This article references an older version of our platform. While the core features and benefits still apply, LearnDash Cloud has evolved into StellarSites Learning — a streamlined way to launch, host, and grow your course website faster than ever. Explore StellarSites Learning for the most up-to-date experience.

Navigating the various Learning Management Systems (LMSs) on the market can be tedious, but making the right choice is crucial for the success of your new online course.

The elearning platform you choose will affect every aspect of the learner experience, from how you sell and market your course, to the tools you have to build an engaging course, and to the options you have for communicating with and supporting your students.

Broadly speaking, elearning platforms break down into two camps: hosted, all-in-one solutions and open source, self-hosted LMS platforms (LearnDash offers both, by the way!) Today we’re focusing on two cloud-based options for your online courses: Teachable and LearnDash Cloud.

Teachable is a cloud-based solution that provides a no-code platform to create and sell courses, coaching, and digital downloads. The product emphasizes being able to launch your courses quickly so that you can start earning money as soon as possible. 

LearnDash Cloud is also a cloud-based solution that gives you everything you need to start your course. It is built on WordPress and gives you customizable templates that align with your brand. 

To compare these options, we’ll look at price, sales structure, membership compatibility, and other features. Let’s get started comparing these two options! 

Pricing

We know price is one of the first concerns for many potential customers. LearnDash Cloud comes in three different packages, starting at $25/month. Licenses renew annually, and all our licenses come with numerous free add-ons to expand your course functionality, such as ProPanel, Solid Security Pro, and Object Cache Pro.

Teachable pricing starts at $39/month and charges a 5% transaction fee every time you sell a course. Additionally, this level is limited in the functions it offers. Their next tier costs $119/month. It includes more features, but still does not offer custom user roles and only comes with 50 published products. They also offer a third tier at $199/month that includes custom user roles and 200 published products, but no custom pricing or migration assistance.

In summary, if you get the basic plan from Teachable, it’s $468/year plus a 5% transaction fee. If you go with LearnDash, it is $300/year with no other fees—leaving you margin to cover the rest of your operating costs (a huge win for your business!)

Reporting

On the pro plan and up ($119/month), Teachable gives you reporting tools. Available reporting includes lesson completion, video stats, quiz scores, and leaderboards. 

With LearnDash Cloud ($25/month), all users get ProPanel as part of their plan, meaning that you have reporting tools right at your fingertips! ProPanel 3.0 makes data-driven decisions easy.  Enjoy an all-in-one dashboard page with quiz reports, filters, and charts. 

Reporting is an important part of understanding your learner’s progress and deciding next steps for your courses. Whether you choose Teachable or LearnDash Cloud, make sure that you can utilize reporting tools. 

Sales

Teachable is very focused on making it easy for you to sell your courses. They provide easy set up and configuration as well as a lot of integrations to other third-party products. Getting started on your course can be fast and effective, but it comes at a cost.

As previously mentioned, Teachable charges a 5% transaction fee. This transaction fee means the more courses you sell, the larger their cut. The other option is upgrading plans, requiring you to pay $199/month or more. 

With LearnDash Cloud, you have access to all the tools you need at a fraction of the cost. LearnDash Cloud does not collect transaction fees. You can connect quickly to Stripe for easy payment.

And, because LearnDash Cloud is built on WordPress, you have more options for how you want to customize the appearance and user flow of your sales and checkout process. 

Assessment

Teachable offers a few ways to assess learners, such as multiple choice quizzes. They also have an AI Quiz Generator that is available on any plan. Teachable also offers certificates. 

With LearnDash, there countless ways to assess, such as:

• Creating a bank of questions to make it easier to build or even randomize quizzes.
• Choosing from eight different quiz question types, including multiple choice, single choice (true or false), free choice, sorting, matching, fill-in-the-blank, essay (free form), assessment (survey.)
• Weighting the number of points a learner receives for each correct answer.
• Providing students with a certificate. 
• Offering hints, which can include images, lists, or custom HTML formatting.
• Displaying answer feedback for each question.
• Posting quiz scores to a leaderboard so learners can see how they performed relative to their peers.
• Enabling assignment uploads, along with advanced management options for viewing, approving, commenting, and assigning points for assignments.

All that is included in LearnDash’s core functionality. 

Additionally, because we’re built on WordPress, you can integrate with other WordPress online education plugins. Using 3rd party plugins can expand the functionality of your WordPress course to include branching scenarios, interactive elements (flash cards, memory games, and interactive videos), and other gamification elements.

Gamification

Gamification enhances participation and motivation in your students, so it can bring value to your courses! Currently, Teachable does not have gamification options on their platform.

LearnDash Cloud has several options for gamification. LearnDash Achievements lets educators award badges and points to students based on various course triggers. These triggers can be assigned to specific actions, and the points are separate from a student’s grade score, giving educators more ways to introduce rewards and friendly competition into their course.

For instance, you can create a special badge for a student to receive after they complete a specific quiz at the end of a module. The more modules they complete, the more badges they earn. Or, you can award students ten points every time they complete a quiz, and post those points to a leaderboard. Students who want to score at the top of the leaderboard will be encouraged to take more quizzes.

If you’re looking for a real-life example of gamification in a course, check out this customer spotlight! Jay Postones incorporates gamification in an engaging way.

There are many other ways to add gamification to your LearnDash Cloud course, all of which are possible either through LearnDash’s core functionality, 3rd party plugins, or custom development.

User Roles & Membership

Next, let’s look at a common need in the elearning community: membership sites. If you’re trying to create an online course with a diverse and engaged community, you’ll need various capabilities, such as the ability to assign users to groups, the ability to create custom user roles with specific sets of permissions, and the ability to integrate with a forum where your students can discuss the material and engage with their peers.

Teachable has a membership platform starting at $39/month, which includes a 5% transaction fee. Teachable’s memberships are also limited. Based on the subscription level, you are limited in published products, admin and author seats, transaction fees, and customizations.

With LearnDash Cloud, you can integrate with a number of popular WordPress membership plugins, including MemberDash. MemberDash offers reporting, simplified account management, customization, and integration with LearnDash Cloud. 

Emails & Automation.

Teachable includes integrated email marketing and drip course content on all paid plans. They include options for sending automated emails upon the completion of certain actions, and integrate with popular services like MailChimp and Zapier.

On LearnDash Cloud, you can also schedule a drip feed of content, as well as send emails without a 3rd party plugin (but, there are integrations available too!) For more automations, our Notifications add-on allows our users to email students depending on certain triggers, like passing or failing a quiz. Emails can even include dynamic content based on a student’s unique activity.

Support Along the Way

It’s essential to choose products that provide support when you need it. Teachable offers a support page with information on various topics. Upon signing in, you can also contact support directly.

At LearnDash, we offer After Hours 24/7 support for urgent matters to LearnDash Cloud customers. This ensures that you can get assistance whenever you need it. Additionally, we have a support page featuring information on key topics and a form for submitting your questions.

Ultimately the decision is up to you. Both options will host your courses quickly.

LearnDash Cloud and Teachable both offer an easy setup, but the decision shouldn’t end there. LearnDash Cloud provides more flexibility and long-term freedom. Because LearnDash Cloud is built on WordPress, it can be configured exactly the way you want.

Teachable is great at selling a simple course quickly. With this benefit, you hand over a portion of your sales. But if you want to keep more income and increase flexibility while building a higher quality online education experience, then LearnDash Cloud is the best option for you. 

Don’t just take our word for it! Check out LearnDash Cloud and try it out in the demo!