How To Create An Online Course for Free (Software and tools)
Do you want to develop an online course using an affordable budget? Expert Kathryn Hocking shares 10 free & low-cost tools for creating online courses.
Launching an online course is a smart way to earn an income that is passive and increase the reputation of an author, but it can be expensive to execute. Between purchasing course creation equipment and paying for software, the process of launching a new course can cost hundreds of dollars. This is a major obstacle for creators with smaller budgets.
Would you be happier if you didn't need to blow your budget for your brand new course? With the help of free and inexpensive equipment and programs which allow you to design stellar online courses on the budget.
In this post this article, we'll provide our top tips for cheap course creation tools and software that allow you to create your own online course on a budget and begin earning money from your expertise.
Tools for creating courses free of charge and software
There are free and low-cost instruments and applications for every course creation stage.
Skip ahead:
Camtasia A cheap software to edit online course videos, with an opportunity to try it for free
Videos can be a fantastic way to provide information to your online course participants as they cater to every learning style (visual as well as audio, and kinesthetic). Students who are visual can view the videos. Audio learners can watch the videos , and with the addition of an action-oriented workbook that you can download, you can cater to those who are 'doers' (kinesthetic learners). ).
Camtasia is an excellent video-making tool as it allows you to record and edit them so that they make them look professional-looking. I have used Camtasia to record my Powerpoint presentations of my webinars. Although it is a cost-based service, you can get an initial trial of 30 days and it's a breeze recording and uploading to the video hosting service.
This is ideal for online course creators who want to provide training and demonstrations to the students of their courses.
Veed for making and editing videos
Making and editing video clips can be a nightmare for those who don't have the technical expertise to create courses. It can take hours to understand the workings of professional video software -- like where to click to record a new video, find prerecorded material, or adding subtitles your videos.
Veed makes it easier to create videos and editing process, so the content you upload is finished in a flash and with minimal hassles. You can record new videos directly in the Veed web application with your mobile or laptop. You can also upload pre-recorded clips onto your Veed portal.
When you've finished recording or uploaded the video you just uploaded, make use of the editor in-app to create professional changes in just a few minutes. You can add captions, subtitles images, thumbnails and more to your video with the touch of a button.
After you've got it all in place, you can host the video on Veed and then export the video to your personal computer, or upload the link to your landing page for your course.
Veed is available on a trial basis however, you can upgrade to a paid subscription at the cost of just $12 per month for access to more features.
Canva: A free and inexpensive design software
Having your online course content designed can cost anywhere from $500 to $2500 (depending upon the volume of material and time required) but if you're happy to put in your own effort then the Canva platform allows it to be easy to design PDF workbooks.
The trial version is great for course creators who don't have a brand as it provides an array of layout options as well as fonts you could explore. But don't worry If you've already put money into an identity system for your business (logo and colors for your brand or fonts) You can combine these elements using Canva for Work.
This is ideal for creators of online courses who would like to try an impromptu brand diy.
GetResponse: Free web page designer
When your course material -- videos and workbooks -- is ready then you'll need to place the content on a landing site. This is where people can go to find out more about the course and gain access to its content.
GetResponse is an ideal choice to create landing pages for courses. The software has drag-and-drop features which lets you add many elements on your landing page easily. You can also customize these elements to reflect your brand's identity -- colors and fonts, logos, images and the like.
It also has a rich analytics tool to track your landing page's performance. You can track the number of visitors, enrollments as well as the rate of completion. These data can help you figure out what you can do in order to increase the success of your course. Let's say that just a few visitors are visiting your landing page. you could invest in advertising to increase traffic towards your page.
Don't want to build your own landing pages from scratch? Get ahead with over 200 ready-made and mobile-responsive templates, based on various usage cases.
Beaver Builder Affordable WordPress page building tool
Have you got an WordPress website that you want to publish your online class there? Do you? Beaver Builder is an affordable drag-and-drop WordPress page builders. It will be integrated into your existing site and will help you create sales pages and membership sites with a professional look. All you have to do is pick a template, insert your content , then hit publish!
This is ideal for online course creators with a WordPress site and wish to have their own sales page.
Vimeo Video hosting for free
If you've now professionally edited and professionally recorded videos, you'll require a place to host the videos. Vimeo has an option for both paying and free which allow you to upload, host, and distribute videos that are high-quality HD. After your video is uploaded to Vimeo you'll be able to either share the link or embed the videos on your website for online course participants to enjoy. Even better, there are numerous privacy options that will ensure that only those who pay view your video.
This is ideal for creators of online courses who've created video content and wish to put their content online. There are options for sharing the video or embed it into websites.
Zoom: Free virtual webinars and meetings
ConvertKit A tool for marketing emails (free trial)
Marketing via email is an essential element of creating the most successful online courses. It can help you generate and nurture leads, and facilitate conversations with your course attendees.
ConvertKit allows email marketing to be seamless for the creators. It has tons of branded templates that you can customize to create your own email marketing campaigns which include newsletters, nurture , and welcome emails. Automated email funnels for drip campaigns also.
One of the best features of ConvertKit is the segmentation function that allows you to deliver personalized emails to various subscribers within the same email list. There is no need to build different lists for every course launch; simply use tags and categories to sort your subscribers as well as share content that is targeted with the relevant groups.
Stripe is a free application for accepting payments
The Stripe platform allows you to accept payment from more than 47 nations and 135+ currencies.
After you've set up your free Stripe account, it's possible to integrate it into the checkout page of your course using the Stripe payment integration feature to receive the payments. Additionally, you will have access to a dashboard that allows you to track and manage transactions efficiently.
Zapier: A low-cost option to incorporate your tools
Zapier is an app which allows you to link different applications and build an automated. Not only does Zapier already link with , MailChimp, and Zoom, it also recommends Popular Zaps depending on the software you are using. For example, you might want to create a 'zap' that subscribes the new student to Mailchimp.
This is ideal for online course creators who are looking for ease and ease of flow in their systems and processes.
is the one-stop cost-effective tool for online course design .
(Thinking of taking that leap? Take the work out of making your online course's business plan by downloading our free template here.)
It's a single-stop shop that gives you the ability to host your course material and content (including videos, PDF audio, etc.), sell your online course instantly with access to your cash (and the ability to offer courses for free, subscription and paid classes) and market your online course using your own domain name and custom landing page.
This is perfect for online course creators who've invested in branding but wish to reduce costs for websites for membership, sales pages as well as shopping carts.
The blog was last updated in February 2023, it first appeared in August 2021.