In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would be trying out Trainer Central as my platform of choice for online course creation. Well, I’ve spent some time test driving it, and I’m back to share my experience! Let’s talk about the things I discovered while using Trainer Central—and why I’m really loving this platform so far.
What I’ve Figured Out About Trainer Central
1. No Built-In Authoring Tool
Trainer Central doesn’t come with a built-in authoring tool. For me, this wasn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, as you can create your course content elsewhere and upload it to the platform. However, I did notice that Trainer Central currently allows uploads of PDFs, video files, or image files, but not SCORM files. (At least not from what I’ve seen so far.) I’ll be trying to upload a SCORM file just to confirm this for sure, but it seems unlikely that this feature exists yet.
To test the platform, I decided to create some text-based videos using Lumen5 and then uploaded those to Trainer Central. The process was smooth, and it’s good to know that the platform supports easy uploads for standard file types.
2. Built-In Website Storefront
One of the standout features I absolutely love is the built-in website storefront for your courses. Trainer Central gives you the option to set up a professional-looking storefront directly on the platform, which can even be connected to your own website domain.
The website builder is also intuitive and beginner-friendly, so you can create a clean, functional site to showcase your courses without needing advanced design skills. I’m planning to connect the storefront to my own domain soon and will share my experience with that process in a future post!
3. Free Certificates for Learners
I was pleasantly surprised to find that Trainer Central allows you to offer course completion certificates to your participants—and it’s completely free, even on the free tier.
This is a huge value-add for course creators, as certificates can be a major incentive for learners and help validate their efforts. Many other platforms either charge for this feature or make it available only on higher-tier plans. Trainer Central including this in their free tier? Big win!
4. Unlimited Learners on the Free Tier
This is hands-down my favorite feature of Trainer Central: the free tier allows you to host up to three courses with unlimited learners.
As someone who’s just testing the waters of course creation, this is a game-changer. It means you can launch your courses immediately without worrying that a sudden surge in enrollment will exceed the limits of your plan. This takes so much of the pressure off when you’re starting out, allowing you to focus on creating and marketing your courses.
Final Thoughts
So far, my experience with Trainer Central has been incredibly positive. While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of some larger platforms (like SCORM support), its ease of use, affordability, and generous free-tier features make it a fantastic option for smaller course creators or those just getting started.
I’ll be sharing more details about the course platform I’ve created in my next blog post—stay tuned for that! In the meantime, if you’re considering an online course platform and want something beginner-friendly yet scalable, Trainer Central is definitely worth a look.Until next time,
Byeeeeeeeeeee!
T.M. Kayode 
Leave a comment