How much should you charge for your course?
Short answer: add your income goal to your costs, divide by the number of people who will realistically buy, then add your payment fees. Enter your numbers in the course pricing calculator below. You get a price range for a cautious and a hopeful conversion rate, the price at which you break even, and how many buyers the price you have in mind needs.
At $197, 1.2% of your audience has to buy to reach your goal: more than your cautious 1%, less than your hopeful 3%.
- The starting numbers are an example, not a benchmark. Fees start at Stripe's standard US card rate. Refunds and tax aren't included.
How the course price is worked out
- Buyers = audience × conversion rate, rounded down to whole people. The calculator does this twice: at your cautious rate and at your hopeful one.
- Price to reach your goal = (income goal + costs) ÷ buyers, with the fees added back: (that amount + fixed fee per sale) ÷ (1 − fee %).
- Break-even price = costs ÷ buyers, with the fees added back the same way. Below it, the launch loses money.
- For the price you're considering: kept per sale = price × (1 − fee %) − fixed fee. Buyers to break even = costs ÷ kept per sale, and buyers to reach your goal = (goal + costs) ÷ kept per sale, both rounded up.
What it assumes
- Fees start at 2.9% + $0.30 per sale, Stripe's standard US card rate. If your course platform takes a cut, add it to the percentage. Swipefast takes 0% of your sales.
- Costs are what this launch costs you: recording, editing, ads, and the tools for the months you sell. Your own hours aren't counted, so put them in the goal if you want them paid.
- Refunds, sales tax and VAT aren't included. If you expect refunds, raise your goal by that share.
- The conversion rates are yours to set. The starting 1% and 3% are an example, not a benchmark.
Worked example
You want $10,000 from a course launch. Recording, editing and a little advertising cost $1,500. 5,000 people will hear about it: your email list and your followers.
At a cautious 1%, that's 50 buyers; at a hopeful 3%, 150. To reach $10,000 after costs and card fees of 2.9% + $0.30, the course needs to sell for $80 to $238. To break even, $11 to $32.
Say you pick $197. Each sale leaves you $190.99 after fees, so you break even at 8 buyers and reach your goal at 61. That's 1.2% of your audience: more than your cautious rate, well under your hopeful one. If you've never sold to this audience, either grow it before launch or plan a second round of promotion.
Swipefast is $49 a month with bumps, upsells, payment plans and affiliates included. Your AI can set it up for you.
Questions
How do I price my online course?
Start from your own numbers, not from what others charge: what you want to earn, what the course costs to make and sell, and how many people will realistically buy. The price that covers all three is your floor. Then check it against what the result is worth to your buyer, and round it to a clean price point.
What conversion rate should I use?
Your own, if you've sold to this audience before: buyers divided by the people who heard about the offer. If you haven't, set a cautious and a hopeful rate, as the calculator does. One real reference: across all of our products, 6.06% of the people who reached a checkout page ordered. That counts only people who got as far as the checkout, not your whole audience, so your audience rate will be lower.
Does the calculator include platform fees?
Yes, as a percentage and a fixed amount per sale. They start at Stripe's standard US card rate, 2.9% + $0.30. If your course platform takes a cut of each sale, add it to the percentage. Swipefast takes 0% of your sales; Starter is $29 a month, which you can add to your costs.
Should I offer a payment plan?
For higher prices, often yes: three payments of $200 are an easier yes than $600 at once. Some sellers charge a little more in total on the plan to cover missed payments. Swipefast shows the full price and the plan side by side, charges each payment on schedule and retries a failed card.
Why a range and not one price?
Because the number nobody knows in advance is how many people will buy. A single right price hides that guess. The range shows how much the answer moves with it, and the break-even price shows the line you shouldn't go below.