Online Courses Self Hosted LMS vs 3rd Party Platform | EP 236

Online Courses Self Hosted LMS vs 3rd Party Platform

1. Who owns the platform? 01:38
   • With self-hosted, you own the platform.
   • With a 3rd party, they own the platform and essentially own your customers.
2. Who promotes the course? 02:41
   • If you use a 3rd party like Lynda or Udemy, then you get access to a large audience of people searching for courses like yours.
   • Unfortunately, there are many other instructors that you will have to compete with for students. The odds of your course getting found organically is slim.
   • If you use self-hosting for your online courses, you can build a marketing platform around your brand to drive traffic.
3. What will the costs be? 03:37
   • With self-hosted, there will be development costs involved.
   • With 3rd party platforms like Teachable, there are no development costs, but you do pay monthly fees.
   • Udemy gives you a commission based on if you bring in the customer or they bring in the customer.
4. How much control do you have? 05:58 
   • If you self-host your online courses, then you have full control because you own it! A fun tool for self-hosting online courses is Lifter LMS.
   • With 3rd party platforms, you have no control. You can only change and format as much as the platform will allow you to.

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