Best Online Learning Platforms in 2024

Since the technology revolution of the late 1990s, online learning has been gaining popularity as a method for training and instruction. It offers unparalleled convenience, flexibility, and affordability in a world that has become increasingly expensive and busy. 

With this increased demand, online learning platforms have become one of the most coveted products in the global market. But choosing the right one is no small feat! There are multitude options when it comes to solutions for online training, and each comes with its own set of unique features.

In this article, you’ll find a detailed description of each online learning and course platform, its pros and cons, pricing, why we included it on our list, and who it’s the best fit for.

Get ready to find your perfect match among the best online learning platforms!

What is an Online Learning Platform?

An online learning platform is a digital space that allows course creators to market, sell, and deliver their eLearning courses. They’re often referred to as “online course marketplaces.”

Like traditional schools, such tools offer learners a safe environment in which to access course materials, learn, and, in many cases, interact with both teachers and students alike. 

They offer a wide range of features, including, but not limited to, lectures, assignments, quizzes, learning interactions, completion certificates, and social forums/chats.

So, in a way, “learning platform” is kind of a catchall term for both businesses and learners. 

They help you create, catalog, market, and accept payment for your courses, while also providing all the tools and educational resources that learners need under one roof.

Online Learning Platforms vs. Online Course Platforms vs. LMSs

It’s easy to conflate learning platforms with online course platforms and LMSs. But it’s worth making the distinction. Let’s start with online learning platforms. 

As mentioned, an online learning platform is more of a marketplace. It focuses on the perspective of learners, or “buyers.” 

That’s because online learning platforms do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing your courses, growing your audience, and building your sales funnel. So here, the priority is the front-end part of your business – the course marketplace, as well as the courses themselves. 

However, this heavy lifting comes at a cost. For example, if you’re looking for maximum flexibility in pricing structure and functionality in terms of collecting and analyzing user data, then you’re going to be relatively constrained. That is especially so if you’d like to personalize your online courses with adequate branding.

In contrast, online course platforms focus more on the back-end portion of things. They often involve instructor-focused, cloud-based software that enables you to not only create courses but effective learning environments as well. 

For example, you can upload various types of educational materials and arrange them into learning paths. Many course platforms also let you set up your own marketplace – that is, your own sales funnels, pricing plans, memberships, and revenue. What’s more, you gain control over invaluable user analytics, branding, and marketing strategies to maximize the growth of your business. 

As for learning management systems (LMSs), they’re less focused on sales and marketing and more focused on seamlessly delivering training to large groups of learners, employees, or partners, for example.

Compared with online educational platforms, many LMSs have built-in course authoring capabilities, enabling you to create new online courses. Besides, LMSs allow you to manage users, assign content to them, and track learner progress – all under one roof. 

All in all, you can think of LMSs as representing a higher tier of course platforms. They offer you extra freedom and flexibility in terms of the types of courses you can create and the level of interaction you can incorporate.

Understanding the difference between learning platforms, course platforms, and LMSs will help you narrow down options in the vast sea of eLearning products. But even once you’ve settled on a specific platform type, there are still many choices to sift through. Continue reading to find out what they are.

Also read: 12 LMS Benefits —Expert Opinion

Best Online Learning Platforms in 2024 (Team Picks)

Here are our team’s picks of the top online learning platforms, carefully selected to meet diverse educational needs: 

• Best online learning platform for businesses: LinkedIn Learning
  It has excellent quality control to ensure instructors are subject matter experts with excellent teaching skills.

• Best online educational learning platform: edX
  This one partners with the world’s top universities and organizations to offer learners courses of the highest quality.

• Best LMS for businesses: iSpring Learn
  This one ticks all the LMS boxes, providing automatic grading, learner tracking, insightful analytics, and more.
• Best online course platform: iSpring Market
  It provides a perfect balance between offering amazing flexibility and customization in course creation and having great digital marketing features.
• Best online learning platform for schools and colleges: Moodle
  It has a variety of features that encourage students to take part in online learning, such as gamification and interactive course content.

Best Online Learning Platforms for Businesses in 2024

Do you need to upskill your employees? Online learning platforms for businesses can help your employees gain new skills or enhance existing ones to serve your business better. 

Moreover, they can be more cost-effective than traditional training methods.

The best eLearning solutions for businesses include:

1. Udemy Business

If you’ve ever dipped your toes in the eLearning waters, then you’ve definitely encountered big fish like Udemy or Udemy Business, as they are some of the most popular online learning platforms. Udemy Business offers 14,000+ courses for over 9,500+ companies on a wide range of topics.

As a training platform for business, its specialty is skills-based training courses. Expert instructors can easily upload their video-based courses (e.g., screencasts, talking head videos, and video presentations) and track trainee progress, analyze data, and glean actionable insights. However, regrettably, the content has to be created outside of the platform; there are no built-in course creation functions.

Pretty much anyone can become an instructor on Udemy. Though many are specialists and/or highly passionate about a specific topic, this also opens the door to quality control issues. 

In any case, Udemy Business is a solid choice if you, as an instructor, are looking to reach a large audience. Its wide user base makes it easier to market and monetize your courses. 

As a training manager or business that wants to use online learning platforms for adults to bring your team’s skills up to speed, Udemy Business fits the bill.

Who is it for?

• L&D professionals and business owners: Udemy Business is the best online learning platform for L&D professionals or business owners who want to train their staff but don’t have the time or budget to create their own courses. Its wide range of skills-based courses (coupled with its affordability) means there’s relevant training content for just about anyone.
• Instructors: Udemy Business provides instructors with a platform to reach a broad audience, offering opportunities to share expertise and educational content with professionals and learners in various fields.

However, if your training team wants to learn highly specific skills that are unique to your business, there’s no guarantee that the courses will provide a tailored fit. Overall, it’s a top online learning platform for business teams seeking more general skills.

Why we picked it

Udemy is one of the largest online educational platforms. It describes itself as “the leading global marketplace for learning and instruction.” And since it offers over 213,000 courses and has more than 59 million learners, we think that’s a pretty fair assessment. 

Pricing

Udemy Business offers three pricing plans:

• Team (5-20 users): $360 per user/year
• Enterprise (21+ users) and Leadership Academy (groups of 25 or more):
  Contact sales for a custom quote

Offers a 7-day free trial.

Also read: 5 Udemy Alternatives: What Else is Out There?

2. Skillshare

Like Udemy, Skillshare is another big name in the world of online eLearning platforms. Offering 35,000+ courses for over 5 million learners, they specialize in courses for creative professionals (e.g., graphic design, animation, photography, videography, etc.). 

So, its learner base mainly consists of individuals, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. 

Another feature that makes it distinct is its emphasis on collaboration and social learning. Not only can learners post their assignments on the platform, but other students can engage with them by liking, providing feedback, and asking questions about each other’s work. This makes it easier to get inspired and take creative skills to the next level.

If you’re looking to join Skillshare’s 8,000+ community of instructors, this platform takes it up a notch by providing updated resources and teaching tools for your course topic.

Who is it for?

• Businesses in the creative industry: If you’re a business that works with design or a visually creative workforce, then Skillshare is a great platform for you to hone your skills. You’ll have access to a vast array of relevant courses. It’s one of the few eLearning tools that lets users share their work and engage with fellow students and teachers, so it’s a great way to seek inspiration through connection.

Why we picked it

What we like most about Skillshare is that it’s a community-centered platform. Unlike other learning platforms, learners can interact with each other, making this feel more like an interactive class than a video you’re watching by yourself.

Pricing

Skillshare has a 3-tiered pricing plan:

• Starter (2-19 users): $159 per user/year.
• Enterprise (20-50 users): Contact sales for a custom quote.
• Revive (51+ users): Contact sales for a custom quote.

Offers a 1-month free trial.

3. LinkedIn Learning

When Lynda.com merged with LinkedIn in 2017, it gave rise to LinkedIn Learning. Specializing in creative, business, and technology courses, it offers 16,000+ courses for a user base of over 700 million people. 

It’s considered one of the best online learning platforms because the instructors are carefully vetted to ensure that they’re not only subject matter experts (SMEs) but also have excellent teaching and presentation skills. As such, its quality control and product quality are top-notch. 

The platform offers an impressive degree of interactivity via quizzes and practice exercise files, which can be completed concurrently with their microlearning videos.

It’s one of the best online training tools with certification. Once you complete the course, it issues a certificate that you can proudly share on your LinkedIn profile. 

Although LinkedIn Learning courses are not accredited, the completion certificate bolsters your profile and can be a real game changer when it comes to business opportunities. In a nutshell, this online education platform offers very high-quality educational content.

Who is it for?

• Individuals who lead busy lifestyles: Since it allows microlearning courses, it offers maximum freedom and flexibility. This makes it an ideal online learning platform for businesses that train employees off-site or for individuals/entrepreneurs who lead busy lives and need self-paced learning to upskill in business, tech, and creative industries.

Why we picked it

We appreciate the micro-learning format that the platform adopts and the high degree of interactivity it offers. But the best part is that instructors have to prove that they represent an SME and possess top presentation skills. With this platform, simply being passionate isn’t enough.

Pricing

LinkedIn Learning offers a monthly and annual plan as an all-access pass for individuals. 

• Annual: $26.99/month
• Monthly: $39.99/month

If you’re interested in pricing for teams, you’ll need to contact them for a custom quote.

Offers a 1-month free trial.

Top Online Educational Learning Platforms in 2024 

Are you a student seeking to acquire a recognized degree or certification while studying at your own pace? Or do you represent an educational institution looking for a platform for course delivery so students can access lectures and learn remotely? Online educational learning platforms are created for you.

The best online educational platforms are the following seven:

4. Coursera

In a vein similar to that of BitDegree, Coursera is more of an online learning platform for schools. It offers several online degree programs for bachelor’s and master’s degrees, specializations, and certificates – many of which are accredited by some of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions.

With 5,000+ courses, 200+ affiliated businesses and universities, and over 77 million learners on the platform, Coursera is a force to be reckoned with. The majority of their online courses are heavily focused on business-related topics, and especially the sciences (e.g., computer science, data science, health sciences, physical sciences). 

Until recently, all the instructors had to be world-class teachers or professors at one of Coursera’s partner institutions, guaranteeing high-quality content from subject matter experts. But they’re less stringent nowadays. 

In any case, if you want to sell courses on Coursera, you’ll need to know your stuff!

Who is it for?

• Students looking for recognized completion certificates: Coursera is perfect for students looking for a first-rate education on a learning platform that offers recognized completion certificates and university diplomas. It’s widely used by 100+ Fortune 500 companies, 6,000+ college and university campuses, as well as many government institutions.

Why we picked it

We consider Coursera to be one of the most prestigious educational platforms. It partners with world-class universities and organizations to create learning programs, so all the courses are taught by top experts in their field.

Pricing

• Coursera Plus Annual (access to all courses): $399/year

Offers a 7-day free trial.

5. edX

If you’re interested in formal education, then edX is the way to go. It is a mission-driven, massive open online course (MOOC) provider that partners with the world’s top universities and organizations to offer high-quality online courses to learners around the world, including Harvard, Berkeley, and IBM. 

As with a university, you can find almost any course topic – be it architecture, art and the humanities, the sciences, linguistics, medicine, business, or economics. 

edX offers 3,000+ courses (including free courses) arranged into 300 programs. So, while it covers a wide range of topics, its course count is relatively low compared to the other online platforms that we covered. 

However, it offers an impressive degree of interactivity with graded assignments and verified, accredited certificates. 

If you’d like to be an instructor but aren’t affiliated with one of edX’s 160+ partner institutions, then look at other options on this list of online learning platforms because you won’t be able to create or sell courses on edX. It’s mainly for course creators who are staff at edX’s partner schools, just like a regular university.

Who is it for?

• Individuals who want formal education-styled learning: Because edX mimics the approaches of formal education, it’s more geared toward university and college students who would like to get a top-quality education with more freedom and flexibility. Also, because the learning topics are more academic than professional in nature, it mainly attracts learners who are seeking accredited courses from recognized institutions of higher learning in order to land jobs.

Why we picked it

Like Coursera, edX is a credible platform for education and learning. Its courses are created and taught by some of the top-ranked universities and industry-leading companies in the world, so the quality speaks for itself. What we also like is that after successfully completing a course or program, a learner receives a verified certificate.

Pricing

• edX: While edX offers free courses, the “Verified Track” route (with paid courses) can range from $50 to $300, depending on the course(s) you enroll in. If you’re pursuing a master’s degree (which has more courses), this can go as high as $10,000–$25,000. 
• edX for Business: For groups (small teams or businesses): $349 per learner/year. For enterprises (large organizations): Contact sales for a custom quote.

6. Khan Academy

Khan Academy is an eLearning platform that provides students with a free, world-class education. Backed by some of the largest foundations and businesses in the world, Khan Academy has taken the world by storm since its fairly recent inception. 

It has a wealth of tutorial videos covering various subjects, although mathematics is the most comprehensively covered subject.

Who is it for?

• Students seeking a free resource to supplement their learning: Khan Academy challenges students to practice and master skills using videos and hints as support. Thus, while it can be used as the main source of instruction, it’s more suited as a supportive resource.

Why we picked it

Khan Academy content is organized by grade level, making it easy to target students at a particular skill level. The platform also has powerful analytical features that enable you to track students’ progress. 

Pricing

Khan Academy is absolutely free.

7. MasterClass

MasterClass is an online learning platform that promises to help you “learn from the best to become the best.” It truly ‘goes the extra mile’ to deliver courses with people who have expert knowledge or skill in the particular subject. 

From photography courses taught by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz to culinary courses taught by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, MasterClass has a roster of celebrity instructors.

It offers 185+ classes organized into 11 categories, covering food, design and style, music, art and entertainment, wellness, business, and more.

Who is it for?

Anyone who wants to be taught by famous faces: If you are an enthusiast in a particular topic and want to learn from someone who is famous in that field, then MasterClass is for you. For instance, they have a class called “Disruptive Entrepreneurship” taught by Sir Richard Branson.

Why we picked it

MasterClass’s videos are well-produced and a pleasure to watch. Plus, the bite-sized approach they use optimizes learning outcomes. 

Pricing

MasterClass offers three plans:

• Individual membership (1 device): $10 per month
• Duo membership (2 devices): $15 per month
• Family membership (6 devices): $20 per month

8. Udacity

Udacity is one of the most popular MOOC (massive open online course) platforms out there. It offers an intuitively organized interface. Courses on the platform are geared toward specific careers, especially in computer science and IT. But it’s still great for creating highly structured university-level eLearning. 

Who is it for?

• Individual course instructors: Udacity’s payment is based on course completion rather than sales. So, it is tailored to individual course instructors. If you’re a business hoping to train employees, you should look elsewhere.

Why we picked it

Udacity gives you great exposure. It will offer your courses to its wide user base, meaning you’ll do less marketing. While its “fixed price” payment isn’t great, it provides opportunities for revenue-sharing based on the number of learners enrolled in your course.

Pricing

Udacity’s subscription cost:

• $249 per month
• $2,390 per year (20% saving)

9. Pluralsight

Pluralsight is an online learning platform aimed at helping people develop critical tech skills. It offers a variety of IT courses (think software development, cyber security, coding, etc.).

Who is it for?

• Learners seeking to gain tech skills: Pluralsight focuses on technology-related courses. So, if you seek courses in other fields, it’s not for you.

Why we picked it

Pluralsight offers many of the advantages of online learning platforms. When an online learning platform offers an extensive course library and an army of expert instructors, it’s worth mentioning. Pluralsight ticks these boxes.

Pricing

Pluralsight subscription membership cost:

• $19 per month
• $159 per year (a saving of almost $30)

10. Codecademy

As the name suggests, Codecademy is an online learning platform that offers free coding lessons in various programming languages. It offers courses in the following languages: Python, Java, JavaScript, SQL, C++, C#, Ruby, PHP, R, Bash, HTML and CSS, and Swift. 

It also offers courses in tech-related topics like computer science, web design, web development, and cybersecurity. With about 24 million users worldwide, millions of people are using Codecademy to learn to code for free. Plus, it’s a flexible platform that allows students to learn at their own pace.

Who is it for?

• Students new to coding: Codecademy is a great platform for those who want to start coding. It offers concise and engaging tutorials that are guaranteed to make learning enjoyable for beginners.

Why we picked it

If you think coding is hard, Codecademy will change your mind. Codecademy focuses on engagement. Courses are succinct and easy to follow (even for complete beginners). In addition, students don’t need to install any software to try out each lesson.

Pricing

Codeacdemy’s pricing for individuals is:

• Basic plan: $0
• Plus: $14.99 per month
• Pro: $19.99 per month

Best Online Course Platforms in 2024

With online course platforms, you can make money online by selling your courses. However, you’ll want a platform that will not stress you unnecessarily in either the course creation or course marketing process.

That said, the best online course platforms are:

11. iSpring Market

If you’re looking for an all-in-one eLearning platform for marketing, selling, and hosting your online courses, then iSpring Market’s got you covered. 

It’s extremely easy to use and yields visually appealing, professional, and interactive courses within a highly converting marketplace. It’s a great option if your goal is to get your courses to market as quickly as possible. 

iSpring Market is a top eLearning platform because it allows you to create and upload learning content in practically any format – audio, video, PowerPoint presentations, and SCORM packages – from robust eLearning authoring tools. 

So, one thing that really stands out with this platform is that you’re not just beholden to the passive learning styles of the many online platforms that support only video content. 

Rather, courses that you host on iSpring Market can have interactive, automatically graded quizzes, drag-and-drop and dropdown interactions, and even role-play simulations with branched scenarios. 

And the best part is that it provides powerful analytics, offering insight into both trainee progress and your sales performance.

Who is it for?

• Course creators who want fewer restrictions: iSpring Market is a top online learning platform for course creators who would like to develop a wide range of online courses without being restricted by content type or low levels of interactivity. It’s easy to use and has a very rich feature set, making it perfect for content creators who would like to get their courses to market and start making money as quickly as possible. 

Why we picked it

iSpring Market is one of the few course platforms that supports SCORM. It allows instructors to host highly interactive, immersive content, thus providing learners with a truly engaging learning experience. Besides, it can boast powerful user and content management capabilities and a robust reporting engine. In a nutshell, iSpring Market is a nice mix of an LMS and a marketplace.

Pricing

iSpring Market offers 4 pricing plans:

• 500 users (25 GB): $77/month
• 1,000 users (50 GB): $147/month
• 2,000 users (100 GB): $277/month
• Custom: Contact sales for a custom quote.

Offers a 14-day free trial.

12. Kajabi

Kajabi is not as dedicated to course creation as it is to selling online courses. Therefore, as an online learning platform, its sales and marketing features are far more robust than its course development tools. 

For instance, Kajabi’s sales page templates let you produce great-looking storefronts that help achieve high conversion rates. 

As for the course development tools it provides, you can upload video lectures and supplementary materials like worksheets and assessments to accompany each lesson. 

Moreover, it helps you create impressive learning paths with automated features. For instance, when a learner completes a series of lessons within a module, you can automate it to unlock the next series of lessons under predefined conditions. 

But their most distinguishing feature is their “sales pipelines” (also called sales funnels). These guide users through the purchasing process, enabling you to track multiple buyers in an organized, visual, and strategic manner. 

The fact that you can build your own pipelines maximizes the control you have over every aspect of the sales process. For example, you can set up automated emails at the opt-in phase and zoom in on each stage of the pipeline to get insightful analytics. 

Who is it for?

• Creators looking for a platform with good sales and marketing features: Many entrepreneurs and individuals pay a higher price for Kajabi since they expect to leverage its comprehensive sales and marketing features to turn a profit. It’s ideal for entrepreneurs and businesses that are keen to earn passive income by leveraging Kajabi’s automated lead generation, email marketing, and sales pipelines to achieve great numbers of learners.

However, given its relatively steep learning curve, Kajabi is certainly not for the technologically challenged. 

You need to be a solid Kajabi specialist to use it effectively. If you’re willing to put in the time and would like to create and sell relatively simple text- and/or video-based courses, then the platform might be right for you.

Why we picked it

There are three things we most like about Kajabi. They are a sales funnel builder that enables you to create several types of marketing funnels to drive customer sales, marketing automations that let you trigger emails or offers based on things like course completion or inactivity, and great customization capabilities.

Pricing

Kajabi has a 3-tier pricing model:

• Basic: $149/month
• Growth: $199/month
• Pro: $399/month

Offers a 14-day free trial.

13. Podia

Podia is another one-stop solution for your course creation, marketing, and selling needs. It refers to super-affordable learning solutions that are extremely easy to use. One of the reasons it’s made this list of the top online learning platforms is its creator-first approach. You’d be hard-pressed to find any other platform that boasts instant payouts and doesn’t charge transaction fees. 

With many course platforms, your digital products are hosted separately from your membership sites. But Podia integrates your memberships within your digital storefront. This makes it easier for your customers to subscribe and boosts conversion rates. 

However, there’s no built-in course development tool. You’ll have to upload your content, which can be in the form of an online course, a digital download (e.g., PDFs and audio files), or a product bundle. So, you’ll have to get your content in order beforehand. 

Podia is more about the sales and marketing side of business. For example, its email marketing capabilities are quite impressive. You can use your storefront pages to glean email addresses from current and prospective customers and send them recurring newsletters or drip campaign notifications.

Ultimately, Podia has everything you need to get your storefront and membership up and running in no time. But for the price you pay, it’s a pretty bare-bones affair. Nevertheless, it’s a great place to start.

Who is it for?

• Technologically challenged creators: Podia’s minimalist design and built-in features eliminate the learning curve for even the most technologically challenged among us. But, of course, this comes at a cost – a lack of control. 
• Creators seeking a platform with zero transaction fees: Podia’s creator-first approach makes it a top learning platform if you’d like instant payouts with zero transaction fees.

However, don’t expect much when it comes to sophisticated marketing tools, branding, and customization options. Ultimately, Podia is most useful for people with simple online courses and marketing needs.  

Why we picked it

We’ve included Podia in our list because we find it the best pick for people who want to get started with their course selling journey. It’s a perfect solution for those who have zero coding knowledge or design experience and are looking for basic marketing features for selling digital products.

Pricing

Podia has 3 pricing plans:

• Mover: $39/month
• Shaker: $89/month
• Earthquaker: $199/month 

Offers a free 14-day trial.

Also read: 5 Podia Alternatives

14. Thinkific

You’ve probably heard of Thinkific, as it is one of the biggest names in the eLearning space.

Thinkific lets you create, market, and sell your online courses while maintaining your brand identity. For example, its Site Builder tool offers three themes, providing room for branding customization, such as adding your own color scheme, fonts, images, and other media types.

The platform lets you structure your courses properly (into “Chapters” or “Modules”) and boasts a built-in quiz and survey builder.

Who is it for?

• Businesses seeking a low-tech course platform: With its intuitive Site Builder tool, even the technologically challenged can use Thinkific to quickly create, build, and sell online courses.

Why we picked it

Thinkific’s simple drag-and-drop course builder makes it a winner. It’s designed to be easy to use for both new and experienced creators.

Pricing

Thinkific has four monthly plans.

• Free: $0
• Basic plan: $49 per month
• Start plan: $99 per month
• Grow plan: $199 per month

Note that Thinkific’s free plan is very generous compared to the restrictive plans of similar platforms.

15. Teachable

Teachable is an online course platform with many similarities to Thinkific. It’s a straightforward platform with a simple online course creation process. You simply upload your courses. Interestingly, it accepts the standard formats: PDFs, MP3 audio files, and videos.

You can organize courses into “sections” and “lectures” and use features like quizzes and comments to keep students engaged.

Who is it for?

• Businesses looking for low-tech online course platforms: Teachable’s easy-to-use interface makes it a great option for creating and selling online courses, even with minimal tech skills.
• Businesses with tax and business management needs: Teachable has built-in business management and tax tools, making it easier for course creators who need to track and handle these processes. 

Why we picked it

In addition to being user-friendly and easy to navigate, Teachable offers several e-commerce options. For example, it lets you sell your courses on a fixed-price, subscription, or membership basis. It also gives you several options to encourage potential buyers to take action, such as discounts and add-ons.

Pricing

Teachable has four plans:

• Free plan: $0 per month
• Basic plan: $39 per month
• Pro plan: $119 per month
• Pro+ plan: $199 per month

16. Gumroad

Gumroad is another platform to consider for selling courses online. It’s not as popular as the other online course platforms on this list. But that’s because it’s a platform that’s more geared toward selling digital products, not specifically online courses.

When selling using Gumroad, you’ll need to house all your courses within one digital product. As a result, you cannot incorporate interactivity into courses or structure them properly.

However, Gumroad comes with the advantage of taking care of your storefront and allowing you to sell via fixed-price, subscription, or preorder.

Who is it for?

• Beginner creators: Gumroad is perfect for people looking to sell just a handful of self-contained content, especially if they don’t want much involvement in the process.

Why we picked it

Gumroad is a simple shopping cart. True, it’s not for businesses that want to sell highly structured, full-fledged eLearning courses. But it’s a good place to get up and running with selling courses online. Plus, it’s very affordable.

Pricing

Gumroad offers two plans:

• Free: You pay only when you make a sale (fee is 8.5% of the sale amount + $0.30)
• Premium: $10 per month. (transaction fee per sale is 3.5% of the sale amount + $0.30)

17. EzyCourse

EzyCourse positions itself as a course platform that makes it easy to create and sell courses online.

You can create unlimited courses with different types of lessons. Know that you don’t even need a complete course before you can start selling. With EzyCourse’s “drip and pre-sell” feature, you can get going immediately.

They also have built-in quiz features, which you can use to make your courses more engaging. They also offer a credentialing solution, which allows you to offer certificates of completion to give your students a sense of achievement.

Who is it for?

• Creators seeking a platform with lots of course promotion features: EzyCourse not only allows you to create courses easily, but it also arms you with a lot of features to promote the courses. Its email marketing and landing page-building features are two examples.  

Why we picked it

EzyCourse ticks many of the boxes you’d expect a great course platform to have. It offers an easy course creation process, powerful lead generation tools, unlimited storage for course materials, and more.

Pricing

EzyCourse has five plans:

• Free plan: $0 per month
• Basic plan: $31 per month
• Pro plan: $65 per month
• Unlimited plan: $199 per month
• Elite plan: $399 per month

Best Learning Management Systems (LMSs) for Businesses

Want to equip your employees with the skills they need to work better? It’s not enough to create and deliver training programs. You also need to track employee progress in the training and ensure compliance with training requirements. A Learning Management System (LMS) for businesses helps you do this.

The best LMSs for business are:

18. iSpring Learn

iSpring Learn is a learning management system that’s jam-packed with essential and sophisticated features but boasts a well-designed, intuitive interface. 

Course authors and admins can effortlessly upload virtually any format of training materials – video, audio, reference documents, or interactive SCORM content – before delivering them to learners. 

With iSpring Learn, the dashboard is easy on the eyes; you can create multiple learning paths, configure your accounts and branding, and set permissions quickly and easily. It also offers an impressive array of user management features. For example, you can arrange learners into groups, which is particularly handy when it comes to tracking their progress, results, and engagement. 

Moreover, iSpring Learn offers a “Rules” feature, which automates the tedious process of assigning content based on a learner’s assigned group, course progress, or business role. 

The single most unique feature of iSpring Learn is that it comes with iSpring Suite, a sophisticated authoring tool, at no additional cost. We’re not talking about one of those basic authoring tools. Built right out of the PowerPoint interface, iSpring Suite lets you create virtually any type of course, including screencasts, talking head videos, slide presentations, and dialogue simulations with branched scenarios. 

Besides, it comes with 14 different quiz types and 12 built-in learning interactions to bring your content to life.

Who is it for?

• New and seasoned eLearning professionals: iSpring Learn is a solid LMS for both new and seasoned eLearning professionals. The interface is clean and easy to use, so you don’t need to be a tech pro. Moreover, if you’re planning on creating new online courses down the road, you don’t need to buy additional authoring software. Overall, it’s an awesome platform for the forward-thinking training specialist.

Why we picked it

iSpring Learn is a training platform that combines functionality with simplicity. Besides, it’s one of the very few LMSs (if not the only one) that comes bundled with a powerful course authoring toolkit. 

This means that you get a complete training solution that allows you to both create professional eLearning content and effectively manage and track training. 

If you’d like to sell courses, iSpring Learn will let you do this easily. It can be integrated with your Shopify storefront, enabling your customers to purchase and access your courses directly from your online store.

Pricing

iSpring Learn has two types of subscription: Start and Business, with Business coming with a set of advanced features and a tiered pricing model:

• 100 users (Start): $2.87 per user/month
• 300 users (Start): $2.29 per user/month
• 300 users (Business): $3.14 per user/month
• 500 users (Business): $2.83 per user/month
• 1,000 users (Business): $2.55 per user/month
• Custom: Contact sales for a custom quote.

Offers a 30-day free trial.

19. LearnUpon

LearnUpon is a popular name in the LMS industry. It’s equipped with many powerful features that are usually hard to find all in one place. 

In addition to the regular stuff (e.g., tracking, managing, and delivering training to employees and customers alike), it also gives you the ability to create branded digital storefronts so you can market and sell online courses. Moreover, in addition to supporting text, images, audio, videos, and slide-based presentations, it’s both SCORM and xAPI compliant.

You can also assign roles in order to tailor training to assigned groups and individuals. This user management feature not only makes training and professional development feel more personalized but, coupled with LearnUpon’s advanced analytics capabilities, it provides focused insights that can be used to adjust your corporate training strategy. 

Speaking of tailored training, LearnUpon’s “learning portals” allow you to train multiple audiences from a single system. 

LearnUpon is like a macro-LMS, and each portal is like a micro-LMS that can be styled and branded according to the profile and needs of the group of learners.

Who is it for?

• Creators of highly versatile content formats: Though LearnUpon is primarily geared toward businesses and also serves as an online educational learning platform, it’s most suited for creators of highly versatile content formats. With its extra user management features (especially learning portals), LearnUpon is very innovative, making it suitable for anyone looking for a platform that’s constantly evolving.

Why we picked it

We added LearnUpon to our list because we like its simplicity, combined with solid LMS functionality. It’s a fairly easy-to-use training platform without too many bells and whistles that might bog down the user experience. Still, it allows you to customize their training program.

Pricing

LearnUpon’s pricing plan has 3 levels:

• Essential (150 active users, 2 portals): $1,249/month
• Premium (500 active users, 3 portals): $1,999/month
• Enterprise (500+ active users, 3+ portals): Contact sales for a custom quote. 

Best Learning Management Systems for Schools and Colleges

Learning management systems (LMSs) for schools provide a centralized place for student-teacher interaction and help instructors track students’ learning progress in the interest of obtaining better learning outcomes. 

The best LMSs for schools and colleges are:

20. Blackboard Learn

Blackboard Learn is a truly veteran eLearning company. Having made its debut in ’99, it’s been going strong for 23 years now. In that time, it has amassed a learner base of over 100 million people. 

Although the name says it all, it’s mainly an online educational platform from K–12 up through higher education. However, it can be leveraged by governments and businesses, too. 

Blackboard Learn has a wide array of educational tools in its arsenal, but remains user-friendly. It allows educators to create and manage online courses, deliver assessments with automatic grading, and interact with students. 

Furthermore, it supports both live and self-paced training. As with LearnUpon, it provides learning portals to deliver unique training experiences to different groups of learners.

Another key feature of Blackboard Learn is its exhaustive breadth of integrations. That’s because the user interface is quite simple, making it easy to navigate but too bare bones without some third-party plug-ins. 

On the plus side, with the ability to connect with so many plug-ins, the sky’s the limit. There are numerous plug-ins for robust reporting, community engagement, etc. 

However, if you’re hoping to sell or market your courses, you’ll need a separate solution. And so it goes with academic LMSs.

Who is it for?

• Teachers in K–12, high school, and post-secondary schools: Because of Blackboard’s heavy academic bent, it’s a great platform for K-12, high school, and post-secondary learning environments. It facilitates student engagement, collaboration, and access to course materials.

Why we picked it

We consider Blackboard to be a solid LMS for the academic sector. It’s a robust solution that enables faculty members to provide content to students in a central location, communicate with students quickly, and provide grades to students in an electronic format. 

Pricing

Starts at $9,500 per year. Contact sales for a custom quote.

Has a free 30-day trial.

21. Canvas

Being a more modern version of Blackboard, Canvas is another online learning software designed by eLearning providers with a focus on academic applications. However, online educators often use it to create independent courses – that is, ones that are not affiliated with any type of school or business. 

One of its best features is that it’s extremely flexible in terms of supporting different training formats. And unlike Blackboard, Canvas provides website creation capabilities for hosting your course. You have relative freedom to tweak and tailor your site as needed. In addition, Canvas provides everything you need, including quizzes, grade books, reporting tools, and integrations, to ensure that users remain on the right track.

With hundreds of integrations, including Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, and Adobe Creative Cloud, you can do almost everything under one roof. This is especially important if your course development team is distributed, yet you still need to collaborate and see each other’s progress. 

Speaking of progress, Canvas’ SpeedGrader feature makes it easier to grade homework assignments and submissions that cannot be automated. However, Canvas’ gamification abilities don’t quite hit the mark as far as online educational learning solutions go. But it makes up for that with its social learning community. 

Educators can connect with students through audio and video, and send individual or mass messages. It also offers many student collaboration tools, discussion boards, video conference workshops, shared online files, etc., that allow them to connect with each other.

Who is it for?

• Users who want a platform with multiple interfaces: Canvas’ “learning portals” make it great for users who would like to have multiple interfaces, each styled and branded for a specific audience. When it comes to the simple stuff, Canvas is fairly intuitive. But to unlock its full potential, you’ll need to invest time in climbing the learning curve. 

Why we picked it

We think Canvas is another great LMS for schools, districts, and universities. We especially appreciate it for its built-in tools that allow you to maximize interactions and facilitate communication with students. There are plenty of communication channels to choose from, and each channel is used differently and, in some cases, simultaneously.

Pricing

Canvas is both a paid and a free online learning platform. 

• Free: The free account unlocks many essential features, including creating courses, quizzes, and video conferences, creating tailored learning via Mastery Paths, access to the Canvas mobile app suite, and integration with third-party apps.
• Paid: Contact sales for a custom quote.

14. Moodle

Speaking of free online learning tools, Moodle is the biggest name in the open-source LMS realm. And the price has nothing to do with it. It not only enables instructors to host their own websites, but it also comes with great learner-centric software, plug-ins, and social learning environments for both students and teachers alike. 

As a full-fledged eLearning LMS, Moodle comes with all the bells and whistles. It enables learners to take courses at their own pace, conduct synchronous online classes, and deliver blended learning for maximal flexibility. Moreover, Moodle makes it really easy to incorporate gamification (e.g., points, badges, achievements, and leaderboards) to enhance user engagement.

And the best part is that you’re not limited to your typical video or slide-based courses with low interactivity. Because it’s SCORM-compliant, you can upload eLearning with even the most complex interactions, including simulations, branched dialogue scenarios, and 3D virtual learning environments. In fact, Moodle is one of the best online interactive platforms. 

In addition, Moodle is compatible with a broad assortment of plug-ins to add extra functionality. For example, if you’d like to turn your website into an eCommerce platform, you have a ton of options. You can integrate with WooCommerce or Course Merchant. Considering that Moodle is a free online learning platform that’s widely respected and geared primarily for eLearning, there’s no harm in trying it out. If anything’s missing, there is most definitely a plug-in that can add that functionality.

Who is it for?

• Instructors in educational institutions from K–12 to multi-campus universities: Moodle is most suited for academic contexts, especially as it supports SCORM content and offers decent user management functionality. 

If you’re a business or organization that’s hoping to scale your business and train employees, then the traditional Moodle LMS probably won’t work out for you; Moodle created “Moodle Workplace” for these purposes. 

However, that’s not to say that Moodle isn’t suitable for government purposes or for small or non-profit organizations. After all, its competitive pricing (i.e., free) is quite attractive, given the breadth of its features.

Why we picked it

Moodle is considered to be a top LMS for the academic sector, and we agree entirely. With a wide variety of tools to encourage students to participate in online training, it’s the ideal solution to bring your classroom into the current eLearning reality.

Pricing

Moodle is a free learning platform. However, hosting your Moodle site will cost money, as will certain third-party integrations.

Also read: How to Create a Moodle Quiz: Step-by-Step Guide

23. Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a learning management system developed by Google for educational institutions to help teachers create, distribute, collect, and grade assignments paperlessly.

It combines Google Drive, Google Docs, and Gmail to streamline file sharing between teachers and students. 

Using Google Classroom, teachers can create a separate folder in Google Drive for assignments and invite students to join. Students will submit completed assignments to the drive, where teachers can access them for grading.

Who is it for?

• Teachers seeking paperless assignment submission: Google Classroom streamlines document management, allowing teachers to create and collect assignments paperlessly. The features enable teachers to teach classes remotely. 

Why we picked it

Google Classroom is great for organizations. The teacher creates folders in their Drive for each class, and each class gets folders for each assignment. So, it’s easy to go back and review previous or a specific student’s work.

Also, Google Classroom now integrates with Google Meet, allowing teachers to use video meetings (and all of Meet’s education-centric features like hand-raising and polls) to improve the learning experience. 

Pricing

Google Classroom has four plans:

• Education Fundamental: $0
• Google Workspace for Education Standard: $3 per student per month
• Teaching and Learning Upgrade: $4 per license per month
• Google Workspace for Education Plus: $5 per student per month

How We Tested Online Learning Platforms, Course Platforms, and LMSs

To create this in-depth review of learning platforms, we test-drove all the solutions that provide free trials. 

We explored their functionality and compared their capabilities, assessed the user interface, determined whether the platform is easy to use or not, and evaluated how closely each feature meets the needs of its target audience.

Also read: The Top 9 Learning Management System Features Each LMS Must Have

We also studied documentation carefully and watched demo videos of those platforms that do not offer a free trial.