Alva Courses vs LearnWorlds
Alva Courses is a Shopify app that sells and delivers online courses inside the Shopify store you already run. LearnWorlds is a standalone course platform with its own school website, checkout and learner accounts, and strong corporate training tools. Here is how they compare on where courses live, cost, fees and features, with LearnWorlds' prices checked in October 2026.
LearnWorlds runs a separate school website with its own checkout, from $29 a month ($24 billed annually) plus $5 per paid enrolment on Starter, as of October 2026. Alva Courses keeps courses inside your Shopify store for $9.99 or $14.99 a month with no per-sale fee. LearnWorlds leads on SCORM, interactive video, branded apps and single sign-on.
Side by side at a glance.
Alva Courses and LearnWorlds both build, sell and track online courses, but they sit in different places. Alva Courses runs inside Shopify and uses its checkout and customer accounts. LearnWorlds is a separate school website with its own checkout, learner accounts and site builder. The table compares them on the points that change most.
| Capability | Alva Courses | LearnWorlds |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Inside your Shopify admin and storefront | A separate school website on your own domain |
| Checkout | Shopify checkout, in the same cart as your other products | Its own checkout with Stripe or PayPal; Shopify can be connected as the payment gateway |
| Student login | Shopify customer account, or the access link in the enrolment email | A learner account on the LearnWorlds school |
| Starting price | $9.99/mo; Unlimited Pro $14.99/mo | Starter $29/mo, or $24/mo billed annually |
| Per-sale platform fee | None | $5 per paid enrolment on Starter; none from Pro Trainer up |
| Learner limits | Unlimited members on both plans | 1,000 monthly active learners on Starter; 2,000 on Pro Trainer and Learning Center |
| Free trial | 14 days | 30 days |
| Video hosting | 50 GB Alva Video Hosting on Unlimited Pro; on both plans, Shopify-hosted video (up to 1 GB and 10 minutes each) and YouTube, Vimeo or Loom embeds | Unlimited video hosting on every plan |
| Interactive video | Not offered | Basic on Pro Trainer; advanced on Learning Center and Corporate |
| Quizzes & exams | Multiple choice, short and long answer, with pass mark, time limit and attempt limit | 16+ question types; essential types only on Starter, video and audio answers from Learning Center |
| Human grading | Evaluation queue with written feedback and a letter-grade scale | Manual grading and feedback in a gradebook |
| Certificates | Included on both plans | From Pro Trainer up |
| SCORM & HTML5 packages | Not supported | 20 packages on Pro Trainer; unlimited from Learning Center |
| Single sign-on & API | Not offered | Learning Center and Corporate |
| Branded mobile app | Not offered; students learn in the browser | Add-on from $149/mo, on Pro Trainer and up |
| Website & landing pages | Your Shopify theme and pages | Built-in site builder; landing pages and funnels from Pro Trainer |
| Community | Comments under each lesson | Built-in community on every plan |
LearnWorlds figures come from its pricing page and feature pages, checked on 9 October 2026. Prices are in US dollars and exclude VAT. Card processing fees apply on both platforms and are not shown.
LearnWorlds plans and fees in October 2026.
LearnWorlds sells four plans: Starter, Pro Trainer, Learning Center and a custom-priced Corporate plan, with the first three cheaper per month when billed annually. Only Starter charges a platform fee, $5 per paid enrolment. Certificates, SCORM and interactive video start on Pro Trainer; white-label branding, single sign-on and the API start on Learning Center.
| LearnWorlds plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Enrolment fee | Active learners / month | Admins | SCORM & HTML5 | White-label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29/mo | $24/mo | $5 per paid enrolment | 1,000 | 1 | Not included | Not included |
| Pro Trainer | $99/mo | $79/mo | None | 2,000 | 5 | 20 packages | Not included |
| Learning Center | $299/mo | $249/mo | None | 2,000 | 25 | Unlimited | Included |
| Corporate | Custom | Custom | None | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Included |
Source: LearnWorlds pricing, checked 9 October 2026. LearnWorlds offers a 30-day free trial. Its branded mobile app is an add-on from $149 a month, available from Pro Trainer up, and payment gateway fees are charged separately.
What the $5 enrolment fee adds up to
On LearnWorlds Starter, every paid enrolment adds $5 to the bill. At 14 paid enrolments a month on monthly billing, Starter ($29 plus $70) costs the same as Pro Trainer at $99. On annual billing the crossover comes at 11 enrolments ($24 plus $55 against $79).
LearnWorlds itself suggests moving up to Pro Trainer once you pass 1,000 learners or want to drop enrolment fees. Alva Courses charges no fee per sale on either plan, so its bill stays at $9.99 or $14.99 however many enrolments arrive.
A separate school, or courses inside your store.
The biggest difference is where students buy and learn. A LearnWorlds school is its own website, with its own pages, checkout and learner accounts. Alva Courses has no separate site: each course is linked to a Shopify product, buyers pay in your Shopify checkout, and lessons play inside your storefront under your theme.
LearnWorlds: a school website you design
LearnWorlds includes a drag-and-drop website builder with more than 50 templates and pop-ups, a blog from Pro Trainer up, and every plan can sell on your own domain. Learners create an account on the school, and the courses, community and checkout all live there.
For a business whose website is the school, that is a complete package. For a Shopify merchant, it means a second website to design, a second login for customers and a second place where orders and customer records are kept.
Using Shopify as LearnWorlds' payment gateway
LearnWorlds can also use Shopify as its payment gateway, on every plan. Its help article, last updated in July 2026, explains that courses sync to Shopify as products, buyers pay in Shopify's checkout, and an account is then created for them on the school.
The same article lists the trade-offs. Every other payment gateway on the school must be switched off, subscriptions still need Stripe, product variants are not supported, school coupons give way to Shopify discount codes, and buyers are not sent back to the school automatically after paying.
Setup means creating a custom app in Shopify's Dev Dashboard and syncing products again after changes. It works, but the learning still happens on the LearnWorlds site, under a school account that is separate from your Shopify store.
Alva Courses: your store is the school
Alva Courses links each course to one or more Shopify products or single variants, and one product can unlock several courses as a bundle. When an order is paid, the buyer is enrolled at once, whether the cart held only the course or physical products too.
Students open the course from My Courses in their Shopify customer account, or from the access link in their enrolment email, which works without an account. Enrolment emails start switched off, so tick Send enrollment emails in Settings → Email Settings before you launch.
Lessons play in a storefront course player with a lesson sidebar, progress bar and completion ticks. Its buttons and menus come in 35 languages and follow your storefront's language. See link a course to a Shopify product for the setup.
Where LearnWorlds is the stronger platform.
LearnWorlds is the stronger choice for formal and corporate training. It plays SCORM and HTML5 packages, turns videos into interactive lessons with questions and hotspots, offers 16-plus question types, and on Learning Center adds single sign-on, an API, white-label branding and training for up to 10 client groups. Alva Courses has no SCORM, interactive video, single sign-on or API.
Pro Trainer plays up to 20 SCORM or HTML5 packages from authoring tools, and Learning Center removes the cap and adds LTI 1.3 for connecting outside learning tools. Alva Courses lessons are built in its own editor, with no package player.
The LearnWorlds interactive video editor adds in-video questions, hotspots, pop-ups, searchable transcripts and chapter markers, with viewing analytics. Basic features start on Pro Trainer and the full set on Learning Center. Alva Courses plays standard video.
The LearnWorlds assessment builder lists 16+ question types, question banks, timers, attempt limits and AI help with feedback on open answers. Starter gets the essential types only, and video and audio answers start on Learning Center. Alva Courses quizzes use multiple choice, short and long answer.
Learning Center removes LearnWorlds branding, and a no-code builder publishes an iOS and Android app under your own name, as an add-on from $149 a month on Pro Trainer and up. Alva Courses students learn in the browser, in your store.
Single sign-on, the REST API and custom user roles start on Learning Center, which includes 25 admin seats. That matters when learners sign in through a company directory or an IT team controls access.
Learning Center runs training for up to 10 client groups, sends scheduled course reports and automates tasks with triggers, conditions and delays. It is built for selling training to companies, not only to individual buyers.
If one of these is a requirement, usually because an auditor, client or IT team asks for it, LearnWorlds or another training LMS is the better fit for that job.
The Shopify LMS guide lists the enterprise features Alva Courses does not have and who offers them. The corporate training page shows the employee and partner training Alva Courses does handle.
Where Alva Courses is the better fit.
Alva Courses is the better fit when the people buying courses are already your Shopify customers. Courses sell in the same checkout as your products, every student is a Shopify customer, there is no per-sale or per-learner fee, and both plans cost less than LearnWorlds' Starter plan.
A course is a Shopify product, so a customer can buy a course and physical products in one order, with your discount codes, payment methods and taxes. Lessons can also show live Shopify product cards that students add to their cart.
Every course sale is a Shopify order and every student a Shopify customer. Thirteen Shopify Flow triggers and seven actions pass course events to Shopify Email, Klaviyo or customer tags, and Shopify Sidekick answers questions about your courses and students.
Unlimited is $9.99 a month and Unlimited Pro $14.99, with unlimited courses and members, no fee per sale and no active-learner limit. LearnWorlds Starter caps a school at 1,000 active learners a month.
Completion certificates, quizzes with pass marks, drip scheduling and an evaluation queue with written feedback and letter grades come with both Alva Courses plans. LearnWorlds leaves certificates off its Starter plan.
Courses use your Shopify theme, domain and customer accounts, so there is no school site to design or keep on brand. Course emails can send from your own domain once you verify it.
Fully refund a course line in Shopify and Alva Courses removes that course straight away, with no second system to update. Progress and certificates are kept in case the customer buys again.
Choose Alva Courses if you…
- Already sell on Shopify and want courses in the same checkout
- Teach customers who find and buy from your store
- Want students and enrolments in your Shopify customer list
- Want flat pricing from $9.99/mo with no per-sale or per-learner fee
- Don't need SCORM, single sign-on or a branded mobile app
Choose LearnWorlds if you…
- Must deliver compliance or client training as SCORM packages
- Need learners to sign in through single sign-on
- Want interactive video and exams with video or audio answers
- Sell training to organisations and need client groups and reports
- Want a branded iOS and Android app, or have no Shopify store
Need SCORM but want to stay on Shopify? Courses Plus lists SCORM import on its Shopify App Store listing. For the wider choice between a Shopify app and any standalone platform, read Shopify course app vs standalone LMS.
What each costs over a year.
Billed yearly, Alva Courses costs $99.99 on Unlimited or $149.99 on Unlimited Pro ($119.88 or $179.88 paid monthly), with no fee per sale. LearnWorlds costs $288 on Starter billed annually, plus $5 per paid enrolment, $948 on Pro Trainer and $2,988 on Learning Center. Alva also needs a Shopify plan; LearnWorlds does not.
| Plan | Cost for 12 months | Fee per sale |
|---|---|---|
| Alva Courses Unlimited (yearly) | $99.99 | None |
| Alva Courses Unlimited Pro (yearly) | $149.99 | None |
| LearnWorlds Starter (annual) | $288 | $5 per paid enrolment |
| LearnWorlds Pro Trainer (annual) | $948 | None |
| LearnWorlds Learning Center (annual) | $2,988 | None |
A Shopify merchant already pays for a Shopify plan, so Alva Courses adds only its own subscription. If you don't run a Shopify store, opening one just to host courses changes the sums, and LearnWorlds, which includes its own website, may be the simpler buy.
| plan | Unlimited $9.99/mo Everything to sell courses | Recommended Unlimited Pro $14.99/mo Adds Alva Video Hosting |
|---|---|---|
| Courses, members & comments | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Quizzes, certificates & drip | ||
| Branded email + custom domain | ||
| Shopify Flow triggers & actions | ||
| Alva Video Hosting (50 GB, no per-video limit) | — | |
| Alva File Storage (10 GB, files up to 500 MB) | — | |
| 14-day free trial |
Plans are chosen on Shopify's app pricing page when you install, and billed through your Shopify invoice. Full details are on the Alva Courses pricing page.
Moving from LearnWorlds to Alva Courses.
Moving from LearnWorlds to Alva Courses is a rebuild, not an import: Alva Courses has no LearnWorlds importer. Recreate sections and lessons, re-upload or embed videos, link each course to a Shopify product and enrol existing students from a CSV file. SCORM packages and interactive video layers do not carry over.
- Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store and start the 14-day free trial. Keep your LearnWorlds school live while you build.
- Gather your source material. Collect the original videos, PDFs and lesson text, and note the order of sections and lessons so returning students recognise the course.
- Rebuild each course. Recreate sections and lessons in the drag-and-drop builder. Upload video to Alva Video Hosting on Unlimited Pro, or embed it from YouTube, Vimeo or Loom, and rebuild quizzes as Quiz blocks. SCORM content has to be rebuilt as ordinary lessons.
- Link each course to a Shopify product and set its price, then tick Send enrollment emails in Settings so buyers get their access link.
- Import existing students by CSV from Members → Bulk Import CSV, with up to 1,000 lines per file and course_1 to course_10 columns for course titles. LearnWorlds progress does not carry over.
- Test, then switch. Place a test order, point your links at the Shopify store and cancel LearnWorlds once enrolments are arriving.
The CSV columns and limits are in import members with CSV, and send yourself a test enrolment covers the test order. For video, see how to host course videos on Shopify.
Alva Courses fits Shopify sellers who teach their own customers. See how it works for online educators, or compare another standalone platform in Alva Courses vs Thinkific and a WordPress plugin in Alva Courses vs LearnDash.
Alva Courses vs LearnWorlds: common questions.
Sell courses on Shopify — one checkout, one customer list.
Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store, rebuild one course, link it to a product and place a test order while your LearnWorlds school keeps running. Both plans start with a 14-day free trial, and there is no fee on any sale.