LifterLMS vs LearnPress: Free Cores, Paid Add-ons and What You Really Get

On paper, LifterLMS and LearnPress use the same business model. Each gives you a free core plugin on WordPress.org and sells extra features as add-ons, with a bundle for people who want everything.

The model is the same, but the line between free and paid is drawn in different places. One gives away features the other charges for, and the reverse is also true. Which line suits you depends on what your course business needs on its first day.

We are a LifterLMS-only agency, so weigh this accordingly. Our statements about LearnPress, which is made by ThimPress, come from its WordPress.org listing and its own documentation, read in October 2026.

Two free cores with different priorities

The LifterLMS core has no cap on courses, memberships, or enrollments. It includes memberships, access plans, coupons, vouchers, certificates, achievements, automated emails, drip scheduling, and prerequisites. What it leaves out is card payment: only the Manual (offline) gateway is built in. Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, and the WooCommerce integration are paid add-ons, and Stripe and PayPal come with every bundle.

LearnPress states in its listing that it is free and always will be. The core builds a course curriculum of lessons and quizzes, handles orders, and includes PayPal and an offline payment method, so you can take an online payment without buying anything. Its listing then names certificates, content drip, assignments, and memberships and subscriptions among its premium add-ons, along with Stripe and WooCommerce.

Put simply: with LifterLMS you can run memberships and issue certificates for free but pay to take a card. With LearnPress you can take a PayPal payment for free but pay for certificates, drip, and memberships. Neither approach is more generous overall. They favor different starting points.

Where each feature lives

Feature	LifterLMS	LearnPress
Courses, lessons, quizzes	Free core	Free core
PayPal payments	Paid add-on	Free core
Stripe payments	Paid add-on	Premium add-on
WooCommerce checkout	Paid add-on	Premium add-on
Memberships	Free core	Premium add-on
Certificates	Free core	Premium add-on
Content drip	Free core	Premium add-on
Course prerequisites	Free core	Free add-on
Assignments	Paid add-on	Premium add-on
Extra question types	Paid add-on (Advanced Quizzes)	Premium add-ons (such as Sorting Choice)
bbPress and BuddyPress	Free core	Free add-ons
Bundle of everything	Infinity Bundle	LearnPress PRO Bundle

Vendors move features between tiers, so confirm the current position on the LifterLMS pricing page and the LearnPress listing on WordPress.org. For the LifterLMS side in detail, see LifterLMS free vs paid.

Course building

LifterLMS organizes a course as sections that contain lessons, arranged in its Course Builder. Lesson content is written in the builder or in the block editor, and a quiz attaches to a lesson. Focus mode, drip scheduling, and prerequisites need no add-on.

LearnPress describes a curriculum made of lessons and quizzes, with course export and import handled by a free backup and migration add-on. Several points in its listing stand out:

• AI assistance: LearnPress AI is described as built in, generating a course outline, lesson ideas, quizzes, and course images that you then edit.
• In-person courses: an offline course mode replaces the online curriculum with details such as delivery type, location, schedule, and start date.
• Editing outside the admin: its changelog describes a course builder that lets teachers manage courses without the WordPress admin screens, and a Frontend Editor is also sold as a premium add-on. Ask ThimPress which one fits your case.
• Page design: you can build course pages with Elementor or the block editor, using ThimPress's own widget and block plugins.

If you run workshops or classroom training alongside online courses, the offline course mode deserves a close look. LifterLMS has no matching feature in its core.

Quizzes and assignments

The two cores start from a similar place. LifterLMS includes Multiple Choice, Picture Choice, and True or False. The LearnPress documentation lists True or False, Single Choice, Multi Choice, and Fill In Blanks, and describes a Question Bank for reusing questions you have already written. So LearnPress gives you a fill-in question for free, and LifterLMS gives you a picture-based one.

Beyond that, both sell upgrades. LifterLMS adds written answers, file uploads, reordering, and more through its Advanced Quizzes add-on. LearnPress lists premium add-ons for a sorting question, randomized quizzes, and structured exams. How to create quizzes in LifterLMS shows what the core handles.

Assignments are paid in both. LifterLMS has its Assignments add-on, and LearnPress lists an Assignments add-on that lets instructors set tasks and essays and grade the work, along with a premium Gradebook.

Memberships and selling

LifterLMS has a native checkout built on access plans. A course or membership can carry several plans at once: free, one-time, recurring, with a trial, or priced for members only. Memberships are in the core, enroll members into chosen courses automatically, and can restrict pages and posts. Coupons and vouchers are core features, explained in LifterLMS coupons and vouchers. The trade-off is gateway choice: the native gateways are Stripe, PayPal, and Authorize.Net, all paid, and anything else goes through the WooCommerce add-on.

LearnPress also sells through its own orders and checkout, with PayPal in the core. Its premium add-ons then widen the options considerably. Besides Stripe and WooCommerce, the listing names add-ons for Razorpay, Paystack, PayU, Klarna, Instamojo, QPay, 2Checkout, and Authorize.Net. If your students pay through a regional gateway, LearnPress may connect to it directly where LifterLMS would route you through WooCommerce.

Recurring access in LearnPress comes from a premium Memberships and Subscriptions add-on, described as selling lifetime plans and recurring subscriptions with membership levels, free trials, and tier-based course access. There is a separate add-on for Paid Memberships Pro, and a Commission add-on for paying instructors a share of sales. We did not find a native coupon feature described in the core listing, so if discount codes matter, ask how they are handled before you commit.

Engagement and credentials

This is the area where the LifterLMS core does the most without payment. Achievements, certificates, and automated emails are grouped as Engagements and fire on student events such as enrollment, quiz results, or course completion. Certificates are designed in the block editor. See LifterLMS engagements and automated emails for examples.

LearnPress describes email notifications as a core feature on its features page. Certificates are a premium add-on with a drag-and-drop builder, and its premium list also includes announcements to enrolled students, a chat room, and a myCRED integration for points and rewards. Course reviews, a wishlist, and a student list are free add-ons.

Integrations, extensibility, and support

LifterLMS ships a REST API, webhooks, and WP-CLI commands in the core plugin, and its code is public on GitHub. Official add-ons cover Mailchimp, Kit, the main form plugins, and Twilio.

LearnPress links to REST API documentation from its listing, and its recent changelog entries add a webhook feature and support for the Model Context Protocol so AI tools can read course data. Premium add-ons cover WPML, H5P, and live classes through Zoom or Google Meet. ThimPress also sells mobile apps for LearnPress, backed by a free add-on that provides the APIs they need.

Themes are part of the LearnPress picture. The listing says the plugin works with any theme, and it also promotes ThimPress education themes that come with premium add-ons included. That can be a convenient package. Before you rely on it, check which add-ons a theme includes and how they are updated, because it ties your design and your LMS features to one purchase.

For support, LifterLMS offers tickets to paying customers and documentation and community to everyone else. LearnPress points users to the ThimPress support forum, a Facebook group, and its GitHub repository for bug reports. Check what support comes with any add-on or theme you buy.

Choose LifterLMS when, choose LearnPress when

Choose LifterLMS when:

• Memberships, certificates, drip content, and automated emails are requirements from the start, and you want them without buying add-ons.
• You want several pricing options on one course, with coupons and vouchers built in.
• Stripe or PayPal covers your market, and paying for one gateway or bundle is acceptable.
• You want your LMS features to stay separate from your choice of theme.

Choose LearnPress when:

• You want to accept PayPal payments with no paid add-on at all.
• Your students pay through a regional gateway that LearnPress supports directly.
• In-person or blended courses are a large part of what you sell.
• You plan to build on a ThimPress education theme, or you want a matching mobile app.

How to decide, and when to get help

Write down the features you need in the first six months, then mark each one free or paid for both plugins using the table above and the vendors' own pages. The totals often look different from what the phrase "free LMS" suggests, in both directions.

Then test. Install both cores on a staging site, build one short course, and run one purchase from start to finish. Pay attention to checkout, the student dashboard, and the emails that go out, since those are what your customers see.

Professional help earns its cost when the plan includes a payment gateway that needs custom work, an integration with a CRM or HR system, or a move from an existing LMS with students and progress to preserve. Our LifterLMS integrations and LifterLMS migration services cover those cases, and you can contact us if you want a straight answer on whether LifterLMS suits your project.