Guide · Course platforms
How to create an online course platform in Colombia.
From having what you know in your head to an online academy that charges, grants access and issues certificates. The options, the steps and the mistakes to avoid, designed for selling online courses in Colombia.
Updated .
Short answer
To create a course platform you need four things: a well-built course, a place to host it with protected video, a way to get paid with the methods your students use and a way to bring in students. Start with the course, not the platform.
01 What you need
Four pieces, in this order of importance.
The platform comes third. With a course nobody asked for, the best platform in the world won't sell.
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A course that solves something
A concrete result for a concrete person, split into modules and short lessons. It's the product; everything else delivers it.
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Students who find it
Your community, your social media, Google, an email list or an AI that recommends you. Without traffic, an online academy is an empty building.
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A platform
Where the course lives: sign-up, per-student access, protected video, progress, quizzes and certificates.
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A way to get paid
A gateway connected to access: the student pays by card, PSE or another method and gets into the course without you enrolling them by hand.
02 The three options
Rent, assemble or build.
None wins on everything. What changes is the time to get started, the control and who maintains the platform.
| Criterion | Rented platformHotmart, Teachable, Thinkific… | WordPress with an LMS pluginLearnDash, Tutor LMS… | Your own platformCustom-built |
|---|---|---|---|
| To get started | Days: you create the account and upload the course. | Weeks: hosting, theme, plugin, payments and testing. | Weeks or months, in phases. |
| How you pay | Subscription, a fee per sale or both, depending on the platform and the plan. | Hosting, plugin licenses and maintenance. | Initial development, hosting and maintenance. |
| Your brand | Whatever the platform lets you customize. | Your domain and your design, within what the theme and the plugin allow. | Your domain and your design, no template. |
| Payments | The methods the platform integrates. | Those of the gateway you connect. | The gateway you choose. |
| Students and data | They live in its system; what you can export depends on it. | On your server. | On your server, in your name. |
| Maintenance | The platform handles it. | Yours: updates, security and backups. | The team that built it, under contract. |
| Main risk | Changes to pricing or terms, and depending on it. | Plugins that clash with each other or stop getting updates. | Building before validating the course, or choosing the wrong team. |
Pricing changes often: check each platform's pricing page before deciding. The links are in Sources.
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Rent if…
It's your first course
You want to validate that someone pays for what you teach before investing in technology. It's the right call for most people starting out.
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Assemble with WordPress if…
You already have WordPress and someone to look after it
Your website is already on WordPress, you want everything under your domain and you have someone who updates plugins and checks security every month.
WordPress alternatives -
Build if…
You already sell and the platform falls short
You have paying students, and you need your own experience, memberships, companies as clients, integrations or to stop depending on someone else's rules.
Custom or SaaS
03 Step by step
Nine steps to create your online academy.
They work with any of the three options. The first three don't depend on the platform.
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Step 01
Define your course and your student
Who they are, what they know today and what they'll be able to do when they finish. “Learn to take product photos with your phone” sells better than “Photography course.”
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Step 02
Structure modules and lessons
Each module, a step forward; each lesson, one idea and one exercise. Short lessons are easier to finish and pick back up than a two-hour class.
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Step 03
Record and prepare the material
Good audio before a good camera. Add what the student takes away: PDF guides, templates, exercises and answers to the usual questions.
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Step 04
Choose where to host the video
An “unlisted” YouTube video can be watched by anyone who has the link. For a paid course, use your platform's protection or a service that limits which domains it plays on.
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Step 05
Sort out payments in Colombia
In Colombia, Mercado Pago accepts cards, PSE and Efecty in its checkout; PayPal helps with students abroad. What matters: that paying grants access on its own, with no manual steps.
Payment gateway guide -
Step 06
Comply with personal data rules
Every student leaves a name, an email and sometimes a phone number. Law 1581 of 2012, Colombia's data protection law, requires telling them what you use it for and getting their consent: a checkbox at sign-up and a published policy.
Colombia’s data law on your site -
Step 07
Add quizzes and certificates
A quiz per module confirms the student is progressing. At the end, a certificate with name, course, hours and date. If it lasts under 160 hours, it's informal education: a certificate of attendance, not a degree.
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Step 08
Launch with a pilot course
Open a small first group, with limited spots and a start date. Listen to where they get stuck, fix it and re-record what wasn't understood before opening it to everyone.
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Step 09
Measure and improve
How many visit the course page, how many buy, how many finish and at which lesson they drop off. That lesson is the first one to fix.
04 The student journey
From the first click to the certificate.
Each step needs a piece. Where one is missing, the student gets lost.
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Finds you
On Google, on social media, by referral or in an AI's answer.
Course page -
Pays
By card, PSE or another method, without having to message you on WhatsApp.
Payment gateway -
Consents to data use
A clear checkbox at sign-up, with a link to your policy.
Law 1581 -
Learns
Modules in order, protected video and saved progress.
Platform and video -
Proves it
A quiz or an assignment at the end of each module.
Quizzes -
Gets the certificate
And an email about the next course, so they come back.
Certificate and email
05 Common mistakes
What keeps an online academy from taking off.
It's almost never the platform. It's almost always one of these.
Frequent mistakes
- Starting by choosing the platform before the course is clear.
- Recording 40 hours of classes before selling the first enrollment.
- Leaving videos on links anyone can share.
- Asking for data at sign-up without consent or a published policy.
- Promising a “degree” or a “diploma” that a non-formal course can't grant.
- Granting access by hand every time someone pays.
What does work
- Defining the course's result and then finding where to deliver it.
- A pilot with a small group, then recording the rest with what you learned.
- Video that only plays inside your platform.
- A consent checkbox and a link to the policy at sign-up.
- A clear certificate: course, hours, date and that it's informal education.
- Payment connected to access: they pay and they're in, at any hour.
06 At Blinq
When the rented platform falls short.
We build course platforms of your own, with your brand and your domain: modules, protected video, Colombian payments connected to access, data consent, quizzes and certificates. If you're still validating your first course, we'll tell you: sometimes renting is the right call.
07 Questions
Frequently asked questions about course platforms.
Have another question? Message us and we'll reply the same business day.
Ask on WhatsAppCan I sell a course without my own platform?
Yes. For a first course, a rented platform like Hotmart, Teachable or Thinkific is usually the fastest way to start: you host the course, get paid and grant access without writing any code. Your own platform makes sense once you're already selling and the rented one limits you on brand, payments, data or costs.
Can I upload the course videos to YouTube as “unlisted”?
It works, but it protects nothing. According to YouTube Help, anyone who has the link to an unlisted video can watch and share it. For a paid course, you're better off with video hosting that limits which domains it plays on, such as Vimeo's specific-domains option on its paid plans, or the protection your course platform provides.
What certificate can I give at the end of a course?
In Colombia, Decree 1075 of 2015 (article 2.6.6.8) says that informal education courses, those under 160 hours, only lead to a certificate of attendance, and that their promotion must make clear they don't lead to any degree. You can issue a certificate with the course name, the hours and the date. If you want to grant a degree or a certificate of occupational aptitude, the rules are different and it's worth getting advice.
How do I charge for an online course in Colombia?
With a payment gateway connected to your platform. Mercado Pago, for example, accepts cards, PSE and Efecty in its checkout in Colombia. If you sell to students in other countries, PayPal is familiar to them. Rented platforms usually come with their own payment methods; check which ones before choosing one.
Can I move my courses from Hotmart or Teachable to my own platform?
The videos and materials are yours and can be uploaded again. The student list depends on what the platform lets you export and on the data consent those people gave. It's best to plan the migration in phases so nobody loses access to what they already paid for.
How much does it cost to create a course platform?
It depends on the option. A rented platform is paid with a subscription, a commission per sale or both, depending on the plan. WordPress with an LMS plugin adds hosting, licenses and maintenance. Your own platform is a custom build. At Blinq, your own platform is a one-time build plus the annual plan based on the infrastructure; the exact price comes in writing after the free assessment.
Sources
Where the data comes from.
The rules and features cited in this guide come from these sources. For your specific case, consult a lawyer or your accountant.
- Certificates
Decreto 1075 de 2015, artículo 2.6.6.8 (in Spanish; informal education), in Función Pública's Gestor Normativo.
- Personal data
Ley 1581 de 2012 (in Spanish), on the Colombian Senate's site, and the Registro Nacional de Bases de Datos (National Database Registry), at the SIC.
- Unlisted videos
Video privacy settings, in YouTube Help, and How to restrict where your videos can be embedded, in Vimeo Help.
- Payments
Medios de pago de Checkout Pro (in Spanish), at Mercado Pago; PayPal Colombia, and ACH Colombia, which operates PSE.
- Platforms
Hotmart, Teachable, Thinkific, LearnDash and Tutor LMS, on their official sites.
Hotmart, Teachable, Thinkific, WordPress, LearnDash, Tutor LMS, YouTube, Vimeo, Mercado Pago, PayPal, PSE and the other brands mentioned belong to their owners. Blinq is not affiliated with them.
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