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Build and sell WordPress courses with lessons, quizzes, assignments, memberships, payments, certificates, progression, reporting, and group learning.
Table of contents
LearnDash and Masteriyo both run self-hosted WordPress course businesses, but their product architecture is very different. LearnDash is a premium-only LMS with mature progression, assessment, assignment, and ecommerce controls. Masteriyo starts free and bundles course creation, native payments, certificates, AI course generation, and migration into a more consolidated plugin experience.
TL;DR
LearnDash starts at $199/year and includes advanced course delivery, assignments, quizzes, drip, subscriptions, certificates, and a mature extension ecosystem. Masteriyo has a permanent free version with unlimited courses/students, certificates, Stripe/PayPal/WooCommerce, AI course creation, and migration; paid plans start at $99/year introductory and add deeper assessment, gradebook, content drip, multi-instructor, subscriptions, and business automation.
LearnDash vs Masteriyo at a glance
| Compare |  LearnDash$199/year |  Masteriyo LMSFree; Basic $99/year introductory; renews $199/year |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Premium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $199/year | Free; Basic $99/year introductory; renews $199/year |
| Free version | No | Yes |
| Sites included | 1 site ($199/year); 10 sites ($399/year); unlimited sites ($799/year) | Free: unlimited; Basic/Pro: 1 site; Elite: 10 sites |
| Lifetime option | No | Yes |
| Refund policy | 15-day money-back guarantee | 14-day money-back guarantee |
| Setup level | Intermediate | Beginner-friendly |
| WordPress.org rating | Not available | 4.8/5 (183) |
| Active installs | Not available | 6K+ |
| Best for | Professional course creators, training companies, schools, certification programs, and organizations that want a mature premium LMS with deep course controls and extensibility inside WordPress. | Creators, coaches, and training businesses wanting a self-hosted WordPress LMS with strong free commerce features |
| Not ideal for | Creators who require a permanent free version or want multi-instructor, gradebook, and advanced reporting features bundled into the base license. | Simple protected-content courses that do not need an LMS data model |
| Tested version | 5.0 | 3.4.2 |
| Last reviewed | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-25 |
| Features | ||
| Course builder | Yes Drag-and-drop course builder is included in the LearnDash LMS plugin. | Yes Masteriyo Free includes unlimited courses plus a drag-and-drop course builder. |
| Quizzes | Yes Quiz Builder and advanced assessment workflows are included in the core LMS. | Yes Basic quizzes are included in Free; advanced quiz features are in Pro. |
| Assignments | Yes Assignments are built into LearnDash and support uploads, review, comments, and points. | Paid plan Assignments are a Pro feature. |
| Content drip | Yes Drip-feed scheduling and progression rules are built into LearnDash. | Limited Sequential progression is available in Free; scheduled/date-based and days-after-enrollment drip requires Pro. |
| Certificates | Yes Certificates are part of the LearnDash learning workflow. | Yes Certificate Builder and one certificate template are available in Free; Pro expands certificate options. |
| Built-in payments | Yes LearnDash supports built-in Stripe and integrations including PayPal, RazorPay, 2Checkout, and WooCommerce. | Yes Masteriyo Free includes its order system plus Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce support, with no Masteriyo transaction fee. |
| Subscriptions / memberships | Yes Recurring course subscriptions are supported in LearnDash. | Paid plan Course subscriptions/recurring pricing are Pro features. |
| Multiple instructors | Paid plan Multi-instructor/front-end instructor management requires the paid Instructor Role add-on or a bundle that includes it. | Paid plan Multiple instructors are available in Pro. |
| Gradebook / reporting | Paid plan The dedicated Gradebook is a paid LearnDash add-on or bundle component. | Paid plan Gradebook and deeper learner tracking are Pro features. |
| Free core | No LearnDash is a premium-only WordPress LMS; there is a demo but no permanent free core plugin. | Yes Masteriyo has a permanent free WordPress.org version with unlimited courses and students. |
| AI course tools | Yes AI course outline/course creation and quiz-building tools are included in the current LearnDash product. | Yes AI course creation is available in Free when the user supplies an OpenAI API key. |
| Migration tools | Yes LearnDash provides an official migration tool with documented mappings for LMS platforms including Tutor LMS, Sensei LMS, and LifterLMS; migrated course structures should still be reviewed after import. | Yes Masteriyo provides a migration tool and currently advertises importing from LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, LearnPress, MasterStudy, and others. |
Premium-only maturity versus a broad free starting point
LearnDash has no permanent free plugin. Its current WordPress LMS plans are $199/year for one site, $399/year for ten sites, and $799/year for unlimited sites. The base LMS includes course building, quizzes, assignments, certificates, drip scheduling, recurring subscriptions, Stripe, and extensive progression options.
Masteriyo Free is more expansive than many freemium LMS products. It supports unlimited courses and students, a drag-and-drop builder, quizzes, a certificate builder, built-in order management, Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, multi-currency, AI course creation using your own OpenAI key, and migration tools without requiring a paid license.
Course creation and AI
LearnDash includes AI-assisted course outline/course creation and quiz generation in its current product. Its course builder is backed by long-established controls for shared course steps, prerequisites, challenge exams, video progression, focus mode, assignments, start/end dates, and multiple access modes.
Masteriyo Free also includes AI course generation when you provide an OpenAI API key. The free course builder covers lessons, quizzes, certificates, sequential progression, previews, reviews, and other launch essentials. Paid tiers add advanced quizzes, assignments, gradebook, deeper drip scheduling, multiple instructors, marketing tools, and analytics.
Payments and selling model
LearnDash supports one-time sales, subscriptions, memberships, course bundles, Stripe, PayPal, RazorPay, 2Checkout, and WooCommerce. LearnDash itself does not take a platform percentage from course revenue.
Masteriyo includes its own order system and advertises Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce in Free, with no Masteriyo transaction fee. Pro expands monetization with subscriptions, more payment gateways, coupons, bundles, marketing integrations, and other sales tooling. For creators who want the LMS and commerce stack to live in one product from the beginning, this is a meaningful architectural difference.
Assignments, gradebooks, and instructors
LearnDash includes assignments in the base LMS, while its dedicated Gradebook and Instructor Role are separate paid add-ons or bundle components. That lets organizations buy a mature teaching core first and layer formal grading or instructor dashboards only when required.
Masteriyo moves assignments, gradebook, multiple instructors, advanced quizzes, and deeper analytics into its Pro tier. Its Basic plan is more focused on launching and selling courses, while Pro targets a growing academy or coaching business.
Pricing and lifetime licensing
Masteriyo Basic is currently $99/year introductory and renews at $199/year for one site. Pro is $149 introductory and renews at $299/year for one site. Elite is $399 introductory, renews at $799/year, and covers ten sites. Masteriyo also sells Elite lifetime licenses at $499 for one site and $1,299 for ten sites.
LearnDash starts at $199/year and does not currently offer lifetime licensing. Its higher site-count plans are $399/year for ten sites and $799/year for unlimited sites. LearnDash currently lists a 15-day money-back period; Masteriyo lists 14 days.
Migration and switching
Masteriyo actively promotes its migration tool for importing from LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, LearnPress, MasterStudy, and other LMS products. It is still important to test migrated courses, quiz data, orders, enrollment states, and custom integrations on staging before changing a production LMS.
LearnDash has import/export and a large extension ecosystem, but moving from another LMS may involve dedicated tools or third-party workflows depending on the source platform and data you need to preserve.
Which structure fits each?
LearnDash fits organizations that prioritize a mature premium LMS, sophisticated course progression, assignments, certification, and a large ecosystem of specialized add-ons.
Masteriyo fits creators who want to launch with a broad free stack, keep native payments and AI inside the LMS, and then move into paid assessment, instructor, analytics, and subscription tools as the course business grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Masteriyo accept payments in the free version?
Yes. Masteriyo currently advertises Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, and its built-in order system in Free.
Does LearnDash offer lifetime pricing?
No. LearnDash currently uses annual licensing. Masteriyo offers annual and lifetime plans.
Are assignments free in Masteriyo?
No. Masteriyo positions assignments in Pro. LearnDash includes assignments in its paid base LMS.
Compare before you choose
Use structured feature, pricing, and editorial research to compare these WordPress plugins side by side.