Hey, all -
I’m a photographer and educator, primarily focused on editorial portraiture and fashion. I regularly produce in-person workshops and teach at conferences, and now I’m working on expanding into the online education space.
My goal is to create an online platform that’s heavily video-centric but also includes other essential elements like a community space, webinars, and more. I’m planning to make it a subscription-based model.
However, I’ve been struggling to find the right platform that meets my needs. Most of the options I’ve explored—like LearnWorlds, Kajabi, Thinkific, etc.—are primarily designed for course creation and monetization rather than a true membership structure. They tend to lock videos into specific courses, which isn’t ideal for what I’m trying to build. I do appreciate their integrated features and the potential for scaling with a white-label app, but they don’t quite hit the mark.
One of the main features I’m looking for is the ability to create various video libraries on topics like lighting, editing, set design, and more. These libraries need to be regularly updated, searchable, and include both long-form and short-form videos. I’ve looked into VOD platforms like Uscreen, but the pricing is high, and they lack the additional functionality I need.
I’ve also checked out community platforms like Circle, which are great for engagement but offer very limited options for video content beyond the basics. Even Squarespace has some membership and video library capabilities, but they’re tied to their internal video hosting, which isn’t great in terms of quality or flexibility.
At this point, I’m starting to wonder if I’m looking for something that doesn’t exist! I’d prefer not to go down the route of building something from scratch with a framework like WordPress, but I’m feeling a bit stuck.
Does anyone have any insights, suggestions, or experience with platforms that could meet these needs? 