Table of Contents
- Introduction
- LDT Courses | Tutorials vs. LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products: At a Glance
- Feature Comparison
- Pricing and Value
- Integrations and Workflow
- Setup, Migration, and Scale
- Support, Reviews, and Credibility
- Best Use Cases and Merchant Recommendations
- The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
- Practical Migration Checklist and Decision Guide
- Conclusion
- Frequently Asked Questions
Introduction
Selling online courses, digital downloads, or gated community access on Shopify is appealing but not always straightforward. Merchants face trade-offs between ease of setup, feature depth, content hosting, and how tightly the learning experience ties into checkout and commerce. Choosing the right app affects conversion, customer experience, and long-term revenue.
Short answer: LDT Courses | Tutorials is a strong choice for merchants who need a full-featured, on-store LMS with quizzes, certificates, and a variety of hosted content types. LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products is a lightweight option for stores that simply need to attach external links or files to products and automate access emails. For merchants seeking a single, Shopify-native platform that unifies courses, subscriptions, communities, and commerce without sending customers off-site, a native alternative can offer better value and fewer integration headaches.
This article provides an objective, feature-by-feature comparison of LDT Courses | Tutorials and LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products so merchants can decide which fits their needs. The comparison is followed by a discussion of the benefits of keeping courses and communities native to Shopify and a practical alternative that consolidates course delivery, memberships, and commerce.
LDT Courses | Tutorials vs. LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products: At a Glance
| Aspect | LDT Courses | Tutorials (LDT Team) | LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products (Livestream Labs) | |---|---:|---| | Core Function | LMS: build courses, lessons, quizzes, certificates, secure media | Simple delivery engine: sell files or links hosted externally | | Best For | Merchants needing an on-store LMS with rich content types and student tracking | Merchants needing a simple way to sell externally hosted files or private links | | Rating (Shopify App Store) | 5.0 (148 reviews) | 5.0 (1 review) | | Native vs External | Native Shopify app with checkout and account hooks | Shopify app that manages links to externally hosted content | | Key Content Types | Video, audio, PDF/EPUB, quizzes, certificates, Zoom embeds, drip access | Google Drive, Dropbox, YouTube/Vimeo links, HTTPS/S3/CDN links | | Notable Limits | Storage tiers by plan; feature parity depends on plan | Product and order caps per plan (30–1000 orders) | | Pricing (starting) | Free tier; paid tiers from $12.99/mo to $49.99/mo | Starts at $14.99/mo (Business), $29/mo (Unlimited) | | Typical Merchant Outcome | Full LMS experience inside store; more control over branding and student data | Fast setup for selling simple digital files hosted elsewhere | | Integration Depth | Checkout, customer accounts, Shopify Flow | Customer accounts only |
Feature Comparison
Core capabilities and product positioning
LDT Courses | Tutorials positions itself as a full learning management system added to a Shopify store. It provides a course builder, student progress tracking, quizzes and certificates, a content player with security options (watermarking, subtitles), and membership/subscription features. The app advertises multi-format content support and the ability for customers to access courses directly within the merchant’s storefront.
LinkIT emphasizes simplicity: it turns links to external files or gated resources into sellable digital products inside Shopify. The merchant pastes links (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook groups) and LinkIT manages delivery and customizable emails. It is aimed at stores that already host content elsewhere and want an easy delivery mechanism.
Both apps are aimed at selling digital goods, but they serve different workflows: one is an on-store LMS (LDT), the other is a delivery/connector service (LinkIT).
Content types and course builder
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Supports private videos, audio, PDFs/EPUB, images, embedded HTML, Zoom links, and text blocks.
- Includes quizzes and scoring, which allows for tests and basic assessments.
- Offers certificates generation (PDF).
- Provides features like subtitles, watermarking, and an e-book viewer for deeper content control.
- Drip schedules and limited-time access options appear built into the product offering depending on plan.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Works by linking to externally hosted files or streams: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, YouTube/Vimeo, S3, or any HTTPS/FTP/CDN endpoint.
- No built-in editor or lesson structure; content is essentially a URL that is delivered after purchase.
- Email templates for download delivery are customizable, but the app does not build a lesson sequence or learning pathways.
Practical takeaway: Merchants who want a lesson-by-lesson learning experience with assessments and certificates will find LDT’s feature set aligned to that need. Merchants who have files already hosted in cloud storage and simply want to sell access without constructing a learning environment will find LinkIT faster and lighter.
Student and membership management
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Student progress tracking is included; merchants can see enrollment and completion status.
- Membership and subscription options are present, enabling access control and recurring models.
- Auto-tagging and auto-fulfillment features (on paid plans) help integrate course purchases into CRM and fulfillment flows.
- Multilingual support may be available on higher tiers to support international students.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Delivery is tied to orders and customer accounts, but there is no built-in course progress or quiz tracking.
- Works well for single-purchase downloads or for giving access to a private group link, but does not provide members dashboards or learning progress tools.
Practical takeaway: Use LDT for community and cohort-style education where tracking matters. Use LinkIT for simple transactional digital products and single-file downloads.
Security, hosting, and content delivery
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Offers security features around media (subtitles, watermarking), plus controls to keep content accessible only to enrolled students.
- Storage caps are tiered (50GB, 300GB, 1.5TB), which simplifies hosting since media can be stored directly within the app depending on plan.
- Because content is intended to be consumed within the merchant’s storefront, it reduces reliance on external link stability.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Relies on third-party storage providers. Security depends on the hosting provider (e.g., Google Drive link permissions).
- Strength is flexibility: any HTTPS or cloud-hosted URL can be sold.
- For merchants hosting on public platforms (YouTube/Vimeo), additional steps may be needed to make content private while still accessible via a paid link.
Practical takeaway: Hosting content natively inside the LMS simplifies access control and reduces link rot risk. Relying on external links can be cheaper but introduces potential security or availability concerns and may require careful configuration.
Community features and interaction
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Includes membership capabilities and limits time access; can act as a cohort LMS with student accounts.
- The app supports certificates and quizzes, which encourage engagement.
- While LDT is focused on course functionality, community interaction features (discussion forums, commenting) are generally more limited compared to purpose-built community platforms unless merchant builds custom workflows.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Provides no native community tools; its reach is delivery only.
- If a merchant wants community features, they must use a separate platform (e.g., Facebook, Slack, Circle) and use LinkIT only for file/link delivery.
Practical takeaway: Neither app is a full community platform. LDT is closer to the learning side and can support cohort structures, but merchants looking to build active communities should evaluate how to combine the app with other community tools or consider platforms that natively combine both.
Commerce integration and bundling
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Works with Shopify checkout and customer accounts, enabling the purchase of courses via the store’s normal checkout flow.
- Supports upsells and product bundling in its app description.
- Auto-fulfillment and auto-tagging help integrate course purchases with marketing flows and customer lifecycle automation.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Integrates into checkout in the sense that delivery is done post-purchase, but the app’s main function is to attach delivery links to orders.
- Pricing limits are explicit per plan: monthly digital order caps can be a gating factor for scaling merchants.
Practical takeaway: If the business model depends on tight bundling between physical products and courses (for example, kits + on-demand classes), keeping everything native within Shopify reduces friction and improves conversion. LinkIT can attach digital assets to purchases, but merchant experience may diverge when external content is involved.
Automation, analytics, and certificates
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Offers certificates, quiz scoring, and progress tracking, which supports credentialing and retention efforts.
- Features like auto-tagging and integration with Shopify Flow enable automation around enrollments and customer segmentation.
- Priority and developer support options on higher plans can help with complex integrations.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Focuses on delivery emails and link management; analytics are likely limited to order counts and basic delivery logs.
- No built-in certificates, quizzes, or course analytics.
Practical takeaway: Merchants who value downstream analytics (completion rates, quiz scores) and automated flows tied to learning behaviors have more to gain from an LMS-style app like LDT.
Pricing and Value
LDT Courses | Tutorials pricing structure
- Free plan: Covers small stores and offers core content types (e-books, video, audio, quizzes, certificates, memberships) — useful for testing and small catalogs.
- Starter: $12.99/month — adds 50GB storage, unlimited courses and enrollments, auto-fulfillment, auto-tagging, multilingual options, and removal of "Powered by" watermark.
- Business: $19.99/month — raises storage to 300GB and adds priority and developer support.
- Ultra: $49.99/month — 1.5TB storage and enhanced support. Additional plans mentioned for very large needs.
LDT’s pricing model is tiered primarily on storage and support level. Merchants with heavy media needs must consider which storage tier fits their catalogue and anticipated traffic.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products pricing structure
- Business: $14.99/month — limited to 30 digital products and 100 digital orders per month.
- Unlimited: $29/month — unlimited digital products and up to 1,000 digital orders per month.
LinkIT’s pricing emphasizes order volumes and product counts. For stores with predictable, low-volume digital sales, the lower tier may be sufficient. Scaling beyond those caps will require the Unlimited plan or a different tool.
Comparing value for money
- LDT provides built-in LMS functionality and storage tiers, which consolidate course hosting, delivery, access control, and learning tools in one place for a modest monthly fee. That offers predictable pricing for merchants who prefer to keep everything inside Shopify.
- LinkIT is competitive if the business model is exclusively about delivering externally hosted files and the store’s monthly order volume fits the plan limits. It offers a straightforward cost structure tied to volume caps.
- For merchants who intend to combine physical product kits with digital classes and upsells, the value of native integration (reduced friction, consistent UX, single customer record) often outweighs marginal price differences.
Practical takeaway: Consider what is being purchased: functionality (LDT) or delivery throughput (LinkIT). If cost predictability and unlimited courses matter, LDT’s higher-limit plans may provide better value for a scaled educational offering. If the need is simple link delivery at low volume, LinkIT’s Business plan can be a lower entry cost.
Integrations and Workflow
Native Shopify integration
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Works with checkout, customer accounts, and Shopify Flow — meaning course purchases can participate in the store’s native commerce and automation systems.
- Supports auto-tagging and auto-fulfillment to help operations teams treat digital products like first-class merchandise.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Works with customer accounts; delivery is tied to orders, but the app’s integration depth is more limited.
- Lacks explicit Shopify Flow and advanced automation hooks in its listing, which reduces the ability to craft automated lifecycle campaigns tied to learning behaviors.
Practical takeaway: For merchants wanting deep Shopify automation and unified customer data, LDT provides stronger native hooks.
Third-party tools and platforms
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Supports Zoom integration and embedded content from multiple sources.
- By keeping course content within the store, merchants can integrate with email marketing, subscriptions, and page builders more predictably.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Deliberately built to work with whatever hosting the merchant already uses (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, YouTube, Vimeo).
- This flexibility is a benefit for merchants who have invested in external video hosting or private repositories.
Practical takeaway: LinkIT minimizes migration friction for those already hosting elsewhere; LDT minimizes operational friction for those who want everything under one roof.
Setup, Migration, and Scale
Getting started and ease of setup
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Setting up an LMS requires more configuration: creating courses, lessons, quizzes, uploading media, and configuring access rules.
- Free tier makes it possible to test before committing to a paid plan.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Quickest setup: paste links to digital files and attach them to products for delivery. Minimal content creation required.
- Better short-term speed-to-market if time is the primary constraint.
Practical takeaway: For fast digital-product launches, LinkIT is the path of least resistance. For a strategic course offering that evolves into cohorts, certifications, or subscriptions, investing time in LDT’s setup is worthwhile.
Migration and scaling considerations
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Storage tiers and unlimited bandwidth on paid plans support growth. Developer support on higher tiers can ease complex migrations.
- Because courses live in-store, migrating from external platforms may require re-uploading files and reauthoring course structures, but it pays off with a unified customer record and fewer login/access issues.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Scales by order limits. If a merchant’s digital sales spike rapidly, they must ensure plan limits match volume; otherwise, expect throttling or a necessary upgrade.
- Migrating content remains external; if the primary goal later becomes a native learning environment, migration may require separate planning and reauthoring.
Practical takeaway: LinkIT suits a specific scale profile. For ambitious or fast-growing course businesses, native LMS options remove order caps and reduce future migration friction.
Support, Reviews, and Credibility
Ratings and review counts
- LDT Courses | Tutorials: 148 reviews, 5.0 rating on the Shopify App Store. That volume of reviews suggests a broader user base and more feedback to evaluate.
- LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products: 1 review, 5.0 rating. A single review offers limited social proof; merchants should weigh that when selecting a vendor.
- For context, larger native course platforms on Shopify—including the alternative discussed below—show hundreds of reviews and higher adoption metrics.
Support channels and documentation
LDT Courses | Tutorials
- Offers priority and developer support on higher plans, which can be useful for stores that need custom workflows or integrations.
- The app appears to support multilingual configurations and advanced automation hooks, which merchants can leverage with vendor support.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products
- Documentation and support are generally sufficient for the app’s scope: delivering links and customizing email templates.
- For anything beyond basic delivery, merchants may need to rely on external resources or developers.
Practical takeaway: Evaluate support SLAs and whether higher-tier support is necessary based on complexity and scale. More complex course setups benefit from vendor responsiveness and developer assistance.
What merchants say (review highlights)
- Higher review counts typically indicate real-world robustness and use cases to draw from. LDT’s review volume is a positive signal for merchants evaluating long-term reliability.
- With only one review, LinkIT requires merchants to perform additional due diligence (trial period, testing) to confirm fit.
A practical recommendation is to test both apps in a development store or free tier where available, measure ease of setup, and validate sample student flows before committing.
Best Use Cases and Merchant Recommendations
LDT Courses | Tutorials is best for merchants who:
- Want to create structured courses with lessons, quizzes, progress tracking, and certificates.
- Need native checkout and customer-account integration so students stay in the store environment.
- Plan to bundle physical products with courses and expect the course experience to be part of the brand site.
- Require storage for media and prefer predictable upload capacity defined by plan tiers.
LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products is best for merchants who:
- Already host content externally (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, YouTube) and need a simple delivery mechanism.
- Require a fast, low-friction way to sell file downloads or gated links without creating a course structure.
- Have low-to-moderate monthly digital order volume that fits LinkIT’s plan caps.
- Want to keep operational complexity low and do not need quizzes, certificates, or student progress features.
Final recommendation on selection: Choose based on the product roadmap. If the goal is transactional downloads, LinkIT offers efficiency. If the goal is repeatable education, certifications, and bundling with physical goods, an LMS-style app such as LDT will serve strategic needs better.
The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
The problem with platform fragmentation
Many merchants assemble different tools to run courses, memberships, and communities: an external video host, an offsite course platform, a separate community tool, and Shopify for checkout. That approach can create friction:
- Customers are sent off-site to log into separate platforms, increasing friction and support requests.
- Customer data and purchase history live in multiple places, complicating segmentation and retention marketing.
- Bundling physical and digital products becomes a chore when systems are not natively connected.
This fragmentation often reduces conversion and increases operating cost. A native, all-in-one approach keeps customers "at home" inside the Shopify storefront, simplifying the buying and learning experience.
Why a native, unified platform matters
A Shopify-native course and community platform centralizes commerce, learning, and membership management in a single place. The practical advantages include:
- One login experience for customers through Shopify accounts.
- Native use of Shopify checkout and checkout flows for consistent conversion.
- Unified customer records in Shopify for accurate lifetime value (LTV) tracking and automation.
- Easier bundling of physical kits and digital courses to increase average order value (AOV) and returning customer rates.
Merchants that consolidate on a native platform reduce support burdens, improve conversion, and increase repeat purchases.
Introducing a native alternative and real results
Tevello positions itself as a Shopify-native platform that unifies courses, digital products, and communities inside the store. It is built to keep customers within the merchant’s storefront while providing course, membership, and community features that connect directly to Shopify’s checkout and automation.
Merchants using a native approach report measurable business outcomes. Examples include specific case studies that demonstrate how keeping the experience in-store can scale revenue and reduce friction:
- See how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products and selling over 4,000 courses while also boosting physical product revenue by $116K+ during the same consolidation. This case shows how keeping content native can amplify both digital and physical sales (how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products).
- Another merchant generated over €243,000 in revenue from 12,000+ course sales while using the platform to upsell repeat purchasers, showing the impact of retaining customers and offering more products natively (generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers).
- A major migration example demonstrates operational benefits: a merchant migrated over 14,000 members to a native Shopify platform and reduced support tickets considerably, highlighting how consolidating a fragmented system improves customer experience and lowers support overhead (migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).
These stories illustrate how a single, Shopify-native platform can turn courses and community into scalable revenue streams without the overhead of cross-platform maintenance. For more examples of merchants who moved to a native approach and achieved strong outcomes, merchants can see how merchants are earning six figures.
Tevello’s core differentiators
- Built to work directly inside Shopify storefronts and checkout, avoiding the need to send customers to external course portals — merchants can find that Tevello is natively integrated with Shopify checkout.
- Designed to combine membership, subscriptions, drip content, certificates, quizzes, bundles, and community features under one roof — an approach that keeps customer journeys consistent and measurable.
- Pricing that aims for predictability: merchants can evaluate a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses and scale without worrying about per-course or per-member fees that compound as the business grows.
For a closer look at product capabilities, the Tevello product page outlines all the key features for courses and communities.
How a native platform changes merchant operations
- Reduced support volume: migrating a large community off a fragmented stack removed frequent login and access support requests for one merchant, resulting in a much lower support burden (migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets).
- Higher LTV: bundling physical kits with on-demand digital classes produced higher AOV and a significant returning customer rate in one case, demonstrating the revenue upside of native bundling (achieved a 59%+ returning customer rate).
- Better conversion: consolidating checkout and learning experiences doubled conversion for one merchant who replaced a "duct-taped" system with a unified store and course platform (doubled its store's conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system).
Trialing and pricing clarity
Merchants evaluating native platforms often want a predictable cost for unlimited courses and members. Tevello offers a free trial to validate fit and an unlimited plan designed for active course catalogs. Merchants can view a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses to compare against the tiered, volume-based pricing of delivery-first tools.
To test how Tevello runs inside Shopify, merchants can explore the app listing where the product is listed as natively integrated with Shopify checkout. For social proof and feedback from other merchants, see read the 5-star reviews from fellow merchants.
Practical Migration Checklist and Decision Guide
When choosing between a delivery-oriented app like LinkIT, an LMS like LDT, or migrating to a native platform, the following checklist helps frame the decision:
- Define the product vision:
- Is the objective single-file delivery, structured courses, or a mixed commerce+learning model?
- Map customer journey:
- Will customers need one login and a consistent store experience?
- Evaluate content hosting:
- Are videos and files better hosted externally (cheaper, but separate) or uploaded to an LMS (controlled, consistent)?
- Plan for bundling:
- Are digital products frequently sold together with physical goods?
- Consider growth patterns:
- Will order volume stay within LinkIT’s caps, or will unlimited capacity be needed soon?
- Assess support needs:
- Will the merchant need priority or developer support to implement custom flows?
- Run a pilot:
- Test a representative course or product on a development store and measure setup time, student flow, and support friction.
- Compare long-term costs and predictability:
- Calculate the cost at expected scale, factoring in storage, order caps, and per-user friction costs (support, conversion drop-off).
This structured approach helps identify which tool fits today and what will support future growth.
Conclusion
For merchants choosing between LDT Courses | Tutorials and LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products, the decision comes down to scope and scale. LDT is well-suited to merchants who need a full LMS experience inside their Shopify store — including quizzes, certificates, student tracking, and media-hosting tiers. LinkIT is a fast, low-friction choice for merchants who already host files externally and want a simple delivery mechanism paired with customizable emails.
For merchants who want to unify content, community, and commerce with fewer integration headaches and clearer scaling economics, a Shopify-native platform delivers higher long-term value. Tevello presents a native alternative that consolidates courses, memberships, and communities in the store and offers case studies showing measurable outcomes — from how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products to merchants who generated over €243,000 by upselling existing customers and migrated over 14,000 members and reduced support tickets. To compare pricing and test the fit, merchants can view a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses or explore the app listing to confirm it is natively integrated with Shopify checkout.
Start your 14-day free trial to unify your content and commerce today: Start your trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the primary differences between LDT Courses | Tutorials and LinkIT ‑ Sell Digital Products?
- LDT is a full LMS built to host and manage courses inside a Shopify storefront (less reliance on external hosting, more course features like quizzes and certificates). LinkIT is a delivery-focused app that sells externally hosted files and links with customizable delivery emails. Choose based on whether the need is course structure or simple file delivery.
How does pricing compare when scaling?
- LDT’s pricing tiers are built around storage and support level, making costs predictable for media-heavy course catalogs. LinkIT’s pricing is tied to the number of digital products and monthly order caps, which can become a constraint when sales grow. Compare expected monthly volume and storage needs to estimate long-term costs.
Can LinkIT handle private video hosting on platforms like Vimeo or S3 securely?
- Yes, LinkIT supports delivery of links to Vimeo or S3 endpoints, but security depends on how those external platforms are configured. Merchants should ensure private or expiring link policies are in place to prevent unauthorized access.
How does a native, all-in-one platform like Tevello compare to specialized or external apps?
- A Shopify-native platform reduces cross-platform friction by keeping customers inside the store for checkout, access, and community interactions. Native integration simplifies bundling physical and digital products, unifies customer data for LTV and retention programs, and often lowers support volume. Real-world case studies show measurable revenue and operational improvements when merchants consolidate on a native platform (see how merchants are earning six figures).
