PlayCourse vs LearnDash

Both are capable WordPress LMS plugins. But where LearnDash makes you buy add-ons for teams, payouts and gamification, PlayCourse includes them — at a lower total cost.

Try PlayCourse free Migrate from LearnDash

Teams included

Group seats & manager reporting ship in Pro — a paid add-on in LearnDash.

Lower total cost

One license covers what LearnDash charges for across 4–5 separate add-ons.

Faster & modern

A lean, current admin UI versus an interface that feels its age.

Feature by feature

The honest side-by-side

Where LearnDash genuinely matches up, we say so. Here's the real picture.

Feature	PlayCourse Pro	LearnDash
Drag-and-drop course builder
WooCommerce-native commerce		Add-on
Group & team seats		Add-on
Gamification & leaderboards		Add-on
PDF certificates + verification
Stripe Connect instructor payouts
SCORM support		Add-on
Live classes (Zoom / Meet)		Add-on
25+ Elementor widgets		Add-on
Modern admin UI		Dated
Typical first-year cost*	from £99	£199 + add-ons

*Illustrative. LearnDash add-ons for groups, gamification and payments are sold separately and vary by vendor.

Why teams switch

Three reasons creators move to PlayCourse

One price, everything in

Stop stacking add-on subscriptions. Teams, gamification, certificates and payouts are all in a single PlayCourse Pro license.

A UI from this decade

A clean, fast admin your team will actually enjoy — not a maze of meta boxes. Onboarding new instructors takes minutes.

Migration done for you

Our team helps Studio+ customers move courses, students and progress from LearnDash — at no extra cost.

Moving from LearnDash?

Our migration tool imports your courses, lessons, quizzes and student progress — and we'll guide you through every step.

See the migration guide

★★★★★

"We were paying for four separate LearnDash add-ons. PlayCourse replaced all of them with one license — and the team-seats feature closed two corporate deals in our first month."

Rina Chowdhury

Founder, NorthLight Academy

Switching FAQ

Questions about switching

Can I import my LearnDash courses?

Yes. Our migration tool imports courses, lessons, topics, quizzes and student progress. On Studio plans and above, our team runs the migration with you.

Will my students notice the change?

Their enrollments and progress carry over. The student experience gets a cleaner dashboard, certificates and — if you enable it — gamification.

Is PlayCourse really cheaper?

For most teams, yes. Because group seats, gamification, payouts and certificates are bundled, you avoid stacking several LearnDash add-on subscriptions.

What if I want to switch back?

You own your content. PlayCourse offers CSV export of courses and student data at any time, and there's a 14-day money-back guarantee on Pro.

See the difference for yourself

Start with the free core plugin, or jump to Pro and unlock everything LearnDash charges extra for.

Download free See pricing