Introduction
LearnDash appears to be the most popular and widely used LMS plugin, but is it truly the best online course builder there is, or just a hype?
Well, you are about to find out because in this LearnDash review, we will explore the features of LearnDash and see if it’s worth your time.
We will also look at the best hosting provider for LearnDash for the best experience.
What is LearnDash?
LearnDash is a completely premium or paid learning management system (LMS) plugin or online course builder that allows you to use your WordPress site to create and sell online courses.
With LearnDash, you can create unlimited courses structured with modules, lessons, quizzes, etc, and monetize them by collecting payments with different payment gateways. You can sell courses charging one-time or subscription fees.
Unlike other online course marketplaces like Thinkific, Udemy, Coursera, etc, LearnDash gives you complete control of your courses and doesn’t share your revenue with you. There’s no limit to the number of courses you can make or the money you can earn. You can even create your own LMS marketplace and earn profits in shared revenue from other course creators.
In order to truly get a feel of the plugin, we will be doing a hands-on review of LearnDash, covering key aspects including:
- Setting up LearnDash in WordPress
- LearnDash User Interface
- LearnDash Use cases/ real-world applications
- Best WordPress Hosting for LearnDash
- FAQs about LearnDash
- Final Thoughts
Setting up LearnDash in WordPress
To get started with LearnDash, go to LearnDash’s official website and click on Get LearnDash.
Select the plan best suited to your needs and within your budget, and click the Buy Now button. Proceed to the checkout and complete your purchase.
Then, download the purchased LearnDash plugin and head over to your WordPress dashboard. Go to Plugins > Add New. Then, click Upload Plugin and upload the plugin. Proceed to activate the plugin once the installation is completed.
LearnDash User Interface
Now that we have LearnDash up and running, let’s take a walkthrough of our own and see for ourselves what the fuss is about.
LearnDash Templates
One standout feature of LearnDash is the availability of prebuilt online course site templates that you can choose from to build a full-fledged online course website. This is a commendable feature for an LMS as it helps speed up your development process. I have always wanted to create a Spa website, so for this LearnDash review, I will be selecting the beauty and spa template.
You can proceed to choose your fonts and colours, allowing the website to be created with your branding. When you are done, allow the template to be imported to your WordPress site, and the wizard will get cooking.
Course Creation
Now, let’s review the course builder. LearnDash features a user-friendly interface and an intuitive course builder. You can add new courses from your WordPress dashboard or via the frontend course creator. The LearnDash course builder utilizes the WordPress block editor, making the interface familiar.
Learndash backend course builder
LearnDash course creator is a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to create and rearrange sections, lessons, and quizzes. You can add course descriptions, videos, instructions, and learning materials to thoroughly educate your students. You can save unfinished courses as drafts and publish or schedule finished ones.
Learndash frontend course builder
In the LearnDash course builder, there are five steps or tabs. I like that you can switch tabs without having to load a new page.
The first step or tab is the Course page, where you have to enter the course title and description.
The next tab, the Builder tab, is where you add your course curriculum and content. You can create new sections and lessons, and add topics and quizzes under each. You can also drag and rearrange your lessons, topics, and quizzes.
Then, there’s the Extend Access tab, which allows you to add deadlines to courses.
And finally, the Settings tab, where you choose the enrollment mode, whether the course is open to all, free for logged-in users, for sale with a one-off charge, recurring, or closed to students. You can specify a course price right there when you select Buy now, or the price and billing cycle when you select Recurring.
Overall, the LearnDash course builder has a very minimal learning curve, and it’s pretty easy to create and structure your courses.
Adding Topic to Lessons
To add content for each topic, click on the Edit link adjacent to the topic when creating your course, and you will be taken to a topic block editor. You can also add content after building your course curriculum by going to LeanDash LMS > Topics.
You can embed the video and transcript for the topic into the block editor.
Then, switching to the Settings tab, you can include topic materials, allow uploading of assignments, create a poster topic using scheduled publishing, and provide archive or meta details for the course, including short description, video preview, duration, custom button text, etc.
Quiz Builder
If you want to ask students questions after a lesson or at the end of the entire course to test their knowledge, LearnDash has got you covered. With the built-in advanced quiz builder, you can create different quizzes at different parts or stages of your course to engage students and help them assess themselves. You can also give students awards or badges after taking a quiz to encourage them.
It is also easy to add quizzes on your LearnDash-powered WordPress LMS site. As you can see from this LearnDash review, you can add or edit quizzes via LearnDash LMS > Quizzes.
You can enter instructions for the quiz in the Quiz page tab.
Then, switching to the Builder tab, you can add your questions and award points for each correct answer.
The common types of quizzes you can build for your online course in LearnDash include:
- Single-choice questions
- Multiple choice questions (MCQs)
- Free choice
- Matching terms or concepts
- Fill in the blank
- True or False
- Essay / open answer.
Course Monetization
With LearnDash, you can easily monetize your e-learning WordPress site and sell your courses to students in your preferred currency. LearnDash comes with PayPal, Razorpay, and Stripe as default gateways. However, its integration with WooCommerce allows you access to hundreds of payment gateways, making it possible for anyone, anywhere in the World to monetize their courses.
Overall, LearnDash allows you to sell course subscriptions, memberships, bundles, and one-time purchases.
LearnDash Add-ons
LearnDash has several add-ons for e-learning platforms for a better experience, including LearnDash certificate builder, LearnDash notifications, LearnDash reviews plus, LearnDash ProPanel, LearnDash migration, etc, and integration with Zapier, Elementor, WooCommerce, MemberPress, ThriveCart, Gravity Forms, etc.
LearnDash Use Cases / Real-World Applications
LearnDash is used by over 50,000 live websites, including top brands such as:
- OptinMonster: OptinMonster makes use of LearnDash for their OptinMonster University to deliver a series of courses teaching tips and tactics to their customers. They sell membership or subscription access instead of individual courses.
- Yoast: Yoast turned to LearnDash to build Yoast Academy and offer impressive courses to show WordPress users how to understand SEO best practices. They offer both free and paid courses, with the paid courses billed yearly with LearnDash’s recurring course access feature.
- Keap: Keap (formerly Infusionsoft), a CRM and automation platform for small businesses, uses LearnDash to create training courses for their employees and customers to reduce training costs and decrease customer cancellations.
- Reliablesoft: Reliablesoft, a digital marketing agency, launched Reliablesoft Digital Marketing Academy, a training platform offering bundled online digital marketing courses, with the use of the LearnDash LMS plugin.
- TWC Network: The World Changers (TWC) Network is a financial education community that transitioned from organizing in-person courses and traveling across the country for live events to serving premium courses online with LearnDash following the pandemic.
Other notable platforms using LearnDash LMS include the University of Florida, SmartBlogger Campus, and Tony Robbins, among others.
The platforms using LearnDash are thriving and generating a good revenue stream from selling their courses, making LearnDash a reliable and scalable online course builder.
Cost of LearnDash
One of the downsides of LearnDash is its lack of a free version. If you must use LearnDash, you must purchase a plan.
LearnDash costs $199/year for a single-site license, $399/year for 10 sites, and $799/year for an unlimited number of sites. Considering you get access to all their add-ons, that’s a pretty decent deal.
It’s nice that LearnDash allows you to take their LMS for a test drive before buying with their demo sandbox, but it wouldn’t hurt to provide a free version for early entry course creators.
Best WordPress Hosting for LearnDash
Your WordPress online course website requires a reliable hosting provider for optimal efficiency and an exceptional user experience.
HostWP is a fast, secure, and reliable WordPress hosting solution, making it the ideal choice for setting up an online course website with LearnDash.
HostWP servers are optimized with LiteSpeed Enterprise and QUIC.cloud CDN integration. You are guaranteed 99.9% uptime, free SSL certificates, daily site backups, and dedicated customer support. You can also create unlimited business emails for yourself and your course instructors.
The starter package starts at $6.99/month ($ 83.88/year) with 10 GB NVMe (Faster SSD) storage, 1 GB RAM, 1 Core, 1 TB Bandwidth, and support for up to 3 WordPress sites.
FAQs
What is LearnDash used for?
LearnDash is a popular paid LMS WordPress plugin used for creating and selling online courses with WordPress.
Can I use LearnDash without WordPress?
No. LearnDash cannot be used without WordPress. LearnDash is a WordPress plugin, meaning it requires a WordPress website to function.
Does LearnDash work with Elementor?
Yes. When you install the LearnDash Elementor add-on, the integration will add LearnDash-specific elements to Elementor’s design panel.
What payment method does LearnDash use?
LearnDash native cart uses PayPal, Razorpay, and Stripe. However, with WooCommerce integration, you get access to over 300 payment gateways.
What are the system requirements for LearnDash?
To run LearnDash seamlessly, you need WordPress 6.1 or higher, PHP 7.4 or higher, MySQL 5.6 or higher, a PHP memory limit of 128MB or higher, and HTTPS support.
Does LearnDash have a free trial?
LearnDash offers you a 2-day free sandbox WordPress site to test the functionalities of the plugin before committing.
What is the best hosting provider for LearnDash?
The best hosting solution for LearnDash is HostWP. The servers are optimized for WordPress sites, including those powered by LearnDash LMS.
Final Thoughts
LearnDash is a great and flexible Learning Management System (LMS) plugin for WordPress. It is suitable for both the big and little guys, including coaches, online tutors, educational institutions, startups, SMEs, and Fortune 500 companies. You are open to various monetization opportunities, and we highly recommend it.
By using a reliable and scalable hosting provider like HostWP, you can use LearnDash to create powerful e-learning platforms and online course websites like Udemy, Coursera, Teachable, etc.
