When I first thought about creating an online course, every platform I looked at wanted $39-149/month just to host it. Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific — they’re all great, but they’re built for people already making money from courses. Not for someone just getting started.
I needed something free. Not a 14-day trial, not a “freemium” plan that locks everything useful behind a paywall. Actually free.
After weeks of research and testing, I found one platform that let me build, host, and sell a course without spending a single dollar. Here’s everything you need to know.
Why Teachable Gets Expensive Fast
Teachable is one of the most popular course platforms out there, and for good reason — it’s polished, reliable, and has a solid feature set. But the pricing tells a different story for beginners:
- Free plan: Teachable removed their free plan entirely in recent years. You now need at least the Basic plan.
- Basic plan: $39/month — plus a 5% transaction fee on every sale.
- Pro plan: $119/month — removes the transaction fee but adds features most beginners don’t need yet.
- Business plan: $299/month — designed for established course creators with large audiences.
So if you’re just testing the waters with your first course, you’re looking at nearly $500/year minimum before you’ve made a single sale. That’s a tough pill to swallow when you’re not even sure if people will buy.
The Best Free Teachable Alternative: Systeme.io
Systeme.io is the platform I switched to, and it’s been a game-changer. Their free plan includes everything you need to create, host, and sell an online course — with zero monthly fees and zero transaction fees.
Here’s what you get on the free plan:
- 1 online course with unlimited students
- Drag-and-drop course builder — upload videos, PDFs, text lessons, quizzes
- Built-in payment processing — accept payments via Stripe or PayPal
- Sales funnels — create landing pages and checkout pages to sell your course
- Email marketing — up to 2,000 contacts with automations included
- Custom domain support
- No transaction fees — you keep 100% of your revenue (minus payment processor fees)
That last point is huge. Even Teachable’s $39/month Basic plan still charges 5% per sale. Systeme.io charges nothing. Zero.
Systeme.io vs Teachable: Side-by-Side Comparison
Pricing
Teachable: Starts at $39/month + 5% transaction fee
Systeme.io: Free plan available, paid plans from $27/month with no transaction fees
Even if you eventually outgrow Systeme.io’s free plan, their starter plan at $27/month is still cheaper than Teachable’s basic tier. And you get way more included.
Course Builder
Teachable: Excellent course builder with multimedia support, drip content, quizzes, and certificates.
Systeme.io: Clean course builder with video hosting, text lessons, and drip scheduling. Slightly simpler but covers everything most creators need.
Teachable’s course builder is more polished. But Systeme.io’s does everything I actually use — video lessons, downloadable resources, and drip content. For a free tool, it’s impressive.
Marketing Tools
Teachable: Basic email tools, no funnel builder, no blog. You need external tools for marketing.
Systeme.io: Built-in email marketing, sales funnels, blog, and website builder — all included free.
This is where Systeme.io really wins. With Teachable, you still need Mailchimp (or similar) for email, and maybe ClickFunnels for sales pages. With Systeme.io, it’s all built in.
Student Experience
Teachable: Polished student dashboard, progress tracking, completion certificates, community features.
Systeme.io: Clean student area with progress tracking. No certificates or community features on free.
If you need fancy certificates and community features, Teachable has the edge. But for delivering a solid course experience, Systeme.io gets the job done.
Other Free Teachable Alternatives Worth Considering
Thinkific Free Plan
Thinkific offers a free plan with 1 course and unlimited students. The course builder is solid, and the student experience is great. However, the free plan doesn’t include email marketing, sales funnels, or any marketing tools. You’ll need to pay for those separately.
Udemy
Udemy is free to upload courses, but they take a massive 63% cut of organic sales. You also can’t build an email list, control your pricing freely, or create a branded experience. It’s a marketplace, not a platform you own.
Skillshare
Skillshare pays based on watch time, not sales. You can’t set your own prices. It’s good for exposure but not for building a real course business.
How to Create Your First Course on Systeme.io (Free)
Here’s the step-by-step process I followed to launch my first course without spending anything:
- Sign up at Systeme.io — free account, no credit card.
- Plan your course outline — break your topic into 5-10 modules, each with 2-4 lessons.
- Record your lessons — I use my phone and free editing software (CapCut). Don’t overthink production quality for your first course.
- Build the course in Systeme.io — upload your videos, add descriptions, set up drip scheduling if you want.
- Create a sales funnel — use Systeme.io’s funnel builder to create an opt-in page and sales page. This is all included free.
- Connect Stripe or PayPal — set up payment processing so you can accept purchases.
- Set up an email sequence — create a 3-5 email sequence that nurtures leads and sells your course on autopilot.
- Launch and promote — share your funnel link on social media, Reddit, YouTube, and anywhere your audience hangs out.
Total cost: $0. Total tools needed: just Systeme.io.
The Bottom Line
Teachable is a premium platform with premium pricing. If you’re already making consistent revenue from courses, it might be worth it. But if you’re just starting out — or you’re looking to cut costs — Systeme.io gives you everything you need for free.
One platform. No monthly fees. No transaction fees. No need to duct-tape together five different tools.
I’ve been using it for months and my course is running smoothly. If you’re sitting on knowledge you want to share with the world, don’t let a $39/month paywall stop you. Start building your course for free here.
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