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LMS · head to head

LearnDash vs Whatfix

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
Whatfix logo

Whatfix

LMS

In-application guidance and walkthroughs layered over enterprise software you did not build

From
On request
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.; Whatfix whatfix publishes no pricing, and contracts are typically scoped per target application, so extending guidance from Salesforce to Workday is a new commercial negotiation rather than a configuration change.
  • They diverge on capability: LearnDash covers Course builder, Whatfix covers Interactive walkthroughs.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnDash and Whatfix actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnDash and Whatfix differ
AttributeLearnDashWhatfix
Starting price$199/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer site per yearquote
PlatformsWeb, WordPressWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

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

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

Only in Whatfix

  • Interactive walkthroughs
  • Self-help widget
  • Smart tips and beacons
  • Mirror sandbox
  • Product Analytics
  • Desktop and mobile support
  • Content localisation
  • Segmentation

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 Whatfix
  • Organisations that already run WordPress and want courses on their own domain and brandnot Whatfix
  • Training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor accountnot Whatfix
  • Agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licencenot Whatfix

Whatfix

  • An ERP or CRM go-live where thousands of employees must change how they work and classroom training will not reach them allnot LearnDash
  • Reducing support tickets on a system where the same five questions account for most of the help desk volumenot LearnDash
  • Improving data quality by placing field-level guidance where users consistently enter the wrong valuenot LearnDash
  • A regulated organisation that needs employees to practise a process in a simulated environment before touching production datanot 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.

Whatfix

  • Whatfix publishes no pricing, and contracts are typically scoped per target application, so extending guidance from Salesforce to Workday is a new commercial negotiation rather than a configuration change.
  • Overlays are anchored to interface elements, so when the underlying vendor ships a UI change your guidance can break silently, and the user sees a walkthrough pointing at a button that has moved; ongoing content ownership is mandatory, not optional.
  • It masks poor interface design rather than fixing it, and organisations sometimes use it to avoid confronting a badly configured system, which leaves the underlying inefficiency in place and adds an annual licence to it.
  • Building good content is real work. A meaningful rollout takes weeks of authoring and testing per application, and the internal effort usually exceeds what the business case assumed.
  • Adding a JavaScript overlay to systems holding HR and financial data triggers a serious security review in regulated industries, and some organisations cannot get approval to inject third-party script into their ERP at all.

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

Whatfix

On request
  • Whatfix$undefined/year
    • Annual contract priced by application and user volume
    • Each target application typically licensed separately
    • Mirror and Product Analytics sold as additional modules

Which should you pick?

Choose LearnDash if

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

Choose Whatfix if

  • You need interactive walkthroughs.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
  • You also want self-help widget.
Whatfix review

Questions people ask

Is LearnDash or Whatfix better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnDash starts at $199/year and Whatfix at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnDash or Whatfix?
LearnDash starts at $199/year and Whatfix at On request.
Does LearnDash or Whatfix run on more platforms?
LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress. Whatfix runs on Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android.
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 Whatfix is typically brought in for.
What can LearnDash do that Whatfix cannot?
LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders. Whatfix covers Interactive walkthroughs, Self-help widget, Smart tips and beacons, Mirror sandbox.

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.

Whatfix: How much does Whatfix cost?

It is not published. Pricing is annual and scoped by application and user volume, with Mirror and Product Analytics as separate modules.

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.

Whatfix: How does it compare with WalkMe?

Functionally similar. The commercial difference is that SAP acquired WalkMe in 2024, so non-SAP buyers increasingly shortlist Whatfix as the independent alternative.

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.

Whatfix: Does it require changes to the target application?

No. It works as an overlay injected via a browser extension or a script, which is why the security review matters more than the technical effort.

Whatfix: Will guidance break when the vendor updates the UI?

It can. Content needs an owner who monitors and repairs it after vendor releases.

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