Migration
Moving from LearnDash to Teachable
The common trigger is wanting hosted support instead of running WordPress yourself. LearnDash is self-supported by default; Teachable hosts everything with support included. The trade is LearnDash's flat license and no transaction fee for Teachable's recurring fee, plus a 7.5% transaction fee on Starter and product caps. The move is still a migration project: inventory, written export answers, a reconciliation test, then cutover.
Why creators consider this move
Two registry facts drive most of these switches. Neither is about export tooling, which we do not claim either way.
- Operational load. LearnDash requires you or your host to run WordPress, backups and updates. Teachable hosts everything with support included.
- What you give up. LearnDash's license does not cap courses or learners and charges no transaction fee. Teachable caps products at 5, 10 or 50 depending on plan and takes a 7.5% fee on Starter.
Plan mapping and the cost delta
Map your LearnDash license to the Teachable tier that matches your product count.
| Platform | Platform or transaction fees |
|---|---|
| Thinkific | Thinkific Payments processes cards at standard processor rates (about 2.9% + 30 cents per card transaction). Using your own Stripe or PayPal instead adds a platform surcharge: 5% on Basic, 2% on Start, 1% on Grow, none on Plus. |
| LearnWorlds | No platform transaction fee above Starter; Starter charges 5 USD per course sale. Payment processor fees apply separately. |
| Teachable | Starter takes a 7.5% transaction fee. Builder and Growth take no platform fee, but payment processing (about 2.9% to 4.99% depending on method) still applies. |
| Podia | Mover takes a 5% transaction fee; Shaker and Earthquaker take none. Stripe or PayPal processing (about 2.9% + 30 cents) applies separately. |
| LearnDash | Payments run through your own Stripe or PayPal integration; no platform fee, only processor fees. |
LearnDash Essentials is $259 a year for the license, plus your current WordPress hosting cost. Teachable Starter is about $348 a year hosted, plus a 7.5% transaction fee on every sale. If you need more than 5 products or want no transaction fee, compare Teachable Builder or Growth instead. Run your numbers in the cost calculator.
Apply the checklist to your LearnDash site
Follow the full LMS migration checklist and adapt it here.
- Inventory. Count courses (Teachable caps products at 5, 10 or 50), learners, certificates and active payment plans on your WordPress site.
- Ask both vendors in writing. Request a sample export from your LearnDash install and ask Teachable what it imports and in what format.
- Run the reconciliation test. Build a fictional dataset, export it, import it into a Teachable trial, and compare object counts before and after.
Cutover order
Rebuild and verify before touching anything live. Recreate the catalog in Teachable, confirm the product cap fits your catalog, and run the reconciliation test on fictional data. Keep your WordPress site live throughout.
Only when the destination is proven do you migrate learners, redirect your domain, and decide what happens to the WordPress install and its hosting contract afterward.
Frequently asked questions
Will Teachable charge me a transaction fee LearnDash did not?
Do I still need to manage WordPress after moving to Teachable?
Does Teachable cap the number of courses like a WordPress limit?
Keep deciding
LMS migration checklist: what really moves, and what you rebuild
A migration matrix by object type, courses, learners, progress, subscriptions, with what to inventory and what to demand from each vendor in writing.
Teachable vs LearnDash: hosted selling or WordPress ownership
Teachable is a hosted course platform from $29 a month with a 7.5% fee on Starter. LearnDash is a WordPress plugin from $259 a year, license only. Compare cost and control.
Hosted LMS vs WordPress LMS: ownership and total cost
SaaS subscription versus a LearnDash license plus hosting, updates and backups. The yearly cost, the responsibility split, and who owns your data.
Course platform pricing calculator: Thinkific vs LearnWorlds vs Teachable, Podia and LearnDash
Selling courses? Compare the yearly cost of Thinkific, LearnWorlds, Teachable, Podia and LearnDash from your sales, students, admin seats and transaction fees.