How to Create and Sell Profitable Online Course Subscriptions

If you’ve ever felt the frustration of inconsistent income from your online courses, you’re not alone. Many educators face the same challenge—peaks and valleys in revenue that make planning tough. But what if there was a way to turn your expertise into a steady, predictable income stream?

Enter subscription-based courses. By offering recurring access to your content, you not only stabilize your earnings but also foster deeper engagement with your students. With tools like Tutor LMS, setting up subscriptions is straightforward, letting you focus on what you do best: teaching.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through creating, pricing, and managing subscriptions that work for your audience—and your bottom line. Let’s get started.

Why Choose Subscriptions for Your Online Courses?

When it comes to selling online courses, subscription models offer unmatched benefits for both educators and students. Let’s explore the benefits of subscription models for online courses:

1. The Power of Recurring Revenue: A recurring revenue model transforms your income strategy by providing a predictable income stream. Unlike one-time payments, which create inconsistent earnings, subscriptions ensure steady cash flow. For example, a $29/month plan with 100 subscribers generates $34,800 annually—income you can count on for scaling your offerings.

2. Enhanced Student Value and Engagement: Subscriptions make learning affordable and flexible. Students pay less upfront and gain ongoing access to your content, creating an enhanced student experience.

3. Building a Loyal Student Base: Subscriptions cultivate an online learning community by keeping students engaged long-term. Regular interactions (e.g., live Q&As or updates) deepen relationships and boost student retention.

By adopting subscriptions, you create a win-win: reliable revenue for you and transformative learning experiences for students.

Now, let’s dive deeper into how Tutor LMS simplifies the process of implementing subscriptions. 

Getting Started with Tutor LMS Subscriptions 

Ready to explore subscriptions with Tutor LMS? It’s a simple process, but there are a few essential steps to set up before you begin. Here’s a quick guide to help you get started.

A. Prerequisites:

Before anything else, it’s important to know that the powerful Subscription feature is a part of the Tutor LMS Pro package. So, if you haven’t already, you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro version to unlock this functionality and all the benefits that come with it. 

B. Enabling the Subscriptions Addon:

Once you have the Pro version installed and activated, enabling subscriptions is very simple.

Here is how to activate the Subscription add-on in Tutor LMS:

1. Navigate to the Addons Section: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Tutor LMS Pro > Addons.
2. Find the Subscriptions Addon: Scroll down the list of available add-ons until you find Subscriptions.
3. Enable the Addon: Simply toggle the switch next to Subscriptions to the “on” position. It’s that easy!

Quick Tip: The addon integrates natively with Tutor LMS, requiring no coding or third-party plugins.

With seamless integration and no technical hurdles, you’re ready to launch your subscription model. Next, we’ll show you how to create and price irresistible courses and course bundles using these tools.

How to Create Subscription Plans for Individual Courses

Let’s walk through setting up subscription plans for your individual courses. This straightforward process gives you complete control over how students access and pay for your content.

1. Accessing the Course Pricing Model:

Start by opening your course in the Tutor LMS Course Editor or create a new course. While in the Basics section of the course builder navigate to Pricing Model. Switch from Free to Paid.

Note: Before setting up the purchase options, ensure that you enter a price for your course in the Regular Price field. This amount will serve as the standard price for one-time purchases and act as a reference point for pricing your subscription plan.

2. Adding a Subscription Plan:

Click Add Subscription to open the Manage Subscription Plans pop-up, where you’ll configure:

• Plan Name: This is what your students will see, so make it clear and descriptive. For example, instead of “Plan 1,” use something like “Monthly Access to Python Fundamentals.”
• Price: Set competitive rates aligned with your course value.
• Billing Interval: This determines how often your students will be charged. You can choose from daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly options. Select the billing interval that best aligns with your course structure and content delivery.
• Billing Cycle: Here’s where you set the duration of the subscription. For a fixed-term subscription, enter the number of billing cycles (e.g., 6 for a six-month subscription). For ongoing access, simply select “Until Canceled.” This gives your students the option to pay as long as they want.

3. Configuring Subscription Details

Fine-tune your plan with these flexible subscription options:

• Add enrollment fees for premium perks
• Disable certificates for non-certified tiers
• Offer limited-time discounts to boost sign-ups

After completing the setup, click the Save button located in the top right corner to finalize and apply your new subscription plan.

4. Purchase Options

Finally, you have to decide how students can purchase your course: subscription only, one-time purchase only, or both. Having both Subscription & one-time purchase options can cater to a broader audience, but if your goal is recurring revenue, the Subscription only option might be the best approach.

With these steps, you can transform any course into a recurring revenue generator while offering flexible learning options for students.

While individual course subscriptions are a great way to monetize your content, bundling courses can significantly boost your revenue. Learn how to create subscription-based course bundles with Tutor LMS in the next section.

How to Create Subscription Plans for Course Bundles 

Offering course bundles is a strategic way to enhance the learning experience while boosting revenue. Bundled subscriptions provide students with multiple course access at a lower cost than purchasing each course individually, making them an attractive option.

For educators, creating profitable course bundles increases student retention, improves perceived value, and ensures a steady revenue stream through subscription plans for bundles.

Creating a Course Bundle Subscription Plan

Creating profitable course bundles involves careful planning and execution. Here’s a step-by-step guide for setting up bundle subscriptions in Tutor LMS:

Step 1: Name, Describe, and Add a Feature Image

First, give your course bundle a compelling name and a brief, engaging description. Remember, Tutor LMS AI Studio can assist you with generating effective titles and descriptions if you need help! Add an eye-catching feature image to make your bundle visually appealing.

Step 2: Add Courses

Next, add all the individual courses you want to include in your bundle. Click the Add Course button and search for each course individually to add them to the bundle.

Important Note: Each individual course must have a regular price already set in its own settings before it can be added to a bundle.

Step 3: Adding a Subscription Plan for the Bundle: 

Now, create a subscription plan for your bundle. This process is very similar to creating subscriptions for individual courses.

Give your bundle’s subscription plan a descriptive name that reflects its content. This helps students quickly understand the value proposition.

Additionally you can:

• Set the Price, Billing Cycle and Discounts: When considering how to price and set billing intervals on a course bundle subscription, think strategically. Offering a discount compared to the combined price of individual courses is a common practice. 

• Configuring Purchase Options: If you want to restrict the bundle to subscription purchases only, choose the Subscription only option as shown earlier.

Once you’ve finalized your bundle, click the Publish button on the course builder to make it live. Before publishing, you can also use the Preview button to see how the final bundle will appear to students.

 

With individual course subscriptions and course bundles configured, let’s proceed to streamlining subscriptions management.

Managing Subscriptions in Tutor LMS

Now that you’ve mastered creating individual subscriptions and designing value-packed course bundles, let’s shift focus to maintaining control. Tutor LMS provides a centralized hub for managing all your subscriptions, giving you a clear picture of your subscriber base and revenue flow. This section will guide you through the essential tools and features for effective subscription management.

Accessing Your Subscription Dashboard

Your subscription management hub resides within Tutor LMS. Simply navigate to Tutor LMS Pro> Subscriptions. This takes you to the “Subscriptions” dashboard.

Understanding Your Subscription Overview

The Subscriptions page presents a comprehensive list of all your subscriptions. Each entry provides key information at a glance:

• Subscription ID: A unique identifier that helps you track individual subscriptions throughout their lifecycle
• Plan Details: Shows the subscription plan name and associated course access levels
• Revenue Tracking: Displays recurring payment amounts and next payment dates for financial planning
• Student Information: Provides quick access to subscriber details and enrollment status
• Subscription Status: Indicates whether subscriptions are Active, Pending, or need attention
• Management Tools: Offers quick-access buttons for common administrative tasks

Diving Deeper: Detailed Subscription Management

Clicking Edit on a specific subscription opens a detailed view, granting granular control. This view is segmented into:

• Subscription Details: Displays the Subscription ID, enrolled course(s), recurring amount, and renewal settings. Critically, you can adjust the “Next Payment Date” here, providing billing cycle flexibility.
  
• Student Details: Provides the student’s name, contact information, and billing address – essential for personalized communication and resolving billing issues.
  
• Payment History: A comprehensive transaction log, including Order ID, Plan Type, Date, Amount, Payment Method, and Status for each payment. This ensures transparent record-keeping.

Controlling Subscription Status

The most critical function within the Edit Subscription view is the ability to change the subscription status. Using the dropdown menu in the top right corner, you can switch between the following statuses:

• Pending: Used when a subscription is awaiting payment or administrative approval.
• Active: Indicates a currently valid subscription, granting the student access to the course(s).
• On Hold: Temporarily suspends the subscription, revoking course access until reactivated.
• Cancelled: Permanently terminates the subscription, ending the student’s access to the course(s).

Tracking Your Success With Tutor LMS Subscription Analytics

To truly optimize your subscription business, you need to understand how it’s performing. Tutor LMS provides built-in analytics to track your subscription success. Navigate to Tutor LMS Pro > Analytics, then select the ‘Subscriptions‘ tab. Here, you’ll find an overview of key metrics that help you gauge performance.

Key metrics include:

• Membership Plans: See your overall subscriber count per plan.

• Active vs. Cancelled: Track subscription trends.

• Earnings Graph: Visualize revenue over time (daily, monthly, yearly).

• Most Popular Courses: Identify top-performing courses within your subscription model.

Use this data to identify popular courses, understand cancellation reasons, adjust pricing, and refine your content strategy. Regularly check your Subscription in the Analytics section to stay informed and grow your online course business.

Conclusion: Launch Your Subscription-Based eLearning Empire with Tutor LMS

Tutor LMS Subscriptions empower you to build a sustainable income stream for your online education business. Whether you’re selling individual courses or value-packed bundles, subscriptions unlock the power of recurring revenue. This consistent cash flow is essential for online course success, freeing you to focus on creating engaging learning experiences.

Ready to transform your passion for teaching into a thriving online business? Start building your subscription empire today! Explore Tutor LMS Pro to unlock the full potential of subscriptions, or dive deeper into the Tutor LMS documentation for more detailed information. Don’t wait, your journey to recurring revenue and online course success starts now!