Top 6 LearnDash Alternatives

Learndash is a WordPress plugin to launch online courses. Here are the top 6 Learndash alternatives to help you create and sell courses online.

Leardash helps users create and sell their online courses or programs on WordPress websites. When it comes to WordPress LMS plugins, Learndash is one of the most preferred options among users.

Creators and educators can engage with their learners with a multitude of essential features that include badges and certificates, automated notifications, discussion forums, etc.

Learndash may offer many features that other companies lack, but there are still some things they can't do well enough alone or that others could accomplish with ease.

The creator business is on a speedy climb and creators also want better and more creator-centric platforms.

We have compiled a list of great alternatives along with their pros/cons so you don’t have to research and spend time when choosing a platform to launch or switch your learning business to a new platform!

The top 6 LearnDash alternatives we will be talking about in this article are:

1. FreshLearn
2. Teachable
3. Thinkific
4. Podia
5. Kajabi
6. Mighty Networks

Before exploring the LearnDash alternatives, let’s understand what LearnDash offers its creators and educators.

What is LearnDash?

LearnDash is a plug-in for WordPress. It's a learning management system that allows creators to publish their courses online on the WordPress CMS.

As a result, the creator gets complete control of its courses, providing immersive and superior capabilities for its end users.

Pros of Using LearnDash

1. Learndash gives you complete control to choose your payment gateway.
2. Learndash automatically generates course completion certificates.
3. Learndash offers a wide range of content options to educators. Video, Audio Files, and Documents can be included in your course design process with just one platform.

Cons of Using LearDash

1. Learndash is not as feature-rich as other LMS platforms like FreshLearn, Teachable, Thinkific, etc.
2. Since Learndash is a WordPress plugin, control over the course creation features will not be possible. Also, WordPress CMS is not easy for creators who are just starting.
3. When using Learndash, tech support becomes necessary as plugins may often create compatibility issues.
4. The plugins that come with WordPress are enough to get you started, but if your site needs more features or functionality, it will require multiple plugins.
5. Learndash does not include every feature like embedding different video players and instead offers a limited set of tools.
6. Learndash, however, charges additional money to creators and educators for hosting, security, backup, etc.
7. Learndash does not have a free plan for creators for testing.
8. Due to other plugins and CMS, Learndash has a lot of vulnerabilities
9. It fails to offer live chat support for its creators and instead functions with email support only.
10. Leardash also does not offer concierge migration services for its creators.

Leardash’s Pricing:

Learndash offers an affordable plan. The pricing structures are based on the features each plan provides, So creators must make sure what features to expect from each plan before signing up.

The different pricing plans of Learndash are:

1. Basic Plan- $199/year
2. Plus Plan- $229/year
3. Pro Plan- $369/year

Now let's look at the top 6 LearnDash alternatives in detail.

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

Learndash has a good knowledge base, but it fails to offer live chat support for its creators and instead functions with email support only.

Leardash also does not offer concierge migration services for its creators. Creators must manually move their courses which carry risks and are intensive work.

Now let's look at the top 6 LearnDash alternatives in detail.

LearnDash Alternative #1: FreshLearn

FreshLearn is a platform that allows you to create, share, and monetize your courses and training programs.

It is an all-in-one platform for creators to create and sell courses and digital products.

Benefits of Choosing FreshLearn over Learndash

1. FreshLearn is a tool that supports many different course content formats like Video, Audio, and Documents.
2. Unlike several LMS platforms, it also allows embedding players from YouTube or Vimeo for your convenience in storing files on cloud storage services such as Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service), Google Drive, etc.
3. With FreshLearn, you can bring your preferred payment gateways to the table.
4. FreshLearn automatically generates completion certificates for any course your students successfully complete.
5. Advanced features such as Page Builder, Affiliate Marketing, and Email Marketing are available for just $29/month in the Pro plan.
6. FreshLearn is the only online course platform that has taken gamification seriously for its creators and students.
7. Gamification helps students to achieve their goals faster and provides a space for communication.
8. FreshLearn offers a range of monetization features, including online courses and masterclasses that can help you start your journey on the right foot.
9. FreshLearn does not settle on your plans and provides unlimited courses and enrollments in all of its plans.
10. FreshLearn's No Brainer plan has all the advanced features to manage your courses, including Bulk student uploads and Course enrollments.
11. The FreshLearn team offers 24x7 live chat support for whatever plan you choose, which is one of the many reasons it's our top pick.
12. FreshLearn provides its creator’s complete Concierge Migration service free of charge.

Learndash vs FreshLearn: Pricing Comparision

FreshLearn offers affordable and creator-friendly pricing plans with 24x7 customer support for all of its creators irrespective of the plans available.

The different pricing plans for FreshLearn are:

1. Free Plan = $0 ( $1 + 9% commission for every sale)
2. Pro Plan = $25/month (0% commission)
3. No Brainer Plan = $41/month ( 0% commission)

FreshLearn vs LearnDash - A Quick Comparison

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

The FreshLearn team offers 24x7 live chat support for whatever plan you choose, which is one of the many reasons it's our top pick. They place great weight on the creator’s experience and support.

FreshLearn also has a YouTube channel that provides detailed course-creation videos. The channel helps aspiring teachers set up their courses on the platform, with clear instructions and helpful hints for beginners who may be unfamiliar with this process before they get started.

FreshLearn provides their creator’s the complete Concierge Migration service, making the migration from one platform to the other easy with reduced risks. FreshLearn offers all this free of charge.

Learndash Alternative #2: Teachable

Teachable, founded in 2014, is an easy-to-use SaaS platform available for creators and educators.

It acts as an all-in-one platform that allows creators to develop and sell online courses on any subject of their choice.

It offers numerous customization options with a highly functional interface for a great user experience.

Benefits of Choosing Teachable over LearnDash

Pros:

1. Teachable’s email marketing service is a great way for creators to send custom emails to improve communication and engagement with their students.
2. Teachable's intuitive interface allows you to logically structure your course in sections and chapters for a seamless experience.
3. Teachable offers a free-to-test online platform.
4. Teachable has a variety of course content in numerous formats such as video, audio, document, etc.

However, Teachable is not easy to navigate for first-time creators and can get confusing.

The platform does not offer White label solutions for its creators.

Monetization options like Masterclass, newsletters, and digital downloads are not available on the platform.

The Teachable platform does not allow for payments to be made through different gateways. Additionally, the company also holds onto the creator’s funds for 45 days after a student's transaction.

The Enterprise plan is the only way to get all of these advanced features like Bulk Member Uploads and Course Enrollments, which costs $299/month.

Advanced features like bulk uploads are present only for the creators availing of the $249 per month plan.

Teachable provides back-office features like Tax, payments, etc., and commissions for their services vary from 2% to 5%.

To avail of features like completion certificates, and affiliate marketing, the plan is priced at $99/month.

Teachable does not promote the creators bringing their payment processing systems like Stripe or PayPal.

Though Teachable has a good knowledge base it differentiates the customer support services based on the pricing plan their creators choose.

Teachable does not offer live chat support for its creators. Concierge Migration services are also not included in their plans and services offered to the creators.

Learndash vs Teachable: Pricing Comparison

1. Free: 0$ (includes all basic features)
2. Basic: $29$ per month
3. Pro: $99 per month
4. Business: $249 per month

Though Teachable has a good knowledge base it differentiates the customer support services based on the pricing plan their creators choose.

Teachable does not offer live chat support for its creators. Concierge Migration services are also not included in their plans and services offered to the creators. This means that creators have to manually migrate their courses themselves.

Learndash Alternative #3: Thinkific

The Thinkific platform was established in 2012. Thinkific is a platform that lets you create, market, and sell courses with complete control of your brand.

The unique dashboard provides an easy way for people who are interested in learning something new but don't know where they should start.

Benefits of Choosing Thinkific over Learndash

1. Thinkfic has better design options than Learndash when it comes to customizing your own learning experience.
2. Thinkific offers a variety of course content formats, such as video and audio.
3. Thinkfic's Certificate Generation technology automatically generates certificates once a student has completed their course.

The minus point is that Thinkific is missing some of the most popular monetization features for content creators like Masterclass, Newsletters, or Digital downloads.

Additionally, Thinkific's video player is not designed to support the embedding of different players, although it includes support from S3 or Google Drive.

Thinkific's services are not completely white-label unless you pay for the highest-priced plan, at $399/month.

The advanced features like bulk uploads, course enrollments, etc are only available for the Enterprise Plan ($399/month).

Other advanced features are only available in their premier plan at $499/month.

Thinkific's pricing plans are a little more complicated than they need to be because of the Growth Add-on package. This extra service also includes charges for active students.

Plus, there are different levels of support available for creators based on which plan they avail.

Thinkific's lack of live chat support and Concierge migration is a major drawback for many creators.

Learndash vs Thinkific: Pricing Comparison

Thinkific bases its pricing on the features provided and the number of active users. The more features a creator uses, the higher the plan they are required to pay.

Thinkfic pricing plans:

1. Free plan - $0
2. Basic plan - $39/month
3. Pro plan - $79/month
4. Premier plan - $399/month

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

Thinkific provides a good knowledge base and documentation for its creators. But it is also surprising that there are different levels of support available for creators based on which plan they avail.

Thinkific's newly added chat option is a great way to help customers understand the features in detail. But this is only available for high-end plan users.

Thinkific's lack of live chat support and Concierge migration is a major drawback for many creators.

Learndash Alternative #4: Podia

Podia is a platform that provides tools for creators to sell courses, manage events, and add downloads.

The website was launched in 2014 and is an easily digestible interface for creators. Podia provides end-to-end solutions for its creators and educators.

Benefits of Choosing Podia over Learndash

1. Podia is a platform that allows creators to monetize their content in different ways. You can create paid events, digital downloads, etc.
2. Podia can generate course completion certificates automatically for your students.
3. Podia has a wide range of features that make it easy to create courses from various formats.
4. Podia provides a secure and seamless way to migrate your course from other platforms.

However, Podia does not provide top-end features compared to other LMS platforms like LearnFresh and Teachable.

The sign-in and sign-up screens have few customization options and look similar to each other.

Podia does not support the embedding of different players and includes S3 or Google Drive content.

Plus, Podia charges an extra $20 per seat apart from their introductory pricing plans and it does not offer a free plan for creators to try out the platform.

Podia also does not offer 24x7 live chat support.

Learndash vs Podia: Pricing Comparison

Podia pricing is very simple. Its pricing tiers are based on the features they provide for each plan.

The different pricing plans of Podia are:

1. Mover plan - $39/month
2. Shaker plan- $89/month
3. Earthquaker plan - $199/month

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

Podia's website provides a good knowledge base and documentation for the creators, but it does not offer 24x7 live chat support.

Podia instead offers email-based customer service only for their creators who have availed of the Shaker plan or higher. Podia provides a secure and seamless way to migrate your course from other platforms.

Learndash Alternative #5: Kajabi

Kajabi was launched in 2010 and is one of the oldest platforms to start in the learning management system segment.

Kajabi gives its creators and educators the flexibility to make their business unique and provides the creation of courses, coaching programs, membership sites, podcasts, newsletters, bundles, etc.

Benefits of Choosing Kajabi over Learndash

1. Kajabi provides an easy way to create courses that include video, audio, and document files.
2. The certificate is automatically generated on your course’s completion, saving time and effort.
3. Kajabi has many monetization features including podcasts, website builders & coaching.
4. Kajabi has a marketing automation feature that will help you automate your email campaigns.
5. Kajabi course builder is very feature-rich.

What is a bummer is that Kajabi does not allow users to integrate videos from different sources.

Kajabi also does not have all of the necessary monetization features, it lacks a Masterclass, Digital downloads, etc.

The platform also does not have live chat support and doesn’t offer any kind of migration service.

Moreover, Kajabi pricing tiers are based on usage limits. Kajabi’s pricing is pretty high compared to the other platforms and for the features Kajabi provides.

Learndash vs Kajabi: Pricing Comparison

Kajabi pricing tiers are based on usage limits. Kajabi’s pricing is pretty high compared to the other platforms and for the features Kajabi provides.

The different pricing plans are:

1. Basic Plan- $149/month
2. Growth Plan- $199/month
3. Pro Plan- $399/month

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

Kajabi provides a good set of knowledge bases and documentation for its creators, but it does not have live chat support. Instead, they offer email services for their creators.

Kajabi doesn’t offer any kind of migration service, so you will have to move your courses on a platform manually.

Leandash Alternative #6: Mighty Networks

Mighty Network is a platform that gives people the opportunity to create and monetize their content and coaching programs. Mighty Networks offers online communities, live streaming events courses, etc.

Mighty Networks was founded in 2017 with one goal: driving community innovation while offering an alternative business model for entrepreneurs alike.

Benefits of Choosing Mighty Networks over Learndash

1. The app is designed to be used on both iOS and Android devices.
2. You can have as many members on your Mighty Network, no matter what tier a creator is paying for. There's also an unlimited number of channels for video and audio recording.
3. Mighty Network's interface is feature-rich.
4. Mighty Networks offer a free trial for creators.
5. Creators can now choose from a variety of payment gateways.
6. Users can download the app for free.
7. Mighty Networks offers priority support to Business and Community Plan Hosts 7 days a week.
8. It also provides concierge migration services for its creators and educators, so they don’t have to worry when moving their courses to other platforms.

Now, Embedding videos on Mighty Networks is a tedious process that requires the user to upload links from other platforms.

Mighty Network is a platform that could use some extra monetization features to make it more engaging, they lack Masterclass and Digital downloads in addition to Newsletters

The website is not friendly to navigate, making the process of using it hard and confusing.

Mighty Networks charges a transaction fee on all pricing tiers. The fee for plans made on the Business Plan is 2%, Community Plan is 3%, and Free Trial is 5%.

Learndash vs Mighty Networks: Pricing Comparision

Mighty Networks’ pricing plans start at

1. Community Plan - $33/month
2. Business Plan - $99/month
3. Mighty Pro - Custom

The Mighty Pro Plan provides creator apps with listings in the Apple Store and Google Play Store, Branded App Notifications, Account Management, and Strategy Support.

Customer Support and Concierge Migration

Mighty Networks offers priority support to Business and Community Plan Hosts 7 days a week. Mighty Networks provides concierge migration services for its creators and educators, so they don’t have to worry when moving their courses to other platforms.

Conclusion

The internet has made it easier than ever before to share your work with the world and monetize your content.

Learndash is a plugin that offers low-cost plans and a professional-grade content management system for its creators and educators. However, the platform has many disadvantages and drawbacks as discussed earlier.

Creators are now seeking better interfaces that can offer more creator-friendly services and offers like a comprehensive platform, 24x7 live chat support irrespective of the plans they avail, etc., all at easily accessible pricing.

From all the collected data, we can surmise that FreshLearn is the best alternative for Learndash!

With far better pricing plans, 24x7 live chat support, and better offers excluding the possibility of crashes and other vulnerabilities, Freshlearn is the accessible platform for every creator and educator.

FreshLearn also offers a complete migration service for its creators, they take care of all your data and provide a smooth transitioning of platforms for their creators.

FreshLearn also offers a complete migration service for its creators, they take care of all your data and provide a smooth transitioning of platforms for their creators.

Monetizing your content has never been easier! With 8000+ creators on the platform, you will have access to all advanced features and optimization tools necessary for boosting your business pages.FreshLearn empowers 14000+ creators to build an online school with its simple-to-use course platform. Try FreshLearn for Free

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