Lists / Creator economy
Best online course platforms for creators (2026): What ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini Recommend
Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable lead 50 recorded AI answers on where to sell a course. Maven leads the cohort question. Ranked picks, model splits and limits.
Kajabi. Ten AI models named it in 50 of 50 recorded answers and put it first in 15 of 50. Thinkific and Teachable complete the shortlist for a self-paced course. For a live cohort course, add Maven, the one product every model named for that question and no other. This page counts which platforms the models name when a creator asks where to sell a course. It does not rate the products.
TL;DR
- Shortlist Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable for a self-paced course. All three hold up across every model on the panel.
- Kajabi is the safest name to include and the least certain to lead. Every answer named it, and most answers still opened with another product.
- A cohort course needs a different shortlist. Maven, Circle and Mighty Networks rise there. Teachable and Podia almost vanish.
- Udemy is the marketplace route for a creator with no audience. The models name it often and almost never first.
- Below the top three, the model a buyer asks matters. Circle, Skool and Systeme.io depend heavily on whether a Google model answered.
1. Kajabi
Pick Kajabi if you want course hosting, email, sales pages and checkout in one account, because it is the only platform every model named for every question.
Measured: named 50 of 50 (Kajabi 100%), first 15 of 50 (Kajabi 30%), average position 2.3.
Kajabi is the only product present in every recorded answer, cohort question included, where most self-paced platforms thin out. Whatever kind of course a creator describes, the models keep it on the list. Placement is weaker than presence. Most answers open with another product and bring Kajabi in as the all-in-one choice. Claude Sonnet 5 described it as “The go-to all-in-one option for creators who want everything (courses, website, email marketing, funnels, payments) under one login.”
SellCoursesOnline calls Kajabi the best all-in-one online course platform. Uteach puts it last of its seven white-label picks.
Pros
- Named in all 50 recorded answers
- All ten models gave it 5 of 5
- Present in every cohort answer, where Teachable and Podia drop away
Cons
- First in 15 of 50, so most answers open with another name
- A 70-point gap between named share and named-first share
- Uteach says it has no single option below one hundred dollars
Pricing: plan-based monthly subscription with no transaction fee on any plan, according to SellCoursesOnline.
Best for: creators who want the course, the marketing and the checkout in one place, for a self-paced or a cohort course.
2. Thinkific
Pick Thinkific if the course itself is the product, because four models chose it to open their 2026 recommendation.
Measured: named 48 of 50 (Thinkific 96%), first 14 of 50 (Thinkific 28%), average position 2.58.
Thinkific sits one step behind Kajabi on count and on first placements. Its only gaps are the cohort answers from GPT-5.6 Sol and Claude Sonnet 5. On the general questions, several models treat it as the default course-first answer. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Luna, Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro all opened their answer to the 2026 recommendation question with it. So when the question is simply where to sell a course, Thinkific is often the first name a buyer reads.
SellCoursesOnline names Thinkific its best overall course platform.
Pros
- 48 of 50 answers named it
- Thinkific 100% across the Google and the Perplexity answers
- Opened the 2026 recommendation answer for four models
Cons
- Left out of the GPT-5.6 Sol and Claude Sonnet 5 cohort answers
- Average position 2.58, a shade below Teachable
- Uteach reports white-label features only on the higher plans
Pricing: a free plan for one course, then paid plans with no transaction fee, according to SellCoursesOnline.
Best for: a structured self-paced course sold as the main product.
3. Teachable
Pick Teachable if you are launching a self-paced course and not a cohort, because the models place it early for the first and almost never name it for the second.
Measured: named 40 of 50 (Teachable 80%), first 10 of 50 (Teachable 20%), average position 2.53.
Teachable’s count hides a split. It was named in almost every answer to the four general questions and in one cohort answer, from Gemini 3.6 Flash. When the models do name it, they name it early. GPT-5.6 Terra opened its answers to the specific-products and what-should-I-use questions with it, as the pick “if you want to launch a polished, standalone course business without assembling a stack of tools”. A buyer planning live sessions should weigh that gap before the headline count.
SellCoursesOnline lists Teachable as its most user-friendly course platform.
Pros
- Teachable 80% in every model family
- Sits higher in the answer than Thinkific on average
- GPT-5.6 Terra’s opening pick for two of the general questions
Cons
- Gemini 3.6 Flash gave its only cohort mention
- Login, signup and checkout pages stay on a Teachable subdomain, per SellCoursesOnline
- Selar reports that it processes payments mainly through Stripe and PayPal
Pricing: tiered monthly plans, and removing Teachable branding needs at least the Pro plan, according to Uteach.
Best for: first-time creators selling a self-paced course.
4. Udemy
Pick Udemy if you have no audience yet and would rather sell to a marketplace’s existing students than build your own storefront.
Measured: named 29 of 50 (Udemy 58%), first 2 of 50 (Udemy 4%), average position 5.76.
Udemy is a different kind of product from the three above it, and the models treat it that way. They name it often, rarely first, and usually after the owned-site platforms as the audience-first alternative. It splits by family: Udemy 33.3% across the OpenAI answers, Udemy 73.3% across Anthropic and Udemy 80% across Perplexity. It all but disappears from the cohort question, where only Gemini 3.5 Flash named it. So the model a buyer asks decides whether Udemy is on the table at all.
WiziShop ranks Udemy second, directly behind WiziShop itself.
Pros
- 29 of 50 answers, more than any product outside the top three
- Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5, Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro each named it 4 of 5 times
- WiziShop reports a significant built-in audience from the start
Cons
- Placed first in just 2 of 50 answers
- GPT-5.6 Sol and GPT-5.6 Terra named it once each
- WPMinds lists less control over pricing and branding
Pricing: no fee to create and host a course, and the fee on each sale depends on whether it came through an instructor coupon or referral link, according to WiziShop.
Best for: new instructors who need buyers more than they need a brand.
5. Podia
Pick Podia if you sell a self-paced course alongside other digital products and you ask a non-Google model, because that is where its mentions come from.
Measured: named 26 of 50 (Podia 52%), first 1 of 50 (Podia 2%), average position 4.42.
Podia never appeared in an answer to the cohort question. Every mention came from the four general questions, which makes it the clearest self-paced-only name on the list. The Google models barely use it. Gemini 3.5 Flash never named it, and Gemini 3.6 Flash named it once. The Anthropic models went the other way, at Podia 66.7%. GPT-5.6 Luna made it the default in its answer to the what-should-I-use question.
WPMinds lists memberships, webinars and digital downloads among Podia’s strengths. SellCoursesOnline labels Podia its best option for beginners.
Pros
- Podia 70% across the Perplexity answers
- Sonar Pro and Claude Opus 5 named it 4 of 5 times
- GPT-5.6 Luna’s default for the what-should-I-use question
Cons
- No cohort answer named it
- Once in 50 answers as the first name
- SellCoursesOnline reports no mobile apps
- Selar reports payments through Stripe and PayPal only
Pricing: monthly plans after a free trial, according to Selar.
Best for: solo creators selling a course with downloads or a membership, not a live cohort.
6. Circle
Pick Circle if your course lives inside a community or runs as a live cohort, because that is the job the models name it for.
Measured: named 24 of 50 (Circle 48%), first 1 of 50 (Circle 2%), average position 4.83.
Circle carries the most lopsided model split in the top six. Both Google models named it in every answer. Claude Sonnet 5 never named it. Outside Google, most of its mentions sit in the cohort question, and GPT-5.6 Luna made it the first pick for a cohort course. A buyer asking a Gemini model about a self-paced course will hear about Circle. The same buyer asking most other models will not, unless the course is a cohort. circle.so drew 21 citations in the recorded answers, more than any other vendor-owned site.
SellCoursesOnline describes Circle as a community platform that also includes an online course builder.
Pros
- Circle 100% across the Google answers
- Every model except Claude Sonnet 5 named it for a cohort course
- SellCoursesOnline rates it best for community-powered courses
Cons
- Zero mentions in 5 Claude Sonnet 5 answers
- GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro stopped at 1 of 5
- SellCoursesOnline says it is not suitable for standalone courses
Pricing: monthly plans, with a transaction fee on the starter plan and on the most popular plan, according to SellCoursesOnline.
Best for: community-led courses and live cohorts.
7. LearnWorlds
Pick LearnWorlds if you want a self-paced platform outside the top three and care more about the lesson experience than built-in marketing.
Measured: named 22 of 50 (LearnWorlds 44%), first 1 of 50 (LearnWorlds 2%), average position 5.14.
LearnWorlds is the broadest of the mid-table names. Every model named it at least once, and only Sonar Pro named it in four of five answers. Like Podia, it never appeared in a cohort answer. The models treat it as a self-paced alternative rather than a cohort tool, and they rarely lead with it. Its reach is wide and shallow: present somewhere in every model’s answers, and central in almost none of them.
SellCoursesOnline labels LearnWorlds best for interactive experiences. The same page says LearnWorlds isn’t user-friendly.
Pros
- Every model named it at least once
- LearnWorlds 80% in Sonar Pro’s answers
- Uteach reports a fully white-label website option
Cons
- Absent from every cohort answer
- Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Terra named it once each
- WPMinds lists a steep learning curve for new users
Pricing: a monthly Starter plan plus a fee per course, with a free trial, according to Uteach.
Best for: educators who want interactive lessons in a self-paced course.
8. Skool
Pick Skool if your course is community-led and your buyers ask Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5 or a Gemini model, because those are the models that name it.
Measured: named 21 of 50 (Skool 42%), first 0 of 50 (Skool 0%), average position 5.62.
Skool shows how far the models can disagree about one product. Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5 and both Gemini models named it in four of five answers. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro never named it. Most of its mentions come from the general questions, not the cohort question, even though the answers frame it as a community tool. None of the captured guides gives Skool an entry. A buyer who reads only ranking guides will not meet it, while a buyer who asks Claude Opus 5 very likely will.
Pros
- Skool 80% across the Google answers
- Claude Opus 5 and Claude Fable 5 matched the Gemini models at 4 of 5
Cons
- Zero first placements
- GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro never named it
- No public pricing in the captured research
Best for: simple, community-first courses.
9. Mighty Networks
Pick Mighty Networks if courses and community share one paid membership, and test it against Circle for a cohort.
Measured: named 21 of 50 (Mighty Networks 42%), first 0 of 50 (Mighty Networks 0%), average position 6.14.
Mighty Networks ties Skool on count but sits lower in the answer. Its pattern leans toward the cohort question. Every Anthropic model and both Perplexity models included it in their cohort answer. The OpenAI models named it once each, and only on general questions. That makes it a community and cohort name, placed late and never first.
Uteach describes Mighty Networks as a platform for building branded communities that can also offer online courses. Uteach also reports that it does not allow affiliate programmes for a creator’s products.
Pros
- Level with Skool on count, at Mighty Networks 42%
- Cohort answers from all three Anthropic models and both Perplexity models included it
Cons
- Average position 6.14, lower than Skool at the same count
- Each OpenAI model named it once in 5
- WPMinds lists limited advanced LMS features
Pricing: tiered monthly plans from a Community plan upward, with a free trial, according to Uteach.
Best for: memberships where the community is the product and the course sits inside it.
10. Systeme.io
Pick Systeme.io if your buyers mostly ask Google’s models, because both Gemini models named it in four of five answers and almost nobody else did.
Measured: named 11 of 50 (Systeme.io 22%), first 0 of 50 (Systeme.io 0%), average position 3.73.
Systeme.io is almost a Google-only answer. Claude Opus 5 and Claude Fable 5 named it occasionally. No OpenAI or Perplexity model named it at all. When it does appear, it appears early. Its average position of 3.73 puts it higher in the answer than Udemy, Podia or Circle, which is unusual for a product named this rarely. It never appeared in a cohort answer, and none of the captured guides gives it an entry. Treat it as a real option in Google’s answers and an unknown one everywhere else on the panel.
Pros
- Average position 3.73, higher in the answer than Udemy, Podia or Circle
- Systeme.io 80% in each Gemini model’s answers
Cons
- No OpenAI or Perplexity model named it
- Missing from every cohort answer
Best for: creators already comparing all-in-one tools in Google’s AI answers.
11. Maven
Pick Maven if you are selling a live cohort course, the one question where every model named it.
Measured: named 10 of 50 (Maven 20%), first 6 of 50 (Maven 12%), average position 1.6.
Maven’s rank understates it for one kind of buyer. All 10 of its mentions come from the cohort question, one from each model, and none from the four general questions. When it appears, it leads. Its average position of 1.6 is the highest placement on the table, and every one of its first placements came in a cohort answer. GPT-5.6 Terra gave the reason: “It is purpose-built around the cohort model.” For a self-paced course, skip it. For a cohort, it belongs on the shortlist beside Kajabi and Circle.
Pros
- Every model named it in its cohort answer
- Average position 1.6, the highest placement on the table
- 6 of its 10 mentions put it first
Cons
- Absent from all four general questions
- One mention per model, so its share rests on a single prompt
- No captured guide covers it
Pricing: several recorded answers describe a revenue share on sales instead of an upfront subscription. No captured guide prices it.
Best for: live, time-bound cohort courses.
12. Gumroad
Pick Gumroad only if you want the simplest possible checkout and do not need a branded course site.
Measured: named 7 of 50 (Gumroad 14%), first 0 of 50 (Gumroad 0%), average position 6.86.
Gumroad sits on the edge of this category. The models that name it place it near the end of the answer, and its mentions come only from OpenAI and Anthropic models. Claude Sonnet 5 named it most often. It never appeared in a cohort answer. A buyer who needs a branded course site should start higher up this list.
SellCoursesOnline covers Gumroad in its comparison tool, not as a ranked entry. That tool reports that Gumroad can’t be white-labelled at all.
Pros
- Gumroad 60% in Claude Sonnet 5’s answers
- GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-5.6 Luna each named it once
Cons
- Never named by a Google or Perplexity model
- Average position 6.86, near the end of the answer
Pricing: no monthly fee, and a flat transaction fee on each sale instead, according to SellCoursesOnline.
Best for: one-off digital sales where the checkout matters more than the course site.
13. Stan
Pick Stan only after testing it against the leaders, because only Google’s models named it, and always late in the answer.
Measured: named 4 of 50 (Stan 8%), first 0 of 50 (Stan 0%), average position 8.25.
Stan appears only in Google’s answers. Gemini 3.6 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash each named it in two of five answers, including the Gemini 3.6 Flash cohort answer. No OpenAI, Anthropic or Perplexity model named it. Its average position of 8.25 is the deepest on the table, so even where it appears, a reader has already passed most of the answer. None of the captured guides gives it an entry. The count shows how far the category’s edge reaches in Google’s answers. It does not make Stan a first choice for a course business.
Pros
- Stan 40% in each Gemini model’s answers
- It appeared in Gemini 3.6 Flash’s cohort answer
Cons
- Outside Google’s models, no mentions at all
- Average position 8.25, the deepest on the table
Best for: creators whose buyers use Gemini and who want a light storefront.
14. Kartra
Pick Kartra only if you want an all-in-one marketing suite as an alternative to Kajabi, the role Gemini 3.5 Flash gave it.
Measured: named 3 of 50 (Kartra 6%), first 0 of 50 (Kartra 0%), average position 4.67.
Kartra came up three times, from Gemini 3.5 Flash, Sonar Pro and Sonar Reasoning Pro. Gemini 3.5 Flash grouped it with Kajabi as an all-in-one business builder, which is the clearest statement of its role in the recorded answers. Both Perplexity mentions came in answers to the specific-products question, placed around the middle. A buyer considering Kartra is really choosing between all-in-one suites, and Kajabi is the suite every model named.
SellCoursesOnline includes Kartra in its comparison tool but not as a ranked entry.
Pros
- Mid-answer placement when named, average position 4.67
- Gemini 3.5 Flash paired it with Kajabi as an all-in-one business builder
Cons
- Just 3 of 50 answers
- No first placement
Best for: marketers who want funnels and a course in one suite and have already shortlisted Kajabi.
15. Whop
Pick Whop only if you have a specific reason to, because a single model named it once.
Measured: named 1 of 50 (Whop 2%), first 0 of 50 (Whop 0%), average position 8.
Whop’s one mention came from Sonar Reasoning Pro, in its answer to the question that asked for specific products. It sat near the end of that answer. No other model named it for any of the five questions, including the cohort question. None of the captured guides gives it an entry. It is on this list because the method lists every tracked product the models named, not because the answers treat it as a course platform. A buyer choosing a course platform should read the entries above it first.
Pros
- Sonar Reasoning Pro included it in its specific-products answer
- Whop 20% of Sonar Reasoning Pro’s answers
Cons
- 1 of 50 answers
- Average position 8, near the end of its only answer
Best for: nothing the recorded answers establish.
How the tools compare
Kajabi leads, and Thinkific and Teachable sit close behind it. Below those three the counts fall away sharply, and no other product reached more than 29 of 50 answers. The full edition table is also at the course platforms index.
| Vendor | Named | Answer share | Named first | First share | Average position | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | 50/50 | 100% | 15/50 | 30% | 2.3 | Subscription |
| Thinkific | 48/50 | 96% | 14/50 | 28% | 2.58 | Free plan, then subscription |
| Teachable | 40/50 | 80% | 10/50 | 20% | 2.53 | Subscription |
| Udemy | 29/50 | 58% | 2/50 | 4% | 5.76 | Fee per sale |
| Podia | 26/50 | 52% | 1/50 | 2% | 4.42 | Subscription |
| Circle | 24/50 | 48% | 1/50 | 2% | 4.83 | Subscription plus fee |
| LearnWorlds | 22/50 | 44% | 1/50 | 2% | 5.14 | Subscription plus fee |
| Skool | 21/50 | 42% | 0/50 | 0% | 5.62 | Not captured |
| Mighty Networks | 21/50 | 42% | 0/50 | 0% | 6.14 | Subscription |
| Systeme.io | 11/50 | 22% | 0/50 | 0% | 3.73 | Not captured |
| Maven | 10/50 | 20% | 6/50 | 12% | 1.6 | Not captured |
| Gumroad | 7/50 | 14% | 0/50 | 0% | 6.86 | Fee per sale |
| Stan | 4/50 | 8% | 0/50 | 0% | 8.25 | Not captured |
| Kartra | 3/50 | 6% | 0/50 | 0% | 4.67 | Not captured |
| Whop | 1/50 | 2% | 0/50 | 0% | 8 | Not captured |
The pattern below the leader is a steep drop in first placements. Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable take most of the first places. Maven takes 6, all in cohort answers. No other product was named first more than twice. Being named and being named first are different signals. Udemy, Podia and Circle each appear in roughly half the answers and almost never lead them. The pricing-model column summarises each entry’s Pricing line, where the captured guides describe one.
Where do the models disagree?
The models agree on the leader and disagree below the top three. Kajabi was the leader for all ten models and all four families. Thinkific and Teachable were named in at least three of five answers by every model. The split below shows where that agreement ends.
| Vendor | GPT-5.6 Sol | GPT-5.6 Terra | GPT-5.6 Luna | Claude Opus 5 | Claude Sonnet 5 | Claude Fable 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash | Gemini 3.5 Flash | Sonar Pro | Sonar Reasoning Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Thinkific | 4/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Teachable | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 5/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Udemy | 1/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Podia | 3/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| Circle | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 | 5/5 | 5/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| LearnWorlds | 2/5 | 1/5 | 2/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 |
| Skool | 0/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 |
| Mighty Networks | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 4/5 | 2/5 | 4/5 | 3/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| Systeme.io | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 | 4/5 | 4/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| Maven | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| Gumroad | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 3/5 | 1/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| Stan | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 2/5 | 2/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 |
| Kartra | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 | 1/5 |
| Whop | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 0/5 | 1/5 |
Circle is the sharpest disagreement. Both Gemini models named it in 5 of 5 answers, and Claude Sonnet 5 named it in none. Skool splits the panel almost in half. Claude Opus 5, Claude Fable 5 and both Gemini models named it in four of five answers, while GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra and Sonar Reasoning Pro never did. Systeme.io and Stan are close to Google-only names. Podia runs the other way from Circle, with its lowest counts in the two Gemini models.
The practical reading is simple. The top three hold across every model. Anything below them is partly a statement about which model answered.
Why does the cohort question change the answer?
Because one of the five questions asks about a cohort-based course, and that question produces a different shortlist from the other four. The headline table blends both, and the blend hides it.
Maven is the clearest case. All 10 of its mentions came from the cohort question, one from each model, and it was absent from every answer to the other four. Its answer share looks small because four of the five questions never gave it a chance. On the one question built for it, every model named it, and it led 6 of those answers.
The self-paced platforms move the other way. Teachable was named in almost every answer to the four general questions and in only one cohort answer. Podia, LearnWorlds and Systeme.io were never named in a cohort answer. Udemy appeared in only one. The community platforms move toward it. Outside the Google models, most of Circle’s mentions sit in the cohort answers. Mighty Networks appears in the cohort answer of every Anthropic and Perplexity model. Kajabi is the only product named in every answer to both kinds of question.
Gemini 3.6 Flash gave the reason in its own cohort answer: “traditional self-paced LMS tools (like basic Teachable or Thinkific) often fall short unless paired with third-party software.” That is a model’s statement, not a measured product fact. It matches the measured pattern: the self-paced names drop out of cohort answers, and the community and cohort names come in.
So the buyer’s first decision is the course format, not the platform. If the course is self-paced, the ranking above works as printed. If the course is a live cohort, the working shortlist is Kajabi, Maven, Circle and Mighty Networks, with Thinkific as the self-paced platform that still appears.
How the sample was built
Online course platforms here means software a creator uses to host and sell a course. The tracked set spans standalone course builders, one marketplace, community platforms, a cohort platform and creator storefronts. The panel tracked 15 products, and every one was named at least once.
The sample is 10 models x 5 fixed prompts = 50 recorded answers, one answer per model and question. The five questions, verbatim:
- “What is the best platform to sell an online course for a creator? Name specific products.”
- “Which platform to sell an online course would you recommend to a creator in 2026?”
- “Compare the top platform to sell an online course options right now.”
- “I’m a creator and I need a platform to sell an online course. What should I use and why?”
- “Best platform to sell an online course for selling a cohort-based course?”
The models come from four families. OpenAI (GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-5.6 Terra, GPT-5.6 Luna) and Anthropic (Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5, Claude Fable 5) contribute 15 answers each. Google (Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash) and Perplexity (Sonar Pro, Sonar Reasoning Pro) contribute 10 each. Answer share is the share of the 50 answers that named a product. Named first is the share where it appeared before any other tracked product. The full method is at /method.
How this sits against the course platform guides
The pages that rank for this question are purchase guides, and most are written by a company with a product to sell. This page counts names in AI answers instead.
Uteach’s guide ranks white-label course platforms and places Uteach first. Its author says they tested multiple platforms and interviewed other course creators.
Selar’s guide is written for creators in Africa and puts Selar first. Its case against Teachable, Kajabi, Podia and Thinkific rests on payment access.
SellCoursesOnline’s guide ranks white-label platforms, with Thinkific best overall and Kajabi best all-in-one. It discloses that it earns a commission from partner links.
WiziShop’s guide lists WiziShop first and Udemy second.
WPMinds splits its list into free and paid course creation platforms. It ends with a pitch for its own website design service for coaches.
Claude Opus 5 raised the same point unprompted: “most of the “best platform” articles you’ll find are published by the platforms themselves”.
The captured guides also skip names the models use. None of the five gives Skool, Maven or Systeme.io an entry, yet every model named Maven for a cohort course. None of them separates a self-paced buyer from a cohort buyer. What this page adds is that layer: which products ten models name, how often they name them first, how that shifts by model, and how it shifts when the course is a cohort.
What these counts cannot tell you
These counts measure presence in recorded answers. They do not measure product quality, support, reliability, pricing fairness or fit with a particular business. Being named is not being recommended, because an answer can name a product to warn against it. Each model answered each question once, so a single answer can move a small count. The edition is one dated snapshot. Products are matched by name, so an unusual spelling could be missed. Answers came through the models’ APIs, which can differ from the consumer chat apps. All five questions were in English.
What should a buyer do with this list?
Decide the course format first, then shortlist. For a self-paced course, start with Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable. All three are named across every model, so a buyer comparing them is comparing the options their own students will hear about. Kajabi suits the all-in-one account. Thinkific or Teachable suit a creator whose course is the whole product.
For a live cohort, swap the shortlist. Put Maven, Circle and Mighty Networks beside Kajabi, and drop Teachable and Podia from the first round.
With no audience, treat Udemy as a separate decision. It is a marketplace, not a storefront, and the models place it that way.
Then check what the counts cannot show. Read each vendor’s own current pricing page, because guide prices age. Build one real lesson on a trial before committing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best platform to sell an online course?
Kajabi is the platform the ten models named most, in every recorded answer. Thinkific and Teachable follow closely. That measures how often AI answers name each product, not product quality. For a cohort course, Maven is the name every model added.
What is a good website to sell courses?
For a creator’s own course site, the models most often name Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable. For access to an existing audience, Udemy is the marketplace they name, usually after the owned-site options.
WPMinds describes marketplaces as third-party sites where creators upload courses and sell to a larger audience.
What is the best platform to create online courses?
The panel asked about selling, not building, so it measures which platforms are named for selling. On this panel, Thinkific and Teachable are the two course-first names the models use most.
WPMinds lists Teachable, Thinkific and Podia among free course creation platforms.
Is selling courses online profitable?
The counts cannot answer that. They measure names, not revenue. Fee structure is the part that bears on margin, and it varies by platform. Check the fee terms on the vendor’s own pricing page before modelling a margin.
WiziShop reports that Udemy’s fee depends on whether a sale arrives through an instructor coupon or referral link.
Which platform suits a cohort-based course?
Maven, Circle, Mighty Networks and Kajabi. Every model named Maven for a cohort course, and it led most of those answers. Every model except Claude Sonnet 5 named Circle there. Kajabi was named in every cohort answer. Teachable appeared in only one cohort answer, and Podia in none.
Does it matter which AI model a buyer asks?
For the top three, no. Kajabi, Thinkific and Teachable held up across every model. Below them it matters a lot. Circle, Skool, Systeme.io and Stan rise or vanish depending on whether a Google model answered.
Which sources do the models cite when they answer?
youtube.com is the most-cited host in the recorded answers, with 186 citations. storyflow.so (65), mihaelcacic.com (44) and zapier.com (43) follow. Among vendor-owned sites, circle.so (21), teachable.com (19) and kajabi.com (11) lead. Citation counts reflect citations returned in the recorded API responses, and coverage varies by model.
How this list is ordered
The order is the measurement, not an assessment of the products. Answer share is the share of recorded answers that named the tool. Named first is the share where it appeared before any other tracked tool. Both are counts from one dated edition and are published in full on the category page.
A tool appears here only if it was named in the edition and its record carries a sourced claim. A product that was never named is not listed, and no position is sold.
Where to check it
- The full category record every answer, per-model split, cited sources
- The recorded answers raw output and counts
- The method how the panel runs and what is counted