Buying guide
The best free online course platforms
This guide is for creators choosing software to build, sell and deliver their own course. It does not compare free course catalogues for learners such as Coursera, edX or Alison.
Payhip is the most practical free starting point for selling a simple course because there is no monthly subscription, although it takes 5% of each sale. FreshLearn offers a useful limited pilot for a small manual cohort, Ruzuku supports a few students without payment details, and Coursebox is useful for testing AI-assisted creation.
Free plan, free trial or percentage fee?
A free plan can remain available without a subscription, but it usually limits students, products, branding or automation. A trial ends after a set period. A percentage-fee plan has no fixed monthly cost but becomes more expensive as revenue grows. Those models solve different problems.
Compare the useful free starts
| Platform | Free starting point | Important limit |
|---|---|---|
| Payhip | sell a simple course without a monthly subscription | 5% platform fee plus payment processing |
| FreshLearn | publish one product and enrol a small manual group | tight product and learner allowances |
| Ruzuku | build and teach a pilot with up to five students | too small for a continuing paid school |
| Coursebox | create a few short AI-assisted courses | publishing, AI and scale allowances remain limited |
| Systeme.io | set up a basic funnel, email and course | contact, automation and course limits |
Payhip for testing whether people will pay
Payhip keeps fixed cost at zero and charges when a sale happens. That can make sense while testing demand, but compare the 5% fee with a monthly platform as sales grow.
- Read our Payhip review See its course tools, fee model and academy limits.
FreshLearn for testing a fuller course setup
FreshLearn's free plan is more constrained, but it lets you try a conventional course platform with assessments and creator tools before choosing a paid tier.
- Read our FreshLearn review Understand its paid value and integration trade-offs.
Ruzuku for a tiny live pilot
Ruzuku's free allowance is intentionally small, but five real students can reveal more than a month spent inspecting settings. Use it to test discussion, live teaching and support.
- Read our Ruzuku review See when its simple teaching model is worth the paid price.
Coursebox for testing AI production
Coursebox is useful when the unanswered question is whether source material can become a workable lesson and quiz sequence. Review every AI-generated lesson before you publish.
- Read our Coursebox review See how its AI-assisted course creation, publishing tools and plan limits compare.
When to pay
Upgrade when you need a custom domain, more learners, lower transaction fees, certificates, automation, better reporting or more support. Compare the annual total at your expected sales and learner numbers, and check that the paid plan includes the features that prompted the move.
Continue comparing
- Podia review Consider a simple paid platform for a small creator catalogue.
- Systeme.io review Compare a low-cost funnel and course system.
- Compare all online course platforms See the full market and guided recommendation.