Online Course Pricing: How Much to Charge for Your Course (2026)

The short answer

How much should you charge for an online course? Start with what students will learn, the results they can work toward and the support you provide. Here's what the real courses in our table below charge, by course type:

• Mini-course: $25 to $99
• Signature course (self-paced, in-depth): $199 to $799
• Cohort course (live, over several weeks): $799 to $3,000
• Certification: about $300 to $650 for the online certifications we checked, and close to $2,000 for a university-branded certificate course

On Heartbeat, the median one-time product (a course, workshop or program) sells for $149, and the middle half sell for $47 to $462.¹ The course pricing calculator narrows that range to your topic.

A short course that teaches one skill usually costs less than a program with live lessons and personal support. Before you settle on your price, look at similar courses, work out your costs and consider what students receive. You can adjust your price after launch based on sales and feedback. If the course isn't built yet, start with our guide to creating an online course.

What online courses cost today

The price depends on what a course teaches, how long it runs and what students receive. The courses below range from a $25 photography lesson to a $3,000 engineering bootcamp.

These examples show what individual providers charge. They give you a helpful starting point, but they don't represent the entire online course market.

Kenyan shilling prices are converted at 129.87 KES to the US dollar, the rate on Oct. 26, 2026, and rounded to the nearest dollar.¹⁵

Promotional prices and cohort dates change, so confirm the current price before buying. When comparing courses, look beyond the price tag. Check what each course covers, how much support it provides and who it's designed for.

The pattern in the table is clear: price rises with live time. Self-paced courses mostly sit under $800, while every cohort course enrolling now costs $799 or more, because students are paying for scheduled sessions, feedback and a group to learn with. A $199 course with detailed lessons may offer better value to one student than a $65 course covering a different skill. Use comparable courses to understand what buyers might expect, then choose a price that suits your audience and offer.

Four ways to set your price

You don't need a complicated formula to price your course. Think about what students will gain, look at what similar courses cost, work out your expenses and see how buyers respond.

1. Consider what students will gain

Think about the problem your course helps solve. Does it teach a useful skill, save time or help students improve their work?

For example, freelancers might pay for a course on writing client proposals. If your course includes templates, practical examples and exercises, you could test a price of $197.

Be clear about what students will learn and how they can use those skills. The course may help them write better proposals, but it can't guarantee they'll land more clients or earn more money.

2. Compare similar courses

Look at courses that teach the same skill to a similar audience. Compare their prices, lessons and support. Personal feedback, for instance, may justify charging more than a course that includes lessons alone.

Suppose three comparable courses cost $99, $149 and $199. If yours includes more practical resources than the first two but less personal support than the third, $179 could be a reasonable starting point.

If people show interest but leave without buying, don't assume the price is the problem. Your sales page may need clearer benefits or a better explanation of what's included.

3. Work out your costs

Include software, hosting, contractor payments, advertising and the time you spend preparing lessons or supporting students.

Let's say you spend $2,000 creating your course and sell it to 50 students for $100 each. That's $5,000 in revenue. After subtracting the initial creation cost, $3,000 remains before payment fees, taxes and other expenses.

The pricing calculator runs this sum the other way: enter your hourly rate and the hours it takes to build the course, and it shows how many sales pay that time back.

Of course, those 50 sales aren't guaranteed. If fewer students buy, it will take longer to recover your costs. Factor that possibility into your pricing instead of assuming every course will sell quickly.

4. Test your price

You don't need to find the perfect price before launch. Instead, research your market, choose a starting amount and track what happens after people see your offer.

If potential students show interest but don't buy, ask for feedback where possible. The price might be too high for your audience, or buyers might need more information about the course.

When possible, change one thing at a time. If you adjust the price, offer and sales page all at once, you won't know which change affected your sales.

Tiers and bundles

Some students want lessons and downloadable materials, while others will pay more for coaching, personal feedback or a group of peers working through the same material. Two or three options let students choose how much support they want.

These are example prices and not universal rates. Make the differences clear so that buyers can see what they get for the extra money. A higher price should reflect something students actually receive, such as additional lessons, a place to ask questions between sessions or direct access to the instructor. If you add an ongoing community, you can also charge for it monthly after the course ends; the membership pricing calculator shows what similar communities charge.

Bundles offer another option. You could combine related courses, templates or workshops into one package for students who want to learn several connected skills.

For example, 20 sales at $297 would bring in $5,940. At $197 per package, those same 20 sales would bring in $3,940. That's a $2,000 difference, but charging more only makes sense if students see enough value in what you're offering. For how to present tiers on a sales page, see our guide to selling online courses.

Payment plans, discounts and founding-member pricing

How students pay can affect their decision to buy. Monthly installments can make a more expensive course easier to afford, while an introductory offer may encourage people to sign up early.

Offer payment plans

You could sell a course for $497 upfront or offer three monthly payments of $179. The installment option costs $537 in total, which is $40 more than paying upfront.

Show the full cost clearly before checkout. Also check how your platform handles recurring payments, failed transactions, cancellations and access to course materials.

Use discounts carefully

A launch discount can encourage people who are already interested to buy sooner. For example, reducing a course from $497 to $397 saves students $100, or about 20%.

But a lower price doesn't automatically mean more income. Ten sales at $497 bring in $4,970. At $397, you'd need 13 sales to generate $5,161 before fees and other costs.

Offer discounts for a clear reason, such as an introductory price or a genuine deadline. If your course is always on sale, customers may stop taking the original price seriously.

Set a founding-member price

For your first launch, you could offer a lower price to a small group of students in exchange for feedback. Their questions and experiences can help you improve the lessons before opening enrollment to a wider audience. A paid waitlist lets you collect those founding-member payments before the course is finished.

For example, 15 founding members paying $197 generate $2,955. If 15 students later pay $297, the total would be $4,455.

Explain what early buyers receive and whether their purchase includes future updates. Be clear about what you expect in return for the discount, including whether you want feedback or permission to use testimonials.

What you keep

Your course price isn't the amount you take home. Payment-processing fees and platform transaction fees reduce your earnings, and the gap between platforms grows with the price. (For the full fee picture on a $200 sale, see what you keep when you sell online courses.)

The estimates below start from Stripe's standard US domestic card rate of 2.9% plus $0.30 per successful transaction, then subtract each platform's own fee.¹⁶ They use Teachable Starter's 7.5% transaction fee and Podia Mover's 5% fee.¹⁷¹⁸ Our Teachable pricing and Podia pricing guides cover each plan in detail.

Here's the math for the $497 course on Teachable Starter: Stripe takes $14.41 plus $0.30, Teachable takes 7.5% ($37.28), and you keep $445.01.

Thinkific, Kajabi and Udemy work differently.

• Thinkific: Its built-in processor, Thinkific Payments, charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per US card transaction, the same as Stripe, with no extra Thinkific fee.¹⁹ If you connect Stripe instead, a third-party payment gateway fee applies on top:²⁰ 5% on Basic, 2% on Start, 1% on Grow, 0.5% on Expand and none on Plus²¹. The fee covers your first $1 million in Thinkific sales each calendar year.
• Kajabi: Kajabi takes no revenue share. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% plus $0.30 on Basic, 2.8% plus $0.30 on Growth and 2.7% plus $0.30 on Pro for US entities.²²
• Udemy: On the marketplace, instructors keep a revenue share of the net amount:²³ 37% on sales Udemy brings in, and 97% on sales through your own coupon or referral link. Net is what's left after taxes and app store fees, so a $497 course leaves you at most $183.89 from a sale Udemy brings in and $482.09 from one through your coupon.

On a $1,997 course, Thinkific Start on Stripe costs $58.21 in card fees plus $39.94 for the 2% gateway fee, leaving $1,898.85. Kajabi Pro takes $53.92 plus $0.30, leaving $1,942.78. Udemy sets course prices through its own price matrix, so check the allowed range in your instructor dashboard before planning a premium course there.

These estimates exclude subscriptions, taxes, refunds, international cards, payment plans and other business expenses. Actual payouts can differ by country, payment method and plan.

Compare the subscription costs, transaction fees and features you'll use. A platform that charges per sale may cost less when you have only a few customers. As sales grow, a monthly subscription with lower transaction fees could work out cheaper.

When to raise your price

You don't have to keep the same price forever. You might charge more after improving your lessons, adding useful materials or seeing stronger demand for your course. To see where your current price sits against courses on Heartbeat, check the pricing calculator.

Listen to student feedback. If buyers regularly ask for more examples, templates or direct feedback, consider whether adding these would make the course more valuable.

You can test a small increase rather than making a big jump. If your course costs $197, try $227 and track page visits, sales and questions from potential buyers.

Watch your total revenue as well as earnings per sale. A higher price doesn't guarantee more income if fewer people buy. If sales drop sharply, review the offer or consider returning to the previous price.

Where Heartbeat fits

Heartbeat is where a course and the people taking it live together. Across one-time products on Heartbeat (courses, workshops and programs), the median price is $149, and the middle half sell for $47 to $462. About 13% are priced over $1,000, usually because they come with live sessions, coaching or a community.¹

Checkout takes one-time payments, installment plans and subscriptions, and you can bundle a course with a coaching tier or a membership in one offer. Promo codes can be a percentage or a fixed amount, limited to one offer, and pre-applied to a sign-up link for a launch. To sell before the course exists, open a paid waitlist at a founding-member price, and members get first access when you launch.

The course runs self-paced or as a cohort with drip release. When you raise a membership price, you choose whether current members keep the old price or move to the new one. To see what similar communities charge each month, try the membership pricing calculator. More than 37,000 communities have been built on Heartbeat, with over $27M paid out. There's a 14-day free trial, and no card is needed to start.

Start your free trialSee pricing

Frequently asked questions

How much should I charge for an online course?

Compare similar courses, calculate your costs and consider what students will gain. In our table, mini-courses run $25 to $99, self-paced signature courses $199 to $799 and live cohort courses $799 to $3,000. Adjust these figures to suit your audience, course format and level of support.

What is the typical cost of an online course?

There's no single price that suits every course. On Heartbeat, the median one-time course or program sells for $149. Short courses may cost tens of dollars, while cohort courses and certificate programs with live support can cost from several hundred to a few thousand dollars. The subject, length and level of instructor support all affect the price.

What are the 5 C's of pricing?

One marketing framework uses cost, customers, channels of distribution, competition and compatibility. These factors help businesses consider their expenses, target audience, sales channels, competitors and wider goals. OpenStax's Principles of Marketing explains each one.²⁴

What is the cheapest online course platform?

The cheapest option depends on how you sell. A marketplace may not require a monthly subscription but can keep a large share of your sales. A platform with a monthly fee may charge lower transaction fees. Our comparison of the best online course platforms sets their costs side by side, so you can match them to your expected sales and the features you need.

Should I offer a payment plan for my online course?

Consider installments if the upfront price might put buyers off. Make the total cost clear, check your platform's payment options and decide how you'll handle failed payments or cancellations.

Should I discount my online course when I launch it?

A launch discount can encourage early sales while you're building an audience. Set a clear deadline and make sure the reduced price still covers your costs. You could also offer a limited founding-member price in exchange for feedback.

When should I raise the price of my online course?

Consider raising your price when you improve the course, add useful support or see stronger demand. Test the increase and track sales to see whether it works. Charging more doesn't always mean you'll earn more.