Kohortly vs LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds makes interactive courses. Kohortly runs cohorts end to end.
LearnWorlds is a course platform known for interactive video, quizzes, certificates and a white-label app on its higher tiers. It suits training businesses selling courses online. Kohortly is for organisations that run programmes with intakes: applications, class times, attendance, fees paid in many ways and graduation.
The short answer
Choose LearnWorlds if
- Interactive video and assessments are central to your courses.
- You sell courses online by card.
- You want SCORM and a white-label app on a high tier.
Choose Kohortly if
- You admit learners into cohorts with seats and class times.
- You take attendance online and in person.
- Learners pay by bank transfer, mobile money or through an employer.
- You want WhatsApp reminders and an installable app under your own name included.
LearnWorlds and Kohortly at a glance
- Price
- LearnWorlds: About $79–99/month for Pro Trainer
- Kohortly: From $49 a month ($41 billed yearly). Every feature on every plan, 0% on what learners pay.
- Fee on payments
- LearnWorlds: $5 per sale on Starter; none on higher plans
- Kohortly: 0%
- Best for
- LearnWorlds: Interactive online courses
- Kohortly: Cohort programmes
- Branded app
- LearnWorlds: High tiers
- Kohortly: Not yet: your community installs from the browser under your name
Feature by feature
| Feature | Kohortly | LearnWorlds |
|---|---|---|
| Community feed, categories and polls | Community area | |
| Courses, lessons and progress | Interactive video, SCORM | |
| Points, levels and leaderboards | ||
| Live sessions | Live rooms in the browser, with breakout groups and recording | Zoom and webinars |
| Admissions | Application forms with a review queue | Forms |
| Cohorts | Intakes with seats, dates and class times | |
| Attendance | Online and in person, with QR check-in | |
| Certificates | Issued on completion, with a public check page | |
| Small groups | Squads inside each cohort | |
| Impact reporting | Impact reports and follow-up surveys | Learning analytics |
| Payments made outside a card checkout | Bank transfer, M-Pesa, UPI, Pix, card and cash recorded, with receipts and balances | Card checkout; manual enrolment |
| One payer for many learners | An employer or sponsor pays for several learners | Bulk seats for companies |
| WhatsApp and SMS | WhatsApp and SMS reminders and announcements | |
| Email broadcasts and automatic sequences | Basic, with automations | |
| Phone app | Installable web app under your own name and logo, plus the Kohortly phone app | White-label app on high tiers |
| Web address | kohortly.com/yourname, or your own domain | |
| Developer access | Public API, MCP server and CLI | API on higher plans |
| Fee on what learners pay | 0% | $5 per sale on Starter |
LearnWorlds details as of November 2026, from LearnWorlds pricing, SchoolMaker: LearnWorlds pricing and published reviews. Prices and fees change, so check LearnWorlds's site before you decide.
What LearnWorlds really costs
The plan price is only part of the bill. Here is what each platform costs a month when 200 learners each pay $50 ($10,000 a month), on the cheapest plan that can sell memberships, billed yearly where offered: the plan, the platform's fee, and card processing where it is charged separately.
| Platform | Monthly cost | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|
| Skool Pro | $372 | $82 plan (yearly) + 2.9% Skool fee |
| SchoolMaker | $386 | $36 plan (yearly) + 0% + Stripe |
| Thinkific | $386 | $36 plan (yearly) + 0% + Stripe |
| LearnWorlds Pro Trainer | $429 | $79 plan (yearly) + 0% + Stripe |
| Podia Shaker | $434 | $84 plan (yearly) + 0% + Stripe (Mover adds 5%) |
| Kajabi Basic | $493 | $143 plan (yearly) + 0% + Kajabi Payments |
| Mighty Networks Launch | $629 | $79 plan (yearly) + 2% + Stripe |
| Whop | $630 | $0 plan + 3% community fee + 2.7% + $0.30 |
| Circle Professional | $639 | $89 plan (yearly) + 2% + Stripe |
| Disco | $749 | $399 Create plan (yearly, up to 250 active members) + 0% + Stripe |
| Teachable | $889 | $39 plan + 5% Teachable fee + card processing |
| Skool Hobby | $1,008 | $7.50 plan (yearly) + 10% Skool fee |
| Maven | $1,350 | $0 to list + 10% of each sale + Stripe |
| Patreon | $1,350 | 10% platform fee + 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Discord | $1,600 | 10% fee + about 6% desktop processing |
| Udemy | $6,300 | Free to publish; Udemy keeps 63% of marketplace sales |
| Kohortly | $56–$406 | Starter billed yearly ($41) plus 100 more learners ($15), and 0% on learner payments. $406 if all 200 pay by card through your own provider; $56 when they pay by bank transfer or mobile money. |
Worked from each vendor's published prices in November 2026. Fees change and card rates vary by country, so check before you decide.
Cohorts, not just a membership
LearnWorlds organises learning by course, with interactive video and assessments. Kohortly starts from the programme: you open an intake with a start date, seats and class times, people apply, your team admits them, and they move through the cohort together until graduation.
Every learner has a record that follows them: which intake they joined, which sessions they attended, what they paid and which certificate they earned. When a funder or board asks how the last cohort went, the answer is already there.
If you only need an open membership that anyone can join with a card, LearnWorlds may be all you need. If you admit people into programmes that start and finish, that structure is what Kohortly is for.
Attendance and certificates that prove the work
LearnWorlds tracks course progress and assessment scores, not attendance at sessions. In Kohortly, people who join a live session are marked present automatically, and for in-person days staff can tick a register or learners can scan a QR code at the door, even on a weak connection.
Completion rules can require attendance as well as lessons. When a learner finishes, their certificate is issued with a public check page, so an employer can confirm it is genuine.
Getting paid the way your learners pay
LearnWorlds takes payment through card checkout. Many of the organisations we work with are paid by bank transfer, mobile money such as M-Pesa, UPI or Pix, a company cheque, a card on their own machine (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) or cash at the first session, often in instalments.
Kohortly records each payment against the learner's fee account, issues a receipt, shows the balance and reminds people before an instalment is due, by email, WhatsApp or SMS. Nothing is taken from what your learners pay: Kohortly charges 0%.
When an employer pays for ten staff, one payer covers all ten seats and gets one invoice, while each learner still has their own place in the cohort.
Reaching people where they already are
LearnWorlds sends email and in-app notifications. Kohortly sends class reminders on WhatsApp with "I'll be there" and "Can't make it" buttons, and the answers appear on the attendance list. Announcements can go by email, WhatsApp, SMS and the in-app bell at once.
Learners can also add your community to their home screen as an app under your own name and logo, so they open your programme, not someone else's brand. The Kohortly phone app keeps all their communities under one sign-in.
Where LearnWorlds is the better choice
No platform suits everyone. LearnWorlds does these things better than Kohortly:
- Interactive video with questions and transcripts.
- SCORM support and detailed assessments.
- A mature white-label app on higher tiers.
Moving from LearnWorlds to Kohortly
- Request a community. We set it up with your name, logo and colours, at kohortly.com/yourname or on your own domain.
- Import your members from a CSV export, with their names, emails and phone numbers.
- Recreate your programmes and courses. Lesson videos can be uploaded or embedded, and we can help with the move when we agree your plan.
- Invite members to sign in. Their history starts in Kohortly from the next intake.
Questions
How much does LearnWorlds cost?+
LearnWorlds' Pro Trainer plan is roughly $79 to $99 a month depending on billing, and the Starter plan charges $5 per sale. White-label apps come on higher tiers. Check learnworlds.com for current prices.
Does LearnWorlds run cohorts?+
LearnWorlds focuses on courses. It doesn't manage intakes with seats and class times, admissions, attendance or offline fee records. Kohortly does.
LearnWorlds or Kohortly: which should I choose?+
Choose LearnWorlds if interactive online courses sold by card are the product. Choose Kohortly if you run cohort programmes with attendance, certificates and fees paid by bank, mobile money or an employer.
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