Pay nothing until you sell. Each plan up costs more a month and takes less from every sale, so moving up pays for itself.
Lowest cost when you sell under US$1,750 a month
Try the course builder and launch your first course.
Lowest cost when you sell from US$1,750 to US$3,500 a month
Launch your academy with course sales, certificates and your own page design.
Lowest cost when you sell from US$3,500 to US$7,000 a month
Grow with unlimited courses, community discussions and revenue reporting.
Lowest cost when you sell over US$7,000 a month
Scale your teaching team with more seats, more AI and a lower platform fee.
Prices exclude sales tax. Unlimited students on every plan. Stripe’s processing fee applies to each sale at Stripe’s own rate.
A higher plan costs more each month and takes less from every sale. Past a certain amount of sales, the lower fee more than covers the plan.
Pro is the cheapest plan at these sales.
Plans compared on fees alone. The Stripe line uses Stripe’s standard domestic card rate; Stripe charges more for some countries, card types and international cards. Figures exclude sales tax.
Name your academy and it is live. Nothing to pay to start, and no card on the Free plan.
Every plan has unlimited students. Free students and free courses cost you nothing at all.
Students pay on your own Stripe account at Stripe's own rate. We add nothing to it.
Pay month to month and cancel from your billing page. You keep your plan to the end of the month you paid for.
Stop paying and we delete nothing. Your courses stay up and your students keep their access.
| Feature | FreeStart free | StarterChoose | ProChoose | BusinessChoose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ||||
| Monthly price | Free | US$35 | US$70 | US$140 |
| Platform fee on student payments | 5% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
| Lowest cost when you sell | under US$1,750 a month | from US$1,750 to US$3,500 a month | from US$3,500 to US$7,000 a month | over US$7,000 a month |
| Setup fee, contract or per-student fee | None | None | None | None |
| Size | ||||
| Courses | 1 | 3 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Staff seats, including the owner | 1 | 2 | 5 | 15 |
| Students | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| AI usage included each month | US$1 | US$8 | US$18 | US$35 |
| Features | ||||
| Unlimited students, modules and lessons | ||||
| Video, resources, quizzes and assignments | ||||
| Your subdomain, logo and colours | ||||
| Free and one-off course prices | ||||
| Payments straight to your own Stripe account | ||||
| Visual page designer | ||||
| Certificates | ||||
| Announcements | ||||
| Subscriptions, payment plans and bundles | ||||
| Your own domain | ||||
| Community discussions | ||||
| Revenue and course analytics | ||||
| Remove Academia branding | ||||
What people ask before they pay us anything.
It is a percentage of each payment a student makes, taken by Stripe when the student pays, so it never arrives as a bill. A free course or a free student costs nothing. The fee goes down on every plan up.
Yes. Stripe charges its processing fee on each sale, on your own Stripe account, at Stripe's own rate. It is the same whichever plan you are on, and we never add anything to it.
Start with the features you need, then check the fees. On fees alone, the cheapest plan by monthly sales is Free under US$1,750, Starter from US$1,750 to US$3,500, Pro from US$3,500 to US$7,000, Business over US$7,000. The calculator above works it out for your own course.
Any time, from your billing page. Moving up happens straight away: you pay the difference for the rest of the month, and the lower fee starts on your next sale. Moving down happens at the end of the month you have paid for.
Limits apply when you add something new, like a fourth course on Starter. Nothing you have already built is ever taken down, and students keep everything they are enrolled in.
No. You set your own prices. The platform fee comes out of your share of each sale and is never added on top for the student.
Not on Free. Build your academy, publish a course and take your first payments before paying us a subscription. Paid plans start at US$35 a month.
No card and no setup fee. Upgrade when your sales make it worth it.