Type learndash.com into your browser and you will no longer land on LearnDash’s website, but on Liquid Web’s. WordPress’s best-known online course plugin has not disappeared: it has lost its own website, folded into the brand of Liquid Web, which has owned it since 2021.
An LMS, or Learning Management System, turns a WordPress site into a school: courses split into lessons, quizzes, certificates, progress tracking, and above all a way to charge for access. On paper, every plugin on the market does these five things. In practice, they differ on what really costs money: the payment gateway, drip-fed lessons, SCORM support and the renewal price.
This comparison covers ten LMS plugins that are active and maintained in October 2026, checked on their official pages and in the WordPress.org directory. It ends with a story that concerns every course site: student assignments and exam questions that any visitor could read.
How we ranked them
The first criterion is course structure: courses, sections, lessons, prerequisites, quizzes and certificates. The second is drip content, which releases a lesson after a delay or on a set date. Both are now available everywhere, but not always in the free version.
The third criterion is the payment model. Some plugins take payments themselves through Stripe or PayPal, others require WooCommerce, and others sell the gateway as a paid add-on. That choice changes the total cost and the number of plugins you have to maintain.
Next come SCORM support, essential for importing modules built with authoring tools such as Articulate or iSpring, the real cost over two years (first year and renewal), and maintenance signals: update frequency, declared compatibility with WordPress 7.1 and security track record. Prices were read on October 1, 2026, in US dollars, on the official pages.
1. LearnDash: the reference, now under the Liquid Web brand
What it does
Launched in 2013, LearnDash is one of the most widely used commercial LMS plugins in the WordPress world. It is not distributed on WordPress.org: you buy and download it from its vendor. It offers a drag-and-drop course builder, a quiz builder, certificates, subscriptions, course bundles and plagiarism detection.
In 2026, Liquid Web reorganized its WordPress software around four core products, including LearnDash and Kadence. The StellarWP brand is gone, learndash.com redirects to liquidweb.com and the documentation has moved to Nexcess. In May 2026, Search Engine Journal reported customers’ difficulties during the transition: missing pages, failed logins, missing invoices.
Strengths
Drip content is built into the core plugin, with no extra add-on: immediately, after a number of days from enrollment, or on a specific date. Stripe and PayPal are supported natively, and the WooCommerce integration remains available. There are no per-student fees: the license covers unlimited courses and learners. Its range of third-party add-ons is one of the largest.
Limits
LearnDash does not handle SCORM by itself. Its documentation says so plainly: you need a third-party add-on, and content created in LearnDash is not SCORM compliant. The new plans do not state how many sites each license covers. Finally, its security track record, told below, deserves a closer look.
Price and audience
The Essentials plan costs $259 per year, Pro $399 and Elite $599, the latter adding group management, the instructor role and front-end course creation. LearnDash suits training businesses that want the most complete tool and accept a yearly license.
2. Tutor LMS: the free start with built-in checkout
What it does
Tutor LMS, from Themeum, is the most installed LMS in this comparison on WordPress.org, with more than 100,000 active sites. Since version 3.0, it includes its own sales system: cart, coupons, taxes, refunds and PayPal payments in the free version; guest checkout and a long list of gateways, from Stripe to Mollie and Paddle, come with Pro.
Strengths
The free version is enough to create courses with quizzes and sell them, without WooCommerce. Videos can come from YouTube, Vimeo or Bunny Stream. Subscriptions and memberships require Tutor LMS Pro, and the plugin remains compatible with WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads and Paid Memberships Pro for those who already use one.
Limits
In the free version, payments go through PayPal or manual payment only: Stripe and the other gateways, guest checkout, subscriptions, assignments, drip content, the certificate builder, the gradebook and prerequisites all require Pro. SCORM goes through the GrassBlade integration, which requires both Tutor LMS Pro and the GrassBlade plugin. The AI course assistant, a Pro feature, used to require your own OpenAI API key; version 4.1.0 connects it to WordPress’s AI connector.
Version 4.0.6, on August 18, 2026, fixed a remote code execution reachable without an account, which Patchstack flags as exploited, and a low-priority SQL injection. With 36 Patchstack entries since January, Tutor has the same flaw cadence as LearnPress.
Price and audience
The Pro license costs $199 per year for one site, $399 for ten sites, or $499 for a lifetime license on one site. Tutor LMS suits creators who want to start for free with built-in checkout, and agencies interested in lifetime licenses.
3. LifterLMS: a generous core, a paid gateway
What it does
LifterLMS runs on more than 10,000 sites and is among the best rated in the directory. Its free version already covers most of the teaching side: quizzes with question banks and time limits, drip content, prerequisites, certificates, badges, memberships and course tracks.
Strengths
Few LMS plugins offer this much for free on the teaching side. The vendor follows WordPress closely: version 10.2.0, in August 2026, registered a student-grades reading ability with the Abilities API, the interface that lets AI assistants interact with a site.
Limits
The WordPress.org listing mentions built-in payments with Stripe or PayPal, but the vendor sells these gateways as paid add-ons: the Stripe add-on alone costs $149 per year. In practice, the free version can build and deliver courses, not charge a card. SCORM goes through a third-party integration.
Price and audience
The Earth bundle, which includes Stripe, PayPal and WooCommerce for one site, costs $199 for the first year with the discount code shown by the vendor, then $398. LifterLMS suits organizations that want a solid core and only pay for the gateway they use.
4. LearnPress: the cheapest route, now with free SCORM
What it does
LearnPress, from ThimPress, runs on more than 70,000 sites. It works with add-ons: a free core that handles courses, quizzes, one-time payment by PayPal or offline, guest checkout and order management, then extensions sold one by one. ThimPress also publishes Eduma, a widely used education theme.
Strengths
Since August 13, 2026, a free SCORM add-on lets you import and play SCORM 1.2 and SCORM 2004 packages. Along with Masteriyo, it is one of the two LMS plugins in this comparison that offer this at no cost. The pick-and-choose model means you only buy what you need.
Limits
Certificates, drip content, Stripe and WooCommerce are paid add-ons, from $39 to $49 each. The pace of published flaws in 2026 is steady: about thirty entries since January in Patchstack’s database, mostly low or medium severity. ThimPress’s product pages claim more than 100,000 installs, while WordPress.org counts 70,000.
Price and audience
The Pro Bundle, which includes every add-on, costs $299 for a lifetime license on one site, with one year of updates, renewable for $209.30. LearnPress suits tight budgets and schools that need SCORM at no cost.
5. MasterStudy LMS: built for marketplaces
What it does
MasterStudy LMS, from StylemixThemes, has more than 10,000 installs. It targets platforms where several instructors sell their courses, with commissions, group courses, live streaming and assignments. Its free version takes payments by PayPal, Stripe, offline payment or bank transfer.
Strengths
Native checkout is available from the free version, and the Pro Plus version adds subscriptions, a certificate builder, sequential drip and SCORM import. Switching to the WooCommerce checkout, a Pro Plus feature, remains possible, but it deactivates the native gateways.
Limits
Its declared compatibility stops at WordPress 7.0.6, while every other plugin in this comparison listed on WordPress.org declares 7.1. The SCORM add-on imports a package as a whole course: you cannot add several as lessons, and their content cannot be edited in the LMS. Offline and bank transfer payments require granting course access by hand.
Its security record is heavy. In 2024, Wordfence published a critical flaw that let an anonymous visitor register as an administrator, when the Pro version and the form editor add-on were active. In 2026, a privilege escalation and a payment bypass were fixed as well.
Price and audience
The Pro Plus license costs $149 per year for one site, $299 for ten sites. MasterStudy suits course marketplaces and users of the vendor’s own theme.
6. Sensei LMS: Automattic’s LMS, WooCommerce required to sell
What it does
Sensei LMS is published by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce, which uses it for all of its employee training. It is designed around the block editor: courses and lessons are built like pages, with dedicated blocks for quizzes and progress.
Strengths
Its integration with the block editor is the most natural in this comparison, and updates follow WordPress closely: the current version requires WordPress 6.9. Certificates come from a separate free plugin, Sensei LMS Certificates.
Limits
Sensei sells nothing on its own. To charge for a course, you need Sensei Pro and WooCommerce, and for recurring payments, the WooCommerce Subscriptions extension, sold at $279 per year. It is the heaviest stack in this comparison, covered in our comparison of WooCommerce payment gateways. Sensei does not support SCORM natively, and its user base remains small, with about 9,000 installs.
Price and audience
Sensei Pro costs $179 per year for one site. Sensei suits sites already built on WooCommerce and internal company training.
7. Thrive Apprentice: visual control and advanced drip
What it does
Thrive Apprentice belongs to the Thrive Themes suite, acquired by Awesome Motive in January 2023. It is sold on its own or within Thrive Suite, which bundles nine marketing plugins, including a quiz builder and a sales-page builder.
Strengths
Its drip options are the most granular in this comparison: intervals from enrollment, days of the week or month, specific dates, unlocking based on a quiz score, and several schedules for the same course without duplicating it. Certificates can carry a serial number and a QR code for verification. Stripe, PayPal and Square are built in, with no shop plugin.
Limits
Elaborate quizzes go through Thrive Quiz Builder, included in the suite but not in the standalone plan. No SCORM support is documented. The old SendOwl integration is deprecated, and ThriveCart requires a paid account with an independent company.
Price and audience
Thrive Apprentice alone costs $149 for the first year for one site, then $299. The full suite costs $299 for the first year for five sites, then $599. It suits course creators who sell through marketing and want control over every page.
8. MemberPress Courses: courses inside a membership
What it does
MemberPress Courses is an add-on for MemberPress, Caseproof’s membership plugin. It adds a course builder, quizzes, assignments and shareable certificates to a site whose core remains the subscription. Our comparison of WordPress membership plugins covers MemberPress itself.
Strengths and limits
MemberPress access rules are among the most flexible on the market, which lets you tie a course to a membership level, a duration or a purchase. But the plans have changed names and logic. The entry plan, Launch, accepts Stripe only and takes a 4.9% fee on every payment, on top of Stripe’s own fees. Unlimited quizzes, certificates and drip content start with the Growth plan. SCORM is not supported natively.
Price and audience
Launch costs $199.50 for the first year, then $399. Growth, with no transaction fee, costs $349.50 for the first year, then $699. MemberPress Courses suits membership businesses for which courses are one benefit among others.
9. Masteriyo: free gateways and certificates
What it does
Masteriyo, a product of ThemeGrill and Themeisle, has more than 6,000 installs and a very good rating. Its free version includes the order system, the Stripe, PayPal, Mollie and Lemon Squeezy gateways, quizzes and certificates.
Strengths and limits
It is the most complete free version for selling a course with a certificate. A migration tool imports courses from Tutor LMS, LifterLMS, LearnPress, LearnDash or MasterStudy. On the other hand, advanced drip content (delays and dates) is reserved for the Pro plan, and its user base is younger than the leaders’.
Price and audience
The Basic plan costs $99 for the first year for one site, then $199. Masteriyo suits course creators who want to sell and certify without paying, then move to a cheap entry plan.
10. Academy LMS: many sites for little money
What it does
Academy LMS, from Kodezen, is the smallest plugin in this comparison, with about 2,000 installs, but also one of the best rated. Its free version includes an AI course-creation assistant, a quiz builder, certificates with a verification code and revenue sharing between instructors.
Strengths and limits
Its multi-site licenses are among the cheapest in this comparison, which appeals to agencies. Sales go through StoreEngine, a separate shop plugin from the same vendor, or through WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. Prerequisites, drip content, SCORM, assignments and the gradebook are reserved for the Pro version.
Price and audience
The individual license costs $99 per year for one site at the promotional price shown, $199 at list price, and lifetime licenses start at $149. Academy LMS suits small budgets managing several sites, provided you accept a product that is still young.
The real case: when assignments and exams were public
A course site is not a brochure site. It stores assignments submitted by students, quiz answers and grades, and it often opens registration to everyone. The story below, documented by Wordfence and then by the researcher who found it, shows what that changes.
What the researcher found
On December 25, 2023, Karl Emil Nikka, founder of the company Nikka Systems, reported three flaws to LearnDash support. He followed the disclosure policy of Project Zero, Google’s security team: 90 days to fix before publication. He also passed his findings to Wordfence, which assigned the CVE identifiers, and declined to take part in its bug bounty program.
The first flaw concerned assignments. Up to version 4.10.1, LearnDash stored files uploaded by students in a folder without access protection, under a name built from the post ID, a timestamp and the original file name. Worse, the WordPress REST API, enabled by default, listed these assignments with the path to each file.
A simple request to /wp-json/wp/v2/sfwd-assignment was therefore enough to get the list, then download the files without signing in. The researcher spoke of potential GDPR incidents. An assignment does often contain a name, sometimes a photo, sometimes personal work the student only meant to share with their instructor.
The other two flaws affected quizzes. Questions and exams could be read by anyone through several API routes, all open by default. The consequence, as the researcher pointed out: these questions could no longer be used to check a student’s knowledge, since anyone could read them before the exam. Worse, disabling part of the API with the filter provided for that purpose exposed the content through another route.
How LearnDash fixed it
Support confirmed it had passed on the report two days later, and in early January the vendor said it was prioritizing the assignments flaw. Version 4.10.2, on January 8, 2024, removed assignments from the REST API. Version 4.10.3, on January 31, moved the files to a protected folder and served downloads through dynamic links.
Wordfence published the three flaws on February 2, 2024, and Karl Emil Nikka published his write-up three days later. He praised how LearnDash handled his report, and no exploitation was made public. Everything was fixed within the 90-day window.
Why the same feature made the news again in 2026
On September 3, 2026, Wordfence published a new flaw in the same assignments feature, found by researcher Nguyen Ngoc Duc. Up to version 5.1.5, the upload handler checked only the first file of a multiple upload. A student enrolled in a course that accepted assignments could therefore upload a PHP file, executable only if the server configuration had been changed to allow it. Version 5.1.5.1 fixed it.
The next day, September 4, Wordfence published another flaw (listed by Patchstack on the 5th), fixed in 5.1.6.1: an API route let a logged-out visitor enroll any user in paid courses without payment. Two flaws in two days in the market leader, four months after Liquid Web’s rebrand.
What to check on your own site
First lesson: on a course site, “subscriber” means “any student”. A flaw rated as requiring an authenticated account is therefore within reach of anyone who can register, as soon as registration is open. Second lesson: a plugin sold outside WordPress.org only updates if its license is active, so check it at every renewal.
Third lesson: test what your API exposes. While logged out, open /wp-json/wp/v2/ followed by your LMS’s content type, and look at what comes back. These checks complement the WordPress security hardening measures every site should apply.
Hosting video outside WordPress
None of these LMS vendors recommend storing course videos in the Media Library. A raw video is heavy, does not adapt to the student’s bandwidth and is easy to download. Good practice is to hand it to a specialized service, then embed it in the lesson. Your WordPress hosting will be better for it.
Bunny Stream and Cloudflare Stream
Both services charge for storage and delivery, with free encoding. Bunny Stream also offers download protection, and Tutor LMS supports it natively. Cloudflare Stream charges per minute of video rather than by volume. The bill depends mostly on minutes watched: at Cloudflare, $1 per 1,000 minutes delivered, on top of storage.
A dedicated player
Presto Player, installed on more than 100,000 sites, plays YouTube, Vimeo or self-hosted videos and tracks progress in LearnDash. Its Pro version adds private videos hosted on Bunny and adaptive streaming. YouTube and Vimeo remain options, but an unlisted YouTube video is not a protected video.
SCORM: who really supports it
SCORM is a standard format for importing a module built with an authoring tool into an LMS. For a school or a training department that already owns this kind of content, it is a deal-breaker. Yet few WordPress LMS plugins handle it natively.
- For free: LearnPress, with its SCORM 1.2 and 2004 add-on released in August 2026, and Masteriyo, whose free version also imports SCORM packages.
- In a paid plan: MasterStudy Pro Plus and Academy LMS Pro.
- Through a third-party add-on: LearnDash, Tutor LMS and LifterLMS, with GrassBlade or Uncanny Owl’s tools.
- Not natively: Sensei, Thrive Apprentice and MemberPress Courses, which can still play SCORM modules through a third-party plugin such as Uncanny Owl’s Tin Canny.
In 2026, Uncanny Owl launched a standalone SCORM and xAPI plugin, with its own learning record store, which works even without an LMS. The xAPI format, SCORM’s successor, does require such a store, called an LRS.
How to choose
- An independent course creator starting out: Tutor LMS or Masteriyo, which take payments for free.
- An established training business: LearnDash, for its many add-ons, or Thrive Apprentice if marketing comes first.
- A membership business: MemberPress Courses from the Growth plan.
- A school with SCORM modules: LearnPress or Masteriyo, both for free.
- An existing WooCommerce store: Sensei, or LearnDash’s WooCommerce integration.
- An agency managing several sites: Academy LMS or a Tutor LMS lifetime license.
In every case, work out the cost over two years, not over the first year: most vendors show an introductory price and renew at full price.
Summary table
| Plugin | Sells without WooCommerce | Drip content | SCORM | Entry price (Oct. 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LearnDash | Yes | Included | Third-party add-on | $259 per year |
| Tutor LMS | Yes, free | Pro | Third-party add-on | Free, Pro $199 per year |
| LifterLMS | Offline free, cards via paid add-on | Free | Third-party add-on | $199 first year, then $398 |
| LearnPress | Yes (PayPal, offline) | $39 add-on | Free | Free, bundle $299 |
| MasterStudy LMS | Yes, free | Pro Plus | Pro Plus | Free, Pro Plus $149 per year |
| Sensei LMS | No | Pro | Not natively | Pro $179 per year |
| Thrive Apprentice | Yes | Advanced | Not documented | $149 first year, then $299 |
| MemberPress Courses | Yes (Stripe only on Launch) | Growth | Not natively | $199.50 first year + 4.9% |
| Masteriyo | Yes, free | Advanced in Pro | Free | Free, $99 first year |
| Academy LMS | Through StoreEngine | Pro | Pro | Free, $99 per year |
Frequently asked questions
Do I need WooCommerce to sell courses?
No, except with Sensei. MasterStudy and Masteriyo take Stripe or PayPal payments for free, Tutor LMS takes PayPal, and LearnDash and Thrive Apprentice do so with their license. WooCommerce remains useful if you already sell physical products on the same site.
Which WordPress LMS supports SCORM?
LearnPress has done it for free since August 2026, and so does Masteriyo’s free version. MasterStudy and Academy LMS offer it in their paid plans. LearnDash, Tutor LMS and LifterLMS rely on third-party add-ons.
What does an LMS really cost after the first year?
Often twice the advertised price. LifterLMS, Thrive Apprentice, MemberPress and Masteriyo show a first-year price and renew at full price. Add the essential add-ons, the gateway with LifterLMS or WooCommerce Subscriptions with Sensei, and video hosting.
How do I protect student data?
Update the LMS without delay, check what your REST API exposes when you are logged out, and limit what a student account can do. Our guide to WordPress user roles explains how to restrict permissions. Also delete assignments you no longer need.
Can I switch LMS later?
Yes, but rarely without effort. Masteriyo imports from five competing LMS plugins, and Tutor LMS, LearnPress and Academy LMS also ship migration tools. Elsewhere, courses are often migrated by hand, and students’ progress history is the hardest part to transfer.
Conclusion
The WordPress LMS market has converged on built-in checkout: Tutor LMS, Masteriyo and MasterStudy take payments from the free version, while Sensei remains tied to WooCommerce. LearnDash keeps the widest choice of add-ons, despite a turbulent year of rebranding at Liquid Web, and both LearnPress and Masteriyo offer SCORM at no cost.
But the story of the exposed assignments is the real lesson: a course site holds its students’ personal data and work. Choose a maintained LMS, work out its cost over two years, and treat its security like a shop’s.
Sources
- Liquid Web (October 2026). LearnDash, WordPress LMS plugin and course software
- Liquid Web (2026). The next era for software: one suite, four powerhouse WordPress tools
- Search Engine Journal, Roger Montti (May 13, 2026). Liquid Web WordPress Plugin Rebrand Triggers Backlash
- Nexcess Documentation. LearnDash SCORM and xAPI
- Nexcess Documentation. Do I need a plugin to do drip feeding?
- WordPress.org (October 2026). Tutor LMS
- Tutor LMS (October 2026). Pricing
- LifterLMS (October 2026). Pricing
- LifterLMS. LifterLMS Stripe
- LearnPress (October 2026). Pricing plan
- ThimPress (August 2026). SCORM Add-on for LearnPress
- StylemixThemes (October 2026). MasterStudy LMS pricing
- WordPress.org (October 2026). MasterStudy LMS
- Sensei LMS (October 2026). Pricing
- Sensei LMS. FAQ
- Thrive Themes (October 2026). Thrive Apprentice
- Thrive Themes. How to Choose the Right Integration for Thrive Apprentice
- MemberPress (October 2026). Pricing
- Masteriyo (October 2026). Pricing
- Academy LMS (October 2026). Pricing
- Karl Emil Nikka (February 5, 2024). CVE-2024-1209: Sensitive Information Exposure via assignments in LearnDash
- Karl Emil Nikka (February 5, 2024). CVE-2024-1208 and CVE-2024-1210
- Wordfence Intelligence (September 3, 2026). LearnDash LMS <= 5.1.5, Arbitrary File Upload via Assignment Upload Handler
- Patchstack (September 5, 2026). LearnDash 4.25.0 to 5.1.6, Unauthenticated Arbitrary Course Enrollment
- Wordfence, István Márton (April 9, 2024). Privilege Escalation and Local File Inclusion Vulnerabilities Patched in MasterStudy LMS
- Bunny.net (October 2026). Bunny Stream pricing
- Cloudflare. Stream pricing
- WordPress.org. Presto Player
- Uncanny Owl (2026). Tin Canny xAPI/SCORM for WordPress
- Masteriyo. Free vs Pro
- LearnDash, via Internet Archive (September 2021). LearnDash joins Liquid Web
- Patchstack. Tutor LMS vulnerabilities
- Wordfence Intelligence (2026). Tutor LMS <= 4.0.5, Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
- Wordfence Intelligence (September 4, 2026). LearnDash LMS 4.25.0 to 5.1.6, Arbitrary Course Enrollment
- StylemixThemes Docs. MasterStudy free and Pro versions
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