The LearnDash Alternative With Nothing to Install
Courses, certificates, exams, live classes, payments, email and your website on one hosted platform, with no WordPress, plugins, updates or developer.
LearnDash itself is inexpensive. Everything around it isn't. See what a LearnDash academy usually runs on ↓
Why Creators Switch
Moved From WordPress and LearnDash
What CE schools say after leaving their WordPress stack.
One login instead of a tech stack
“We were paying for WordPress, LearnDash, a community theme and its app, Vimeo, an email tool and a booking app, plus a tech team to keep it all working. Now our courses, community, app, email and 1:1 sessions are in one place.”
Live classes without the busywork
“We run several live classes a week, and many go past two hours. The recordings now land in the course on their own, instead of going from Zoom to Vimeo to LearnDash by hand.”
Payment plans that work
“Our three-year program has single and monthly payment options and add-on tracks. Checkout finally works the way our students expect, and we're not chasing payments in spreadsheets.”
Side-by-Side
FreshLearn vs LearnDash
Fees, limits, features and support, plan by plan.
| Feature | FreshLearn | LearnDash |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Hosted, all-in-one platform | WordPress plugin |
| Hosting, security and updates | Yes Handled for you | No You maintain them WordPress, theme and plugins, updated and tested together |
| Setup | Yes Sign up and build | Partly Install and configure WordPress, a theme, LearnDash and add-ons |
| Certificates | Yes Built in, with verification Auto-issued, with custom fields | Yes Built in Extra fields or numbering may need add-ons |
| License number & CE hours on certificates | Yes Built in Printed from the learner's profile | Partly With shortcodes License numbers usually need a profile-fields add-on |
| Exams and question banks | Yes Built in | Yes Built in |
| No-skip video | Yes Built in | Partly Partly Video progression settings |
| Live classes | Yes Built-in video or Zoom No time limit from FreshLearn | Partly Via a Zoom plugin |
| Live attendance | Yes Recorded automatically Join and leave times | Partly Plugin or Zoom exports |
| Class recordings | Yes Added to the course automatically | No Manual Download, upload (e.g. to Vimeo), then embed |
| Payments | Yes Stripe and PayPal 0% transaction fees | Yes Stripe and PayPal WooCommerce for more |
| Payment plans and bundles | Yes Built in | Partly Via WooCommerce or plugins |
| Support | Yes 24/7 human support Phone from No Brainer | Partly Plugin tickets Your host and other plugins separately |
| Migration | Yes Free on yearly No Brainer plans Up to 10 courses (No Brainer) or 15 (No Brainer+) | — |
| Price | From $499/yr (Pro) Hosting, video, email and support included | From $350/yr 1-site license; hosting, theme and add-ons extra |
LearnDash pricing from liquidweb.com, checked November 2026: the $350/yr license covers 1 site and is bundled with Give, The Events Calendar, Kadence and MemberDash. Hosting is sold separately.
The Full Stack
What You'd Add to LearnDash
What a LearnDash CE academy usually runs on, based on what LearnDash users have shown us. On FreshLearn, it's one login.
| What you need | FreshLearn | LearnDash |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting, security and backups | Included | WordPress hosting |
| Community | Included | A community theme (e.g. BuddyBoss) |
| Mobile app | FreshLearn app included from No Brainer | A mobile app add-on |
| Certificates with numbers | Included | A certificate or numbering add-on |
| Video hosting | Included | A video host (e.g. Vimeo) |
| Live classes | Built-in video or Zoom | A Zoom plugin |
| Email marketing | Included | An email tool (e.g. Kit, Keap or Mailchimp) |
| Paid 1:1 sessions | Included | A booking app |
| Course evaluations | Included | A form tool |
| CE records | Included | Spreadsheets |
| Keeping it all working | Handled for you | A developer or tech team on call |
LearnDash itself is inexpensive. Everything around it isn't.
Why Switch
Why CE Providers Leave LearnDash
What CE and professional training providers on WordPress tell us most often.
“Everything is another plugin”
Certificates with numbers, Zoom, evaluations and email each mean another tool to install, update and pay for.
“I need a developer”
One update can break the site the week of a launch.
Hard to scale
Hundreds of learners across many programs means spreadsheets, and every live class means a manual Zoom-to-Vimeo-to-LearnDash upload. On FreshLearn, the recording lands in the course by itself.
CE paperwork lives outside the LMS
Evaluations in forms, attendance in Zoom exports, records in spreadsheets.
The app and the community are separate products
Learners want courses on their phones; on WordPress that means another paid theme and app to keep working.
Checkout gets messy as programs grow
Payment plans, add-on tracks and long programs are hard to keep track of across plugins.
Free Migration
How Migrating From LearnDash Works
Our team moves your courses and learners for you. Keep your WordPress site if you want to.
We Move Everything
Free on No Brainer (up to 10 courses) and No Brainer+ (up to 15) billed yearly or every two years; a small fee on monthly billing.
- Book a migration call: we look at your courses, learners and certificates
- We move your content and learners, including completion records, at no cost
- Go live, with learners logging in on your own domain
Keep Your WordPress Site
You don't have to rebuild your website to move your courses.
- Keep WordPress for your pages and blog
- Link its “Enroll” buttons to FreshLearn checkout
- Run courses on a subdomain such as learn.yoursite.com
- Or move your whole site onto FreshLearn
Understand. Practice. Master.
Turn any course into an AI-powered learning experience.
Course AI
Chat with your course. Jump to the exact moment you need.
Learners can ask questions and get instant answers from your content, with precise context from your videos.
What is demand elasticity?
Demand elasticity measures how sensitive demand is to price changes. A higher elasticity means demand changes more with price.
Answer sourced from your video content
“Your competitor is 30% cheaper. Why should I go with you?”
I understand budget matters. Can you help me understand which outcomes are most important to your team?
✓ Great redirect to value! You avoided defending price and pivoted to understanding needs. Score: 87%
AI Coach
Practice real scenarios. Get feedback that actually improves you.
From sales calls to interviews, learners train with AI that responds, challenges, and scores them.
AI Quiz Generator
Create quizzes instantly from lesson content: no manual question writing required.
AI Captions
Automatically generate captions for every lesson video in your academy.
Not just content. Real learning.
Explore AI StudioPlatform Capabilities
Everything You Need.
Nothing You Don't.
Everything you need to create courses, run programs, engage learners, and grow your academy: all in one place.
Create Courses in Hours, Not Months
Drag-and-drop builder with AI that generates outlines, quizzes, and summaries in seconds. Supports video, text, live sessions, in-person classes, and cohort-based programs.
Integrations
Integrate with the tools you love
Connect your favorite payment gateways, marketing tools, communication platforms, and automation workflows: all built in.
FAQ
Questions About Switching
Everything you need to know about moving from LearnDash to FreshLearn.
Can I keep my WordPress website?
Yes. Keep it for your pages and link to FreshLearn for checkout and courses on a subdomain such as learn.yoursite.com, or move everything to FreshLearn.
Will my learners' progress and certificates come across?
Yes. We migrate courses, learners and completion records for free.
Do I need any plugins or a developer?
No. Hosting, security and updates are handled for you.
Can I still issue CE certificates with my provider number and CE hours?
Yes. Custom certificate fields, exams with pass marks and no-skip video are built in (No Brainer Plus).
Can I assign specific videos to specific learners?
Yes. Use private courses or a video library and give access to individual learners or groups.
Can my learners use a mobile app?
Yes. From No Brainer, learners can use the FreshLearn app at no extra cost, or you can add your own branded iOS and Android app ($299/year per platform), which we publish and keep up to date.
Can I keep designing my own pages?
Yes. Use the block editor, add your own HTML and CSS, or keep your existing landing pages and link them to FreshLearn checkout.
What does it cost compared with LearnDash?
One plan covers hosting, the platform, payments with 0% transaction fees, email and support. With LearnDash, you pay for the license plus hosting, a theme, add-ons and your developer's time.
Your Move
Your Courses.
None of the Plugins.
Move from LearnDash, with free migration on yearly No Brainer plans, and stop maintaining WordPress.