15 BEST Online Course Platforms in 2021

Alyssa WalkerByAlyssa Walker Hours Updated

Online course platforms are types of LMS (Learning Management Systems) that enables you to create and manage learning program with ease. These platforms help you to create engaging multimedia lectures that include video, text, PDF, and audio files.

Following is a handpicked list of Top Online Course Platforms, with their popular features and website links.

Top Platforms to Create and Sell Online Courses

1) Thinkific

Thinkific is an all in one platform that helps you to create, sell, and delivers online courses. It enables you to easily make and customize courses that match your brand.

Features:

  • You can create a video, quizzes, surveys, downloadable tutorials, and more.
  • It enables you to showcase your themes designed for selling education.
  • You can set the expiry to the course.
  • Thinkific helps you to organize web content with drag and drop feature.
  • This platform provides full access to CSS and HTML.
  • Supports Google Adverb (an advertising platform), Facebook, and more.

2) Podia

Podia is easy to use e-learning platform that helps you to create, host, and sell their lessons. It supports messaging for live chat. This platform helps you to manage students with ease.

Features:

  • You can create online courses having audio files, links, PDF, videos, images, etc.
  • It enables you to combine similar courses.
  • You can customize your website pages.
  • Podia provides live previews.
  • Courses can be accessed from a tablet, mobile, desktop, and more.
  • You can grant or remove content access for a particular user.
  • It helps you to manage students with ease.
  • You can control website elements the way you like.

3) Passion

Passion.io is a software application that lets you build your e-learning apps. This site allows you to create your customized e-learning app from a wide range of templates for Android Play Store and iOS App Store.

Features:

  • This site offers downloadable and fully protected content that you can watch anytime, without network coverage.
  • It also allows you to create group-based challenges for the community.
  • You can create audio-based content your customers can listen to anytime, anywhere.
  • Helps you to identify customer segments to deliver exactly what they want.
  • Allows you to unlock content on your terms to keep your audience engaged, aligned and focused.

4) LearnWorldS

LearnWorldS is a site that helps you to create and sell online courses. It provides responsive templates and styles to build your course.

Features:

  • You can customize the logo, style, and theme that matches your own brand.
  • It enables you to build a course on a responsive website.
  • This platform provides multilingual support.
  • Notifications can be customized as per your needs.
  • You can use CSS and JavaScript to edit course pages.
  • Learnworlds provides a pre-ready course catalog.
  • You can launch your site in less amount of time.
  • It allows you to create unlimited courses.
  • Offering free courses to students is possible.

5) ShowTime

ShowTime is a platform that enables you to easily manage and run your training business. It provides collaborative learning in virtual classrooms through polls, Q&A, screen sharing, and more. This tool allows you to shortlist attendees with no hassle.

Features:

  • You can analyze your result with an intuitive graph.
  • It allows you to invite the person with just one mouse click.
  • Enables you to add multiple trainers to your sessions.
  • You can record the entire training session.

6) Learndash

Learndash is a course platform integrated with WordPress. It supports numerous plugins. This app helps you to setup courses online.

Features:

  • It provides eight types of questions, custom messages, and more.
  • You can arrange courses according to course order.
  • This site can be sync with the LearnDash quiz (Quiz question creating a website).
  • You can give a hint in text, video, and image to users.
  • It enables you to award anyone who successfully passes the quiz.
  • This site allows users to review questions and answers.
  • Learndash helps you to send quiz results to the users, group leader, or admin.

7) Talentlms

TalentLMS is a cloud-based learning management system. It helps users to simplify online seminars, training programs, and courses. You do not require technical skills to use this website.

Features:

  • It supports multiple types of questions.
  • You can effortlessly collect and analyze survey responses.
  • TalentLMS helps you to share a file with other people.
  • You can design your own certification
  • This company allows you to integrate with up to 200 services through Zapier.
  • It provides reports to make better decisions.
  • Offers printable infographics (collection of information and graphics) to users.
  • You can create course certification with ease.

8) Teachable

Teachable is a website that helps you to create and sell online courses. It provides a user-friendly interface to build courses. This site helps you to set up a fully functioning course with few mouse clicks.

Features:

  • It helps you to create engaging multimedia lectures that include video, text, PDF (ebook), and audio files.
  • You can import content from Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox.
  • This LMS site offers page editors to easily draft, customize, and launch a new course.
  • You can create quiz questions.
  • Enables you to issue certificates after completing a specific course.
  • You can integrate teachable with Google Forms to collect feedback from students.
  • Teachable accept payment from more than 130 currencies.

9) Udacity

Udacity is a place where you can learn cutting edge skills. You can use it to create HD instructor video content. This platform enables you to customize the learning path according to your organization’s needs.

Features:

  • It provides access to the Q and A platform.
  • You can personalize project feedback.
  • Udacity enables you to assign certificates to learners.
  • This site offers 24/7 access to technical mentors.
  • You can personalize project advice from the project reviewer.
  • Udacity has real-world projects designed by people having knowledge in the industry.

10) Udemy

Udemy is an online teaching platform. It enables you to easily promote your class. This site helps you to create courses on numerous categories like development, business, design, marketing, etc.

Features:

  • This site enables you to plan your lectures in Microsoft Excel or Google Docs,
  • You can create courses in multiple languages.
  • It has an instructor dashboard that helps you to keep you on track.
  • Udemy helps you to record video for a particular course.
  • Once you upload the video to Udemy, your videos will be reviewed by the team.

11) Linkedin Learning

LinkedIn Learning is a site that offers video courses. You can use this website to access up to 15,000 courses in more than 7 languages.

Features:

  • It helps you to create a learning portal.
  • You can access LinkedIn Learning from any mobile device and desktop PC.
  • It enables you to add quiz questions in course.
  • You can upload videos, links, and documents.
  • LinkedIn Learning provides a wide range of templates to create a course.
  • You can watch a bit of size video on the go.
  • This platform allows you to browse popular or trending topics effortlessly.

12) Skillshare

Skillshare is an online platform that focused on education. It includes numerous topics related to graphics design, data science, e-commerce, analytics, etc.

Features:

  • It helps you to find classes that are designed for real life.
  • The classes are taught by real creators.
  • You can learn from any device.
  • Skillshare helps you to achieve your business growth.

13) Kajabi

Kajabi is an online course platform. It contains numerous site themes for building in-depth courses. It is one of the best platform for online courses that helps you to create your own online customized courses with ease.

Features:

  • It helps you to build a website without writing any code.
  • This LMS site offers 24/7 support.
  • Kajabi provides easy to use custom domain or subdomain.
  • You can create as many pages as you like for creating a static site.
  • It enables you to upload your video content.
  • You can drag and drop images and videos to the working area.

Link: https://kajabi.com/

14) WizIQ

WizIQ offers educators and teachers a simple way to set up virtual classrooms for live interactive courses. You can upload content in any format and create learning courses online.

Features:

  • It supports HD conferencing.
  • This online training software site provides reports that help you to keep track of your performance.
  • Learners can access content on the go.
  • You can integrate it with learning management systems like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc.
  • Supports unlimited storage space.
  • It allows you to add the logo and brand color of your business.
  • WizIQ offers a user-friendly interface for easy navigations.
  • It enables you to conduct tests and assessments online.

Link: https://www.wiziq.com/

15) Ruzuku

Ruzuku enables you to create an online course in less amount of time. It is one of the best online training platforms which helps you to create a basic outline of the curriculum with ease.

Features:

  • You can check and copy a previous course and run it again.
  • It enables you to host both audio and video streams.
  • You can send a course announcement to others in email.
  • Ruzuku allows you to add a subscription to a specific course type.
  • It notifies you whenever the student posts a question.
  • You can integrate Ruzuku with Mailchimp (an email marketing software).
  • This site helps you to host video broadcasts with group chat, slides, and more,
  • You can create course-wise questions and answers.

Link: https://www.ruzuku.com/

16) OpenSesame

OpenSesame is an online learning platform that helps you to create and manage corporate learning programs with ease. You can choose from more than 5000 courses. It is one of the best online education platforms that provides chat and email support.

Features:

  • You can integrate readymade courses to your LMS
  • It enables you to curate the courses which support machine learning.
  • OpenSesame offers more than 20,000 courses on topics like soft skills, IT and technology, HR, safety, etc.
  • You can integrate OpenSesame with LMS (Learning Management System).
  • It provides email and chats support.
  • This platform offers a wide variety of courses for the learners.

Link: https://www.opensesame.com/

17) ISpring Learn

ISpring Learn allows users to create slide-based quizzes, courses, and video lectures. It is one of the best online teaching platform that makes it easy to give product, sales, and compliance training to employees.

Features:

  • You can upload PPT, DOC, MP4, PDF, XLS, etc. files.
  • It supports SCORM (Shareable Content Object Reference Model).
  • ISpring provides unlimited storage space.
  • You can effortlessly manage users and groups.
  • It helps you to assign material to employees.
  • This app offers quiz and simulation reports.
  • You will receive a notification to stay up to date with the latest student result.
  • You can customize the portal the way you wish.

Link: https://www.ispringsolutions.com/ispring-learn

18) Alison

Alison is a free e-learning platform that provides various categories like IT, language, health, science, etc. It provides an innovative network of locations to learn courses.

Features:

  • Alison is accessible worldwide.
  • This site offers many course types, including certificate courses, diploma courses, and more.
  • It allows you to find a wide range of courses for a specific job.
  • Alison supports English, Spanish, French, Italian, etc.

Link: https://alison.com/

FAQs:

🚀 What are the Best Online Course Platforms?

Below are some of the best online course platforms:

  • Thinkific
  • Teachable
  • LearnWorldS
  • Udacity
  • Udemy
  • Linkedin Learning
  • Alison
  • Skillshare

✅ How to create an Online Course?

Here is the step by step process on how to create an online course:

  • Step 1) First, you need to select the subject matter on which you want to make the course
  • Step 2) Test and analyze your idea from people before making the course
  • Step 3) Deeply research for the subject matter
  • Step 4) Make the course outline like Name, Topics, etc.
  • Step 5) Create detailed course content with an in-depth explanation, videos, media, etc.
  • Step 6) Launch your course once ready on either your own channel, on course platforms, or directly sell or rent to the people
  • Step 7) Build and cultivate your course community and provide support for their queries

🏅 How to Sell an Online Course?

Here are the ways on how you can sell an online course:

  • Make your own channel(Website or Blog) for your course and optimize to get organic traffic
  • Reach your target prospects by Email marketing
  • Reach to your audience on Social Media
  • Make a sales funnel and leverage your network
  • Run offers and discounts on your course
  • Run paid ads with offers to attract your audience
  • Use referral and affiliate programs to increase sales
  • Run podcasts and public speaking to promote your course
  • Join events and networks to promote your course
  • Sell your course on third-party course platforms like Udemy, Skillshare, Coursera, etc.