Create an online course for no cost: software and tools

Sep 17, 2022

If you're ready to create your first course , but you have zero budget, no worries! It's 100% possible to develop an online course for free (or at the very least for a minimal cost) and increase your investment in the event that your business expands.

However, that's only one method to go about creating an online course at affordable cost. Let's explore the software and other tools available for creating your course, with little to no upfront investment.

Online course creation tools to create an online course that is free

Tools you utilize for course creation make all the difference in your success. They aid you in creating a quality product that students love. They help you automate the processes you use and help save time. They can also assist you in selling to more people, so you can increase your profits.

1.  Free trial and an affordable tech stack

Utilized by novice course creators up to multi-million-dollar entrepreneurs, it simplifies your company so that you can focus on what you do best: creating courses, coaching programs Memberships, courses, and many other digital goods that serve your customers.

Alongside its online course builder, provides everything you need to start your course and grow your business which includes:

  • Web Builder
  • Landing page builder
  • Build a sales funnel
  • Software for marketing emails
  • Hosting of course videos
  • Pages for ordering
  • Payment processing

's Basic plan ($119 per month, which is billed annually) lets you build 3 products, 3 sales funnels, infinite landing pagesand marketing emails to as many as 1000 customers.

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2. Filmora, iMovie, and Davinci Resolve: no-cost and affordable video recording and editing software

The most important software needed that is essential for online learning includes a video recording tool and editor. Wondershare Filmora not only lets you create and edit videos using the same interface It's also flexible and simple to utilize.

You can use it to create videos with talking heads and screen-capture videos as well. This is an option you won't find in similar products for creators.

If you're new to video editing, Filmora gives you templates that allow you to make professional, polished videos. If you're an experienced editor, you'll be able to take advantage of its more advanced features, like keyframing, split-screen motion tracking, and present templates, and auto beat sync.

Filmora can be downloaded for PC, iPad, and mobile devices. Each of the three versions is downloaded at no cost, however, in order for advanced features or to eliminate the watermark, users will require an upgrade to a premium version.

The plan for the year is $49.99 per month.

If you own an Apple PC, then you are able to access iMovie in the App store. It's completely free and simple to install and use for editing video. Additionally, it allows you to record audio and add slides. This is great for those who are making their first video or online course producer looking to put together the basics of a video

If you're a pro with advanced video-editing skills, DaVinci Resolve is another software that's free and doesn't limit Mac users. It supports audio post-production, color grading and correction. Due to this feature, it can be more complicated to use.

3. Zoom: no-cost recording and virtual meetings

If you are looking for an absolutely free video recording software, Zoom could be the best choice. Create a gathering, press record, and then begin the teaching. Although it does not include an editor for videos however, it has features that facilitate teaching.

Zoom's Free plan gives you Unlimited meetings that can be up to 40 minutes in length. The plan also includes automated captions, simple screen-sharing capabilities and whiteboards that can be edited. If you prefer to host live lessons, Zoom's Free plan allows you to host at least 100 students.

Following your "meeting," your recording will be saved on the cloud or to your computer (your option). You will receive the audio recording (M4A) as well as an MP4 video files (MP4) along with the text of your chat.

For $149.90 annually, you can upgrade to Pro however, the no-cost package includes everything you need to create a high-quality course.

4. Canva: free and low-cost graphics

screenshot-of-Canva

It doesn't matter if it's thumbnails of videos, course handouts or social media posts to promote your class You'll have to make graphic designs. The Canva Canva is a free program that lets you make it easy to create stunning images that suit your brand and your personal design.

Canva Free gives you more than 250,000 of free templates and more than 100 kinds of graphics, and 5 gigabytes of storage on cloud. If you want to use images or elements which are of a premium quality or premium, they can be used for a small fee.

Canva Pro unlocks unlimited access to premium features, a brand kit, folders to organize your work along with a background eraser. You'll also get 1TB of cloud storage. For $119.99 annually, it's an affordable upgrade for discerning designer.

5. Snagit: low-cost screen capture (free trial)

screenshot-of-Snagit

Another alternative for making videos and images is Snagit. Available free for fifteen days, a lifetime license requires only a one-time fee of $62.99. That gives you a standard single license to Windows and macOS along with the first year's Maintenance.

Though other screen capture software can be downloaded for free, none give you the quality of Snagit's captures. Snagit gives you high-def graphics and videos. It also has as well as an editor which allows users to cut down videos and mark your screen captures and even generate animated GIFs.

It is possible to use it for creating your instructional videos, provided that your courses are 1 an hour or less. Plus, it can double as a simple editor to resize images and edit graphics and video. It's an excellent low-cost investment for creators of courses.

6. MailerLite: Free email hosting

Marketing software for email is an essential software for online courses. You'll use it to build a list of customers and potential customers who are enthralled by what you do.

MailerLite   has a Free plan that can send up to 12,000 monthly emails and 1,000 contacts. The plan includes an email automation builder, website, 10 landing pages, as well as sign-up forms, pop-ups and other forms. Additionally, it has integrations with e-commerce which allows you to collect the payment on your MailerLite landing page.

If you're using MailerLite to design a website as well as landing pages, you'll get random URLs "subscribepage.com" in landing page pages and "mailerpage.com" for web pages. Upgrade to a premium plan in order to assign a custom domain.

Although this may not be ideal however, it allows you with the ability to build your email list and sell your course online for free. If you are able to make a profit, you can move to a paid subscription or choose one-stop option.

7. YouTube: no cost video hosting

Some course builders have the ability to provide free or inexpensive plans without providing video hosting on their service. Users must find another way to host their course videos.

The most efficient and simplest solution is YouTube which offers you free, unlimited video hosting. When uploading your video you must make sure that it is visible as "unlisted." That way, it won't be displayed in search results.

example-of-YouTube-account

YouTube is linked with your Google profile. Therefore, it's simple to start when you sign up to YouTube, click your profile image, and create your channel.

Upload videos using your desktop, phone, or recording apps. YouTube assigns a link to the video that can be used to upload your video to the course builder.

YouTube can be a great choice for hosting video content with no cost, however it has its drawbacks. The videos that have not been listed are able to be shared , so those who aren't paying could be able to access the course materials. Also, at the end of each video YouTube offers other relevant videos to view next. It could distract your students and cause them to turn away from the lesson instead of advancing into the next class.

8. Veed is a free video streaming service and hosting for low-cost videos

Veed-free-video-hosting-image

If you want to avoid "watch this next" suggestions at the conclusion of your videos, Veed offers free hosting of videos less than 10 minutes. The videos you upload will be accompanied by an image of watermark that is removed once you upgrade to a paid plan.

Veed allows you to record, edit, share, collaborate, and store videos all in one place. Utilize the platform to create editing, upload, and share talking-head videos on the same platform.

It is possible to create MP4 videos that have resolution of 720p, up to a maximum file size of 250MB on the free plan. The limit is 2GB space for files.

To get more limit, you may upgrade to Premium plans ($18 per month). This allows videos of 25 minutes and 1080p resolution. For 4k videos that are up to two hours in length You'll have upgrade to Professional for $30 a month.

9. Landingi: low cost website builder

Landingi's Core plan is $30 per month. It's less if you pay annually. This provides you with the ability to create unlimited landing pages, which can generate 1,000 visits per month, with one custom domain. To integrate with your email marketing program or Zapier You'll have to upgrade to the Create plan ($65 a month). It increases the number of visits you can have to 20,000 unique visits each month, and you can use two domains.

It is possible to try Landingi for free for 14 days. That could be enough time for you to sell your online courses for free!

10. PayPal: Affordable payment options

Once your course has been developed, you must sell it. With a free PayPal PayPalbusiness account, it's simple to accept online payments without a merchant account. The account can be set up to accept one-time and recurring payment and subscriptions.

PayPal is an excellent choice to accept payments since it seamlessly integrates with the majority of landing page builders and shopping carts. If you don't possess a landing site, no problem. Accept payments by sending the PayPal.me link to your customers.

Contrary to merchant accounts, which may cost up to $500 a month, you only pay PayPal whenever you make a sale. When a new customer buys your course using the PayPal button or integration PayPal will take a tiny percentage of the cost of purchase before depositing your income in the account of your PayPal account.

PayPal-standard-fee-rate

11. Stripe: low-cost payments

Another popular payment method one is The Stripe. Like PayPal it is a one-time payment for Stripe when you've sold something. It lets you accept debit and credit cards. Then, it deposits the profits directly into your account at the bank which means you don't need the funds transferred to access the funds.

Stripe integrates with most web-based landing pages, but you can also create your payment page directly through Stripe.

Stripe Checkout gives you a prebuilt, hosted payment page for selling one-time purchases and subscriptions. The features it offers include auto-complete addresses payment options, one-click transactions, real-time card validation, card-brand identification, and built-in protection against fraud and compliance.

Other methods to accept payment using Stripe include shared links, the ability to share links, flexible billing, and in-person payments.

Through Stripe When an individual purchases your course successfully and you're paid 2.9% + $0.30.

12. Zapier is free and inexpensive integrations

If you are thinking of how to develop an online course for free, you need to know how these tools interact into each other. The majority of the programs that are used for online courses work with each other. However, if they do not then you'll require a simple process to build an integration.

Zapier allows you to automate work with 5,000+ applications using simple workflows, conditional logic, and formatting of data. Start with free and upgrade to Professional when you're prepared.

One platform does it all

We've provided you with 12 tools to assist you in starting your journey with little to no upfront expenditure. This is a solution to the issue in creating online classes for free, but it introduces additional issues.

If you're using different tools, you'll need to integrate them into a single tech stack, and ensure they are integrated to ensure a seamless user experience. Additionally, you'll need to move from one platform to another when building your funnels, courses or emails.

The cost with this approach starts at around $200 and can rise up to $10,000 when you create your own course. It is essential to get a large number of clients before you can turn into a profit.

A complete platform that will make you money, time, and stress. It lets you:

  • Design a mobile-friendly, attractive and user-friendly site that requires no experience in design. Drag and drop the mouse to create an unlimited amount of pages.
     
  • Utilize your own domain name to establish a brand-name web presence for your site and online courses.
     
  • Set up sales and email marketing funnels. Create email campaigns, automated emails, re-marketing campaign, and more with drag-and-drop ease. With built-in marketing pipelines and step-by-step guidance, you can build and market to your list easily and efficiently.
     
  • Make upsells, downsells and free trials. You don't have to worry difficult programming or clashing plugins. makes it easy to create multiple upsells, downsells, and free trials to your faithful customers.
     
  • Create and layout your course quickly and easily. 's course builder gives you easy-to-use templates to help you design the most typical kind of courses. In just a couple of clicks you'll be able to lay out and plan your course which includes assessments, quizzes videos, and worksheets.
     
  • Accept online payments. integrates with Stripe as well as PayPal which makes it simple to accept payments right from your site.
     
  • Create more than an online course. This includes paid newsletters, memberships as well as podcasts and coaching. If you think of it, you can build it with .

It is possible to start by making the cheapest investment available in the Basic plan. You can build three different products as well as gain 1000 users before having move to the Growth plan.

The free portal for education, University, gives you high-quality tutorials and tutorials that will show you how to build your course, but also how you can turn your course into a profitable enterprise.

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