It can be excruciating.

That if you charge too much for your online course, you risk not making enough sales to justify your time, skill, and money investment.

Charge too little, and you risk eroding your course’s perceived value.

And, that too, hurts sales.

So, how do you set the best price for your course? Is it $100? Is $999 just right?

You’ve come to the right place because I researched so you don’t have to.

I’ve also created and sold several online courses myself recently!

Course pricing guide: Quick overview

I will share some of my favorite techniques along with others’ course pricing strategies.

With that out of the way, here’s your guide to setting the right price for your online course like a pro.

How much should you charge for your online course?

Yes, it depends on several factors. Many guides suggest charging your worth. Others will tell you to lower your prices first to gain market share. My recommendation is to set a minimum price of $100 for your course.

To be more specific, charge at least $95, $97, or $98. I’ll explain why shortly.

Let me put this into context:

• Prices for mini-courses range from $47 to $98. I’m referring to a course with five to ten, 15-minute videos. Likewise, this will be a self-taught course that may not include many resources, such as PDFs or worksheets.
• You can charge between $177 and $497 for more in-depth courses, which typically take several weeks to complete. Rather than just prerecorded videos, audios, PDFs, etc., you’ll want to offer more action steps in this course will offer more action steps.
• A course that involves several months of learning, setting up systems, 1:1 coaching, workshops, and more typically costs between $997 and $3,850. I usually see this range in my circle of course creators and mentors when they’ve built a results-driven reputation, have testimonials to back up their claims, etc.

At this point, the course price becomes less and less relevant.

So, what’s the ideal price point for an online course?

You can get an idea of where to start by looking at what others are doing. By analyzing other courses in the same niche, you can get a better idea of what your type of audience would be willing to pay.

What do other course creators charge for online courses today?

Podia, the popular online course platform (see my hands-on Podia review here), reported that the average course price on its platform is $137.

Podia analyzed more than 132,000 courses to get this figure. It showed a wide range of prices for online courses, ranging from $0 to $304. Consider this graph:

Podia also noted that 89% of all courses cost up to $350. Most course creators on Podia offered their course at $97, while the average course price among 12,818 creators was $157.

I’ll tell you something, though. Most of the courses in this price range were the creator’s first online course.

And, maybe that’s where you are right now.

But you didn’t come here to learn how not to price your online course based on fear or uncertainty.

You’ve come to learn how to price online courses what your customers will pay for the value you are delivering to them, even as a first-time course creator, right?

Great.

If you’ve read our How Much Do Udemy Course Creators Earn post, you know that each of the successful case studies we’ve shared there charges a different course price.

For example, Cher Hin made a 4-hour-long Python programming course for beginners and sold it for $84.99 on Udemy.

He still made five figures in revenue and has since attracted about 29,000 students and over 7,000 positive reviews.

His Python programming course is designed for beginners.

This is one of the most crucial factors when choosing a price for your online course: target audience. Before setting your course price, here are key things you’ll want to know.

How to price your online course?

You’ll need to pay attention here because this section is kind of a big deal.

From my own experience teaching thousands of students online, these are the key factors to consider when setting course prices.

I encourage you to be proactive as you read along, including creating mental models or using pen and paper to capture the ideas you come across. Are you in?

Great.

1. Detach from the course price to beat self-sabotage or entitlement

The first thing you need to do is to let go of thinking that the price reflects your self-worth. Often, this causes us to question whether we are experienced enough, educated enough, or something like that to charge what we need to.

Rather, you may overvalue your product or service thinking it reflects your self-worth. It does not.

The price of your course should reflect the value you provide to the learner.

Here’s what I mean when I talk about the learner (specific audience) and value.

2. Price your course for someone — not everyone

It’s a classic marketing truth: if you’re selling to everyone, you’re selling to no one. Pin down who your course is suitable for.

Are they beginners or advanced learners? Career professionals or hobbyists?

Some other factors to consider here include demographics, their spending power, and how much of a challenge you are teaching them to overcome.

This focus lets you hit the sweet spot in pricing, where your ideal students find great value without feeling overcharged.

Better yet, a targeted pricing strategy attracts the right learners and sets realistic expectations of the course’s worth.

Something else. You might even want to start with a lower price to gauge the market and evaluate demand as you continue to add new content to the course. Uber did this. In many new markets, Uber offered lower fares than traditional taxi services, along with promotions and discounts. As they gained a foothold in these markets, they adjusted their pricing, which in some cases meant increased fares.

Just be sure to then track everything, from sales page visits to your conversion ratio to gauge what price point works best over time.

3. Price your course based on value – not commodity-based pricing

Evaluate what your course equips learners to achieve. Does it offer a career leap, a new skill, or a solution to a persistent problem?

Or, does it provide a fulfilling hobby?

The greater the impact of your course on a student’s life or career, the more you can justify a higher price. It’s about selling outcomes; the future doors your course will open for them.

The course will save your students months or years of experimentation, too. So, be sure to communicate the value you are offering upfront to help remove pricing uncertainty, or barriers such as potential customers thinking the course costs too much.

You’ll want to differentiate your offer to stand out. You see, commoditized courses compete on price, offering little unique value.

However, a distinctive course, with unique content or teaching methods, creates a ‘category of one’, making it more desirable. “Grand Slam” courses also address pricing objections by highlighting exceptional value and addressing barriers.

Ultimately, you want to not just provide information but deliver valuable experiences. You can also add value based on innovative teaching and delivery methods, exclusive content, and the specialized expertise you offer.

4. Tap your background

A seasoned expert with years of experience can naturally command a higher price than an MBA with none. Your reputation, experiments, and unique insights add immense value to the course, allowing you to price it as a premium offering.

Here’s the deal. Having decades of experience isn’t necessary. Simply highlight your accomplishments related to what you’re teaching online so students know they can trust you to help them achieve what they want.

It won’t matter if you are a first-time course creator. A quick, handy route I recommend is to share the course with a few people in your circle before launching it. The more credible (experts in their field, too) or relatable (share similar pain points) they are to your target audience, the better.

You can use their testimonials after they’ve gone through the course, put the lessons, strategies, and systems into practice, and seen results.

This proves your course works!

5. Structure your course for maximum value (and income)

The way your course is packaged can drastically affect its perceived value as well as how students understand your content.

For example, multimedia content, interactive quizzes, and real-world assignments add value to a course by making it more hands-on, engaging, and accountability-oriented. For example, adding questionnaires can boost positive engagement 75.9% of the time, according to 360Learning.

You can also use other course formats such as video lessons, MOOCs, livestreaming, presentations, and more. The format of the course will depend on the type of approach that resonates with your target market (which needs to be part of your initial market research for the course).

Better yet, you can add community access, group coaching, or gamification.

Let’s examine a few course formats from a price range perspective now that we’re discussing how to price your online course. I recommend approaching it from three levels.

• Level 1 (the ‘Tripwire’ stage): Provide a breakthrough price point for your audience, typically under $100. Think $47 to $98.
• Level 2 (the ‘Core product’ stage): This is where you’ll want to offer a pre-recorded course or live sessions so your learners can take on and implement the concepts and principles you’ve shared in the first level. Think of the $137 to $498 and $500 to $995 ranges.
• Level 3 (the ‘Profit maximizer’ stage): This could be either a high-level one-to-one consulting product or a high-ticket group coaching format like say Masterminds. Here, you can charge people anywhere from $1000 to $10,000 for further learning and growth.

With this approach, you’ll be maximizing your profits while freeing up your bandwidth to provide more value to more committed students. As a bonus, they will become closer and closer to you and/or have a similar mindset and bandwidth to yours as they progress through the stages.

6. Take advantage of seasonal promos

Use promotions strategically, not just to offer discounts but to experiment with pricing. Seasonal promotions, for example, are perfect for testing the waters with your course pricing strategy.

You’ll want to vary your prices during these times to find the sweet spot where a significant number of your target audience is willing to buy.

What that “significant” number looks like will depend on your course sales target, income goal, or other success metric you are striving for.

As an example, you might set the price higher than you normally would. If you decide to slash the price, offer it as a discounted price.

It gives the impression that the course costs more at other times, but is available for a limited time at a discount. By doing this, anyone who doesn’t buy during the sale is mentally prepared to pay a higher price afterward.

It’s called the Anchoring Effect. The initial price you present to buyers can set the stage for their perception of subsequent prices. For example, a product initially priced at $500 sets an anchor, making a reduced price of $350 seem like a significantly better deal, even if the original price might have been inflated.

7. Use the cost + margin approach

This practical approach involves calculating all costs associated with creating and delivering your course, and then adding a profit margin.

Here’s an example. Using one of the top online course platforms might be a good choice for you. You won’t have to build your own course platform from scratch.

Free course platforms like Systeme, or affordable ones like LearnWorlds and Thinkific, are good options for those who want to keep costs down without sacrificing useful capabilities.

But if you want advanced features like course funnels, retargeting, upsells, and coaching, you may need a more robust online course platforms like Kajabi, or ClickFunnels, or Podia.

However, tools like Kajabi require a minimum subscription of $149/month. So if you are to use a course platform like this, you’ll want to know that your course pricing and sales will cover that monthly bill.

The cost + margin course pricing formula ensures that you’re not underselling yourself while maintaining a fair price for your audience. It’s about balancing your investment with a reasonable return.

If after this you are thinking you need to increase your current course price, you’ll want to approach it strategically. After all, any slight price increase can be disastrous if your audience is price-sensitive (more on this below).

How to increase the price of your course?

I’ve used these same techniques successfully, so you can too.

Use value-based pricing for online courses

Adopting value-based pricing involves understanding and leveraging your course’s perceived value. Robert Cialdini’s principles of persuasion highlight the power of perceived value. You can use techniques such as exclusivity, social proof, an expert’s endorsement, and a higher price.

You can also tap into Alex Hormozi’s approach (based on the $100 million Offers acclaim). He emphasizes that you package your course as a solution to a pressing problem or a pathway to a desirable outcome.

By positioning your course as a high-value proposition, you can justify a higher price tag. Here’s how real quick:

• Increase the dream outcome: Help your customers visualize the path to success and incorporate short-term, immediate wins.
• Reduce perceived effort and sacrifice: Show how your product makes achieving their goals easier.
• Improve your offer: Use tactics like scarcity, urgency, bonuses, guarantees, and credible names to make your offer more appealing.
• Delay the ask: The longer you delay asking for a purchase, the bigger the ask you can make. This can be done through strategies like retargeting, community, and email marketing.
• Maintain a balance of demand and supply: Keep your supply slightly under the demand to increase desire and perceived value.

You can do this with drip lessons and course content locking, two features that the best online course platforms like Kajabi and Podia offer.

Want to compare the top course platforms available today? Check out my course creation platforms guide here.

Add 1:1 or group coaching to your course

Incorporating coaching services elevates your course from a set of lectures to a personalized learning journey. Individual attention and tailored guidance extend beyond the standard course offering.

A recent study found that 91% of trainees desired personalized and relevant training. Moreover, it reported that such training helped learners become 13% more efficient and 38% more satisfied.

This added layer of personalized guidance and mentorship can significantly boost your course’s value and justify premium pricing. It’s a game-changer for both the learning experience for your students and your revenue.

Utilize price elasticity and sensitivity to your advantage

Price elasticity refers to how customers respond to changes in price. Price sensitivity is a measure of how likely your customers are to change their buying decisions based on changes in pricing.

Customer sensitivity to price increases varies from one product or service to another. Context is also a big deal, according to research by BCG. For example, people tend to be more price sensitive in professional contexts than casual ones.

Context can also refer to timing. A high inflation rate, for example, tends to make people more price sensitive.

Likewise, someone just starting in their career will probably be more price sensitive than someone who wishes to purchase your career development course after several years of earning and saving.

In this regard, as in Benjamin P. Hardy’s AMP program, you can specify your target audience explicitly.

Dr. Benjamin specifies that the program is intended for people earning over six figures a year. With this target audience, coupled with the context of what he teaches, the $20,000 price tag seems less steep.

Want some advice to get started? Use the following approaches to analyze price sensitivity:

1. Van Westendorp’s price sensitivity meter: Use a series of queries to gauge the price range consumers are comfortable with for a product. You might ask, “ At what point do you consider this course a bargain?”
2. Gabor-Granger technique: This price laddering approach involves inquiring potential customers about their likelihood of buying the product at various price levels AND what features or perks they would expect at each price range.
3. Conjoint analysis: This technique assesses how consumers value different product attributes and how these perceptions influence the price they are willing to pay.
4. Brand-Price Tradeoff (BPTO): This is a statistical method where participants are presented with two products at different prices and distinct brand associations, and asked to choose one.

Knowing these concepts can help you adjust your pricing to maximize revenue while still providing value to your students.

Go for in-between price thresholds

Specific and unconventional numbers in pricing, such as $498 instead of $500 or $197 instead of $200, can appear more carefully considered and justified by potential course buyers.

Several psychological factors influence this perception:

1. Left-digit bias: We often focus more on the left-most digit of a price. For instance, a price ending in .99 can be perceived as significantly lower because the left digit changes, e.g., $3.00 vs. $2.99. This phenomenon, known as “charm pricing,” has shown to increase sales, as the mind tends to round down such prices subconsciously.
2. Simplicity in price numbers: The brain processes simpler prices easier. A price written without commas or decimals, like $1324, is perceived as more appealing and less expensive than one with more characters, such as $1,324.00. The cognitive effort to process the number impacts the perceived cost.
3. Context-dependent rounding: Rounded prices (like $20 or $100) are perceived as more fluent compared to non-rounded prices and work better for emotional purchases. However, for rational items, specific prices make the brain work harder in processing the number, leading to a perception of a more carefully calculated and hence fairer price. This approach can be particularly effective in situations like buying courses.

By understanding these psychological underpinnings, you can craft course pricing strategies that not only appeal to perception but also influence course purchasing decisions.

Offer premium support

If your course includes premium support, such as faster response times or in-depth feedback. Your customers will appreciate the extra attention to detail and the extra effort you put in.

Yet, Offering these services will certainly take more time, so you’ll want the course price to reflect this additional value. Additionally, you can include this as an option that customers can add to their existing course if they wish.

Keeping this feature optional rather than making it mandatory can help increase buy-in and highlight its value.

It’s about offering superior service that goes beyond the basic course offering, adding significant value for the learner.

Accept payment plans and subscriptions

Introducing flexible payment options like payment plans or subscriptions can make your course more accessible while allowing you to increase the overall price.

By providing a lower barrier to entry, this approach can expand your market reach. Additionally, it indicates that you’re considerate and the course provides ongoing value throughout the subscription.

Overall, this approach can appeal to those who are uncomfortable paying a one-time fee.

Update the course

Regularly updating your course with the latest information, trends, and resources keeps it relevant and valuable.

According to 360Learning, learners find regularly updated courses are 27% more useful to them.

This commitment to continuous improvement signals to your students that they are investing in a dynamic and evolving learning resource.

Even so, updating your course can take quite a bit of time and effort. If you’d like to save time and effort, see my guide to updating an online course easily here.

Embrace continuous improvement

Finally, adopt a continuous improvement mindset. Gather feedback, monitor industry trends, and keep refining your course pricing.

Continuously seeking feedback and making improvements shows that you’re invested in providing value for your buyers’ time and money. They know they’ll be getting incremental value from your course, warranting a higher price.

Plus, striving to continuously increase the value you offer helps build trust and credibility with your audience. And that’s good ground for future collaboration, high course ratings, and return course purchases.

What next: Set your course price like a pro

I hope that this guide will help you set a course price that is fair to your efforts, expertise, and income goals, as well as provide students with value for their time and money.

Take your time and don’t overthink it. Start with $47 and increase it over time if it’s a quick mini-course. For more valuable courses, consider the $197 to $498 price range.

A deeper course that offers mentorship/coaching/workshops, along with ongoing support, the sky is the limit, especially if you can showcase real-life testimonials that prove your system and ideas do work.