Best Platforms for Selling Online Courses in 2026

The online course market is bigger than ever, but the platform landscape has shifted significantly. Some previously dominant platforms have gotten more expensive without getting better. Some newer entrants offer genuinely better value. And the AI-powered options are starting to pull ahead for solo course creators.

Here's my honest comparison of the best platforms for selling online courses in 2026.

What Matters When Choosing a Course Platform

Before I get into the specific platforms, here's what I evaluate:

• Student experience: How clean and intuitive is the learning interface?
• Creator tools: How easy is it to upload, organize, and update course content?
• Marketing features: Email marketing, coupons, affiliate programs, upsells
• Pricing and fees: Monthly cost plus transaction fees
• Automation: Can you drip content, run sequences, trigger emails based on progress?
• Scalability: Does it handle 10 students and 10,000 students equally well?

Teachable — Best for Beginners

Teachable has been around long enough to be reliable and well-documented. The student interface is clean, the upload process is straightforward, and the free tier lets you test the platform before committing.

The downsides: Teachable's free tier takes 10% of revenue, which adds up. The paid plans are better, but pricing has crept up over the years. The marketing tools are functional but not best-in-class.

Best for: First-time course creators who want a reliable platform with good documentation.

Not ideal for: Creators who need advanced automation or want to scale without platform fees.

Kajabi — Best for All-in-One

Kajabi is the Rolls-Royce of course platforms. It includes everything: video hosting, course delivery, email marketing, landing pages, podcast hosting, community features, and a website builder. You genuinely can run your entire online business from inside Kajabi.

The price is significant — starting at $149/month. But if you're replacing multiple tools with Kajabi, the math can work out in your favor at scale.

The downside: Kajabi is overkill for beginners. You're paying for features you won't use until your business is established.

Best for: Established creators who are ready to consolidate tools and scale.

Not ideal for: Beginners or anyone who doesn't need the full suite.

Thinkific — Best for Academic-Style Courses

Thinkific has strong course organization features — multi-module structures, completion certificates, student progress tracking, assessments and quizzes. The free tier is genuinely usable with no transaction fees.

Less strong on marketing features than some alternatives. The email tools are basic.

Best for: Educators and trainers who need structured learning paths and completion tracking.

Not ideal for: Creators whose courses are less linear, or who need strong built-in marketing.

Podia — Best Value for Small Creators

Podia doesn't take transaction fees at any tier, includes email marketing, and bundles digital downloads with course hosting. The interface is clean and the support is well-regarded.

For a solo creator selling a mix of courses, digital downloads, and memberships on a budget, Podia has a strong value proposition.

Best for: Solo creators who want to avoid transaction fees and need digital downloads + courses in one platform.

Not ideal for: Creators who need advanced automation or very large course libraries.

MadeThis — Best for AI-Assisted Course Business Building

MadeThis is where I'd send someone who's building an online course business in 2026 and wants AI-powered guidance alongside the technical infrastructure.

Most platforms are passive — they host your content and process payments. MadeThis is active — the AI co-founder helps you think through how to position your course, write your sales copy, set your pricing, and build your marketing strategy.

For someone who knows they have valuable knowledge but isn't sure how to package and sell it, that guidance layer is enormously valuable. I've used the AI to reposition a course that was getting traffic but not converting, and the revised framing more than doubled conversion within two weeks.

The platform also covers digital products beyond courses — templates, ebooks, guides — so if you want to build a diversified product catalog alongside your course, everything lives in one place.

You can read a full breakdown at /reviews/madethis or compare it against specific competitors at /compare/madethis-vs-kajabi.

Best for: Course creators who want AI-assisted guidance + full digital product business infrastructure.

Not ideal for: Creators who need Kajabi's advanced community features or Teachable's specific enterprise tools.

My Recommendation for 2026

For most solo course creators starting out:

• Zero budget: Thinkific free tier
• Budget-conscious with mixed products: Podia
• Want AI guidance + full stack: MadeThis
• Established + want everything: Kajabi

The platform choice matters less than the course quality and your marketing. A great course on a basic platform outperforms a mediocre course on Kajabi every time.

But if I were starting my course business today from scratch, I'd go with MadeThis. The AI guidance has legitimately changed how I think about positioning and pricing — and that's more valuable than which video player you use.

Ready to launch your course? Try MadeThis free and get your first course live today.