Shopify course apps let merchants build and sell online courses without leaving their store. Learners buy through the normal Shopify checkout, then watch lessons inside their customer account. This article compares four of the strongest options in 2026 — Alva Courses, Tevello, Courses Plus and Inflowkit — and names the kind of seller each one fits.
All four are native Shopify apps, so none of them sends students to a separate platform or subdomain. The real differences are in video hosting, assessments, drip scheduling, community tools and price. Use the shortlist below to match an app to how you actually teach.
What makes a great Shopify course app?
A great Shopify course app builds, sells and delivers courses entirely inside your store. The essentials are a drag-and-drop builder, rich lesson content, reliable video, member and progress tracking, and instant delivery at checkout — without forcing students onto a second login or external website.
- Native delivery: students access courses from their Shopify customer account, not a separate platform.
- Content depth: video, PDFs, audio, quizzes and certificates inside each lesson.
- Video that scales: a way past Shopify's 1 GB / 10-minute native file cap.
- Member management: progress bars, completion rates, CSV import and export.
- Fair pricing: a clear monthly price and a free trial to test before you commit.
Alva Courses — best for native, all-in-one course delivery
Alva Courses is a Shopify app that lets merchants build, sell and deliver professional courses natively inside their store. It pairs a drag-and-drop builder with video, quizzes, PDFs, completion certificates, member management and branded email — at $9.99/mo for the Unlimited plan, with a 14-day free trial.
The rich lesson editor supports text, video (Alva-hosted plus YouTube, Vimeo, VdoCipher and Loom), image, PDF, audio, ePub, MS Office, quiz, Zoom and button blocks. Drip scheduling releases lessons X days after enrolment, and sequential gating can require completion before the next lesson unlocks. Courses are delivered the moment an order is paid.
The Unlimited Pro plan at $14.99/mo adds Alva Video Hosting — 50 GB of storage with no per-video limits — so you can upload long lessons without hitting Shopify's native file caps or relying on external embeds. Custom completion certificates are emailed automatically, and a custom email domain lets enrolment emails send from your own address. For the full breakdown, see Alva Courses vs Courses Plus.
Best for: creators and brands that want one native, affordable app covering the whole journey — builder, video hosting, assessments, certificates and member analytics — without bolting on extra tools.
Tevello — best for community-led learning
Tevello (Courses & Communities) is a popular Shopify course app that pairs course delivery with community and discussion features. It is well known for a generous free tier and a focus on building a learning community around your content, which appeals to creators who treat conversation as part of the product.
If your offer is community-first — cohorts, forums and ongoing discussion — Tevello's emphasis there is a strong fit. Merchants who instead want leaner course delivery with built-in video hosting, certificates, drip and branded email at a flat $9.99/mo often weigh it against Alva Courses; see Alva Courses vs Tevello for a side-by-side.
Best for: educators whose programmes revolve around community, discussion and a free-to-start entry point. Always check Tevello's current listing for up-to-date tier limits and pricing.
Courses Plus — best for advanced quizzes and assessments
Courses Plus is a Shopify course app known for advanced quizzes, assessments and certificates. It suits merchants whose courses are graded or assessment-heavy, where testing knowledge and issuing proof of completion matter more than community or marketing extras.
Alva Courses offers comparable quizzes built inside lessons and automatic, editable completion certificates, and adds Alva Video Hosting plus a custom email domain on top. If assessments are central to your course, compare both feature sets at Alva Courses vs Courses Plus before deciding.
Best for: certification programmes, professional training and any course where quizzes and graded assessments drive the learning outcome.
Inflowkit — best for simple, fast setup
Inflowkit (Courses & Memberships) is a Shopify course app valued for straightforward setup and membership-style access. It is a good fit for sellers who want to publish a course quickly without a long configuration process, and who prefer a smaller, focused feature set.
Alva Courses matches that simplicity but adds richer content blocks — ePub, MS Office, audio, Zoom — plus Alva Video Hosting for lessons that exceed Shopify's file limits. Sellers choosing on speed-to-launch can compare the two at Alva Courses vs Inflowkit.
Best for: merchants who want to launch a single course or membership fast, with minimal setup and a clean learner experience.
How to choose the right app for your store
Start from how you teach, not the feature list. Match community-led programmes to Tevello, assessment-heavy courses to Courses Plus, and quick launches to Inflowkit. Choose Alva Courses when you want one native app that covers the full builder, video hosting, certificates and member analytics together.
- List your must-haves — video length, quizzes, certificates, drip, community.
- Check video limits — if lessons exceed 1 GB or 10 minutes, you need built-in hosting like Alva Video Hosting.
- Confirm it stays native — students should never leave your Shopify store to learn.
- Use the free trial — build one real course before committing to a plan.
Frequently asked questions
There is no single best app for every store — it depends on what you sell. Alva Courses suits merchants who want native course delivery, built-in video hosting, quizzes and certificates at $9.99/mo. Tevello leans toward communities, Courses Plus toward assessments, and Inflowkit toward simple setup.
Native Shopify course apps like Alva Courses, Tevello, Courses Plus and Inflowkit keep students inside your store. Learners check out through Shopify, then access courses from their customer account — no second platform, subdomain or separate login. Standalone tools like Thinkific or Teachable host students on their own websites instead.
Pricing varies by app and usage tier, so always check each listing for current rates. Alva Courses has two plans: Unlimited at $9.99/mo and Unlimited Pro at $14.99/mo, both with a 14-day free trial. The Pro tier adds 50 GB of Alva Video Hosting with no per-video limits.
Yes. Shopify caps native files at 1 GB and 10 minutes per video, which is tight for full lessons. Alva Courses Unlimited Pro adds Alva Video Hosting with 50 GB of storage and no per-video limits, so you can upload long lessons directly without external embeds.
Courses Plus is known for advanced assessments, and Alva Courses offers comparable quizzes plus automatic completion certificates emailed on course completion. With Alva Courses you build quizzes inside lessons and award an editable, custom-designed certificate the moment a student finishes a course.