GUIDE | Choose the best platform for you

Greger Hillman Author

In this article we dig deeper in what the 10 most popular online course platform really can offer. This guide will help you choose your platform.

Platforms for online courses, coaching business and membership sites.

I have been working with e-learning for the past 15 years and have seen many different platforms for online courses come and go. The field is evolving rapidly, and if you want to sell courses online, you need an e-learning platform that works well both this year and in the future.

I have personally tested all the course platforms listed on this page. In my evaluation, I have compared prices, assessed the adaptability of the platforms, examined support for VAT calculations, payment methods, community features, and more.

You are probably reading this because you are looking for the best platform for your online course. So, let’s take a closer look at the different options available.

1. Zenler

With the Zenler platform, you can host and sell your online courses, offer coaching, create membership services, conduct live classes, host webinars, build lead funnels, and much more.

Get our Zenler Starter Kit for free, sign up for your free Zenler account using our partner link and we´ll send you the starter kit right away!

With the Zenler platform, you can host an unlimited number of courses and participants, even with a free account.

The platform can be translated into Swedish with just a few clicks and includes built-in VAT calculation, which is essential for usability in Sweden.

With Zenler's free plan, you get everything you need to start selling your courses online. If you choose Zenler PRO (the paid plan), you'll also gain access to features like webinars and live classes. However, the free plan is perfectly sufficient for selling your courses and memberships.

Your customers can pay by card to automatically access the courses after purchase, with payments processed through Stripe or PayPal.

It’s also possible to sell courses to larger groups outside the platform using invoice payments and then upload participant lists directly into the system.

This is the course platform I frequently recommend because it provides everything you need to start selling online courses and membership services in Sweden.

Zenler is affordable and suitable for solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, employees launching a side project, associations, as well as larger companies and organizations.

My suggestion is to try Zenler yourself using the Zenler Starter Kit. This video guide demonstrates how the platform works, making it easy for you to evaluate whether it suits your needs.

2. Podia

With Podia, you can host both courses and membership programs on the same platform. This is a robust solution, ideal for those who have one or more online courses and want the flexibility to add a membership program later.

The platform is sleek and features a modern design. However, it has some limitations regarding the Swedish translation and customization options for the layout. Podia automatically calculates VAT and includes it on receipts processed through Stripe.

Go to Podia ››

3. HighLevel

Highlevel is a platform designed for digital marketing, e-commerce, online courses, memberships, and email marketing. It includes built-in features for chat support and white-label services, allowing you to set up and resell digital solutions to, for example, local businesses.

The platform is popular among agencies looking to resell digital services and companies wanting to manage all aspects of their digital presence in one place.

Go to HighLevel ››

4. LearnWorlds

The LearnWorlds platform offers AI assistance for creating your online courses and membership services. It also provides advanced analytics, making it suitable for coaching, online courses, and memberships.

Go to LearnWorlds ››

5. Thinkific

With a free account on Thinkific you get the basic features needed to sell an online course. Additionally, there are paid plans that unlock more advanced features as needed.

Thinkific is a U.S.-based platform with a sleek design and an intuitive setup process, making it easy to start selling online courses.

However, a drawback when selling in some european countries like Sweden for example, is that the platform lacks automatic VAT calculation.

While this can be resolved by integrating Quadermo, an external VAT calculation service, it increases operational costs by at least 500 SEK/month on top of Thinkific’s paid plans, which start at 360 SEK/month.

This means a minimum monthly cost of 860–1,050 SEK for a functional VAT solution with Thinkific. Your customers can pay by card to gain immediate access to your online courses directly on the platform, with payments processed through Stripe or PayPal.

You can also sell courses to larger groups outside the platform via invoice payments and then upload participant lists directly into the system.

Try Thinkific for free ››

6. Teachable

The course platform Teachable is quite similar to Thinkific (see above).

With Teachable's free plan, you can sell one course, one coaching product, and one downloadable product. However, you also pay a transaction fee of 10 SEK + 10% of the sales price for each sale.

With a paid plan, the transaction fees Teachable charges per sale are gradually reduced. To avoid paying transaction fees altogether, you need to use the PRO plan, which costs 1,200 SEK/month.

Teachable can be translated into several languages, although it has some limitations. It´s VAT calculations are "adequate," but the platform's structure clearly caters to a U.S.-based audience.

Teachable also has a unique policy on its lower-tier plans, where payments from your sales are held for 30 days.

This means you don’t get immediate access to your funds, and Teachable reserves the right to issue refunds to customers in case of disputes.

Try Teachable for free ››

7. Kajabi

Kajabi is one of the more expensive course platforms. They offer an all-in-one solution for online courses and digital marketing on the same platform.

You can create courses, memberships, funnels, and use features for lead magnets and email campaigns, among others.

It is a platform aimed at less price-sensitive customers, primarily businesses and organizations with a larger budget to spend.

Kajabi can be translated into several languages. (If you're looking for the same quality but at a significantly lower price, we recommend the Zenler platform.)

Try Kajabi for free ››

8. Simplero

Simplero is a platform that offers an "all-in-one solution" similar to New Zenler and Kajabi, but in its own package. You can build landing pages, create email campaigns, develop online courses, sell coaching, and more.

Simplero does not offer a free plan; you start paying as soon as you set up your account with them, even for content in "draft" mode, i.e., content that hasn’t been published yet.

This is a slightly different business model, and there’s a risk of paying for something you don’t use, as creating an online course takes time.

However, the platform is robust and reliable. Paid plans start at 600 SEK/month for a maximum of 5 courses, with the price increasing to 1,500 SEK/month thereafter.

Go to Simplero ››

9. Kartra

Kartra is a U.S.-based course platform with many features beyond e-learning. You can create online courses and build an entire membership portal, but also set up landing pages and lead magnets.

Unfortunately, Kartra cannot calculate and include VAT on receipts, which is a requirement in some European countries. However, if you are selling abroad without VAT, it could be a viable option.

The company behind Kartra has also developed the very popular webinar program WebinarJam, which I personally have had very good experiences with.

Within Kartra, you have access to well-designed and optimized templates that you can use when setting up sales funnels or promoting your online courses and digital services.

If you plan to use Kartra in the non-english market, be prepared for the time it will take to translate the design templates and layout. This applies to both the course portal itself and the pre-made templates, which are in English.

You’ll also need to consider whether the price, ranging from 1,000 SEK/month to 4,300 SEK/month, fits within your budget. Personally, I don’t think it does, even if it’s intended for a larger company or organization.

There are better and more affordable alternatives listed above, and if you're looking for something robust, scalable, and functional you should take a closer look at Zenler.

Try Kartra for 14-days for $1 ››

10. Course Platform with WordPress

If you don't want to rent a ready-made course platform, the alternative is to build your own platform instead.

This way, you own the course platform yourself and can make changes as you see fit.

The challenge is building the platform if you don’t have prior experience. At the same time, it's not impossible by any means. What you need is, broadly speaking, the following:


A good web hosting service for domain names and WordPress (We recommend Inleed) The SureMembers plugin, which gives you features to protect your content The SureCart plugin for webshop functionality with payment options The Bunny video service to upload and protect your videos behind a paywall A stable design theme (We recommend DIVI), which is easy to use.

✓ A good web hosting service for domain names and WordPress

✓ The SureMembers plugin, which gives you features to protect your content

✓ The SureCart plugin for webshop functionality with payment options

✓ The Bunny video service to upload and protect your videos behind a paywall

✓ A stable design theme (We recommend DIVI), which is easy to use

Frequently Asked Questions about Course Platforms

Question: Can I use a ready-made course platform without giving up the rights to my online course?
Answer: Yes. You always retain the rights to your material and courses. When you use a ready-made course platform, you are "renting space" on it. In other words, you still have full control over your material and can move it elsewhere at any time.

Question: What does it cost to have my own digital training platform?
Answer: Although there are solutions that allow you to start selling online courses and memberships for free, you should budget around 500-600 SEK/month if you want a complete course platform with features for live meetings, online courses, memberships, lead funnels, email campaigns, and more.

Question: Should I let my customers have my online courses on their intranet instead of on my course platform?
Answer: No. I strongly advise against uploading your courses to an intranet or any other location where you lose control over your material. If you choose to do so, be prepared for your courses to be spread without your ability to control it. It is always better to host the courses on your own course platform and then invite participants there, as you maintain control over your material.

Question: Which is the best platform for online courses?
Answer: This depends on what you mean by "the best platform," but based on all the course platforms I have tested and evaluated, my recommendation often lands on New Zenler. The platform is reliable, has all the features you need, is affordable compared to other options, and you don’t have to worry about maintenance since you're renting a ready-made platform.

Question: How do I create my first online course?
Answer: Start by "stress-testing" your course idea to ensure there is an audience willing to pay for your training. Once you've validated your course idea, you need to plan the content so that your participants can learn in a simple way. Your course needs a clear educational structure to ensure your participants achieve their goals.

Final tips on Course Platforms

There are many course platforms to choose from when you’re starting to sell online courses and memberships.

If you plan to sell online courses in Europe, you should make sure to choose a course platform that can automatically calculate VAT.

I have helped around 20 course creators switch platforms from Simplero and Kajabi to Zenler, which is significantly cheaper.

The difference is houndreds of dollar per month for the same features. If you plan to sell memberships with recurring payments, choosing the right platform is even more important. This is because it’s not easy to transfer ongoing subscriptions between different platforms. This means that IF you need to switch platforms for your online membership, all existing members will need to sign up again, which always leads to some loss of subscribers.

Take a little extra time for research before you start, so you can choose a platform that will allow you to grow.

Categories: : Course Platform, Online Course