Every course platform has a pricing page. None of them show you the number that actually matters: how much of your revenue you’ll give away in a year.
So we worked it out for 14 platforms to sell a course: nine hosted course platforms, Udemy’s marketplace, and four WordPress LMS plugins. Use the calculator below with your own course price and sales to see what each option would cost you. To keep the article easy to follow, we’ve used one example throughout: 300 sales of a $100 course, or $30,000 a year.
Quick disclosure: Masteriyo, one of the WordPress LMS plugins in this comparison, is part of the Themeisle family, the same team behind this blog.
The short answer: At $30,000 a year in sales, most options cost between $1,150 and $2,700 a year in fees. The cheapest were WordPress + Masteriyo (free) at about $1,151 and Stan Store at $1,260. The most expensive were Gumroad at $4,110 and Udemy’s marketplace, which keeps $18,900 of organic sales.
👉 Want your own numbers? Jump to the course fee calculator and enter your course price and yearly sales.
The results at $30,000 in sales
Each option is priced on its cheapest plan at $30,000 a year, billed annually (Payhip only bills monthly, so its price is 12 months). Every total includes the subscription, platform fees, and card processing (2.9% + 30¢ per sale, or $960 across 300 sales).
Hosted course platforms
| Platform | Best plan at $30k | Subscription / yr | Platform fee | Card processing | Total / yr | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stan Store | Creator | $300 | 0% | $960 | $1,260 | $28,740 |
| Thinkific | Basic | $480 | 0% | $960 | $1,440 | $28,560 |
| Teachable | Builder | $828 | 0% | $960 | $1,788 | $28,212 |
| LearnWorlds | Pro Trainer | $948 | 0% | $960 | $1,908 | $28,092 |
| Payhip | Plus | $348 | 2% ($600) | $960 | $1,908 | $28,092 |
| Skool | Pro | $990 | None (built into processing) | $960 | $1,950 | $28,050 |
| Podia | Shaker | $1,008 | 0% | $960 | $1,968 | $28,032 |
| Kajabi | Basic | $1,716 | 0% | $960 | $2,676 | $27,324 |
| Gumroad | No plans | $0 | 10% + 50¢ ($3,150) | $960 | $4,110 | $25,890 |
WordPress LMS plugins
Each WordPress total adds up three things: the plugin, the fixed costs a hosted platform would bundle in, and card processing.
- Fixed costs ($191/year): hosting at $2.99/month ($36/year), a .com domain ($11/year), and private video hosting on Vimeo Starter ($144/year).
- Card processing ($960): Stripe’s standard 2.9% + 30¢ per sale, across 300 sales of $100.
None of these plugins charges a platform fee on your sales.
| WordPress LMS plugin | Plan | Plugin / yr | Hosting + domain + Vimeo / yr | Card processing | Total / yr | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masteriyo | Free | $0 | $191 | $960 | $1,151 | $28,849 |
| Masteriyo | Pro | $149 | $191 | $960 | $1,300 | $28,700 |
| Tutor LMS | Pro (needed for Stripe) | $199 | $191 | $960 | $1,350 | $28,650 |
| LifterLMS | Earth bundle (includes payments) | $199 | $191 | $960 | $1,350 | $28,650 |
| LearnDash | Essentials | $259 | $191 | $960 | $1,410 | $28,590 |
Udemy
| Sale type | Udemy keeps | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| Sold through your own coupon or referral link | 3% ($900) | $29,100 |
| Sold by Udemy’s marketplace (organic) | 63% ($18,900) | $11,100 |
Udemy discounts courses through its Deals Program, which instructors are in by default (you can opt out), so these rows show its revenue share only.
What we found
1. The fee model matters more than the platform. Every option with a flat price and 0% platform fees landed between about $1,150 and $2,700. The expensive results came from percentage fees: Gumroad’s 10% + 50¢ per sale and Udemy’s 63% cut of organic sales.
2. Card processing is the same almost everywhere. $960 of nearly every total is the standard 2.9% + 30¢ per sale. No platform removes it; some just include it in their own fee.
3. On WordPress, you choose what goes around the plugin. Swap Vimeo for unlisted YouTube videos and the Masteriyo (free) total drops to about $1,007. Pick a bigger hosting plan and it goes up.
Stan Store vs WordPress + Masteriyo: what you get
Stan Store and WordPress + Masteriyo were the two cheapest options at $30,000, so here’s what each one actually gives you. We’re comparing Stan’s entry Creator plan ($300/year) with Masteriyo’s free plugin on WordPress (plus $191/year for hosting, a domain, and Vimeo). Where a feature needs an upgrade, the table says which one.
| Stan Store: Creator plan | WordPress + Masteriyo: free plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost at $30k (year 1) | $1,260 ($300 plan + $960 card processing) | $1,151 ($191 hosting, domain, and Vimeo + $960 card processing) |
| Where your course lives | In your Stan storefront, on Stan’s platform | On your own WordPress site and domain |
| Video hosting | ✅ Included: upload videos straight to lessons | Separate: embed from YouTube (free) or Vimeo (counted in the $191) |
| Quizzes | ❌ Not in Stan’s course builder | ✅ Included (3 question types) |
| Completion certificates | ❌ Not in Stan’s course builder | ✅ Included, issued automatically when a student finishes |
| Drip content (release lessons over time) | ✅ Included | Needs a paid plan: sequential drip from Basic ($99), advanced drip on Pro ($149) |
| Email marketing | Collects emails; sending broadcasts and automated flows needs Creator Pro ($948/yr) | Free Brevo and FluentCRM integrations; Mailchimp, HubSpot, and Zapier need Pro |
| Payments | Stripe, PayPal | Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Lemon Squeezy |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% |
In short: Stan Store is the simpler setup: it’s hosted, video hosting is built in, and you can drip lessons out on the entry plan. But its course builder doesn’t include quizzes or certificates, and emailing your list needs the $948/year Creator Pro plan. Masteriyo’s free plugin includes quizzes and automatic certificates, and your courses live on your own site, where you control the design, the domain, and your student data. You’ll handle video hosting separately.
Masteriyo Free vs Pro
If you go the WordPress route with Masteriyo, here’s what the free plugin includes and what Pro adds.
Masteriyo’s paid plans start at $99 a year (Basic), which adds Zoom lessons and sequential content drip. We compare the free plugin with Pro ($149 in the first year) because Pro is the plan that adds prerequisites, advanced drip, assignments, the gradebook, coupons, subscriptions, and course bundles, the features most course sellers upgrade for. You can see every plan on Masteriyo’s pricing page.
| Feature | Masteriyo Free | Masteriyo Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $149 first year, then $299/yr |
| Courses and students | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Payments | Stripe, PayPal, Mollie, Lemon Squeezy | Adds coupons, subscriptions, and course bundles |
| Quizzes | 3 question types | 9 question types |
| Certificates | Certificate builder, 1 template, issued automatically on completion | More templates, plus QR-code certificate verification |
| Scheduled content drip and prerequisites | Not included | ✅ |
| Assignments and gradebook | Not included | ✅ |
| Live lessons | Google Meet | Adds Zoom |
| SCORM | ✅ | ✅ |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% |
Masteriyo doesn’t take a cut of your sales on either plan; you only pay your payment provider’s standard processing fees.
Building the WordPress side: hosting, video, and email
A WordPress LMS needs three things a hosted platform includes for you. Each has a free or low-cost option:
Hosting. Plans in our tested guide to the best WordPress hosting include Hostinger, which currently lists its cheapest WordPress plan at $2.99/month on a 48-month term. That’s the price used in the calculator. Intro prices renew higher after the first term, and bigger course sites need a bigger plan. If you’re new to hosting, start with our best WordPress hosting for beginners.
Video. You have two common routes:
- YouTube (unlisted): $0. Free and easy, but anyone with the link can watch and share your videos, and you can’t restrict playback to your site.
- A private video host. Vimeo Starter costs $144/year and lets you limit embeds to your own domain. See our roundup of the best video hosting sites for more options.
Email. Several email tools have free plans that cover a first course:
- Kit: free for up to 10,000 subscribers (automations need a paid plan)
- MailerLite: free for up to 250 subscribers
- Brevo: free for up to 300 emails a day
After year one: Masteriyo Pro renews at $299 and the LifterLMS Earth bundle at $398. LearnDash’s pricing page shows no introductory discount. Hosting intro prices also renew higher, so check your host’s renewal price when you plan your budget.
Platform by platform
- Stan Store: The Creator plan ($300/year) includes unlimited courses, and Stan takes 0% of transactions.
- Thinkific: The Basic plan ($40/month, billed annually) includes unlimited courses. The 0% transaction fee applies when you use Thinkific Payments, which charges the standard 2.9% + 30¢.
- Teachable: Builder ($69/month, billed annually) has 0% transaction fees when you use teachable:pay. The cheaper Starter plan charges 7.5% per sale.
- LearnWorlds: Pro Trainer ($79/month, billed annually) has no enrollment fees. The Starter plan charges $5 per paid enrollment.
- Payhip: Plus ($29/month) charges 2% per sale, plus standard Stripe or PayPal fees.
- Skool: Pro ($990/year billed annually, or $99/month) charges 2.9% + 30¢ per sale, which already includes card processing. Courses are sold inside a Skool community.
- Podia: Shaker ($84/month, billed annually) has no transaction fees. The cheaper Mover plan charges 5% per sale.
- Kajabi: Basic ($143/month, billed annually) is the most expensive subscription here. Kajabi takes no revenue share when you use Kajabi Payments; connecting a different payment provider adds a 2% fee on Basic.
- Gumroad: 10% + 50¢ per sale, with card processing (2.9% + 30¢) charged on top.
- Udemy: keeps 63% of sales its marketplace brings in, and 3% of sales made through your own coupon or referral link.
- Masteriyo: free plugin with Stripe and PayPal checkout. Pro is $149 in the first year.
- Tutor LMS: the free plugin supports PayPal. Stripe needs Tutor LMS Pro ($199/year).
- LifterLMS: the free plugin can’t take card payments. The Earth bundle ($199 in the first year) includes payment gateways.
- LearnDash: no free version. Essentials is $259/year and includes Stripe and PayPal.
Things to consider beyond cost
- Sales tax and VAT. Gumroad and Skool act as the merchant of record, and Teachable collects and remits US sales tax and EU/UK VAT on its own checkout. On a WordPress site, you’re the seller, so you handle sales tax and VAT yourself.
- Maintenance. Hosted platforms handle updates and security for you. A WordPress site needs someone to keep it updated.
- Ownership. On WordPress, your site, courses, and student data live on your own hosting, with no plan limits on courses or students.
Calculate your own course platform fees
Loading the course fee calculator…
Enter your course price and how many you sell a year. The list re-ranks every platform in this article by what it would cost you, cheapest first. If a platform has changed its pricing, click Edit on its row and enter the new numbers.
Frequently asked questions
At $30,000 a year in sales, WordPress with the free Masteriyo plugin had the lowest total at about $1,151, including hosting, a domain, and Vimeo video hosting. Stan Store was the cheapest hosted platform at $1,260. You can check your own numbers with the calculator in this article.
On the Builder plan and above, Teachable charges no transaction fee, only standard card processing of 2.9% + 30¢. The Starter plan adds a 7.5% transaction fee on each sale.
Udemy keeps 63% of sales its marketplace brings in, so instructors receive 37%. When a student buys through the instructor’s own coupon or referral link, the instructor keeps 97%.
Yes. Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 per direct sale, and card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 is charged in addition.
Often, yes. WordPress LMS plugins like Masteriyo don’t charge a platform fee, and Masteriyo’s free plugin includes Stripe and PayPal. You pay separately for hosting and, if you want private videos, video hosting.
The free plugin includes unlimited courses, Stripe and PayPal checkout, quizzes with 3 question types, and automatic certificates. Pro adds content drip, prerequisites, assignments, a gradebook, coupons, subscriptions, 9 quiz question types, and certificate verification.
Wrapping up 🏁
- At $30,000 a year, most options cost $1,150–$2,700 in fees.
- Percentage fees (Gumroad, Udemy’s marketplace) are what make a platform expensive.
- WordPress + Masteriyo was the cheapest option in our example, with quizzes and certificates on the free plan.
- Use the calculator with your own course price and sales, because the ranking changes with your numbers.
Still deciding where to sell? Our Teachable vs WordPress comparison goes deeper on features, and how to price your online course helps you choose the number to put in the calculator.
Which platform are you selling on? Let us know in the comments! 💬
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