Cohort / live courses

Cohort and live courses let you run a course for a group that starts together and follows a schedule, with set dates, live sessions or timed releases, instead of selling self-paced content only. For example, a six-week programme starts on a fixed date and each week opens on schedule. Circle, Mighty Networks and Thinkific are among the tools that offer this.

Self-paced courses are cheap to run, but many learners never finish. A cohort adds deadlines and a group, which usually helps people stay with it, and often lets you charge more. It also takes your time to teach. It matters when you offer coaching or a guided programme. If you only sell recorded lessons, you will not need it.

• Ask whether content can be released on a schedule for each cohort, or only once for everyone.
• Check whether live sessions are hosted on the platform or need a separate video tool.
• Test how a second cohort is set up, since you want to reuse the course without rebuilding it.
• Find out whether you can limit places and run a waiting list.