LifterLMS is a WordPress LMS plugin for creating courses and memberships. The core plugin is free; paid bundles add payment gateways, marketing integrations and advanced add-ons. If you only need part of it, you can get a focused plugin built for your own site and pay once.
LifterLMS: $199 a year for one site (Earth Bundle).
Your own plugin on Pluginora: from $9 once, with 5 free changes. Try it first for $1.
What LifterLMS does
- Course builder
- Quizzes
- Certificates and badges
- Memberships
- Stripe and PayPal payments (Earth bundle)
- Cart abandonment recovery (Earth bundle)
Free version: Yes: the core plugin is free (unlimited courses, memberships, students and teachers); payments and integrations are paid add-ons.
What you can build instead
A Pluginora plugin does one job for your site. For LifterLMS, that could be:
- A Next lesson button and a course progress bar for logged-in members
- Show a lesson only after the previous one is marked complete
- Email a student when they finish a course
A small custom plugin would not replace an LMS with course sales, memberships, payment gateways and marketing integrations.
Related plugins you can build:
- WooCommerce Memberships Plugin
- WooCommerce Membership Paywall Plugin
- Elementor Quiz & Survey Form Plugin
Cost over 3 years
| LifterLMS | Your own plugin | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $199 | From $9 |
| Year 2 | $398 | $0 |
| Year 3 | $398 | $0 |
| 3-year total | $995 | From $9 |
When LifterLMS is the better choice
- You sell courses and memberships with payments built in
- You want the free core plus maintained add-ons
- You need certificates, badges and integrations together
When your own plugin makes more sense
- You use one or two of its features, not the whole package.
- You would rather pay once than renew every year.
- You want it to work exactly the way your site needs, and to change it on request.
How to get your own
- Describe it. For example: “On my lesson pages, show a "Next lesson" button and a progress bar showing how many lessons the logged-in member has completed.”
- See the plan and price. Ora replies with what it will build and a fixed price. Nothing is built until you approve.
- Try it for $1. Test it on a practice site for 7 days, then keep it and pay the rest once.
Questions
Is there a free alternative to LifterLMS?
Yes: the core plugin is free (unlimited courses, memberships, students and teachers); payments and integrations are paid add-ons. Free plugins from other makers may cover part of it. A Pluginora plugin costs from $9 once and does exactly the job you describe.
How much does LifterLMS cost?
It costs $199 a year for one site (Earth Bundle), as listed on lifterlms.com on 22 October 2026. First year with the vendor's 50% first-year code; renews at the full $398 a year. 1 live site. Prices change, so check their pricing page.
Will my own plugin do everything LifterLMS does?
No. A small custom plugin would not replace an LMS with course sales, memberships, payment gateways and marketing integrations. It does the focused job you describe, built for your site.
Does Pluginora copy LifterLMS?
No. Ora builds a new plugin from your description. It does not copy any code, text or design from LifterLMS or any other product.
Can I try it before I pay the full price?
Yes. For $1, Ora builds your plugin and you test it on a private practice site for 7 days, with 2 changes. If you keep it, the $1 comes off the price.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. Pluginora is not affiliated with or endorsed by LifterLMS. The name LifterLMS is used only to describe the product being compared.