The best free online course platforms

11 Nov, 2024

Can you set up and start selling an online course FOR FREE? Yes. And here will be the best free online course platforms.

Let me tell you… When I just got started, I didn’t have $30/monthly to invest, not even considering any higher $$$.

I would have LOVED to have a fully free course platform to use. But back then such platforms were just seeing the daylight and there were very limited free options available.

When it comes to creating your own online course, there’s this impression that you’ll end up investing a lot if you want for it to succeed. But that’s not particularly true.

Especially as you’re just getting started, it’s important to find suitable platforms that work well within your budget.

There is no need to over-invest before you start actually making money. I’ve seen way too many creators jump on Kajabi just to keep paying $149/monthly for the platform they barely use and get no money out of…

And here will be the best free online course platforms to consider!

Get full course platform guide here!

Disclaimer: This blog post includes affiliate links.

To start selling an online course, group program or membership, you need to have a student portal where you can upload your course content – it will be easily connected to your checkout, will automatically create student profiles and give them a chance to work through your content in a convenient way.

If you’ve ever purchased a course or have looked into this, you know what I’m talking about!

But if you’re just exploring your first steps in this, use one of the free platforms below to explore the setup of it all.

Below I have gathered some of my favorite FREE course platforms to get started with.

But I know how many of you might be thinking… “Free?! That sounds sketchy…”

So let’s start with a quick recap of some of the most common questions –

Will I need to upgrade before I can start selling?

NO. The platforms below give you a chance to sell without any monetary commitment.

SOME platforms (not the ones on the list) will tease you with a free offer but then you’ll be required to upgrade before you can actually sell. So I get where the idea of free platforms being some kind of a scam comes from.

But there are some options that truly are fully free and provide most of the key features without any updates necessary.

Will my course have all the same potential to succeed, no matter the platform?

YES. It’s the offer and marketing that will do the heavy lifting in making your course successful.

The platform you use – whether it’s free or paid – will not make any difference.

When the paid plan or more high investment platforms will come in handy?

This depends on many factors and some creators will never feel the need to upgrade or change to a more “sophisticated” option.

Free online course platform doesn’t have to be your “for now” – it can absolutely serve you for as long as you feel it being a fit!

Some cases when an upgrade or a change might be required can include:

When you try to scale beyond just one product
When you’re enrolling more students and need more automation in place
When you feel like you’ve “outgrown” the options of the free platform and the next level includes the change

The best free online course platforms

2024 autumn update: a top suggestion on this list used to be Thinkific as they had a fabulous free plan with 0% commission on the payments you make. Well, as of now, it looks like they’ve removed it. Thinkific still is my top platform these days (and, believe me, I revisit this decision regularly haha) BUT if you’re here for the best free online course platforms – we’re continuing this journey WITHOUT Thinkific. Eh.

Payhip

Payhip is great and I have no clue why more people are not talking all about it.

It’s a digital product platform where you can upload and easily sell various products like:

Online courses
Memberships
Products like e-books or templates
Coaching spots
And even physical products

It covers all the basics. You can design simple but functional landing pages, write a blog, have effective checkouts and even offer upsells.

The key features included in the free plan

5% transaction fee for every purchase made while you’re on the free plan – this is an okay deal compared to the fact that *sometimes* even PAID platforms have this fee (for example, on Teachable you’re getting the same fee on the lowest plan).
Custom domain available even on the free plan – this is a great option as many platforms this will have as their “upgrade to receive it” option. This means that you can sell via your own personalized domain name starting from day 1. (Domain name is a separate purchase but it’s below $20/annually).
All products, unlimited everything. This means that you can upload and start selling courses or memberships, coaching programs and even physical offers, without any limitations. This, again, often is a limitation to the free plans but not on Payhip.
They even have a community space feature included! Although it’s not the best – it’s there. Learn more about it below.

Overall Payhip’s free plan is quite flexible and offers all the key elements you’d seek in a free online course platform.

Limitations on Payhip

Payhip doesn’t have video hosting included in the free plan BUT you can get it for $5/monthly or $50/annually – it’s an absolute steal! The $5/m rate includes up to 16 hours of content. It takes a while to fill that space and most users never really do. If you need alternative video hosting options, you can always use Youtube for free, subscribe to Vimeo or Wistia.

Their community/forum space is very simple. As the owner of the space, you’re the only one who can create posts – others can see and comment but only you can actually start the convos. In some cases, this may be a problem if you’re seeking for a full feature forum space.

There aren’t extensive funnel options. On Payhip, you get the key features of creating a simple funnel: your landing page, checkout page with an upsell option, thank you page and you can connect it with any email marketing platform. It’s perfectly fine for selling your courses online but compared to Systeme, there are way fewer funnel features.

Should you choose Payhip as your free online course platform?

Umm. YES?!

It’s the perfect way to get your online course creation going FOR FREE.

Sure, the 5% fee can be annoying but once you start selling to cover your monthly fees, you can opt-in for the upgrade with smaller feses ($99/m plan has 0% fees so once it makes sense monetarily, you can consider this option!)

The only other consideration is video hosting – the limitations can feel scary. But if you’re just getting started, the $5 video hosting fee will cover all of your needs.

Systeme

Systeme.io is yet another digital product platform that offers free lifetime access.

Compared to Payhip, there are several limitations to their plan but they also have several more features available (like built-in funnels and email marketing).

On Systeme you can:

Create products
Design pages
Have a website/blog
Set up funnels
Send emails

It has more features than Payhip but therefore also – it can be harder to get started with and may require more of your time and backend understanding for the setup.

The key features included in the free plan

1 course and 1 community. This really is the theme of the Systeme’s free plan. They give you just enough to get it going and the same will apply for many other features. Check their pricing page for all the details.
Unlimited file storage space and unlimited members. This will come in handy if you’re about to create one bigger offer and want to avoid any access limitations.
Custom domain – yes, Systeme also offers custom domain option on their FREE plan. Which means that you can start sellling under your domain or subdomain name right from the get go.
Email marketing – this probably is one of the highlights! Especally if you don’t have any existing email marketing software just yet, having it built-in in the same platform AND available for free is a great starting point.
Limited automations, workflows and email campaigns. This free plan offers more extensive setup options but it all comes with some limitations.

Limitatitons on Systeme

1 upsell, 1 coupon code, 1 email tag, 1 email campaign (etc). As mentioned above, the offer you get on Systeme really is focused on helping you to get one product going. Therefore, while all of the features are there, most of them are limited.

Their community space is not very customizable. If having a highly functional and brand-aligned community space is your must-have, this offer will not be the best fit.

Should you choose Systeme as your free online course platform?

Yes if you have a very clear one offer idea you want to get out there and you’re okay with all the limitations while also being ready to spend a bit more time on the setup as there will be more backend details to arrange.

Payhip vs Systeme: which one of these best free online course platforms to choose?

I’d choose Payhip if you’re searching for a quick start with your digital products and don’t have extensive backend needs. On Payhip, you’ll be able to get all of the key elements in place to start selling, without wasting your time on the setup.

I’d choose Systeme if you’re more familiar with the potential backend setup of the funnels and you seek more features in the platform and are okay with the initial limitations (which are very friendly, to be fair!)

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