Online Course Platforms are Stagnating

September 7, 2026

Some unfiltered thoughts about the current state of the online course platform industry.

I've been trying to think of something insightful to say about online courses and course platforms, but I don't have the brain power now with an infant in the house. So instead I think I'll share a little bit about the motivation I had with LearnDash and how I think it relates to what we see today for online course platforms.

Back when I started LearnDash in 2012, online courses looked a lot different. Those big SaaS platforms that you see today like Teachable and Thinkific didn't exist. Membership plugins were around, but they weren't connecting the dots for online learning. More often than not, courses were primarily text and images, and only sometimes did they include video.

The timing was perfect for a new vision.

The Original Vision

Essentially, my vision with LearnDash at the time was:

Eliminate the learning curve that was so steep with learning management systems, and;
To provide an enjoyable learning experience to the learner.

In fact, through my entire time leading LearnDash, I always tried to tie features back to the learner in some capacity.

Learner-First Approach

I discovered that by doing this “learner first” approach, the course creators (admins) benefited as well. Their courses were impressive. More people finished them. They had a “vibe” about them. They built trust. Learners would be more motivated to take additional courses, something that's incredibly important when you are selling courses in the B2C online course platform space.

I think we did a pretty good job at LearnDash with this vision, and plenty of other platforms followed our lead with their own innovations.

The Golden Era and What Changed

By 2019 the entire online course platform space had changed dramatically from what I had seen in 2012 at the beginning of the LearnDash project. Learners were benefiting, as well as course creators. It was truly the golden era.

But in my view though this emphasis on the learner has sort of diminished since around 2019-2020.

This is mainly because of the consolidation in the space and the growing influence of private equity.

The short of it is that there is no money in creating modern learning experiences. It's more profitable to feature stuff on the admin side in hopes of luring more users of the software. I mean I get it. I can't even blame them for that, given their purpose of flipping for profit.

These companies, as a result, though, are leading the stagnation in the space. And that sucks, because they are in a position to do so much more. Throwing AI at a platform isn't innovation. I'd say it's more to just “check a box” and then justify a price hike.

These are things I think about sometimes in an industry I see changing, and not necessarily for the better.

#elearning