Where to host and sell a single RISE course?

Aug 14, 2020

Louisa James
By Louisa James

I've been researching all the usual suspects to be able to sell my course on my own website. I would need a course complete certificate and the course must have a minimum seat time where the learners must stay logged in. (Yeah, I know it's bad practice, but it's mandated time by the state government).

I looked at Kajabi and although the price is okay (around $170/month) I'm not sure how easy it will be to create the site and if there will be any other additional, hidden costs.

I've considered creating a Wordpress site and using Learndash with perhaps Grassblade XAPI and Grassblade LRS. But, when you start to add up all the little things (Grassblades are more than $100/month for what I need). Do I need all three?

Other options are Thinkific, Digital Chalk, etc.

Price is not the huge issue, but I don't want to commit to something and then realize it's only half what I need.

I'm so darn confused, so I'm reaching out to all you smart and experienced folk here.

9 Replies
Kathryn Raybould
over 3 years ago11/24/20 at 12:31 pm (UTC)

Hi Louisa, not sure if you're still researching this topic, but one of my clients uses Kajabi and I am reasonably familiar with the platform. It's a hybrid platform that allows you to build a website, run email marketing campaigns, manage your list of contacts and create and sell courses online. It's great for small businesses who don't yet have a website, marketing platform or online store because it allows you to set up all these things quickly in one place. It's pretty impressive and you get a lot for your money. As a learning designer I find it limiting as it does not support SCORM packages and their idea of a course is basically a series of videos with some text and document downloads. As far as I can tell, the only way to sell a Rise course via Kajabi would be to set up a basic product within Kajabi and then from that product, link to web-based version of your Rise course which would need to be hosted somewhere else. You would not be able to track progress or record completion data (e.g. pass/fail) because Kajabi does not support SCORM packages, and anyone with the link to the course would, in theory, be able to access the product. Not ideal! There are a few reasonably priced LMSes that I have found which may be a better option for you. Talent LMS (a 'proper' LMS that takes SCORM packages and has a payment gateway). They have a free plan with up to 5 users so you can try it out at your leisure. iSpring has just launched iSpring Market (formerly Flora LMS) which seems to be a light version of its LMS geared to selling courses online. You can upload SCORM packages and it seems very reasonably priced. Finally there's a platform called Learn Worlds which is similar to Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable. It supports SCORM packages and seems more geared to course creation. Hope this is helpful.

Louisa James
over 3 years ago11/24/20 at 1:43 pm (UTC)

Wow, in fact, your response is quite timely as I've been struggling something terrible with Learndash and the Grassblade products. I've had multiple people who know how to do these sorts of things try to help me and after days, still not working right. I had still been thinking about Kajabi, but I see now that it doesn't sound like a good fit. 

Much appreciation for your detailed information. I'm sure that not only I but others in the future will benefit from your post.

Pankaj Agrawal
over 3 years ago11/26/20 at 9:32 pm (UTC)

Hi Louisa,

It will be helpful if you connect with GrassBlade support if you are facing problems with GrassBlade. So far I have not seen any support tickets or purchase from your name. Yes. I have seen complaints elsewhere on this forum without any specifics. 

If you do not want to reach out to support, it is fine that you give more specifics of the issue faced. 1. This will help us improve our products. 2. It will help others understand the actual challenges you faced, and 3. It might help us resolve it here (if it gets in our sight) 

I agree managing packages with tracking like SCORM and xAPI packages require a little learning. And I agree that platforms with data and completion tracking ability costs more compared to something that doesn't have tracking ability.

Pankaj
(from GrassBlade) 

 

 

Louisa James
over 3 years ago12/05/20 at 12:22 am (UTC)

My experience is that it has taken weeks for me and three other people (who are actually skilled with Wordpress sites) to get a very simple, one product site up and running. I just wanted to make sure that other people who might be thinking of doing the same would understand that it's quite confusing with a very large learning curve to use Wordpress, Learndash, and Grassblades to try and sell a single elearning course. There is no phone support with these companies; just send an email and hope it gets answered quickly and accurately. It appears that solutions like TalentLMS have more intuitive interfaces which are easier to navigate without so much struggle. Yes, it costs a little more but perhaps it's worth it depending on a person's need. I just want to share, not complain. 

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