To create and sell an online course, validate demand before you build with a waitlist or a pre-sale, outline the course around one result, record short captioned lessons with clear audio, and pick a platform whose fees fit your sales. As of October 2026, options range from no monthly fee with per-sale fees (Gumroad, Payhip Free, Whop) to flat plans with no platform fee, such as Thinkific from $54 a month. Then price from the problem you solve, launch to an email list with real deadlines, publish a clear refund policy, and back up every earnings claim.
Prices and fees were checked against each platform's official pages, and legal points against FTC, W3C and EU pages, on October 1, 2026. This update replaces the April 2026 version and absorbs our older course creation guide, which quoted market sizes, completion rates and revenue examples we could not verify, along with platform fees that have since changed.
The 7 steps at a glance
- Validate the topic with a waitlist or a pre-sale before you build.
- Outline the course around one result your buyer wants.
- Record the lessons with clear audio and accurate captions.
- Choose a platform whose fees fit your expected sales.
- Set a price from the problem you solve and the support you include.
- Launch and market to an email list with honest deadlines.
- Cover the legal basics: refunds, earnings claims, testimonials, email and tax.
Step 1: Validate the topic before you build
A course sells when a specific person wants a specific result enough to pay for a structured path to it. Write one sentence first: who the course is for, what they can do at the end, and why free content has not gotten them there.
This guide covers building and selling one course; our online courses and memberships hub compares where to host it and when a membership fits better.
Look for evidence that people already pay
- Questions you are asked again and again in comments, messages or client work.
- Paid courses, books and coaching on the topic. Competition shows that buyers exist, and the critical reviews of those courses show what they leave out.
Test with a waitlist, then a pre-sale
A waitlist page with the outline and expected price collects emails, as Podia's waitlist mode does. That shows interest; payment shows demand, so the stronger test is a pre-sale. Thinkific's pre-order status lets buyers pay before they get any content, and Podia's start date setting charges at purchase and opens access on a date you choose.
Thinkific's guide suggests a "green light goal": the number of sales or the revenue you need before you build. Set it first, publish a delivery date, post progress updates, and refund everyone if you miss the goal or cancel. Watch subscription pricing: on a Thinkific pre-order, a subscription starts charging on the day of purchase, not at launch.
Run the first version as a beta
Teach the first group live, record the sessions, note where people get stuck, and rebuild those parts as finished lessons. Ask for testimonials only after students have used the material (see step 7).
Step 2: Outline the course around one result
Start from the end state, "by the end of this course you can ___", and work backwards. Each module is a milestone; each lesson teaches one thing and ends with an action.
| Part | What it does | Example: a course on starting a newsletter |
|---|---|---|
| First module | An early, visible win that builds momentum | Set up the newsletter tool and send the first issue |
| Core modules | One milestone each, in the order a beginner needs them | Writing system, growth channels, sponsorships |
| Practice | Quizzes, assignments or templates that apply each module | A content calendar and a sponsor pitch worksheet |
| Wrap-up | Next steps, and what the course does not cover | A launch checklist |
Cut anything that does not move the student toward the result, keep lessons short and focused on one task, and show the outline to two or three people from your audience before you record.
Step 3: Record the lessons with what you actually need
Buy equipment to fix a problem you can hear or see, not from a shopping list.
| Need | Minimum that works | Upgrade when |
|---|---|---|
| Clear audio | A quiet, soft-furnished room and any external microphone close to your mouth | Viewers hear echo, hiss or room noise |
| Even light | Face a window, or put one soft light in front of you | The look changes between sessions |
| Screen recording | Your computer's built-in recorder, or OBS Studio, which is free and open source | You need scenes, overlays or a webcam inset |
| Camera | A recent phone or webcam at eye level | Talking-head lessons are most of the course |
| Editing | Cut mistakes and long pauses in any basic editor | Most lessons need graphics or zooms |
Record one pilot lesson with OBS Studio or your own setup, show it to a few people from your audience, fix what bothers them, then batch-record the rest with the same setup so lessons look and sound consistent.
Add accurate captions. The W3C's accessibility guidelines list captions for prerecorded video as Level A, the most basic level, and captions also help students who watch without sound. Check auto-generated captions for names and technical terms.
Step 4: Choose where to sell
Platforms charge a monthly plan, a fee on every sale, or both. With few sales, options with no monthly fee cost least; as sales grow, flat plans without a platform fee win. Card processing, typically 2.9% + $0.30 per US card, comes on top unless the table says it is included.
| Platform | Monthly price | Platform fee per sale | Fits best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gumroad | $0 | 10% + $0.50; 30% on Discover marketplace sales, processing included | A first course with no fixed cost |
| Payhip | $0 / $29 / $99 | 5% / 2% / 0% | Many EU and UK buyers; VAT handled for you |
| Systeme.io | $0 / $17 / $47 / $97 | 0% | Funnels and email bundled; the free plan allows 1 course |
| Thinkific | $54 / $109 / $219 | None with Thinkific Payments | Courses are the main product |
| Teachable | $39 / $89 / $189 | 7.5% on Starter; 0% on Builder and Growth with Teachable's payments | Course tools with tax handled at checkout |
| Podia | $49 / $99 / $179 | 5% on Mover; none on higher plans | Courses alongside downloads and coaching |
| Kajabi | $179 / $249 / $499 | None | Site, email, funnels and courses under one login |
| Skool | $9 / $99 | 10% + 30 cents on Hobby; 2.9% + 30 cents up to $899 on Pro; processing included | The community is the product |
| Whop | $0 | None; processing is 2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card | Several product types, or marketplace reach |
Monthly-billing prices from the Gumroad, Payhip, Systeme.io, Thinkific, Teachable, Podia, Kajabi, Skool and Whop pages; yearly billing costs less on most. Our full comparisons cover plan limits, tax handling and payouts: Teachable vs Thinkific vs Gumroad vs Kajabi and Skool vs Whop vs Teachable.
What you keep from one $100 sale
For a single $100 sale to a US card, before taxes, payout fees and the monthly plan, you keep about $86.30 on Gumroad, $89.30 on Teachable Starter, $89.70 on Skool Hobby, $91.80 on Payhip Free, $96.80 on Thinkific Basic, Teachable Builder, Kajabi or Skool Pro, and $97.00 on Whop. For a $100 course, a flat plan beats Gumroad's fee once you sell between about $514 and $1,705 a month, depending on the plan.
Other things that decide it
- Tax: Gumroad is merchant of record for sales tax and VAT, Payhip collects and remits EU and UK VAT, and Teachable's own payments handle US sales tax and EU and UK VAT. Kajabi collects tax, but you file and remit it.
- Community: Teachable closed its community feature to new schools in August 2026; if members talking to each other is part of the offer, look at Skool or Whop.
- Disclosure: IImagined sells its own courses through Whop, which runs our checkout. This article contains no affiliate links.
Step 5: Price the course
No formula turns hours of video into a price. Price from the problem you solve, what buyers already pay for alternatives, and how much of your time the offer includes.
- Compare alternatives: other courses, books, coaching, or paying someone to do the job.
- Price support separately: self-paced access costs you little per buyer, while calls, feedback and one-to-one time cost hours, so sell them as higher tiers.
- Use real deadlines: a launch price is fine if it really ends. The FTC's dark patterns report lists countdown timers that reset and "limited time" offers without a real deadline as manipulative design.
- Show the total: for payment plans and subscriptions, show the full price, the billing dates and how to cancel.
- Run the numbers: subtract fees, the monthly plan, refunds and affiliate commissions before deciding a price works.
- Keep income promises out: "this course pays for itself" is an earnings claim that needs evidence (step 7).
Step 6: Launch and market the course
Before launch
- Build an email list with a free resource tied to the topic, such as a checklist or a template. Email is the one channel no platform can take away.
- Publish free content that teaches part of the topic, so buyers can judge how you teach.
- Write a sales page covering who the course is for and not for, the result, the full curriculum, the support, the price, the refund policy and an FAQ.
Launch week
- Open the cart for a fixed window with a real end date, and email the list several times: the opening, the curriculum, answers to objections, genuine student feedback and the close.
- Run a live session where people can ask questions before they buy.
After launch
- Keep selling with an automated email sequence for new subscribers, or reopen the cart for each new group.
- Recruit affiliates who already serve your buyers. They must disclose their commission and should not make earnings claims you cannot support.
- Update lessons around the questions students ask most.
Step 7: Cover the legal basics
This is general information for course sellers in the US and EU, not legal advice.
A clear refund policy
Choose a policy, such as a fixed refund window, refunds until a set number of lessons is viewed, or no refunds after access with a free preview lesson. State it on the sales page and at checkout, and honor it. Consumers in the EU generally have 14 days to withdraw from an online purchase; for digital content, the right ends once they expressly agree that access starts immediately and that they lose the right, so ask your platform how its checkout records that consent. Refunds and disputes cost money: Skool, Whop and Teachable keep the processing fee on refunds, and Teachable and Whop each charge $15 per chargeback or dispute.
Earnings claims
If the course teaches people to make money, any statement about what students will earn, from income screenshots to "replace your salary" promises and lifestyle shots, is an earnings claim. In June 2026 the FTC told businesses to back up their earnings (or lifestyle) claims, adding that unusually successful earnings by a handful of people do not by themselves support a claim that others will earn the same. Its Endorsement Guides add that a testimonial about results will likely be read as typical, so you need evidence that it is, or you must clearly disclose the results people generally get.
In January 2025 the FTC also proposed extending its Business Opportunity Rule to business coaching and other money-making opportunities, which would require written substantiation for earnings claims. As of October 1, 2026, that change has not been adopted, but deceptive earnings claims are already illegal.
Testimonials and reviews
The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake testimonials, including AI-generated ones, testimonials that misrepresent the person's experience, reviews bought on the condition that they are positive, and undisclosed reviews from your own staff and their relatives; courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. Quote real students with their permission, do not reword them in a way that changes their meaning, and disclose any incentive you gave for a review.
Affiliates and promoters
Paying affiliates or giving free access to promoters creates a material connection they must clearly disclose. Send every partner the FTC's Disclosures 101 along with the claims they may and may not make.
Marketing email
Under the US CAN-SPAM Act, commercial email needs accurate sender details and subject lines, your valid physical postal address and a clear way to opt out, and opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days. The FTC lists penalties of up to $53,088 for each violating email.
Sales tax and VAT
Course sales can create tax obligations where your buyers live; in the EU, electronic services sold to consumers are taxed in the customer's country. Some platforms handle this for you (step 4), but income tax on your profit is always yours.
Where the Digital Products course fits
This guide covers the order of operations. Our Digital Products course goes deeper on offer design, pricing, sales funnels, launch planning and evergreen sales for courses, templates and other digital products.
Online course FAQ
What is the best platform to sell an online course in 2026?
It depends on your sales. To test a first course with no fixed cost, Gumroad and Payhip's Free plan charge nothing monthly but take a fee on each sale, and Whop charges only card processing. If courses are your main product, Thinkific (from $54 a month, with no platform fee on Thinkific Payments) or Teachable Builder ($89 a month) cost less as sales grow. Choose Skool if the community is the product. Prices are monthly billing as of October 1, 2026.
How do I validate an online course idea before building it?
A waitlist page with the outline and expected price shows interest; a pre-sale shows demand. Thinkific's pre-order status and Podia's start date setting both let buyers pay before the content is released. Decide how many sales you need before you build, publish a delivery date, and refund everyone if you cancel.
How long should an online course be?
As long as it takes to reach the promised result, and no longer; there is no standard length that sells best. Keep lessons short and focused on one task, and put an early win in the first module.
What equipment do I need to create an online course?
A quiet room, an external microphone close to your mouth, even light from a window or one soft lamp, and a screen recorder such as the free OBS Studio. A phone or webcam works for talking-head lessons. Upgrade when test viewers notice a problem, and add accurate captions.
How much money can you make selling an online course?
There is no reliable typical figure, and no amount is guaranteed: results depend on your audience, offer, price and marketing. The FTC warns that a handful of unusually successful sellers does not show what others are likely to earn.
Do I have to offer refunds on an online course?
Whatever policy you choose, state it before purchase and honor it. Consumers in the EU generally have 14 days to withdraw from an online purchase; for digital content, the right ends once they expressly agree to immediate access and to losing it. Skool, Whop and Teachable keep the processing fee when you refund.
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