How much to charge for an online course: method and numbers
How to price a video course from margin, audience and fees: a 5-step method, a worked example with real numbers and the mistakes to avoid when you launch.
Writing a number on the sales page is the part creators postpone most. The temptation is to look at competitors or pick a figure that “sounds right”. This guide proposes a duller and safer method: start from how much you need to take in, check whether your audience can deliver it and only then set the price.
An honest preface. In our searches we found no independent data on course prices or on typical purchase rates. Nearly all the figures in circulation come from platform vendors, and we quote them as such.
What is the method for choosing a price?
The method has three factors: the value of the result for the buyer, the costs and fees you still have to cover and the audience you can reach. The price sits where the three meet: high enough to leave a margin, low enough to be credible to the people in front of you.
| Up to you | Can be measured | |
|---|---|---|
| Value of the result for the buyer | Partly | Partly |
| Production costs and fees | Yes | Yes |
| Reachable audience and purchase rate | Partly | Yes |
The editors' outline, not a rule. Value can only be measured in part: a pre-sale tells you more.
How many sales do you need to reach a goal?
You need as many sales as the goal divided by the margin of one sale. Margin is the price minus fees and costs per sale. It is the simplest formula in the method, which is why it is often skipped.
Example with the numbers from our course profit calculator: a $149 course, fees of 5% plus 30 cents, $1,500 of production costs. Each sale leaves $141.25. To recover the costs you need 11 sales. At 50 sales you take in $7,062.50 and make $5,562.50. At 25 sales profit falls to $2,031.25, at 100 it rises to $12,625: these are the three scenarios (pessimistic, base, optimistic) to compare with what your audience can give.
- Sales to break even
- 11
- People to reach for 50 sales at 2%
- 2,500
- Sales to break even with a 40% discount
- 18
Three scenarios to compare
Prepare a simple table with three columns: pessimistic, base and optimistic. With the $149 course and the fees in the example, 25 sales give a profit of $2,031.25, 50 give $5,562.50 and 100 give $12,625, after the $1,500 of costs. Next to each, write how many people you would need to reach for that scenario at your assumed purchase rate.
The point is not to predict the future but to see whether the pessimistic scenario still lets you decide to go ahead. If at 25 sales you lose money, you have a few options: raise the price, cut costs or delay the launch until the audience is bigger. It is an easier decision to take at a desk than with the course already recorded.
How big an audience do you need to sell?
It depends on the share of people who buy, and you only learn that number after trying. Kajabi, a platform vendor, gives 2% as a rule of thumb with no source: at that rate, 50 sales need about 2,500 people who really see the offer.
Take 2% as a starting hypothesis, not a forecast. The way to replace it with your own figure is the pre-sale: how many people on your list replied, clicked or reserved a seat. With an audience that has known you for a long time the share may be higher; with a cold audience, lower. To build the list, read creator newsletters.
Is a low or a high price better?
There is no right choice for everyone: a low price needs a much bigger audience for the same income, a high price needs fewer sales but more trust and more support. Kajabi's thesis is that underpricing is the most common mistake of people who sell expertise. The same vendor's data, taken from its own payments since 2010 and with no declared sample, indicates price bands by type of offer: mini-courses between $27 and $97, self-paced courses between $197 and $497, courses with live parts between $497 and $997, premium programmes between $997 and $2,997 (Kajabi, 7 August 2026). Kajabi admits that price, trust and offer quality move together, so it does not prove that raising the price is enough to raise income.
See the data as a table
| Type of offer | Top of the band |
|---|---|
| Mini-course | 97 $ |
| Self-paced course | 497 $ |
| Course with live parts | 997 $ |
| Premium programme | 2,997 $ |
A comparison of $99, $149 and $249
With the same fees (5% plus 30 cents) and the same $1,500 of costs, margin per sale is $93.75 at $99, $141.25 at $149 and $236.25 at $249. Break-even arrives at 16, 11 and 7 sales; at 50 sales profit is $3,187.50, $5,562.50 and $10,312.50.
The comparison shows the lever of price, not a recommendation: at $249 you need fewer sales, but nothing guarantees that many people will buy at that price. The purchase rate changes with the price and with trust in the creator, and you only learn it through the pre-sale. Use the three prices as hypotheses to test, not as a choice already made.
How do you set price tiers and bundles?
A common structure is to offer two or three tiers: a base edition with the lessons, a complete one with materials and exercises and one with direct support. They let people with less budget in and let people who want more help pay more.
Work out the margin of each tier with the same tool: the supported tier costs your time, so check the margin holds even with few buyers. For the sales page and the launch, see the guide to creating and selling an online course.
How to present the price on the sales page
Put the price next to what is being bought: what it includes (number of lessons, materials, support), how long access lasts, what the refund terms are and, if there is one, the deadline of the offer. A reader who sees the number without that context compares it with nothing and finds it high.
Avoid inventing “list” prices you never charged just to show a discount: besides being dishonest, it exposes you to complaints about commercial practices. If you have a launch price, say it is a launch price and when it ends; when it ends, end it for real. The trust you build with your first twenty buyers is worth more than a few extra sales at a price that was not true.
How do you use discounts and a launch price without losing margin?
Set the largest discount your margin can bear before you announce it. With a 40% discount on a $149 course the price falls to $89.40, margin per sale to $84.63 and break-even rises from 11 to 18 sales: at 50 sales profit goes from $5,562.50 to $2,731.50.
Kajabi notes that 22% of payments on its platform use a coupon, with a typical discount of 40.3%: a vendor figure, useful only as an order of magnitude. A clear deadline helps people decide, but a permanent fixed discount teaches your audience to wait.
What should you not forget when you set the price?
Do not forget fees, tax and refunds, which change the real margin. For fees use the official price lists we report in the platform comparison. For VAT on consumer prices and invoicing, ask an accountant before you publish.
Refunds and the right of withdrawal for digital content deserve an article of their own and we do not cover them here. A clear refund policy, written on the page, lowers disputes and lets you choose a price without fear.
How do you test the price before launch?
With a pre-sale at two prices: offer the course to two similar groups in your audience, decide beforehand how many sales you need to choose and change one thing at a time. If nobody buys at either price, the problem is usually the promise, not the figure.
Write the rule before the test: “if at least 15 people reserve at $149 within two weeks, I open at that price.” A threshold set after the results bends to wishful thinking. Then use the same numbers in the calculator: if the threshold does not cover your costs, you have found the problem before recording the lessons.
The most common pricing mistakes
- Starting from competitors. Their price depends on their costs, their audience and their history, not yours.
- Ignoring fees. Margin per sale is the number that counts, not the sticker price.
- Choosing after recording. With the costs already spent, any price seems “right”.
- Changing the price without changing the promise. If nobody buys, the price is the last hypothesis to check, not the first.
- Not writing the threshold down in advance. Without a rule you decide with the emotions of the moment.
Key terms. Margin per sale is the price minus the fees and costs of that sale. Break-even is the number of sales that covers the production costs. A pre-sale is selling a course before it is built, to test demand.
How we checked this. We found Kajabi's page of 7 August 2026 and read its bands, method and caveats: the data is the vendor's and causation is not shown. We ran the margin calculation with the formulas of our own tool. We found no independent data on course prices, and we say so. Contact: hi@heytea.app. Editorial note: we fact-check every figure against the sources listed below and correct mistakes openly.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the price of an online course?
Start from margin, not from hours of video: decide how much you want to earn, subtract fees and production costs and divide by the margin of each sale to find how many sales you need. Then compare that number with the audience you can reach. The right price is the one where both figures are believable.
Is it better to charge a low price or a high price?
There is no answer that fits everyone. A low price needs many more sales for the same income and therefore a bigger audience; a high price needs fewer but asks for more trust and more support. Kajabi, which sells platforms, argues that underpricing is the most common mistake, but the data is its own and does not prove a cause.
Do you need discounts and a launch price?
A launch price with a deadline can help you gather the first students, but work it out first: with a 40% discount on a $149 course, margin per sale drops from $141.25 to $84.63 and break-even rises from 11 to 18 sales. Decide the largest discount your margin can bear, not the one that sounds persuasive.
How big an audience do you need to sell a course?
It depends on how many of them buy. Kajabi gives a 2% rule with no source: at that rate, 50 sales need about 2,500 people reached. Treat it as a hypothesis to test with your own list, by looking at how many reply or click, not as a forecast.
How do you test the price of a course?
With a pre-sale: offer two prices to two similar groups in your audience, deciding beforehand how many sales you need to choose. If nobody buys at either price, the problem is usually the course's promise, not the price. Change one thing at a time so you know what to credit for any difference.
Sources
- Kajabi, “How Much Should You Charge for an Online Course?”, 7 August 2026. A vendor source, own data with no declared sample. Read on 16 October 2026. kajabi.com
- Tea's free tool, course profit calculator: formulas for margin, break-even and profit. heytea.app