LearnDash vs. Tutor LMS | Which is a Better Plugin
You want to launch your online courses, but now you are stuck in the WordPress LMS battle: LearnDash vs. Tutor LMS. Which one is better? Which one will make your life easier? And most importantly, which one will NOT leave you screaming at your screen at 2 AM?
LearnDash is best when it comes to customization, but you will need tech skills (or a developer). Tutor LMS makes things a bit easier, especially if you want a course marketplace, but you are still dealing with WordPress headaches.
Let’s find the best solution for your business as we consider the pros & cons, reviews, user’s experience and functionality. Keep reading to find which option gives you everything you need without the hassle.
Here is a quick breakdown of where things stand.
| LearnDash | Tutor LMS |
|---|---|
| Offers gamification opportunities | No gamification functionality, only grade book |
| Deep integrations (Zapier, CRM tools) | Limited integrations (basic essentials like WooCommerce) |
| SCORM, xAPI support for advanced content | Supports multimedia but no SCORM/xAPI |
Breaking down LearnDash
LearnDash is an original WordPress plugin that helps users create and sell online courses. Since the websites are hosted on WordPress, there are many customization options for your course website. You can design lessons, add quizzes, and give certificates. It has features like drip-feed content and gamification to keep learners engaged. If you want control and flexibility, LearnDash is an excellent choice.
Here are a few reasons why people choose LearnDash:
- Has gamification options like badges, leaderboards, and extra points so lessons become more engaging.
- Lots of opportunities for customization since you can always use a plugin.
- Will scale with you as you scale.
Is LearnDash what you are looking for?
- You must know your way around WordPress and how it works with plugins.
- No built-in marketing features to scale your course business.
- You must keep up with constant plugin updates, setups, and compatibility issues.
LearnDash does not claim to be a platform for everyone like Thinkific does. They know that not everyone is tech-savvy or wants to spend more time figuring out technical stuff. Yet, if you are willing to go that extra mile, you will have many opportunities to customize your website and learning experience.
Key marketing and sales functionality
Do you need to send promotional emails, build sales funnels, create communities, or create bundles? You cannot market your course without using the additional plugin.
While you have more options with integrations and plugins, they come with additional cost and effort to set up. For example, LearnDash users have
- WP Fusion for CRM,
- Solid Affiliate for referrals
- UpSells to create upselling offers
- Etc.
Since you have your website in WordPress, you can at least optimize your course website.
Course building opportunities
The LearnDash course builder organizes the content into Sections, Lessons, and Topics.
Building the outline within the course builder is a little complicated since you create the courses and lessons separately. Then, you assign those lessons to different courses, which makes you go back and forth too many times.
The lesson editor is almost the same as creating a blog post on WordPress. There are few opportunities when it comes to adding media to the lessons, including videos and paragraphs.
Payment options and integrations
LearnDash has about 30 integrations with popular CRM, communication, email marketing, event management, and other tools.
As for the payment options, you can receive payments mainly with
- Stripe
- PayPal
There are also integrations with Razorpay, SamCart, ThriveCart, WooCommerce, plus third-party plugins.
Read more: LearnDash Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More
Tutor LMS overview
Tutor LMS is a WordPress plugin that lets you create and manage online courses directly on your site. You can build courses with videos, quizzes, and assignments and organize them the way you want. It allows you to track student progress, manage enrollments, and handle grading. It is for anyone who wants more control over their course setup on WordPress.
What makes Tutor LMS a good solution for your business?
- Allows creating courses from the frontend, not only from the WordPress dashboard
- Has a built-in commission system for instructors to split the revenue
- Diversity in quiz-building with 10 question types
Can your business fully run on Tutor LMS?
- No branded mobile app available
- Does not satisfy basic marketing needs
- No built-in triggers to automate actions based on student behavior
Key marketing and sales functionality
Tutor LMS does not offer built-in email marketing, landing pages, affiliate marketing, and automation tools. So, if marketing is an important piece of your business, you have to rely on integrations for each activity. This means you have to do the extra work to integrate with tools like WooCommerce, Zapier, or Mailchimp.
Tutor LMS has only basic promotional tools like
- Course reviews,
- Generating coupons,
- Awarding badges,
- Encouraging social sharing.
Course-building opportunities
There are two ways you can build your course on Tutor LMS. The first is when you install the platform plugin to your WordPress website and build from there. The other way is the frontend course builder of Tutor LMS. Yet, there is no difference in terms of functionality for each of these ways.
If you are familiar with WordPress, building a course would not be difficult.
The whole course content is organized into topics and lessons. Before adding the course content, you Tutor LMS allows managing the prerequisites and settings, such as
- Difficulty level
- Number of students
- Allowing questions to the course
- Choosing a course, students should complete before that
As your main lesson, you can only add a video since Tutor LMS is not flexible compared to other LMS in this regard. It allows adding attachments which are regarded as assignments for the lesson. You can also build quizzes and schedule your course content for drip-release.
Payment options and integrations
Tutor LMS does not support direct payment gateways. So, again, you need to use plugins. One of the best ones in this regard is Paymattic. It includes receiving payments with 11 gateways, including but not limited to Stripe, Paypal, Razorpay, and Paystack.
What is great is that you can accept payments with multiple gateways.
As for other integrations, Tutor LMS offers integrations with 28 other apps. Among them, you can find Jitsi, Fluent CRM, WooCommerce, ChatGPT, etc.
Also check: Tutor LMS Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More
Which users prefer based on their experience
The question is, should you connect Tutor LMS or LearnDash to your WordPress website?
To answer this question, we will discuss user reviews from platforms like Capterra and G2. At the end of the day, these people have been using Tutor LMS and LearnDash for months (or even tried them both). Let’s see what their experience was like.
Reviewers mention that Tutor LMS is easy for them to implement and use. They chose this solution because it.
- Had a free version once
- It was easy to integrate
- It was a flexible solution
However, most of them had difficulties when it came to customization.
As for LearnDash, reviewers find it to be more robust. Reviewers especially like the drip content, quizzes, assignments, and progress-tracking functionalities. They mainly choose LearnDash because it is
- Great value for the money
- Easy-to-use WordPress integration
- Flexible solution when it comes to customization
With that being said, some of the reviewers were frustrated that they needed to have technical knowledge and overcome the learning curve.
Is LearnDash or Tutor LMS better for your business?
If you are looking to find out which of these platforms is more functional, you will not find important differences. Why? Since you already have to use plugins, you can get the necessary plugins through WordPress.
Depending on what you prioritize more, you can go with LearnDash if:
- You are building a serious online course business and need maximum control over everything.
- You love customizing stuff and do not mind using extra plugins
- You want better quiz options with timed questions, leaderboards, and advanced reporting.
- You have a big budget and are okay with spending on extra tools (because LearnDash by itself is kind of basic without integrations).
You can choose Tutor LMS if:
- You want a more beginner-friendly experience
- You are planning to let multiple instructors sell courses on your site. Because Tutor LMS has a built-in marketplace system.
- Awarding certificates is important for you.
With LearnDash and Tutor LMS, you are stuck with WordPress. That means dealing with plugins, themes, hosting, and all that setup drama. If you would like to avoid all that, you can consider Uteach. Uteach is an all-in-one solution that comes with a built-in website-builder and marketing tools. You can create discounts and automated emails without any external tools.
Most importantly, you do not have to install plugins, troubleshoot conflicts, and update everything all the time. Let’s see if Uteach can help you run your courses faster and more smoothly.
LearnDash vs Tutor LMS: Detailed comparison
Still cannot choose between LearnDash and Tutor LMS? Let’s have a side-by-side comparison on their functionality and options
Builder Opportunities
Whether your business is going to run on a LearnDash website or a Tutor LMS website, their website builders will decide for you. The website-building functionalities these platforms offer include the following:
| Ready-made templates | Ready-made templates |
| Responsive design | Responsive design |
| White-Labeling | White-Labeling |
But why waste time customizing from scratch when Uteach has it all set for you? Uteach's ready-made templates are not just generic designs. They are made specifically for course creators and coaches. And 30+ interface languages? That is way better than what you can have with LearnDash and Tutor LMS.
Courses & Learning Products
The platform choice between LearnDash & Tutor LMS largely depends on what products you will be offering. Which platform allows you to better deliver your online courses, quizzes, webinars, digital downloads, and more?
| Free courses | Free courses |
| Drip Feed Courses | Drip Feed Courses |
| Certifications | Certifications |
With LearnDash and Talent LMS you need plugins for pretty much anything. With Uteach, on the other hand, set up, and building are much easier. You have more control over your content. With private courses, for example, you have the flexibility to control who sees what.
Marketing, Sales & Integrations
Does LearnDash or does Tutor LMS offer enough marketing options for you to be able to monetize your expertise? The possibilities are, in fact, endless! Need memberships? Coupons? BUNDLES? Let’s see if these platforms offer what you need.
| Bundles | - |
| Memberships | Memberships |
| - | Affiliate marketing |
In fact, neither platform gives you the ability to offer coupons and build sales funnels. These are the least you need to turn your expertise into business.
Uteach, on the other hand, gives you all the marketing tools to promote your content and attract new students. Unlike LearnDash, here you can create an affiliate program, run your community, and set push notifications to bring learners to track.
Final verdict and the choice of thousands
If you came here searching for LearnDash vs. Tutor LMS, you were probably trying to figure out which WordPress LMS is better for your online courses. The truth? Both come with their own struggles. From dealing with WordPress plugins to needing extra integrations for marketing, and payments, and every other aspect of your course business.
If you are looking for an easier solution, you can get started with Uteach. Uteach is a complete all-in-one platform without complicated setups. Unlike Tutor LMS and LearnDash, with Uteach you can
- A branded mobile app, so students can access your courses anytime, anywhere.
- Easy, built-in payment gateways, with no need for extra plugins.
- More opportunities to market your courses, including automated email funnels, discount features, and sales pages.
- Affordable pricing, without needing to pay for multiple third-party tools.
- A free plan, so you can start without upfront costs.
So, if you are looking for a faster, simpler, and more powerful way to launch and grow your online courses, Uteach is the better choice. Claim YOUR free demo now, and let our expert walk you through all the steps of growing your business!
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