How to Create an Online Course in 7 Steps

The 7 steps at a glance

Step 1: Pick a topic people will pay for

A course sells when it solves a specific problem for a specific person. “Photography” is a subject. “Shoot sharp product photos for your Etsy shop with a phone” is a course.

What to decide: who the student is, what they can do after the course, and why they’d pay you instead of watching free videos. Usually the answer is speed, structure or feedback.

Check demand before you record anything:

• Search: look up the problem on Google and YouTube. Lots of “how to” results and questions mean people are looking.
• Communities: read the questions people keep asking in forums, groups and comment sections in your niche.
• Pre-sell: describe the course and offer early access at a launch price. A few paying sign-ups tell you more than any survey.

Step 2: Outline the outcome and modules

Write the promise in one sentence: “By the end, you will…”. Then list every step a beginner needs to get there, in order. Group those steps into 3–6 modules (chapters), each with a few short lessons.

• Keep each lesson to one idea, so students can finish it in one sitting.
• End each module with a small task: a worksheet, a checklist or a quiz.
• Cut anything that doesn’t move the student toward the promise. Extras can become a bonus or a second course.

Some platforms can draft an outline for you. Teachable’s course wizard, for example, has a Generate with AI option for the outline, and LearnWorlds plans include monthly AI credits (300 on Starter). Treat an AI outline as a first draft to edit, not a finished course.

Step 3: Choose a format and a price model

Price model: one-time purchase is the simplest. Payment plans help with higher prices, and subscriptions suit memberships. Most platforms support all three, plus free courses you can use as a lead magnet (a free offer that collects email addresses).

Step 4: Record and produce your lessons

You don’t need a studio. Most beginner courses work with:

• Camera: a recent phone, or your computer for screen recordings.
• Microphone: clear audio matters more than sharp video. A basic external mic or a quiet room with soft furnishings helps.
• Light: face a window or use one soft light.
• Editing: cut mistakes and long pauses; you don’t need effects.

Record one lesson, watch it as a student would, and fix your setup before you record the rest. If you prefer not to be on camera, slides with voice-over or AI tools can help: see our guides to AI video generators and AI voice generators, and check each tool’s commercial-use terms first.

Step 5: Choose a platform to host and sell your course

A course platform hosts your lessons, gives each student a login and runs checkout. The biggest differences are the entry price, the fee taken from each sale and how many courses the entry plan allows.

USD, from each vendor’s pricing page read from a US connection on November 12, 2026. Card or gateway processing applies on every platform. *Teachable’s plan cards say 7 days; a pop-up on the same page offered 30. LearnWorlds prices exclude VAT.

• Teachable — Who it’s for: a first course or a few offers at the lowest course-platform price. Skip it if you’ll sell a lot on Starter: the 7.5% fee adds up.
• Thinkific — Who it’s for: creators planning many courses with no platform fee. Skip it if $82/mo is too much before your first sale.
• Kajabi — Who it’s for: people who want courses, email marketing and a website in one bill. Skip it if you only need course hosting.
• LearnWorlds — Who it’s for: interactive lessons and assessments on a small budget. Skip it if you expect many sales on Starter, where $5 per enrollment adds up.
• Kartra — Who it’s for: marketers who want funnels, email and courses together. Skip it if you need more than one course on the entry plan.
• Sellfy — Who it’s for: a “course” that’s really a video pack or downloadable workbook. Skip it if you need lessons, quizzes or certificates: its help center describes streamable videos (5 uses per link), not course modules.

For a deeper look with costs at two sales levels, see our best online course platforms guide, or the head-to-heads Teachable vs Thinkific, Kajabi vs Teachable and Kajabi vs Thinkific.

Step 6: Build the course and the sales page

Inside your platform, set up the course in this order:

1. Upload lessons into modules, and mark one or two as free previews so visitors can sample.
2. Drip (release lessons on a schedule) if you want students to move together or you’re still recording.
3. Quizzes and certificates, if your plan includes them. Check first: on Teachable, certificates start at Growth.
4. Sales page: who it’s for, the result, the module list, your background, price and refund policy. Use real student feedback only once you have it.
5. Checkout: connect payments, add a launch coupon, and buy your own course with a test coupon to check the flow.

On Teachable, for example, these steps live in a course Setup Guide; our how to sell courses on Teachable guide walks through each screen. Want a sales page outside your course platform? See landing page builders.

Step 7: Launch and sell your course

The platform is the store; it doesn’t bring buyers. A simple first launch looks like this:

• Build an email list before launch with a free lesson, checklist or mini-course. If you email people in the US, follow the FTC’s CAN-SPAM rules (an unsubscribe link and your postal address). Our best email marketing tools guide covers options; Kajabi and Kartra include email.
• Open enrollment for a set window with a launch price or bonus, and say clearly when it ends. Don’t invent deadlines.
• Ask early students for feedback and fix confusing lessons first.
• Add an affiliate program later so past students or partners can earn by referring buyers (for example, Teachable includes one from Builder up).

What it costs to launch your first online course

Here’s the platform cost for a first year on each entry plan, billed yearly, at two sales levels for a $100 course. Where a higher plan is cheaper at that level, we show that plan instead.

Our arithmetic from prices on each pricing page, November 12, 2026. Assumes yearly billing, one course and percentage fees charged on the full $100. Excludes card processing, which adds roughly $3.20 per $100 card sale at 2.9% + 30¢ ($64 on 20 sales, $640 on 200), plus taxes, refunds and any email or domain costs. Sellfy is shown for comparison but sells video and downloads rather than structured courses.

Two takeaways: at low sales, the cheapest entry plan wins even with a fee. Once sales grow, a plan with no per-sale fee usually costs less, so recheck your plan after the first few months.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Recording before testing demand. A pre-sale or waitlist is cheaper than a finished course nobody buys.
• Making it too long. More hours don’t mean more value. Students pay for the result.
• Paying for a big plan too early. Start on a trial or entry plan, and upgrade when fees cost more than the next plan.
• Ignoring plan limits. Check product, course and contact caps (for example, Kartra Essentials allows 1 course).
• No audience plan. Decide where your first 20 buyers come from before launch day.

How we wrote this guide

The steps reflect common course-creation practice. Every price, limit, fee and trial comes from the six platforms’ own pricing pages, read from a US connection on November 12, 2026, plus Teachable’s and Sellfy’s help centers. The cost table is our own arithmetic. We haven’t built and sold a course on these platforms ourselves yet, so we don’t rate their editors or video players. More on how we review. Browse every online course platform we cover, or see Teachable alternatives and Kajabi alternatives.

FAQ

Sources

All checked November 12, 2026.

• teachable.com/pricing
• www.thinkific.com/pricing/
• kajabi.com/pricing
• www.learnworlds.com/pricing/
• kartra.com/pricing
• sellfy.com/pricing/
• docs.sellfy.com/article/275-selling-vod-with-sellfy
• support.teachable.com/en/articles/11682451
• www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business