Academy LMS vs LifterLMS
Updated 5 Oct 2026. 25 features compared side by side.
Freemium WordPress LMS by Kodezen with front-end course building, a free quiz question bank, 47 Gutenberg blocks and many Pro add-ons.
Free, extensible WordPress LMS with courses, memberships, quizzes, certificates and drip content; payments and advanced tools via paid add-ons.
Choose Academy LMS if…
- You want the more complete feature set (97/100 vs 94/100)
Choose LifterLMS if…
- You need points, badges & gamification
- You prefer the more widely used option
LifterLMS has 1 that Academy LMS lacks, including Points, badges & gamification. Both include 24 of the 25 features we track.
At a glance
Feature comparison
Click a screenshot to see both plugins side by side.
Academy LMS LifterLMSCourse building6/66/6
Free admin and front-end course builders.
Free drag-and-drop builder for courses, sections and lessons.
Video from self-hosted, YouTube, Vimeo and embeds, plus text lessons; H5P and Presto supported.
Lessons take video, audio, text and downloads; Advanced Videos is a paid add-on.
Content Drip add-on releases lessons, quizzes and assignments over time.
Drip content by schedule included in the free core.
Course Prerequisites add-on is part of Pro.
Course and lesson prerequisites, plus course tracks, in core.
Assignments add-on lets instructors set and review tasks.
Assignments is a paid add-on (Infinity bundle or individual).
47 Gutenberg blocks with Site Editor templates, plus Elementor and Divi.
18 native blocks; works with Elementor, Beaver Builder and Divi.
Quizzes & certificates5/55/5
Free quiz builder with three question types; four more types need Pro.
Core quizzes with 4 question types; Advanced Quizzes (paid) adds 8 more.
Free question bank reuses questions across quizzes; random order supported.
Question Bank with random selection needs the paid Advanced Quizzes add-on.
Free time limits, passing grade, retry mode and negative marking.
Quiz timer, attempt limits and passing grade in the free core.
Course completion certificates included free.
Certificates with merge codes in core; PDFs add-on is paid.
Gradebook add-on tracks student grades.
Course gradebook and student grades included free.
Selling courses5/55/5
Native checkout via Kodezen's separate StoreEngine plugin (Stripe, PayPal); free core.
Core checkout and access plans; Stripe/PayPal gateways are paid add-ons (Earth bundle).
Free WooCommerce integration for paid courses.
WooCommerce integration is a paid add-on included from the Earth bundle.
Pro integrates WooCommerce Subscriptions, PMPro and other membership plugins.
Memberships and recurring access plans in core; recurring billing needs a gateway add-on.
Course Bundle add-on groups several courses into one product.
Course bundles listed among free core payment features.
Discount codes are handled by the StoreEngine (or WooCommerce) checkout.
Core coupons; Advanced Coupons is a paid add-on.
Students & engagement5/66/6
Free front-end student dashboard.
Student dashboard with courses, progress, grades and achievements.
Lesson tracking and progress monitoring in the free plugin.
Lesson and course completion tracking in core.
Points and badges via the GamiPress integration add-on.
Achievement badges awarded via engagements in the free core.
Free Q&A between students and instructors plus lesson comments.
Course discussion areas in core; Social Learning add-on (paid) adds community features.
Email Notification add-on is marked Pro.
Automated engagement emails triggered by course events.
Group Plus add-on with seat management for team training.
Groups add-on (paid, $299/yr or Infinity) adds seats and group leaders.
Admin & reporting3/33/3
Free LMS analytics; Advanced Analytics add-on in Pro.
Free reporting on enrolments, completions, revenue and students.
Free multi-instructor support with revenue sharing.
Multiple instructors and LMS roles in core, but no built-in revenue sharing.
Free migration tools and CSV lesson import; SCORM import is Pro.
Imports/exports LifterLMS course files only; no SCORM or rival-LMS importer.
Statuses: Yes Pro Add-on Partial 3rd-party No ?
Pricing compared
Academy LMS Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Individual | $199 per year, 1 site |
| Business | $299 per year, 10 sites |
| Agency | $399 per year, 100 sites |
| Yearly Unlimited | $699 per year, Unlimited |
| Individual Lifetime | $149 lifetime, 1 site |
LifterLMS Freemium
| Free | $0 |
|---|---|
| Free core | Free per year, Unlimited |
| Earth Bundle | $398 per year, 1 site |
| Universe Bundle | $598 per year, 5 sites |
| Infinity Bundle | $1,598 per year, Unlimited |
Downloads trend
Academy LMS
3,324 downloads last week
LifterLMS
3,656 downloads last week
Verdict
Academy LMS scores higher on our feature checklist (97/100 against 94/100). LifterLMS still has the edge on points, badges & gamification. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Biggest differences
Academy LMS: third-party. LifterLMS: included. Achievement badges awarded via engagements in the free core.
Written from the feature, pricing and install data on this page, not from hands-on testing. How we compare.
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FAQ
Which is better, Academy LMS or LifterLMS?
Academy LMS scores higher on our feature checklist (97/100 against 94/100). LifterLMS still has the edge on points, badges & gamification. Check the features you rely on in the table below before deciding.
Which has more features?
LifterLMS includes 25 of the 25 features we track, against 24 for Academy LMS. Feature count is only part of the picture; check which of the differences matter to you.
Is Academy LMS free?
Academy LMS has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $149 lifetime.
Is LifterLMS free?
LifterLMS has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $398/yr.
Feature data last changed 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit to Academy LMS or LifterLMS. Some links are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no cost to you; it never affects our data or rankings.