Ecommerce OS · Info Products8 min readUpdated November 3, 2026

Shopify or a Sales Funnel for Your Info Product Business?

Can you sell online courses on Shopify, or do you need a funnel or course platform? What each does, costs and lacks for courses and memberships.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 12 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

You can sell online courses on Shopify, but its free app delivers files and links, not a course area: you need a third-party app or a course platform. A sales funnel sells one offer to paid traffic better, with bumps, upsells and payment plans. Shopify fits creators who also sell physical products; a funnel fits a course or coaching business.

Shopify's free "Shopify Digital Products" app lists "Courses" and "Videos" and can "Set access limits and send digital asset links after purchase" (read November 2, 2026).
Shopify charges no extra fee for digital products, but adds 2% (Basic) down to 0.2% (Plus) per order if you use another payment provider.
ClickFunnels "does not charge any fees for processing payments"; its Payments AI gateway lists a "Standard Base Fee (2.9% + $0.30)" (October 29, 2026).
ClickFunnels plans include 3 to 20 "Courses/Community", depending on the tier.
Kajabi starts at $179 a month, billed monthly, with hosting, pages and email included.

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On this page

This guide is part of our playbook on the best ecommerce platform for info product businesses. For Shopify checkout in general, any industry, see our Shopify checkout guide.

Can you sell online courses on Shopify?

Yes for a file or a link, not for a full course area on its own. Here is what Shopify does natively and what you add.

Need	Shopify alone	What to add
Sell an ebook, PDF or template	YesWith the free Shopify Digital Products app1	Nothing
Send a video or link after purchase	Yes"send digital asset links after purchase"1	Nothing
Course area with lessons, progress and logins	No	A third-party course app, or a course platform linked to the store
Membership or community with monthly billing	Not in the Digital Products app	A subscription app plus an access tool
Payment plans	Not in the Digital Products app	A subscription or installment app

Shopify's help center lists "online services and downloadable files" as common digital products and says there are "no additional fees for selling digital products"2. We found no official Shopify course app: the course apps on the App Store come from third parties.

Shopify Payments does not name courses or coaching in its prohibited categories, and notes the list "isn't exhaustive and it varies depending on your region"5.

What each option is built for

Three tools compete for the same creator. They start from different jobs.

	Shopify store	Sales funnel (ClickFunnels)	Course platform (Kajabi and others)
Built for	A catalog of products	One offer, one path, paid traffic	Hosting and selling courses
Course delivery	Files and links, or a third-party app	Courses hosted on all plans; video uploads up to 3 GB each6 8	Native
Checkout offers	Apps	Native bumps and upsells	Varies by platform
Catalog and physical products	Native	Limited	Limited
Best traffic	Organic, marketplace, repeat buyers	Paid social, webinars, launches	Email list, organic

Cost side by side (as of November 2026)

Compare total cost: plan, platform fee per sale, and card processing.

	Shopify	ClickFunnels	Kajabi
Plan, billed monthly	See shopify.com/pricing; Plus "Starts at $2,300 USD/mo"3	Launch $97, Scale $197, Optimize $297; Dominate $5,997 a year6	$179, $249, $4999
Card processing, own gateway	Shopify Payments: 2.9% + 30¢ (Basic), 2.7% + 30¢ (Grow), 2.5% + 30¢ (Advanced)4	Payments AI: 2.9% + $0.30, plus 0.5% for "Billing/Tax/Invoicing++"7	Kajabi Payments: 2.9%, 2.8% or 2.7% + $0.30 (US)9
Extra fee with another provider	2%, 1%, 0.6% or 0.2% by plan3	"No additional fees beyond the standard processor rates"7	2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan9
Course hosting	Third-party app	Included	Included

Read on each vendor's page on November 2, 2026. Shopify's base plan prices were not readable in USD from our location on that date.

Fig. 1Extra fee per sale when you bring another payment provider

Shopify, Basic2%
Kajabi, highest rate2%
ClickFunnelsNo additional fees beyond the standard processor rates0%

Source: Vendor pages, read November 2, 2026

On top of the processor's own rate.

Highest rate listed by each vendor, which falls as the plan rises. Shopify pricing, Kajabi pricing and ClickFunnels Support, read November 2, 2026.

What a course sale needs that a store doesn't

A course buyer pays once for something they cannot hold. That changes what the checkout and the back office must do.

Need	Why it matters	Shopify	Funnel or course platform
Order bump and one-click upsell	Raises order value without new traffic	Apps	Usually native
Payment plan	Opens high-ticket offers to more buyers	Apps	Often native
Membership billing	Recurring revenue	Subscription app	Often native
Cut access on a failed payment	Avoids free access after a missed installment	Needs app plus access tool	Platform-dependent
Access logs for disputes	Visa accepts IP, device and proof of use after purchase for digital goods10	Depends on the course app	Platform-dependent

The checkout side is covered in one-click upsells and payment plans for info product businesses.

When Shopify is the right base

You already sell physical products (merch, books, kits) and want courses in the same cart.
You sell a catalog of ebooks, templates or presets, mostly from organic traffic.
Repeat buyers come back to browse and buy more.
You want one store for tax, customers and reporting.

Add a course app or link a course platform for lessons. Read Shopify checkout for info product businesses before you add apps for bumps and upsells.

When a funnel wins

Fig. 2Four signs a funnel is the better base

One main offer
A flagship course or program.
Paid traffic
To a single page, with a clear next step.
High-ticket coaching
Application, call, then a checkout link with a payment plan.
Launches and webinars
With a start date and an upsell after payment.

The structure is in the info product sales funnel and sales funnels for info product businesses.

The hybrid setup: who does what

Many creators end up with both. Give each tool one job.

Job	Tool
Catalog, merch, books	Shopify
Flagship offer: page, checkout, bump, upsell, payment plan	A funnel or a dedicated checkout
Lessons, logins, progress	Course platform or course app
Access granted or removed	Webhooks from the checkout to the course tool
Ad tracking	Server-side events from the checkout

Fig. 3The hybrid setup: one job per tool

Your info product businessEach tool does one job

ShopifyCatalog, merch, books
Funnel or dedicated checkoutPage, checkout, bump, upsell, payment plan
Course platform or appLessons, logins, progress
WebhooksAccess granted or removed
Server-side eventsAd tracking, from the checkout

Example

A cooking teacher sells aprons and a cookbook on Shopify, and a $297 course through a funnel with a $27 recipe-card bump. The funnel checkout tells the course platform to open access after payment, and sends purchases to Meta from the server. Shopify keeps the physical catalog.

Fig. 4The cooking teacher's course sale, end to end

approved declined or closed routing step

Funnel checkout$297 course + $27 recipe-card bump
takesPaymentPaidApproved
tellsCourse platformAccess openedApproved
thenMetaPurchase sent from the server

Illustrative example.

Decision table

Your situation	Base	Why
Ebooks or templates only	Shopify or a simple digital store	Files and links are enough
One course, sold with ads	Funnel or course platform	Bumps, upsells, one path
Course plus physical products	Shopify + course app, or hybrid	One cart for the catalog
High-ticket coaching	Funnel with payment plans	Call first, then checkout link
Membership or community	Course platform or funnel with recurring billing	Retries, cancellation, access

How Tagada helps

The checkout and offer layer between your store and your course platform

Tagada is the checkout and offer layer. It runs standalone or on Shopify, and leaves lessons to your course platform.

Checkout offers: "Checkout, one-click upsells, subscriptions and membership on the same funnel." Order bumps before payment.
Access: events such as subscription/pastDue or subscription/canceled sent by webhook to the tool that manages access11.
Payments: "Route to the processor most likely to approve it, retry on decline." Your cards stay in your vault.
Tracking: server-side events to Meta, Google and TikTok.

"Already on Shopify, WooCommerce, ClickFunnels or BigCommerce? Drop TagadaPay in." "If you sell something real, we will get you paid."

TagadaPay lists info products, coaching and online courses among its industries, with "enhanced review for regulated verticals"; "Most merchants are live under 24 hours." Pricing starts "From 2.9% + $0.29", with "No setup fees, no monthly minimums"12. Plans are on the pricing page.

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments.

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The checkout and offer layer between your store and your course platform

Updated on November 3, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can you sell video courses on Shopify?

Yes, as files or links. The free Shopify Digital Products app lists "Courses" and "Videos" and sends "digital asset links after purchase". For lessons with logins, progress and a course area, you need a third-party course app or a course platform connected to your store.

Is there an official Shopify course app?

We found none as of November 2, 2026. Shopify's own app is Shopify Digital Products, built for files and links. Course apps on the Shopify App Store come from third-party developers. Check their billing, access control and data export before you choose.

Does ClickFunnels host courses and memberships?

Yes. ClickFunnels plans include 3 to 20 "Courses/Community" depending on the tier, and you can upload course videos of up to 3 GB each. ClickFunnels says it "does not charge any fees for processing payments" beyond the processor's rates.

Is Shopify cheaper than Kajabi for a course business?

It depends on volume and add-ons. Kajabi starts at $179 a month with hosting included. On Shopify, add the plan, a course app and, with another payment provider, 2% to 0.2% per order. Compare total cost on your real monthly sales.

Do coaches need a website or just a funnel?

A funnel is enough to sell one coaching program: a page, an application or call, and a checkout with a payment plan. A website helps once you publish content, sell several offers or want to rank in search. Many coaches start with a funnel.

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026

Tagada

Keep Shopify for the catalog, sell the flagship course through a funnel

Funnels, one-click upsells, subscription billing and payment routing, on one customer record.

Start free See pricing

01Create your free account
02Connect your store or build a checkout
03Launch funnels, upsells and subscriptions