Guide
How much of each course sale do you keep? Platform fees, processing fees and what to compare
October 30, 2026 · Written by the New Odyssey team, with AI help.
You priced the course at $149. A student buys it. How much of that $149 reaches you?
The answer depends on two different fees that are easy to confuse, and on the plan you pay for each month. This guide separates them, works through one sale, and lists what to check before you choose a platform.
Two fees, not one
The platform fee is a percentage some course platforms keep from each sale. It is charged by the platform, on top of what you pay for your plan.
The processing fee is what the payment provider charges to take the card. Stripe's fee, for example, starts at 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards. It applies whichever platform you use.
Platforms often advertise one and leave the other in the footnotes. Compare them separately.
A worked example on a $149 course
These figures use rates published on each platform's pricing page, checked on October 28, 2026. They ignore your monthly plan price and tax, and they assume a US card.
| Platform fee | Processing fee | You keep | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform with a 7.5% fee, such as Teachable Starter | $11.18 | $4.62 | $133.20 |
| Platform with 2% on third-party payments, such as Kajabi Basic with another provider | $2.98 | $4.62 | $141.40 |
| Platform with no platform fee, such as Aula | $0.00 | $4.62 | $144.38 |
Two things to notice. Processing is the same on every row, so it should not decide the choice. And the platform fee is the only line that differs, so it grows with every sale: at 20 sales of this course, a 7.5% fee is about $224.
What else to check
- The monthly price for your number of courses. Teachable's Starter and Aula's Creator plan are both $39 a month for five published courses, so there the platform fee is the difference. Kajabi's Basic plan is $179 a month.
- Where the money goes. Some platforms pay you out themselves. With others, buyers pay straight into your own Stripe account.
- Billing period. Some platforms offer annual billing at a lower monthly price. Check which one the advertised price assumes.
- What the plan includes. Website builders, marketing tools and AI features vary. Compare the ones you will really use.
- Leaving. Check you can export your course and your students.
Where Aula fits
Aula takes 0% of every sale on every plan. Buyers pay into your own Stripe account, and you pay only Stripe's processing fee. Aula drafts the course from your documents and recordings in your voice, and an AI tutor answers your students. Building is free, with no time limit; you choose a plan when you publish.
Aula has no annual billing, and Kajabi's Basic plan includes a website builder and more marketing tools than Aula does today. If those matter more to you than the fee, compare them on the page for each tool.
Questions
Is a platform fee the same as a card processing fee?
No. The platform fee goes to the course platform. The processing fee goes to the card network and payment provider, such as Stripe, and applies whichever platform you use.
What should I compare first?
The monthly price for the number of courses you will publish, the platform fee on each sale, and whether your payments go into your own account.