How Much Do Online Course Platforms Take From Creators?

When creating and selling your online courses, you can watch your income passively grow over time. However, after paying your taxes, overhead costs, and royalties to an online course platform, you might not be left with as much as you deserve. If you are a creator looking for ways to monetize your work, take a look at how much course platforms plan to take before diving in.

How Much Does Teachable Take?

If you are thinking about using the Teachable platform for your online course sales, you might wonder how much they take from creators. At the time of publication, Teachable takes up to 10% of your profit for each course you sell. Let’s take a closer look:

• “Free” Trial: Like many platforms, Teachable offers a free trial for new users getting started. When using this “free” preview of their services, Teachable takes 10% and $1 from creators for each online course sale.
• Basic: At the most basic membership plan, Teachable takes 5% from creators for each online course sale + a flat monthly fee. Their monthly membership fees start at $29 per month when charged annually or $39 per month when charged monthly.
• Pro: If you want to drop the transaction fees, you will need to upgrade to a Teachable Pro membership ($99 per month when billed annually or $119 per month when billed monthly).
• Business: For the highest quality of support, Teachable Business takes $249 per month from creators who pay annually and $299 per month from creators who pay monthly.

How Much Does Kajabi Take?

At the time of publication, Kajabi’s plans start at $119 per month. This price is one of the steepest among online course platforms. Despite the price, you might find the Kajabi platform is missing critical features for online course sellers—including billing flexibility, auto-enrollment, and more. Let’s take a closer look at how much Kajabi takes from online sellers:

• Basic: With the Basic plan, Kajabi takes $119 per month when billed annually and $149 when billed monthly. This plan supports only three products and 1,000 active customers.
• Growth: The Kajabi Growth plan takes $159 each month when billed annually and $199 each month when billed monthly. Even this upgraded plan only supports 15 products and 10,000 active customers.
• Pro: The highest Kajabi plan is Pro, which takes $319 per month when billed annually and $399 when billed monthly. The Pro plan supports only 100 products. As your business grows beyond this capacity, you will need to find a new platform or contact Kajabi for additional support.

How Much Does Thinkific Take?

At the time of publication, Thinkific’s paid plans start at $74 per month. While Thinkific offers a “free” entry plan, its capacity is so limited that you might think of it more as an extended trial. To support your online course business, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan or switch to another vendor. Let’s take a look at Thinkific’s paid plans:

• Start: Thinkific’s Start plans take $74 per month, billed annually—and $99 when billed monthly. This plan includes the basic features standard for many online course platforms.
• Grow: Customers have to upgrade to the Thinkific Grow plan ($149 per month billed annually and $199 when billed monthly) for essential features like bulk enrollment and the ability to remove Thinkific’s branding from your business’s online presence.
• Expand: Thinkific’s Expand plan takes $374 per month billed annually and $499 when billed monthly—which gets customers vital SSL certificates often included on a creator’s site through other vendors.

How Much Does SamCart Take?

At the time of publication, SamCart’s plans start at just $39 per month—meaning we take less from creators for our services. You might find our low prices deceiving, considering that SamCart offers products and services that other online course platforms do not. Let’s take a closer look at SamCart’s plans:

• Launch: SamCart Launch plans take just $39 per month when billed annually and $59 per month when billed monthly. This plan includes all of the features you need to launch your online course business. You can also sell unlimited digital products, physical products, memberships, and subscriptions.
• Grow: You can unlock advanced features by upgrading to Grow for $79 per month when billed annually and $119 per month when billed monthly.
• Scale: At the Scale membership level, businesses get next-level tools and features—including the Subscription Saver, upgraded reports, and access to our exclusive affiliate center. This plan is just $159 per month when billed annually and $299 per month when billed monthly.

Affordable Online Course Platform: SamCart

If you are looking for an online course platform that doesn’t take a cut of your sales, turn to SamCart. Our memberships include unlimited access to the Online Course App—in addition to a number of other advanced features. You can experience our platform for yourself today with a SamCart free trial, or view our demo for more information today!