Online Course Profit Calculator

Online course earnings vary enormously. Niche courses with small but targeted audiences can earn $5,000-50,000 per year. Courses in large popular markets (business, marketing, technology) can earn $100,000+ per year. The key factors are audience size, email list size, course price, conversion rate on launches, and whether you use evergreen funnels or periodic launches.

Platform fees vary: Teachable charges 0% on Pro plans ($119/month) but 5% on its free plan. Thinkific has a free plan with no transaction fees. Kajabi charges no transaction fees on its paid plans. Udemy takes 50% of revenue when Udemy markets your course (37% when students use a coupon you provided). Selling on your own website via Stripe or PayPal costs only payment processing (2.9% + $0.30).

Course creation costs include: course platform subscription, video recording equipment and software (Camtasia, ScreenFlow), graphic design for slides and thumbnails, course materials and workbooks, copywriting or editing help, email marketing platform, advertising for initial launch, and your time (which should be valued at a meaningful hourly rate). Many solo creators spend $500-5,000 creating a first course.

Email list conversion rates for online course launches typically run 1-5% for warm audiences. If you have 5,000 email subscribers and launch a $297 course, a 2% conversion rate yields 100 sales and $29,700 gross revenue. Webinar-based launches often convert at 3-10% of webinar attendees. Paid advertising to cold traffic converts much lower, often 0.5-1%.

Lower prices attract more students but may signal lower quality. A well-crafted course priced at $200-500 often earns more total revenue than the same course priced at $47, because higher prices generate higher perceived value, fewer refunds, and a smaller but more motivated student base. Research competitor courses in your niche before setting your price.