Teachable vs LearnDash | Podcastbricks

Teachable is a cloud-based, all-in-one LMS platform launched in 2014 (originally as Fedora). It’s designed to simplify course creation, marketing, and sales for creators with minimal technical expertise. As a Software as a Service (SaaS) model, Teachable handles hosting, security, and maintenance, allowing users to focus on content creation. It’s particularly popular among solopreneurs and small businesses due to its intuitive interface and integrated tools for selling courses.

LearnDash, launched in 2013, is a WordPress-based LMS plugin acquired by StellarWP in 2021. It’s tailored for users who prefer self-hosted solutions and want full control over their website and course content. LearnDash integrates seamlessly with WordPress, leveraging its vast ecosystem of themes and plugins for customization. It’s favored by educators, universities, and businesses that prioritize advanced course features and flexibility.

Key Differences in Philosophy

Teachable and LearnDash differ fundamentally in their approach:

Teachable is a hosted, all-in-one platform that prioritizes ease of use and quick setup. It’s ideal for beginners or those who want a streamlined solution without managing technical aspects like hosting or updates.
LearnDash focuses on course creation within the WordPress ecosystem, offering greater control and customization. It’s suited for users comfortable with WordPress or those needing complex features like advanced quizzing or gamification.

Feature Comparison

Course Creation

Both platforms support multimedia courses with videos, text, and quizzes, but their approaches vary.

Teachable: Offers a drag-and-drop course builder that’s intuitive for beginners. You can create courses, add lessons, and organize content using templates (e.g., blank, mini-course, or standard). Teachable supports video hosting with analytics like watch time and engagement, eliminating the need for third-party providers like Vimeo. However, its quiz functionality is limited to multiple-choice questions, and it lacks advanced assessment tools.
LearnDash: Provides a robust course builder with a visual drag-and-drop interface. It supports unlimited courses and users, even on its basic plan. LearnDash excels in assessments, offering eight question types (e.g., multiple-choice, essay, fill-in-the-blank), timed quizzes, and media integration. Its video progression feature allows instructors to control when students advance based on video completion. However, video hosting requires third-party services, which may add costs.

Winner: LearnDash, for its advanced quizzing and flexible course structure. Teachable is simpler but less feature-rich.

Customization and Design

Customization impacts branding and user experience.

Teachable: Offers limited design flexibility, especially on lower-tier plans. Users can adjust colors, fonts, logos, and navigation, but the platform’s templates are restrictive. Advanced customization requires coding in Liquid (Teachable’s programming language) or higher-tier plans (Professional or Business). The basic plan includes Teachable branding, which may detract from a professional look.
LearnDash: Leverages WordPress’s extensive theme and plugin ecosystem, offering near-unlimited customization. Users can choose from thousands of themes or use page builders like Elementor to design courses. However, out-of-the-box design options are minimal (e.g., basic color settings), and customization requires WordPress knowledge or additional plugins.

Winner: LearnDash, for its customization potential. Teachable’s simplicity comes at the cost of design freedom.

Hosting and Security

Hosting affects performance, scalability, and maintenance.

Teachable: As a hosted SaaS platform, Teachable manages hosting, security, and updates. It provides 2048-bit SSL certificates, monitoring against attacks, and a custom domain option. However, the free plan uses shared servers, which may lead to slower load times. Scalability is seamless, but users are locked into Teachable’s infrastructure.
LearnDash: Requires self-hosted WordPress, meaning users must secure their own hosting and domain. This adds setup complexity and costs (approximately $100-$300/year for hosting and domain). Users are responsible for security, updates, and maintenance, but they gain full control over data and scalability. LearnDash Cloud, a hosted version, starts at $25/month and includes hosting and add-ons like Solid Security Pro.

Winner: Teachable, for its hassle-free hosting. LearnDash Cloud narrows the gap, but self-hosted LearnDash requires technical effort.

Monetization and Sales

Monetization features determine how effectively you can sell courses.

Teachable: Excels in integrated sales tools, including payment processing (via Stripe, PayPal, or teachable:pay), subscriptions, coupons, and affiliate marketing. It supports multiple pricing options (one-time, memberships, bundles) and handles EU VAT. However, the free and basic plans charge transaction fees (10% + $1 and 5%, respectively), which can eat into profits. Teachable’s checkout process is streamlined but lacks advanced e-commerce features like two-step checkout.
LearnDash: Offers no transaction fees, a significant advantage for high-volume sellers. It supports PayPal and Stripe natively and integrates with e-commerce plugins like WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads for advanced features (e.g., subscriptions, memberships). However, these plugins often require annual fees ($100-$300/year). LearnDash’s sales process is less integrated, requiring third-party tools for marketing automation.

Winner: Teachable, for its built-in sales tools and beginner-friendly monetization. LearnDash is cost-effective for large-scale businesses but requires more setup.

Integrations

Integrations extend functionality for marketing, automation, and analytics.

Teachable: Provides native integrations with tools like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, and Google Analytics. Its built-in email automation allows action-based communications (e.g., course enrollment). For advanced automation, third-party tools like Zapier are needed, as Teachable lacks deep CRM integrations.
LearnDash: Benefits from WordPress’s vast plugin ecosystem, integrating with WooCommerce, GravityForms, bbPress, and more. Add-ons like BadgeOS enable gamification, while tools like Zapier or WPFusion connect to CRMs. However, additional plugins can increase costs and complexity.

Winner: LearnDash, for its extensive integration options via WordPress. Teachable’s integrations are sufficient but less flexible.

Reporting and Analytics

Analytics help track student progress and business performance.

Teachable: Offers detailed reporting on lesson completion, quiz scores, video engagement (e.g., heat maps), and sales. These features are available on higher-tier plans (Pro and above). The dashboard is user-friendly, providing insights into student behavior and revenue.
LearnDash: Includes ProPanel (free on Plus/Pro plans or LearnDash Cloud), offering real-time tracking of student progress, course completion, and quiz results. Widgets display data like pending assignments and essays, and reports can be shown on the front end. Video analytics depend on third-party hosting providers.

Winner: Tie. Teachable’s video analytics are a plus, but LearnDash’s ProPanel is comprehensive and included in most plans.

Customer Support

Support quality impacts user experience, especially for beginners.

Teachable: Provides email support for all plans, with live chat (Monday-Friday, 10 am-5 pm EST) for Professional and Business accounts. TeachableU, an online course library, and onboarding webinars aid setup. Some users report slow response times for complex issues.
LearnDash: Offers email support (Monday-Friday, 7 am-4 pm EST), which is effective for troubleshooting. The knowledge base is extensive, but there’s no live chat or phone support. LearnDash’s WordPress community provides additional resources via forums.

Winner: Teachable, for its broader support options, though LearnDash’s email support is reliable.

Pricing

Pricing is a critical factor for course creators.

Teachable:
- Free Plan: $1 + 10% transaction fee per sale, limited to one course, no drip feed or graded quizzes.
- Basic: $39/month ($468/year) + 5% transaction fee, includes unlimited courses, email automation.
- Pro: $119/month ($1,428/year), no transaction fees, advanced reporting, live chat.
- Business: $199/month ($2,388/year), custom user roles, 200 published products.
- Higher tiers are expensive, and transaction fees on lower plans reduce profitability.
LearnDash:
- Basic: $159/year (discounted from $199), 1 site license, unlimited courses/users, no transaction fees.
- Plus: $189/year, 10 site licenses, includes ProPanel.
- Pro: $329/year, 25 site licenses, additional features.
- LearnDash Cloud: Starts at $25/month ($300/year), includes hosting, ProPanel, and add-ons.
- Additional costs for hosting ($100-$300/year) and premium add-ons ($49/year each) apply for self-hosted plans.

Winner: LearnDash, for its lower cost and no transaction fees. Teachable’s free plan is appealing for testing, but its paid plans are pricier.

Ease of Use

Ease of use determines how quickly you can launch your course.

Teachable: Its setup wizard guides users through course creation, payment setup, and customization. The platform’s interface is beginner-friendly, requiring no coding or hosting knowledge. Courses can be launched in days, making it ideal for non-technical users.
LearnDash: The setup wizard configures courses and payments, but WordPress familiarity is needed for self-hosted setups. Installing themes, plugins, and hosting adds complexity. LearnDash Cloud simplifies this, but it’s still less intuitive than Teachable for beginners.

Winner: Teachable, for its streamlined setup and minimal learning curve.

Scalability and Long-Term Use

Scalability affects growth potential.

Teachable: Scales effortlessly with unlimited students and courses (on paid plans). However, its closed ecosystem limits advanced features, and high transaction fees or plan costs can hinder profitability as sales grow.
LearnDash: Scales well with WordPress’s flexibility, but self-hosted sites may face performance issues with high traffic unless optimized. LearnDash Cloud addresses this with managed hosting. Full control over content and data makes it ideal for long-term ownership.

Winner: LearnDash, for its control and cost-effectiveness at scale. Teachable is simpler but less flexible.

Pros and Cons

Teachable

Pros:

Beginner-friendly with quick setup.
Integrated hosting, security, and payment processing.
Built-in marketing tools (affiliates, email automation).
Video hosting with analytics.
Free plan for testing.

Cons:

Limited quiz and assessment options.
Transaction fees on lower plans.
Restricted customization, especially on basic plan.
Higher long-term costs.
No Android app, limited to iOS and web.

LearnDash

Pros:

Advanced quizzing and course features.
No transaction fees, cost-effective for high sales.
Extensive customization via WordPress.
Full control over content and data.
Robust integrations with WordPress plugins.

Cons:

Requires WordPress knowledge for self-hosted setups.
Additional costs for hosting and add-ons.
No built-in video hosting.
Steeper learning curve for beginners.
Limited customer support options.

Who Should Choose Teachable?

Teachable is ideal for:

Beginners or non-technical users who want a quick, hassle-free setup.
Solopreneurs or small businesses focused on selling courses without managing hosting.
Creators prioritizing marketing tools and integrated payments over advanced course features.
Those testing the market with a free or low-cost plan.

Who Should Choose LearnDash?

LearnDash is best for:

WordPress users comfortable with self-hosting or those using LearnDash Cloud.
Educators needing advanced quizzing, gamification, or custom assessments.
Businesses prioritizing long-term control, scalability, and cost savings.
Creators who want extensive customization and integration options.

Conclusion

Choosing between Teachable and LearnDash depends on your technical skills, budget, and course requirements. Teachable shines for its ease of use, integrated tools, and quick launch, making it perfect for beginners or those who value simplicity. However, its limited features, transaction fees, and higher costs can be drawbacks for scaling businesses. LearnDash offers superior flexibility, advanced course creation tools, and cost-effectiveness, especially for WordPress users or those prioritizing customization and assessments. Its learning curve and setup complexity may deter novices, though LearnDash Cloud mitigates this.

For most users, LearnDash is the better long-term choice due to its robust features, lower costs, and control over content. However, if you’re a beginner or need a fast, all-in-one solution, Teachable is a strong contender. Evaluate your priorities—simplicity versus flexibility—and test both platforms (Teachable’s free plan or LearnDash’s demo) to make an informed decision.