Tutor LMS Case Study: From 40,000 to 100,000+ Active Installations in 3 Years

A Journey of Recovery, Resilience, and Relentless Innovation

Background

Back in early 2022, Tutor LMS had around 40,000 active installations, significantly behind competitors like LearnPress (100k+), LifterLMS (10k+), and Sensei LMS (10k+).

But over the next three years, Tutor LMS not only recovered from a major crisis but became the #1 LMS plugin on WordPress, with 100,000+ active installations — outpacing all its competitors.

I was privileged to be part of this journey, primarily contributing in:

• Support
• Product Management
• SQA (Software Quality Assurance)
• Development (Update and fix themes, add-ons, and migration tools)

The Turning Point: Tutor LMS 2.0.0 Crisis

In March 2022, we released Tutor LMS 2.0.0, a major update. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disaster.

• Websites started breaking
• Course content failed to load
• Incompatibilities caused business disruptions

We received:

• 500+ support tickets daily
• Hundreds of users on live chat, wp.org forum, and social media
• A storm of negative feedback on community.

Even internally, some feared Tutor LMS was on its way out.

My Role in the Crisis

Before 2.0.0, my main responsibility was support. But as the crisis hit, I extended my involvement to:

• Development
• SQA
• Product Management, working closely with our CTO Nirjhor Anjum Bhai

Our first priority was stabilizing the product:

• From 2.0.4 to 2.1.6, I personally planned and prioritized every sprint
• Each sprint fixed 30+ bugs
• We released hotfixes, instant patches, and provided quick solutions across channels

My Support team — Parag Bhai, Ibrahim Bhai, Anim Bhai, Munayam Bhai — worked tirelessly. Rifat Haque Bhai, Rifat Tariq Bhai, Maisha Apu — handled 50+ chats daily.
We were also active on wp.org, Facebook groups, and via direct email.

From Bug Fixing to Feature Building

After stabilizing Tutor LMS, we shifted to introducing new features — all based on real user needs, market demands, and competitor gaps. I took the lead in researching over 95% of new features, as well as addressing 70%+ of bug reports.

Functional Features & UX Improvements

• Course Filter is added to the Mobile View of the Course List page
• The student’s Active Topic now remains uncollapsed while the rest remain collapsed
• Admin can show Course Description in Full or in Collapsed View on the Course Details page
• Email Notification to students when a new Assignment is Created if enabled
• Email Notification to students when a new Quiz is Created if enabled
• Email Notification to students when a new Lesson is Created if enabled
• Non-Video lessons will show Next and Prev navigation option
• Students and Instructors will see “Terms & Conditions” information and link on the Signup page to be compliant with regulatory laws
• Certificates created by Admins will be usable (not editable) by Instructors, Admins can enable it from Settings
• Once a Course is purchased using WooCommerce, the Order Status will become “Completed”, Admin can enable it from Settings
• On the Course Journey page, the currently active Lesson/Quiz/Assignment menu will remain highlighted
• The Active Topic in the Lesson List sidebar now remains uncollapsed for a better experience inside the course
• Tutor Calendar will now highlight the Zoom Meeting Event Days
• On all lesson completion, the course will be Completed automatically, Admin can enable it from Settings
• Admin will be able to hide Quiz Details from “My Quiz Attempts” page
• Once a Course is created from WP Admin, it will create an associated WooCommerce Product as well
• Instructor/Admin will be able to set “Sale Price” (Discounted Price) in the Course Builder
• Next and Previous button is introduced for the Quiz page once a Quiz is Completed
• Admin will be able to change the Main Instructor for a Course
• “Enrollment Box” widget can be placed at the top of the Course Details page in Mobile View, Admin can manage it from Settings
• Admin/Instructor will be able to add Code Blocks inside a Lesson/Assignment/Quiz
• Custom Time setting for showing Answer in the Quiz Reveal mode is introduced
• On the Manual Enrollment page, the students are searchable by Email Address now
• On manual Enrollment to Paid Courses, an Invoice will be automatically generated, therefore, on changing Payment Status, Earning Report will be reflected
• “Overview” and “Exercise File” tabs will now appear only when content is available under the particular tabs
• Rich Text Editor is introduced for the Q&A Reply section
• Course Duplicating feature is introduced for the front-end Dashboard
• “Accessing next Course Content based on Mandatory Pass in a Quiz” feature is introduced; Admin can enable it from Quiz Builder
• Dedicated Login page with Shortcode for Login page is introduced
• Instructors will be able to create Online Events over Google Meet
• Reset credential for Google Meet is introduced
• Admin will be able to set whether WooCommerce Order will be generated on manual enrolment or not
• Co-Instructors will not be able to delete a Course like the Course Publishing Instructor
• Two-Factor Authentication with Email OTP added for Tutor and WP logins
• Introduced reCaptcha and HoneyPot as Fraud protection tools
• Introduced Email verification option upon signup, which will be applicable for new student or instructor registration
• Introduced Social Login to let users register & login through social networks like Facebook or Google
• Quiz answer explanation
• Course Bundle addon with WooCommerce
• Added manual enrollment support for Course Bundle
• Added option to make the sidebar sticky in the course details page
• Added Audio and Video support in Lesson Description text editor
• Quiz question description section now has WP Editor support
• Added deletion of canceled enrollment from the enrollment list
• Added instructor’s earning summary on the instructor list
• Added support for changing the Email Template background image
• Added Video Lesson Completion Control when using Tutor Player
• Added course review pop-up when a course is automatically completed
• Recommended YouTube videos will be hidden on Tutor Player
• “Complete Course” button added on learning area upon completing all course content
• Let students share their certificates to social media from the certificate download page
• Showcase upcoming lessons and quizzes on the Tutor LMS Calendar upon scheduling them with Content Drip
• Showcase Zoom and Google Meet meetings on the Tutor LMS Calendar
• Display lesson, quiz, and assignment status with colored tick marks in learning area
• A revamped design for email with a better user experience
• Default configuration for email templates
• Option to add Alt tag/text for Email logo
• Customize the email template color for each part (header, body, button, footer)
• Option to align email logo, title, body, button, and footer text
• (Triggered Event) Send a test email to a given email address
• (Triggered Event) Reminder email to students to resume the course if they are inactive for a certain period
• (Triggered Event) A welcome email to students after registration
• (Triggered Event) Reminder email for lesson comments
• (Triggered Event) Email notification for instructors if their application gets rejected
• Manual template creation for manually sending email
• (Manual email) Email everyone about any news, event, or manual notifications
• (Manual email) Email only all admins about any updates
• (Manual email) Email all students about any events
• (Manual email) Email all instructors about any events
• (Manual email) Email all instructors of a selected course/courses
• (Manual email) Email all students of a selected course/courses
• (Manual email) Email all students who completed any course
• (Manual email) Email all students who completed a selected course/courses
• (Manual email) Email all students except selected courses
• Added placeholder support on email heading
• Support for assignment base permalink updates
• Support for quiz base permalink updates

Payment, Subscription, and Integration Features

• Native Subscription system for recurring payments, perfect for membership-style eLearning programs
• Added H5P integration
• Added password-protected course modal
• Added certificate control for subscription plans
• Process refunds automatically from the order history page for Stripe and PayPal
• Added a setting to allow or restrict instructors from changing course authors
• Added re-subscription option upon cancellation or expiration
• Redesigned the Native Subscription and introduced Subscriptions for Course Bundles
• Added custom enrollment dates and instant pause options
• Introduced “Coming Soon” courses with custom thumbnails
• Added bulk enrollment via CSV import
• Implemented guest checkout, allowing course purchases without an account
• Added auto-renewal controls for students to manage subscriptions
• “Buy Now” option added, allowing users to purchase without adding courses to the cart
• Bulk enrollment support for membership plans
• Added option to define assignment expiration behavior
• Added course import/export functionality

Outcome

Thanks to these relentless efforts:

• Tutor LMS became stable, fast, and feature-rich
• User reviews turned positive
• Community engagement increased
• Most importantly — we reached 100,000+ active installations
• Average ratings 1 to 4.5 on Trustpilot.

Growth Snapshot:

Final Thoughts

The journey from 40,000 to 100,000+ active installs wasn’t just a number. It’s a testament to:

• Teamwork
• Customer-first mindset
• Data-driven product thinking
• And lots of sleepless nights and no weekends

Despite a near market collapse, we came back stronger than ever.