The online course platform you choose is integral to the success of your business – affecting student experiences, backend processes, and all other components of course creation and delivery – and it needs to grow alongside you. Unfortunately, many course creators find that the platform they begin with isn’t the right one when it comes time to scale.

The best online course platform will allow you to build your business long-term, offering both comprehensive course creation tools and marketing functionalities. Read on for a list of the top online course platforms educators should be aware of as well as the key features to have in mind.

Top Online Course Platforms

The world of online learning has grown exponentially in recent years with a myriad of options for both online students and educators. From course marketplaces to independent course creation platforms, read on to learn which software you should know about as a course creator.

Kartra

Kartra’s all in one course creation and marketing platform comes with extensive features ideal for scaling your online business. Kartra provides course creators with both a comprehensive course builder and digital marketing platform, making the best use of your time and budget. Distinctive benefits of Kartra include:

• Ability to sell both physical and digital products 
• Wide range of native features means minimal dependence on external integrations 
• Access to a robust page and form builder

Business owners can sell unlimited courses through Kartra and promote both physical and digital products with Kartra’s full slate of marketing functionalities – including advanced sales funnels and intuitive email marketing automation tools. And unlike most other online course platforms, Kartra offers a significant number of native features so business owners don’t have to pay for and manage a stack of third-party integrations or tools like Zapier. From native video and webinar hosting to a built-in helpdesk feature, Kartra is intended to be a truly comprehensive course creation platform.

Kajabi

Kajabi is one of the most advanced course creation platforms with a long list of marketing and content creation features. Kajabi users appreciate the resources available for learning how to use the platform and the quality customer support that comes with it. Unique Kajabi features include Kajabi Community, the Kajabi mobile app, and a blog builder. 

The major downside to Kajabi is the higher-end price point combined with the absence of a few key features that would require paying even more for third-party integrations. For example, business owners can’t sell physical products through Kajabi without an additional integration like Shopify or Woocommerce. Course creators neither have access to native video and webinar hosting in Kajabi, nor can they guide students to a native helpdesk for course support. Kajabi can quickly become an expensive choice when you need to scale your business but still have to maintain a list of integrations.

Podia

Podia offers course creators a bit of everything. This basic all in one course platform enables you to build a website, create a course with a variety of media formats, and send emails to your member base. With affordable basic plans, Podia can be a good place to get started. 

While Podia offers users a broader range of features than generic course creation platforms, their functionalities are limited compared to other all in one platforms. For example, Podia’s email marketing functionalities don’t include advanced workflows and their basic page builder has minimal customization opportunities. Course creators trying to scale their business with Podia will likely need a variety of third-party integrations to execute a robust marketing plan.

Teachable

Teachable is a course creation and delivery platform that enables independent course creators to create, publish, and sell courses – building an online business from scratch. Teachable offers a variety of affordable paid plans along with a free version and is best suited to entrepreneurs getting their course creation business off the ground. 

The downside of Teachable is that it comes with only the basics. Simple design and template options limit brand customization, basic analytics restrict customer insights, and the streamlined slate of features requires additional integrations as your business grows. Many users find that their budget ultimately goes further with more comprehensive platforms like Kajabi or Kartra.

Thinkific

Similar to Teachable, Thinkific is an online course platform best suited to creators in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship. Thinkific is a lower-cost platform compared to many other alternatives, letting course creators get started with a free plan. 

The primary disadvantage of Thinkific is its basic feature options. Thinkific’s page builder, for example, has minimal design options, only basic templates to choose from, and limited customization opportunities. And without marketing features, Thinkific can quickly become an expensive option when paired with multiple integrations for webinars, affiliate management, and other key components of an online course business.

Udemy

Udemy is a massive open online course (MOOC) website with a marketplace model. Beginner or experienced educators can upload their courses for free on Udemy and receive a portion of the profits when students find and purchase their e-learning materials. This type of online school can work well for new course creators who want to join a platform with an existing audience, instead of building an online course creation business from scratch.

The major downside of Udemy is that it is not conducive to personal brands or to scaling your business as a course creator. Similar to a search engine, Udemy is a competitive marketplace – some courses will see significant traffic and high profits, while others will go relatively unnoticed.

Coursera

Like Udemy, Coursera is a massive open online course platform (MOOC) where educators upload course materials and receive a portion of the profits when students purchase their course. Unlike Udemy, Coursera is rigorously academic and selective in who can publish courses on their online learning platform. Coursera only partners with certain companies and higher education institutions. This platform offers a unique opportunity for subject matter experts who work for partner institutions, but it’s not built for independent course creators or entrepreneurs.

Key Features to Look For in an Online Course Platform

A standalone course platform should go beyond basic course creation features, enabling educators to build a truly professional experience for their members and to successfully market their courses to new students. Many course platforms have the necessities for starting an online business, but not scaling it. Read on to learn about the main features course creators should look for in a comprehensive online course platform – from quality content development functionalities to robust marketing tools.

Professional Landing Page & Form Builder 

Customizable Quizzes & Surveys

Student quizzes are another standard feature of most course platforms, but it matters whether you are stuck with generic forms or given a range of customization options. Kartra’s quiz maker lets educators add as many questions as they need and choose from these eight variations:

• single-option text
• multi-option text
• short text answer
• long text answer
• multi-option image
• single-option image
• binary (“yes” or “no” answers) 
• rating score (rate up to 5 stars)

Use these detailed assessments to direct learners to appropriate membership levels, auto-tag students based on their answers or test scores, and guide them to a personalized success page with a course completion certificate. The possibilities are endless. And don’t forget to leverage surveys and quizzes for marketing and course development purposes. Keep your finger on the pulse of your audience by creating dynamic, sophisticated surveys for your leads, customers, and prospects.

Native Video & Webinar Hosting

Videos and webinars are essential components of course creation – both for marketing efforts and student education. With integrations like Zoom or Wistia, most course creation platforms will allow you to upload and display video content for your students, such as welcome videos or tutorials. But native video and webinar hosting capabilities are extremely helpful for maximizing your budget and integrating video with your sales funnel and membership management system. 

For example, Kartra allows course creators to add interactive marketing elements in videos, such as pop-ups with important offers. Internal video tracking also enables educators to understand how their students engage with course content beyond the basic analytics available in any video software. It’s much easier to incorporate videos and webinars into your sales funnel and into your students’ overall experience when you can upload and host videos (and playlists) natively.

Advanced Email Automation 

Scalable email automation is a necessary part of growing your online course creation business. Automated email sequences drip content that builds customer relationships, boosts enrollment, and reminds your audience base why your brand is so valuable. 

While third-party email software like Mailchimp can be integrated with most course creation software, native email capabilities minimize increasingly expensive third-party platforms. Native email also means business owners can seamlessly integrate email communications with sales funnels, member analytics, and the course website. Choose a course creation platform that doesn’t just accommodate email marketing, but actively facilitates it.

Automated Workflows & Sales Funnels

Automated sales funnels are features you’ll only find in comprehensive course platforms like Kajabi or Kartra. And even when it comes to all in one online course platforms, there are differences in how complex your sales funnels can be and how many user-friendly templates are available. 

Kartra offers course creators a wide selection of professionally designed, plug-and-play marketing campaigns – and a whole marketplace to browse if you need more options. Kartra users appreciate the uniquely high level of customization available through Kartra campaigns – including a host of behavior-based automations, intelligent split testing, conditional rules, and auto-tagging.

Comprehensive Membership Management 

Membership management software is a must-have for course creators whose business relies on membership tiers, subscriptions, student cohorts, or any other pricing model besides a simple one-for-one transaction. And as your online business grows, it will only become more complicated to monitor and improve member experiences without membership site features built into your course platform.

Kartra Memberships is designed to simplify business processes and give your students a professional experience with your course. Whether moving up membership tiers, submitting a ticket to your helpdesk, or answering a survey, it should be straightforward for members to engage with their online learning experience. And it should be simple for you to track student progress to make sure your users are on the right track for success.

Affiliate Program Management 

The beauty of affiliate marketing as a course creator is that your network of possible affiliates grows with each student you enroll. Affiliate programs enable you to leverage the satisfaction of your most successful students into a profitable partnership. As affiliates bring qualified leads to your online business, they are compensated for their efforts and you expand your member base without investing in costly, less effective sales tactics. 

Third-party affiliate programs can be integrated into almost any course platform you choose, but a native affiliate management system significantly streamlines this process. You should be able to onboard, track, and pay affiliates in the same place you manage the rest of your member base. This helps ensure no one falls through the cracks and gives you a better birds-eye view of business operations. Plus, a native affiliate program removes the need to pay an ongoing subscription fee to yet another software provider.

Holistic Data Analytics

Analytics come with every type of online software – whether video marketing, email automation, or an online course creation platform. But each platform you utilize will have its own dashboard and reports to be integrated and cross-applied throughout your software stack. An all in one platform consolidates course delivery and digital marketing analytics to improve your decision-making and brand messaging.

Course creators should be able to monitor the entire student lifecycle – from the first time a contact receives a digital download lead magnet via email to their most recent membership renewal. This kind of holistic data-gathering is made possible by course creation platforms like Kartra. You can even integrate social media analytics, such as LinkedIn engagement, to see how your online community interacts with your brand. All in one platforms go beyond course delivery, ultimately serving as a hub for all your business operations.