Educational institutions, training providers, and independent course owners still desire to get one-size-fits-all software to create online training courses. Are you interested in it too? Great!
Nowadays, different online course development provides toolkits and assets for hassle-free course creation. We should only choose. Easier said than done, of course. We all understand that there are too many factors we need to consider before the final decision.
On the one hand, online academies are more hungry for features and functionality that will allow them to sell courses and build automated pipelines. On the other hand, corporate training is looking for tools for deadline management and training effectiveness tracking.
Of course, you may have your own requirements, and most likely, they do, so let’s go through the list of the best online course software, and you can choose what suits you best.
What Is The Course Creation Software?
Online course creation software is a dedicated tech solution that provides learners with access to online lessons, lectures, and seminars. Most often, knowledge transfer is carried out through a variety of media content, including video, images, graphics, audio files, texts, etc.
When we are talking about a range of features for educators and course owners, course creation software helps design, develop, and deliver online learning content.
After studying the provided materials, learners are offered tasks for self-examination, as well as various tests and other forms of self-report.
Key Features to Look for in Online Course Creation Software
There are a few things to consider while choosing an online course software because they have a big impact on your content creation and business in general.
1. Functionality
Consider essential elements that you want to include in your online course: giving assignments to students, creating quizzes, or providing a variety of payment methods. It will influence your choice of learning management system (LMS) to build a course.
2. Payment solutions
You can also make sure that a chosen online course software offers payment solutions that are available to you as a business owner. Some online course creation platforms may charge a percentage of the income generated from the sale of each course, and this amount increases over time.
3. Integrations
The LMS integration helps you connect online course software with third-party platforms and market automation tools. For example, you can link online course software to your email marketing service, social media, or CRM software. Make sure your online course platform supports third-party integrations and has many ready-to-use ones.
4. Flexibility and freedom
Many online course platforms have terms and conditions that could affect your business. For example, they may not allow you to sell certain types of courses, or they may be able to shut down your entire business without any notice.
Some platforms provide less control you can have over your courses and, more importantly, in some cases, you cannot add new settings or features to your course.
5. Ease of use and support
As a course creator and entrepreneur, you want to choose the online course software that is easy for you to use. It should contain custom templates, be able to work with your website and offer good customer support. You should also consider whether your online course platform is convenient for students and clients.
6. Core authoring tools
| Category | Features Included |
| Content Authoring | Drag-and-drop builder, multimedia integration (videos, images, audio), quizzes |
| Course Management | Course templates, version control, scheduling, content duplication |
| User Engagement | Gamification, certificates, discussion forums, real-time feedback |
| Assessment Tools | Quizzes, exams, surveys, adaptive learning paths, gradebook integration |
| Collaboration | Instructor co-authoring, peer reviews, group projects |
| SCORM & Compliance | SCORM/xAPI compliance, accessibility (WCAG), regulatory tracking |
| Analytics & Reporting | Learner progress tracking, performance analytics, engagement metrics |
| Monetization | Payment gateway integration, subscription models, course bundling |
| Mobile Compatibility | Responsive design, native app support, offline learning |
With these criteria in mind, let’s take a look at the best online course platforms on the market today.
Top 5 Online Course Builder Software
By choosing one of the proven course software, you can set up a unique online educational business and independently customize the learning process for learners. Here are our highlights for the best online course software:
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Top online course software for large-scale courses → Open edX
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Online course software for professionals → Kajabi
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Online course software for automation → Thinkific
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Online course software for beginners → Teachable
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Online course software for interactive learning → Adobe Captivate
1. Top Open Source Pick: Open edX LMS
Open edX is a free online course software created by Harvard and MIT to deliver inspiring learning experiences. As the only massive open online course (MOOC) provider that’s both non-profit and open source, the software is a good choice for trainers and teachers who want to get their own customized and easy-to-use platform. We explained the increasing popularity and covered online course software features in detail in our review of Open edX LMS, but here are some of the main highlights.
Open edX software can help you launch any educational product you would like to deliver, grow and support your audience, present topics you care about, or make money online incredibly fast and with relative ease. Being a preferred Open edX service provider, The Raccoon Gang team is always ready to deliver innovative eLearning solutions to customize your courses.
List of features and advantages of the Open edX platform:
- Highly customizable and flexible
- Handles large volumes of learners
- Comprehensive authoring
- Modular content components (XBlocks)
- Advanced assessments
- Discussion forums
- Advanced analytics
2. Online course software for professionals: Kajabi
If you are pursuing the aim of creating an in-depth course for professionals, this platform can be a good choice. Kajabi is all-in-one course software with a user-friendly interface where any integrations can be easily set up, and a secure customer experience is guaranteed. A basic $119 subscription fee gives you access to an extensive library of themes and styling options, as well as the ability to automate email marketing and customize your finished course validation.
There are marketing automation tools that are the hallmark and best feature of Kajabi. Thanks to them, you can segment customers and launch personalized mailings that will attract even more potential students to you. The only drawback is that it is considered to be quite an expensive subscription fee.
List of features and advantages of the Kajabi:
- Focused on sales funnels and landing pages
- Membership sites
- Email Automation
- Payment processing
- Connects with popular tools
3. Online course software for Automation: Thinkific
The main policy of Thinkific is to help grow your educational empire. Here, you can find a wide variety of functions to help optimize the performance of any project. These include, for example, tools to launch email marketing or providing 24/7 customer support.
After uploading the course to the platform, you will be prompted to create a personal website. You will be able to choose a template from the ready-made Thinkific library. There are business tools that allow you to quickly and easily launch sales as soon as the course is ready.
List of features and advantages of the Thinkific:
- High automation level
- Flexible course player and themes
- Coupons and affiliate programs
- Forums and certificates
- Student progress analytics
4. Online course software for beginners: Teachable
If you are new to the educational business, we advise you to pay attention to this particular platform. Teachable is a good option for those who are just planning to launch their first course.
Teachable is a one-stop platform that allows you to easily create online courses and sell them without managing any software or installing updates. You can use Teachable on your domain name or add it as a subdomain to your existing website.
It is easy to use for creating courses, uploading content, and publishing it. It also includes marketing and analytics tools to help propel your course forward.
List of features and advantages of the Teachable:
- Simple course publishing
- Payment Processing
- Sales pages and coupons
- Progress tracking
- Basic Analytics
5. Online course software for interactive eLearning: Adobe Captivate
This software to create online training courses helps you build engaging mobile lessons in minutes and offers ready-to-use slides and a variety of interactive elements. The software considerably saves your time on content creation and allows you to automatically structure compound courses, copy the look of one object, and apply it to others.
If you like creating aesthetic course materials and you want to engage your students with something bigger than just text content, then Adobe Captivate should be on top of your online course software choices. On the other hand, this platform provides a difficult learning curve. You will probably have to buy extra software products to launch your course.
List of features and advantages of the Adobe Captivate:
- Advanced interactivity
- Automatic device adaptation
- Interactive software training
- Advanced quizzing
- Extensive audio and video tools
Conclusion
In conclusion, to choose the best online course platforms, it’s mandatory firstly to do some research: pay attention to any time restrictions, the monthly cost, and accessible marketing features. Consider comparing different LMS platforms as well since they offer varied tools and features that can align better with your requirements.
Each platform allows you to easily upload content, provide training for your learners, and generate sales. Also, consider the cost of curriculum development, which can impact your budget significantly.
Either way, we hope our Top 5 List of Online Course Creation Platforms has been helpful. We hope you achieve the goals you aim to reach as soon as possible, and Raccoon Gang is always ready to support you on the way to course creation.
