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ConvertKit vs LearnDash

ConvertKit logo

ConvertKit

News

The creator platform for digital professionals

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LearnDash logo

LearnDash

LMS

WordPress plugin that turns a site you already own into a course platform with no revenue share

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ConvertKit has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ConvertKit the free Newsletter plan allows only one basic visual automation, so sequences beyond a single flow require paying; LearnDash the flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.
  • They diverge on capability: ConvertKit covers Email marketing, LearnDash covers Course builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ConvertKit and LearnDash actually diverge.

Attributes where ConvertKit and LearnDash differ
AttributeConvertKitLearnDash
Starting priceFree$199/year
Pricing modelfreemiumPer site per year
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, WordPress
CategoryNewsLMS
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ConvertKit

  • Email marketing
  • Landing pages
  • Subscriber tagging
  • Automation workflows
  • Digital product sales
  • Broadcast emails
  • Subscriber segments
  • Email templates

Only in LearnDash

  • Course builder
  • Quiz engine
  • Certificates
  • Groups and group leaders
  • Commerce integration
  • Ownership of data

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ConvertKit

  • Sending newsletters and email sequences to an audiencenot LearnDash
  • Selling paid subscriptions and digital products to a mailing listnot LearnDash

LearnDash

  • A creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer wouldnot ConvertKit
  • Organisations that already run WordPress and want courses on their own domain and brandnot ConvertKit
  • Training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor accountnot ConvertKit
  • Agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licencenot ConvertKit

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ConvertKit

  • The free Newsletter plan allows only one basic visual automation, so sequences beyond a single flow require paying
  • The free plan is a single user, and the Creator plan at $33 a month allows two
  • Subscriber signals, engagement analytics and paid recommendations are Pro only, at $66 a month
  • A/B testing is capped at 2 subject lines below Pro, which allows 5
  • Paid pricing is banded by subscriber count, so the published figures apply only at the smallest band

LearnDash

  • The flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.
  • WordPress plugin conflicts are a live risk. A core or theme update can break checkout or course progression at a moment you did not choose, and there is no vendor operations team standing behind uptime.
  • Performance under load needs deliberate hosting work. Shared hosting handles a small course and fails visibly during a launch, and fixing that is a hosting migration rather than a setting.
  • Selling requires assembling several plugins for payments, memberships and email, so the true stack is four or five vendors with independent update cycles rather than one product.
  • Support covers the plugin, not your site. When the fault sits in the interaction between your theme, your host and another plugin, resolving it is your problem and often a contractor invoice.

Pricing, plan by plan

ConvertKit

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 10,000 subscribers
    • Unlimited landing pages and forms
    • Unlimited email broadcasts
  • Creator$33/month
    • Up to 1,000 subscribers
    • Unlimited visual automations
    • Email sequences
  • Pro$66/month
    • Up to 1,000 subscribers
    • Everything in Creator plan
    • Subscriber engagement scoring

LearnDash

$199/year
  • LearnDash LMS, 1 site$199/year
    • Single site licence
    • All course, quiz and certificate features
    • No share taken of course revenue
  • LearnDash LMS Plus, 10 sites$399/year
    • Up to ten sites
    • Same feature set
    • Suits agencies and multi brand operators
  • LearnDash LMS Pro, unlimited sites$799/year
    • Unlimited sites
    • Same feature set
    • Priced for agencies building for clients

Which should you pick?

Choose ConvertKit if

  • You need email marketing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want landing pages.
ConvertKit review

Choose LearnDash if

  • You need course builder.
  • You work on Web, WordPress.
  • You also want quiz engine.
LearnDash review

Questions people ask

Is ConvertKit or LearnDash better?
Neither clearly leads. ConvertKit starts at Free and LearnDash at $199/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ConvertKit or LearnDash?
ConvertKit has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ConvertKit and $199/year for LearnDash.
Does ConvertKit or LearnDash run on more platforms?
ConvertKit runs on Web. LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress.
Can I use ConvertKit for free?
Yes. ConvertKit has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. LearnDash starts at $199/year.
What is ConvertKit best used for?
ConvertKit is most often used for sending newsletters and email sequences to an audience, selling paid subscriptions and digital products to a mailing list. Of those, sending newsletters and email sequences to an audience and selling paid subscriptions and digital products to a mailing list are not what LearnDash is typically brought in for.
What can ConvertKit do that LearnDash cannot?
ConvertKit covers Email marketing, Landing pages, Subscriber tagging, Automation workflows. LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ConvertKit: How much does ConvertKit cost?

ConvertKit offers a free tier and two paid plans: Creator at $33/month (annual $390/year saving $78) and Pro at $66/month (annual $790/year saving $158). All plans include unlimited landing pages, email broadcasts, and audience management features.

Source
LearnDash: Does LearnDash take a percentage of my course sales?

No. It is a flat annual licence per site and you keep all revenue. That is the main financial argument against percentage based hosted platforms once sales volume is meaningful.

ConvertKit: What does the free ConvertKit plan include?

The free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers with unlimited landing pages, forms, email broadcasts, audience tagging, and digital product sales. No credit card required to start.

Source
LearnDash: What is the real total cost?

The licence plus hosting capable of handling your traffic, plus video hosting, plus an email service, plus whatever developer time keeps the stack working. Budget for the stack, not the plugin.

ConvertKit: What are the subscriber limits on ConvertKit plans?

The free plan supports up to 10,000 subscribers. Both Creator and Pro paid tiers support up to 1,000 subscribers. This creates a subscriber limit decrease when upgrading from free to paid plans.

Source
LearnDash: Should I use LearnDash Cloud instead?

If you want the plugin without administering WordPress, yes. You give up some of the cost advantage and some control in exchange for not being responsible for the server.

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