Best platforms to sell online courses: Skool, Systeme.io, ClickFunnels and Sellfy compared

The short answer: four ways to sell a course

There is no single best course platform, because the four here take four different approaches:

• Skool is a community first. Your course sits in a Classroom tab next to a discussion feed, live calls and a leaderboard, which suits coaching programs and paid memberships.
• Systeme.io is a budget all-in-one: course builder, funnels, email, website and community in one account, with a Free plan that never expires.
• ClickFunnels is a funnel builder with courses included, built for launches with checkout, upsells, order bumps and A/B tests.
• Sellfy is a creator store for downloads, streamed video and subscriptions with 0% transaction fees. It has no lesson-by-lesson course builder, so it fits a video course sold as a product rather than a full school.

If you are not sure yet, Systeme.io Free or Skool Hobby at $9 let you test demand cheaply.

How to choose a platform to sell online courses

These criteria change the decision for a course creator:

• Price model and transaction fees. A flat subscription, a cut of each sale, or both. Prices below are self-serve plans in US dollars per month.
• Free plan or trial. A free-forever plan lets you build and even sell before paying; a trial is a fixed window that usually ends in a charge.
• Course and student limits. Some plans cap courses, students or yearly sales.
• Community and live sessions. Cohorts and coaching need discussion and calls, not only video hosting.
• Marketing tools. Email, landing pages and upsells decide whether you need extra tools to sell.
• Refunds. Whether you can get your money back.

Prices and fees side by side

The payment processor takes its own fee on top everywhere. Skool Pro charges 3.9% + 30c on payments above $900.

Skool: best for courses inside a paid community

A Skool group combines a community feed, a Classroom for courses, a calendar for events and live calls, leaderboards and payments. Members earn a point for each like their posts and comments receive and climb 9 levels, and you can lock a course until a member reaches a certain level. It rewards members for taking part, which helps keep a paid membership active. The Skool review covers the details.

Both plans include unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, a custom URL and affiliates for your own group. The difference is the fee on member payments: Hobby is $9 a month with 10% + 30c per payment, while Pro is $99 a month with 2.9% + 30c on payments up to $899 and 3.9% + 30c above that. You can charge a membership or sell one-time course purchases, with weekly payouts to your bank.

Downsides: there is a 14-day free trial, but subscription fees are not refundable afterwards; member prices are set in USD only, and payouts work only in the countries on Skool's supported list. Skool is built around the group and lists no funnel or website builder, so a long sales page or lead funnel usually lives on another service.

Systeme.io: best for starting free

Systeme.io puts a course builder, a community builder, sales funnels, email marketing and automation, a website and blog, webinars and an affiliate program for your own products into one account. The Systeme.io review lists the full toolset.

The Free plan never expires and needs no credit card. It includes 1 course with up to 500 students, 1 community with unlimited members, 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 custom domain and unlimited email sends. Under the terms it has a lifetime revenue limit of USD 10,000. Paid plans raise the limits: Startup at $17 a month (5 courses, 5 communities, unlimited students, 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels), Webinar at $47 (20 courses, 10,000 contacts, evergreen webinars) and Unlimited at $97 (no limits on courses, contacts or funnels). Every plan has 0% transaction fees and accepts Stripe and PayPal, and annual billing gives 2 months free, per the Systeme.io pricing page.

Downsides: paid subscriptions are not refundable; the Free plan's limits on automation (1 rule) and email campaigns (1) are tight; and as an all-in-one tool it trades some depth for convenience.

ClickFunnels: best for funnel-led course launches

ClickFunnels starts from the sales funnel: landing pages, order forms, smart checkout, one-click upsells, order bumps and A/B testing, plus email sequences and a CRM. Courses, membership areas and communities are included in every plan; tiers differ by limits. Read the ClickFunnels review for the complete list.

Launch costs $97 a month or $81 billed annually and includes 3 courses, 10K contacts, 50K emails a month, 2 team members and 5 custom domains. Scale ($197, or $164 annually) allows 6 courses and 75K contacts; Optimize ($297, or $248 annually) 10 courses; and Dominate ($5,997 a year, annual only) 20 courses. Visitors are unlimited on every plan, unlimited funnels are marked as a limited-time offer, and ClickFunnels takes no percentage of your sales.

Downsides: it is the most expensive entry point here, and the 3-course cap on Launch matters if you plan a catalog. The 14-day trial needs a card and turns into a paid plan unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. Its pricing page promises a 30-day money-back guarantee, but the terms say sales are final.

Sellfy: best for selling video lessons and downloads

Sellfy is an online store for creators rather than a course platform. You can sell ebooks, video and audio files as digital downloads, offer video on demand through streaming instead of downloads, and charge weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions. Sellfy's features page does not list a lesson-by-lesson course builder, quizzes or a community, so a structured school with progress tracking is a better fit elsewhere. The Sellfy review covers its store tools.

Plans are Starter at $29 a month ($22 billed yearly) with sales up to $10k a year, Business at $79 ($59 yearly) up to $50k, and Premium at $159 ($119 yearly) up to $200k. Every plan includes unlimited products, a custom domain, email marketing and 0% transaction fees; you pay only the Stripe or PayPal processing fee (typically 2.9% + 30c). Upsells and cart abandonment emails start on Business.

Downsides: the 14-day trial needs no card, but you need a paid plan before your first sale. If you pass your plan's yearly sales cap and don't upgrade, Sellfy may charge a 2% fee on the excess. On the plus side, its 30-day money-back guarantee is the clearest refund promise here.

Skool vs Systeme.io: which one for your course?

• Choose Skool if the community is the product: a coaching program, a mastermind or a paid group where members post, join live calls and unlock lessons by taking part. You pay a fee on every member payment and need other tools for a sales website.
• Choose Systeme.io if the course is the product and you need to market it: it adds funnels, email, a website and a blog, takes 0% of your sales and lets you start free. Its community is simpler, and the Free plan stops at 1 course, 500 students and USD 10,000 of lifetime revenue.

On cost, the gap grows with your revenue. On $1,000 of monthly course sales paid in $100 payments, Skool Hobby's fee is $103 ($10 + 30c on each of 10 payments) on top of $9, and Skool Pro's is $32 on top of $99, while Systeme.io charges $0 in platform fees on Free or $17 on Startup. If you are still choosing between funnel tools, our Systeme.io vs ClickFunnels vs GoHighLevel comparison goes deeper.

What about Kajabi and Teachable?

Kajabi and Teachable are well-known dedicated course platforms, useful as reference points:

• Kajabi bundles courses, coaching, a website, email, funnels and a community. Its pricing page lists Basic at $143 a month billed annually with 2,500 contacts, a 14-day free trial, a 30-day money-back guarantee and 0% revenue share.
• Teachable focuses on course delivery with quizzes, drip content and student apps. Starter is $39 a month ($29 billed annually) with 5 products and a 7.5% transaction fee; Builder at $89 ($69 annually) drops the fee to 0%.

Both cost more than the entry plans above for a first course. For tools that run the rest of the business, see our list of best business software.

Trials and refunds

Two of the four don't refund subscription fees, so test before you pay. On Systeme.io, build on the Free plan and upgrade only when you hit a limit. On Skool, use the 14-day trial; you can cancel under Settings > Billing. ClickFunnels emails a reminder at least 7 days before the trial's first charge, and you must cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. Sellfy refunds in full within 30 days of upgrading. Whichever you choose, build your course and checkout during the trial and run one test purchase before your launch.