Learndash vs Tutor LMS
Features, use cases, pros and cons, and pricing side by side — and which one to pick.
Best for: Solo instructors and coaches selling their first courses on WordPress, Creators who want memberships, subscriptions, and bundles without extra plugins
Read the full Learndash reviewBest for: Educators and coaches who want to sell courses from their own WordPress site, Teams building a multi-instructor academy or marketplace with revenue sharing
Read the full Tutor LMS reviewCommission may apply at no extra cost
Learndash vs Tutor LMS: features compared
Compare key features side by side
Feature Comparison Summary
Which should you choose?
Choose Learndash if
- You want managed hosting with StellarSites Learning.
- You rely on Zoom, Mailchimp, or Zapier workflows.
Choose Tutor LMS if
- You prefer a one-time lifetime payment.
- You're launching a multi-instructor marketplace.
- You want built-in analytics and a Content Bank.
Learndash vs Tutor LMS: pros and cons
LearnDash packs a course builder, quizzes, memberships, and real-time reporting into one WordPress plugin, with a single license covering unlimited learners. You'll need your own site, annual billing starts at $259, and top features like AI outlines and group seat sales sit on higher tiers. Overall, it's a smart pick for creators and training teams who want full control on WordPress.
Pros
- One annual license covers unlimited courses and unlimited learners with no per-student fees, so your costs stay flat no matter how large your audience grows.
- MemberDash ships inside the plugin, so memberships, subscriptions, bundles, and drip content work without a third-party membership tool, with Stripe and PayPal payment support built in.
- The real-time reporting dashboard surfaces enrollment trends, completion rates, quiz score breakdowns, and at-risk learner flags, letting you fix weak lessons before students disengage.
Cons
- LearnDash runs as a WordPress plugin, so it's unusable if you don't have (or don't want) a WordPress site with compatible hosting — there's no standalone hosted version outside StellarSites.
- All three plans are billed annually only, starting at $259 per year, with no monthly payment option, making the upfront commitment larger than month-to-month competitors.
- The pricing page shows no free trial or refund window, so you can't test the plugin before committing to a full year.
Tutor LMS packs course building, native checkout, AI drafts, and multi-instructor marketplaces into one WordPress plugin — with no revenue cut and lifetime license options. You'll need hosting, a theme, and integrations like Zoom or WooCommerce for live classes and advanced selling. Overall, it's a strong, low-risk pick for WordPress owners who want full control.
Pros
- Native eCommerce keeps everything on your own WordPress site — checkout, order management, refunds, and coupon codes are built in, and Tutor LMS takes no percentage of your course revenue
- AI Studio generates a full course outline, lesson content, quiz questions, and themed images from a topic description, cutting first-draft time dramatically (you supply your own OpenAI API key)
- Unlimited courses and users on every paid tier, including the entry-level $199/year Individual plan, so a solo educator can build a complete academy on one license
Cons
- WordPress-only — you need an existing WordPress site, hosting, and a compatible theme before Tutor LMS is usable, which is more setup effort than hosted platforms like Teachable or Thinkific
- Many key workflows depend on third-party integrations — live classes require Zoom or Google Meet, and advanced selling often relies on WooCommerce or membership plugins you must configure separately
- AI Studio requires you to supply and pay for your own OpenAI API key, adding an ongoing external cost and configuration step not covered by the license
Learndash and Tutor LMS in detail
Learndash
LearnDash is a learning management system that runs as a WordPress plugin. It's built for solo instructors, coaches, businesses, and training teams that want to create, sell, and track courses on their own website. With over 100,000 active installs and 25 million learners taught, it scales from a single course to group sales for organizations.
Standout features
- Build a sellable course in a weekend
- Know what's working in your courses
- Memberships without extra plugins
- Sell to teams, not just individuals
Use cases
- Launch your first course as a solo instructor
- Sell memberships and recurring subscriptions
- Track learners as your program grows
- Sell to organizations with a teaching team
Tutor LMS
Tutor LMS is a WordPress plugin for creating, managing, and selling online courses. It serves two sides at once: learners get a continuous dashboard with lessons, quizzes, notes, and calendars, while instructors handle course building, gradebooks, and orders from one place. It fits solo educators, studios, academies, and multi-instructor marketplaces — the site reports 100,000+ eLearning websites running on it. A free version is available for testing.
Standout features
- A learner hub that keeps momentum
- Build visually, sell natively
- AI Studio clears the blank page
- Certificates anyone can verify
- Grow without switching tools
Use cases
- Launch a course without the blank page
- Run a multi-instructor marketplace
- Sell memberships and subscriptions
- Teach live cohorts
Pricing compared
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, before taxes and add-ons. Costs are per month.
| Pricing compared | Learndash | Tutor LMS |
|---|---|---|
| From (cheapest paid plan) | $21.58/mo Essentials | $16.58/mo Individual |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Money-back guarantee | Not stated | 30 days |
| Annual billing savings | — | — |
| Pricing model | Flat price | Flat price |
| Cost for 1 user | $21.58/mo Essentials plan, billed annually | $16.58/moCheaper Individual plan, billed annually |
| Cost for 5 users | $21.58/mo Essentials plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) | $16.58/mo Individual plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 10 users | $21.58/mo Essentials plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) | $16.58/mo Individual plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Cost for 25 users | $21.58/mo Essentials plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) | $16.58/mo Individual plan, billed annually · price per account (user limit not stated) |
| Plans | 3 | 6 |
| Prices checked | Checked Oct 12, 2026 | Checked Oct 13, 2026 |
| Price history | Tracking prices since Sep 30, 2026. No price change detected yet. | Tracking prices since Sep 30, 2026. No price change detected yet. |
- Cheapest plan that fits each team size. Per-user plans are multiplied by the number of users (respecting stated minimums and seat packs). Plans that include some users cost their base price plus the extra-user price for each user beyond those included. Flat-priced plans with no stated user limit are counted as one licence per user.
Cheaper for your team size
For 1 user (billed annually), Tutor LMS costs $16.58/mo vs Learndash at $21.58/mo.
Computed from published list prices on the dates shown. Excludes taxes, add-ons and promotions.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does either platform take a cut of my course sales?
No. Learndash and Tutor LMS both let you keep 100% of your course revenue. Neither platform takes a percentage cut of your sales.