Comparison

Why pay for one platform when familiar tools are free individually?

Because 30–40% of customers can drop off between Zoom, Stripe and Mailchimp. SelfGrow covers the full journey in one place.

Comparison across key criteria

Criterion SelfGrow Zoom + Stripe + Mailchimp Kajabi / Thinkific
Cost to get started No-card trial Multiple subscriptions + your time Higher entry cost, built for scale
Setup time Hours Days or weeks of integrations Days for migration
Live sessions + lasting programs in one place Yes No Partial / limited
Automatic time-zone sync Yes Manual Depends on the setup
Local payments (EveryPay/Montonio) Yes You assemble it yourself Often limited
Developer or Zapier required No Often yes Sometimes yes

Other ways to do it

Where to host your course: a ready platform or a DIY stack

Recording the lessons is half the job. You still need somewhere to keep them, a way to take payment, a way to grant access and someone to keep it all running. Here is how the usual options compare.

Typical setups compared, not specific companies. What WordPress and Moodle can do depends heavily on the plugins and configuration you choose.
SelfGrow Folder + payment link Private community WordPress + LMS plugin AI website builder Self-hosted Moodle Course marketplace
Work before the first sale Upload lessons, set a price, connect a payment provider Make a folder and a payment link; send access by hand after every sale Set up the community, then tie payments to member roles with a bot or by hand Hosting, domain, theme, LMS plugin, payment plugin, and making them work together The page comes together fast; student area, payments and access are separate jobs Rent a server, install, set up theme and payments, usually with a technical person Prepare the course to the marketplace rules and pass review
Sales page and web address Page builder plus a school address on selfgrow.me; own domain for an extra fee or on a plan that includes it Just a folder; the sales page is a separate job Just the community; the sales page is a separate job You build it with a theme or page builder Yes, that is its strength Usually a separate website A course card in the catalogue, on the marketplace address
Who updates and fixes it We do; platform updates are part of the plan The tools run themselves, the process is yours The community app; bots and integrations are yours You or a hired developer: updates, plugin conflicts, backups The builder; anything bolted on is yours You or a server admin The marketplace
Payment and access Built in: the course opens once payment is confirmed Payment link, then manual access Manual or through a third-party bot Through plugins; works once configured and tested Usually separate services Through payment plugins Built in, on the marketplace terms
Where the video lives On the platform, storage by plan In the folder; links are easy to pass on In posts and links; easy to pass on A separate video host or your own server An external video service Your server or an external video host On the marketplace
Lesson order, progress, quizzes Yes, plus a completion certificate No No, just a feed Depends on the plugin Usually not Yes, very flexible but harder to set up Depends on the marketplace
Where students come from Your audience Your audience Your audience Your audience Your audience Your audience Partly the marketplace catalogue
Who owns the student list You; export any time You, through the payment provider Community members; emails you collect yourself You Depends on the service You Depends on the marketplace terms

What else you will have to handle, beyond recording

The camera and the editing are the visible part. This is what usually turns up after launch.

A payment lands at 2 a.m.

If you grant access yourself, the buyer waits until morning and emails “where is my course?”. Automatic access removes that thread.

Links travel

A folder link or community invite is easy to forward, and almost impossible to revoke once access should end.

The site broke after an update

WordPress and Moodle need updates, backups and security. Every plugin conflict costs you an evening or a developer invoice.

A nice page, but no school

An AI builder gives you a landing page fast. Where the video lives, how people pay and how they get in is still up to you.

Students lost in the feed

A community has no lesson order and no progress, so “what do I watch next?” ends up in your inbox.

Costs creep up

Hosting, domain, paid plugins, video hosting, developer time. With a subscription you see the number up front.

To be fair: SelfGrow is not the most flexible option. If you need an LMS with complex custom logic, Moodle may suit you better. If the goal is to sell a course rather than run a website, a ready platform saves time.

What you save in practice

Instead of connecting 4–5 services, an expert can launch registration, payment and access to learning materials from one dashboard — with less manual work and fewer drop-offs between steps.

  • One customer journey: interest → payment → learning space
  • A live session does not disappear: its recording becomes a course lesson
  • EU legal entity and support for a transparent start

Common questions

Why not put together free tools myself?

You can. But you pay with time, the risk of customer drop-off and the effort of supporting a patchwork of tools. SelfGrow provides a ready journey from first click to certificate.

How is SelfGrow different from Kajabi or Thinkific?

Large course platforms win on scale and long feature lists. SelfGrow wins on focus: live sessions and lasting programs in one place, with local payments for the Baltics and EU — without stitching tools together.

Is it too early to use a new platform?

At an early stage, you receive more attention and can help shape the product. A registered EU company, payment providers and a no-card trial help reduce risk.

Try it yourself for 14 days

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