how much does it cost to set up an online course

by Dr. Lucas Boyle 10 min read

(In 2022)

  • The minimum startup costs for an online course: $12
  • The maximum startup costs for an online course: $14,859
  • The average startup costs for an online course: $7,631

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.6 days ago

Full Answer

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.

Can I create an online course for free?

1. Thinkific: Software to create an online course for free. Thinkific is the perfect platform for online course creators looking for a low-cost solution to easily create, market and sell their content. Best of all, it's free to create and sell your first course.

What does it take to create an online course?

How to create an online courseChoose the right subject matter.Test your idea.Research the topic extensively.Write a course outline.Create the course content.Bring your course online.Sell your online course.Market your content.More items...•

How many hours does it take to create an online course?

between 25 to 500 hoursThe time you will need to put a course together really depends on your specific case, however it generally takes anywhere between 25 to 500 hours to craft an online course.

How do I create and sell a course online?

Steps to Create and Sell Courses OnlineSelect a subject that has demand in the market.Increase Your Online Presence or Your Brand's Presence.Get the Right Devices.Choose a Host Platform.Decide the Charges for Your e-Learning Course.Launch Your Online Course with a Small Audience.More items...•

How do I become a course creator?

Here are the multiple steps involved in starting a career as an online course creator:Step 1 - Market research.Step 2 - Understand your student.Step 3 - Create free content.Step 4 - Understand SEO.Step 5 - Create a sales funnel.Step 6 - Build a brand.Step 7 - Build a community.Step 8 - Validate your course ideas.

Is creating online course worth it?

The Answer is Yes, It is totally worth it to create online courses, and right now is the best time to create online courses. As we all know everyone is now preferring taking online classes instead of learning anything offline.

How long should it take to create a course?

In the study, 29% of respondents said it took them over 100 hours, while 87% take up to 16 weeks to develop their course. A good rule of thumb is to allow 2-3 months to account for research, designing the course, testing with students and finalizing.

How many hours does it take to develop a course?

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 much should I charge to create a 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.

How many months is it recommended to take to design and develop an online course?

Depending on the duration and detail of the program, it can take anywhere between 25 – 500 hours to formulate an online course. A mini-course with just 4 or 5 videos you could develop it in a couple of days. An in-depth flagship course with numerous modules and assignments could take eight weeks or more to accomplish.

How long does it take to develop 1 hour of classroom training?

Below is a summary of the findings: According to this data, for one hour of instructor-led training, it takes on average 43 hours of development time (approximately 5 days). Based on these figures, if you needed a day's training course for your employees, you could be looking at around 30 days of resource time.

Is Thinkific free?

The Thinkific free plan is very generous. You can have unlimited students on their free plan and can build one full course. This includes all the hosting for content like videos. You'll also have access to their quizzes and surveys as well as instant access to any revenues you bring in.

How do I create a PDF course?

How to create an online course PDF checklistOpen up your free (or paid) Canva account.Type “checklist” in the search bar.Select your favourite layout.Adjust colours to your brand colours.Adjust fonts to your brand fonts.Insert your content.Click download as PDF.Upload PDF to your online school.

How do you make a mini course?

The art of doing: How to create a mini courseChoose a course topic. For those: ... Identify the target audience. Scoping out and identifying an audience is key to success. ... Provide a transformation. The best way to do this is to solve a real problem. ... Outline the content. ... Shrink the list. ... Repurpose content.

How do I create a website for training?

How to build an online training website?#1 Get your hosting and domain ready.#2 Choose a platform to build your website.#3 Select a Learning Management System.#4 Set up your website's theme for online training.#5 Create all the classes for your online training website.More items...•

What Does the Cost to Create an Online Course Depend On?

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:

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:

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.

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 much will 1 hour of learning cost in 2021?

In 2021, 1 hour of learning content can cost about $8,542 - $36,320 ($22,431 on average).

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.

Is online course development complex?

Note: Online course development is a multi-stage and complex process, and it is impossible to know the price in advance thoroughly. There are too many variables in the final price tag equation that affect pricing. To get a complete and accurate estimate, you should contact the experts in online course creation and book a demo to tell all the details about your upcoming project.

Is all training material ready for LMS?

So, all the training material is ready, and now is the time to add it to your chosen LMS. However, this is not just a process of "pouring" content into the system. It is necessary to fully transform it into a ready-made course using the LMS tools. In addition, it is vital to ensure the maximum quality of the finished course, so proofreading and error checking is critical.

Is it possible to re-create a course?

C reating a course is almost impossible without a team of specialists who will take on specific tasks.

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.

Why is online learning better than traditional learning?

Even better, the benefits offered by online courses include increased student engagement, the opportunity for peer review and collaboration, and the promise of individualized attention , even in large classrooms. There are many reasons to embrace e-learning, ...

How much will the e-learning market be in 2025?

eLearning is going to play an ever-larger role in the future of higher education. In fact, by 2025, the e-learning market will reach $325 billion. That’s more than four times the traditional higher-education market. Even better, the benefits offered by online courses include increased student engagement, ...

What is learning management system?

Before pricing out any other aspect of course creation, you’ll need to select a learning management system (LMS). This software manages the delivery of course materials and monitors student completion. Because it is the main framework that students and teachers will interact with, it’s important to thoughtfully select a system that meets your needs. Each system has different features and functions that will dictate the kind of content you can offer and the supplemental tools you may need to purchase.#N#While it might be tempting to build your own LMS in-house to perfectly suit your specifications, doing so would be very expensive and time-intensive. Considering the lower price points of many LMS systems, it’s much more cost-effective to shop around for a ready-made solution.#N#There are several different types of learning management systems geared to higher education.

How much does EDpuzzle cost?

Video editing software — There are very simple options, like EDpuzzle ($9.95/month), which help you edit lectures into online videos, and more advanced options, like Adobe Premiere Pro (starts at $20.99/month), which will help you create professional-grade movies.

How much does a DSLR camera cost?

A camera — You could use anything from a cell-phone camera to a professional rig, but a good quality DSLR camera will give you good results and runs around $500.

Do you need to create a course material for an online course?

Just as you would need to create a curriculum and hire an instructor to teach an in-person course, you will need to create course materials and a lesson plan for an online one. You’ll either need to create the content yourself, have your staff do it, or hire someone else to do so.

Is cloud learning more popular?

For all of these reasons, cloud-based options are becoming more and more popular. Cloud-based learning management systems usually operate on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, where users pay a monthly or yearly subscription.

What is course marketing?

Course marketing services range from agencies that you can hire to promote your educational content to its target audience or ad platforms like Facebook Ads and Google AdWords.

How much does it cost to buy an AMD A9?

If you don’t currently have a computer that meets these requirements, plan to spend at least $300 for an HP laptop like this AMD A9-Series.

How much does Adobe Premiere Pro cost?

Adobe Premiere Pro. For pro results, you can’t go wrong with Adobe Premiere Pro, which can be accessed for $34 a month. This software is used by professional videographers on Hollywood blockbuster movies and TV shows. As such, it has every feature you could ever need. But it also has a steeper learning curve.

Can you create a course website?

Once your course material has been created, it has to live somewhere. The best option available to you is to create your website. That way, you have complete control over your lessons, and how they’re marketed.

Is a smartphone good for teaching?

The cameras on most modern smartphones are really impressive. If you don’t want to fork out a ton of cash at this point in your teaching career, but still want to achieve good results without a ton of effort, your smartphone is a good option.

Can you record a course on your phone?

Now, you have a pretty powerful computer in your pocket! That’s right, your phone can be used to record course material, though we suggest using a full-fledged laptop, or desktop device, due to its greater capabilities.

Is recording software free?

When we say “recording software”, we’re referring to both video and audio capturing solutions. There are a TON of options in this regard, some free, some that require a one-time purchase, and others that charge a monthly fee to access.

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

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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Summary – Cost to Create An Online Course

  • In this guide, we have discussed the cost of creating a course under different heads – creating course content, recording course videos, and setting up your course. When you add all of them, you’ll get the total costs involved. The total cost of creating your course will be $140 + $100-$149/monthif you create a screencast or presentation-style vide...
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