Thinkific
$54at 500 students
$25 a month dearer$54 at 250 students
A straight course platform with communities bolted on, where the price does not move with students.
- Also lists digital downloads
Home › Online courses and communities › LearnWorlds › Alternatives
LearnWorlds alternatives
The 9 closest of 18, each with its real monthly cost at 500 students and what it does that LearnWorlds does not. See all 19.
Systeme.io does everything we verified about LearnWorlds for $12 a month less at 5,000 contacts against LearnWorlds at 500 students, $17 against $29. 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: LearnWorlds is built for serious course design and having AI draft the course and Systeme.io 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 $29 a month at 500 students with the add-ons it forces on you included. 3 of the 18 alternatives on this site cost less than that.
What I flagged when I reviewed it, March 2025:
- The cheapest plan charges a fee per course enrolment, so you probably want the next plan up to avoid it. 39:49
The closest thing to LearnWorlds
Ranked by how much of what we record for LearnWorlds each platform also does. Thinkific is the nearest, and it is $25 a month dearer at 500 students. On every feature this site records, the two are level.
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.
Kajabi
$249at 5,000 contacts
$220 a month dearer$179 at 2,500 contacts
Running the whole business from one place: courses, the email list, the website, the checkout and the community, and paying for that convenience.
- Also lists digital downloads
Heights Platform
$49at 500 students
$20 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.
- Also lists digital downloads
- Does not list live events and cohorts
Xperiencify
$99at 500 students
$70 a month dearer$99 at 250 students
Courses built around gamification: points, streaks and triggers to get students to actually finish.
- Does not list building the course with AI and live events and cohorts
Circle
$129at 500 members
$100 a month dearer$129 at 250 members
A community that feels like a product, with courses, events and a branded app around it.
- Does not list certificates and quizzes and assessments
Kartra
$229at 5,000 contacts
$200 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 list building the course with AI and a mobile app
Teachable
$89at 10 products
$60 a month dearer$89 at 5 products
Selling a handful of courses without wanting the platform to run your whole business.
- Also lists digital downloads
- Does not list building the course with AI and a community
Mighty Networks
$119at 500 members
$90 a month dearer$119 at 250 members
Community and courses together with a mobile app from day one, for a brand that wants its own network.
- Does not list an affiliate programme, certificates and quizzes and assessments
Podia
$84at 10 products
$55 a month dearer$84 at 5 products
Courses, downloads and a community on one simple bill, for a creator who wants the least admin.
- Also lists digital downloads
- Does not list building the course with AI, live events and cohorts and a mobile app
What LearnWorlds is still the best answer for
Course design that goes deep: interactive video, assessments, learning paths, a branded app, for someone whose course IS the product.
On this site it is the pick for serious course design and having AI draft the course. 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 LearnWorlds. 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”.
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