Learning platforms or online courses are powered by Learning Management Software at the backend. Launching a site like Coursera or Skillshare may feel overwhelming for an individual. It might seem like a daunting and expensive task for big corporations or startups. But in reality, you alone can create a capable platform like that with WordPress, without dev help and some plugins do it quite easily without making a huge financial investment.
Your learning platform could be to sell your own courses or you can also create a pool of experts and instructors who can sell courses on your website. In 2020, the online course industry grew by 400% very suddenly due to the pandemic. But with a steady and planned growth, we are looking at $44.49 billion worth of industry by 2028.
Today we are going to look into reviewing only 5 Free Learning Management Softwares that are mostly available on wordpress.org and compare them so that you get the most out of your starting point.
We are also working on a very detailed WordPress LMS plugin review with more plugins that will be published soon.
A head start would be to see that support matters most for a free plugin. Just because you are using a free WordPress LMS plugin does not mean you do not deserve great support and you would be forced to buy the pro version just to fix an issue you got stuck with.
Since we got to the topic of upgrading costs, let’s also consider that thought. What if you started off nicely with a free LMS plugin and now want to take your business to the next level, give it the necessary tools to grow. So, we will also be noting down the cost to expand to an advanced platform.
Please note that this comparison is valid as of the data that was collected on 18th July 2022. We will try to regularly keep this post updated so that the comparison remains relevant.
LearnPress
A unique feature of Learnpress is that it comes with an app. But it does not have many addons. So the scope of your customization may be limited. Also, the free version does not have good support, because when we checked only a fraction of the issues in support were responded to.
| Free plugin | Yes – basic features |
| Free support | Poor, 13% of support tickets resolved |
| 5-star rating | 400 |
| Languages | 23 |
| Pro price | $249.99 (add-on bundle) |
| Integrations | Huge scope of 3rd party integration |
| Add-ons | 8 free add-ons |
| Other | Self-hosted & cloud-hosted, has a mobile app upgrade |
LifterLMS
The core plugin comes with tons of features, you would rarely need to customize or enhance with an add-on. You get an all-in-one system to sell courses, communicate with students, and thrive in your course-selling business. They are among the first LMS creators on WordPress, dating back to 2014. One very unique thing about LifterLMS is their community. They organize an open session every week to share new strategies and hear users’ feedback. The founder, Chris Badgett himself is a learning industry master and very passionate about the plugin. This is why LifterLMS is a great doorway to get into the industry in a guided manner.
You can also have a look at the LifterLMS review on the WPGIZ website for their perspective on LifterLMS.
| Free plugin | Yes – with robust features |
| Free support | Excellent, 90% happiness score, fast responses |
| 5-star rating | 250 |
| Languages | 22 |
| Pro price | $360 (add-on bundle) |
| Integrations | Huge scope of 3rd party integration |
| Add-ons | 20+ premium add-ons |
| Other | Best LMS security, regular updates, zero bugs, weekly online feedback meetings |
Tutor LMS
Tutor is the protege. It is a relatively new plugin that has a modern-looking user interface. But still, support is not up to the mark.
- 60% of support tickets resolved
- Available in 29 languages
- Pro starts at $149 per year
- Limited add-ons and integration features
| Free plugin | Yes – limited features |
| Free support | Moderate – 60% resolved |
| 5-star rating | 374 |
| Languages | 29 |
| Pro price | $149 per year |
| Integrations | Limited |
| Add-ons | 21 – core features for other plugins |
| Other | Good UI |
Masterstudy LMS
This one came out as a theme initially and was one of the top-selling themes on ThemeForest. But later, it increased in terms of features, power, and integrations. So, the team at Stylemix Themes separated it into two parts and released a plugin with the same name on the WordPress.org repository. They also have a Pro version of the plugin with the same name!
| Free version | Yes |
| Free support | 89% of tickets resolved |
| 5-star rating | 65 |
| Languages | 14 |
| Pro price | $159 per year |
| Integrations | Limited |
| Add-ons | Pro only |
| Other | Poor UI |
Sensei LMS
From the makers of WordPress, Sensei is Automattic’s LMS project. It has the core features of an LMS right, but the interface is still rudimentary and lacks active support.
| Free plugin | Yes – very limited features |
| Free support | Poor – 16 tickets resolved |
| 5-star rating | 10 |
| Languages | 18 |
| Pro price | $149 per year |
| Integrations | n/a |
| Add-ons | Pro and free add-ons |
| Other | Poor UI |
So, what do you think? Are you ready to start earning with your course selling website? Let us know in the comments which LMS you found the best fit for your needs.