You have recorded your course, edited the videos, and written the curriculum. Now comes the decision that will shape every dollar you earn from this point forward: which platform do you sell on?
This is not a trivial choice. The platform you pick determines whether you own your audience or rent it, how much of each sale you keep, what your students' experience looks like, and how easily you can scale from one course to a full-blown online school. Pick wrong, and you might spend a year building a business on someone else's terms only to realize you need to start over.
We spent weeks testing five of the most popular course platforms in 2026 — Udemy, Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, and courses123.eu — from the perspective of a first-time course creator working from home. We signed up for every free plan, clicked every button, uploaded test courses, and compared the real costs (not just the sticker prices). Here is what we found.
What Actually Matters When Choosing a Platform
Before diving into individual reviews, let us establish the criteria that matter most. Every platform has a features page that looks impressive. The real questions are different:
Do you own your audience? Can you export your student email list? Can you email them directly? If you leave the platform, do your students come with you?
What is the true cost? Monthly fees are only part of the equation. Transaction fees, payment processing fees, and upsell costs for features you actually need can double or triple the headline price.
Can you start without risk? If you are creating your first course, you do not want to commit $100 per month before you have made a single sale. The best platforms let you prove the concept first.
How does it look to your students? Branding matters. A professional-looking school on your own domain builds trust. A course page that looks like every other course on a marketplace does not.
What happens when you grow? Features that seem unnecessary today — email marketing, multiple courses, team access, advanced analytics — become essential when your course business takes off.
Platform 1: Udemy — The Marketplace Giant
Udemy at a Glance
The world's largest course marketplace with 70+ million students. You upload your course and Udemy handles discovery, payments, and hosting. In exchange, they control pricing and own the student relationship.
How it works: Udemy is a marketplace, not a platform you build on. You upload your course, set a price (which Udemy may override), and students discover you through Udemy's search and promotions. Think of it as Amazon for courses.
The revenue split problem: If a student finds your course through Udemy's organic traffic or promotions, you keep only 37% of the sale. If you bring the student yourself through your own marketing link, you keep 97%. The catch is that Udemy frequently runs site-wide sales — slashing your $199 course to $12.99 without asking — and most of your sales will come through those promotions at the 37% rate. On a $12.99 sale at 37%, you earn $4.81.
The audience problem: Udemy does not give you student email addresses. You cannot contact your students outside the Udemy messaging system. You cannot offer them your next course directly. Every student belongs to Udemy, not to you. If you leave Udemy, you leave your audience behind.
When Udemy makes sense: If you want passive income with zero marketing effort and you do not care about building a brand, Udemy can work. It is also useful as a top-of-funnel discovery tool — some creators use Udemy to attract students, then direct them to their own platform for premium courses.
The Verdict on Udemy
Udemy is a great place to learn how to create courses. It is a terrible place to build a course business. You are a tenant, not an owner. Every student, every review, every sale exists on Udemy's terms. For a first course creator testing the waters, it can be useful. For anyone serious about building a sustainable income stream from courses, you need to own the relationship.
Platform 2: Teachable — The Popular Choice
Teachable at a Glance
One of the most well-known course platforms. Offers a free plan with significant limitations, then paid plans from $39 to $119 per month. You build your own school on a Teachable subdomain or custom domain.
How it works: Teachable lets you build a branded course website, upload your content, set your own prices, and handle payments. Unlike Udemy, you own the student relationship and can email your audience directly.
The pricing reality: Teachable's free plan exists, but it is extremely limited — you can publish courses, but you face a $1 + 10% transaction fee on every sale, and you miss out on critical features like coupons, custom domains, and email marketing. Most creators outgrow the free plan within their first month.
The Basic plan at $39 per month still charges a 5% transaction fee on every sale. If you sell a $100 course, Teachable takes $5 on top of your monthly fee. On the Pro plan at $119 per month, the transaction fee drops to 0%, but now you are paying $1,428 per year before you have sold a single course. For a new creator making $500 per month in revenue, that is nearly a third of your income going to the platform.
The feature gap: Many features that you would expect to be included — advanced reports, priority support, unbranded course pages, affiliate marketing — are locked behind the Pro or Business plans. Teachable's email tool is basic and many creators end up paying for a separate email platform anyway.
When Teachable makes sense: If you have an established audience and you are confident you will generate enough revenue to justify $39-$119 per month from day one, Teachable is a solid, well-documented platform with a large community and plenty of tutorials.
Platform 3: Thinkific — The Feature-Rich Alternative
Thinkific at a Glance
A direct competitor to Teachable with a slightly different feature set. Free plan available but limited to one course. Paid plans range from $49 to $199 per month. Strong on community features and site building.
How it works: Thinkific is similar to Teachable in concept — you build your own branded course site, upload content, and sell directly to students. Thinkific has a slight edge in site-building tools and community features.
The pricing reality: Thinkific's free plan limits you to one course and strips out essential features like custom domains, certificates, email integrations, and drip content. It is fine for testing but not for running a business. The Basic plan at $49 per month (billed annually, or $74 monthly) gives you unlimited courses and students but still locks several features behind higher tiers. The Pro plan at $99 per month adds communities, advanced analytics, and priority support. The Premier plan at $199 per month unlocks everything.
One advantage over Teachable: Thinkific does not charge transaction fees on any paid plan. However, you are still paying standard payment processing fees through Stripe or PayPal (typically 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).
The community advantage: Thinkific has invested heavily in community features — learning communities, group spaces, and discussion areas built into your course site. If community is central to your course experience, Thinkific does it well.
When Thinkific makes sense: If you want a polished course site with strong community features and you have the budget to commit to $49-$99 per month, Thinkific is a strong choice. It is particularly well-suited for creators who build courses around cohort-based learning and peer interaction.
Platform 4: Kajabi — The All-in-One Powerhouse
Kajabi at a Glance
An all-in-one business platform that combines course hosting, website building, email marketing, landing pages, and sales funnels. Powerful, but with a price tag to match. No free plan available.
How it works: Kajabi markets itself as the only platform you need. It replaces your course hosting, website builder, email marketing tool, landing page builder, and sales funnel software — all in one dashboard. You can build a complete online business without integrating third-party tools.
The pricing reality: Kajabi's Basic plan starts at $149 per month (billed annually, or $199 monthly). The Growth plan runs $199 per month, and the Pro plan is $399 per month. There is no free plan and no free trial beyond 14 days. At minimum, you are committing $1,788 per year. For a creator just starting out, that is a massive upfront investment with no guarantee of return.
The value proposition: To be fair, Kajabi replaces several tools. If you are currently paying separately for a website ($30/mo), email marketing ($50/mo), landing pages ($30/mo), and course hosting ($50/mo), Kajabi at $149 per month might actually save you money. The platform is genuinely excellent — beautiful templates, robust email automation, and solid analytics.
The overkill problem: Most first-time course creators do not need sales funnels, automated email sequences, and multi-product pipelines on day one. Kajabi is built for creators running established businesses with $500K or more in annual revenue. If you are creating your first $49 course, paying $149 per month is like renting a warehouse to sell lemonade.
When Kajabi makes sense: If you are already generating significant revenue from online courses and you want to consolidate your tech stack into one tool, Kajabi is best-in-class. It is also ideal for coaches and consultants who sell high-ticket programs and need sophisticated marketing automation.
Platform 5: courses123.eu — The European Challenger
courses123.eu at a Glance
A European course platform and marketplace built for creators who want to start without financial risk. Free to launch, pay only when you sell. Includes branded school, protected video hosting, auto-issued diplomas, and a built-in marketplace for cross-traffic.
How it works: courses123.eu takes a fundamentally different approach to course platform pricing. Instead of charging monthly fees upfront, you pay nothing to create your school. The platform earns when you earn — a 10% transaction fee on the free plan that drops to 0% as you move up to higher plans. No credit card required. No trial period that expires. You build, you launch, and you pay only when a student pays you.
This is the model that most first-time course creators need. You do not gamble $50-$150 per month hoping students will show up. You invest that money into marketing, better equipment, or additional course development instead.
What Sets courses123.eu Apart
Your own branded school: Every creator gets their own school on a subdomain (e.g., yourname.courses123.eu) or you can connect a custom domain for a fully white-labeled experience. Your school, your brand, your identity — students see you, not a platform.
Protected video hosting: This is a feature that many creators overlook until it is too late. courses123.eu uses token-authenticated video delivery, which means your videos cannot be directly downloaded or hotlinked. Every video stream requires a valid, time-limited token. This is not foolproof piracy prevention (nothing is), but it is a significant step up from platforms that serve videos through standard players with easily extractable URLs.
39 languages out of the box: If you are a European creator, your audience likely spans multiple countries and languages. courses123.eu's interface is available in 39 languages, so a German creator selling to French students can offer a localized experience without any extra work. Try doing that on Teachable or Kajabi without custom CSS hacks.
Auto-issued diplomas with verification: When a student completes your course, they automatically receive a diploma with a unique verification link. This is not just a PDF certificate — anyone can verify its authenticity through the verification URL. For professional courses, corporate training, and continuing education, this feature adds significant perceived value to your courses at no extra cost.
Free unlimited email: Most platforms either include basic email (Teachable) or charge extra for email marketing (Thinkific integrations). courses123.eu lets you connect your own SMTP server and send unlimited emails to your students — announcements, promotions, new course launches, drip sequences — without paying per-subscriber fees to Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
Marketplace cross-traffic: This is where courses123.eu combines the best of both worlds. Like Udemy, there is a marketplace where students browse and discover courses. Unlike Udemy, you own the student relationship. When a student from the marketplace enrolls in your course, they become your student — you get their email, you can contact them, and you can sell them your next course directly. You get the discovery benefit of a marketplace without giving up ownership.
Stripe direct payouts: Your revenue goes directly to your Stripe account. courses123.eu does not hold your money, batch payments, or impose minimum payout thresholds. You sell, the money hits your account on Stripe's standard schedule.
EU-based, GDPR-ready: For European creators, data protection compliance is not optional — it is the law. courses123.eu is built as a European platform with GDPR compliance baked in. You do not need to worry about whether your student data is being processed on US servers under questionable legal frameworks.
Side-by-Side Comparison: The Numbers That Matter
Let us cut through the marketing and compare what you actually pay and keep on each platform. We will use a realistic scenario: you sell 50 copies of a $79 course in your first month ($3,950 gross revenue).
Scenario: 50 Sales at $79 Each ($3,950 Gross)
Udemy: If most sales come through Udemy promotions (realistic), your course is likely discounted to $14.99. At 37% revenue share: 50 x $14.99 x 0.37 = $277 in your pocket. If you bring all traffic yourself at 97%: 50 x $79 x 0.97 = $3,831 — but then why do you need Udemy?
Teachable (Basic, $39/mo): $3,950 minus $39 monthly fee minus 5% transaction fee ($197.50) minus Stripe fees (~$130) = $3,583 in your pocket.
Thinkific (Basic, $49/mo): $3,950 minus $49 monthly fee minus Stripe fees (~$130) = $3,771 in your pocket.
Kajabi (Basic, $149/mo): $3,950 minus $149 monthly fee minus Stripe fees (~$130) = $3,671 in your pocket.
courses123.eu (Free plan): $3,950 minus 10% transaction fee ($395) minus Stripe fees (~$130) = $3,425 in your pocket.
At 50 sales per month, all self-hosted platforms perform similarly — the difference is just $100-$350. But here is what the math hides: with Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi, you paid your monthly fee every month before you made those 50 sales, including the months when you sold zero. With courses123.eu, your cost in a zero-sale month is exactly $0. For a new creator, that difference in risk is everything.
The First Six Months Reality Check
Most first-time course creators do not sell 50 copies in month one. The realistic trajectory looks more like: Month 1 (3 sales), Month 2 (7 sales), Month 3 (12 sales), Month 4 (18 sales), Month 5 (30 sales), Month 6 (50 sales). Over those six months, here is what each platform costs you in monthly fees alone — before transaction fees:
Udemy: $0 in fees (but you gave up your audience and your pricing power)
Teachable Basic: $234 in monthly fees ($39 x 6)
Thinkific Basic: $294 in monthly fees ($49 x 6)
Kajabi Basic: $894 in monthly fees ($149 x 6)
courses123.eu Free: $0 in monthly fees (you paid transaction fees only on actual sales)
That $894 you would have paid to Kajabi over six months? On courses123.eu, you could invest it in advertising, better equipment, or your second course.
The Decision Framework
After testing all five platforms extensively, here is our honest recommendation based on where you are in your course creation journey:
Choose Udemy if...
You want passive income with minimal effort and you do not care about building your own brand. You are okay with Udemy controlling your prices, running constant sales, and owning your student relationships. Udemy works as a side channel, not a primary business.
Choose Teachable or Thinkific if...
You have an existing audience and a marketing budget, and you are confident you can generate consistent revenue to justify $39-$99 per month from the start. Both are mature, well-documented platforms with large communities. Choose Teachable for simpler setup, Thinkific for stronger community features.
Choose Kajabi if...
You are running a $500K+ education business and you want to consolidate your tech stack into one platform. Kajabi is best-in-class for creators who need advanced email automation, sales funnels, and multi-product businesses — and who have the revenue to justify $149-$399 per month.
Choose courses123.eu if...
You want to start without financial risk and build your course business on your own terms. You want a branded school, protected videos, auto-issued diplomas, marketplace discovery, and unlimited email — without paying a cent until you make your first sale. You are a European creator who needs multi-language support and GDPR compliance. Or you are simply a budget-conscious creator anywhere in the world who believes the platform should earn when you earn, not before.
If you are creating your first course in 2026, start on courses123.eu. Build your school, upload your content, validate your idea, and start selling — all without spending a dollar on platform fees. If your course business grows to the point where the 10% transaction fee exceeds what you would pay on a fixed-fee platform, upgrade to a higher plan with reduced or zero transaction fees. You will have made that decision from a position of strength, with real revenue data, rather than gambling on monthly fees before your first sale.
Beyond the Platform: What Really Drives Course Sales
Here is a truth that no platform comparison article wants to tell you: the platform matters far less than your content, your marketing, and your ability to solve a real problem for your students. A mediocre course on Kajabi will sell worse than an excellent course on courses123.eu's free plan. A brilliant course on any platform will fail if nobody knows it exists.
The platform is infrastructure. It should be reliable, affordable, and invisible. Your students should see your brand, your content, and your expertise — not a platform logo. The best platform is one that gets out of your way, does not drain your budget before you have proven your idea, and scales with you as your business grows.
That is why, for most new creators, we recommend starting with the lowest-risk option. Build your course, test your market, find your audience, and iterate. Once you have revenue flowing, you can make informed decisions about which features justify which price points.
Three Steps to Launch This Week
Step 1: Sign up for a free school on courses123.eu. It takes under five minutes. Choose your school name, customize your branding, and explore the dashboard.
Step 2: Upload your first course module. Even if your course is not finished, uploading the first few lessons lets you see exactly how your content will look to students — and gives you momentum to finish the rest.
Step 3: Set your price and share your course link. Start with your personal network, social media, and relevant online communities. Every sale validates your idea and funds your next step.
The best time to launch was yesterday. The second best time is right now. And with a platform that costs nothing to start, there is genuinely no reason to wait.
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