How to Sell Courses With WooCommerce (and When You Don’t Need It)

Ask any group of WordPress enthusiasts how to market an online course, and within moments, you might hear “just set up WooCommerce!” While that can be solid advice, at times it feels akin to purchasing a heavy-duty truck just to transport a single sandwich.

Here’s the crux of the matter: if your Learning Management System (LMS) plugin comes equipped with a built-in checkout — and many modern plugins do — adding WooCommerce might introduce unnecessary complexity. However, there are specific situations where it could be exactly what you need. The key is identifying which scenario applies to you before you begin your setup.

This guide will help you make that choice, provide setup instructions for both avenues, and highlight potential pitfalls that could catch you off guard later. Let’s dive in!

Do You Really Need WooCommerce?

A quick refresher on terminology: an LMS (Learning Management System) is a plugin that helps you develop, sell, and deliver your courses. On the other hand, WooCommerce is a comprehensive eCommerce solution (including shopping cart, product pages, order management, taxes, and shipping) capable of selling virtually anything. It remains the preferred choice for running an online store on WordPress and comes at no cost.

The crucial term here is comprehensive. If your only product is courses, a full eCommerce stack might quite simply be more than you require. Each additional plugin requires updates, configuration, and sometimes debugging at inconvenient hours.

Here’s a straightforward decision framework:

If all scenarios for the built-in checkout resonate with you, skip to Path A and enjoy a cup of tea. If any of the WooCommerce scenarios apply, then Path B might be your best bet. If you find yourself somewhere in the middle, it’s worth exploring both options. The decision is the essential part of this article; the setups are relatively easy.

Path A: Selling with Your LMS’s Built-in Checkout

The example below showcases Masteriyo. As a heads up, it belongs to the Themeisle family—so we’re somewhat related. The guide will remain factual, showcasing all details, including any drawbacks, and the principles apply similarly across any LMS with a built-in checkout feature.

Still not set up your course? Begin with our guide on creating an online course with WordPress, and then return here for the financial aspect. If you’re still undecided on a plugin, check out our list of the best free LMS plugins.

What You Get at No Cost

Masteriyo’s free version enables full transactions, so this isn’t one of those “free until checkout” scenarios:

• Built-in Offline Payment and PayPal. The offline payment feature includes optional bank transfer details, beneficial for selling to businesses that pay via bank transfers.
• Free Addons for Stripe, Mollie, and Lemon Squeezy. Choose from credit cards, various European payment options, or an all-in-one merchant of record (an entity that manages sales, taxes, and compliance on your behalf).
• 0% Platform Transaction Fees. While Masteriyo does not take a cut from your revenue, standard processing fees from your payment gateway may still apply.
• International Currency Support if your sales reach beyond borders.

Setting It Up (Approximately Ten Minutes)

1. Navigate to Masteriyo → Settings → Payments → Store and input your country and business address.
2. In the Currency section, select your currency and pricing format.
3. Access Payment Methods and activate the desired gateways (excluding options such as Offline Payment, Standard PayPal, Stripe, Mollie, Lemon Squeezy). Provide the credentials for each gateway.

Here’s what your Payment Methods screen looks like with Offline Payment expanded:

PRO TIP Both PayPal and Stripe offer a sandbox mode in their settings. Activate it and conduct a test transaction from start to finish before going live. Ten minutes spent here can prevent a “your checkout isn’t working” email on launch day.

What Your Students Experience

On the user end, the course page will display a Buy Now button directing to a clean, single-page checkout where payment specifics are on the left, and the order summary is on the right:

A couple of honest notes regarding this screen: the coupon field in the order summary is a Pro feature, so the free version doesn’t include discount codes. Additionally, the tax row reads $0.00 because automated, location-based tax calculation is also a Pro feature, which is worth remembering if your audience spans various tax jurisdictions.

Limitations of the Free Checkout

While one-off payments are entirely free, recurring pricing, which entails charging, for example, $20 monthly for ongoing access, is not:

Recurring pricing, along with coupon options, course bundles, and tax automation previously mentioned, comes under Masteriyo Pro, currently priced at $149/year as an introductory offer. A word of caution: it renews at the standard rate of $299/year, so factor that into your budget for the future.

However, if your model consists of “one course, one price, PayPal or Stripe,” you’re done here. No need to proceed further. WooCommerce would only add weight without any benefit.

Path B: Selling Courses Through WooCommerce

Now for the route this article is primarily about. WooCommerce is free and open source, just like WordPress:

Essentially, you’re buying into a whole ecosystem. The WordPress.org listing promotes that there are over 100 payment gateway integrations, so if your students need to make payments via a local gateway unavailable in your LMS, that could settle the discussion. Consider also automated tax services, shipping label provisions, carrier integrations, and nearly endless extensions, which explains why “just use WooCommerce” is frequently recommended.

Here’s how it works for the course aspect when using Masteriyo.

Step 1: Install WooCommerce and Activate the Integration

Install WooCommerce via Plugins → Add New and go through its setup instructions. Then, navigate to Masteriyo → Addons and enable the WooCommerce Integration add-on. It’s among the free addons, so no license is required.

Step 2: Associate Each Course with a WooCommerce Product

For each course you intend to sell through WooCommerce, a linked product is necessary. Open the course in Masteriyo → Courses, select Settings → Pricing, set the course to Paid, and specify a price. Following this, access Settings → WooCommerce. You’ll encounter two choices:

• Create Product: generates a new WooCommerce product of a unique type called Masteriyo Course and connects it automatically.
• Link Existing Product: choose an already established product. A confirmation dialog will alert you that its type will transition to a Masteriyo Course before proceeding with the conversion.

Additionally, there’s a convenient reverse flow: within Products → All Products, hovering over any product provides the option to click Create Course. Masteriyo will then convert the product and draft a related course for you.

Step 3: Grasp the Enrollment Process

This is the crucial element, so be sure to read it twice. WooCommerce manages payment, checkout, and order notifications. Once an order’s status is set to Completed, Masteriyo automatically enrolls the student. If the order later shifts to Cancelled, Refunded, or Failed, that student will be unenrolled. Enrollment always activates on Completion (a fixed trigger), but you can adjust unenrollment status options via Masteriyo → Settings → Integrations → WooCommerce Integration.

There are also two additional valuable settings on that screen. Enable Add to Cart alters the Buy Now button to allow a cart flow, enabling students to purchase several courses simultaneously. Meanwhile, Auto Redirect to Courses ensures that students are taken directly to their course post-payment, bypassing the typical WooCommerce order confirmation page.

Note: Enrollment necessitates a WordPress account. If you wish to allow guest checkout, head over to WooCommerce → Settings → Accounts & Privacy, enable guest checkout, and schedule the account creation to happen during or after checkout. WooCommerce will then create the account necessary for student enrollment. Get this wrong, and you’ll encounter an admin notification with a direct link for resolution. A nice touch, indeed.

Selling Subscriptions through WooCommerce

Interested in having WooCommerce Subscriptions manage recurring payments? Two changes will be necessary, and both come at a cost. First, Masteriyo’s support for WooCommerce Subscriptions is a Pro feature, requiring Masteriyo Pro at a cost of $149/year for the intro offer, renewing at $299. Second, you’ll also need the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, costing $279/year. Once set up, students will remain enrolled as long as their subscription stays active.

Do your calculations beforehand. Masteriyo Pro’s native recurring pricing costs $149/year intro. The WooCommerce Subscriptions method totals that same Pro license plus $279/year for the extension. It’s worthwhile if you require unique features of Subscriptions (like free trials, sign-up fees, prorated upgrades and downgrades, and synchronized billing dates) or if you’re already utilizing it. If not, the native recurring option is more cost-effective. For those interested in expanding beyond single courses, refer to our guide on establishing a membership site.

A noteworthy point from the official documentation: with subscriptions, you must set the recurring amount and billing period twice: once on the course and once on the linked WooCommerce product, ensuring they match precisely.

This guide stays at a basic level, detailing Masteriyo’s official WooCommerce integration guides. The page includes images for every step, so keep it open as you work through the setup.

Potential Pitfalls to Be Aware Of Before Proceeding

Neither option is without its challenges. Here are some issues to be mindful of from the outset:

• The unique product type. Courses sold through WooCommerce are assigned a specific Masteriyo Course product type. While it integrates within the standard WooCommerce flow, external extensions that presume standard product types might require testing before you fully rely on their performance.
• Enrollment is contingent on “Completed.” Instant-payment gateways like cards and PayPal typically finalize orders automatically. Manual payment methods (such as bank transfers or checks) will leave the order pending until marked as complete. This could cause delays for your students, especially for B2B sales involving invoices.
• Duplicate entries for subscriptions. Course pricing and product price, billing period and billing period: everything needs to be set twice and must match accurately. It’s easy to overlook one.
• SSL and caching aren’t optional. SSL is mandatory for payments. Furthermore, ensure that learn, checkout, and account pages, along with the masteriyo_sessions table, are excluded from any caching plugin. Neglecting this could lead to misleading “already purchased” states and outdated carts.
• Two systems to manage. WooCommerce introduces shop, cart, and account pages, along with its own update cycle and complicated settings architecture. It’s not necessarily a dealbreaker; however, it might not be worth it for a single $30 course.

Conclusion

To summarise:

• Only selling courses and PayPal/Stripe works for your audience? Use your LMS’s built-in checkout. Simpler, more streamlined, and (in the case of Masteriyo) 0% platform fees with the free option.
• Need a gateway missing in your LMS, selling tangible products alongside digital ones, or already using WooCommerce? Opt for the WooCommerce approach: the integration add-on is free, and student enrollment occurs automatically upon order completion.
• Want subscriptions? Native recurring pricing (Pro, $149/year intro) is the economical choice. Conversely, WooCommerce Subscriptions earns its $279/year only if you require particular features like trials, sign-up fees, or proration, and keep in mind it also necessitates Masteriyo Pro.

The honest recommendation: start with the built-in checkout unless you already know you need one of the WooCommerce scenarios outlined in the table. You can always integrate WooCommerce later; adding a course to a product only takes a few minutes. Premature expansion before making your first sale is a classic trap for course creators. Avoid it!

How do you intend to sell your courses: using the built-in checkout or WooCommerce? We invite your thoughts in the comments section below!

FREE GUIDE

4 Essential Steps to Speed Up Your WordPress Website

Follow our easy 4-part mini-series to halve your loading times by 50-80%.

Yay! You made it to the end of the article!