How we approach a Tutor LMS build
Start from what Tutor LMS already does
Tutor LMS covers more than many people realize. The free plugin includes a course builder, five quiz question types, Q&A, reviews, announcements, a full native checkout with coupons, tax and PayPal, and instructor revenue sharing with withdrawals. Tutor LMS Pro adds ten more question types, assignments, a Gradebook, content drip, prerequisites, certificates, course bundles, subscriptions, Zoom and Google Meet lessons, reports and more. Our first job is mapping your requirements against these features so you only pay to build what is genuinely missing.
Build the missing parts the update-safe way
Tutor LMS exposes a large extension surface: hundreds of action and filter hooks in the core plugin and more in Pro, a template loader that checks your theme's tutor/ folder before its own templates, and the tutor_utils() helper with functions such as checking whether a user is enrolled. We use these instead of editing plugin files. Custom features live in a small plugin of yours; visual changes live in a child theme. When Tutor LMS ships an update, we test it on staging and your site keeps working.
Choose the right way to sell
The monetize_by setting decides whether Tutor LMS sells through its native engine, WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads (Pro adds Paid Memberships Pro and Restrict Content Pro). Native eCommerce keeps everything inside Tutor LMS, with its own orders, carts and coupons tables. WooCommerce brings a large extension ecosystem but links each course to a product. We recommend one based on your products, gateways, tax needs and reporting, not on habit. See selling courses with Tutor LMS for the details.
Test the flows that make you money
A Tutor LMS site is only finished when a student can pay, get enrolled, learn, pass a quiz and receive a certificate on every device. Before launch we run those flows end to end with each payment method you use, and we check the emails and dashboards that go with them.