How to Sell Courses on Instagram Without Teachable or Graphy

Most course platforms are built for people with an email list and a website. If your audience lives on Instagram, you need something simpler: a place to host the lessons, a checkout that takes UPI, and a way to send the link to everyone who comments "course?" on your reel. Viralyze covers all three, so you can sell a course without Teachable, Graphy or a separate LMS.

Here is how educators and coaches structure, price and launch a course this way.

Do you need a separate course platform at all?

Not for a first course. A platform earns its keep when you have multiple cohorts, quizzes, certificates and affiliates. For a 10-lesson video course sold to your own followers, the overhead of a full LMS slows you down.

With Viralyze, an online course is one of the product types in the Shop, alongside digital downloads, physical products and 1:1 sessions. You add the lessons, set a price, and the checkout page is created for you. Students pay and get access.

How do you set the course up?

Plan the course as a short outcome, then build it in the app:

1. Write the outcome in one sentence, for example "Edit a 60-second reel on your phone in under an hour". 2. Record 8 to 12 short lessons, each covering one step. 3. Add an online course product in Viralyze, upload the lessons and write the description as a lesson list. 4. Set the price. Prices include GST where applicable, and the platform fee is 0%. 5. Add the course to your link-in-bio page and copy the checkout link.

Keep lesson titles specific. "Lesson 4: Cutting to the beat with markers" tells a buyer what they are getting; "Module 4" tells them nothing.

How does a reel sell the course?

With a keyword and an Auto-DM. Post a reel that teaches one small part of the course for free, say "comment EDIT for the full course", and set the automation to send the checkout link to everyone who does.

A sample DM: "Here is the Reel Editing on Your Phone course. 10 lessons, about 2 hours in total, lifetime access. The checkout takes UPI and cards. Reply if you want to know whether it covers your editing app." Giftin Wilson (@giftin_fitness) reports that Auto-DM doubled his course sales in a month, which shows what happens when the link reaches people the moment they ask.

Replies arrive in the Inbox with the comment as context. The question "does it work on Android?" lands next to the reel the person watched.

Should you use the follow-gate on a course offer?

Use it on the free lesson, not the paid course. The follow-gate asks the commenter to follow first, with up to three polite nudges, then sends the link. For a free "first lesson" lead magnet that collects an email, that is a fair exchange. For a paid course, let buyers through without friction.

A simple sequence is: free lesson with follow-gate and email capture, then a reel for the paid course a week later sent to a warm audience.

What do you see after launch?

The per-automation funnel: comments, matched, delivered, clicked and signed up. The home screen shows revenue over 7, 30 or 90 days and your top reels by DMs. If the "cutting to the beat" reel drives most enrolments, make three more reels on that topic.

Every student is a contact with a source tag, so when you release a second course, you can export the list and announce it to past buyers first.

Frequently asked questions

**Where do students watch the course?** Inside the course page that Viralyze hosts for you, after they complete checkout. They do not need to install anything.

**Can I run a cohort with a start date?** Yes. Schedule the automation to go live on a date and auto-pause when enrolment closes, then open the lessons on the start date.

**Can I sell the course outside India?** Yes. Card payments work internationally, and international pricing is shown in USD.

Start your 7-day free trial of Viralyze today, no card needed, and sell your course from the reels you are already posting.