Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

There is no universal winner. Choose Teachable if you want a hosted storefront for selling courses directly, Skillshare if you want to publish inside a subscription learning marketplace and earn from eligible member watch activity, or MemberPress if you want to run courses and memberships on your own WordPress site.

The practical choice comes down to your revenue model, how much site administration you will accept, and whether you need marketplace discovery or control over your own customer experience.

What each platform actually is

Teachable: hosted direct course sales

Teachable is a hosted course-business platform. You create the course, set your offer, and use Teachable’s checkout and commerce tools to sell to your audience. The platform handles the technical environment, so you do not have to operate a separate WordPress installation.

This model gives you a clearer connection between your offer and your revenue than a pooled royalty system: customers buy your course or related offer, and your costs are the plan fee, applicable platform fees, and payment-processing or commerce charges.

Free tools Windows power users keep installed

One-click scans. No signup required.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Skillshare: subscription-funded teaching

Skillshare is a subscription learning service rather than a conventional course storefront. Teachers generally do not set a one-time price for each class and keep the proceeds from that sale. Instead, a portion of subscription revenue goes into a Teacher Fund and is distributed among eligible teachers according largely to qualifying member watch time.

That can provide marketplace exposure, but your monthly payout depends on platform-wide activity, the type of subscriptions generating the watch time, geographic pricing, trial conversion, and other factors. Skillshare states that future earnings cannot be estimated in advance.

MemberPress: courses and memberships on WordPress

MemberPress is a WordPress plugin. It adds membership rules, payments, and access control to a WordPress site, and its Courses add-on is included with all MemberPress plans. You operate the site and decide how courses, memberships, protected pages, and customer journeys fit together.

Rank #2
My First Piano Adventure: Lesson Book C | Beginner Piano Method Book | Learn Skips and Early Staff with Online Audio | Piano Sheet Music Songbook | Faber Piano Book for Kids
  • Published by Faber Piano Adventures 72 Pages
  • Lesson Book C Piano Level Young Beginner - Skips on the
  • Composer: Randall Faber

This route offers the most control over the surrounding website, but it also makes you responsible for WordPress hosting, updates, security, backups, integrations, and troubleshooting. The license price does not represent the complete cost of operating that stack.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Plans and fee structures in 2026

Compare the recurring charge and transaction model together. A lower headline price can be offset by a larger per-sale fee, while a no-platform-fee plan still does not eliminate payment-processing costs.

Platform or plan Displayed software price Platform transaction fee Important qualification
Teachable Starter $29/month billed annually; $39/month billed monthly 7.5% base transaction fee Payment processing and commerce fees may also apply.
Teachable Builder $69/month billed annually; $89/month billed monthly 0% base transaction fee Payment processing and commerce fees may still apply. Creator affiliate tools are included.
Teachable Growth $139/month billed annually; $189/month billed monthly 0% base transaction fee Payment processing and commerce fees may still apply. Creator affiliate tools are included.
Teachable Advanced $309/month billed annually; $399/month billed monthly 0% base transaction fee Payment processing and commerce fees may still apply. Creator affiliate tools are included.
Skillshare teacher account No teacher software price stated Not a direct per-course-sale model Teacher earnings come primarily from a shared fund based on qualifying activity; customer subscription pricing varies by market and billing cadence.
MemberPress Launch $199.50/year displayed promotional price 4.9% per successful payment Check renewal terms; hosting and other WordPress costs are separate.
MemberPress Growth $349.50/year displayed promotional price No MemberPress transaction fee Payment processor charges, hosting, and site operations remain separate.
MemberPress Scale $499.50/year displayed promotional price No MemberPress transaction fee Payment processor charges, hosting, and site operations remain separate.

Teachable describes Builder, Growth, and Advanced as having “0% base transaction fees.” That wording does not mean checkout or payment processing is free. MemberPress’s displayed annual amounts are introductory or promotional figures; the checkout page and renewal terms determine what you actually pay later.

Rank #3
Essential Elements for Strings – Violin Book 1 with EEi Online Resources | Violin Method Book and Sheet Music for Students and Teachers | Comprehensive String Method – Newer 2025 Edition Available
  • Features -
  • Book - Same great Essential Elements 2000 method
  • CD - Play-Along Tracks 1-71 (with a professional player for every instrument)
  • DVD - Startup Video (learn the basics - 15 min.); all 193 Play-Along Tracks; More Duets and Trios; Music Listening Library
  • CD & DVD - SmartMusic Software (practice, record, and e-mail a performance, plus on-screen assessment - includes Ex. 1-86 with special offer to continue); Finale NotePad Software; Tempo Adjustment Software (for Play-Along Tracks)

How teacher and creator earnings differ

Teachable and MemberPress: revenue follows your offer

With Teachable or MemberPress, you decide what to sell and at what price. Your results therefore depend on the offer, audience, conversion rate, refunds, payment costs, and ongoing marketing. The published plan pages establish tools and fees, not guaranteed sales or income.

Skillshare: eligibility before payout

For monthly royalty eligibility beginning July 16, 2026, Skillshare says a teacher must have at least 50 followers at the end of the month and meet one of these activity requirements:

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
  • Publish a quality class within the previous 18 months and receive more than 400 qualifying minutes watched during the month; or
  • Without a new class in that period, receive more than 650 qualifying minutes watched during the month.

Qualifying minutes come from members with active paid subscriptions. Trailer views, free-trial watch time, and Free Access Link watch time do not count. Eligible Top Teacher and Rising Teacher members who receive at least two new positive student reviews in a month may receive a $100 engagement reward; that is a conditional reward, not a standard payment.

Because the fund is shared among eligible teachers, a specific monthly income cannot be responsibly forecast from follower count or class length alone.

Which platform fits your priorities?

Choose Teachable when you want a hosted business

  • You want to sell courses directly rather than rely on pooled watch-time royalties.
  • You prefer a managed platform instead of maintaining WordPress.
  • You need built-in checkout and commerce features.
  • You can justify a recurring subscription, especially on a plan with no base transaction fee.

Starter has the lowest listed price but also the 7.5% base transaction fee. If your sales volume grows, compare that fee with the higher fixed cost of Builder, Growth, or Advanced.

Choose Skillshare when discovery and subscription learning matter most

  • You want access to an established subscription-learning audience.
  • You are comfortable with earnings determined partly by other teachers’ performance and platform-wide paid-member activity.
  • You can consistently publish and generate qualifying watch time.
  • You value marketplace participation more than setting a direct price for every class.

Do not choose Skillshare expecting a predictable monthly payout or a simple price-per-course calculation. Its customer subscription price also depends on the learner’s market and billing arrangement, so no single global figure should be assumed.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.
Best Value
Adult Piano Adventures: All in One Course - Book 1 | Faber Beginner Method Piano Book for Adults with Chords and Music Notation | Piano Sheet Music and Theory for Self Learners With Digital Audio
  • Over 90 Songs Illustrating Important Theory and Technique Concepts
  • Arranged for Piano
  • Standard Notation
  • Publisher: Faber Piano Adventures
  • 177 Pages

Choose MemberPress when your WordPress site is the product

  • You already operate WordPress or specifically want your own branded site.
  • You need detailed control over memberships, access rules, pages, and integrations.
  • You want to combine courses with a broader subscription, community, or content business.
  • You are prepared to manage hosting, updates, security, backups, and support.

MemberPress is usually a poor fit if “no site operations” is a firm requirement. Its license supplies plugin functionality, not a complete hosted website.

Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

Setup and operating responsibility

Question Teachable Skillshare MemberPress
Where the business runs Teachable’s hosted environment Skillshare’s subscription marketplace Your WordPress site
Who controls pricing You set your course or offer price Skillshare sets the learner subscription model; teacher payouts use the fund formula You set membership and course prices
Technical workload Lower; platform operations are managed Lower for site infrastructure; you still create and maintain classes Higher; you operate the WordPress stack
Audience discovery Primarily your own marketing and audience Marketplace discovery and platform member activity Primarily your own marketing and audience
Control over site experience Bounded by the hosted platform Bounded by Skillshare’s service Broad WordPress-level control

A practical decision process

  1. Decide how customers should pay. If you need a direct course or membership sale, compare Teachable and MemberPress. If you prefer subscription-marketplace participation, evaluate Skillshare.
  2. Set your tolerance for operations. Select Teachable or Skillshare when avoiding hosting and WordPress maintenance is more important than maximum customization. Select MemberPress only if running the site is acceptable.
  3. Model the complete cost. Include annual or monthly software charges, platform transaction fees, payment processing, hosting, domains, maintenance, and any integrations.
  4. Assess predictability. Teachable and MemberPress let you connect revenue to your own offers, but neither guarantees sales. Skillshare adds an eligibility gate and variable, platform-wide royalty allocation.
  5. Check current terms before subscribing. Prices, included features, transaction fees, and affiliate or program rules can change. Confirm the official checkout and plan pages on the day you buy.

Bottom line for 2026

Teachable is best for most creators who want the simplest hosted route to selling courses directly. Its plan ladder lets you trade a higher subscription for a lower base transaction fee, while payment-processing costs still apply.

Skillshare is best when the subscription-learning marketplace itself is the goal. It can expose classes to paying members, but eligibility requirements and variable watch-time-based payouts make income less predictable.

MemberPress is best for a creator building a WordPress-centered membership business. It provides the broadest control over access and site structure, at the cost of hosting, maintenance, and operational responsibility.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 2
Bestseller No. 3
Essential Elements for Strings – Violin Book 1 with EEi Online Resources | Violin Method Book and Sheet Music for Students and Teachers | Comprehensive String Method – Newer 2025 Edition Available
Essential Elements for Strings – Violin Book 1 with EEi Online Resources | Violin Method Book and Sheet Music for Students and Teachers | Comprehensive String Method – Newer 2025 Edition Available
Features -; Book - Same great Essential Elements 2000 method; CD - Play-Along Tracks 1-71 (with a professional player for every instrument)
$12.99
Bestseller No. 5

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.