Best Online Course Creation Platforms for Beginners (2025): Free & Paid

Hey there, future course creator!

If you’re feeling totally overwhelmed by the number of online course creation platforms for beginners are out there, trust me, I know the feeling. When I first started, I spent weeks just going in circles. Udemy, Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, Skool, Circle… my head was spinning!

It seemed like every time I found one that looked good, I’d read a comment from someone who had a nightmare experience with it. Or I’d discover a hidden fee that made it impossible for a beginner like me.

I felt stuck. I had all this knowledge I wanted to share, but the tech was getting in the way.

That’s why I wrote this guide. I’ve sifted through hundreds of discussions, talked to successful creators, and even tested many of these platforms myself. My goal is to save you the headache and give you a clear, friendly, and honest look at the best online course creation tools for beginners in 2025.

We’ll talk about everything from the super-simple free options to the powerful platforms that give you total control. Let’s find the perfect starting point for you.

First, What Does a Beginner Really Need?

Before we dive into the specific tools, let’s get one thing straight: you don’t need every single bell and whistle.

As a beginner, your platform should have three key qualities:

1. It’s Easy to Use: You should be able to upload your content, build your course landing page, and set up payments without needing a degree in web development. A clunky, confusing interface will kill your motivation faster than anything.
2. It Fits Your Budget: Luckily, many of the best platforms have free plans or very affordable starter tiers. There’s no need to drop $200 a month on Kajabi when you’re just testing the waters.
3. It Grows With You: The best beginner platform isn’t a dead end. It should allow you to upgrade, add features, and scale your business without forcing you to migrate all your students and content to a whole new system later.

Keep these three things in mind as we go through the options.

The Biggest Decision: Control vs. Convenience

This is the most important concept I learned from my research, and it came straight from the mouths of experienced Reddit users. You have to choose your balance between control and convenience.

On one side, you have all-in-one SaaS platforms (like Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi). They are incredibly convenient. They host your videos, handle your payments, and provide the website—all for a monthly fee. It’s like renting a beautiful, fully-furnished apartment. Everything is taken care of, but you don’t own the building.

On the other side, you have the self-hosted WordPress route (using plugins like MemberPress or LearnDash). This gives you maximum control. You own your website, your content, and your customer data. It’s like building your own house on your own land. But you are responsible for the maintenance, security, and updates.

Why does this matter so much? Let me share a story I read on Reddit that honestly changed my perspective.

A course creator was helping a client who had a wellness course on a popular SaaS platform. The course was about natural remedies and boosting your immune system. For years, it was totally fine. But during Covid, the platform suddenly changed its “acceptable use” policy. Without any warning, they removed the entire course, locked the creator out, and only provided a list of email addresses.

The creator said: “We had to completely relaunch on WordPress… I’ll never host another course on a SaaS platform again after that ordeal!”

But then, another Reddit user chimed in with a balanced view: “A platform will usually discontinue service when there is a breach of terms… And I know several creators who returned to a platform after the nightmare of patching WordPress all day and having devs on staff to handle plugin conflicts.”

See the trade-off? Convenience comes with rules. Control comes with responsibility.

As a beginner, you’ll likely lean towards convenience, and that’s 100% okay! Just be a smart renter. Always read the platform’s terms of service so you understand the risks.

Now, let’s break down the categories.

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Category 1: The “All-in-One” SaaS Platforms (The Easiest Way to Start)

These are the most popular choices for a reason. They let you get your course online fast with minimal technical fuss.

Thinkific: The Structured Powerhouse

Thinkific is a favorite for creators who want a professional, structured learning experience. Its course builder is very robust, allowing you to create multi-media lessons, quizzes, and surveys with ease.

What Beginners Will Love:

• The free plan is genuinely useful, allowing you to create a full course and sell it without upfront cost (they just take a small transaction fee).
• It’s very intuitive. Drag-and-drop functionality makes building your course feel like putting together a presentation.
• It has great marketing features built-in, like coupons and upsell options, even on the lower-tier plans.

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
One user on Reddit pointed out some quirks with their customer management: “You don’t have an option to get an email notification with your name when you get a new lead. Only their email… You can’t filter the purchases. You need to download them, and then filter them in Excel.” This suggests that while the course creation is easy, the backend data might require some manual work.

My Verdict: Thinkific is a fantastic, balanced starting point. The free plan is a no-brainer for testing, and it’s powerful enough to grow with you.

Teachable: The Sales & Marketing Pro

Teachable is very similar to Thinkific, but many feel it has a slight edge when it comes to sales and marketing tools. Its payment processing and checkout pages are famously smooth and high-converting.

What Beginners Will Love:

• It’s super easy to set up. You can literally have a course for sale in an afternoon.
• The focus on sales means you get great insights into your revenue, student acquisition, and conversion rates right from the start.
• It also has a solid free plan (with a transaction fee) to get you started.

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
The same ownership risks apply here as with any SaaS platform. Also, one Reddit creator mentioned they moved away from Teachable because of “weak community features,” feeling that the future is in community-driven learning.

My Verdict: If your primary focus is on making sales and you want a beautiful, trusted checkout process, Teachable is a winner.

Kajabi: The “Business in a Box” Heavyweight

Kajabi isn’t just a course platform; it’s an entire business platform. It includes your website, courses, email marketing, funnels, and community space all under one roof.

What Beginners Will Love:

• The sheer power. If you want to run your entire online business from one dashboard, Kajabi is the goal.
• It eliminates the “tool fatigue” of juggling a website builder, an email provider, and a course platform. As one Redditor working on a new platform put it, the problem is *”having to stitch together 3+ tools just to create, edit, and manage a course.”** Kajabi solves this.

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
It’s expensive. It’s the most premium option on this list, and its learning curve is steeper. It might be overkill for a beginner with just one course.

My Verdict: Hold Kajabi as your “dream platform.” Start with Thinkific or Teachable, and upgrade to Kajabi when your business is generating enough revenue to justify the cost.

Podia: The Simple & All-Inclusive Alternative

Podia positions itself as a simpler, more creator-friendly alternative to Kajabi. It lets you sell courses, digital downloads, and memberships, and it includes a community feature on all plans.

What Beginners Will Love:

• The simplicity. The interface is clean and uncluttered, which is great for avoiding overwhelm.
• No transaction fees on any plans, which can save you a lot of money as you scale.
• You can run your entire business from here without needing many extra tools.

My Verdict: Podia is a fantastic, underrated option for beginners who value simplicity and want an all-in-one solution without the Kajabi price tag.

Skool: Where Courses Meet Community (in a Big Way)

Skool has exploded in popularity because it makes the community the main focus. Instead of a traditional course library, your content lives inside a group, similar to Facebook Groups but built specifically for learning.

What Beginners Will Love:

• The engagement is through the roof. Students are naturally more active because the platform feels like a social space.
• It’s dead simple to set up. No complex website builders—just create a group and start posting your content.
• It captures the trend that one Reddit user highlighted: *”I started on Teachable, then switched… The biggest gaps of the 15 or so course platforms I’ve evaluated are weak community features. Community platforms… will eat most community-less course platforms for breakfast.”*

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
A major point of contention is ownership. One creator stated: “I ruled out Skool because they don’t support custom domains and I don’t build my house on other people’s land.”* This goes back to the control vs. convenience debate.

My Verdict: If you believe your topic thrives on discussion, accountability, and community interaction, Skool is an incredibly fun and effective place to start.

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Category 2: Community-First Platforms (Learning Together)

This is a fast-growing category. The idea is that people learn better together, so the platform is built around interaction.

Circle: The Community Powerhouse

Circle is often paired with a course platform like Thinkific or Teachable. It’s a dedicated space for your community that you can embed into your own website, giving you the best of both worlds: a structured course and a vibrant community.

What Beginners Will Love:

• It’s beautiful and highly customizable. It feels like a premium, branded space for your students.
• The features are deep, with spaces for threads, events, live streams, and direct messaging.

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
It’s another monthly subscription, and it doesn’t have a native course builder (though it’s adding more features). You’d typically use it alongside another tool.

Nas.io: The AI-Powered Community Builder

Nas.io is a newer platform that heavily integrates AI to help you grow and manage your community. It also has built-in course features, making it a true all-in-one community and course platform.

What Beginners Will Love:

• The focus on growth and marketing with AI tools.
• The model of charging a fee on sales rather than a large monthly subscription can be appealing when you’re starting.

A Word of Caution (From Reddit):
One creator shared a frustrating story: “I was loving nas.io until yesterday where I got a comment from my subscriber on YouTube saying my community is full and they cant join anymore… They said that we can have only 500 members on free version… I missed out on potential community members for 3 days.”* This highlights the importance of understanding the limits of a free plan.

Heartbeat: The Event-Based Engagement King

Heartbeat is another community platform that is gaining fans for its focus on events. It makes it easy to host live workshops and sessions that are open to the public, which is a powerful marketing tool.

What Beginners Will Love:

• As one Reddit user who tested multiple platforms said: “As a community owner, Heartbeat makes it easy for me to have some community events open to the public as a way to market the community to prospective members.”
• It’s designed to feel lively and active, which helps combat the “ghost town” effect that can kill new communities.

My Verdict on Community Platforms: If your teaching style is collaborative and you have the energy to foster a group, starting with a community-first platform like Skool or Nas.io can be a game-changer. If you want a premium, standalone community space for your existing website, Circle is the gold standard.

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Category 3: The Build-It-Yourself WordPress Route (For Total Control)

This is the path for the creator who never wants to ask for permission.

The WordPress + Plugin Combo

This involves using a self-hosted WordPress.org site (not the free WordPress.com) and adding a plugin to handle memberships and courses. The two biggest players are MemberPress and LearnDash.

Why Reddit Users Love This Method:

• You Own Everything. After the story I shared earlier, the creator switched to MemberPress and said: “I like that my course content isn’t owned by the platform anymore. And I like that I own all the data on my business and customers.”
• It’s Cost-Effective Long-Term. You pay for your hosting (maybe $15/month) and a one-time or annual fee for your plugin. There are no per-transaction fees from a platform like Thinkific. As your sales grow, your costs stay largely the same.
• Unlimited Customization. With thousands of WordPress themes and plugins, you can build literally any kind of learning experience you can imagine.

The Downsides (They’re Real):

• You Are the Tech Support. You are responsible for updates, security, backups, and fixing plugin conflicts. One Reddit user wisely noted: “I know several creators who returned to a platform after the nightmare of patching WordPress all day.”
• A Steeper Learning Curve. It’s not as simple as dragging and dropping. You need to be comfortable with the basics of WordPress.

MemberPress vs. LearnDash:
A common question on Reddit is: “Do you recommend memberpress over WordPress with the learndash plug in?”

The answer I found was this: MemberPress started as a membership plugin and added course features. It’s fantastic if you’re primarily selling access to content (e.g., a membership site that includes courses). The creator who recommended it said: “MemberPress comes with nearly every LMS feature that LearnDash has, but also has the most powerful content protection rules engine.”

LearnDash is a dedicated Learning Management System (LMS) plugin. It’s arguably more powerful for pure course creation, with features like advanced quizzes, prerequisites, and focus mode. It’s the industry standard for complex courses on WordPress.

My Verdict: Only go the WordPress route if you are already comfortable with WordPress, or you’re willing to learn and accept the ongoing maintenance. The control is liberating, but the responsibility is significant.

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Category 4: Marketplace Platforms (Tap into a Ready-Made Audience)

Udemy: The Giant Marketplace

Udemy is a bit different. You don’t build your own website; you upload your course to their marketplace, where millions of students are already looking for courses.

What Beginners Will Love:

• Built-in Audience. You don’t have to worry about marketing? Well, not exactly. But you do get access to a huge pool of potential students. As one Reddit summary put it: “Udemy remains popular largely because of its built-in audience and SEO reach, which can be a huge help for new course creators.”
• Zero Upfront Cost. It’s free to publish a course on Udemy.

The Massive Downsides:

• You Don’t Own the Customer Relationship. Udemy owns your students. You can’t easily get their email addresses or market your next course to them directly.
• You Don’t Control Pricing. Udemy frequently runs deep discounts (like $9.99 sales), and you have to accept them. This can drastically lower your earnings.
• It’s a Competitive Jungle. With so many courses on every topic, it’s hard to stand out unless you specialize in a niche.

My Verdict: Use Udemy as a funnel, not your main business. Put a course there to build credibility and reviews, and then try to move students to your own website or community for advanced courses, coaching, or where you have control and keep 100% of the revenue.

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Wait, What About FREE Course Creation Tools?

I promised we’d talk about free options, and I won’t let you down! Here’s how you can start for $0.

1. Thinkific & Teachable Free Plans: As mentioned, these are the best places to start. You get a professional platform without the monthly fee. The main cost is their transaction fee on sales, which is a fair trade when you’re starting.
2. The “DIY” Method: A fascinating low-tech approach: “A friend of mine just uses google drive and private podcast feeds.” You can host videos on an unlisted YouTube channel or Google Drive, share the links via email, and use a simple PayPal button for payment. It’s not scalable or secure, but it proves a point: if the teaching is good, the platform matters less.
3. WordPress with a Free LMS Plugin: If you already have web hosting, you can use a free LMS plugin like LifterLMS (it has a free version) to build a basic course on your own site.
4. ThriveCart: This one is a bit unique. A user mentioned: “I like ThriveCart recently… I think the payment processors (like paypal) have fees but the product itself doesn’t…you just pay the one time fee to use it.” ThriveCart is primarily a powerful shopping cart, but it recently added a “Courses” feature. You pay a one-time lifetime fee, and then you can host a simple course through them forever. This can be an incredible deal.

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The Feature You’re Probably Overlooking (But Shouldn’t)

We get so caught up in platforms and tech that we forget the most important thing: the quality of your content.

A professional video editor gave this golden advice: “I’ve seen amazing experts with incredible knowledge struggle because their videos have poor audio or distracting edits… Your audio is more important than your camera.”

It’s true! You can use the best platform in the world, but if your students can’t hear you clearly or are bored by long, unedited videos, they won’t finish your course.

Quick Tips for Better Content:

• Invest in a Good Microphone. A $50-$100 USB microphone will make you sound like a pro.
• Record in a Quiet, Soft Room. A closet full of clothes is a fantastic, cheap sound booth!
• Edit for Pace. Cut out “ums,” “ahs,” and long pauses. Free software like DaVinci Resolve is powerful and free.
• Focus on Impact. As a VA who supports creators said: “I specialize in UDL [Universal Design for Learning] and making sure content is impactful… If you can achieve this, you’ll get great testimonials which in turn make selling your course SO MUCH EASIER.”

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“I Built My Course, But No One Is Buying!” – The Marketing Truth

This is the most common cry for help I see on. One creator put it perfectly: “I have made my own online courses and honestly was a bit naive and thought once I listed them the sales would start!”

I felt that in my soul. We all think, “Build it and they will come.” They won’t.

The secret isn’t a magic platform. It’s you. A marketing expert on was blunt: “your courses won’t convince people to buy, only you can do that. So start creating content & talk about your courses everywhere.”

Here’s the simple, beginner-friendly marketing plan:

1. Start Before You Finish: Don’t build your course in a vacuum. As you’re creating it, share your process and the key lessons on social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube—pick one!).
2. Create a Lead Magnet: This is a fancy term for a freebie. Offer a one-page PDF checklist, a short video lesson, or a helpful worksheet related to your course. Put a signup form on your website or course sales page to collect email addresses. As one successful creator said, “I’ve bought a ton of courses over the years. What made me buy into most was that I got free value from the creators before I ever spent money on them.”
3. Borrow an Audience (The Smart Way): Another genius tip: “Skip content creation and borrow audiences: run a 20 to 30 minute live workshop teaching one specific outcome, offered to niche communities, newsletters, or small SaaS tools your audience already uses.” This is pure gold. You provide value to their audience, they get a revenue share, and you get exposure to perfect potential students.

Marketing isn’t about being a full-time influencer. It’s about consistently sharing value in one place where your ideal students hang out.

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Conclusion: Your First Step Isn’t What You Think

Phew, that was a lot! We’ve covered everything from the safe, all-in-one platforms to the powerful but technical WordPress world.

If you take only one thing from this guide, let it be this:

Your number one priority is not to pick the perfect platform. It’s to validate your course idea.

Before you spend months building a full course, do this:

1. Write down the top three things your students will be able to DO after taking your course.
2. Create a simple one-page sales page (you can use Carrd or even a free Canva website) describing the course and its outcomes.
3. Create a small lead magnet (like a PDF guide) related to the course.
4. Share that page and lead magnet in a few relevant online communities or on your social media.

See if people sign up. See what questions they ask. This will tell you if there’s real demand.

Then, and only then, should you invest serious time into building. And when you do, my personal recommendation for a total beginner is this:

Start with the Thinkific or Teachable Free Plan.

It’s the perfect blend of ease, professionalism, and low risk. You can get your course out into the world, learn the process of teaching and selling, and then decide later if you want to upgrade your plan, move to a community platform, or take the leap to self-hosting.

You have knowledge that other people need and will pay for. Don’t let the fear of choosing the wrong tool stop you from sharing it.

Now, I’d love to hear from you! Which platform are you leaning towards? Did I miss any great beginner tools? Share your thoughts in the comments below—let’s learn from each other!

What If You Don’t Want to Create a Course From Scratch? (The PLR Secret)

Before we wrap up, I need to share a powerful secret for beginners who feel overwhelmed by the idea of creating all their own content from zero. What if you could launch your course business faster by starting with professionally made materials?

This is where PLR (Private Label Rights) courses come in.

Think of PLR content as a blueprint or a pre-built house. You purchase a course that someone else has created—complete with videos, slides, workbooks, and more—and you have the right to rebrand it, edit it, and sell it as your own. It’s a fantastic way to jumpstart your online business without starting from an empty screen.

But where do you find high-quality PLR courses that don’t look generic and low-value?

After looking around, one of the best resources I’ve found for this is EasyElementor. They offer a huge library of PLR done-for-you courses on topics like business, marketing, mindfulness, and software skills. This is perfect if you want to:

• Launch Your Business in Days, Not Months: You get instant access to a complete PLR video course that you can upload to your chosen platform immediately.
• Offer a Wider Range of Products: You can grab a business courses bundle and have multiple offers ready to go for your audience.
• Learn the Ropes of Digital Products: If you’re new to this, their ultimate guide on how to create digital products is an incredible free resource that complements the PLR materials perfectly.
• Understand Recurring Revenue: They also explain concepts like MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) for digital products, which can help you plan your business model beyond a single course sale.

Using a PLR video course as your foundation allows you to focus on what matters most when you’re starting: marketing and building your audience. You can still add your own flair, record new introduction videos, and host live Q&A sessions to make the content truly yours. It’s a legitimate and smart strategy to get into the game quickly.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1: What is the truly best FREE online course creator for beginners?
A: For a balance of features and ease of use, the Thinkific Free Plan is hard to beat. It allows you to create a full, unlimited course with quizzes and surveys. The main cost is their transaction fee on sales, which is a fair trade-off when starting out. Teachable’s Free Plan is also an excellent alternative.

Q2: Is Udemy a good place for a beginner to start?
A: Udemy is a double-edged sword. It’s great for its built-in audience, which can get you your first students. However, you give up control over pricing and, most importantly, you don’t own the relationship with your students. Use it as a marketing channel, not your primary business.

Q3: What does “self-hosting” a course mean?
A: Self-hosting means you build your course on your own website (typically using WordPress and a plugin like MemberPress or LearnDash). You are responsible for hosting, security, and updates. The big advantage is that you own everything—your content, your customer data, and your business. The downside is that you are also your own tech support.

Q4: I’m not a video editor! What’s the simplest way to create course content?
A: You don’t need to be! Your course can be a mix of media. Use simple screen recordings (with Loom or OBS), slideshow presentations with your voiceover, and text-based PDFs. The most important thing is clear, actionable content. As one user said, a simple private podcast feed and Google Drive can even work.

Q5: How important is a “community” feature for a beginner?
A: It depends on your topic. If your students need accountability, support, and interaction (e.g., fitness, business, coding), a community can dramatically improve completion rates. If your course is more about reference material (e.g., a software tutorial library), it’s less critical. Platforms like Skool and Nas.io bundle community and courses, making it easy to try.

Q6: I’m scared of getting my course censored on a big platform. What should I do?
A: This is a valid concern. If your course topic is in any way controversial (e.g., health, finance, politics), you must read the platform’s Acceptable Use Policy carefully. If you have any doubts, the self-hosted WordPress route is the safest long-term bet for total content ownership and control. Using a PLR video course on your own site also gives you this peace of mind.