The 12 Best Online Course Creation Tools for 2026

The online course market is booming, but success depends on choosing the right platform. With dozens of options, it's easy to get lost comparing features. This guide cuts through the noise to give you a practical, actionable breakdown of the 12 best online course creation tools available today. Our goal is to help you find the perfect fit, whether you're launching your first mini-course or scaling a full educational program.

This guide goes beyond generic feature lists to explore what it's actually like to use these platforms. You'll get a clear look at each tool, covering its core features, pricing, and who it's best for. We'll give you an honest assessment of the pros and cons, with screenshots and links to help you decide.

We cover everything from standalone Learning Management Systems (LMS) to powerful all-in-one platforms like Kampunity that merge courses with a community. We'll analyze dedicated course builders, community-focused software, and even e-commerce tools with learning modules. While this list focuses on specialized platforms, remember that many general content creation tools can also improve your video lectures, workbooks, and marketing materials. This guide will give you the insights to pick a platform that not only hosts your content but helps your business grow.

1. Kampunity

Kampunity stands out among online course creation tools by combining community, courses, and events into one platform. Its main advantage is eliminating the need to piece together multiple services like a separate LMS, Discord for chat, a calendar for events, and a payment processor. This all-in-one approach isn't just convenient; it changes how you build a learning community. Instead of sending students to different places for lessons and discussions, everything happens in one environment, which boosts engagement and reduces drop-off.

The platform is built to turn a passive audience into an active, paying community by merging structured learning with social interaction. For example, you can create a course with video lessons and quizzes, then automatically add enrolled students to a private chat channel. There, they can collaborate, ask questions, and connect with you and other students directly. This direct link between content and community helps build a loyal member base.

Key Features and Use Cases

• Integrated Course & Community Builder: Create lessons with videos, text, and downloads, then link them to specific community spaces. This is perfect for cohort-based programs where students need a dedicated area for discussion and support.
• Advanced Gamification: The built-in system of XP (experience points), levels, and badges is a powerful motivator. You can award XP for completing lessons, participating in discussions, or attending events. This keeps learners active and makes the experience more rewarding.
• Flexible Monetization: Sell one-time courses, create tiered subscription memberships, or bundle courses with community access. For instance, you could offer a "Basic" tier with course access and a "Premium" tier that adds live Q&A sessions and a private discussion group.
• Robust Event Management: The tool supports virtual events (via Zoom or Google Meet integrations) and in-person meetups. Features like recurring event scheduling and automated email reminders streamline logistics, making it easy to host live workshops or member-only masterminds.

Pricing and Practical Considerations

Kampunity’s pricing is straightforward. You can start with a Free plan that takes a 10% platform fee on transactions, allowing you to test your idea without upfront costs. As your revenue grows, you can switch to the $99/month per camp plan, which lowers the fee to just 1.5% (plus standard Stripe fees). The platform helps you calculate the break-even point to make this decision. New users should plan some time to learn the platform to use its full potential.

Pros and Cons

Website: https://www.kampunity.com

2. Teachable

Teachable is a popular tool for creators who want an all-in-one solution to build and sell courses. It balances ease of use with powerful sales features, making it a good choice for beginners and established educators alike. The platform's drag-and-drop course builder makes it simple to assemble your content, so you can focus on your curriculum instead of technical details.

Teachable's real strength is its built-in e-commerce engine. It handles global payments, tax compliance, affiliate programs, and one-click upsells—tools that are essential for maximizing revenue. For example, after a student buys your main course, you can immediately offer them a related mini-course or template pack with a single click. The platform also offers native iOS and Android apps, giving students a great mobile learning experience. To see how it compares to other options, check out this Teachable platform comparison.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Solo creators and small teams needing a powerful, sales-focused platform without a complex setup.
• Pricing: Starts with a Free plan (with a $1 + 10% transaction fee). Paid plans range from $39/month (5% fee) to $159/month for zero transaction fees.
• Pros: Excellent sales tools (coupons, affiliates), easy to launch a professional-looking course, and great student experience with mobile apps.
• Cons: Transaction fees on lower-tier plans can cut into profits. Advanced features like custom user roles are only available on the most expensive plans.

Website: https://www.teachable.com

3. Thinkific

Thinkific is a scalable platform for serious educators and growing businesses. It helps you create comprehensive learning experiences, from standard video courses to memberships and cohort-based programs. The platform’s focus on customization and its app marketplace let you build a unique online school that can grow with you.

A key advantage of Thinkific is that it allows unlimited courses and students on all plans without extra fees. This makes it a great choice if you plan to create a lot of content. Its powerful admin tools, including advanced student reporting and B2B/group sales features, are designed for businesses that need more than a simple course platform. For example, you can sell a block of 50 licenses for your course directly to a company for their employees.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Entrepreneurs and businesses looking to scale their educational programs, especially those needing B2B sales tools and advanced integrations.
• Pricing: Starts with a Free plan to test features. Paid plans range from $36/month to $149/month, with enterprise options available.
• Pros: No transaction fees on paid plans, unlimited courses and students on all tiers, and powerful tools for group sales.
• Cons: The free plan is very limited for selling. The most powerful features, like removing Thinkific's branding, are reserved for higher-priced plans.

Website: https://www.thinkific.com

4. Kajabi

Kajabi is a premium, all-in-one platform designed to replace an entire set of marketing and business tools. It goes beyond course creation by integrating marketing funnels, email automation, and payment processing into a single dashboard. This is ideal for established creators who want to manage their entire digital business—including courses, coaching, and communities—in one place.

The platform’s strength is its marketing and sales engine. Features like pre-built funnels (called Pipelines) and advanced email marketing are built-in, helping you create a smooth customer journey. For example, you can set up a funnel that captures leads from a webinar, sends them a follow-up email sequence, and then presents them with a sales page for your course. If you're exploring high-end platforms, you can find a deeper analysis of the best platforms to sell online courses.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Established creators and entrepreneurs who need a single platform to manage courses, marketing, sales, and community.
• Pricing: Starts at $149/month for the Basic plan, with other plans at $199/month and $399/month.
• Pros: All-in-one functionality reduces the need for third-party tools, excellent marketing and sales automation, and extensive training resources.
• Cons: The premium price makes it one of the most expensive options. Some advanced course tools are limited to higher-tier plans.

Website: https://www.kajabi.com

5. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a premium, white-label solution for educators and training organizations that need more than basic course hosting. It excels at creating interactive learning experiences with advanced tools. This platform is for those who want to build a fully-branded online school with sophisticated assessments, certifications, and support for e-learning standards like SCORM.

Its standout feature is an interactive video player that lets you add quizzes, links, and watermarks directly onto your videos, turning passive viewing into active learning. For example, you can pause a video tutorial to ask a multiple-choice question to check for understanding before the student continues. This focus on pedagogy is key for designing effective learning experiences. LearnWorlds is one of the most powerful online course creation tools for those who prioritize learning design.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Training companies, professional educators, and businesses needing a white-label platform with advanced, interactive learning features.
• Pricing: Starts at $29/month (with a $5 per-course sale fee), scaling to $299/month for zero fees and full white-labeling.
• Pros: Strong learning design features (SCORM, interactive video), excellent for creating branded "school" experiences, and robust integrations.
• Cons: The per-course fee on the starter plan is a drawback for high-volume sales. The interface is more complex than simpler tools.

Website: https://www.learnworlds.com

6. Podia

Podia is an all-in-one platform for creators who want simplicity. It's designed to minimize technical headaches, allowing you to sell courses, digital downloads, webinars, and memberships from a single dashboard. This streamlined approach makes it one of the most user-friendly online course creation tools, perfect for solo entrepreneurs who want to launch quickly.

What makes Podia stand out is its integrated experience. It includes built-in email marketing and affiliate tools, so you don't need external services to manage your audience or sales. For example, you can send a broadcast email to your list announcing a new course and track affiliate sales all within Podia. The platform also offers free migrations from other tools, making it easy to switch.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Solo creators and coaches looking for an easy-to-use solution for selling a variety of digital products.
• Pricing: Starts with a Free plan (10% transaction fee). Paid plans range from $33/month (5% fee) to $75/month for zero transaction fees.
• Pros: Very user-friendly interface, transparent pricing, and built-in email and community features.
• Cons: The transaction fee on the entry-level paid plan can impact profitability. Its email marketing is convenient but lacks the advanced automation of dedicated platforms.

Website: https://www.podia.com

7. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is a community-first platform where online courses are part of an engaged member base. Instead of treating learning as a separate activity, it weaves courses, events, and content into a social ecosystem. This approach is ideal for creators who believe learning is most effective when it’s collaborative. The platform is designed to build a destination, not just deliver a course.

What makes Mighty Networks unique is its native integration of community and learning. Members have profiles, can join group discussions, and participate in live events, all in the same space as their course content. For example, you can run a 6-week cohort course where students access weekly lessons and participate in a private group chat for that cohort. For a fully branded experience, Mighty Pro lets you launch your own white-label mobile apps.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Creators focused on building a durable, interactive community around their educational content.
• Pricing: Starts at $49/month (3% transaction fee), with higher plans from $119/month (2% fee) adding more course and live-streaming features.
• Pros: Excellent social layer enhances learning, flexible course formats, and the ability to scale to branded mobile apps.
• Cons: The course creation features may not be as deep as dedicated LMS platforms. Transaction fees are present on lower-tier plans.

Website: https://www.mightynetworks.com

8. Circle

Circle is a modern, community-first platform where courses exist alongside discussions, events, and live streams. It is designed for creators who believe learning happens best within a supportive community. Circle integrates them seamlessly into a single, polished hub, making it a top choice for cohort-based programs and membership businesses. Its clean interface prioritizes member experience and engagement.

Circle's strength is its integration of live interaction and on-demand content. You can host live video workshops and Q&A calls directly within the same space where your course materials and discussions live. For example, you can host a weekly "office hours" live stream in a space accessible only to students of a specific course. For more technical users, Circle provides developer APIs, allowing for the creation of completely custom websites powered by its community and course backend.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Creators building community-driven learning experiences, cohort-based courses, and high-end memberships.
• Pricing: Starts at $49/month for a basic community. The Courses feature is on the Professional plan starting at $99/month.
• Pros: Polished user experience, strong support for live events and video, and developer-friendly APIs for custom builds.
• Cons: Can become expensive as you scale. Core features like the Email Hub are a separate add-on, increasing the overall cost.

Website: https://circle.so

9. Udemy (for Instructors)

Instead of a tool for building your own school, Udemy is a massive global marketplace where you can publish courses and reach millions of students. As an online course creation tool, its main benefit is market access. The platform provides a simple course creation process, data on popular topics, and built-in marketing, making it a great starting point for new creators.

Udemy uses a revenue share model. You don't pay a monthly fee, but instead earn a percentage of sales. You get 97% of the revenue from students who use your coupon or referral link, but only 37% from sales driven by Udemy's marketing. This is a trade-off: you get access to their huge audience, but you give up a significant portion of the revenue for sales they generate for you. It's a low-risk way to test a course idea.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Instructors wanting to test a course idea, reach a massive audience without marketing, or use a marketplace as a lead generator.
• Pricing: Free to publish. Revenue is based on a share model: 97% for instructor-driven sales and 37% for marketplace sales.
• Pros: Access to a huge, built-in audience with no upfront fees, minimal technical setup, and valuable marketplace data.
• Cons: You have little control over pricing and branding. The revenue share from marketplace sales is much lower than selling on your own platform.

Website: https://www.udemy.com

10. Systeme.io

Systeme.io offers an entire marketing and sales suite in one affordable package. It goes beyond course hosting to include sales funnels, email marketing, and affiliate program management. This all-in-one approach is for creators who need a full toolkit to market and sell a course effectively without paying for multiple subscriptions.

Its biggest advantage is its generous free plan and the lack of platform transaction fees on all tiers. For entrepreneurs on a tight budget, this is a huge benefit. You can build a complete sales funnel with order bumps and upsells, connect it to your email list, and host your course content in one dashboard. For example, a customer can buy your course, and on the checkout page, you can offer them a related ebook for an extra $7.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Budget-conscious entrepreneurs who need an all-in-one solution for funnels, email, and courses without high costs.
• Pricing: Starts with a robust Free plan. Paid plans range from $27/month to $97/month, all with zero transaction fees.
• Pros: Very cost-effective with a powerful free plan. Integrated marketing tools eliminate the need for other services. No platform transaction fees.
• Cons: The user interface is more functional than polished. It lacks the advanced LMS features like detailed quizzing found in dedicated course platforms.

Website: https://www.systeme.io

11. LearnDash

For creators who want to build their online course business on WordPress, LearnDash is the top LMS plugin. It transforms a standard WordPress site into a powerful learning platform, giving you complete ownership over your content, data, and brand. It’s one of the best online course creation tools for those who prefer the flexibility of the WordPress ecosystem.

LearnDash integrates deeply with WordPress, allowing you to use thousands of themes and plugins to create a unique student experience. It comes with features like a drag-and-drop course builder, advanced quizzing, assignments, and certificates. For example, you can require students to upload a completed worksheet before they can move to the next lesson. Its "Focus Mode" provides a distraction-free learning environment for students.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: WordPress users and educational institutions wanting total control and customization over their learning platform.
• Pricing: Starts at $199/year for a single-site license, scaling up to $799/year for the unlimited "LearnDash Cloud" plan which includes hosting.
• Pros: You completely own your site and student data. It is highly customizable and integrates with thousands of WordPress plugins.
• Cons: You have to manage your own WordPress hosting and security. The initial setup is more involved than all-in-one platforms.

Website: https://www.learndash.com

12. ThriveCart (with Learn/Learn+)

ThriveCart started as a high-converting checkout platform, and that's still its core strength. It helps you maximize sales through sophisticated funnels, one-click upsells, and order bumps. The platform now includes a built-in learning management system, Learn, making it a great option for creators who prioritize sales and want an integrated course system without monthly fees.

What makes ThriveCart different is its business model. It often runs a lifetime license offer, which eliminates recurring platform fees. The included Learn module is surprisingly solid, while the Learn+ add-on introduces advanced features like automation rules. For example, you can set a rule to automatically tag a student in your email marketing service once they complete a specific module.

Key Details & Considerations

• Best For: Entrepreneurs who prioritize checkout optimization, sales funnels, and affiliate management.
• Pricing: Typically offered as a one-time lifetime payment (check the site for current availability), often around $495.
• Pros: Exceptionally powerful checkout and sales funnel builder, lifetime pricing offers incredible long-term value, and a strong built-in affiliate center.
• Cons: The Learn LMS is not as feature-rich as dedicated platforms. The best features are locked behind upgrades.

Website: https://thrivecart.com

Top 12 Online Course Platforms Comparison

From Tool Selection to Thriving Community: Your Next Steps

Choosing from the many online course creation tools can feel difficult, but making the right choice is the first step toward a successful online business. We've looked at everything from all-in-one systems like Kajabi to WordPress plugins like LearnDash and community hubs like Mighty Networks and Circle. Each tool offers a different mix of features and pricing.

The key takeaway is that your decision should be based on your long-term vision, not just a list of features. Are you selling a single course, or are you building a subscription-based learning community? Your answer will point you to the right platform. A simple course-hosting tool works for the first goal, but a dynamic community platform is essential for the second.

How to Choose Your Ideal Platform

To make a clear decision, evaluate your needs against these three points. This will help you move from thinking to doing.

• 1. Audience Engagement Model: How do you want your students to interact? If your course is mostly passive video watching, tools like Thinkific or Podia are great choices. But if you want students to learn from each other through discussions and live events, you need a platform with built-in community features like Kampunity or Circle.

• 2. Business and Monetization Strategy: How will you make money? If you plan to use complex sales funnels and email marketing, a platform like Kajabi or Systeme.io is built for that. If your business is based on recurring membership revenue, a community-first platform that helps retain members is a better long-term investment.

• 3. Technical and Content Workflow: How comfortable are you with technology? Do you prefer the control of a self-hosted WordPress site with LearnDash? Or do you need an all-in-one solution that handles the tech for you? Also, consider how you can reuse your course content. To maximize your reach, use smart content repurposing strategies to turn video lessons into blog posts, social media clips, and other marketing materials.

Beyond the Tool: Building a Lasting Asset

Ultimately, the best online course creation tools are the ones that let you connect directly with your audience. The platform is the vehicle, but your content and community are the engine. The goal is to build more than a course; it's to build a digital home where members feel supported and motivated.

This shift from a "course seller" to a "community builder" is where the most successful online businesses are built. It's the difference between a one-time purchase and a long-term relationship. As you move forward, focus not just on launching your course, but on creating an experience that encourages participation, celebrates progress, and creates real value for every member.

Ready to build more than just a course? Kampunity is the all-in-one platform designed for creators who want to build thriving, paid learning communities. By seamlessly integrating courses, live chat, events, and gamification, Kampunity provides the tools you need to foster engagement, reduce churn, and create a truly transformative learning experience.