Tutor LMS
$0at 500 students
$33.25 a month cheaper$0 at 250 students
The cheapest way to run a real LMS on your own WordPress site, starting free.
- We record the same features for both
Home › Online courses and communities › LearnDash › Alternatives
LearnDash alternatives
The 9 closest of 12, each with its real monthly cost at 500 students and what it does that LearnDash does not. See all 19.
Tutor LMS does everything we verified about LearnDash for $33.25 a month less at 500 students, $0 against $33.25. It is a price cut rather than an upgrade: on the two features checked against the vendors’ own pricing pages the two are level. The trade: LearnDash is built for keeping every dollar of your sales and Tutor LMS is not, so this is a swap with a cost.
Why people look for an alternative
We have no recorded weakness for it, so this page is a price and feature comparison rather than a list of complaints.
It runs $33.25 a month at 500 students with the add-ons it forces on you included. 3 of the 12 alternatives on this site cost less than that.
The closest thing to LearnDash
Ranked by how much of what we record for LearnDash each platform also does. Tutor LMS is the nearest, and it is $33.25 a month cheaper at 500 students. On every feature this site records, the two are level.
Cheaper, with nothing we record missing
Everything this site records for LearnDash is also recorded for these, and they cost less at 500 students. That is not the same as saying they are better: the last column is what LearnDash is built for that they are not, and for someone who needs that, the saving is not a saving.
| Platform | At 500 students | You save | What LearnDash does that it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutor LMS | $0 | $33.25 | keeping every dollar of your sales |
The rest, in order of how close they are
Prices are the real monthly cost at 500 students, or the equivalent size on whatever each one charges by, with the add-ons each platform forces on you included, from the same engine the shortlist quiz uses.
Teachery
$39.17at 500 students
$5.92 a month dearer$39.17 at 250 students
Paying once and owning it: one flat price, or a lifetime licence, with nothing metered.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, digital downloads, email marketing and a website builder
Podia
$84at 10 products
$50.75 a month dearer$84 at 5 products
Courses, downloads and a community on one simple bill, for a creator who wants the least admin.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, a community, digital downloads, email marketing and a website builder
Xperiencify
$99at 500 students
$65.75 a month dearer$99 at 250 students
Courses built around gamification: points, streaks and triggers to get students to actually finish.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, a community, email marketing, a mobile app and a website builder
Kartra
$229at 5,000 contacts
$195.75 a month dearer$119 at 2,500 contacts
Memberships and courses with the email, checkout and affiliate programme around them, priced by contacts.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, a community, email marketing, live events and cohorts and a website builder
Teachable
$89at 10 products
$55.75 a month dearer$89 at 5 products
Selling a handful of courses without wanting the platform to run your whole business.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, digital downloads, email marketing, live events and cohorts, a mobile app and a website builder
LearnWorlds
$29at 500 students
$4.25 a month cheaper$29 at 250 students
Course design that goes deep: interactive video, assessments, learning paths, a branded app, for someone whose course IS the product.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, building the course with AI, a community, email marketing, live events and cohorts, a mobile app and a website builder
Heights Platform
$49at 500 students
$15.75 a month dearer$49 at 250 students
Growing from a first challenge to a large student base on one platform, with AI drafting the course and no cut of sales.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, building the course with AI, a community, digital downloads, email marketing, a mobile app and a website builder
Thinkific
$54at 500 students
$20.75 a month dearer$54 at 250 students
A straight course platform with communities bolted on, where the price does not move with students.
- Does not do running on your own WordPress
- Also lists an affiliate programme, building the course with AI, a community, digital downloads, email marketing, live events and cohorts, a mobile app and a website builder
What LearnDash is still the best answer for
Owning the course platform inside a WordPress site you already run, with no per-student or per-sale fee.
On this site it is the pick for living inside the WordPress you already run, paying yearly or once rather than per student and keeping every dollar of your sales. If that is you, read the savings above and then ignore them.
How to read the feature lines
Two features were checked against each vendor's own pricing page: a free plan and running on your own WordPress. Those are the ones written above as does and does not. The other twelve are read out of each vendor's own pricing page, so an absence there means we did not find it listed, not that the product lacks it, and those lines say lists and does not list instead. How all of this gets checked.
Or let it pick for you
This page compares everything to LearnDash. The shortlist asks 8 questions about what you sell and how many students you have, and gives you four picks priced at your own numbers, which is a better question than “what is like the one I already have”.
Build your shortlist