LMS Pricing & Plans Compared (2026)

Pricing Models Explained

Before comparing specific platforms, understand the three fundamental pricing models in the LMS market:

Flat Monthly Pricing: Pay a fixed amount regardless of user count. Thinkific, Kajabi, Teachable, and LearnWorlds use this model. Best for selling courses to external learners where student numbers can vary dramatically month to month. Predictable costs scale with your revenue, not your user base.

Per-User Pricing: Pay based on active users or registered learners. TalentLMS, Skilljar, and most enterprise platforms (Docebo, Absorb) use this approach. Best for internal employee training or customer education with predictable user counts. Can become expensive at scale but offers cost certainty for smaller deployments.

Revenue Share / Transaction Fees: Pay a percentage of course sales. Common on free or lower-tier plans (Teachable 5-10%, Podia 8%, LearnWorlds $5/sale on Starter). Avoid these if you're serious about selling — they quickly exceed subscription costs. All platforms also charge standard payment processing fees (typically 2.9% + $0.30) on top of any platform fees.

Expert-Focused Platforms: Detailed Pricing

Thinkific

Free: $0 — 1 course, 1 community, 5 digital downloads, unlimited students, 0% transaction fee. Genuinely usable for testing and tiny operations.
Start: $74/month (annual) or $99/month (monthly) — 1 community, 10 digital downloads, unlimited courses, unlimited students, 0% transaction fee, affiliate program, live lessons.
Grow: $149/month (annual) or $199/month (monthly) — 3 communities, unlimited digital downloads, assignments, advanced course building, phone support.
Thinkific Plus: Custom pricing — enterprise features, SSO, white-label, dedicated support, multiple admins.

Best for: Course creators who want predictable costs and zero transaction fees. The Free plan is the most generous in the industry.

Kajabi

Kickstarter: $69/month (annual) — 1 product, 1 funnel, 250 contacts, 1,250 marketing emails, 1 admin, 0% transaction fee.
Basic: $149/month (annual) or $199/month (monthly) — 3 products, 3 funnels, 10,000 contacts, unlimited landing pages, 1 admin, 0% transaction fee.
Growth: $199/month (annual) or $299/month (monthly) — 15 products, 15 funnels, 25,000 contacts, affiliate program, remove Kajabi branding, 3 admins.
Pro: $399/month (annual) or $599/month (monthly) — 100 products, 100 funnels, 100,000 contacts, custom code editor, 5 admins.

Best for: All-in-one businesses that want email marketing, funnels, and courses in one platform. Higher base cost but eliminates separate email tool expenses.

Teachable

Free: $0 + $1 + 10% per transaction — 1 course, 1 admin, unlimited students, basic features.
Basic: $59/month (annual) or $79/month (monthly) + 5% transaction fee — 5 courses, 2 admins, product bundles, coupon codes, affiliate program.
Pro: $159/month (annual) or $199/month (monthly), 0% transaction fee — unlimited courses, 5 admins, graded quizzes, certificates, course compliance.
Pro+: $249/month (annual) or $299/month (monthly), 0% transaction fee — unlimited courses, 25 admins, custom user roles, advanced reporting.

Best for: Beginners who want to start free and upgrade as they grow. Watch out for those transaction fees on lower tiers — they add up fast.

LearnWorlds

Starter: $29/month + $5 fee per course sale — 1 admin, 3 funnels, 4 payment gateways, basic features.
Pro Trainer: $99/month (annual), 0% transaction fee — 5 admins, unlimited courses, unlimited popups, subscriptions/memberships, affiliate management.
Learning Center: $299/month (annual), 0% transaction fee — 20 admins, 10 seats for managers, interactive video, white-label options, SSO.
High Volume & Corporate: Custom pricing — premium support, dedicated account manager, SLA guarantees.

Best for: Professional educators who need interactive content features. Avoid the Starter plan — that $5/sale fee is painful.

Podia

Free: $0 + 8% transaction fee — 1 community, 1 download, 1 coaching product, limited features.
Mover: $39/month (annual) or $49/month (monthly), 0% transaction fee — unlimited courses, unlimited downloads, 1 community, email marketing.
Shaker: $89/month (annual) or $119/month (monthly), 0% transaction fee — everything in Mover plus affiliates, blog, offsite buy buttons, third-party code.

Best for: Simple digital product businesses on a tight budget. Limited features compared to competitors.

Enterprise & Training Platforms: Detailed Pricing

TalentLMS

Free: $0 — up to 5 users, 10 courses, unlimited email support.
Starter: $89/month (annual) — up to 40 users, unlimited courses, custom branding, basic integrations.
Basic: $189/month (annual) — up to 100 users, single sign-on (SSO), custom reports, live chat support.
Plus: $369/month (annual) — up to 500 users, custom domain, automation, priority support.
Premium: Custom pricing — 1,000+ users, dedicated account manager, SLA, API access.

Best for: Small to medium businesses needing affordable, predictable per-user pricing. Excellent value for employee training.

Docebo

Docebo does not publish pricing. Based on industry data, plans typically start at: Essentials: ~$25,000/year — up to 300 users, core LMS features, standard support.
Growth: ~$50,000/year — up to 1,000 users, advanced features, dedicated CSM.
Enterprise: Custom pricing — unlimited users, white-label, API access, premium support, custom integrations.

Implementation fees typically range from $10,000-$50,000 depending on complexity. Best for: Large organizations with 300+ users who need enterprise features and can absorb implementation costs.

Absorb LMS

Absorb does not publish pricing. Estimated ranges based on market data: Absorb LMS: ~$800-$1,500/month for up to 500 users, scaling with user count.
Absorb Infuse: Custom pricing — headless LMS for embedding in existing applications.
Enterprise: Custom pricing — unlimited users, advanced security, custom development.

Implementation and setup fees apply. Best for: Mid-market to enterprise organizations prioritizing user experience and ease of administration.

Skilljar

Skilljar does not publish pricing. Estimated based on customer reports: Essentials: ~$1,500-$2,500/month — up to 1,000 active users, core customer education features.
Growth: ~$3,000-$5,000/month — up to 5,000 users, advanced analytics, Salesforce integration.
Enterprise: Custom pricing — unlimited users, premium support, custom integrations, SLA.

Best for: Customer education teams at SaaS companies who need deep CRM integration and customer success analytics.

Moodle

Self-hosted: Free (open source) — you pay only for hosting, maintenance, and any paid plugins. Hosting ranges from $10/month (shared) to $500+/month (dedicated) depending on scale.
MoodleCloud: Free plan — 45 users max, 200MB storage, ads displayed. Not suitable for production.
MoodleCloud Starter: ~$120/year — 100 users, 1GB storage, no ads.
MoodleCloud Standard: ~$370/year — 500 users, 5GB storage.
MoodleCloud Premium: Custom pricing — unlimited users, dedicated support.

Best for: Organizations with technical resources who want maximum control and lowest direct costs. Factor in maintenance labor for true TCO.

Pricing Comparison Table

*LearnWorlds Starter plan only. Higher tiers have 0% fees. Prices shown are annual billing unless noted.

Cost at Scale: Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: Solo Course Creator ($100K/year revenue)

Selling $100K in courses annually with 500 students:
• Thinkific Start: $74/month = $888/year. No transaction fees. Total: ~$888/year.
• Teachable Basic: $59/month + 5% transaction fee ($5,000) = $708 + $5,000. Total: ~$5,708/year.
• Kajabi Growth: $199/month = $2,388/year. No transaction fees. Total: ~$2,388/year.
• Podia Shaker: $89/month = $1,068/year. No transaction fees. Total: ~$1,068/year.

Winner: Thinkific or Podia for pure cost. Kajabi if you value the all-in-one features.

Scenario 2: Training Academy (2,000 active students)

External students taking professional development courses:
• Thinkific Grow: $149/month = $1,788/year. Unlimited students. Total: ~$1,788/year.
• LearnWorlds Pro: $99/month = $1,188/year. Unlimited students. Total: ~$1,188/year.
• TalentLMS Plus: $369/month for 500 users. Would need Premium tier for 2,000. Total: ~$5,000+/year.
• Teachable Pro: $159/month = $1,908/year. Unlimited students. Total: ~$1,908/year.

Winner: LearnWorlds or Thinkific. Per-user pricing (TalentLMS) becomes painful at this scale for external learners.

Scenario 3: Company Training (500 employees)

Internal employee training with predictable user count:
• TalentLMS Plus: $369/month = $4,428/year. Covers 500 users. Total: ~$4,428/year.
• Thinkific Grow: $149/month = $1,788/year. Unlimited users. Total: ~$1,788/year.
• Docebo: ~$25,000/year minimum. Total: ~$25,000/year+.
• Absorb: Estimated $12,000-$18,000/year for 500 users. Total: ~$15,000/year.

Winner: Thinkific for cost, Docebo/Absorb if you need enterprise compliance and SSO features.

Hidden Costs to Watch For

Beyond subscription fees, budget for these common add-ons:

Payment Processing: Every platform passes through Stripe/PayPal fees (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction). This is unavoidable but often forgotten in pricing calculations.

App Marketplace Purchases: Thinkific's app marketplace includes free and paid apps. Popular paid apps range from $10-$50/month. Factor these into your budget if you need specific functionality.

Overage Charges: Per-user platforms may charge overage fees when exceeding plan limits. Some platforms (Skilljar) charge significantly for overages; others (TalentLMS) prompt upgrades.

Implementation & Setup: Enterprise platforms (Docebo, Absorb) typically charge $10,000-$50,000 for implementation. Even some mid-market platforms charge setup fees for SSO or custom integrations.

Premium Support: Most platforms include email support; phone, priority, or dedicated support often costs extra. Thinkific includes phone on Grow+; Docebo requires higher tiers for dedicated CSMs.

Custom Development: Moodle's "free" price tag ignores the cost of hosting, maintenance, and any custom development. Budget $5,000-$20,000 annually for quality Moodle hosting and support.

Which Plan Fits Your Business Size?

Just Starting (0-100 students)

Thinkific Free or TalentLMS Free — both allow real testing without commitment. Thinkific Free is better for selling courses; TalentLMS Free is better for internal training pilots.

Growing Business (100-1,000 students)

Thinkific Start/Grow — best value with no transaction fees and room to scale. LearnWorlds Pro Trainer is a strong alternative with interactive features.

Established Academy (1,000-10,000 students)

Thinkific Plus, LearnWorlds Learning Center, or Kajabi Pro depending on feature needs. Consider custom pricing negotiations at this scale.

Enterprise (10,000+ students or 500+ employees)

Docebo, Absorb, or Thinkific Plus for customer education. Custom pricing required — negotiate implementation fees and annual discounts.

The Bottom Line

LMS pricing is about more than the monthly fee — it's about total cost of ownership aligned with your business model. Flat pricing (Thinkific, Kajabi, Teachable) wins for external course sales where student numbers fluctuate. Per-user pricing (TalentLMS, enterprise platforms) can work for internal training with predictable user counts. Most importantly, avoid transaction fees once you're selling seriously — that 5-10% fee on Teachable's lower tiers or Podia's free plan will cost you more than any subscription upgrade.

Sources & Further Reading

• Thinkific Pricing — Official pricing page with plan comparisons
• Kajabi Pricing — Plan details and feature comparisons
• Teachable Pricing — Transaction fees and plan features
• LearnWorlds Pricing — Monthly and annual pricing options
• Podia Pricing — Free plan limitations and paid features
• TalentLMS Pricing — Per-user pricing tiers
• Docebo Pricing — Enterprise pricing information
• Absorb Pricing — Request pricing for your organization