Academy LMS review (2026): is the free plan enough?
WordPress LMS plugin with a free core and Pro licenses by site count
Black Friday: is there a Academy LMS sale?
Academy LMS report card
Good · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for low-cost WordPress course sites
Academy LMS is a WordPress course plugin with a free core and paid plans from $99 a year for one site. The free edition leaves out SCORM, live classes, drip content and revenue sharing, and you host it all yourself.
Who Academy LMS is for
- Fits if you run WordPress and want the cheapest paid course plugin around
- Works for agencies who need 10 to 200 sites on one license
Who Academy LMS is not for
- Skip it if you want a hosted service, as it runs only on your own WordPress site
- Tight if you stay on the free core, because SCORM, H5P, live classes, drip and revenue sharing are Pro
- Watch out: the page does not say what renewal costs after the first year
- Watch out: prices are shown as discounts with a countdown timer, so the list price is the higher one
Why Academy LMS gets a 2.8
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- AValue for money$99 a year for one site is about $8.25 a month, under 60% of the $20 where the cheapest quarter of courses tools starts. The page shows it as a discount from $199, so the list price is higher.
- BFree plan and trialThe free core has the course, lesson and quiz builders, a question bank, certificates and a student dashboard. SCORM, H5P, live classes, drip and revenue sharing are Pro.
- BFeaturesCourse and lesson builders, quizzes, certificates, instructors and revenue sharing, SCORM and H5P. The listing shows no gap in the core course job.
- DEase of useIt needs a self-hosted WordPress site, so setup and updates are yours. No store rating is on record.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, with WooCommerce, SureCart, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor and H5P on the list. No phone or desktop app.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Kodezen's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Academy LMS? Put this grade on your site
Paste this where you want the badge. It links here and follows the grade if it changes. About badges
<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/academy-lms#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/academy-lms.svg" alt="Academy LMS: 2.8 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Academy LMS stands among course and community platforms
Academy LMS's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 92 of the 98 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 5.
It stands best on value for money (A, above 94 of 98) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $8.25 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $36 for the category: 1 of the 65 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 1 tool scores higher and costs less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 99 course and community platforms we grade, cut by the letter each got. Academy LMS’s own letter is outlined.
- AValue for moneyAbove 94 of 98, level with 4
- BFree plan and trialAbove 71 of 98, level with 26
- BFeaturesAbove 56 of 98, level with 42
- DEase of useAbove 0 of 98, level with 22
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 25 of 98, level with 72
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 78 course and community platforms. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Academy LMS, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Academy LMS you could make: online courses and templates. What surrounds it you could not. The 4 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 92 of the 98 other course and community platforms we grade. It costs $99 a year.
What you could make
- Online courses and templates: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to.
- It plugs into other products, WooCommerce, StoreEngine and SureCart among them.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Academy LMS’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Academy LMS?
Academy LMS is a WordPress plugin from Kodezen for building and selling courses on your own site. A free edition is listed on WordPress.org, and the Pro license unlocks features such as advanced assignments, live classes, SCORM and H5P import and drip content. Every paid plan has the same features and differs only in how many sites it covers.
Worth knowing
- It runs only inside a self-hosted WordPress site; hosting and updates are your job.
- Advanced assignments, live classes, SCORM and H5P, drip content and revenue sharing are labeled Pro.
- Licenses include 1 year of support and updates; the page does not say what renewal costs.
- Paid plans are shown as discounts from higher list prices, with a countdown timer on the page.
Key features
- Course and lesson builders
- Drag-and-drop curriculum with videos, text and downloads, plus an AI course builder for drafting lessons.
- Quizzes and question bank
- Ten-plus question types with timers, attempt limits and pass marks, and a shared question bank with CSV import and export.
- Certificates and grading
- A certificate designer with a public verification ID for each certificate; smart grading and advanced assignments are Pro.
- SCORM, H5P and live classes
- Pro imports existing SCORM and H5P courses and schedules live classes and meetings into the curriculum.
- Instructors and revenue sharing
- Multi-instructor courses, public instructor profiles, and per-instructor commission splits (revenue sharing is Pro).
- Selling and ecosystem tools
- Sell through WooCommerce, StoreEngine, SureCart or EDD, or add Kodezen's own community, CRM, mobile app and gamification plugins.
Academy LMS pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Academy LMS has a free plan, and paid plans start at $99 per year for 1 site.
- Starts at
- $99 per year for 1 site
- Free plan
- A free core edition with the course, lesson and quiz builders, question bank, certificate builder and student dashboard.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | $99per year for 1 site | All Pro features, 1 year of support and updates. Shown as $99 against a crossed-out $199. |
| Business | $129per year for up to 10 sites | Same features on 10 sites, shown against a crossed-out $299. |
| Business Plus | $149per year for up to 25 sites | Same features on 25 sites, shown against a crossed-out $349. |
| Agency | $199per year for up to 100 sites | Same features on 100 sites, shown against a crossed-out $399. |
| Agency Plus | $229per year for up to 200 sites | Same features on 200 sites, shown against a crossed-out $449. |
Read from academylms.net on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Academy LMS before you buy.
Works with
- WooCommerce
- StoreEngine
- SureCart
- Easy Digital Downloads
- Elementor
- H5P
Academy LMS alternatives
- Academy LMS vs Tutor LMS
Free plan · from $199/yr
- Academy LMS vs LearnPress
Free plan · from $19
- Academy LMS vs MasterStudy LMS
Free plan · from $149/yr
- Academy LMS vs LearnDash
Free trial · from $350/yr
- Academy LMS vs LifterLMS
Free plan · from $398/yr
Common questions
Does Academy LMS have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Academy LMS is listed for Web.
Does Academy LMS have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Academy LMS is listed for Web.
Is Academy LMS open source?
Academy LMS is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.