The Best Free & Affordable Online Course Platforms in 2026 (Honest Review)
Ten years ago, when I launched my first online course, the answer was easy: Teachable. They had a free forever plan that let you create multiple courses and only charged payment processing fees. Customer service was excellent. It felt like a no-brainer.
Then Teachable got acquired.
Customer service dropped off. The free plan disappeared. Prices went up. And I spent the better part of a year unsure what to actually recommend to my clients when they asked about affordable course hosting.
So I sat down and did the research. I went through every free and affordable online course platform currently available in 2026 to find what's actually worth using right now.
Here's everything I found.
Start Here: Software You're Already Paying For
The cheapest online course platform is one you already own! Before you sign up for anything new, check whether any of your existing software has course-hosting built in.
Website Builders
If you're on Squarespace, you're in luck. Squarespace Courses is included free with every plan — no extra cost. If you're on Wix, they offer something similar. Both are usable options if you're already paying for a site on those platforms.
Shopify users can add course functionality through third-party apps — the most popular are Courses Plus, Skypilot, and Tevo. Most aren't free, but they're reasonably priced, and the big advantage is everything stays in one ecosystem with payment processing already set up.
And then there's WordPress — the original DIY option, and honestly where I started before switching to Teachable. The old WordPress course plugins were clunky and painful to use. But they've gotten much better. If I had to recommend one free WordPress course plugin right now, it would be LearnPress. It has a genuinely free plan that lets you build and run a full course on your existing WordPress site. You will need a separate payment processor (PayPal or WooCommerce both work), and you'll want to configure it carefully — but it gets the job done.
Shopping Cart Software
If you use SamCart ($79/month), their built-in LMS features are included at no extra charge - no need to add a separate course hosting tool.
ThriveCart is SamCart's main competitor and offers one-time lifetime pricing that a lot of people love. However, the "Learn" feature — which lets you use ThriveCart as a course platform — does cost extra, either as an additional monthly or one-time fee.
Email Marketing Platforms
Kit(formerly ConvertKit) and Mailerliteboth offer online course hosting built into their email marketing plans. The features are more minimal than a dedicated course platform, but if you're already using one of these tools and want a simple, free way to get started, they're worth considering.
The Best Free Dedicated Option: Systeme.io
Here's the one I forgot to include in my initial research until a group of my students reminded me. And honestly, it's become my top recommendation for anyone starting from scratch.
Systeme.io has a free plan — no credit card required.
It's not just an online course platform. It's a full all-in-one tool — website, email marketing, automations, course hosting, memberships, community, landing pages, and checkout pages.
I talked to several students who are actually using it, and here's what they told me:
What's good: It really does check all the boxes. Easy to use, solid features, and the free plan is legitimate.
What to know going in: The free plan limits you to 2,000 contacts, 1 tag, 1 automation, and 1 email campaign. That means you can launch your first course, but the moment you want to send different emails to different customer groups (say, a welcome sequence for your list vs. an onboarding sequence for course buyers), you'll need to upgrade to the Startup plan.
Two smaller drawbacks: The page builder can feel a bit restrictive. You can't drag and drop visual elements as freely as you might want. And the community feature, while functional, is text-only and a bit basic compared to something like a Facebook group.
None of these are dealbreakers, especially at the price. Systeme.io isn't perfect, but for sheer value — especially on the free plan — nothing else comes close right now.
The Cheapest Dedicated Course Platform: Skool ($9/month)
If you want a dedicated course platform with a proper community component and don't want to spend much, Skoolat $9/month is by far the most affordable option in this category.
It was founded by some well-known entrepreneurs and has gotten significant backing and visibility. The platform is clean and community-focused, which is its main draw.
The tradeoff: you're building inside Skool's ecosystem, not your own branded site. It's a bit like running a membership out of a Facebook group — it works, but your members know they're on Skool's platform, not yours. For some creators, that's fine. For others, it's a reason to look elsewhere.
Gumroad: Technically Free (But Read the Fine Print)
Gumroad was originally built for selling digital products — ebooks, PDFs, downloads — and it shows. You can technically run an online course through it by selling a PDF that links to your video lessons, but the experience is clunky and I wouldn't call it a proper course platform.
The bigger issue: Gumroad takes 10% of every sale (covering their fee and payment processing) plus $0.50 per transaction. There's no monthly subscription, but that per-sale fee adds up fast. It ends up near the bottom of my list even though it's technically one of the few "free" options.
If You're Willing to Spend a Little More
For creators who want a proper dedicated LMS with more features and polish:
Thinkific starts at $49/month (or $36/month on an annual plan) and is the most affordable among dedicated platforms like Teachable and Podia. Their lowest-cost plan is solid.
For all-in-one options that also handle your website, email marketing, and webinars:
Both do a good job of hosting courses and can even support full membership programs with multiple courses. If you're building a proper online business and want everything in one place, either of these could save you money compared to paying for separate tools.
Which Platform Should You Choose?
Honestly, it depends on your situation.
If you already have software with course-hosting built in — a Squarespace site, a SamCart account, a Kit subscription — start there. It's free (or nearly free) and keeps everything simple.
If you're starting fresh and want the most affordable option, Skool at $9/month is hard to beat for a dedicated course platform. And if you want free and all-in-one, System.io is the clear winner.
If you want to build a full online business — website, email list, course, membership, webinars under one roof — look at Zenler or Kartra. Yes, they cost more, but you're replacing multiple tools, which usually nets out.
One More Thing Before You Pick a Platform
Here's what I want to say clearly, because it matters more than any platform comparison:
Setting up an online course does not guarantee you'll make money from it.
To make sales, you need an audience — people who know you, trust you, and are interested in what you're offering. The platform you choose is almost irrelevant if you don't have people to sell to.
The good news is you don't have to build a huge audience before you launch. You can work on both at the same time. But I'd encourage you to take the audience-building piece seriously from the beginning, because the entrepreneurs I see struggle most are the ones who build a course first, then go looking for buyers.
If you're in that situation — or you're just getting started and trying to figure out how to build an audience — I have something for you. I'm launching a free private podcast series called Stuck at Zero: Why Your Online Business Isn't Making Any Money and What to Do About It, and it's designed exactly for this moment.
You can sign up now at https://www.gillianperkins.com/stuck — it launches June 26, 2026, and early sign-ups get first access.
stuck at zero
Need to grow your audience?
In this podcast series, I'll show you how to identify what's actually preventing your business from making sales and share a practical roadmap for turning traction into consistent revenue.
