How to Sell Courses with Tutor LMS: Every Monetization Option Compared

Tutor LMS gives you several ways to charge for courses. The choice you make early affects your checkout, payment gateways, reporting, tax and how enrollment works, so it is worth understanding the options before your first sale. This guide compares them all, based on Tutor LMS 4.1.3 and Tutor LMS Pro 4.1.3.

Where the choice is made

Go to Tutor LMS > Settings > Monetization > Options and pick the eCommerce Engine. The options you see depend on what is installed:

• Native: Tutor LMS's own eCommerce. Always available.
• WooCommerce: shown when WooCommerce is active.
• Easy Digital Downloads: shown when EDD is active.
• Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro: shown when Tutor LMS Pro's add-on for that plugin is enabled and the plugin is active.
• Disable Monetization: every course is free.

The setting is stored as monetize_by in the Tutor LMS options. Only one engine is active at a time.

Option 1: Native eCommerce

Native eCommerce keeps everything inside Tutor LMS: a cart, a checkout page, orders, coupons, tax and invoices. It uses its own database tables (tutor_orders, tutor_order_items, tutor_coupons, tutor_carts and others).

• Free plugin: cart, checkout, coupons (percentage or flat, code or automatic, usage limits, minimum purchase), tax, orders, refunds, PayPal and manual payments such as bank transfer.
• With Pro: Stripe, Razorpay, Paystack, Authorize.Net, Mollie and Klarna gateways, guest checkout, invoices, subscriptions, bundles and gift courses. Stripe is also available through the separate Tutor Stripe plugin.

Choose it when you only sell courses (and bundles or subscriptions) and want the simplest setup with reports inside Tutor LMS. See how to set up native eCommerce.

Option 2: WooCommerce

With WooCommerce, each paid course is linked to a WooCommerce product. Customers buy the product through the WooCommerce checkout, and Tutor LMS enrolls them when the order is completed. Tutor LMS adds settings for this under Monetization > WooCommerce: Automatically Complete WooCommerce Orders, Auto Redirect to Courses and a guest mode.

Choose it when you also sell physical or other digital products, need a WooCommerce extension (a specific gateway, invoicing, tax service, marketing tool), or already run a WooCommerce store. With Tutor LMS Pro, the WooCommerce Subscriptions add-on ties course access to recurring subscriptions. See selling with WooCommerce.

Option 3: Easy Digital Downloads

EDD works like WooCommerce: courses are linked to downloads, and purchases enroll students. It suits sites already using EDD for digital products. It is the least common choice for new course sites.

Option 4: Memberships

With Tutor LMS Pro you can sell access through Paid Memberships Pro or Restrict Content Pro: membership levels decide which courses a member can take. This suits sites where courses are part of a wider membership with other restricted content. See Tutor LMS with Paid Memberships Pro.

Option 5: Native subscriptions, bundles and gifts (Pro)

These are not separate engines; they extend native eCommerce:

• Subscriptions: plans with a recurring interval, optional trial and trial fee. In the course builder the pricing model can be one-time purchase only, subscription or membership only. See selling subscriptions.
• Course bundles: several courses sold together, optionally with an expiry. See course bundles.
• Gift a course: buyers can send a course to someone else.

Comparison

Revenue sharing with instructors

Whatever engine you choose, Tutor LMS can share revenue with instructors. Under Monetization > Revenue Sharing you enable it and set the percentage split; you can also deduct fees before the split. Earnings are recorded per sale and instructors request withdrawals. See instructor commission.

Switching later

You can change the engine later, but it is not a simple switch. Order history stays in the old system, course prices and product links must be set again, and active subscriptions need a plan. If you expect to need WooCommerce eventually, start with it. If you only sell courses, native eCommerce is usually simpler.

Frequently asked questions

Which is best for a new course business?

If you only sell courses, native eCommerce. It has fewer moving parts and no extra plugin to maintain. Add Pro when you need Stripe or another gateway, subscriptions or bundles.

Can I accept Stripe on the free plugin?

With native eCommerce, Stripe comes with Tutor LMS Pro or the Tutor Stripe plugin. With WooCommerce, you can use WooCommerce's Stripe gateway.

Can I sell some courses with WooCommerce and others natively?

No. One eCommerce engine is active for the whole site.

Need help choosing or setting it up? Our payment integration and WooCommerce integration services cover it.