Separate free forever from free to try. Thinkific says it has no free plan and offers a 30-day trial, Podia promotes a 30-day trial, and Kajabi shows paid plans with trial CTAs. Teachable’s public pricing shows a 7-day trial, while free-plan mentions appear in support documentation, so do not rely on it as a clean public free-plan pick.
Do the fee maths before you celebrate a $0 bill. Payhip’s Free Forever plan has a 5% transaction fee, while Gumroad charges 10% + $0.50 on direct or profile-link sales. Systeme.io says it takes 0% platform transaction fees, but Stripe and PayPal processing fees still apply.
Match the free plan to the test you are running. Payhip suits simple selling because it includes unlimited products and unlimited revenue, but the 5% fee bites as sales grow. Systeme.io suits a course-plus-funnel test, but the free plan is limited to 1 course and 2,000 student contacts.
Check learner and course caps early. TrainerCentral’s free plan allows 3 courses, which is useful for a small pilot or workshop. The catch is the 10 active learner limit, so it is a poor fit if you expect many students from day one.
Upgrade when the learning experience starts to matter more than the monthly fee. Thinkific, from $49 in our data, is the course-first upgrade path because it is EverythingLMS’s top-ranked platform. It is not free forever, but its Basic plan includes unlimited courses, video lessons, quizzes, student discussions, one community, ecommerce essentials, abandoned-cart emails, dashboards and a custom domain.
Do not buy an all-in-one too early. Podia, from $39 in our data, is a simple paid all-in-one after validation, but its Mover plan has a 5% transaction fee. Kajabi, from $89 in our data, makes more sense once courses, email, landing pages, checkout and automation belong in one paid system.
