The global online education market is projected to reach $375 billion in 2024, demonstrating robust growth driven by the increasing digitization of education and a shift toward online and hybrid learning models. This market is expected to continue expanding, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.2% projected from 2024 to 2031, potentially reaching nearly $976 billion by 2031.

With this in mind, it’s no wonder that online learning platforms have become so essential for students, educators, and businesses seeking flexible and accessible eLearning. This article highlights the best platforms of 2024, helping you choose the right one for your needs, whether it’s a marketplace for selling courses, a learning hub, or a learning management system (LMS).

What is an Premium Education Online Learning Platform?

An online learning platform is a digital space where learners can access educational content, participate in classes or trainings, and complete assignments via the internet. It allows learners to study wherever they are and often includes tools like videos, quizzes, and discussion forums.

Does this sound similar to a learning management system or an online course platform? Well, that’s because they are similar, although there are some crucial differences. Let’s see what they are.

Premium Online Learning Platforms vs. Online Course Platforms vs. LMSs

It’s common to confuse online learning platforms, online course platforms, and learning management systems (LMSs). However, it’s important to distinguish between them.

• Online learning platforms are more like marketplaces that center around the viewpoint of the learners, or “buyers.” They are also known as online course marketplaces. That’s because they take on the bulk of the work of promoting your courses, expanding your audience, and developing your sales funnel. Therefore, the focus here is on the front-end aspect of your business – the marketplace and the products it offers.
• Online course platforms place a greater emphasis on back-end operations. They typically offer cloud-based software centered around instructors, allowing for the creation not just of courses, but also engaging learning environments. For example, you can upload diverse online educational contents and organize them into learning paths. Moreover, you gain control over critical user analytics, branding, and marketing techniques, all designed to amplify your business’s expansion.
• Learning management systems (LMSs) shift their emphasis away from sales and marketing toward the efficient delivery of training to large groups of learners, employees, or partners, for example.

In contrast to online learning platforms, many LMSs come equipped with built-in course creation tools, facilitating the development of new online courses. Besides, LMSs allow you to manage users, assign content to them, and track learner progress, all from a single interface.

Best Premium Education Platforms in 2024 (Team Picks)

Platform Name	Short Description
Udemy Business	Offers over 14,000 courses for businesses, focusing on skill development and providing completion certificates.
LinkedIn Learning	Provides over 16,000 courses with certificates of completion that can be showcased on LinkedIn profiles.
Skillshare	Focuses on creative fields with over 35,000 courses, emphasizing collaboration and social learning.
Coursera	Partners with universities to offer accredited degrees and certificates of completion for a variety of business and scientific disciplines.
edX	Collaborates with prestigious universities to offer a wide range of courses and online degree programs with certificates of completion.
Khan Academy	Provides free courses and high-quality online education on diverse subjects with powerful analytical tools for tracking progress.
iSpring Market	Offers a robust platform for marketing, selling, and hosting interactive courses with detailed analytics.
Kajabi	Emphasizes selling online courses with strong sales and marketing features, including sales pipelines.
Podia	An all-in-one tool for course creation, marketing, and sales with no transaction fees and a simple design.
iSpring Learn	An intuitive online learning platform offers different user management features, and it comes with an advanced desktop authoring tool.
LearnUpon	Combines LMS features with custom-branded storefronts for selling courses and supports SCORM and xAPI content.
Canvas	A versatile LMS that’s popular in academia, offering tools for quizzes, grading, reporting, and social learning.
Blackboard Learn	A robust eLearning solution for the education and business sectors with tools for course management and interaction.

Here are our team’s picks of the top online learning platforms, carefully selected to meet diverse educational needs:

• Best online learning platform for businesses: LinkedIn. LearningIt has excellent quality control to ensure instructors are subject matter experts with excellent teaching skills.
• Best online educational learning platform: edX. This one partners with the world’s top universities and organizations to offer learners programs of the highest quality.
• Best LMS for businesses: iSpring Learn. This one ticks all the LMS boxes, providing automatic grading, learner tracking, insightful analytics, and more.
• Best online course platform: iSpring Market. It provides a perfect balance between offering amazing flexibility and customization in course creation and having great digital marketing features.
• Best learning platform for schools and colleges: Canvas. It has a variety of features that encourage students to take part in online learning, such as communication tools and interactive course content.

Best Online Learning Platforms for Businesses in 2024

The best online learning platforms for businesses can help your employees gain new skills or enhance existing ones to serve your business better. Moreover, they can be more cost-effective than traditional training methods.