Freedom251 › Online course platforms
LearnDash
by LearnDash
What LearnDash is
LearnDash is a WordPress LMS plugin for creating, managing, and selling online courses from a WordPress site. Its drag-and-drop builder organizes lessons, topics, and assessments, while the quiz builder supports eight question types. An AI course builder can turn a topic description into a structured outline with lessons. Supported formats include lessons, topics, quizzes, assignments, and video. Every plan includes MemberDash for membership tiers, subscriptions, course bundles, and content access management. Pro and Elite add ProPanel reporting for enrollment trends, completion, quiz performance, and at-risk learners. LearnDash lists integrations including Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, Elementor, Events Calendar, Paid Memberships Pro, MemberPress, Gravity Forms, bbPress, Zapier, Slack, and WPML. It offers integrated payments, custom domains, and a native mobile app. Essentials, Pro, and Elite each provide one license with unlimited courses and learners. A 48-hour trial requires no credit card.
Who it suits
It suits businesses, educators, creators, and training teams delivering courses through WordPress. It is useful for organisations combining course sales, memberships, and learner reporting.
What it does well
- Drag-and-drop course and assessment builder
- AI-generated course outlines
- MemberDash included on every plan
- Integrated payment and membership options
- 48-hour trial without a credit card
What to know first
- No free plan is listed
- Group enrollment and seat selling require Elite
- Multi-instructor tools require Elite
- Requires a WordPress site
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | annual renewal · unlimited courses · unlimited learners · drag-and-drop builder · quizzes · memberships/subscriptions/bundles · Stripe/PayPal · video progression · certificates | $259 a year |
| Pro | annual renewal · Essentials features · AI course outline and quiz builder · advanced reporting · enrollment tracking · weighted grading · report cards · notes · group-leader communications | $399 a year |
| Elite | annual renewal · Pro features · group course management · instructor role · front-end course creation · multi-instructor management · ratings/reviews/feedback · seat sales | $599 a year |
As liquidweb.com lists them, read 15 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
LearnDash provides course creation, selling, memberships, and reporting within WordPress. Its broad integrations and included MemberDash support varied learning businesses, while several group and instructor controls are limited to Elite.
Facts from LearnDash's own pages
- Additional integrations
- The integrations directory lists LearnDash connections such as Zapier, Uncanny Automator, Memberium, Slack, and WPML. · liquidweb.com, 12 Oct 2026
- AI tools
- The AI course builder can generate a structured course outline with lessons from a topic description. · liquidweb.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Certificates
- Certificate tools can issue certificates based on course completion or quiz performance. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Company identity
- LinkedIn lists LearnDash as a privately held e-learning company with 11–50 employees, headquarters in Lansing, Michigan, and a 2013 founding year. · linkedin.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Course builder
- The product includes a drag-and-drop course builder for arranging course content. · liquidweb.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Course building
- The course builder supports drag-and-drop organization of lessons, topics, and assessments, and the quiz builder includes eight question types. · liquidweb.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Course formats
- lessons,topics,quizzes,assignments,video · liquidweb.com, 22 Sept 2026
- Custom domain
- Yes · liquidweb.com, 22 Sept 2026
- Documentation
- The support center provides separate knowledge bases for core, Cloud, add-ons, mobile apps, MCP, troubleshooting and developer documentation. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Ecommerce
- Courses can be sold as one-time purchases, subscriptions, memberships or bundles. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2013 · liquidweb.com, 19 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- No · liquidweb.com, 22 Sept 2026
- Gamification
- Achievements, badges and points are available through LearnDash features and add-ons. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Group learning
- Groups functionality supports seat-based sales, group leaders and team enrollment. · liquidweb.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Hosting limitation
- LearnDash does not support WordPress multisite configurations. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Installation
- The self-hosted plugin is installed by uploading a purchased ZIP in the WordPress plugins screen and activating it. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Official add-ons cover WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, MemberPress, Restrict Content Pro, Paid Memberships Pro, Gravity Forms, Elementor, bbPress, Event Espresso and Zapier. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Licence
- LearnDash plugin files are described as licensed under GNU GPL version 2.0 or later. · lmscrafter.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: mobile app reliability
- A Trustpilot reviewer reported that courses failed to appear in a business-critical LearnDash App deployment for roughly 90 days. · trustpilot.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: performance and updates
- Software Advice reviewers mention occasional performance effects and maintenance problems after updates. · softwareadvice.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: plugin complexity
- Software Advice reviewers report that LMS setup can be complex and that plugin compatibility problems occur. · softwareadvice.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: support incidents
- Trustpilot reviewers report slow or missing responses, unresolved bugs, site outages and worsening support after the Liquid Web acquisition. · trustpilot.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: tracking and integrations
- G2 reviews mention unreliable tracking, difficult course-bundle or shopping-cart workflows and challenges exposing enrollment data to external tools. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
- LTI limitation
- LearnDash has no built-in LTI support; LTI requires third-party integration or custom development. · learndash.com, 15 Oct 2026
Where LearnDash stands on Freedom251
- Online course platforms#5 of 148
- Learning Management Systems#9 of 111
- Wordpress Plugins#5 of 34
- E-Learning Software#8 of 28