5 Tools I Use to Run My Online Education Business in 2025
If you would have told me 5 years ago I'd be educating people on how the right tech can help them grow their education business I would have laughed my head off to be honest.
Early on in my business I was pretty intimidated by software and have spent more than one day frustrated and on the verge of tears because I couldn't make something work.
The reason that changed is because I saw what the right tools could actually do. Once I found programs that worked with my business instead of against it, everything shifted. I could stay consistent with my audience and students, make more sales, deliver a polished experience, and protect my energy as I scaled.
I'm gonna show you a peek behind the scenes into the tools I use to create and deliver my education offers, and how I actually use them in my business (some of these are affiliate links and I'll get a small commission, some aren't... all of them are tools I use every day inside my business.)
*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that if you make a purchase after clicking one, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products and tools that I personally use, love, and recommend.
My Tech Stack at a Glance:
Kajabi – All-in-one course platform (hosting, email, sales pages)
Google Workspace – Organization and content creation
Zoom – Live teaching and coaching calls
Descript – Video and podcast editing
ChatGPT – Content formatting and repurposing
Here's the thing I want you to remember: tools aren't strategy, and they won't create your brand or sell your programs but they definitely help lighten the load and create a better client experience.
When I started, I pieced everything together. One platform for emails, another for sales pages, PayPal links for payments, random Zoom replays, workbooks in Canva. It worked for a while, but eventually, it felt like I was constantly putting out fires.
I was spending more time troubleshooting than teaching, and that's when I knew something had to change.
Now, I use tools that make the backend of my business feel clean and reliable so I can focus on what I actually love: teaching, marketing, and serving my students.
Even if you're not a techie (I never considered myself one), finding the right systems is essential. The wrong setup creates constant roadblocks and eats up your time, and that's something I see all the time when I help other educators build their courses and funnels.
In this post, I'm sharing the five tools I rely on most. These are the tools I use daily, recommend to clients, and even help set up behind the scenes
1. What's the best all-in-one platform for online courses? Kajabi.
Kajabi changed everything for me. When I first started, I used Mailchimp for email marketing, PayPal for payments, Zoom for replays, and Canva for workbooks. Later, I tried Teachable, but it still wasn't fully integrated. Every launch felt like I was duct-taping my systems together and it started taking up a lot of my time.
I also had experiences in different platforms that left kind of a bad taste in my mouth from a client experience perspective. I was on the receiving end of tech breaking, getting sales emails from things I had already purchased etc. It's not that mistakes can't happen or we can't be human, but the more tech we try to piece together in my experience the more potential for issues.
Why not just use separate tools and connect them with Zapier? Yes, tools like Zapier can help connect different platforms, but every extra connection adds another thing that can break. I was manually sending out links and troubleshooting constantly, which took away from creating content and serving students.
Switching to Kajabi simplified everything. My sales pages, checkouts, automations, email sequences, and course delivery all live in one place.
Now, when someone signs up, they're automatically welcomed into their portal, get their curriculum and downloads, and receive reminder emails... all without me lifting a finger.
I also love that all my data is in one place. I can see how many people viewed a sales page, how many signed up, opened an email, or clicked through. I can even track how long students watch a webinar replay.
Data is something I used to resist as a creative but once I started leveraging it instead of letting it feel restrictive it gave me the power to make better decisions. Instead of guessing why a funnel didn't convert, I can look at the numbers and see exactly where things dropped off.
Kajabi has given me time and peace back as I've scaled, and it's the platform I recommend to most educators. I even partnered with them to offer an extended trial, so if you want to try it out, you can take a look here.
2. Google Workspace for organizing everything in my business
Docs, Sheets, Forms, Gmail, Calendar - all of it. I know it's not fancy or new, but Google Workspace is the backbone of how I stay organized as a course creator.
Everything starts in a Google Doc. That's where I outline new curriculum, draft lesson notes, map out podcast episodes, and create editable templates for my students. Instead of sending Canva PDFs that are hard to edit, I share Google Docs they can duplicate and personalize.
Google Sheets help me track performance data during launches. I'll log page views, opt-ins, and conversions so I can spot trends. It helps me answer questions like: "Is my funnel broken, or do I just need more traffic?"
Google Forms make collecting data simple for student intake, retreat applications, or client onboarding. And Gmail plus Calendar keep my business running smoothly, from client meetings to coaching calls to my son's soccer schedule.
Google Drive keeps it all in one place, linked to my Asana projects for quick access. I used to have notebooks and sticky notes everywhere, but now everything's digital and organized. Between that and a whiteboard, that's where the magic happens.
3. Zoom for live teaching and coaching
It's not flashy, but it's reliable, and that reliability is everything when you're delivering live education.
I use Zoom for group coaching calls, live workshops, pre-retreat sessions, and client meetings. I love that I can hit record and get a clean replay, and with integrations like Fathom, I automatically get transcripts and summaries after each call.
It's simple, efficient, and it works... which is exactly what you need when teaching live online.
4. Descript for editing videos and podcasts
If you've listened to me for any length of time, you know how obsessed I am with Descript. It's where I record and edit my podcast, polish lesson replays, create promotional videos, and repurpose content.
Descript transcribes your audio or video, and you edit by deleting words from the transcript, so editing becomes as easy as editing a Google Doc. That alone saves me hours each week.
It also includes AI features that enhance sound, remove filler words, shorten gaps, and generate captions. It's like having a mini production team on your laptop.
I don't just use Descript for podcast editing, but also for creating student replays. I'll upload a Zoom call, trim it down into a concise lesson, and upload the replay into Kajabi. That way, students get the essential takeaways without watching an hour-long call.
It's also replaced Loom for me. I now record screen shares and feedback videos directly in Descript, whether I'm reviewing client copy or sharing updates with my team.
Honestly, Descript is the one tool I could never replace. It saves time, streamlines communication, and helps me deliver education efficiently.
5. ChatGPT for formatting and repurposing content
ChatGPT is a serious hit or miss for me for most creative work because I prefer writing in my own voice. But I do use it as an assistant to help format, organize, and repurpose content.
For example, inside my programs, I teach students how to write authentic + conversion driven sales pages using their own language and a deep understand of their clients first, then use ChatGPT (or other AI tools) to polish and format their words into a finished version that still sounds like them.
I also use it to help with show notes, lesson descriptions, and formatting transcripts from Descript. It's great for taking what already exists and turning it into something more structured.
The key is to always filter what ChatGPT creates through your own frameworks and voice. It's an assistant, not a replacement for creativity or storytelling.
I also recommend doing the final edit yourself so that your stories don’t sound like they were made up by a robot 👀
When used that way, it's incredibly powerful for course creators who want to work faster without losing their authentic voice.
Putting it all together and building a tech stack that actually works.
These five tools (Kajabi, Google Workspace, Zoom, Descript, and ChatGPT) free me up to focus on teaching, coaching, running my content creation business and building a brand that lasts. They create structure and reliability so I can spend less time troubleshooting and more time on creativity, connection and getting my clients results.
Being a sought after educator is a lot harder when you’re totally burnt out.
The software = the systems that support you behind the scenes.
If you haven't read the blog post about social media tools for educators yet, go check that out next. They go hand in hand with the systems I've shared here.
If this post gave you an idea or a new perspective, send me a DM on Instagram @itsJodiebrown. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
And if you’d like to listen in on the exact podcast episode that accompanies this blog post, you can do that here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Xo Jodie
Ps. Don't forget to subscribe to the Sought After Educator Podcast to get more insights like this delivered to your phone every week.
