Easily build a custom website
  • Unlimited students, bandwidth, courses, and coaching services
  • International payment providers that are PCI level-1 compliant (meaning that data is safe and secure) & accepts over 130+ currencies
  • Talk to students live and schedule and host webinars directly from your Teachable account

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Easy setup
  • Unlimited everything
  • 1-click check out
  • Optimized storefront and sales pages

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Advanced theme customization and many tools are limited behind highest tier plan

4. Kajabi – Best for professionals

PRICING: 14-day free trial available. Plans start at $149/month

Kajabi is an online platform that enables users to create and sell digital products, such as online courses and memberships. It is a popular choice for content creators, as it offers a wide range of features and tools to help them build and grow their businesses.

Kajabi has been helping entrepreneurs launch and scale their businesses for years and has become the go-to platform for many online marketers and content creators. Kajabi makes it easy to launch and grow your business with everything you need in one place, enabling you to sell digital products, such as online courses and memberships

KEY FEATURES:

  • Unlimited hosting for video, marketing materials, and course content
  • Publish course quickly to your no-code needed custom website
  • SEO optimized to rank your courses high in search engine results
  • Advanced course insights that allow you to track your students’ progress
  • Easily market your courses with 1-click marketing sequences

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Fantastic video hosting
  • Huge effort by Kajabi to focus on sales and marketing tools
  • More built-in tools compared to competitors
  • Offers the ability to charge a recurring monthly subscription for your students

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Landing page builder could be improved

References:

  • https://www.podia.com/
  • https://www.thinkific.com/
  • https://teachable.com/
  • https://kajabi.com/