Creating an online course has become as accessible as ever. But if you’re new in this, you might be wondering – isn’t it very expensive to create your own online course? So let’s discover – how much does it cost to build an online course?
With course creation increasing in its popularity, there are always some new course creation tools coming into game.
For you as an aspiring course creator, this creates plenty of opportunities to create an online course aligned with your speicifc budget.
I started out with no money to invest in my course creation and I always searched for either free or very cheap offers. However, as my business grew, I also started exploring some other options and found the best ways to invest in improving my courses.
Through this article, let’s review some of the different decisions you might need to make along the way and how much does it cost to build an online course if you choose some of the most common options. It will include all the must-know course creation expenses.
Disclaimer: This blog post includes affiliate links! If you make a purchase using one of the provided links, I’ll receive a commission from the purchase. If you do – THANK YOU. Your support keeps this blog going!
Course creation expenses: How much does it cost to build an online course?
There are several questions to consider before clarifying the possible course creation expenses:
- Are you planning to outsource any part of course creation? For example, writing, design or video editing. You CAN do it all on your own. But if you decide to outsource, it will definitely increase the expenses you should prepare for.
- Is course creation your main focus at the moment and you want to build your business based on this income module or is it just a “side thing” for other of your business offers? If you’re approaching it as an experiment, you might be okay with simpler and cheaper platforms. However, if you’re going all in the course creation process, you’ll want to consider using the options that will fully align with your vision.
- Do you have any specific requirements for the setup or platforms? Do you have a specific vision you’re going for or will you need just the base offer?
Once you have the answers, it will be a lot easier to understand which investments will be worth it for you and which areas can you save more on.
Course Creation Investment no.1: Platform = one of the key course creation expenses
You will need to purchase a subscription to a platform where your course will be uploaded and your students will have access to their personalized learning portal.
Here’s a price point for some of the most popular options [updated for 2024]
- Payhip is a forever free course platform option. With a 5% transaction fee (when any sale is made, not before), you can create unlimited digital products and even add a custom domain on your site. Payhip is one of my favorite platforms for starters and those who seek simple setup and want to offer more than courses.
- Thinkfic starts from $36/monthly if paid for a year, $49 if paid month to month. It’s currently one of the most affordable of the popular course creation platforms.
- Teachable increased their pricing in 2023, putting themselves out of the run as one of the affordable course platforms… Currently, their plans start at $59/monthly if paid month to month.
- Kajabi – from $119/monthly.
Additionally, you might also want to consider a personalized domain name. A domain name costs up to $20/per year.
The most likely average investment option: Payhip FOR FREE or $29/monthly.
Related read: The best free online course platforms
Course Creation Investment no.2: Design
Another important part of having a successful online business is design. However, here you have plenty of free options to go for if you choose to avoid any added expenses.
For example:
- Canva as your free design tool
- Free stock photo websites
- Icon, background and other design feature websites like FreePik.com (available for free or a small monthly fee of less than $10).
If you choose to rock’n’roll through your design decisions all on your own, you’re covered pretty much without any investment. You can learn how to design your own online course here!
Investing in course design starts if you decide to use more upgraded tools OR hire help.
For example:
- Canva Pro costs 14.99/monthly
- Hiring a VA for design tasks could cost starting from around $20/hr (the pricing is highly individual though and you might find plenty of different options)
- You might also want to consider purchasing a design template. The price of the template will depend on what type of a template you’re purchasing, how many styles it includes, whether it’s a bundle or no. The average price will be $49 – $79. Design templates can be a great investment since one template can help you to build out your whole course. For example, eBook templates usually consist of around 100 different pages! You can also find presentation and workbook templates.
The most likely average investment option: Around $49 one-time fee for a template package if designing the course on your own.
Are you just getting started with your course creation? Get this free Course Creation Checklist!
Course Creation Investment no.3: Video recording tools
Generally, video recording might come off as the biggest investment in your online course creation. However, there are also plenty of variations and none of this is a MUST if you want to create an online course.
First of all, it’s important to decide what type of content will you be creating:
- Slide-based videos with the overvoice
- Slide-based videos with the “presenter’s bubble”
- “Talking head” videos
Each of these will have a slightly different set of required gadgets and tools to consider.
FOR VOICE RECORDING
One of the most important elements for your course will be the quality of the SOUND. No matter what type of a content you decide to create, you will need to have a good sound.
Here you have several variations:
- Existing microphone in your phone or laptop (if the quality is good! Often phones will be a better option)
- Small added microphone which can cost anything starting from $30-ish
- Bigger stand-alone microphone like Blue Jeti which usually will cost starting from $99
FOR “TALKING HEAD” RECORDING
If you plan to record “talking head” videos, being in front of the camera, this definitely can be one of the most investment-tense options.
For “talking head” videos, you have to consider several elements:
- Good camera (even though it CAN also be your phone camera!)
- Microphone
- Light
- Overall setup
The most likely average investment option: Around $70 for the mic and ring light. None of which are must-haves right away!
Course Creation Investment no.4: Screen recorder
Presentation preparation rarely will require any additional investment. And the only biggest investment – the design part – is already explained in the previous step.
However, you also need to have a way how to record your slides.
- You can record your slides on Canva for free! This is especially great if you have designed them on Canva as well.
- Another very popular option these days is Loom. Along with recording, you can also directly edit your videos with a simple and straight-forward video editing tool. Plus Loom makes it easy to share the content with others! Loom costs $15/monthly.
The most likely average investment option: $15/per month (plus you can have the subscription active only for the time of the recording)
Course Creation Investment no.5: Video editing tools
As it always goes, we have plenty of room for variations.
- My favorite absolutely free editing tool online is ClipChamp. It’s created by Microsoft and doesn’t have any limitations. I’ve been using it for recording all of my course videos recently – it’s easy to use even if you’re a starter.
- If you’re purchasing Loom for recording videos, you can also edit them directly in the app.
- You can edit your own videos for free on iMovie if you’re a Mac user. Or opt-in for other similar apps where the investment might vary.
You might also want to consider hiring help and here is where the investment might rise. Video editing is one of the most expensive freelance services out there since it can take a lot of time. On average, you might find a decent video editor for around $30/hr if you need just the basic edits.
The most likely average investment option: ClipChamp for free!
How much does it cost to build an online course?
It is possible to create a course for free if you choose to do so. And overall course creation expenses are quite average and won’t require high investment upfront.
If you’d opt in for an average upgrade, as explained in this article, it could cost you around the following:
- $39/monthly for course creation platform
- $119 one-time fee for design templates + some video recording gadgets
- Around $30/yearly for presentation and video editing tools
Remember that these course creation expenses can be done gradually and are not specifically required to make an online course happen.
I hope this helped you to find the answer to how much does it cost to build an online course.
Follow @coursecreationlab on Instagram for more tips.
