Tutor LMS vs Masteriyo: Free Features, Commerce & Growth Path (2026)

Tutor LMS and Masteriyo are both freemium WordPress LMS plugins, but they differ sharply in what they expose before payment and how their paid tiers scale. Tutor LMS keeps more advanced teaching and marketplace tools in Pro. Masteriyo gives the free version a broader commerce and AI foundation, then uses Basic, Pro, and Elite as a staged upgrade path.

Tutor LMS vs Masteriyo at a glance

Compare	Tutor LMSFree; Pro Individual $199/year Remove	Masteriyo LMSFree; Basic $99/year introductory; renews $199/year Remove
Pricing model	Freemium	Freemium
Starting price	Free; Pro Individual $199/year	Free; Basic $99/year introductory; renews $199/year
Free version	Yes	Yes
Sites included	1 site (Individual); 10 sites (Business); unlimited sites annual (Agency)	Free: unlimited; Basic/Pro: 1 site; Elite: 10 sites
Lifetime option	Yes	Yes
Refund policy	30-day money-back guarantee	14-day money-back guarantee
Setup level	Beginner-friendly	Beginner-friendly
WordPress.org rating	4.4/5 (589)	4.8/5 (183)
Active installs	100K+	6K+
Best for	Course businesses and multi-instructor learning sites wanting a modern WordPress LMS with native commerce	Creators, coaches, and training businesses wanting a self-hosted WordPress LMS with strong free commerce features
Not ideal for	Very small protected-content courses that do not need LMS dashboards, commerce, or instructor operations	Simple protected-content courses that do not need an LMS data model
Tested version	4.0.9	3.4.2
Last reviewed	2026-09-25	2026-09-25
Features
Course builder	Yes Tutor LMS Free includes course creation; Pro adds the front-end drag-and-drop course builder and deeper instructor workflows.	Yes Masteriyo Free includes unlimited courses plus a drag-and-drop course builder.
Quizzes	Yes Core quiz functionality is available in Free; Pro expands assessment capabilities and reports.	Yes Basic quizzes are included in Free; advanced quiz features are in Pro.
Assignments	Paid plan Assignments are a Pro feature/add-on.	Paid plan Assignments are a Pro feature.
Content drip	Paid plan Content Drip is included with Tutor LMS Pro.	Limited Sequential progression is available in Free; scheduled/date-based and days-after-enrollment drip requires Pro.
Certificates	Paid plan Certificate Builder and branded certificates are Pro features.	Yes Certificate Builder and one certificate template are available in Free; Pro expands certificate options.
Built-in payments	Yes Tutor LMS now has native eCommerce for selling courses; advanced subscriptions, memberships, and broader monetization workflows are positioned in Pro.	Yes Masteriyo Free includes its order system plus Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce support, with no Masteriyo transaction fee.
Subscriptions / memberships	Paid plan Course subscriptions and site-wide membership are Pro monetization features.	Paid plan Course subscriptions/recurring pricing are Pro features.
Multiple instructors	Paid plan Multi-instructor marketplace functionality is a Pro feature.	Paid plan Multiple instructors are available in Pro.
Gradebook / reporting	Paid plan Gradebook is included with Pro.	Paid plan Gradebook and deeper learner tracking are Pro features.
Free core	Yes Tutor LMS has a permanent free WordPress.org version.	Yes Masteriyo has a permanent free WordPress.org version with unlimited courses and students.
AI course tools	Paid plan AI Studio is included in paid plans and requires the user’s OpenAI API key.	Yes AI course creation is available in Free when the user supplies an OpenAI API key.
Migration tools	Yes Tutor LMS provides a free migration tool for moving data from LMS products including LearnDash, LearnPress, and LifterLMS.	Yes Masteriyo provides a migration tool and currently advertises importing from LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, LearnPress, MasterStudy, and others.

The free tiers reveal the product philosophy

Tutor LMS Free gives you the course, lesson, quiz, student, and instructor foundation needed to evaluate and launch a basic LMS. The full business platform appears when you upgrade: front-end course creation, assignments, certificates, content drip, gradebook, advanced reports, multi-instructor features, subscriptions, memberships, live classes, bundles, and AI Studio are part of Pro.

Masteriyo Free includes unlimited courses and students, its drag-and-drop builder, basic quizzes, a certificate builder, native order management, Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, multi-currency, AI course creation with your own OpenAI key, and a migration tool. That gives a new course business more room to test real selling workflows before paying.

Commerce: both are moving toward native LMS selling

Tutor LMS 4 emphasizes its native ecommerce engine for checkout, payments, taxes, coupons, order management, refunds, subscriptions, and memberships. It is designed so a course seller can operate without making WooCommerce the mandatory transaction layer.

Masteriyo also takes an all-in-one approach. The free product includes an in-built order system plus Stripe, PayPal, and WooCommerce support, and Masteriyo states that it charges no platform transaction fee. Pro expands the selling stack with subscriptions, coupons, course bundles, additional payment gateways, and marketing tools.

AI and course creation

Masteriyo includes AI course creation in Free when you connect your own OpenAI API key. Tutor LMS positions AI Studio inside Pro and also requires your own OpenAI API key. If AI-assisted outlining and lesson generation is part of your trial workflow, that free-versus-paid distinction matters.

Both provide visual course-building workflows. Tutor Pro has a stronger front-end creator orientation for instructors, while Masteriyo focuses on a guided all-in-one course-business setup with its own dashboard, order system, and progressive feature tiers.

Assignments, gradebook, certificates, and drip

Tutor LMS keeps assignments, certificate builder, content drip, gradebook, detailed analytics, and many advanced learning tools in Pro. Because every Pro site-count tier includes the same features, upgrading is straightforward once those capabilities become necessary.

Masteriyo Free includes certificates and sequential course progression. Its Pro tier adds assignments, advanced quizzes, gradebook, multiple instructors, prerequisites, and scheduled content drip such as date-based release or X days after enrollment. This gives Masteriyo a more graduated free-to-Basic-to-Pro path.

Instructor marketplaces

Tutor LMS Pro is strongly oriented toward multi-instructor marketplaces, with front-end dashboards, instructor course management, earnings/commission operations, and marketplace-related add-ons.

Masteriyo Pro supports multiple instructors and a growing set of business tools, but its positioning is broader than marketplace operations alone. Course creators, coaching businesses, and training sites may find its simpler staged plans easier to evaluate if they do not need a marketplace-style instructor portal from day one.

Pricing: same long-term entry renewal, different first-year path

Tutor LMS Pro Individual is $199/year for one site, Business $399/year for ten sites, and Agency $799/year for unlimited sites. Tutor also offers lifetime plans at $499, $999, and $1,999 respectively, although the lifetime Agency license currently covers up to fifty sites rather than unlimited sites.

Masteriyo Basic is $99 for the first year and renews at $199 for one site. Pro is $149 introductory and renews at $299 for one site. Elite is $399 introductory and renews at $799 for ten sites. Lifetime Elite is $499 for one site or $1,299 for ten sites.

The key distinction is feature packaging. Tutor includes all Pro functionality at the $199 Individual level. Masteriyo Basic is cheaper initially but reserves assignments, gradebook, advanced drip, multiple instructors, subscriptions, and several growth features for Pro.

Migration

Tutor LMS provides a free migration tool for LMS products including LearnDash, LearnPress, and LifterLMS. Masteriyo also promotes one-click migration from LearnDash, LifterLMS, Tutor LMS, LearnPress, MasterStudy, and more. Migration is a useful safety valve on both sides, but production moves should still be staged and audited for enrollment, quiz, order, certificate, and custom integration data.

Which growth path fits each?

Tutor LMS fits projects that expect to need the full Pro course-business stack, especially front-end instructor workflows, marketplaces, native subscriptions, certificates, assignments, analytics, and one consistent paid feature set.

Masteriyo fits creators who want to do more before paying—particularly native payments, certificates, AI course generation, and migration—and then move into advanced assessments, instructors, subscriptions, and automation as the business grows.

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