Who it's for
Built for instructors, course creators, agencies, and online schools running education on WordPress. Self-hosted, so your courses, learners, and orders live in your own database. No SaaS layer, no per-sale commission, no learner cap.
Sikshya LMS · WordPress LMS plugin
Sikshya LMS — sell online courses on WordPress without the SaaS price tag.
The WordPress LMS plugin for instructors, agencies, and online schools — a real free version on WordPress.org with native PayPal checkout, course builder, quizzes, and certificates, plus 31 Pro add-ons across Starter, Growth, and Scale tiers. Yearly or lifetime; no transaction fees, ever.
Live sandbox in your browser · no credit card required. Or install on WordPress.org →
- Course builder, quizzes, certificates — all in the free plugin
- Native PayPal checkout in free; Stripe + subscriptions in Pro
- Lifetime license available · 14-day refund on paid plans
Free forever core plugin
No transaction fees · we never take a cut
14-day refund on every paid plan
Self-hosted · your data, your hosting
- 31 Pro add-ons across Starter, Growth, and Scale
- 9 Payment gateways — PayPal in free; Stripe + 6 more in Pro
- 24+ Native integrations — Mailchimp, Zapier, Zoom, SCORM, WPML, more
- 0% Transaction fees — every cent of every sale stays with you
Who Sikshya LMS is for
Built for the people who actually run courses on WordPress.
Independent instructors selling self-paced courses. Agencies delivering LMS sites to clients. Schools running cohort programs. Marketplaces with many instructors. The same plugin scales across all of them through tier-based pricing.
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Independent instructors
Ship your first course on the free plugin. Build curriculum, enable PayPal checkout, issue certificates — without buying a Pro license to start.
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Course creators selling Pro programs
Upgrade to Sikshya Pro Growth when you need content drip, Stripe checkout, subscriptions, advanced certificates with QR verification, and course discussions.
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Agencies & resellers
White-label admin (Scale tier), lifetime licence option, and a 15-site agency variant ($599/yr or $1,799 lifetime) make Sikshya a clean fit for client delivery — predictable tier pricing, one licence, no per-add-on math.
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Schools & cohort programs
Content drip + prerequisites + drip notification emails (Starter+) drive paced cohort delivery. Gradebook and learner calendar (Growth+) for academic tracking.
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Marketplaces & platforms
Multi-vendor marketplace with revenue split + webhooks + signed OAuth 2 + PKCE public API (Scale tier) for building learner mobile apps or partner integrations.
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Developers & integrators
WordPress-native REST API, signed webhooks, OAuth 2 with PKCE, and predictable hooks. Self-host the entire LMS on your own infrastructure — no SaaS lock-in.
Why another WordPress LMS
Most WordPress LMS plugins gate the basics behind a Pro tier.
Quizzes? Pro. Certificates? Pro. Native checkout? "Install WooCommerce." The free version becomes a demo, not a product. We took the opposite approach: ship the features instructors actually need in the free plugin, and reserve Pro for genuine upgrades — drip, subscriptions, multi-instructor, marketplaces, OAuth API.
The typical WP LMS
- Quizzes locked behind Pro
- Certificates locked behind Pro
- Checkout needs WooCommerce + a payments add-on
- Annual subscription, no lifetime option
- Add-on bundles cost more than the LMS itself
Sikshya LMS
- Quizzes, certificates, native PayPal checkout — in the free plugin
- Stripe + subscriptions on the Pro Growth tier
- Lifetime license option, not just annual subscription
- Self-hosted on your own infrastructure — your data stays yours
- OAuth 2 + PKCE on the public API (Scale tier) — mobile-app ready
What you ship with Sikshya LMS
Everything you need to run a course business — already in the box.
Course builder, quizzes, certificates, and PayPal checkout in the free plugin. 31 Pro add-ons across Starter, Growth, and Scale tiers when you outgrow it.
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Free
Course builder
Drag-and-drop curriculum with chapters, lessons, quizzes, and assignments — without touching code.
Learn more → -
Free
Quizzes & auto-grading
Multiple-choice, true/false, fill-in, ordering, matching — auto-graded. Essay questions go to the instructor for review.
Learn more → -
Free
Native PayPal checkout
PayPal payments without WooCommerce or any separate commerce plugin. Coupons and guest checkout included. Stripe checkout + subscriptions are in Sikshya Pro.
Learn more → -
Starter
Content drip
Release lessons on a schedule — "day 3 after signup" or a specific date — instead of dumping the whole course on day one.
Learn more → -
Growth
Multi-instructor + revenue split
Add multiple authors per course with configurable revenue splits. Ledger rows written automatically on order completion.
Learn more → -
Scale
Public API + OAuth
REST API with OAuth 2 + PKCE for mobile apps and external integrations. Keys bcrypt-hashed at rest, rate-limited per key.
Learn more →
How it works
Three steps from install to first sale.
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1
Install the free plugin
Search "Sikshya LMS" in the WordPress plugin directory or upload the zip. No license key required to start.
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2
Build your first course
Open the course builder, add chapters and lessons, mix in quizzes or assignments. Set a price or leave it free.
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3
Publish and sell
Connect PayPal in settings, publish the course, and link to it from your site. Upgrade to Pro when you need Stripe checkout, subscriptions, or other advanced features.
Pricing
Start free. Upgrade when you outgrow it.
Yearly or Lifetime — pick whichever fits your budget. Every paid plan includes a 14-day refund window.
Free
$0 forever on WordPress.org
Course builder · quizzes · basic certificates · PayPal checkout · unlimited courses + learners
Test it free →
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Starter
$149 $99/yr
Save 34% — $50 off
or $349 lifetime
Get Starter → -
Most popular
Growth
$199 $149/yr
Save 25% — $50 off
or $499 lifetime
Get Growth → -
Scale
Compare plans + full feature matrix →
Every paid plan: 14-day refund · cancel anytime · the free core keeps working if you stop renewing.
When upgrading makes sense
You'll know it's time to go Pro when…
Most operators ship their first course on the free plugin. The upgrade conversation usually starts at one of these specific moments — not before.
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Starter
Buyers want to see reviews on your course page
Enrolled-only star ratings + reviews lift catalog conversions. The free plugin doesn't include a review system.
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Starter
Your course needs to release on a schedule
Cohort programs, paced curricula, "release lesson on day 3" — content drip unlocks this on the Starter tier.
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Growth
Buyers expect card payments or you sell memberships
Stripe checkout + recurring subscriptions arrive on Growth. Needed the moment PayPal-only stops being enough.
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Growth
More than one instructor needs to get paid
Multi-instructor + automatic revenue split + ledger rows. Turns your site into a multi-author platform without rebuilding accounting.
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Scale
You want to host other people's courses
Multi-vendor marketplace with commission tracking, withdrawal flow, vendor dashboards. The marketplace tier.
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Scale
A mobile app or partner integration needs the API
OAuth 2 + PKCE, signed webhooks, public API keys. Everything an external app needs to enroll, sync progress, and issue certificates.
None of these yet? Stay on the free plugin. There's no pressure to upgrade until one of these triggers shows up.
Weighing alternatives?
How Sikshya LMS compares to other WordPress LMS plugins.
Honest head-to-head comparisons — we cite their public pricing and note where they outperform us. No bait-and-switch.
- Sikshya LMS vs LearnDash A real free tier and a lifetime license option — LearnDash offers neither.
- Sikshya LMS vs LifterLMS Flat tier pricing instead of free core plus a dozen separately-versioned add-ons.
- Sikshya LMS vs Tutor LMS Closer match — differences come down to free-tier scope, OAuth 2 + PKCE API, and pricing model.
What you can ship
Fits most course business models.
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Free
Self-paced course catalog
Multiple standalone courses, each with their own price. Learners buy and access independently. The free plugin covers it.
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Starter
Cohort-based programs
Content drip + prerequisites + automation emails. Learners move through the course together on a schedule.
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Growth
Membership / subscription platform
Monthly or annual recurring billing through Stripe, with course access gated by active subscription status.
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Growth
Multi-instructor academy
Multiple authors per course with revenue split + dedicated instructor dashboards. Ledger rows for clean accounting.
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Scale
Multi-vendor course marketplace
Many independent instructors selling on one site. Per-vendor commission, withdrawal flow, vendor dashboards.
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Scale
Mobile-app backend (OAuth 2 + PKCE)
Power a learner mobile app or partner integration via the OAuth 2 + PKCE REST API plus signed webhooks.
Frequently asked
Questions buyers usually ask before installing.
Is the free plugin really free?
Yes. Download from WordPress.org, install, ship courses. Native PayPal checkout works without a paid plan. No trial expiration, no functionality lock.
Do I need WooCommerce to sell courses?
No. Sikshya LMS processes PayPal payments natively in the free plugin. Stripe checkout (cards + subscriptions) is included in Sikshya Pro on the Growth tier. WooCommerce is not required.
What's the difference between yearly and lifetime?
Yearly is a recurring subscription. Lifetime is one payment for unlimited updates for the lifetime of the plugin. Same feature set; pick whichever fits your budget model.
Can I switch from another WordPress LMS?
You can install Sikshya LMS alongside another LMS plugin on a staging site to evaluate. We don't currently ship an automated importer from LearnDash, LifterLMS, or Tutor LMS, so moving an existing course catalog means rebuilding course structure manually. For complex moves, contact our team about a custom plan.
What happens if I cancel my Pro license?
Your existing courses, learners, orders, and certificates keep working — the free plugin core never deactivates. Paid add-ons stop receiving updates and stop unlocking when the license expires.
Where does my course data live?
Inside your own WordPress database, on your own hosting. Sikshya LMS is self-hosted — there is no SaaS layer, no learner data sent off-site, and nothing breaks if your license lapses (Pro features simply stop unlocking).
The honest breakdown
What's in the box.
What's in the free plugin
A real product on WordPress.org, not a 14-day trial: course builder with chapters and lessons, video and text content, basic quizzes with a timer + passing score, basic certificates, native PayPal checkout (no WooCommerce), basic coupons, free-course support, manual enrollment, student dashboard, and wishlist. Enough to ship your first course.
What 31 Pro add-ons unlock
Starter (6 add-ons): content drip, reviews, prerequisites, instructor dashboard, learner calendar, drip emails. Growth (16 more): Stripe + 6 more gateways, subscriptions, course bundles, multi-instructor revenue split, gradebook, certificates with QR, advanced quizzes & assignments, live class links, social login, SCORM/H5P, discussions, branded email, activity log. Scale (9 more): marketplace, webhooks, OAuth 2 + PKCE API, Zapier, Mailchimp/MailerLite, white-label, multisite, enterprise reports, WPML/Polylang/Weglot.
What we honestly don't ship
No built-in AI course generator. No one-click importer from LearnDash, LifterLMS, or Tutor LMS — moving an existing catalog means rebuilding it. No native iOS or Android app (the Scale-tier OAuth 2 API is there for teams who want to build their own). If those gaps are deal-breakers, an alternative may serve you better.
Try Sikshya LMS today — no card required.
Test the free plugin or spin up a Pro sandbox in your browser. Install on WordPress.org whenever you're ready to ship.