Custom Training Course Development Pricing

How much does it cost to develop a Custom eLearning Course?

Wondering if you can afford to create custom training courses for your organization’s unique learning needs? The answer is often, “it depends.” It depends on your eLearning course content and length, desired interactivity, content readiness, timeline, and more.

Factors that Impact Cost

Employee training and custom course development is a complex process. There are four main elements that will determine how much the final course or learning solution will cost.

1. Seat Time

When eLearning professionals talk about “seat time” they are referring to how long it will take a learner to complete the course. Looking to convert and ILT course to VILT? A-12 hour ILT course definitely won’t translate to a 12-hour eLearning course. Learn more about the nuances of converting ILT courses to VILT.

A general guideline is to plan for 1 minute of seat time per content screen or slide. However, this can increase or decrease based on the content and interactivity on each slide. A 30-slide deck will not always translate to a 30-minute course.

1. Seat Time

2. Interactivity

The more interactive and immersive the course, the more engaged your learners will be.

We work closely with you to scale interactivity up or down and find areas to maximize your spend so you can fit custom eLearning course development into your budget.

2. Interactivity

3. Content Readiness

Your content readiness refers to how much content you have gathered and ready for development. For example, you might have a complete storyboard, content, and images ready to go. Or maybe you simply know you need training on a particular process.

No matter where you’re at in the course development process, we can help you.

3. Content Readiness

4. Timeline

How quickly you need a course developed also plays into the overall cost. The tighter the timeline, the more people and resources may be needed to complete a project in time.

Whatever your timeline, we’ll work closely with your team to ensure your eLearning courses are completed on time. We can also expedite your project by shortening client review windows, reducing the number of review cycles, and adding additional resources to the project.

We assign a dedicated project manager (PM) for every project to make sure progress flows smoothly and on time.

4. Timeline

1. Seat Time

When eLearning professionals talk about “seat time” they are referring to how long it will take a learner to complete the course. Looking to convert and ILT course to VILT? A-12 hour ILT course definitely won’t translate to a 12-hour eLearning course. Learn more about the nuances of converting ILT courses to VILT.

A general guideline is to plan for 1 minute of seat time per content screen or slide. However, this can increase or decrease based on the content and interactivity on each slide. A 30-slide deck will not always translate to a 30-minute course.

1. Seat Time

2. Interactivity

The more interactive and immersive the course, the more engaged your learners will be.

We work closely with you to scale interactivity up or down and find areas to maximize your spend so you can fit custom eLearning course development into your budget.

2. Interactivity

3. Content Readiness

Your content readiness refers to how much content you have gathered and ready for development. For example, you might have a complete storyboard, content, and images ready to go. Or maybe you simply know you need training on a particular process.

No matter where you’re at in the course development process, we can help you.

3. Content Readiness

4. Timeline

How quickly you need a course developed also plays into the overall cost. The tighter the timeline, the more people and resources may be needed to complete a project in time.

Whatever your timeline, we’ll work closely with your team to ensure your eLearning courses are completed on time. We can also expedite your project by shortening client review windows, reducing the number of review cycles, and adding additional resources to the project.

We assign a dedicated project manager (PM) for every project to make sure progress flows smoothly and on time.

4. Timeline

Levels of Interactivity

Our custom courses begin by understanding your needs and which level of interactivity will be most effective for your learners.

Select each tab to learn more.

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Perfect for: Basic Product Knowledge, Simple Customer Interactions / Scripting, Company Policy Instruction, and Understanding / Comprehension

Knowledge & Comprehension

Exploratory Interactions
Basic Scenarios
Light Animations
Engaging Graphics

Tiers of Content Readiness

Your content readiness refers to how much content you have gathered and ready for development.

Tier 0

You’re starting from scratch and that’s okay! If content does not currently exist for the desired training solution, we’ll work with you to source the content from other materials, internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews, research, and other means in order to write and form complete courseware.

No Content

Tier 1

You have some of the content needed to form a structure and background for the eLearning course, but significant gaps exist between what is readily available and what is still needed to develop the project. Our team will conduct interviews, research, and perform writing tasks to close these gaps for you.

Some Content

Tier 2

At this level, you’ve got a pretty good start. Most of the necessary content exists, but there are some gaps, updates, edits, or organization still needed. We will assist you in further content development through supplemental research and writing activities, as well as working with SMEs.

Some Gaps

Tier 3

You’ve already compiled the full content needed for the courseware and are ready to hand it off to us! At this level, content is ready for our team to start designing, needing no more than a few hours of working with a SME in order to understand the content well enough to start designing your learning solution.

Design Ready Content

Tier 4

At this tier, you have a ready-to-go, fully designed storyboard for us to build that does not require additional instructional design. The content, audio scripting, visual layout, page functionality, images selection, quizzes, and all other functional/design-related decisions have been made and are clearly documented.

Development Ready

Chat with our custom solution experts about content readiness.

Tiers of Content Readiness

Your content readiness refers to how much content you have gathered and ready for development.

Tier 0

You’re starting from scratch and that’s okay! If content does not currently exist for the desired training solution, we’ll work with you to source the content from other materials, internal Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews, research, and other means in order to write and form complete courseware.

No Content

Tier 1

You have some of the content needed to form a structure and background for the eLearning course, but significant gaps exist between what is readily available and what is still needed to develop the project. Our team will conduct interviews, research, and perform writing tasks to close these gaps for you.

Some Content

Tier 2

At this level, you’ve got a pretty good start. Most of the necessary content exists, but there are some gaps, updates, edits, or organization still needed. We will assist you in further content development through supplemental research and writing activities, as well as working with SMEs.

Some Gaps

Tier 3

You’ve already compiled the full content needed for the courseware and are ready to hand it off to us! At this level, content is ready for our team to start designing, needing no more than a few hours of working with a SME in order to understand the content well enough to start designing your learning solution.

Design Ready Content

Tier 4

At this tier, you have a ready-to-go, fully designed storyboard for us to build that does not require additional instructional design. The content, audio scripting, visual layout, page functionality, images selection, quizzes, and all other functional/design-related decisions have been made and are clearly documented.

Development Ready

Chat with our custom solution experts about content readiness.

Other factors that can impact course development pricing.

In addition to seat time, interactivity, content readiness, and timeline, there are a few other factors that will determine the cost of an eLearning course. Let us know your non-negotiables and we can give you a free, personalized quote.

Testing & Required Functionality

For creating a mobile course, how many devices do you need it tested on?
Do you need this course to look and function exactly the same in multiple browsers
Does your course need to be Section 508 compliant?

Extra Media or Languages

Do you need custom graphics or illustrations to enhance your course?
Do you want live video or VoiceOver services?
Does your employee training course need to be translated into multiple languages?