Pricing: Free, One-Time, and Subscription

Pricing is one decision, made twice. First — should this course be free or paid? Then — if paid, do students pay once or pay over time?

Free courses

Free courses are useful for:

• Lead magnets. Give away a sample lesson to build your email list. Students who finish often buy your full course later.
• Onboarding. A free orientation course that paid customers take before the real material.
• Community building. A free course that introduces your style and approach.

To make a course free, open it, go to Pricing, and pick Free. Students still need an account to enroll, so you still get an email contact you can follow up with.

One-time payment

Students pay once and keep access for as long as you keep the course live. This is the most common choice for a finished course that does not need ongoing updates.

To set it up:

1. Open the course and go to Pricing.
2. Pick One-Time Payment.
3. Enter the price and the currency.
4. (Optional) Add a comparison price (the higher "was" price) for a sale.
5. Save.

Most creators pick a number that is meaningful — for example, $97 instead of $100, or $49 instead of $50. There is no wrong answer; you can change the price any time without affecting students who already paid.

Subscription

Students pay monthly or yearly to keep access. Subscriptions work well for:

• Courses you keep updating. A monthly-released curriculum, a software walkthrough that follows product changes, an evolving library of lessons.
• Bundled libraries. One subscription unlocks several related courses.
• Communities tied to the course. Forum or coaching access included with the subscription.

To set it up:

1. Open the course and go to Pricing.
2. Pick Subscription.
3. Pick the billing period — monthly, yearly, or both (students choose at checkout).
4. Enter the price for each period.
5. (Optional) Offer a trial period. Students get access for a number of days before the first charge.
6. Save.

When a subscription ends or fails to renew, the student keeps an account but loses access to subscription-only content.

Mixing free and paid

You can give some lessons away while charging for the rest:

1. Open the course, open the lesson you want to give away.
2. Switch Preview to On in the lesson settings.
3. Save.

Anyone visiting the course page can take the preview lessons. The rest stays locked until they buy.

Changing the price later

You can change the price any time. The new price applies to new students only — students who already enrolled keep their original terms.

If you want to grandfather the old price for a window of time, lower the price for a few days, then raise it back. Email your list to let them know.

A note on taxes

CourseFriendly collects and reports tax based on the address your student enters at checkout. You see the net amount (after tax) on your payout report. See Refunds and Payment Payouts for details.