# Academy LMS review (2026): is the free plan enough? > WordPress LMS plugin with a free core and Pro licenses by site count Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. 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. - **Category:** Courses & Communities - **Made by:** Kodezen - **Website:** https://academylms.net - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a hosted service, as it runs only on your own WordPress site. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Academy LMS has a free plan, and paid plans start at $99 per year for 1 site. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **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 | $99 per year for 1 site | All Pro features, 1 year of support and updates. Shown as $99 against a crossed-out $199. | | Business | $129 per year for up to 10 sites | Same features on 10 sites, shown against a crossed-out $299. | | Business Plus | $149 per year for up to 25 sites | Same features on 25 sites, shown against a crossed-out $349. | | Agency | $199 per year for up to 100 sites | Same features on 100 sites, shown against a crossed-out $399. | | Agency Plus | $229 per year for up to 200 sites | Same features on 200 sites, shown against a crossed-out $449. | Read from https://academylms.net/pricing/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Academy LMS before buying. ## 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. ## Good for - WordPress site owners who want a free LMS before paying - Agencies running course sites for many clients on one license - Schools that want a campus, community and CRM from one vendor ## 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. 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. - **Value for money: A.** $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. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The 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. - **Features: B.** Course and lesson builders, quizzes, certificates, instructors and revenue sharing, SCORM and H5P. The listing shows no gap in the core course job. - **Ease of use: D.** It needs a self-hosted WordPress site, so setup and updates are yours. No store rating is on record. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with WooCommerce, SureCart, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor and H5P on the list. No phone or desktop app. These are ToolGPA's own grades. 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. ## Where it 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. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/courses-communities ## Keep it, 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. - You could make: Online courses and templates: an app builder makes these well. - You could not: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. - You could not: It plugs into other products, WooCommerce, StoreEngine and SureCart among them. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with WooCommerce, StoreEngine, SureCart, Easy Digital Downloads, Elementor, H5P **Tags:** Online courses, AI features, Community, Templates ## Alternatives - [Tutor LMS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/tutor-lms): WordPress course plugin with a free core and paid Pro licenses. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/academy-lms-vs-tutor-lms) - [LearnPress](https://toolgpa.com/tools/learnpress): Free WordPress LMS plugin with paid add-ons and a Pro Bundle. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/academy-lms-vs-learnpress) - [MasterStudy LMS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/masterstudy-lms): WordPress LMS plugin with a free Starter license and paid yearly tiers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/academy-lms-vs-masterstudy-lms) - [LearnDash](https://toolgpa.com/tools/learndash): WordPress plugin for building and selling online courses. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/academy-lms-vs-learndash) - [LifterLMS](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lifterlms): WordPress LMS plugin with a free core and paid bundles. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/academy-lms-vs-lifterlms) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://academylms.net/pricing/ - https://academylms.net/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/academy-lms Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).