Best Software to Create an Online Course on Shopify

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Evolution of the Online Course Builder
3. Why Shopify is the Ultimate Foundation for Digital Products
4. Core Features of Modern Course Creation Software
5. Maximizing Profitability with Digital Goods
6. Practical Use Case: From Physical Goods to Educational Authority
7. Leveraging Success Stories for Inspiration
8. Setting Realistic Business Expectations
9. The Technical Advantage of a Native Solution
10. Comparing Pricing and Transparency
11. Strategic Implementation: How to Launch Your First Course
12. Conclusion
13. Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

Did you know that the global eLearning market is projected to reach a staggering $325 billion by 2026? This explosive growth isn't just for academic institutions or giant tech corporations; it represents a massive shift in how consumers interact with brands. Today’s customers aren't just looking for a product in a box; they are looking for the expertise that comes with it. If you are selling yoga mats, your customers want to know the best poses for back pain. If you are selling high-end kitchen knives, they want a masterclass on knife skills. The creator economy has merged with traditional e-commerce, and the most successful merchants are those who treat knowledge as their most valuable inventory.

The purpose of this blog post is to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how to select and implement the right software to create an online course within the Shopify ecosystem. We will explore why keeping your customers on your own domain is critical for brand integrity, the technical features that drive student engagement, and the economic advantages of selling digital products. We will also delve into how our platform, Tevello, serves as a robust tool to amplify your existing efforts by turning your Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse.

By the end of this guide, you will see that launching a digital course is not just about a new revenue stream—it is about increasing Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), building a community that lives on your website, and owning every byte of your customer data.

The Evolution of the Online Course Builder

In the early days of the digital learning boom, merchants were forced to make a difficult choice. They could either use a complex, expensive Learning Management System (LMS) designed for corporate training or send their customers away to third-party marketplaces. These marketplaces often felt like a "black box." You didn't own the customer relationship, you couldn't control the branding, and you were often forced to compete with your own students’ attention as the platform recommended other creators’ courses right next to yours.

We believe that Shopify merchants deserve better. The modern merchant needs software to create an online course that feels like a natural extension of their storefront. This means a native integration where the checkout, the customer account, and the learning portal all share the same DNA. When we built Tevello, our mission was clear: we wanted to empower store owners to maintain 100% control over their brand experience. By choosing a solution that keeps customers on your own URL, you eliminate the friction of multiple logins and the risk of losing your audience to a third-party ecosystem.

Why Shopify is the Ultimate Foundation for Digital Products

Many entrepreneurs ask why they should bother with Shopify for courses when there are dedicated course platforms available. The answer lies in the power of a unified business. When your physical products and digital courses live in the same place, the marketing possibilities become endless.

Imagine a merchant who sells premium organic coffee beans. Instead of just selling a bag of beans, they use Tevello to offer a "Mastering the Pour-Over" video course. This course can be sold as a standalone product, bundled with a specific brewing kit, or even given away as a loyalty reward for repeat customers. Because the course lives directly on the Shopify store, the merchant can track exactly which customers are engaging with the content and use that data to drive future physical product sales.

This "Native Shopify Integration" ensures that the checkout experience is seamless. Your customers use the payment gateways they already trust, like Shop Pay, PayPal, or credit cards, without being redirected to a confusing third-party site. This reduces cart abandonment and builds the professional credibility that modern consumers expect.

Core Features of Modern Course Creation Software

When evaluating software to create an online course, it is easy to get lost in a sea of technical jargon. However, the best tools focus on three pillars: content delivery, student engagement, and administrative simplicity. At Tevello, we have refined these pillars into a streamlined experience through our Unlimited Plan.

Unlimited Content and Video Hosting

A major pain point for many creators is the "success tax." Many platforms charge more as you grow—more for more students, more for more videos, or more for more bandwidth. We reject this model. Our approach provides a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses that allows you to scale your business without worrying about a ballooning software bill. Whether you have ten students or ten thousand, your costs remain predictable.

Drip Content and Structured Learning

Not every course should be consumed in one sitting. For complex topics, drip content scheduling is essential. This allows you to release modules over time—perhaps one per week—to keep students focused and prevent them from feeling overwhelmed. This feature is a powerful way to build a long-term relationship with your audience and increase the perceived value of the information you are providing.

Community and Engagement Tools

Learning is often a social experience. The best software to create an online course includes community features like member directories, social feeds, and student profiles. When students can interact with each other and with you directly on your Shopify store, they are much more likely to remain loyal to your brand. By keeping customers at home on the brand website, you turn a one-time transaction into a thriving community.

Maximizing Profitability with Digital Goods

The economics of digital products are incredibly attractive for Shopify merchants. Unlike physical goods, digital courses have no shipping costs, no inventory storage fees, and zero manufacturing lead times once the content is created. This allows for high-margin revenue that can stabilize your business during seasonal dips in physical product sales.

One of the most significant advantages of using Tevello is our commitment to your bottom line. While many other platforms take a "success fee" or a percentage of every sale, we offer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. We charge 0% transaction fees, meaning you keep 100% of the revenue you generate. This is critical for merchants who want to scale their operations and maximize their return on investment.

If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Practical Use Case: From Physical Goods to Educational Authority

Let's look at a practical, real-world scenario. Consider a merchant selling high-quality gardening tools. They have a loyal customer base, but their growth is limited by the number of shovels and shears they can ship each month. By implementing software to create an online course, they can transform their business model.

The merchant creates a course titled "The 12-Month Garden: A Guide to Year-Round Harvesting."

• The Bundle: They offer a "Starter Kit" that includes physical seeds, a trowel, and the digital course.
• The Upsell: When a customer buys a set of pruning shears, the "Thank You" page offers a $19 mini-course on "Advanced Pruning Techniques."
• The Community: Students in the course share photos of their gardens in the member directory, creating organic social proof that the merchant can use in their marketing.

This strategy doesn't just sell more products; it positions the merchant as an authority in the gardening space. It turns a "tool shop" into a "learning center." This transition is made possible by having digital products that live directly alongside physical stock in a single, unified environment.

Leveraging Success Stories for Inspiration

The potential of this model is best seen through the lens of merchants who have already paved the way. We have seen incredible results from creators who understand the power of bundling and upselling.

For example, look at how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses. By combining the tangible value of physical products with the educational value of digital guides, they were able to create a high-value offering that resonated deeply with their audience. They weren't just selling supplies; they were selling the ability to create something beautiful. This approach to generating revenue from both physical and digital goods is a blueprint for any merchant looking to expand their reach.

Similarly, other brands have focused on the power of the existing customer base. We have seen merchants generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers. By offering advanced training or exclusive community access to people who had already purchased physical gear, they significantly increased their Customer Lifetime Value. These retention strategies that drive repeat digital purchases are far more cost-effective than constantly acquiring new customers through expensive paid ads.

Setting Realistic Business Expectations

While the success stories above are inspiring, it is important to approach the online course business with a professional mindset. Selling digital products is not a "get rich quick" scheme. It requires high-quality content, a clear understanding of your audience's pain points, and a consistent marketing strategy.

The value of using robust software to create an online course lies in its ability to amplify your effort. Tevello doesn't do the work for you, but it provides the infrastructure to make your work more effective. Instead of promising six figures in your first week, we focus on the sustainable benefits:

• Diversifying Revenue: Reducing your reliance on physical supply chains.
• Building Brand Loyalty: Engaging customers for weeks or months, rather than just seconds at the checkout.
• Recurring Revenue Stability: Using membership models to create a predictable monthly income.

By securing a fixed cost structure for digital products, you can plan your business growth with confidence, knowing exactly what your software overhead will be regardless of your sales volume.

The Technical Advantage of a Native Solution

One of the most overlooked aspects of choosing software to create an online course is the technical impact on SEO and customer support. When you use a third-party platform, you are essentially building SEO authority for their domain, not yours. When students log in to a third-party site, they are leaving your ecosystem.

With Tevello, the learning experience happens on your own URL. This means all the time students spend on your site—watching videos, interacting in the community, and reading lesson text—contributes to your site’s "time on site" metrics, which can positively impact your search engine rankings.

Furthermore, a native solution drastically reduces customer support friction. Because Tevello uses the native Shopify customer account system, your students don't need to remember a second set of login credentials. If they can log in to check their order status, they can log in to take their course. This "Unified Login" is one of all the key features for courses and communities that makes the merchant's life easier and the student's experience more enjoyable.

Comparing Pricing and Transparency

In the world of SaaS, pricing can often be confusing, with hidden tiers and escalating costs based on the number of "active users." We believe in radical transparency. Our pricing is designed to grow with you, not against you.

The Tevello Unlimited Plan costs $29.99 per month.

For this flat rate, you receive:

• Unlimited Courses and Students: We never penalize you for being successful.
• Unlimited Video Hosting: No need to pay for external hosting services like Vimeo or Wistia.
• Zero Transaction Fees: You keep every cent of your course sales.
• Full Community Suite: Profiles, directories, and social feeds are included.
• Interactive Tools: Quizzes, drip scheduling, and progress tracking come standard.

We also offer a 14-day free trial. This is a "build first, pay later" model. You can install Tevello from the Shopify App Store today and build your entire curriculum before your first billing cycle even begins. This allows you to ensure the software to create an online course fits your needs perfectly without any financial risk.

Strategic Implementation: How to Launch Your First Course

Starting your digital journey doesn't have to be daunting. We recommend a "Minimum Viable Course" (MVC) approach. You don't need a 50-hour cinematic epic to provide value to your customers.

1. Identify the "Bridge" Content: What information does a customer need to get the most out of your physical products? This is your first course topic.
2. Choose Your Format: Use a mix of video lessons, PDF downloads, and text-based modules. Tevello supports all of these, allowing for a rich, multi-modal learning experience.
3. Set Up the Portal: Use the seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify to customize the look and feel of your course area so it matches your brand's aesthetic.
4. Beta Test with Loyal Customers: Offer your course to your top 10% of customers at a discount in exchange for feedback. Use their insights to refine the content.
5. Go Live: Once you're ready, start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now to launch it to your full audience.

By following this step-by-step process, you can launch a professional-grade learning experience that strengthens your brand and increases your revenue without getting bogged down in technical complexity.

Conclusion

The decision to integrate software to create an online course into your Shopify store is a strategic move toward long-term business resilience. By offering digital learning, you are not just selling a product; you are selling a transformation. You are providing your customers with the tools, knowledge, and community they need to succeed with your products.

At Tevello, our goal is to make this transition as seamless and profitable as possible. We provide a robust, all-in-one ecosystem that respects your brand, protects your data, and rewards your success with 0% transaction fees and predictable pricing. Whether you are bundling a masterclass with physical goods or building a standalone digital academy, the power of a native Shopify solution cannot be overstated.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does Tevello charge a fee for every course I sell?

No. One of the primary advantages of our platform is that we charge 0% transaction fees. Unlike many other course platforms that take a percentage of your revenue, we believe you should keep 100% of what you earn. Your only cost is the flat monthly fee for the Unlimited Plan.

2. Do I need to host my videos on YouTube or Vimeo?

You can certainly use those services if you prefer, but it is not necessary. The Tevello Unlimited Plan includes unlimited video hosting and bandwidth. This means you can upload your videos directly to our platform, and they will be served to your students through our high-speed, secure video player without any additional hosting costs.

3. Will my students have to create a separate account to access their courses?

No. Because Tevello is natively integrated with Shopify, it uses your store's existing customer account system. When a customer purchases a course or joins a membership, they simply log in to their usual account on your website to access their content. This creates a frictionless experience and reduces "where is my login?" support tickets.

4. Can I offer courses for free as a marketing lead magnet?

Absolutely. Many of our most successful merchants use free "intro" courses to build their email lists or provide added value to physical product purchases. You have full control over the pricing and access levels of every course you create, allowing you to use digital content as a powerful marketing tool.