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Communication · head to head

Disciple vs LearnDash

Disciple logo

Disciple

Communication

White-label community apps published under your own brand on iOS, Android and web

From
£599/month
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

  • Each has a real cost: Disciple the entry plan starts at £599 a month, so a community with a few hundred members pays more per head than almost any percentage-fee alternative, and the flat fee only wins above a revenue threshold you should calculate before signing.; 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: Disciple covers Native branded apps, LearnDash covers Course builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Disciple and LearnDash actually diverge.

Attributes where Disciple and LearnDash differ
AttributeDiscipleLearnDash
Starting price£599/month$199/year
Pricing modelPer month, flat fee with no transaction chargePer site per year
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, WordPress
CategoryCommunicationLMS

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Disciple

  • Native branded apps
  • Web community
  • Groups and feeds
  • Courses
  • Live streaming and video
  • Subscriptions and payments
  • Multi-tier membership
  • Push notifications and analytics

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.

Disciple

  • A membership body moving several thousand paying members off Facebook Groups into an app that carries its own name in the App Storenot LearnDash
  • A fitness or coaching business selling subscriptions where a percentage-based platform fee would cost more each month than a flat licencenot LearnDash
  • A sports club or faith organisation that wants push notifications to reach members directly rather than competing with a social feed algorithmnot LearnDash
  • A brand running a customer community that must live on its own domain and its own app listing for reasons of ownership or sponsorshipnot LearnDash

LearnDash

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

Where each one falls short

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

Disciple

  • The entry plan starts at £599 a month, so a community with a few hundred members pays more per head than almost any percentage-fee alternative, and the flat fee only wins above a revenue threshold you should calculate before signing.
  • Video is metered at 10,000 minutes on the entry plan and 20,000 on Pro, so a community that leans on live streaming will hit overage or a plan upgrade rather than the unlimited storage the marketing implies.
  • Owning your own App Store listing means owning App Store review, rejections and the annual developer account, and a policy change at Apple becomes your problem rather than the platform vendor's.
  • Apple and Google still take their cut of in-app purchases regardless of Disciple charging no transaction fee, so the zero percent claim applies to Disciple's share only and not to the total cost of collecting money in-app.
  • Pricing is in sterling, which introduces exchange rate exposure and, for some buyers, VAT handling that a US-billed competitor would not create.

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

Disciple

£599/month
  • Branded App$599/month
    • Branded iOS, Android and web apps
    • 5 admin seats
    • 10 groups
  • Branded App Pro$999/month
    • Unlimited admin seats and groups under fair use
    • Unlimited monetised courses
    • 20,000 video minutes
  • Organisation$3400/month
    • From £3,400 per month
    • Custom feature development
    • API access and custom integrations

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 Disciple if

  • You need native branded apps.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want web community.
Disciple review

Choose LearnDash if

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

Questions people ask

Is Disciple or LearnDash better?
Neither clearly leads. Disciple starts at £599/month and LearnDash at $199/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Disciple or LearnDash?
Disciple starts at £599/month and LearnDash at $199/year.
Does Disciple or LearnDash run on more platforms?
Disciple runs on Web, iOS, Android. LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress.
What is Disciple best used for?
Disciple is most often used for a membership body moving several thousand paying members off facebook groups into an app that carries its own name in the app store, a fitness or coaching business selling subscriptions where a percentage-based platform fee would cost more each month than a flat licence, a sports club or faith organisation that wants push notifications to reach members directly rather than competing with a social feed algorithm, a brand running a customer community that must live on its own domain and its own app listing for reasons of ownership or sponsorship. Of those, a membership body moving several thousand paying members off facebook groups into an app that carries its own name in the app store and a fitness or coaching business selling subscriptions where a percentage-based platform fee would cost more each month than a flat licence are not what LearnDash is typically brought in for.
What can Disciple do that LearnDash cannot?
Disciple covers Native branded apps, Web community, Groups and feeds, Courses. LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Disciple: How much does Disciple cost?

Branded App is £599 a month, Branded App Pro is £999 a month, and the Organisation tier starts at £3,400 a month. Annual billing gives two months free.

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.

Disciple: Does Disciple take a cut of member payments?

No. All plans are 0% transaction fees on Disciple's side. Apple and Google still take their standard in-app purchase commission, which is separate.

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.

Disciple: Is the app published under my brand?

Yes. iOS and Android apps go into the stores under your own name and branding, not as a section within a shared platform app.

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.

Disciple: Is there a member limit?

Plans advertise unlimited members subject to fair use. The real limits are admin seats, groups, courses and video minutes, which differ by plan.

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