Maven is a powerful cloud-based platform where instructors can create cohort-based courses to groups of learners.

Established by Udemy co-founder Gagan Biyani, altMBA co-founder Wes Kao and early Venmo employee and Socratic co-founder Shreyans Bhansali, Maven allows subject experts to use their platform to host and deliver cohort-based courses in return for a commission.

A cohort-based course is a program of learning that’s organized into weeks/sections and is taken by a group of students (a cohort) at the same time. We call this ‘synchronous’ learning (compared to ‘asynchronous’ self-study elearning).

WordPress alternatives to Maven

Cloud-based platforms come with many benefits. However, before signing up for Maven, you should consider the alternatives, including delivering your cohort-based course in WordPress. Many of our Cohort Manager plugin customers at Training Spark are doing just that.

To deliver cohort-based courses in WordPress you’ll need:

• A WordPress site
• LearnDash
• Cohort Manager
• A Zoom/Google Meet/Whereby account

Why you should consider WordPress as an alternative to Maven

Creating a learning platform using WordPress, LearnDash, Cohort Manager and Zoom has several advantages over Maven:

• You have complete flexibility and control over your learning platform
• You keep all payments from your learners. You don’t need to pay commission to any third parties.
• You can blend your live video sessions with self-study online learning. This means you can use your tutor time more effectively than simply teaching through Zoom. Instead, group calls can be solely focused on sharing, collaborating and diving into key concepts.

Set up your own cohort-based courses on WordPress

Our quick walkthrough videos will show you how you can deliver cohort-based courses like Maven through your own WordPress site: