LearnDash pricing and what an online course site costs

What this job needs

A course site needs lessons with quizzes, certificates, a way to charge for courses, and a WordPress host with backups. I picked LearnDash because its own pricing page states quizzes, certificates, built-in memberships and group seats in text I could read, in one plan with no priced add-ons. The Tutor LMS and Sensei pages list features in check-mark tables that did not read as text, so that is a limit of my read and not a finding about those products.

• Courses with lessons and quizzes, stated on the plugin's own page
• Certificates, stated on the plugin's own page
• A way to charge for courses or memberships, stated on the plugin's own page
• A WordPress host plan that lists backups and shows a price in USD on the host's own page
• A theme with a price stated on its own page, free or paid

Recommended plugins, theme and host

What it costs

First year is what you pay in the first 12 months. A plan marked as prepaid covers more than 12 months, so its amount is the full upfront payment and not a 12-month cost. Renewal is the cost of 12 months at the price the vendor lists for renewal. Every figure shows the date I checked it.

Every plan, billing term and source: Online course plan prices, first year and renewal

A cheaper stack

LifterLMS Earth costs $199 a year against $350 for LearnDash, which makes the first year $246.88. It gives up LearnDash's single-price bundle: the LifterLMS page names Groups and Course Cohorts add-ons, but I did not map them to the Earth bundle. Its renewal is stated only as full price, with no figure for Earth. I did not choose Tutor LMS or MasterStudy as the cheaper pick because their plan-by-plan feature tables did not read as text. Their listed prices are Tutor LMS Individual at $139.30 a year (struck-through $199.00) and MasterStudy single site at $69.30 a year (struck-through $99), both under Halloween offers with no end date shown.

• Plugin: LifterLMS. Its FAQ says quizzes, certificates and achievement badges are in the free plan, and the Earth bundle adds ecommerce add-ons for Stripe, PayPal and WooCommerce for 1 active site. The page shows $199 beside a struck-through $398 and says renewals are at full price, with no renewal figure for Earth.
• Hosting: Hostinger. Same host and term as the main stack, chosen by the same lowest-first-year rule. Best WordPress Hosting (October 2026): Compared
• Theme: Kadence. Same free theme as the main stack.

LearnDash plans on the Liquid Web page

learndash.com/pricing redirected to a LearnDash page on liquidweb.com when I read it on October 30, 2026. Every tier is the same package, which the page words as: Every plan includes the full package: Give, The Events Calendar, LearnDash, and Kadence. Only the site count and the price change.

The page does not state a renewal price. The LearnDash billing page says the license renews automatically exactly one calendar year after the initial purchase, and that cancelling does not trigger a refund. It offers a refund within 30 days of the initial purchase.

Official LearnDash discounts

No discount, coupon code or Black Friday offer was shown on LearnDash's own pricing page as of October 30, 2026. The page offers a free 48-hour trial (no credit card required), which is a trial and not a discount, and the billing page offers a refund within 30 days of the initial purchase.

I list no LearnDash coupon code on this page, because none is published on LearnDash's own site and coupon sites are not a source.

Other course plugins

Each row is the vendor's own price in USD, read on October 30, 2026. Tutor LMS and MasterStudy showed a Halloween promotion on that date with no stated end date, so the table gives the promotional price and the struck-through price. None of these pages states a renewal figure except where a row says so.

Add-ons the vendors price

LearnDash, Tutor LMS and MasterStudy list no separately priced add-ons on their pricing pages. The ones I found priced are below. A vendor that says add-ons exist without a price is left out.

• LifterLMS: Advanced Quizzes, Assignments and Continuing Education tracking are advanced add-ons included only in the Infinity Bundle, $799 a year.
• LifterLMS lists a la carte add-ons that cover 1 site each, but I did not read their prices.
• Sensei Interactive Blocks: $5 USD a month, billed $60 yearly, separate from Sensei Pro.

Payment gateway fees

Gateway fees come from the processor and are separate from every price above. Stripe's US page, read October 31, 2026, lists 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards, plus 0.5% for manually entered cards, 1.5% for international cards and 1% if currency conversion is required, and a $15.00 fee for each dispute you receive.

PayPal's own US fee page, last updated October 1, 2026, lists PayPal Checkout at 3.49% plus a fixed fee, standard credit and debit card payments at 2.99% plus a fixed fee, and a US dollar fixed fee of 0.49 USD.

Free plugins and their install counts

These counts are from each plugin's wordpress.org page, read on October 30, 2026. LearnDash has no wordpress.org page, and its own page claims 100K active installs, which is the vendor's figure.

What this page is based on

Nothing on this page comes from hands-on use of these products. Every price and limit is the vendor's own, read from its page on the date shown, and I have not run speed, uptime or support tests.

How I checked

Every price comes from the cost page named above, read from each vendor's own pricing page on October 30, 2026. Tutor LMS, MasterStudy and Stripe were re-read in a US view on October 31, 2026. Nothing was converted or rounded, and nothing was purchased. I have not run speed or uptime tests.

The first-year total adds the plugin, host and theme rows. The renewal total adds only renewal prices the vendors state, so a plan with no stated renewal makes the total a minimum. The hosting row is the same one used on the best WordPress hosting list.

Sources and checked dates

Every price above comes from the vendor's own pricing page.

• LearnDash pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026. Prices change; confirm at checkout.
• Hostinger pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026. Prices change; confirm at checkout.
• Kadence pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026. Prices change; confirm at checkout.
• LifterLMS pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026. Prices change; confirm at checkout.

Questions