How Much Does It Cost to Create an Online Course? The Platform Bill Nobody Adds Up
By Ashikur Rahman15 min readQuick answer: Creating an online course costs your time plus a platform bill, and in 2026 that bill is rarely zero. Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi and Podia now sell free trials, not free plans. Only Kit's free plan still sells products, at 3.5% + $0.30 a sale. The transaction fee picks the cheapest platform more than the plan price does. At 20 sales a month of a $199 course, Teachable Starter costs $458.92 and Teachable Builder costs $210.42, because Starter's 7.5% fee outruns its $50 lower plan price. Prices read on 28 September 2026.
Is there still a free platform to create and sell an online course?
Mostly no. Of the five course and creator platforms read for this article, four have no free plan, and the fifth, Kit, sells access to a course rather than hosting one.
Thinkific's pricing page answers "Does Thinkific have a free plan?" with "No, instead, you can explore the whole platform with a 30-day free trial." Teachable's pricing page says "Teachable is a paid service that includes a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee." Podia's pricing page is headed "Podia pricing: try everything free for 14 days". One version of Kajabi's pricing page reads "14 days free. 30 day money-back guarantee."
Kit is the exception. Kit's help page on the Free plan says "The Free plan costs $0 per month for as long as you stay under 10,000 subscribers." Kit's help page on selling digital products adds "Commerce is available on every plan, including the Free plan." and "You can also sell access to a link, which covers things like a members-only page or a hosted course." Kit takes the payment and delivers a link. The course has to live somewhere else.
| Platform | Free plan on pricing page | Trial | Refund terms stated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kit | Yes, up to 10,000 subscribers | 14-day free trial on paid plans | Not read |
| Thinkific | No | 30-day free trial | Not read |
| Teachable | No | 7-day free trial | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Kajabi | No | 14 days free (one page version) | 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Podia | No | 14 days free | Refund if asked within 72 hours of the latest payment |
Thinkific's help centre still mentions a Free plan, on which "Thinkific Payments is the default and required payment processor". The pricing page sells no such plan, so treat that as a legacy account rule.
What does each online course platform charge per month?
Plan prices run from $0 on Kit Free to $499 a month on Kajabi Pro, and every platform discounts annual billing. The last column is the platform's own cut of each sale.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually, per month | Limit worth knowing | Platform fee per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kit Free | $0 | $0 | Up to 10,000 subscribers | 3.5% + $0.30, processing included |
| Kit Creator | $39 | $33 | Price for 1,000 subscribers | 3.5% + $0.30, processing included |
| Thinkific Basic | $54 | $40 | Unlimited courses, 5 downloads | None on Thinkific Payments |
| Thinkific Start | $109 | $82 | Unlimited downloads | None on Thinkific Payments |
| Thinkific Grow | $219 | $164 | 400 GB video a month | None on Thinkific Payments |
| Teachable Starter | $39 | $29 | 5 products | 7.5% |
| Teachable Builder | $89 | $69 | 10 products | 0% |
| Teachable Growth | $189 | $139 | 50 products | 0% |
| Kajabi Basic | $179 | $143 | 5 products, 2,500 contacts | None on Kajabi Payments |
| Kajabi Growth | $249 | $199 | 50 products, 25,000 contacts | None on Kajabi Payments |
| Kajabi Pro | $499 | $399 | Unlimited products | None on Kajabi Payments |
| Podia Mover | $49 | $42 | 50 products | 5% |
| Podia Shaker | $99 | $84 | 150 products | None |
| Podia Earthquaker | $179 | $150 | Unlimited products | None |
Card processing sits on top of every plan except Kit's. Thinkific's help page on payment fees charges US and Canadian sellers "a fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents for every successful credit card payment". Teachable lists 2.9% plus 30 cents on US cards and 3.9% plus 30 cents on international cards. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, 2.8% on Growth and 2.7% on Pro, for US entities. Podia says Stripe or PayPal "will charge a standard transaction fee of 2.9% + 30c, which may vary based on your location."
Kit works the other way round. Its help page says "The 3.5% + $0.30 per transaction is the only cost of selling through Kit, and it applies only when you make a sale."
Two plans carry no price. Thinkific Plus says "Talk to sales". Teachable Custom says "Selling more than $12k/yr? Contact sales to get special conditions and exclusive benefits." Neither vendor publishes what those plans cost.
Which transaction fees change the cheapest platform?
Three fees change the ranking: Teachable Starter's 7.5%, Podia Mover's 5%, and the penalty Thinkific and Kajabi charge when you use an outside card processor.
The processor penalty is the one most summaries skip. Thinkific's gateway fee FAQ says "A third-party payment gateway fee applies to transactions processed on Stripe." Kajabi's page leads with "No hidden fees. No revenue sharing." and then lists "3rd Party Payment Provider Fees (not using Kajabi Payments)" by plan.
| Platform and plan | When the extra fee applies | Extra fee on sales |
|---|---|---|
| Thinkific Basic | Paying through Stripe | 5.0% |
| Thinkific Start | Paying through Stripe | 2.0% |
| Thinkific Grow | Paying through Stripe | 1.0% |
| Thinkific Plus | Paying through Stripe | "No fee at this time" |
| Kajabi Basic | A provider other than Kajabi Payments or PayPal | 2% |
| Kajabi Growth | A provider other than Kajabi Payments or PayPal | 1% |
| Kajabi Pro | A provider other than Kajabi Payments or PayPal | 0.5% |
| Teachable Builder and up | Not using teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway | 0% is stated only for those two |
Thinkific caps its penalty: "This fee will only apply to your first $1M in sales made through Thinkific in a calendar year". Teachable's FAQ ties its 0% to its own rails: "There are 0% transaction fees on the Builder, Growth and Custom plans for those using using teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway. There is a 7.5% transaction fee on the Starter plan." The doubled "using" is in the source.
Thinkific Payments adds small surcharges too: 1.5% on international cards, 1% for currency conversion, 0.7% on payment plans, and 0.5% where its sales tax tool assesses tax. Teachable lists a $15 chargeback fee. A course sold abroad on a payment plan costs more to collect than the headline 2.9%.
What does it cost to sell a $199 course 20 times a month?
On monthly billing, Thinkific Basic costs $175.42, Teachable Builder $210.42, Podia Shaker $220.42 and Teachable Starter $458.92. The cheapest plan card produces the most expensive bill.
The arithmetic, for a US seller, US card buyers, no refunds, no sales tax and no add-ons:
- Gross sales: 20 x $199 = $3,980.
- Processing per sale: 0.029 x $199 + $0.30 = $6.071. Times 20 = $121.42.
- Teachable Starter: $39 plan + 7.5% x $3,980 = $298.50 + $121.42 = $458.92.
- Teachable Builder: $89 plan + $0 fee + $121.42 = $210.42.
- Podia Mover: $49 plan + 5% x $3,980 = $199.00 + $121.42 = $369.42.
- Podia Shaker: $99 plan + $121.42 = $220.42.
- Thinkific Basic on Thinkific Payments: $54 plan + $121.42 = $175.42.
- Kajabi Basic on Kajabi Payments: $179 plan + $121.42 = $300.42.
- Kit Free, selling access to a course hosted elsewhere: 20 x (0.035 x $199 + $0.30) = $145.30.
| Plan | Plan price | Platform fee | Monthly bill, 20 sales | On annual billing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thinkific Basic | $54 | None | $175.42 | $161.42 |
| Teachable Builder | $89 | None | $210.42 | $190.42 |
| Podia Shaker | $99 | None | $220.42 | $205.42 |
| Thinkific Start | $109 | None | $230.42 | $203.42 |
| Kajabi Basic | $179 | None | $300.42 | $264.42 |
| Kajabi Growth | $249 | None | $366.44 | $316.44 |
| Podia Mover | $49 | $199.00 | $369.42 | $362.42 |
| Teachable Starter | $39 | $298.50 | $458.92 | $448.92 |
Read it from the bottom. The two cheapest plan cards, Teachable Starter and Podia Mover, sit last and second last. Starter's 7.5% fee alone, $298.50, is more than three months of Teachable Builder. Annual billing lowers every line but does not reorder them: Starter billed annually still costs more than Builder billed monthly.
Now the processor trap. Thinkific Basic wins only on Thinkific Payments. Switch it to Stripe and the 5.0% gateway fee adds 5.0% x $3,980 = $199.00 a month, before Stripe's own processing, which was not read for this article. That one setting moves Thinkific Basic from first place to near the bottom.
What changes at 5 sales a month?
At five sales of a $199 course the fee still decides: Teachable Starter already costs more than Builder, and Podia's two lower plans cost almost exactly the same. Most first courses sell at this level, so the break-even points matter.
Teachable Starter's 7.5% of $199 is about $15 a sale. Builder costs $50 a month more than Starter ($89 against $39). Three sales cost about $45 in Starter fees; four cost about $60. So from the fourth sale in a month, Builder is the cheaper Teachable plan. On annual billing the gap is $40 ($69 against $29), and the crossover comes at the third sale.
Podia Mover's 5% of $199 is about $10 a sale. Shaker costs $50 a month more than Mover ($99 against $49). Five sales cost about $50 in Mover fees, so five sales is the break-even. Below it, Mover wins; above it, Shaker does.
Processing on five sales is about $30 on every Stripe-style plan. Rounded to the dollar, the five-sale bills are: Kit Free about $36, Thinkific Basic about $84, Teachable Builder about $119, Podia Mover and Shaker about $129 each, Teachable Starter about $144, and Kajabi Basic about $209. CriticNest derived these from the published rates; no vendor prints them.
Transparency note: CriticNest has no affiliate or commercial relationship with Kit, Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi, Podia, Etsy or Gumroad, and every link to them here is a plain link. Nothing here is a paid placement. Every price and quotation was read from the vendors' own pages on 28 September 2026, and where a vendor publishes nothing this article says so instead of estimating; if that changes, the disclosure will move to the top of this article.
What changes at 100 sales a month?
At volume, a low price makes the flat 30 cents per sale heavy, and a free plan with a percentage fee can beat every paid plan. This example uses a $29 mini-course or workbook sold 100 times, for gross sales of $2,900.
Processing per sale is 0.029 x $29 + $0.30 = $1.141, or $114.10 across 100 sales. Kit Free is 100 x (0.035 x $29 + $0.30) = $131.50 with no plan. Thinkific Basic is $54 + $114.10 = $168.10. Teachable Starter is $39 + 7.5% x $2,900 = $217.50 + $114.10 = $370.60.
| Where the $29 product sells | Monthly cost, 100 sales | What that includes |
|---|---|---|
| Kit Free | $131.50 | Checkout and a delivery link; no hosting |
| Thinkific Basic | $168.10 | Course hosting |
| Kit Creator | $170.50 | Adds sequences and automations |
| Teachable Builder | $203.10 | Course hosting, 10 products |
| Podia Shaker | $213.10 | Course hosting, 150 products |
| Kajabi Basic | $293.10 | Course hosting, website, community |
| Podia Mover | $308.10 | Course hosting, 5% fee |
| Etsy | $320.70 | Files only; set-up fee not included |
| Teachable Starter | $370.60 | Course hosting, 7.5% fee |
| Gumroad, direct sales | $454.10 | Checkout and files |
| Gumroad, Discover marketplace | $870.00 | Processing included |
Gumroad's two pages differ in tone. Gumroad's pricing page says "No hidden fees, no monthly charges." Gumroad's fee help page says the 10% + $0.50 "does not include: Credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30) PayPal fees". Etsy fits files, not video: its help page allows "up to five digital files" with a maximum of "20MB" each. For files through a store, a marketplace or an email tool, see what it costs to sell digital products through Shopify, Kit, Etsy and Gumroad.
Can you create and sell an online course for free?
You can start selling for $0 a month with Kit Free, but you pay 3.5% + $0.30 per sale and host the lessons yourself. No platform read for this article hosts video lessons with no monthly fee and no percentage.
The honest free route: Kit Free handles the list, checkout and delivery email for up to 10,000 subscribers. The "Built with Kit" badge stays. Kit lists "Email sequences" as needing a paid plan, so a drip course sent by email is not free there. The lessons sit on a members-only page of a site you already run; the guide to what a small business website costs to build and run covers that bill. To compare list tools first, see the roundup of email marketing software for small businesses.
Free trials are not a free route. Outline the course and record a first module before starting one, so the trial days go on setup and sales.
How much does it cost to produce an online course?
No primary source publishes a current production cost. Cost articles were looked for on the blogs of Thinkific, Teachable and Kajabi; the addresses tried returned "not found".
The only vendor figure found is Podia's article on course costs, dated 22 October 2021. It is Podia's claim about third-party prices, five years old: "Camera: Free to $199 Microphone: $49.99 to $149 Lighting: $33.99 to $189.95 Course slides: Free to $119.99/year Screen recording: Free to $328.99 Video editing: Free to $40+/hour for professional editing services". Podia also writes "I'm admittedly biased, but I think Podia is the best choice".
So this article puts no dollar range on production. Price these lines yourself, from quotes on the day you buy:
- Your hours: outline, scripts, recording, editing and student support. Usually the largest cost, and no vendor measures it.
- Camera or webcam, microphone and lighting, if you appear on screen.
- Screen recording software, slides and workbook design.
- Video editing, done yourself or paid by the hour.
- Captions and transcripts; the review of AI transcription software compares tools that produce them.
- AI presenter video if you prefer not to film; the analysis of AI video generator lifetime deals explains their credit limits.
- The platform bill at your realistic sales volume, from the tables above.
- Payment extras: international cards, currency conversion, payment plans, sales tax.
Which online course platform should an expert or coach pick?
Pick by expected monthly sales and by processor, not by plan card. These rules come straight from the worked numbers.
- Selling to your own email list, lessons on your own site: Kit Free, the cheapest route in every example.
- You want hosted lessons and student accounts: Thinkific Basic on Thinkific Payments was the cheapest course host at 5, 20 and 100 sales. Do not move it to Stripe.
- You prefer Teachable: skip Starter once you expect four or more $199 sales a month.
- You prefer Podia: Mover below about five $199 sales a month, Shaker above.
- You want contacts, website and community on one bill: Kajabi Basic, on Kajabi Payments. Extra contacts come "in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month".
- You need Thinkific Plus or Teachable Custom: get a written quote, because neither publishes a price.
How this was researched
Every figure was read from the vendors' own pages on 28 September 2026: Kit's pricing page and two Kit help articles; Thinkific's pricing page and its help articles on the gateway fee and on Thinkific Payments fees; the pricing pages of Teachable, Kajabi and Podia; Podia's 2021 cost article; Gumroad's pricing page and fee help article; and Etsy's fees policy, payments policy and help articles.
Most pages were read with a plain page fetch. Where prices needed a toggle or JavaScript, as on Kit, Podia and Kajabi, the page was also rendered in a headless browser. Kajabi served two page designs to the two methods; prices agreed, but the third-party fee table appeared only in one. Etsy's fees policy blocked the plain fetch and was read rendered.
The worked examples were derived by CriticNest from the published rates, rounded to the cent (the five-sale figures to the dollar). What could not be verified: Stripe's own rate when used on Thinkific, Kajabi's non-US rates, Kit prices above 1,000 subscribers, the Thinkific Plus and Teachable Custom prices, Etsy's shop set-up fee, and any current production cost. No platform was bought and nothing was benchmarked. The author's role here is the careful reader of the fee pages, not a course creator reporting results.
The verdict: what does an online course really cost?
An online course costs your hours plus a platform bill, and the plan price is the smallest honest line in that bill. Free course plans are mostly gone: Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi and Podia sell trials, and only Kit Free still sells products for $0 a month, without hosting the course.
The transaction fee picks the cheapest platform. At 20 sales of a $199 course, Teachable Starter, the $39 plan, costs $458.92 a month, while Teachable Builder costs $210.42 and Thinkific Basic $175.42. At five sales, Starter is already behind Builder. A processor choice does the same damage: Thinkific Basic on Stripe adds $199.00 a month at that volume.
The rule: estimate monthly sales honestly, multiply each platform's percentage by them, add the plan and card processing, and pick the lowest total. Recheck when sales double. Production has no published price, so itemise it and get quotes.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to create an online course?
Your time plus a platform bill. On 28 September 2026, course plans ran from $39 a month on Teachable Starter to $499 on Kajabi Pro, plus card processing near 2.9% + $0.30 a sale and any platform fee. At 20 sales of a $199 course, the monthly bill ran from $175.42 on Thinkific Basic to $458.92 on Teachable Starter. No platform publishes a current production cost.
How do I create an online course to sell for free?
Sell access through Kit's free plan and host the lessons on a page you already control. Kit's help page says the Free plan "costs $0 per month for as long as you stay under 10,000 subscribers", and commerce works on it at 3.5% + $0.30 per sale, processing included. Email sequences need a paid Kit plan, and Kit does not host course video.
Does Thinkific have a free plan?
No. Thinkific's pricing page answers "No, instead, you can explore the whole platform with a 30-day free trial." Paid plans start at Basic, $54 a month or $40 a month billed annually. The help centre still mentions a Free plan for legacy accounts, but the current pricing page does not sell one.
What are Teachable's transaction fees?
Teachable Starter charges 7.5% per sale. Builder, Growth and Custom show 0% for sellers on teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway. Processing is separate: 2.9% plus 30 cents on US cards, 3.9% plus 30 cents on international cards, and a $15 chargeback fee. On 20 sales of a $199 course, Starter's 7.5% comes to $298.50 a month.
How much does Kajabi cost per month?
Kajabi Basic is $179 a month, Growth $249 and Pro $499 on monthly billing. Billed annually they are $143, $199 and $399 a month, or $1,716, $2,388 and $4,788 a year. Kajabi takes no revenue share on Kajabi Payments, but charges 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and 0.5% on Pro with most outside providers.
What is the cheapest online course platform?
It depends on sales volume and processor, not the plan card. In this article's worked examples, Thinkific Basic on Thinkific Payments was the cheapest platform that hosts the course: $175.42 a month at 20 sales of a $199 course and $168.10 at 100 sales of a $29 product. Kit Free cost less, but only sells access to a course hosted elsewhere.
Does Thinkific charge extra if I use Stripe?
Yes. Thinkific's gateway fee FAQ says "A third-party payment gateway fee applies to transactions processed on Stripe." The fee is 5.0% on Basic, 2.0% on Start and 1.0% on Grow, on the first $1M of sales in a calendar year. On 20 sales of a $199 course it adds $199.00 a month on Basic. Thinkific Payments carries no such fee.
Is Podia free?
No. Podia's pricing page offers "try everything free for 14 days" and no free plan. Mover costs $49 a month with a 5% fee, Shaker $99 with no Podia fee, and Earthquaker $179. Billed yearly they are $42, $84 and $150 a month. Stripe or PayPal processing of 2.9% plus 30 cents applies on every plan.
How much does it cost to develop an online course?
No current primary source says. The only vendor figures found are in Podia's article dated 22 October 2021, which lists a camera at "Free to $199", a microphone at "$49.99 to $149" and editing up to "$40+/hour". Treat those as Podia's old claim. Itemise your own lines: hours, audio, video, editing, captions, slides and the platform bill.
Is annual billing worth it on a course platform?
Only after a trial shows real sales. Annual billing saves 25% on Thinkific, 22% on Teachable, 20% on Kajabi and 17% on Kit, but it does not fix a high transaction fee. At 20 sales of a $199 course, Teachable Starter billed annually still costs $448.92 a month, more than Teachable Builder billed monthly at $210.42.
