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LMS · head to head

LearnDash vs Teachable

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
Teachable logo

Teachable

LMS

Create and sell courses online

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Teachable starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee, significantly higher than other plans
  • They diverge on capability: LearnDash covers Quiz engine, Teachable covers Quizzes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnDash and Teachable actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnDash and Teachable differ
AttributeLearnDashTeachable
Starting price$199/year$29/month
Pricing modelPer site per yearUnknown
PlatformsWeb, WordPressWeb
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

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 LearnDash

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

Only in Teachable

  • Quizzes
  • Coaching products
  • Payment processing
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Email marketing
  • Analytics
  • Zapier
  • ConvertKit

Both cover

  • Course builder
  • Certificates

What people use each for

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

LearnDash

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

Teachable

  • Course creationnot LearnDash
  • Coaching servicesnot LearnDash
  • Digital productsnot LearnDash
  • Membership sitesnot LearnDash

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Teachable

  • Starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee, significantly higher than other plans
  • Student limits lift only at $10k+ annual sales for higher plans
  • No free tier, only 7-day trial
  • Custom plan requires sales contact with minimum $30k/year revenue

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Teachable

$29/month
  • Starter$39/month
    • 5 products
    • 100 active students
    • 7.5% transaction fee
  • Builder$89/month
    • 10 products
    • 1000 active students
    • 0% transaction fee
  • Growth$189/month
    • 50 products
    • 5000 active students
    • 0% transaction fee
  • Custom$undefined/month
    • Unlimited products
    • Dedicated success manager
    • Custom pricing

Which should you pick?

Choose LearnDash if

  • You need quiz engine.
  • You work on Web, WordPress.
  • You also want groups and group leaders.
LearnDash review

Choose Teachable if

  • You need quizzes.
  • You also want coaching products.
Teachable review

Questions people ask

Is LearnDash or Teachable better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnDash starts at $199/year and Teachable at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnDash or Teachable?
LearnDash starts at $199/year and Teachable at $29/month.
Does LearnDash or Teachable run on more platforms?
LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress. Teachable runs on Web.
What is LearnDash best used for?
LearnDash is most often used for a creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer would, organisations that already run wordpress and want courses on their own domain and brand, training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor account, agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licence. Of those, a creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer would and organisations that already run wordpress and want courses on their own domain and brand are not what Teachable is typically brought in for.
What can LearnDash do that Teachable cannot?
LearnDash covers Quiz engine, Groups and group leaders, Commerce integration, Ownership of data. Teachable covers Quizzes, Coaching products, Payment processing, Affiliate marketing. Both handle Course builder, Certificates.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Teachable: Does Teachable have a free plan?

Teachable offers a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, but no permanent free plan. The Starter plan costs $39/month (or $29/month annually).

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.

Teachable: What are the transaction fees?

Starter plan charges 7.5% transaction fee. Builder, Growth, and Advanced plans charge 0% transaction fees. Additional payment processing fees of 2.9%-4.99% plus per-transaction charges apply depending on payment method.

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.

Teachable: What integrations are available?

Teachable integrates with Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics, Calendly, Zoom, and other tools via the App Hub.

Source
Teachable: How many courses can I create?

Starter plan allows 5 products, Builder allows 10, Growth allows 50, and Advanced allows 100 courses.

Source
Teachable: What is included in certificate features?

Course certificates are available starting on the Growth plan ($139/month annually). Certificates can be customized with branding and are generated automatically when students complete courses.

Source
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