Turning a WordPress site into a course platform comes down to three names that keep showing up: LearnDash, LifterLMS, and Tutor LMS. They differ most in one place people don’t expect — whether there’s a free core plugin at all — and that single fact changes the entire cost comparison.
At a Glance
| Plugin | Price | Free Core Plugin | Install Base | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LearnDash | $399/year (Pro) or $599/year (Elite) | No | Not on WordPress.org (sold directly) | Established course creators wanting advanced reporting and grading built in |
| LifterLMS | Free core; paid bundles $199–$799/year (first-year discount; renews $398–$1,598/year) | Yes | 10,000+ active installs, 4.8/5 (393 reviews) | WooCommerce-centric sellers wanting flexible monetization add-ons |
| Tutor LMS | Free core; paid $199–$799/year or $499–$1,999 lifetime | Yes | 100,000+ active installs, 4.4/5 (589 reviews) | Budget-conscious creators wanting the biggest free feature set, plus a lifetime-license option |
Install counts and ratings are the live figures from each plugin’s WordPress.org listing as of October 2026. LearnDash is sold directly from its own site and isn’t distributed through the WordPress.org repository, so it carries no public install counter.
Short Verdict
If you want to test course creation on WordPress without paying anything upfront, LifterLMS or Tutor LMS are the only two options — LearnDash has no free core plugin at all. Between those two, Tutor LMS has the larger install base and a genuinely full-featured free core (its paid tiers are mostly about add-ons, pro themes, and AI Studio access). LifterLMS leans harder into WooCommerce-based monetization: its paid bundles are built around ecommerce add-ons for Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce, plus a dedicated course-focused theme. LearnDash, despite requiring payment from day one, remains the most established name in WordPress course platforms and ships the most mature reporting, grading, and group-management tools of the three.
LearnDash: No Free Tier, Most Mature Reporting
LearnDash is sold directly (it isn’t in the WordPress.org plugin repository), with two annual plans: Pro at $399/year and Elite at $599/year, both covering one license with unlimited courses and learners. Pro includes the drag-and-drop course builder, quiz builder, memberships, subscriptions and bundles, Stripe/PayPal payments, an onboarding wizard, video progression tracking, focus mode, certificates and achievements, plagiarism detection, learner notifications, an AI course-outline and quiz builder, advanced reporting and analytics, enrollment tracking, weighted grading, custom report cards, student notes, and group-leader communications. Elite adds group course management, an instructor role, front-end course creation, multi-instructor course management, ratings/reviews/feedback, and the ability to sell individual seats. There’s no way to try LearnDash without paying — no free core plugin exists, which is the clearest tradeoff against the other two.
LifterLMS: Free Core, WooCommerce-Focused Monetization
LifterLMS’s Core Plugin is free on WordPress.org, with 10,000+ active installs and a 4.8-star rating from 393 reviews — the highest average rating of the three, on a free plugin that already includes unlimited courses, memberships, students, and teachers. Paid bundles layer add-ons on top: Earth ($199/year first year, renews at $398) covers 1 site with Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce ecommerce add-ons, Cart Abandonment Recovery, and Name Your Price. Universe ($299/year first year, renews at $598) covers 5 sites and adds the Sky Pilot theme, email marketing and CRM add-ons, forms integrations, and access to a weekly mastermind group. Infinity ($799/year first year, renews at $1,598) covers unlimited sites and adds 15 advanced add-ons on top of Universe. All renewals are at full price — the figures above are LifterLMS’s own stated first-year discount, not ongoing pricing.
Tutor LMS: Free Core, Largest Install Base
Tutor LMS’s free core plugin has the largest install base of the three by far — 100,000+ active installs — with a 4.4-star rating from 589 reviews. The company states the full core is “free forever.” Paid annual tiers are Individual ($199/year, 1 site), Business ($399/year, up to 10 sites), and Agency ($799/year, unlimited sites), each covering one year of updates; lifetime one-time-payment versions are also available at Individual ($499), Business ($999), and Agency ($1,999, up to 50 sites). Every paid tier unlocks the same set of pro add-ons, unlimited courses and users, pro themes, and AI Studio (which requires bringing your own OpenAI API key) — the tiers differ by site count and update/lifetime terms, not by feature access. A 30% nonprofit discount is available by contacting sales.
Which Should You Choose
Start with Tutor LMS’s free core if you just want to see whether course selling fits your site before spending anything — it has the biggest free feature set and the largest install base of the three. Choose LifterLMS if your business is already built around WooCommerce and you want ecommerce add-ons (cart recovery, name-your-price) designed around that integration. Choose LearnDash if you need the most mature reporting, grading, and multi-instructor group tools from day one and are comfortable paying for that maturity immediately, since there’s no free tier to test first.
Bottom Line
The free-vs-paid split is the real dividing line here, not feature depth alone. LifterLMS and Tutor LMS both let you build and sell a real course for nothing before paying for add-ons; LearnDash doesn’t offer that option but brings the most established reporting and grading tools of the three to justify its day-one price.
Sources
- LearnDash — Official pricing page
- LifterLMS — Official pricing page
- LifterLMS — WordPress.org plugin listing
- Tutor LMS — Official pricing page
- Tutor LMS — WordPress.org plugin listing
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