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LMS · head to head

LearnDash vs LearnUpon

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
LearnUpon logo

LearnUpon

LMS

Multi-portal learning management for training employees, customers and partners from one instance

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.; LearnUpon pricing counts registered users, so a partner or customer audience with many dormant accounts pays full price for people who log in once a year, and the finance case degrades as the population grows.
  • They diverge on capability: LearnDash covers Course builder, LearnUpon covers Multiple portals.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnDash and LearnUpon actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnDash and LearnUpon differ
AttributeLearnDashLearnUpon
Starting price$199/yearOn request
Pricing modelPer site per yearquote
PlatformsWeb, WordPressWeb, 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 LearnUpon

  • Multiple portals
  • Central course library
  • Compliance and recertification
  • Learning paths
  • Ecommerce
  • SCORM and xAPI support

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

LearnUpon

  • A software company that must train staff, certify customers and enable resellers without three separate systemsnot LearnDash
  • Compliance training where the auditor asks for a dated completion record per named employeenot LearnDash
  • Selling certification courses to customers as a revenue line rather than a cost centrenot LearnDash
  • Franchise or dealer networks needing separately branded portals under central content controlnot 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.

LearnUpon

  • Pricing counts registered users, so a partner or customer audience with many dormant accounts pays full price for people who log in once a year, and the finance case degrades as the population grows.
  • The multi-portal design carries administration overhead that a single audience organisation pays for without benefit.
  • Reporting is adequate for completion and compliance and thin for measuring whether training changed behaviour, so organisations needing that add a separate analytics layer.
  • Content authoring is not included at the depth of a dedicated authoring tool, so most customers also licence something like an authoring suite and manage two vendors.
  • Complex competency frameworks, multi year programme structures and academic style progression are not modelled well, which limits it in regulated professions with formal qualification pathways.

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

LearnUpon

On request
  • LearnUpon$undefined/year
    • Quoted by registered user tier and number of portals
    • Annual contracts
    • Not comparable with per active user or per course competitors without modelling

Which should you pick?

Choose LearnDash if

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

Choose LearnUpon if

  • You need multiple portals.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want central course library.
LearnUpon review

Questions people ask

Is LearnDash or LearnUpon better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnDash starts at $199/year and LearnUpon at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnDash or LearnUpon?
LearnDash starts at $199/year and LearnUpon at On request.
Does LearnDash or LearnUpon run on more platforms?
LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress. LearnUpon runs on Web, 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 LearnUpon is typically brought in for.
What can LearnDash do that LearnUpon cannot?
LearnDash covers Course builder, Quiz engine, Certificates, Groups and group leaders. LearnUpon covers Multiple portals, Central course library, Compliance and recertification, Learning paths.

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.

LearnUpon: How is LearnUpon priced?

By registered user tier and the number of portals, quoted rather than published. That unit is not comparable with per active user or per course pricing, so model your own population before comparing quotes.

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.

LearnUpon: Can customers and employees be kept separate?

Yes, that is the main design point. Separate portals have their own branding, administrators and catalogues, while sharing courses from one library.

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.

LearnUpon: Does it handle recurring compliance training?

Yes. Recertification cycles, automatic reassignment and per user dated completion records are built in and are a common reason for purchase.

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