Created your first course? Maybe you’re an experienced online teacher searching for a better platform. No matter your experience level, finding the right course platform can be a time-consuming headache.

From Podia to Udemy, there are plenty of options out there. Pathwright is another major player. But is it right for you? That’s exactly what we’ll explore in this complete Pathwright review. 

Founded in the early 2010s, Pathwright has become a leading Learning Management System (LMS) platform. Taking a look at Capterra, the platform is reviewed very highly. It has a 4.8* rating. The downside? That’s only based on 12 reviews. 

capterra pathwright review

So, what’s the truth? Is it a good platform, or are you better off using something else? To find out, we need to dig a bit deeper. Let’s get started.

What is Pathwright?

pathwright homepage

Pathwright is a Learning Management System (LMS). Put simply, an LMS refers to software that helps with creating, managing, and delivering online courses and training. It can also be used to support students and track their progress. 

This is exactly what Pathwright has to offer. The platform is tailored to teachers, non-profit organizations, and small to medium businesses. It’s ideal for providing training to employees or students on a larger scale. It also has useful features for individual course creators. 

Discover dozens of profitable online course ideas from an expert creator.

Pathwright review: features

Paths

But what makes Pathwright stand out as an LMS? And what can it offer course creators?

What’s interesting about Pathwright is its focus on “paths”. The platform highlights the importance of paths to developing a learning journey. 

pathwright paths

Essentially, Pathwright argues that presenting content isn’t enough to create an engaging learning experience. Instead, the best educators connect all the important steps together. That gives students the pathways they need to progress. 

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to make these learning “paths” visible. That’s where Pathwright can help. 

pathrwright features

There are several core features that make up Pathwright. These are:

  • Paths
  • Blocks 
  • Cohorts

On Pathwright, the paths you create are essentially step-by-step guides to lead students through a course or event. They make it easier for your students to process the information, and know what they need to do next. 

Paths are made up of “Steps”, which you’ll add in via the drag-and-drop designer. Within each Step, there are “Blocks”. This refers to the course content. So, this can encompass videos, articles, questions, and more. Finally, you’ll use “Cohorts” to decide how you want to share your Path - and who to.

Blocks

As mentioned above, Blocks are the interactive content elements you can add to Steps on your Path. There are 30+ types available, offering lots of different ways to keep students engaged. You can also tailor their appearance to your business with media and color options.

So, what kind of Blocks are there? Well, there are some staples of online education:

  • Text
  • Video
  • Audio
  • Quizzes
  • Multiple choice questions
  • Events

There are also some interesting engagement Blocks, like:

  • Project uploads
  • Matching
  • Carousel
  • Text on image
  • Flashcards

Cohorts

Cohorts refer to groups of students working on the same Path. They're the platform’s learning communities. 

Once you've made a Path, you can create Cohorts who will learn together. You can create a single Cohort, or over 100. It's up to you.

Plus, you can create multiple Cohorts for a single Path. These can then be tailored to have their own teachers, scheduling, pricing, and more. You can even add custom steps if they need to be different from the original Path.

pathwright website

This is useful if you offer multiple versions of the same Path, or want to offer it at different times throughout the year.

For example, you might provide the Path to staff of different experience levels, which could require different schedules or steps. If you offer seasonal classes, you can also create Summer and Winter Cohorts.

There are lots of ways to keep Cohorts engaged—that includes forum-style discussion features, like threads, upvotes, and prompts.

You'll also get an at-a-glance view of your student’s progress, so you're always kept in the loop. The platform automatically syncs any updates from the original Path (whilst maintaining any customizations to your Cohort). 

These engagement tools will stop students from losing focus on your course, and keep them invested. But Pathwright isn’t the only platform to leverage these tools. 

You’ll also find them on platforms like Whop. Aside from Whop’s Courses App, there are lots of other native apps to keep students engaged.

For example, The SDR Whisperer offers a full sales expert course on Whop, but he also provides weekly coaching calls on his Inner Circle plan, among other benefits.

His products make use of a wide range of Whop apps, including assignments, Chat App, Job Board, and Calendar Bookings.

the SDR whisperer whop

Mentor tools

Pathwright also includes many features to help teachers and mentors manage their students. You’ll have a single inbox for all your student feedback, and a single page to view student Paths. That keeps everything streamlined, so you can focus on teaching. You can also assign other mentors to learner groups.

Pros and cons of Pathwright

No Pathwright review would be complete without exploring the platform’s pros and cons. The features sound simple and intuitive. But do they work in practice?

Pathwright pros

Easy to use 👍

Users agree that Pathwright is intuitive for both teachers and students alike. This review from David W. on Capterra highlights how easy course creation is on the platform.

pathwright pro review

Similarly, Julie on GetApp praises the simple set-up process and the ease of use for learners.

pathwright pro review 2

Cohort and group features 👥

Pathwright goes deeper than a simple course creator. It provides a level of customization that’s ideal for digital teachers, particularly those who work for organizations or learning institutions.

Depending on your plan, it’s very easy to offer the same Path to different student groups via Cohorts. Customer reviews, like this one from John S. on Capterra, appreciate the options to tailor content to specific groups.

pathwright pro review 3

Helpful customer support 💡

There’s nothing worse than facing a roadblock with a new piece of software. Fortunately, Pathwright seems to excel in customer service. That’s reflected in their customer reviews, like this one from Jules G on Capterra.

pathwright pro review 4

Pathwright cons

Expensive pricing 💸

Whilst Pathwright has many useful features for digital course creators, it’s not a cheap platform. Competitors include Moodle, with plans starting at $130 annually, and Blackboard LMS, which starts at around $9,500 per year. 

It’s important to keep in mind that LMS software is aimed at businesses and institutions, so it’s not always affordable for solo creators. That’s not necessarily a “con”, but you’ll need to think about whether it reflects your needs. If it doesn’t, Pathwright could be an expensive investment for limited features.

In contrast, course creation platforms that are actually geared towards content creators are typically more reasonably priced. For example, Podia’s “Mover” plan starts at $33 per month, with 5% transaction fees. On this plan, you can sell courses, coaching sessions, and more.

Similarly, you can set up a store on Whop to sell courses, access to online communities, and more. And it’s completely free of charge to get started! You’ll only pay fees from as low as 3% when you make a sale.

Learning curve 🧗

Although Pathwright has an intuitive design, there’s still a learning curve to work around. Henry, a reviewer on GetApp, comments on the challenges he experienced learning to create courses on the platform. 

pathwright con

Limited selling options 🚫

If you’re looking for a course creation and management platform, Pathwright is a good option. Still, as mentioned above, it’s not geared toward online content creators

As an LMS, it’s aimed more at organizations. So, there are fewer options for the kinds of products and services you can offer. 

Platforms that are tailored to digital creators naturally offer more scope. For example, Whop allows you to sell all kinds of digital products. That includes:

  • Online courses
  • PDF guides
  • Podcasts
  • Ebooks
  • Video content
  • Coaching sessions
  • Software
  • Access to online communities 
  • + much more

Whop also comes with a free course creation tool, so you can get started developing your courses right off the bat.

Learn how to start creating courses with Whop’s Courses App.

Pathwright pricing: how much does it cost?

pathwright pricing

Pathwright has several pricing plans to choose from. It’s free to set up a Pathwright account and start creating Paths. But to start selling, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan. 

If you do upgrade to a monthly plan, you’ll get your first month on the house. You’ll also save 10% by paying annually. First, here’s a quick overview of all the paid plans:

Starter Essentials Complete Enterprise
Annual plan price $89 per month $179 per month $449 per month Custom
Monthly plan price $99 per month $199 per month $499 per month Custom
Unlimited Paths
Cohorts 1 3 Unlimited Unlimited
Mentor groups 1 5 20 Unlimited
Staff 1 5 20+ 50+
Sell paid subscriptions 1 3 5
Sell Paths to private groups

Let’s take a look at the plans in more detail:

Starter

The most affordable paid plan, this allows you to:

  • Sell Paths by linking a Stripe account
  • Provide an unlimited number of public, members-only, and private Paths 

It’s limited to one staff account, Cohort, and Mentor Group. So, this may be too limiting for larger businesses. 

Best for: Individual teachers looking for a platform to sell courses from.

Essentials

This plan unlocks several extra features, including:

  • Multiple Cohorts for each path (Maximum 3 per path)
  • Creating Mentor Groups (Maximum of 5)
  • Extra staff accounts (up to 5)
  • The option to sell one monthly or annual recurring subscription

You can also use a custom domain or sub-domain with this plan, and integrate Pathwright with other software using Zapier. 

Best for: Small teams who need to offer courses across multiple cohorts.

Complete

As the name suggests, this plan includes a complete package that will suit most medium-sized businesses and organizations. Important upgrades include:

  • Unlimited cohorts
  • Option for member-created cohorts
  • 20 Mentor Groups
  • 20+ staff accounts
  • Downloadable and printable Certificates of Completion for students
  • Sell up to 3 subscriptions

Best for: Organizations that want to share training materials and courses across several teams.

Enterprise

Custom solutions are also available for the largest enterprises. Some of the major upgrades that larger brands could benefit from include:

  • 50+ staff accounts
  • Unlimited Mentor Groups
  • API access
  • Direct developer support
  • Single Sign On (SSO) integration
  • Sell up to 5 subscriptions

Best for: This customized plan is suited to the largest organizations and enterprises.

Additional costs

Outside of the plans, there are some additional expenses to consider if you want to scale on the platform. For example, you can add extra staff accounts to each plan. The price varies depending on your plan.

Extra staff accounts cost:

  • Starter - $2 per month
  • Essentials - $4 per month
  • Complete - $9 per month 
  • Enterprise - $12 per month

Every paid plan allows up to 1,000 members. This includes students, teachers, or anyone of this kind who is accessing your account. If you need more than 1,000 members, you can buy more in blocks of 500, 1,000, or 5,000. Pricing starts at $49 per month for an additional 500 members on the Starter plan.

Pathwright doesn’t take a fee from your sales. Still, you’ll need to keep in mind that their payment processor Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 in transaction fees.

What are the best Pathwright alternatives?

Pathwright isn’t the only learning management system out there. It’s also not the only course-creation tool. Depending on what you’re looking for, Pathwright alternatives might suit your business better. Here’s a quick rundown of the best alternatives.

Whop

whop sell anything

Whop is an ecommerce marketplace for selling digital products. It’s not just for course creators,  but the course builder is a huge draw to the platform. It’s useful because you can create and sell courses from a single, intuitive dashboard.

Beyond this, Whop also provides tools to sell other product types and market your business. You can also bundle related items together into one product. For example, you could sell eBooks and coaching sessions with your course. 

You can also set up a free community on Whop to promote your products and connect with potential customers. Or even start a community with paid membership plans, and sell access on Whop.

If you’re an entrepreneur or content creator, Whop offers a lot of flexibility and functionality to grow your brand. 

Blackboard

blackboard homepage

If you’re specifically looking for an LMS alternative, then Blackboard might be your first choice. Developed by Anthology, this cloud-based LMS offers some interesting generative AI tools.

Teachers can use these to develop courses, assessments, and grading. There are also course design tools, analytics, and more, which are essential for large educational institutions. 

The platform is currently in use by many universities, including Northern Illinois University, Khalifa University, University of Northampton, and Singapore University of Technology and Design.

With pricing starting at $9,500 per year, the tool can be pricey. Naturally, it’s more suited to universities and similar institutions.

MoodleCloud

moodlecloud

MoodleCloud is another popular cloud-based LMS for universities and educational institutions. Again, it can be used for every stage of the process - from course creation to selling the course and managing students. 

There are Standard plans, which offer essential features and can allow up to 1,000 users. There’s also the option for a premium solution. These are delivered by a local Certified Partner or Service Provider and are aimed at large enterprises.

Podia

podia homepage

For solo content creators, Podia is another popular course creation platform, thanks to its additional website builder and email marketing tools. Having these all in one place makes this a strong all-in-one platform for digital creators. 

The platform also provides a free tier - though this limits you to just one download and one coaching product. You’ll also have to keep in mind the 10% transaction fees on the free plan. 

On the paid plans, you’ll still need to factor in transaction fees too. These are 8% on the Starter plan and 5% on the Mover plan. Transaction fees are removed on the Shaker plan, which starts at $59 per month (for the first year). 

That’s in contrast to Whop, which is always free to set up, and charges fees as low as 3% on sales.

Want email marketing for your brand? Discover our guide to the best email newsletter software.

Build and sell online courses and communities on Whop

whop dashboard

Pathwright is a solid platform for educational institutions, but it’s not as tailored for content creators. That’s down to its pricing and lack of digital product options. 

Whilst platforms like Kajabi and Podia do offer an alternative, these are still expensive for creatives and solo entrepreneurs. So, what’s the solution? 

Whop can help. 

It takes just 10 minutes to create a whop. This will become your storefront on the platform. From your whop, you can offer digital goods tailored to your audience. Just add one—or many—of our native apps to your product. 

That includes our Courses App. It’s free to implement and easy to use. You can use a diverse range of text and media to create your course and track your students’ progress. 

whop courses app

Plus, there are plenty of other unique apps to engage and inspire your students, including:

  • Job Board - to post job opportunities
  • Masterminds - sell access to secure live lessons
  • 1-1 Coaching Calls - sell slots on your calendar for live coaching calls
  • Discord - sell access to your Discord server
  • Chat - enables your students to talk to each other

Whop also makes it affordable to grow your brand online. We only charge a 3% transaction fee when you sell a product on our platform.