Self-Hosted and WordPress LMS
Plugins that turn an existing WordPress site into a course platform, sold as an annual license rather than a monthly subscription, with no cut of what you charge students. They take more setup than a hosted platform, since hosting, the payment processor, and updates are yours to manage, but nothing about your course or student list lives on someone else's server.
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World's most widely deployed open-source LMS with 300 million users across schools and universities, offering quizzes, forums, and thousands of plugins.
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The most widely used WordPress LMS plugin, built to turn an existing WordPress site into a full course platform with quizzes, drip content, and certificates. It's sold as an annual license rather than a subscription with a revenue cut, running from $159 a year for a single site up to $329 for the Pro tier with more features bundled in.
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WordPress LMS and membership plugin by Thrive Themes with visual course builder, drip-content scheduling, and payment integration
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Free WordPress plugin for building and monetizing courses directly on your site, with quizzes, progress tracking, certificates, and a marketplace of paid add-ons.
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WordPress LMS plugin designed for schools with classroom-style organization and instructor programs
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A WordPress membership plugin, MemberPress, with a Courses add-on that layers course delivery on top of its subscription and paywall tools, rather than a dedicated LMS built course-first. Full access, including the Courses feature, starts around $348 a year.
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Open-source LMS developed in Germany with strong adoption at European universities and public institutions, offering course management, online testing, and team collaboration.
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WordPress LMS plugin with SPA interface, AI content generation, and multi-instructor support
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WordPress LMS and membership plugin combining course hosting with payments and affiliate management
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A WordPress LMS plugin with a genuinely usable free core version, membership tools built in from the start, and paid add-on bundles from around $149 to $360 a year for more advanced features. It's positioned as slightly more membership-and-community-focused than LearnDash's course-and-quiz-first design.
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WordPress LMS with native payments, course builder, quizzes, and built-in Stripe/PayPal support
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Open-source MOOC platform developed by Harvard and MIT, designed for large-scale online courses with video lectures, graded assessments, and learner communities.
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A newer WordPress LMS plugin from Themeum, built with a frontend course builder that lets an instructor create and edit a course without touching the WordPress admin dashboard. Paid plans start around $149 a year, with a genuinely functional free version available on WordPress.org.
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Lightweight WordPress LMS plugin with unlimited courses, lessons, quizzes, progress tracking, and certificate generation
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A WordPress LMS plugin built and maintained by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce, designed to integrate tightly with WooCommerce for selling courses as products. A free core version is available, with a Pro tier around $179 a year adding certificates, quizzes, and deeper WooCommerce integration.
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Enterprise learning platform built on Moodle's foundation, focused on corporate training, mandatory compliance courses, and employee performance management.
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WordPress membership plugin with integrated CourseCure LMS add-on for course creation, payment processing, and gamification
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WordPress LMS platform with offline learning, mobile app support, badges, and social features
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Free WordPress LMS plugin with unlimited courses, native Stripe checkout, and cohort features
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WordPress LMS plugin with course builder, quizzes, assignments, student notes, wish lists, badges, and multiple payment gateways
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Free WordPress LMS plugin with drag-and-drop builder, video lessons, and WooCommerce integration
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WordPress LMS plugin supporting unlimited courses, lessons, assignments, quizzes, certificates, and student management
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Free WordPress LMS plugin with course builder, quizzes, assignments, certificates, and Stripe/PayPal checkout
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WordPress community and LMS plugin with courses, discussions, member dashboards, and licensing
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Open-source learning platform with integrated video conferencing, course authoring, and social learning tools for schools, universities, and training organizations.
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A long-running WordPress LMS plugin built for straightforward course structure, modules, units, and quizzes, without the marketplace or membership ambitions of some competitors. A free core version exists, with a Pro tier around $179 a year adding drip content, certificates, and deeper reporting.