How to Launch Your First Online Course in LearnWorlds

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The hard part of a plan to launch your first online course in LearnWorlds is rarely the lessons. It is finding out on launch day that the plan you picked has no free courses, no landing pages and no certificates.

This guide takes you from trial to first sale in fourteen steps. It is based on LearnWorlds’ pricing and plan comparison pages, its feature pages and its help centre summaries, not on a private test school. Pricing as of November 2026, in US dollars, before tax.

LearnWorlds moves admin menus from time to time, so this guide names the setting and links the help article that holds the current clicks. Keep those articles open while you work.

If you are still deciding on the platform, read our LearnWorlds review or the Kartra vs Circle vs LearnWorlds comparison first. This post assumes you have chosen.

How to Launch Your First Online Course in LearnWorlds: the sequence

LearnWorlds publishes its own quick start guide series. The order below follows it, with planning and plan choice added at the front and tax, refunds and launch week added at the end.

Step	Job	Stop if
1. Plan	Outline, offer, price	You cannot name the learner outcome
2. Pick a plan	Match features to the offer	You need a feature your plan lacks
3 to 5. School, domain, site	Identity, address, pages	Your school info or privacy settings are blank
6 to 8. Course, assessments, player	Lessons, quizzes, navigation	A lesson has no completion path
9 to 11. Pricing, gateway, pages	How people pay and what they see	Your gateway is not connected
12. Email	Enrollment messages and follow-up	Default emails still read as generic
13. Test	Sandbox purchase and learner run	Any step of the purchase fails
14. Tax and refunds	Rules you must follow	You do not know your tax position

Step 1: Plan the course before the trial clock starts

The trial runs for 30 days, so it is worth doing the planning first. An outline finished before sign-up leaves the whole trial for building and testing.

1. Write one sentence on who the course is for and what they can do after it.
2. List modules and lessons, with one learning goal per lesson.
3. Mark the format of each lesson: video, ebook, PDF, quiz or live session.
4. Decide on a launch date, a price and a refund promise.
5. Draft launch posts and emails while you script, not in launch week.

Two of our Notion templates fit this stage. The Online Course Creation Template covers content development, video production, course design, revenue tracking and social posts for each launch. It is for planning and tracking, not for hosting lessons.

Online Course Creator OS 2.0 goes further, with a Modules and Lessons board from Planned to Published, launches and sales side by side, and net revenue after platform fees. Its listing names Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, Gumroad and your own website rather than LearnWorlds, so treat LearnWorlds as your own platform entry when you set it up.

Both need a Notion account, and Notion’s free plan works for duplicating them.

Step 2: Pick the plan that matches your launch

All prices here come from the LearnWorlds pricing page. Pricing as of November 2026. The first price column is billed annually, shown per month. The second is billed monthly.

Plan	Annual billing	Monthly billing	Enrollment fee	Admins	Active learners/month
Starter	$44	$49	$5 per enrollment	1	1,000
Pro Trainer	$79	$99	None	5	2,000
Learning Center	$249	$299	None	25	2,000
Corporate	Custom	Custom	None	Custom	Custom

Stripe and PayPal charge separately. LearnWorlds’ pricing FAQ says they currently charge 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, so check your own country’s rate with the gateway.

The fee math at current prices

The difference between Starter and Pro Trainer is $35 a month on annual billing and $50 on monthly billing. Divide by the $5 fee and the break-even is 7 enrollments a month on annual billing and 10 on monthly billing.

Enrollments per month	Starter, annual	Pro Trainer, annual	Starter, monthly	Pro Trainer, monthly
5	$69	$79	$74	$99
7	$79	$79	$84	$99
10	$94	$79	$99	$99
20	$144	$79	$149	$99

This is plain arithmetic from the published prices, before gateway fees and tax. It is not a sales forecast.

Our LearnWorlds pricing breakdown explains how the flat fee behaves at different course prices, but it was written when Starter cost less. Use the figures above for today’s break-even.

What Starter leaves out

Fees are often not the deciding factor. The pricing and plan comparison pages list these as not included on Starter:

• Free courses and private (unlisted) courses, so no free mini-course as a lead magnet.
• Landing pages. Starter gets three customizable pages: Home, Course Catalogue and After login.
• Certifications and the question bank. Assessments are limited to essential question types.
• Bundles, tiered subscriptions and installments.
• Mass email credits, Zapier, affiliate marketing and course and sales reporting.
• Sequential navigation. Starter lists free navigation only.

Automation is a step higher. The plan comparison page lists automation creation on Learning Center and Corporate, not on Starter or Pro Trainer. The same applies to custom completion rules and full white-label branding.

A simple rule: pick Starter only if you are selling one or two paid courses, expect few sales and need none of the items above. Otherwise budget for Pro Trainer from the start.

Compare the current LearnWorlds plans once more before you pay, since a plan table can change after this post is published.

Step 3: Start the trial and set up your school

The sign-up page says the trial lasts 30 days, needs no credit card and asks for an email and a school name. The pricing FAQ says you get “all the core features and functionality” during the trial.

Be careful here. A feature you can use during the trial may not be on the plan you buy, so check everything you build against Step 2.

Quick start guide 1 covers the first settings:

1. Update your school information and school name.
2. Choose your site language.
3. Configure the GDPR settings.
4. Set how learners register and log in.
5. Add team members if you have them (guide 2). Starter allows one admin.

While you build, you can keep your school hidden until you are ready to launch. The help centre also has articles on replacing your home page with a temporary one and stopping search indexing.

Step 4: Connect your domain

The pricing table includes “Sell on your own domain” on every plan, and the custom domain setup article lists Trial among its availability tags. Its title and keywords describe a CNAME record set at your domain provider.

1. Decide on the address. A subdomain such as a learn or school prefix on your main domain is a common choice.
2. Read the custom domains overview and the setup article.
3. Add the record at your provider. The help centre has separate guides for GoDaddy, Cloudflare and other popular providers, plus one for a naked domain without www.
4. Allow time for DNS to update, then open the address in a private window.

A custom domain does not remove all LearnWorlds branding. The pricing table lists white-label options on Learning Center and Corporate only, so check how visible the branding is on your plan.

Step 5: Design the website

Quick start guide 3 covers uploading a logo and favicon, setting colors and fonts with Theme Explorer, and creating or editing pages.

• On Starter: three customizable pages, so write them tightly. Treat the Home page as your sales page.
• On Pro Trainer and above: unrestricted customizable pages and a Pages Builder for landing pages.
• Templates: LearnWorlds says it has 50+ industry-specific templates, and its FAQ says they include sales, landing, home and pricing pages.

Do the minimum at this stage. Logo, colors, fonts and a clean Home page are enough until the course exists.

Step 6: Build the course and its activities

Quick start guide 4 says you can create a course with AI or manual tools, and it names the Course Creation Wizard. The how to create a course article also covers the wizard, and there is a separate article on creating a course with AI.

1. Create the course and give it a working title.
2. Add sections, using your module list from Step 1. The help centre describes sections as clusters of learning activities.
3. Add one activity per lesson goal.
4. Upload video, then watch one full lesson as a learner before you upload the rest.
5. Add a welcome activity that says what to do first.

The learning activities article and its help centre folder cover these types:

• Core content: video, ebook, PDF, audio, presentation and digital downloads.
• Embeds: YouTube, SoundCloud, external links and general embeds.
• Assessments: graded exam, self-assessment, form and reflection journal.
• Live: Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, 1:1 and group sessions.
• Packaged content: SCORM and HTML5, H5P and LTI activities.

Check plan gates before you commit a lesson format. The pricing table lists SCORM and HTML5 at 20 packages on Pro Trainer and none on Starter, and interactive video as Basic on Pro Trainer and not included on Starter.

If you are on Starter and want a free sample, read how to offer free sections in a paid course. A free preview section may give you part of what a free mini-course would, but confirm that it works on your plan.

Video hosting is listed as unlimited on all plans, so you do not need a separate host for a first course.

Step 7: Add quizzes and certificates only where they help

A first course does not need a final exam. Add assessments when they check a skill, and add a certificate when learners will show it to someone.

• Question types: LearnWorlds advertises 16 types on its assessment page. Starter is limited to essential types, and question banks start on Pro Trainer.
• Grading: the same page describes automatic grading for objective questions, a gradebook and a Review Center for open-ended answers.
• Certificates: the help centre says a certificate of completion is awarded when learners meet the completion requirements you define. The pricing table lists certifications from Pro Trainer upward.

If you make a professional or compliance claim about a certificate, check that claim separately. A completion certificate from your school is not an accreditation by itself.

Step 8: Set up the course player and navigation

LearnWorlds calls this the Course and Program Player, and the plan comparison page lists a customizable player on all plans. The course player article covers appearance and navigation.

Navigation depends on your plan:

Setting	Starter	Pro Trainer	Learning Center and Corporate
Course navigation	Free	Free and sequential	Free, sequential and advanced
Drip feed	Courses only	Courses and programs	Courses and programs
Custom completion rules	No	No	Yes

Decide how strict you want to be. Free navigation suits reference courses, while sequential suits skills that build on each other. The completion rules article carries availability tags for every plan, which conflicts with the plan comparison page, so check this in your own school if it matters.

Step 9: Set pricing and access

A course’s access status decides whether it is published, visible and open for enrollment. The course statuses article says you can choose it during creation and change it later in the course’s Access settings. Its keywords mention draft, paid, free, private, coming soon and enrollment closed.

1. Keep the course in a non-public status while you build.
2. Set the price using how to edit the course pricing.
3. Add more than one pricing option if you need it, using multiple pricing options.
4. Review the access settings and change the status only when Step 13 is finished.

• One-time payment: the simplest choice for a first launch, and paid courses are unlimited on all plans.
• Subscriptions and memberships: Pro Trainer and above.
• Payment plans: installments are on Pro Trainer and above. LearnWorlds also describes an Afterpay route where learners split payments and you receive the full amount upfront.
• Coupons, auto-applied discounts and order bumps: listed on all plans.

On Starter, the $5 fee is per enrollment, not a percentage. At $49 it takes about 10% of the price, and at $297 about 1.7%. The pages do not say how it treats 100% coupons or refunded sales, so ask support if your launch relies on either.

Step 10: Connect a payment gateway

LearnWorlds says its built-in gateways are Stripe, PayPal and Shopify. The Starter plan card says “Sell with your own Stripe or PayPal”, so you use your own accounts.

1. Set your school currency first, because it affects how every price reads.
2. Open a Stripe or PayPal account if you do not have one, and finish its verification.
3. Connect it using the Stripe or PayPal article. Quick start guide 5 covers this along with testing checkout.
4. Consider Shopify only with a reason. LearnWorlds says it requires other gateways to be disabled.
5. For bank transfers and similar, read about external payment methods.

Plan your cash flow. The same page notes that a first Stripe payout can take 7 to 14 days, so launch-week money may not reach your bank that week.

Step 11: Build the sales page and checkout

This is where plan choice shows up most. Pro Trainer and above can create landing pages with the Pages Builder, and page funnels are capped at 15 on Pro Trainer. Starter has neither, so plan on the Home page doing most of the selling, and check what the default course page shows.

A sales page for a first course needs these parts, in this order:

1. Who it is for and the outcome, in the headline.
2. What is inside, using your module list.
3. Who is teaching and why they are qualified.
4. Price, what is included and how long access lasts.
5. Your refund terms.
6. FAQ and one clear button to checkout.

For checkout, LearnWorlds says you can build pages from “pre-built and easily customizable payment sections” and embed them on landing pages and funnels. The plan comparison lists a cart on all plans.

Only use testimonials you have permission to quote. If you have none yet, describe the curriculum and do not invent proof.

If you have got this far on paper, start your LearnWorlds trial and build the course and one sales page before you choose a paid plan.

Step 12: Set up email and automation

Separate the three kinds of email, because each sits on a different plan.

• Notification emails: the help centre has an article on editing enrollment and completion emails. Rewrite them so that the first one tells learners where to start.
• Mass email: the pricing table lists no credits on Starter, then 2,000 on Pro Trainer, 5,000 on Learning Center and 10,000 on Corporate, per month.
• Automations: the user automations article describes actions based on user behavior. LearnWorlds’ feature page names triggers such as enrollment, inactivity, progress and purchase behavior.

One conflict to check. The marketing tools page lists “automation workflows” under Pro Trainer, while the pricing and plan comparison pages put automation creation on Learning Center. Confirm with LearnWorlds before you buy Pro Trainer for automation.

A cheaper route: the plan comparison lists a Mailchimp integration on all plans and Zapier from Pro Trainer. The marketing page also names ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit. A first launch can run on one existing email tool and a short sequence: launch notice, a reminder, and a last call if you have a real deadline.

Step 13: Run a test purchase and a learner run

LearnWorlds describes Sandbox mode as a safe environment that lets you simulate purchases without processing real payments. Use it first.

1. Follow the Sandbox article, and afterward confirm that your school is back to taking real payments.
2. Buy the course as a new customer would. The help centre has a guide on how a customer purchases a course.
3. Check the price, currency, coupon and any tax line at checkout.
4. Confirm the invoice or receipt and the enrollment email arrive.
5. Follow quick start guide 6: create a test user, check registration, verify enrollment and preview the activities.
6. Finish the course on a phone as well as a desktop, including any quiz and certificate.

Then consider one small live purchase with a real card, using a low-priced test or a coupon, so you see a real transaction reach your gateway. Refund it afterward and check whether your gateway returns its fee. On Starter, check how the $5 fee was treated too.

Step 14: Check tax and refund basics

This section is a checklist, not tax or legal advice. Rules depend on where you and your buyers are, so confirm your position with an accountant.

Tax

• VAT on your sales: the VAT overview explains VAT and notes that Canada and India apply GST.
• Tax tools: Stripe Tax and Quaderno are listed on all plans. There is also a flat rate tax option.
• Invoices: see invoices and credit notes.
• Your own bill: LearnWorlds’ prices exclude VAT, which is added for EU customers unless they give a valid EU VAT number. That is separate from tax on your sales.

Refunds

• Write a refund policy before launch, and show it on the sales page and at checkout.
• Check whether your buyers’ country gives them a withdrawal right for digital content, and what consent you need.
• Learn the process in advance. The help centre covers refunding users’ payments and the Payments page, described as the hub for purchases, renewals, refunds and admin actions.
• Decide what happens to course access after a refund, and check that it works.

The pricing page gives no refund terms for your own LearnWorlds subscription. It says plan changes or cancellation must happen before renewal, so read the terms before you choose annual billing.

Launch checklist

LearnWorlds has its own launch checklist in quick start guide 7, so work through that as well. This shorter list covers the points in this guide.

• Paid plan chosen, and every feature in your launch is on that plan.
• Custom domain resolves, and the school is no longer hidden.
• School name, language, GDPR settings and login options are set.
• Every lesson plays on desktop and phone.
• Course status is set to open for enrollment.
• Real payments are live, with no test settings left on.
• Tax, invoice and refund settings are checked.
• Enrollment email reads well and points to the first lesson.
• Search indexing is on, and your sitemap is submitted if you want search traffic.
• Launch posts and emails are written and scheduled.

Your first-week tasks

1. Day 1: send the launch email and posts, then watch for failed payments and support messages.
2. Day 2: reply to every question, and turn repeat questions into FAQ lines on the sales page.
3. Day 3: check that buyers have started. Message anyone who has not, with a link to the first lesson.
4. Day 4: recheck your plan math against real enrollments, using the table in Step 2.
5. Day 5: review the numbers. Guide 8 covers dashboards and reports, but Starter does not include course and sales reporting, so log sales by hand if you are on it.
6. Day 6: ask early learners for feedback, and ask permission before quoting them.
7. Day 7: fix the lesson that causes the most questions, and write down what you would change.

A record like this is where the Notion course template from Step 1 helps, as lessons, launches and sales sit in one place for the next course.

Who should not launch on LearnWorlds

• You have one small course and no budget for a monthly platform. Even Starter costs $528 a year on annual billing before fees.
• Community is the product. LearnWorlds has built-in community features, but a community-first tool may fit better, as our course platform comparison explains.
• You want automation and a large email list on a low budget. Automation creation sits on the $249 plan on the current comparison page.
• You need more than 2,000 active learners a month soon. Pro Trainer and Learning Center both list that cap, and the pricing page does not explain what happens when you pass it. Ask before you scale.

If none of those apply, try LearnWorlds free for 30 days and work through the steps above in order.

Launch Your First Online Course in LearnWorlds: FAQ

How long does the LearnWorlds free trial last?

The sign-up page and pricing FAQ say 30 days, and the sign-up page says no credit card is required. The page does not say what happens to a school if you do not subscribe when it ends, so confirm that before you invest heavily in it.

Can I sell a course on the Starter plan?

Yes. Paid courses are unlimited, and you can use your own Stripe or PayPal account. Each enrollment carries a $5 fee, and the plan has no free courses, landing pages, certificates, bundles or installments.

When is Pro Trainer cheaper than Starter?

At current prices the two tie at 7 enrollments a month on annual billing and 10 on monthly billing, and Pro Trainer is cheaper above that. It may be worth paying for sooner if you need its features.

Do I need a custom domain to launch?

The pricing table includes one on every plan, and a branded address looks more professional on a sales page. It needs a DNS record at your domain provider, so set it up early and allow time for it to take effect.

Are Stripe and PayPal fees included in the LearnWorlds price?

No. LearnWorlds says those gateways charge their own fees, currently 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. They apply on top of your plan, and on top of the $5 fee on Starter.

Can I test checkout without real money?

Yes. LearnWorlds documents a Sandbox mode for simulated purchases. Run it before launch, then confirm that real payments are live.

Can I plan my course in Notion and deliver it in LearnWorlds?

Yes, and they do different jobs. Notion holds your outline, production status and launch plan, and LearnWorlds hosts lessons, takes payment and tracks learners.