Teachable vs WordPress: Where Should You Actually Sell Your Course?

When you offer a $50 course under Teachable’s basic plan, you would earn roughly $44.50. Conversely, if you sell that same course on your own WordPress site, you’d take home about $48.25. Additionally, we haven’t even considered any subscription cost for Teachable.

Consequently, the discussion surrounding “Teachable versus WordPress” is not solely about functionalities. It fundamentally revolves around the choice of renting versus owning, and the ongoing costs associated with each option each month.

This guide analyses these platforms based on the five most critical factors: pricing and fees, ownership, customisability, course features, and the getting started process. Expect some real calculations and insights along the way.

Let’s dive right in!

Short on time? Here’s a quick summary:

Teachable vs WordPress Overview

Here’s a brief definition of each platform for clarity.

Teachable is a fully-hosted course platform where you pay a monthly fee, and they take care of everything from server management and video hosting to the checkouts and student applications, allowing you to focus on building your school within their framework.

WordPress is free and open-source software that you install on your chosen hosting account. Alone, it doesn’t offer course functionalities; you need to add that using a Learning Management System (LMS) plugin. An LMS is software that manages lessons, quizzes, students, and payments. Popular choices include Masteriyo, Tutor LMS, and LifterLMS, and there’s an extensive guide available to help you select the right WordPress LMS.

Thus, the actual comparison resembles that between moving into a fully furnished rental versus constructing your own space with high-quality flat-pack furniture. Both options provide shelter, but the monthly costs and the associated paperwork vastly differ.

Costs & Fees

Let’s examine where the financial implications lie.

Teachable offers three self-service plans, billed annually:

• Starter: $29/month ($39 for month-to-month payment), along with a 7.5% transaction fee per sale. This plan limits you to 5 products and 100 active students (these limits are raised once you exceed $10,000/year in sales, according to Teachable’s FAQ).
• Builder: $69/month ($89 if paid monthly). There’s no transaction fee, but you’re still confined to 10 products.
• Growth: $139/month ($189 monthly). This includes a transaction fee, allows for 50 products, and finally eliminates Teachable’s branding.

All plans come with a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Additionally, there’s another fee to consider for both platforms: card processing. Teachable charges 2.9% + 30¢ for US card transactions, which is comparable to what you would typically spend with Stripe or PayPal on WordPress.

Regarding the WordPress setup:

• Hosting: Expect to pay around $60–120 annually for satisfactory shared hosting.
• Domain: Approximately $10–15 each year.
• WordPress itself: Free of charge.
• LMS plugin: Free. For example, the free version of Masteriyo (our own plugin) allows for genuine payment processing right from the start: PayPal is embedded, Stripe is an optional addon, and there’s a 0% platform transaction fee.
• Card processing: Around the same 2.9% + 30¢.

Let’s crunch some actual numbers. If you manage to sell 120 courses priced at $50 each, you will generate a total revenue of $6,000 in your first year:

It’s worth repeating. The same course, with the same student base, processed through the same card networks, and you would have around $660–725 more left in your pocket during the first year if you go with the WordPress setup. This difference increases with higher sales volumes: at $30,000 in sales, the Starter plan would cost about $3,650 in total, whereas the WordPress solution would only amount to approximately $1,150.

One important detail regarding Teachable’s various plans: due to the 7.5% transaction fee, the Starter plan remains more economical only if your annual sales remain below about $6,400. Once you surpass that mark, the fees surpass the cost of upgrading.

A counterpoint to consider: Teachable’s cut covers a range of essential services: video hosting, mobile apps for your learners, and automated handling of US sales tax, EU VAT, and GST (value-added taxes applied to sales). If managing VAT compliance across multiple countries feels overwhelming, that convenience could hold significant value.

Now let’s consider the WordPress aspect: here’s how a checkout page looks when built with Masteriyo, where the only deductions come from the card processor:

Winner: WordPress. When it comes to sheer cost, there is no competition.

Ownership & Control

With Teachable, your educational content resides on their platform. You may attach a custom domain, yet your resources, student data, and accounts are managed under their terms and conditions.

This has tangible implications. The Starter plan restricts you to 5 products and 100 active students (although these limitations are lifted once your annual sales exceed $10,000 as noted in Teachable’s FAQ). To eliminate Teachable’s branding, you must upgrade to the $139/month Growth plan. Teachable has also adjusted its plans and pricing multiple times; the current configurations of Starter, Builder, and Growth have been re-branded recently. When you opt for renting, the landlord controls the terms.

If the platform’s direction changes, you can either choose to upgrade or move your content, while the accessibility of your student and order data is only as comprehensive as their export capabilities.

In contrast, WordPress operates differently: the software is free and open-sourced, enabling you to take full control, with your content, student list, and order history stored in a database that you manage. If hosting costs become excessive? Simply switch providers. If you’re dissatisfied with your LMS plugin, you can replace it and retain all your other content. It’s truly your domain.

Winner: WordPress.

Customization

Teachable offers attractive templates and a user-friendly page editor. As long as you are content with their aesthetics, it’s genuinely a delightful platform to navigate. However, the moment you desire any deviation from their standard templates (for instance, a different checkout process, a customised lesson layout, or fully branded transactional emails), you will face limitations. Making deeper stylistic changes requires CSS snippets (small segments of styling code) available on higher-tier plans, and certain pages simply cannot be customised.

With WordPress, the possibilities are vast. You have access to thousands of themes, page builders like Elementor and Divi, and complete code access when necessary. The LMS plugins are designed to be compatible: for example, Masteriyo seamlessly integrates with any properly coded theme and provides free add-ons for Elementor, Divi, Bricks, Beaver Builder, and Oxygen.

Here’s an example of a course page powered by WordPress, showcasing a layout, a pricing box, and a curriculum list, all customisable according to your preferences:

Winner: WordPress. Teachable may look appealing initially; however, WordPress provides unlimited potential for design and functionality.

Course Features

Teachable certainly showcases its strengths in this area. Here are its built-in offerings:

• Video hosting included (up to 1TB)
• Dedicated mobile applications for students
• Tools for quizzes, certificates, and drip content
• Features for memberships, bundles, coupons, upsells, and order bumps
• Automated abandoned-cart emails and built-in email marketing
• An affiliate marketing programme (available from Builder upwards)
• Automatic handling of US sales tax, EU VAT, and GST
• AI-generated tools across all plans

On the WordPress side, a solid LMS solution covers the essentials fairly well. With Masteriyo’s free version, you’ll gain unlimited access to courses, lessons, quizzes, certificates, course feedback, and a drag-and-drop course builder:

However, it’s important to highlight the gaps. The free quiz builder is limited to three question types, while features like drip content and subscriptions fall under the Pro category ($149/year introductory price, rising to $299 on renewal). Moreover, there’s no built-in video hosting; you’ll have to either link to YouTube or Vimeo or pay separately for video hosting. Also, the platform does not provide ready-made mobile applications, and managing sales tax is your responsibility, not the platform’s.

Winner: Teachable. When it comes to core features right out of the box—particularly for video, tax management, and dedicated applications—it takes the lead. This is the reasoning that justifies the subscription for many creators.

Getting Started

Teachable: simply register for an account, initiate the 7-day trial, construct your course, and publish it. You won’t have to worry about purchasing hosting, SSL certificates (the security feature that encrypts your website traffic), or scheduling updates or backups. It’s quite realistic to have a course available for purchase within a day.

WordPress: you must acquire hosting, install WordPress (which most hosts facilitate with a one-click installation), set up your LMS plugin, and configure PayPal or Stripe for payments, plus handle SSL, usually at no cost via your host. If you’re a novice, this could take a weekend; if you’re already experienced, it could be tackled in an evening. For an in-depth approach, check out our step-by-step guide on creating an online course with WordPress.

Bear in mind that ongoing maintenance is necessary: plugin and theme updates, backups, and basic security checks. This could average around ten minutes each week, or alternatively, you might opt for managed hosting for a bit extra and largely avoid it.

Winner: Teachable. No one can compete with their simplicity for initial setup.

If You Choose WordPress: Selecting an LMS Plugin

DISCLAIMER: Masteriyo is part of the Themeisle product family. The following list stays factual, and all options mentioned meet the pricing criteria discussed earlier.

The LMS plugin serves as the core engine for your course site, so select wisely. Here are three excellent options:

Looking for more options? Consult our comprehensive overview of the best free LMS plugins for WordPress.

Which Option Should You Select?

To summarise: WordPress excels in terms of affordability, ownership, and customisation options, while Teachable shines in built-in features and ease of initiation. Therefore, the conclusion isn’t about one being superior to the other; it revolves around which trade-offs align with your specific needs:

• If you want to launch immediately and don’t wish to deal with Servers, SSL, or updates → Teachable. Opt for the Builder plan if possible because the Starter plan’s 7.5% fee can hurt once sales pick up.
• If your target market is global and you prefer someone else to handle VAT and sales tax → Teachable.
• If you wish to retain the highest profit margin per sale, particularly as sales volumes increase → WordPress.
• If you prefer control over design choices, checkout processes, student information, and the future of your platform → WordPress.
• If your budget is limited and you’re willing to exchange a weekend’s work for at least hundreds in savings annually → WordPress with a free LMS plugin.

In summary: if you’re testing your first course idea and prioritise quick results over margins, Teachable’s trial is an excellent route to explore. On the other hand, if you’re cultivating a course business for sustainable growth, WordPress is a superior choice as your earnings will only improve as your sales volume rises and you’ll genuinely own the asset you’re creating.

Are you leaning more towards Teachable or WordPress? If you’ve already made a switch from one to the other, how was your experience? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below!

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