how much does it cost to create an online course?

by Dr. Gustave Reichel IV 5 min read

How Much Does It Cost to Create an Online Course

  1. Online Course Platform – $0 to $159. One of the very first things you need to consider is the platform you want to host your course on. ...
  2. Video Hosting $0 to $99/Month. The second cost you need to look at is the cost to host your videos and content. ...
  3. Domain Name $11/Year. ...
  4. Screen Capture Software $16/Year. ...
  5. Video Camera $0. ...

More items...

It can cost anywhere from $200 to $10,000 to create an online course. The main source of expenses is the labor involved, followed by the equipment and software. If you are creating the online course yourself and not paying someone else to do it, this means that other than your time there are very few expenses involved.Jun 8, 2022

Full Answer

What is the average cost of online courses?

an online support team and can make use of library services, even if located on the other side of the world. You can also take advantage of flexible payment options which help to spread the costs and make this a cost effective course for those currently in ...

How much does it cost to develop an online course?

So considering all the budgeting mentioned above, the total budget that you must keep in mind for developing an online course can be as low as $1750. But if you are planning to create the highest quality online course, then your budget should be around $4700.

What is the average cost of an online degree?

It is challenging to provide the average cost of an online master’s degree because of the lack of uniform pricing models for in-state and out-of-state tuition fees. However, if one were to consider the universities that do not charge the out-of-state expenses on students for their online master’s degrees, the average cost of online master’s degree programs would be around $29,000.

How much should I charge for online personal training?

Decide how much you want to earn, and determine the fees needed to actually achieve that. So if you want to make a thousand pounds a month online from your coaching or your program and have a capacity to serve 50 clients, you need to charge 20 dollars a month. So you can also reverse this to see how many actual clients that you need.

How to create a course?

What is the first step in course creation?

How much does it cost to create an educational course?

At an estimated 80 to 280 hours required to develop a 1-hour course, you can expect to pay roughly $5,850 USD to over $15,000 USD to get a fully polished course, in addition to the cost of your Instructional Designer (ID) and SME.

Is creating an online course profitable?

Are Online Courses Profitable? Yes, they are. Online courses offer one of the best business models to digital entrepreneurs. The demand is rising and people are more than willing to pay for them, and they are one of the top ways to make money online.

How long does it take to create an online course?

It can take anywhere between 3 days to 2 months to create an online course, assuming that you are working on it full time. A mini-course covering a very narrow topic can be produced in only 3 days or less, while a complete in-depth 20h masterclass covering all levels can take several months to produce.

How much do online course creators make?

How much can you make selling online courses? You can make anywhere from $1000 to $100,000 or more per year with online courses. Your revenue is going to depend mostly on the amount of traffic that you can bring to your courses, your conversion rate, and the price of your courses.

How can I create and sell a course online?

In this article, you'll find an overview of the 10 major stages of online course creation:Pick the perfect course topic.Ensure your course idea has high market demand.Create Magnetic and Compelling Learning Outcomes.Select and Gather your Course Content.Structure Your Modules and Course Plan.More items...•

How do you monetize online courses?

7 Ways To Monetize Your Online CourseMulti-vendor platforms. Multi-vendor e-learning platforms such as Skillshare and Udemy allow you to sell and market your online course. ... Courses as products. ... Selling course certificates. ... Subscriptions. ... Membership Sites. ... Payment Installations. ... Are you ready to sell your online course?

How long does it take to create 1 hour of eLearning?

How long does it take to develop 1 hour of eLearning? A average 1-hour interactive elearning course will take 197 hours to develop. But development of a 1-hour elearning course can range between 49 hours for the low end of the range of a “basic” course to 716 hours for the high end of the range of an “advanced” course.

How can I create an online course for free?

How to create an online course for freeThinkific: Software to create an online course for free. ... Canva: Free and low-cost design tool. ... Beaver Builder: affordable WordPress page builder. ... Camtasia: Cheap software for editing online course videos, with a free trial. ... Vimeo: Free video hosting.More items...•

What makes an online course successful?

Interactive, collaborative environment. Interaction between students, and between student and teacher are critical to promoting deeper learning. Be sure to include interactive lessons, group projects, hands-on labs, class discussions, and private chats that students can use to connect directly with their teacher.

How much can I sell an online course?

Your online course could earn anywhere from a $0 – $50k+ per month. Many course creators will earn $1 – 5k/month and there are numerous examples of online course teachers earning $10k – $50k per month.. There are lots of factors that will determine how much you can earn by selling online courses.

How much do teachers make on udemy?

Her earnings from teaching online are substantial. “I make between $1,500 and $3,000 per month with Udemy,” Brody said in 2018. “I use that extra money for things like travel or big purchases.” With Udemy, your earning potential is unlimited.

How profitable is udemy?

Udemy's profit and revenue Although Udemy has not released any year-end numbers, Forbes makes note that two sources close to the company said revenue would exceed $400 million in 2020. Though other sources put their revenue as high as $653.9 million.

What is online course development?

Online course development is a complex process, and the price of course creation can vary depending on learning platform, course content, eLearning industry, and other factors. If you want to get a detailed cost analysis research for your eLearning project, pleasefeel free to schedule a demo. Tweet#N# .

How long has Sergiy been in eLearning?

Sergiy has 18 years of experience in eLearning and management. Creating educational programs, career paths, online and offline courses he is making the educational world better as a co-founder of RG.

Is eLearning still relevant?

The eLearning market changes, new eLearning trends, and technologies rise and the course should remain relevant. As we all know, even the most popular distance learning courses might need to be adjusted over time, if new breakthroughs occur in the subject matter, new data should be added or some statistics should be updated.

Types of Online Courses

Online courses are a great way for marketers and instructors to share their knowledge with people all over the world. The opportunities for course content are endless, and you have many different options when it comes to types of materials, learning platforms, and levels of depth and complexity.

Why You Should Develop an Online Course

If you're a marketer or blogger, you likely already know the power of content marketing. Online course development is one of many ways to help build your personal brand and grow your audience. But it's not just for marketers — anyone who has the knowledge to share can create an online course.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Online Course Development

You'll be able to make money and take advantage of the passive income once the course is created, but it will take time and energy at the beginning in order to create the course materials.

Cost Factors to Consider

Let's talk about the costs associated with creating an online course. For this article, we are going to assume that you already have a topic in mind for your course and just need to get started. If you don't yet know what you would like to teach others, there may be additional costs involved as you research the type of content you want to share.

What will you outsource?

You don't have to do everything yourself in order to build a great online course. In fact, there are some things you may want to outsource to experts in order to ensure you have high-quality content.

Other Variables to Consider

For some courses, more time and resources are required. For example, if you’re creating a course that features animations or a lot of videos, more time is needed to create them. When calculating the number of hours it will take for creating your course, consider the following:

Total Cost Estimates to Create an Online Course

So, how much does it cost to create an online course? The answer is, it depends.

How Much Does it Cost to Create an Online Course?

I set out to create my online course at the beginning of 2020 before the craziness of what that year became to be. It took me a couple of months longer than anticipated but $494 later, I had my finished product.

Best Course Platforms to Choose From

When choosing what course platform to use for your course, it depends on what features you need and if the price of the platform fits into your budget.

Video Creation and Screen Capture Tools

If you plan on including video content in your course then you need to decide which video creation tools to use.

Presentation and Design Tools

If you want to include recordings of presentations, design elements like banners, worksheets, and more in your course, look at the best and cheapest editing tool around – Canva.

Domain Name Options

As you know I have my site domain through GoDaddy and point my course to a subdomain (lysh.iliketodabble.com). It costs me $17.99 a year for my domain which is a great deal.

Marketing and Advertising Tools

Alright, you have your course outlines, creation tools picked out, and have started to crank out content. You are coming closer to your launch date but are doubting ways you will sell it.

Wrapping It Up: Go Forth and Create

As you are looking at different tools and strategies for creating courses, don’t get too bogged down in the details. Find those with the features you want and the price that works, go for it, and start putting things together.

How long is an online course?

Most complete online courses are at least an hour long. If you’re planning for your course to be 3 hours then you can take the 1 hour time estimate and multiple it out by 3 to give you your approximate costs. So I’ll stick with one hour of video course content for this case study.

What is online course development?

Online course development specifically includes the cost to create the course content. That's why in this article, I won't cover the costs to host and manage an online course or the costs for best online course platforms. Instead, I'll just cover the costs for developing the course itself.

How many people watch online courses every day?

A lot of online courses are set up like the image below: According to research, 78% of people watch online videos every week and 55% view online videos every day. Watching videos online is a popular way to consume course content.

What is the most popular format for online courses?

Video with audio is the most popular format for an online course. Most courses consist of videos with a menu to navigate the course. Sometimes there’s supplemental text or links to supplemental materials beneath the online video. A lot of online courses are set up like the image below:

How long does it take to create supplemental material?

For instance, if it takes you 5 hours to create your supplemental material the first time it may take close to that the next time. If you’re creating the supplemental material then realize that your time is valuable so it’s smart to have an estimate of how long it’ll take.

What is a video intro?

Video intros will give your video training a more polished look. You can get an inexpensive video intro from Fiverr. If you already have a logo then you just give that to a designer and they'll make a cool intro out of it. You can also add music to your intro or special sound effects and it'll add to the professionalism of your course videos.

How long does it take to make a video script?

No matter which type of video you’re creating, you’ll start with the outline and script creation first. I estimate it will take 3 to 10 hours to script out 1 hour of video depending on the level of detail you’re including and your expertise of the subject matter.

The True Costs of Building an Online Course

When it comes to building an online course, there are a few essentials to consider:

Hardware Costs

I’ve created a separate guide that dives into the essential equipment you need to build an online course ( click here to open the Complete Guide to Online Course Equipment ).

Software Costs

Getting the right equipment is important, but it’s also important to remember you’re a course creator that runs much of your business online.

A Free Video Editor

A free video editor that was recommended to me by one of our creators (thank you Luxmi 😉) is Free Cam:

Do I really need video editing software?

Most course creators do need some sort of video editor, but because maybe you just want some software to record the videos, and decide to outsource completely the video editing, in that case you wouldn't need a video editor.

Web Hosting Costs

One of the biggest decisions you have to make as a course creator is how to host your courses.

How much does it cost to create an online course?

Creating an online course can run between $200 at the very minimum to $5500 or more a year depending on the method you choose to create and market it. These cost account for the hosting platform, screen capture software, email service provider, domain names, to advertising cost. However, the cost all depends on the hosting you use, ...

How to create an opt-in offer?

The final way to create an opt-in offer is to do a webinar. A webinar is a great way to teach your audience something to live and sell them your product in the end. Doing a webinar is the only time the 5-minute rule doesn’t apply.

Can I host a course on WordPress?

Your first option is to host your course on WordPress. A lot of people like this option because it gives you the most control over your content to the hosting you decide to use. With other platforms, you are stuck with the options they provide. On top of that with WordPress, it allows you to customize your design.

How much does Paradiso Learning cost?

As per a report, cost of online course development is around $4000 to $ 10000 and takes a span of 180 to 360 hours on average to produce one hour of eLearning material.

What is a storyboard in eLearning?

A storyboard gives you a map to organize your content for better delivery of your content to your audience. Storyboarding helps to list the navigation elements, chapters, and introductory/conclusion ...

What do I need to make a course?

Aside from your laptop, there are a few more tools you’ll need to create your course. Above all else, you’ll need a video camera and microphone. Most smartphones have high-quality built-in cameras and mics, so if you’re one of those lucky owners, that’s one more thing to cross off your list of expenses.

How to sell courses?

Wherever you choose to sell your course, you’ll need to allocate money for: 1 A website and product page where you can sell your courses 2 Equipment like a video camera and video editing program to design your courses 3 Marketing efforts like a landing page builder, email service provider, and content production

How much does Bluehost charge for hosting a website?

But you need somewhere to host that WordPress site, so you pick Bluehost, which has a special $2.95 per month fee for WordPress users for the first term.

Can you create an online course for less than you think?

The good news is you don’t have to decide between cashing out your bank account or bootstrapping everything -- you can create an online course for much less than you think. Today, we’ll give a breakdown of the expenses you definitely shouldn’t skimp on when setting up an online course and those you can save for later.

Can you create an online course?

You can create an online course on any budget. You’re really excited about creating and selling an online course. Your favorite creators -- and even some of your competitors -- are doing it, and you’re confident you have what it takes to create an online course your followers will love.

Do I need an SSL certificate for my website?

Your website will also need an SSL certificate to make sure that your website is safe and secure for your customers to use and so your site ranking in Google won’t be affected. You can buy one separately, but it’s often provided by web hosts as part of your package.

Online course creation cost: Planning tools

I just use Google Docs for this, which is 100% free. I also love Airtable and Notion, both of which are also free.

Online course creation cost: Creating slides

You don’t have to do slides – you could choose to do 100% direct to camera, however that’s a lot more advanced and I wouldn’t recommend it for your first course, unless you’re already a pro with video or you have a good video editor to do it for you.

Online course creation cost: Recording and editing video

If you have a Mac, you can record your screen and audio using the Quicktime app that’s already installed on your computer.

Online course creation cost: Hosting your online course

There is only one platform I use and recommend for hosting your digital course, and that’s Kajabi .

Online course creation cost: Launching your online course

Ok, firstly – there’s Facebook Ads. Do you NEED to run Facebook Ads? No, you don’t have to. It's possible to have a successful online course launch with a small Facebook Ads budget, or even no budget.

How to create a course?

Creating content for your course will be the first step in your course creation process. To estimate the cost at this step, let’s look at the different types of content you may need to create: 1 Written content for course videos, PDFs, presentation decks, website, etc. 2 Presentation slides for videos 3 Branding assets and graphics for your course material

What is the first step in course creation?

Creating content for your course will be the first step in your course creation process. To estimate the cost at this step, let’s look at the different types of content you may need to create:

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What Does The Cost to Create An Online Course Depend on?

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As you can imagine, online course development costs depend on several factors, so estimating it isn’t a straightforward task. Here are some decisions that will influence it: 1. Type of course videos you want to create 2. The quality of course videos (and equipment) you need 3. Whether you want to outsource certain tasks …
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Creating Course Content

  • Creating content for your course will be the first step in your course creation process. To estimate the cost at this step, let’s look at the different types of content you may need to create: 1. Written content for course videos, PDFs, presentation decks, website, etc. 2. Presentation slides for videos 3. Branding assets and graphics for your course material Most online courses are betwee…
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Recording Course Videos

  • The cost of creating videos for your course will depend on the type and the quality of videos you want to create. For instance, if you want to create talking head videos that show you speaking to the camera, you need to factor in the equipment cost for shooting the videos, setting up a basic home studio, plus the cost of video-editing software. On the other hand, you will need just an au…
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Setting Up Your Course

  • Once your content is ready, you will need to upload them to an online course platform in order to start selling it. Now, you can choose from a wide variety of online course platforms, but in my opinion, Thinkific gives the best value for money for a beginner. The platform comes with powerful learning & engagement tools, gives you unlimited video hosting, and takes care of all th…
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Decisions Related to Online Course Development

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The first decision you need to make to begin figuring out the costs is the type of content you’re creating. Will your online course consist of multimedia like video with audio, one or the other, or text-based? Video with audio is the most popular format for an online course. Most courses consist of videos with a menu to navig…
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One-Time Costs vs Time Related Costs

  • There are a few different types of costs involved in creating online courses. The first set of costs are your one-time costs for software or equipment. You can re-use equipment or sometimes rent equipment to save money. We’ll get into the one-time costs later. Costs that are more difficult to measure are time-related costs. Obviously, if you’re pay...
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How Long to Create An Hour of video?

  • Let’s start by going through an estimate of how long it takes to create that one hour of video. But before we can get to our video time estimate, we need to consider what kind of video we’re going to create. Will it be a live-action, screen recording, or animation-style video?
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Visual Video Decisions

  • There are decisions you need to make depending on what type of video you’re creating; live-action, screen recording, or animations. I’ve got a few pathways here depending on the type of video you’re creating. What you’re doing here is deciding on the visuals for your videos.
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Voice Over vs Live Action Audio

  • Depending on what type of video you’re doing, once your visuals are ready you need to record your audio …
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Estimate Considerations

  • As you can see, live-action takes less time to do. The time can vary based on the amount of practice you do and how many breaks you need between takes. Of course, if you’re recording yourself giving a slideshow presentation, you need to create that presentation and record it live. So that will take even longer! The thing is, these estimates are just for one hour. But if your cours…
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Supplemental Material

  • As explained above, I suggest creating an add-on to go along with the video. This takes extra time, but it will greatly enhance the value of your course. You can include a quiz (even 12 questions covering 1 hour of video will work). Quizzes or assessments make the most sense when you’re covering a difficult educational concept. For each module in my course, I created a short quiz. If …
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Time Estimates For 1 Hour of Video and Supplemental Material

  • Here’s the total time estimate for both the video training and the supplemental material production: Use this to help you figure out the time it will take you and estimate the costs involved.
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Costs For One-Time Physical Equipment

  • Now here’s where everyone will start incurring costs unless you already have all this equipment. First of all, you need a computer, but it doesn’t need to be anything super fancy. Hopefully, you already have access to a computer (a desktop or laptop will work). There’s so much variety in computer costs that it’s hard to estimate. Most people already have a computer (or access to on…
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One-Time Costs For Software

  • In addition to the physical equipment, you’ll need software. Once again, it’s different whether you’re doing presentation-style videos or live action videos which I’ll cover below.
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