Online Course Platform: External or Proprietary?

You may already be aware, but e-learning has now taken hold in Italy as well. And the data confirms it. According to a Eurostat report, cited by Orizzonte Scuola, in 2024 about 32% of Italian web users took at least one online course or used digital learning materials. This is a breakthrough that is a direct consequence of the lockdown period. Since then, digital training has evolved to become a strategic pillar for Italian SMEs. Today we’re talking about a highly profitable market and, for this reason, user experience quality is now essential to achieve a satisfactory result. No point beating around the bush though: among the questions we hear most often from those who want to invest in online training, the same age-old dilemma always comes up. Namely, is it better to use an external or proprietary platform? The answer—we’ll tell you upfront—is not universal. In this article, therefore, we’ll analyze the pros and cons of both approaches. By the end, you’ll know exactly which direction to take without risking missteps.

Where to Publish Online Courses in 2026?

Today the online course platform market is extremely varied. It ranges from SaaS giants (Software as a Service) offering turnkey packages and external but adaptable solutions, to the possibility of building your own digital e-learning platform. In both cases—clearly—the choice is not purely technical. Rather, it reflects both the ambition of your training project and your budget capacity. In a nutshell, we could say this: if the goal is to test an idea (e.g., launch an MVP), external solutions are indeed a godsend. But if your business is already scaling and registering increasing traffic volumes, staying “on rent” could become a gilded cage in the long run. Let’s look, however, at the pros and cons of each solution in detail.

External Platforms

By external online course platforms we mean SaaS solutions like Kajabi, Teachable or the more updated versions of Italian players (e.g., Learnn). A choice like this represents a quick route if you’re in a hurry to launch your online course. But how do they work? Essentially with external platforms you’re, so to speak, “renting.” You’ll pay a monthly fee and receive in return a ready-to-use infrastructure that handles video hosting, payment gateways, and IT security. The main advantage is undoubtedly speed. Keep in mind that you could potentially upload your lessons in the morning and be ready to sell them by the afternoon—without having to worry about technical bugs or server updates (which remain the provider’s problem). Moreover, the standardized interface offers users a familiar and reassuring environment, similar to that of many other courses they’ve already taken. In short: your students remain within an already defined (and familiar) circuit that can encourage enrollments, especially among those who don’t know you yet. Of course this convenience comes at a price. Like the sales commissions that add to the fixed fee and can erode profit margins. Or even the fact of finding yourself as a “guest” on someone else’s platform, a condition that limits your branding strategies (including personal branding). Think, for example, of the predefined structure your course will have or even the design elements of the template: on an external platform you’ll always have little control over your brand image, which can represent a huge limitation for your business scalability.

Comparison Table of Some of the Most Famous E-Learning Platforms

	Type	Feature	Costs	Technical Complexity	Data Ownership
Udemy	Marketplace	Large organic traffic	Percentage on sales (from 13% to 63%, depending on sale type)	Low	None
Skillshare	Marketplace	Focus on creativity and design	None, but earnings are based on monthly royalties	Low	None
Learnn	Selection curated by internal team	Quality guaranteed by team and Italian community	None, earnings are based on internal agreements	None, everything is managed by the Learnn team.	Limited, i.e., shared with the platform
Kajabi	SaaS	All-in-one platform	Subscription from €120 to €320 per month	Medium-high	Total
Teachable	SaaS	Highly customizable	Subscription from €40 to €140 per month	Medium	Total

 

The Proprietary Platform

The proprietary platform, on the other hand, gives you total control. Choosing a proprietary online course platform means, in fact, definitively overcoming the limitations of third-party software. It means starting to make technology “bend” to your vision, adapting it to the business you have in mind. Consider that a proprietary e-learning platform is an asset in every respect. You can curate the user experience (UX) down to the smallest detail, create an environment that 100% reflects your brand authority. You can—in other words—finally distinguish yourself from the thousands of other competitors present instead on an external platform. Let’s say, for example, that you want to insert a particular gamification system. Or include a private forum with unique logic or an integrated coaching area. Well, with a proprietary platform you can do it without problems: you won’t have to ask anyone’s permission or hope that the SaaS developer releases an update in the short term. Not to mention the issue of data ownership. When you use an external platform, your students’ data passes through their servers and is subject to their policies. In a proprietary structure, the database is yours. This allows you to integrate learning data with your CRM, but also create personalized marketing automations (e.g., if a student has been stuck on a lesson for too long or when they’re ready for an upsell). Obviously, with a proprietary platform you’ll also have maintenance responsibility—which can be intimidating, especially on the cost front. However, that level of independence helps you scale your business and, therefore, earn more. And once you’ve passed the critical threshold of users, the platform management costs will even seem more affordable than the commissions to pay to a SaaS.

What Is the Best Online Course Platform?

At this point, the question arises spontaneously: is there really a winning choice regardless? If we look at the market evolution over the last two years, we realize that the trend has shifted drastically toward hybridization and customization. At this point the best online course platform is simply the one that doesn’t suffocate you while you try to grow your business. In our experience, many start with external solutions for their disarming simplicity but soon find themselves dealing with the frustration of not being able to scale as they’d like. It’s clear: if your project is an experiment or a side project, SaaS is your lifeline. But if training is the heart of your business, things change. Because then the proprietary platform will be the only one able to let you sleep soundly. Not forgetting that, in 2026, the difference is made by the ecosystem. The best platform today is the one that manages to make the student feel part of an exclusive club. A result that requires a brand project and a recognizable structure in the user experience—all things impossible to customize with standardized tools.

How Much Does a Proprietary E-Learning Platform Cost

Costs are often—and we’re aware of this—a sore point for many entrepreneurs. Especially in the initial phase of a project. There’s often a tendency to think that a proprietary platform is an investment reserved only for multinationals. The reality, however, is very different: if we look at the medium-long term, a proprietary solution can even lead to significant savings. But let’s try to quantify. For a solid, secure, and professional online course platform, the investment is usually divided into two phases:

• initial setup
• management

The initial setup includes architecture design, LMS (Learning Management System) configuration, UX/UI customization, and payment system integration. For a job well done, that won’t blow up in your face at the hundredth subscriber, you start on average from €3,000 to €5,000. Obviously, if you’re looking for advanced features like AI integration for automatic tutoring or native mobile apps, the figure goes up. In the second phase, management, you’ll need to plan for high-performance hosting and periodic technical maintenance (i.e., security updates, backups, etc.). We’re talking about figures that rarely exceed €1,000 per year. So let’s do some quick math. A high-level external platform costs you about €250 per month. In two years you’ve spent €6,000 and you own nothing. With a proprietary platform, after two years you should have amortized the investment and you’ll have a digital asset that increases your company’s value. Not to mention 0% commissions on sales (apart from those, obviously, of payment gateways like Stripe or PayPal). It’s not a scenario to underestimate.

With No Digital Brain You Design Your Custom Platform

We know what you’re thinking: “It sounds awesome, but I’m not a techie.” And that’s exactly where we come in. At No Digital Brain we help you grow your training business by building a custom e-learning platform. Our approach is never standardized. In other words, we don’t sell you a pre-configured package hoping it’ll work for you. On the contrary, we analyze your teaching style, the type of materials you offer, and your students’ habits to tailor the perfect online course platform for your needs. The goal, for you, at that point is only one: stop being a sort of “tenant” and become—finally—the owner of your digital academy. The e-learning market in Italy is running fast: make sure you have the right vehicle to stay ahead.