Upcoach is an excellent platform for online coaching, but we understand that there may be platforms that would better fit other coaching businesses depending on the niche or industry. This guide will explore some of the top options available if you’re looking for alternatives that would better suit your needs.
Let’s delve into each platform’s key benefits, pros and cons, and pricing, which may help you make an informed decision. Whether you’re a seasoned coach or just starting out, this comparison will provide valuable insights to help you find the ideal platform for your online coaching business.
Top 9 paid upcoach alternatives you can consider
1. Kajabi
Kajabi is a powerful all-in-one platform explicitly designed for coaches and online course creators. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help you build, market, and sell your coaching programs.
Key benefits:
- Kajabi provides robust tools for creating and selling online courses, including video lectures, quizzes, and assignments.
- The platform offers features like email marketing, landing pages, and sales funnels to help coaches attract and convert clients.
- Kajabi allows coaches to create virtual communities and membership-based programs to provide ongoing value and build long-term client relationships.
- The platform integrates with popular payment gateways, making accepting payments for courses and memberships easy.
- Kajabi AI assists in building and launching products. Kajabi’s Creator Studio also has a built-in Adobe Express which gives entrepreneurs and coaches a full-on AI content creation experience.
Pros: User-friendly interface, diverse features, community-building solid tools, 24/7 support
Cons: It can be complex for beginners, and pricing may be higher than alternatives.
Pricing: Starts at $55/month.
2. Mighty Networks
If you’re coaching business runs heavily on the power of community building, Mighty Networks might be worth looking into. Mighty Networks is a popular platform for helping coaches create, engage, and nurture vibrant online communities. It offers a powerful space for coaches to connect with clients, share knowledge, and foster engagement.
Key benefits:
- Mighty Networks fosters a strong sense of community among members with features like forums, live events, and gamification.
- The online community is highly customizable, so coaches can create different spaces with different purposes. For example, you can create a course, an event, or even a forum.
- Chat and messaging options are available to use for your coaching clients.
- Coaches can go live straight from the community’s feed. Live sessions can also be recorded for use at a later time.
- Mighty Co-Host™ is an amazing community AI that enhances the community by helping members identify other members they have similarities with. This AI tool also generates icebreaker suggestions and conversation starters.
Pros: Excellent for creating a sense of community, easy to use.
Cons: Limited course creation features compared to some other platforms.
Pricing: Starts at $99/month.
3. Coachable
Whether you’re a life coach, business coach, or career coach, Coachable provides all the tools used to manage your clients, deliver coaching sessions, and build a successful online business.
Key benefits:
- Coachable provides programs for coaches who want to improve as coaches and leaders, aside from simply conducting their coaching business
- Ability to encourage 360° feedback for greater self-awareness
- Coachable offers Further—a 14-week journey designed to help coaches level up in terms of mindset, strategy, and implementation
Pros: Intuitive interface, focused on coaching-specific needs.
Cons: It may take more money and have fewer features compared to more general-purpose platforms.
Pricing: You’ll need to contact the team to get a quote
4. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds is a platform designed to help coaches create engaging lessons and interactive online courses—and then receive profit from them.
Key benefits:
- Multiple options for engaging learners or coaching clients: videos, ebooks, one-on-ones, group sessions, assessments, certificates, surveys, and so much more.
- There are hundreds of templates available so coaches can get started quickly instead of building everything from scratch
- Coaches can even build a branded mobile app so clients can easily access the content and community wherever they are
Pros: Engaging platform for interactive courses, robust analytics.
Cons: Pricing can be higher for advanced features.
Pricing: Starts at $24/month.
5. LearnDash
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin designed to create and sell online courses. So if you’re a coach who has an existing website built on WordPress, LearnDash is a one-stop platform that will seamlessly integrate with it.
Key benefits:
- As a WordPress plugin, Learndash offers high customization and integration capabilities, allowing coaches to tailor their courses to their specific needs.
- Learndash provides tools for creating and structuring online courses, including quizzes, assignments, and drip content.
- Offers capabilities to monetize any content such as blogs, podcasts, and other premium content
Pros: Highly customizable, integrates seamlessly with WordPress.
Cons: Requires technical knowledge for setup and maintenance.
Pricing: Starts at $199/year.
6. Circle
Circle is a community platform, primarily focused on building and fostering online communities. While it offers some features for creating and selling digital products, its core strength lies in its community-building capabilities.
Key benefits:
- Strong focus on community building and engagement, with features like private messaging, live events, and forums.
- Circle provides tools for creating private communities, forums, and live events, making it ideal for coaches who want to build a strong sense of community among their clients.
- The platform offers management features, including payment processing and access controls.
- Circle fosters engagement, such as polls, quizzes, and badges.
Pros: Easy to use, excellent for creating a sense of community.
Cons: Limited course creation features compared to some other platforms.
Pricing: Starts at $49/month.
7. Teachery
Teachery is a user-friendly platform specifically designed for coaches and online course creators. It offers a range of features to help you build, sell, and manage your online courses.
Key benefits:
- Easily create and organize your course content with embedded videos, images, slideshows, and even quizzes.
- Track student progress, send announcements, and provide personalized support.
- Customization features to align with your coaching business and brand, including font styles, custom CSS, and global color palettes
- Create flexible payment pages, coupled with options for upselling, bundling, gifting, and even implementing promo codes
Pros: Easy to use, affordable pricing.
Cons: It may have limited features for advanced course creation.
Pricing: Starts at $49/month.
8. FreshLearn
Freshlearn proves to be an all-in-one platform for coaches who create courses and communities. This platform is a one-stop-shop with everything coaches need for creating courses, setting them up, marketing them, selling them, and managing them.
Key benefits:
- Easily create and sell courses, digital products, and even membership sites
- It comes with 24/7 live chat support and a comprehensive knowledge base
- Drag-and-drop email builder has automation workflows to engage your audience
- Create custom assessments for coaching clients with options for single answers, short answers, and even multiple answers
Pros: Suitable for large organizations with specific training needs.
Cons: It may be less suitable for individual coaches or small businesses.
Pricing: Starts at $29/month.
9. Udemy
Udemy is a massive online course marketplace offering various educational content. While not a website explicitly designed for coaches, it can be a viable option for those looking to reach a broad audience and generate passive income.
Key benefits:
- Udemy has millions of active students, which can expose your courses to a large potential audience.
- While competition is high, successful courses on Udemy can generate significant revenue.
- Udemy offers pricing and course structure flexibility, allowing coaches to set their own terms.
- You can use your Udemy profile to build your brand and attract new clients.
Pros: Wide reach and potential for high enrollment.
Cons: High competition for course visibility.
Pricing: Instructors pay a fee for each course sold.
4 additional upcoach alternatives with free trials and plans
1. Thinkific
Thinkific is well-suited for not-so technical coaches who want to create and sell online courses. The platform is easy to follow, enabling coaches to jumpstart their online business easily.
Key benefits:
- Thinkific offers comprehensive tools for building and structuring online courses, communities, digital downloads, and even webinars
- The platform provides features like email marketing, landing pages, and sales funnels to help coaches promote their courses.
- Thinkific includes tools for building a community around your courses, fostering student engagement and interaction.
- Thinkific Academy offers courses on marketing and selling online courses and communities
Pros: Versatile platform suitable for various course types, strong marketing capabilities.
Cons: It can be complex for beginners, and pricing may be higher for advanced features.
Pricing: A free trial is available, with paid tiers starting at $36/month
2. Podia
Podia is a user-friendly platform that prioritizes engagement. It was built on the foundation that businesses need to spend more time with their customers. Its main stand-out feature is its simplicity.
Key benefits:
- The no-code website builder makes it easy for coaches to create websites within minutes
- The course builder is also straightforward, enabling coaches to quickly launch sales pages to sell ebooks and other digital products
- There are built in marketing tools which allow coaches to manage email marketing campaigns in the same platform
- The email marketing features are simple but not basic—you can still segment your list to create personalized experiences based on specific triggers
Pros: Easy to use, affordable pricing.
Cons: It may need more advanced features for complex course creation.
Pricing: A Free plan is available, with paid tiers starting at $33/month.
3. Ruzuku
Ruzuku is a popular platform designed to help educators make learning more fun and engaging. It puts a premium on prioritizing education.
Key benefits:
- Ruzuku is designed to be easy to use, even for those without technical experience.
- You can create a variety of course formats, including video-based courses, text-based courses, and live webinars. You can also control if the entire course will be available right away or if it will be drip-fed.
- Hose webinars right in the platform itself instead of sending links to other apps.
Pros: Focused on the learning experience, easy to use
Cons: It may have fewer features compared to more general-purpose platforms.
Pricing: Free plan available with paid tiers starting at $99/month.
4. Systeme
Systeme is an all-in-one platform. While it’s a great choice for coaches and online course creators, it’s also a good fit for those who need heavy lifting in digital marketing.
Key benefits:
- Systeme.io provides tools for building websites, creating and selling online courses, managing email marketing campaigns, building sales funnels, and even hosting webinars. This can be especially attractive for coaches who want to develop a comprehensive online presence.
- Business processes can also be automated via the platform
- Even affiliate marketing is built into the platform
Cons: It can be complex for beginners, and pricing may be higher.
Pricing: Free plan available with paid tiers starting at $27/month.
How to choose the platform for your coaching business
When choosing an alternative for your coaching business, consider the following factors:
- Your coaching style and approach: Some platforms are better suited for specific coaching styles or niches. For example, a platform with solid community-building features might be a better fit if you focus on group coaching.
- The type of content you want to create: Some platforms are better equipped for creating courses, while others focus on live coaching or group sessions.
- Your target audience: When choosing a platform, consider your target audience’s technical skills and preferences. Some platforms may be more user-friendly for beginners, while others offer advanced features for experienced users.
- Your budget: Platforms vary in pricing, so it’s essential to consider your budget and choose a platform that offers the features you need at a price you can afford.
- Integration capabilities: If you already use other business tools, such as email marketing or payment processing, look for a platform that integrates seamlessly with them.
- Scalability: Consider how the platform can scale with your business as you grow. Will it be able to handle an increase in clients and content?
- Customer support: Look for a platform with excellent customer support to help you get started and troubleshoot any issues.
Your success comes first—we hope to be a part of it!
We take pride in helping your coaching business succeed, even if we’re not directly involved in your entire business journey. So, while we’re a coaching platform built to meet the needs of all kinds of coaches, we can’t meet the needs of everyone.
The next best thing we can do for the coaches we aren’t the best fit for would be to help guide them in the right direction and offer the best alternatives to our services.
However, if you do find that our platform resonates with your customers’ specific needs, don’t hesitate to sign up now and start scaling your coaching business.
