Build an Online Course with Teachable in 7 Steps

Upload your video, set a price, and launch. Teachable handles payments, hosting, and student management. You focus on delivering educational products, without needing a tech team.

Photo: Firmbee.com on Unsplash

Who this is for: Solo founders and indie hackers wanting to monetize expertise through courses. No custom infrastructure or server management needed. If you know your domain but prefer shipping content quickly over coding a platform for three months, this is for you.

Step 1: Create Your Teachable Account and Choose a Plan

Visit Teachable's official site and sign up. Three pricing tiers are available: Free, Basic ($59/month), and Pro ($159/month). The Free plan charges 10% per transaction plus $1 per sale. This gets costly with volume. Basic reduces the fee to 5%, while Pro eliminates it completely.

Consider the math. Plan to sell 50 courses at $100 each monthly? That's $5,000 in revenue. The Free plan would cost $550 in fees, whereas Pro is a flat $159. Break-even happens with about 17 sales monthly at $100 per course.

The Free plan restricts you to Teachable branding and a subdomain, impacting brand credibility. Basic and Pro plans allow custom domains and remove Teachable's logo.

Start with Free if you're testing product-market fit with one pilot course. Transition to Pro when demand is validated and you're set to launch multiple courses or memberships.

Step 2: Set Up Your School Domain and Branding

Photo: Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

Teachable refers to your course platform as a "school." Go to Settings > General and name it. On Basic or Pro, connect a custom domain. A subdomain like learn.yourdomain.com is recommended to maintain SEO authority.

Point DNS records to Teachable's servers. Add two A records and a CNAME record. Documentation guides cover common registrars like Namecheap, Google Domains, and Cloudflare. Propagation can take 24–48 hours, despite what the docs say.

Upload a logo (PNG, transparent background, 400x400px minimum) and customize colors in the Theme Editor. Teachable's templates are functional but generic. Don't obsess over design — content quality matters more to students. Launch the course first, refine design later.

Set your currency and timezone in Settings > Payments. Teachable supports over 130 currencies through Stripe or PayPal. Choose your primary market's currency to avoid foreign exchange issues.

Step 3: Build Your First Course Structure

In the admin dashboard, click "Courses," then "New Course." Name it clearly — vague titles hurt conversions. "Advanced Next.js Performance" is clear. "Modern Web Development" isn't.

Teachable structures content as Course > Sections > Lectures. Sections are like chapters, lectures are lessons. A typical technical course might look like this:

• Section 1: Environment Setup (3 lectures)
• Section 2: Core Concepts (5 lectures)
• Section 3: Building the Project (7 lectures)
• Section 4: Deployment and Monitoring (4 lectures)

Lectures can include video, PDF, text, quizzes, or code embeds. Courses aren't limited to video. Successful courses often mix written content with code examples and screen recordings.

Consider drip scheduling for content release over time, useful for cohort-based courses or memberships. For evergreen courses, release all content immediately. Students dislike artificial delays.

Set prerequisites for course sequences. Ensure a student completes "React Fundamentals" before accessing "Advanced React Patterns." Teachable automatically enforces prerequisites.

Step 4: Upload and Organize Your Content

Teachable allows direct video uploads up to 5GB per file, or integration with Wistia, Vimeo, or YouTube. Direct upload is recommended unless using Wistia already — Teachable's player offers adaptive streaming and download protection.

Record screen content at 1080p minimum. Export using H.264 codec, 5–10 Mbps bitrate. Teachable manages transcoding. A 30-minute lecture at these settings is about 900MB–1.8GB, fitting well within the 5GB limit.

Course resources should be organized as downloads (code repos, worksheets, templates). Use ZIP files or link to GitHub repositories. Keep resources centralized to avoid confusion.

Quizzes can be included in lectures. Teachable supports multiple question types, but use quizzes only when they enhance retention. A quiz on JavaScript fundamentals helps. A quiz on trivial details, like button color, doesn't.

Add lecture descriptions for SEO and clarity. Write 2–3 sentences explaining what the lecture covers and what students will learn or build.

Step 5: Configure Pricing and Payment Processing

Connect Stripe or PayPal under Settings > Payments. Stripe is necessary for subscription pricing, while PayPal is only for one-time payments. (Refer to Teachable's documentation, updated 2025.)

Teachable offers six pricing models:

• One-time payment: One payment, lifetime access
• Subscription: Monthly or annual recurring payments
• Payment plan: Spread cost over 2–12 months (e.g., $500 as 5x $100)
• Free: Lead magnet or first-tier course in a funnel
• Bundle: Multiple courses at a discount
• Membership: All-access subscription to your school

Most solo founders start with one-time payments to avoid refund complexities. Subscriptions create recurring revenue but require churn management. Payment plans can boost conversion for higher-priced courses ($500+) but add complexity.

Set your price. Teachable offers no pricing guidance. Success is seen from $10 to $1,000. Price based on transformation value, not content length. A brief course teaching SaaS system setup can be more valuable than a lengthy basic CSS course.

Enable coupons for discounts or promotions. Use the reporting dashboard to track coupon use. Create a 20% discount for your email list or 50% for early adopters.

Step 6: Build Your Sales Page and Customize Checkout

The sales page is where students land before purchasing. Teachable provides a default template with sections for the headline, course description, curriculum, instructor bio, pricing, and FAQ.

Write a headline that promises outcomes. "Build and Deploy a Production-Ready SaaS in 6 Weeks" is compelling. "Full-Stack Development Course" is vague. Outcomes sell, not content.

Your course description should clarify: What skills will I gain? What tools or frameworks are covered? Who is this course for? Who isn't it for? Be specific. "You'll deploy a Next.js app with Stripe payments, Supabase auth, and Vercel hosting" offers clarity. "You'll master modern web development" doesn't.

Include a course preview video (2–3 minutes). Show what students will build, explain a key concept, and state prerequisites. Avoid talking heads — use screen shares with code or the final product.

Customize the checkout page under Courses > [Your Course] > Sales Page > Checkout Settings. Add trust elements: a 30-day money-back guarantee, testimonials, and a FAQ.

Enable the certificate of completion feature. This is crucial for courses relevant to professional development where proof is needed for employers or LinkedIn. Customize the certificate with your brand.

Step 7: Test the Purchase Flow and Launch

Test everything before announcing the course. Use Stripe test mode (Settings > Payments > Enable Test Mode) and experience the entire student journey: sales page visit, purchase, payment input, course access, lecture viewing, resource downloads.

Check common issues:

• Does video playback work on mobile?
• Do download links function correctly?
• Is the money-back guarantee visible on checkout?
• Is immediate course access granted upon purchase?
• Does the enrollment email with login credentials arrive?

Switch off test mode and process one real purchase with a friend or alt account. Refund it immediately to ensure live payment processing works fully.

Link Google Analytics or Plausible to your Teachable school (Settings > Code Snippets). Monitor sales page visits, checkout abandonment, and course completion. Teachable's analytics are limited, so external tracking is essential for true insights.

Announce to your email list first. Without a list, you're shouting into the void. Offer a 20% discount for the first 50 enrollments to create urgency.

Share on relevant platforms: Indie Hackers, Reddit (r/SideProject, r/EntrepreneurRideAlong), Twitter, your blog. Don't spam. Share your creation story, why it matters, and link the sales page.

What Nobody Tells You About Teachable

The 10% + $1 fee on the Free plan eats profit quickly. With a $49 course, Teachable takes $5.90 and Stripe about $1.72. You net $41.38, a 15.5% fee pre-marketing costs. The Free plan suits testing one idea, not sustaining a course business.

Video hosting, while technically unlimited, is practically capped. Teachable's terms mention "excessive usage" vaguely. Clarifications from support are scarce. Issues have arisen around 300GB of total video storage. Plan for 100–150GB to be safe on lower tiers.

The email marketing tool is subpar. While Teachable offers basic email functions, deliverability is poor. Choose ConvertKit, Mailchimp, or Loops instead. Use Zapier for email integration based on Teachable events. Relying on Teachable's email service is ill-advised.

Custom code embeds can break during updates. Expect issues with custom JavaScript during Teachable updates. Keep backups of custom code snippets and monitor your school after monthly updates.

Student support is entirely your responsibility. Teachable provides zero student support. All issues, from accessing content to payment failures, land with you. Plan on 2–4 hours of support weekly per 100 active students. This scales poorly, which is why evergreen, self-service courses are preferable.

Common Mistakes Solo Founders Make

Overproducing the first course. You don't need 40 hours of content or high-end production. Sell 10 pre-sales, record 8–12 core hours, and ship. Unsuccessful? You've saved time. Successful? Expand based on feedback. The first course is a product test, not a masterpiece.

Pricing too low due to self-doubt. A $29 course requires 334 sales for $10K revenue, a $297 course only 34. Marketing effort is similar for both. Charge based on the value delivered, not self-doubt. If the course teaches building a $5,000 feature, $297 is reasonable.

Ignoring the sales page. Course content is crucial, but the sales page converts. Founders often spend 80 hours on content and 30 minutes on the sales page. Reverse this. The sales page clarifies target audiences and transformations offered.

Launching without an email list or audience. Cold launching to a non-existent audience leads to zero sales. Build an audience first: write, create small tools, contribute to open source, post on Twitter, engage on Stack Overflow. Document your product processes. Use this content as your course's origin story and launch audience.

Waiting for perfection. The first course will have issues. Ship it regardless. Students prioritize results. Real feedback leads to faster iteration than chasing perfection. Version 1.0 is meant to evolve into 1.1.

FAQ

How long should my first course be?

Deliver the promised outcome efficiently. Technical courses usually fit 8–12 hours, allowing students to finish in 2–3 weeks at 4 hours per week. Longer courses risk higher dropout rates. If exceeding 12 hours, consider splitting it into two courses.

Should I use Teachable or build a custom platform?

Choose Teachable unless specific needs aren't met. Building a custom platform takes 200–400 development hours, covering basics like video hosting, payment processing, and user management. This translates to 3–6 months of part-time work. Teachable costs $59–$159/month for immediate use. Focus on content creation, not infrastructure.

Can I migrate my course off Teachable later?

Partially. You own the video, PDFs, and written content. Download these before canceling. Student data isn't easily portable. Teachable lets you export a CSV with names and emails, but enrollment history, progress, and quiz results remain in their system. Accept some lock-in or move to custom solutions at $50K+ annual revenue if justified.

How do I handle refunds and student complaints?

Offer a 30-day money-back guarantee to reduce purchase friction and screen non-committed students. Expect a 2–5% refund rate for well-targeted courses. Process refunds through Stripe, as Teachable doesn't handle these. For content quality complaints, request specifics and offer supplemental recordings. Most students want assistance, not refunds. Day 29 refund seekers weren't your ideal market.

Ship Your Course This Month

Building a course doesn't take six months. Focus on a strong outcome, create 8–12 hours of instruction, and write a sales page highlighting the value. Choose a topic you're skilled in, outline the curriculum now, and start recording the first section.

Teachable takes care of the tech you don't need to worry about. Concentrate on what truly matters — teaching someone a new skill. The platform is just a tool, not the product. Open Teachable, sign up, and plan your first section today. For additional resources, check out our article on the Best Code Review Tools for Solo Developers in 2026 or explore the Best No-Code Form Builders for Indie Hackers in 2026 to enhance your course creation process.

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Editorial note: This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by Javier Valencia. Verified facts are distinguished from editorial opinion throughout the text. External sources linked are independent of NewsTide.