Introduction
In today’s digital education landscape, creators and entrepreneurs have numerous options for hosting and selling their online courses. Platforms like Thinkific, Kajabi, Mighty Networks, Skool, and Passion.io each offer unique approaches to online learning. But despite their strengths, many course creators find themselves cobbling together multiple tools to create their ideal solution. Let’s explore how these platforms compare and what’s still missing from the market.
Thinkific: The Course-Focused Solution
Thinkific has established itself as a dedicated course creation platform with robust educational features. Its strengths lie in its intuitive course builder, customisable learning paths, and student assessment tools.
What sets Thinkific apart is its focus on education first, with strong quiz and assignment capabilities, comprehensive reporting, and a clean student experience. It’s built for educators who want to deliver structured learning experiences.
However, Thinkific falls short when it comes to advanced marketing tools, community building, and the kind of all-in-one business functionality that many creators desire.
Kajabi: The Marketing Powerhouse
Kajabi positions itself as more than just a course platform—it’s a business platform for digital entrepreneurs. Its integrated email marketing, sales funnels, and CRM functionality make it attractive to creators focused on scaling their online businesses.
Kajabi excels at helping you sell your courses with professional marketing tools, but this comes at a premium price point that can be prohibitive for beginners. While its course delivery is solid, it lacks some of the deeper educational features of more focused platforms.
The platform also falls short in creating truly engaging community experiences, often requiring creators to use external tools for deeper student connection.
Mighty Networks: Community First
Mighty Networks flips the script by putting community at the centre of the learning experience. Its social features create spaces where students can connect, collaborate, and learn together in ways that feel more natural than traditional forums.
The platform’s strength lies in its ability to foster student relationships and engagement through groups, events, and dynamic content feeds. However, its course functionality isn’t as robust as dedicated LMS platforms, and its marketing tools require supplementation with other solutions.
Skool: The Newcomer with Social Learning DNA
Skool has gained attention for its fresh approach to collaborative learning environments. Built with a social-first philosophy, it creates spaces where cohort-based courses can thrive through peer-to-peer interaction.
The platform shines in its ability to create accountability and connection between students, with features designed for group programmes and community-driven learning. However, it lacks the comprehensive course structure tools of established platforms and doesn’t offer the marketing and sales infrastructure many creators need.
Passion.io: Mobile Learning Specialist
Passion.io differentiates itself with its mobile-first approach to course creation. If you’re targeting users who prefer learning on smartphones and tablets, Passion.io offers a streamlined experience for creating native mobile apps for your courses.
The platform excels in creating branded mobile experiences without coding knowledge, but it lacks the comprehensive web features and marketing tools of competitors. Its specialised focus means creators often need additional tools to handle other aspects of their business.
What’s Still Missing: The Dream All-in-One Solution
Despite the strengths of these platforms, course creators frequently report having to use multiple tools or accepting significant compromises. The ideal platform would combine:
- Robust Course Creation – With the educational depth of Thinkific
- Powerful Marketing Tools – With the sales capabilities of Kajabi
- Engaging Community Features – With the social dynamics of Mighty Networks and Skool
- Mobile Optimisation – With the native app experience of Passion.io
- Business Management – Including comprehensive analytics, subscription management, and affiliate programmes
Beyond these combined features, creators also want:
- True Flexibility – Without the template limitations common on existing platforms
- Affordable Pricing – That scales reasonably with growth
- Seamless Integration – No more juggling between multiple systems
- Advanced Analytics – That connect learning outcomes to business results
- Customised Student Journeys – That adapt to individual learning patterns
The Future of Online Learning Platforms
While the current options provide valuable solutions for specific needs, the market is ready for a truly integrated platform that eliminates the compromises creators currently make. The next evolution in this space will be platforms that don’t force creators to choose between educational quality, marketing power, and community engagement.
Fortunately, new solutions are emerging that aim to address these gaps. By combining the best elements of existing platforms while adding innovative features, these new entrants promise to transform how creators build, market, and scale their online education businesses.
The ideal platform isn’t just about combining features—it’s about reimagining the entire creator and student experience from the ground up. Course creators who have experienced the limitations of current options will be the first to recognise the value of such a solution when they find it.
For now, creators must carefully evaluate their priorities and choose the platform that best aligns with their most important needs—or look beyond the established players to discover the integrated solution they’ve been waiting for.