LearnDash
Premium WordPress LMS for selling and managing courses, with drip content, quizzes, certificates, groups and native Stripe/PayPal checkout.
99
LifterLMS
Free, extensible WordPress LMS with courses, memberships, quizzes, certificates and drip content; payments and advanced tools via paid add-ons.
Free installs10K+WordPress.org, active
Est. Pro installs~4.5KLikely 2.3K–9K
Rating4.8/5393 reviews
Price from$398/yrFreemium
Last updated9 Oct 2026Version 10.3.2
Overview
LifterLMS is a free, open-source learning management system on WordPress.org, built by the team behind lifterlms.com. The core plugin is unusually complete for a free download: it handles courses, sections and lessons, sitewide memberships, access plans, certificates, achievement badges and engagement emails, with unlimited courses and students.
Courses are assembled in a drag-and-drop course builder. Lessons can hold video, audio, text and downloads, and can be drip-released on a schedule or locked behind prerequisites. Quizzes in core support multiple choice, picture choice and true/false questions with time limits, attempt limits and pass marks. A built-in gradebook, detailed reporting and a student dashboard show progress, grades and achievements, and 18 native blocks plus page-builder compatibility make layout work straightforward.
Free vs paid
The core includes a checkout, access plans (one-time, recurring or limited-time), coupons and course bundles via memberships, but online payments need a gateway add-on: Stripe, PayPal and WooCommerce are paid extensions included from the Earth bundle up. Advanced Quizzes (more question types, question banks, manual grading), Assignments, Groups, Social Learning, Private Areas and similar tools are paid add-ons that come together only in the Infinity bundle or individually (around $299/year each).
Strengths and limitations
- Generous free core with memberships, drip, certificates and badges.
- Bundles are expensive at renewal: list prices run from $398 to $1,598 per year, with 50% off the first year.
- No built-in instructor revenue sharing, SCORM or importers from rival LMS plugins.
LifterLMS fits course creators and membership sites who want a capable free core to start with and are prepared to buy specific add-ons as their needs grow.
Best for: Course creators and membership site owners who want a full-featured free core and will add paid extensions as they scale.
LifterLMS gives away more in its free core than most rivals, including memberships, drip content and badges. The catch is that taking card payments and adding assignments or groups means buying add-ons, and bundle renewals are pricey.
Pros
- Free core includes memberships, drip, prerequisites and certificates
- Achievement badges and engagement emails without add-ons
- Built-in gradebook and detailed reporting
- 18 native blocks and broad page-builder compatibility
- Large add-on catalogue for groups, assignments and integrations
Cons
- Stripe and PayPal payments require a paid add-on
- Assignments, groups and question banks are paid add-ons
- High renewal prices for bundles once the first-year discount ends
- No instructor revenue sharing or SCORM support
Key features
What LifterLMS highlights on its WordPress.org page and its own website, split by version.
Free version WordPress.org
- Unlimited courses and students
- Drag-and-drop course builder
- Drip content and prerequisites
- Quizzes with timers and attempts
- Certificates and achievement badges
- Sitewide memberships and access plans
- Coupons and course bundles
- Student dashboard and gradebook
- Engagement emails
- Detailed reporting
- 18 native WordPress blocks
- Multiple instructors per course
Pro / paid adds From $398/yr
- Stripe and PayPal payment gateways
- WooCommerce integration
- Advanced Quizzes with question banks
- Assignments add-on
- Groups with seats and leaders
- Social Learning community
- Private Areas coaching
- Advanced Videos
- Course Cohorts and Events
- Email marketing integrations
- Form plugin integrations
- Sky Pilot LMS theme
Feature checklist
25 of 25 features we track in LMS Plugins, feature score 94/100
Course building 6/6
Drag & drop course builder Key
Build courses, sections and lessons visually.
Free drag-and-drop builder for courses, sections and lessons.
Included
Video, text & file lessons
Lessons with video, text, downloads and embeds.
Lessons take video, audio, text and downloads; Advanced Videos is a paid add-on.
Included
Drip & scheduled content Key
Release lessons on a schedule or after enrolment.
Drip content by schedule included in the free core.
Included
Prerequisites & sequencing
Require lessons or courses to be completed in order.
Course and lesson prerequisites, plus course tracks, in core.
Included
Assignments
Students submit work for instructor review.
Assignments is a paid add-on (Infinity bundle or individual).
Via add-on
Block editor & page builder support
Course templates and blocks for Gutenberg or page builders.
18 native blocks; works with Elementor, Beaver Builder and Divi.
Included
Quizzes & certificates 5/5
Quiz builder Key
Create quizzes with multiple question types.
Core quizzes with 4 question types; Advanced Quizzes (paid) adds 8 more.
Included
Question banks & randomisation
Reusable question pools and random questions.
Question Bank with random selection needs the paid Advanced Quizzes add-on.
Via add-on
Timed quizzes & retakes
Time limits, attempts and pass marks.
Quiz timer, attempt limits and passing grade in the free core.
Included
Certificates Key
Issue certificates on course completion.
Certificates with merge codes in core; PDFs add-on is paid.
Included
Gradebook
Track grades across quizzes and assignments.
Course gradebook and student grades included free.
Included
Selling courses 5/5
Sell courses (built-in checkout) Key
Take payments without another e-commerce plugin.
Core checkout and access plans; Stripe/PayPal gateways are paid add-ons (Earth bundle).
Via add-on
WooCommerce integration
Sell courses through WooCommerce.
WooCommerce integration is a paid add-on included from the Earth bundle.
Via add-on
Subscriptions & memberships Key
Recurring access, memberships or course bundles.
Memberships and recurring access plans in core; recurring billing needs a gateway add-on.
Included
Course bundles
Sell several courses together.
Course bundles listed among free core payment features.
Included
Coupons
Discount codes for courses.
Core coupons; Advanced Coupons is a paid add-on.
Included
Students & engagement 6/6
Student dashboard Key
Front-end area showing enrolled courses and progress.
Student dashboard with courses, progress, grades and achievements.
Included
Progress tracking
Lesson and course completion tracking.
Lesson and course completion tracking in core.
Included
Points, badges & gamification
Badges, points or leaderboards for learners.
Achievement badges awarded via engagements in the free core.
Included
Discussions & Q&A
Lesson comments, Q&A or forum integration.
Course discussion areas in core; Social Learning add-on (paid) adds community features.
Included
Student emails
Enrolment, completion and reminder emails.
Automated engagement emails triggered by course events.
Included
Groups & cohorts
Group enrolment for teams, classes or companies.
Groups add-on (paid, $299/yr or Infinity) adds seats and group leaders.
Via add-on
Admin & reporting 3/3
Reports & analytics Key
Enrolments, completions, quiz results and revenue.
Free reporting on enrolments, completions, revenue and students.
Included
Multiple instructors
Instructor roles and revenue sharing for course marketplaces.
Multiple instructors and LMS roles in core, but no built-in revenue sharing.
Partial
Import / migration
Import courses from other LMS plugins or SCORM.
Imports/exports LifterLMS course files only; no SCORM or rival-LMS importer.
Partial
Pricing
Free
$0On WordPress.org
Free core
Freeper yearUnlimited
Free WordPress.org plugin; manual/offline payments only.
Earth Bundle
$398per year1 site
Stripe, PayPal, WooCommerce, cart abandonment, Name Your Price. First year $199 with FIRSTYEAR50.
Universe Bundle
$598per year5 sites
Adds email marketing, form integrations, Twilio and Sky Pilot theme. First year $299.
Infinity Bundle
$1,598per yearUnlimited
All 15 advanced add-ons (Advanced Quizzes, Assignments, Groups, Social Learning...). First year $799; lifetime option available.
Prices are list prices from the vendor's site, checked 14 Oct 2026. Many vendors discount the first year.
How many sites use LifterLMS?
Free installs from WordPress.org, the vendor's own claim, and our estimate of paid installs.
Free version (WordPress.org)
10K+
Active installations reported by WordPress.org.
Vendor claim
130M+ enrolments
Paying customers claimed by the vendor. source
Estimated Pro / paid installs
~4.5K
Our estimate, see method below.
How we estimated this: About 15K free installs x 30% (the usual share of free sites that also run the paid version when many key features are paid, and store owners upgrade more often) gives 4.5K. Likely range: 2.3K to 9K. This counts sites running the paid version, including sites whose licence has lapsed. Estimates are rough and based on public figures as of 14 Oct 2026.
Stats & health
Weekly downloads
3,565 downloads last week, 1.8M all time
Rating breakdown
| Version | 10.3.2 |
|---|---|
| Last updated | 9 Oct 2026 (24 days ago) |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.1.4 |
| Requires | WordPress 5.9+, PHP 7.4+ |
| Support threads (2 months) | 1 of 1 resolved |
| On WordPress.org since | 12 Feb 2016 |
Company & policy
| Paying customers claimed | 130M+ enrolments (source, 5 Oct 2026) Vendor claims 130M+ course and membership enrolments, not a customer count. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 (source, 5 Oct 2026) Based on the site's copyright range. |
| Refund policy | 30-day money-back (source, 5 Oct 2026) |
| G2 rating | 5/5 (source, 5 Oct 2026) As displayed on the vendor homepage. |
LifterLMS compared
Alternatives to LifterLMS
Tutor LMS
Freemium WordPress LMS by Themeum with a course builder, quizzes, native eCommerce, Q&A and multi-instructor support; Pro adds drip, certificates and more.
97
Masteriyo LMS
Freemium WordPress LMS from ThemeGrill with a drag-and-drop builder, built-in checkout, SCORM import and migration tools from other LMS plugins.
97
MasterStudy LMS
Freemium WordPress LMS from StylemixThemes with a course builder, quizzes and built-in Stripe/PayPal checkout, plus a large set of Pro add-ons.
96
Academy LMS
Freemium WordPress LMS by Kodezen with front-end course building, a free quiz question bank, 47 Gutenberg blocks and many Pro add-ons.
97
LearnPress
Free WordPress LMS by ThimPress with courses, lessons, quizzes and PayPal checkout; certificates, drip and other extras are low-cost add-ons.
85
FAQ
Is LifterLMS free?
Yes. LifterLMS has a free version on WordPress.org. Paid plans start at $398/yr.
How many sites use LifterLMS?
WordPress.org reports 10K+ active installations of the free version. We estimate around 4.5K sites run the paid version.
Does LifterLMS have drag & drop course builder?
Yes: included. Free drag-and-drop builder for courses, sections and lessons.
Does LifterLMS have drip & scheduled content?
Yes: included. Drip content by schedule included in the free core.
Does LifterLMS have quiz builder?
Yes: included. Core quizzes with 4 question types; Advanced Quizzes (paid) adds 8 more.
Does LifterLMS have certificates?
Yes: included. Certificates with merge codes in core; PDFs add-on is paid.
Does LifterLMS have sell courses (built-in checkout)?
Yes: via add-on. Core checkout and access plans; Stripe/PayPal gateways are paid add-ons (Earth bundle).
Does LifterLMS have subscriptions & memberships?
Yes: included. Memberships and recurring access plans in core; recurring billing needs a gateway add-on.
Does LifterLMS have student dashboard?
Yes: included. Student dashboard with courses, progress, grades and achievements.
Does LifterLMS have reports & analytics?
Yes: included. Free reporting on enrolments, completions, revenue and students.
Is LifterLMS really free?
Yes, the core plugin is free on WordPress.org with unlimited courses and students. Taking online card payments, however, needs the paid Stripe or PayPal add-on.
Which bundle do I need for assignments and groups?
Assignments, Groups and Advanced Quizzes are in the Infinity bundle, or can be bought individually (Groups is listed at $299/year).
How much do LifterLMS bundles renew at?
List prices are $398 (Earth), $598 (Universe) and $1,598 (Infinity) per year, with 50% off the first year using the FIRSTYEAR50 code.
Does LifterLMS support SCORM?
Not in core. LifterLMS can import and export its own course files, but SCORM/xAPI and importers from other LMS plugins are not built in.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026. Spotted something wrong? Suggest an edit.