Heartbeat is designed first and foremost as a community platform — with powerful course functionality built in. That means courses are always tied to a community, and there’s currently no way to fully separate the two.

Why It Works This Way

We’ve built Heartbeat around a core belief:

Learning is more powerful when it happens in community.

From a technical and product standpoint, everything in Heartbeat — including courses — is tied back to the community experience. That’s why it’s not possible to sell standalone, course-only access without some level of community access.

Common Use Case: Courses as a Lower-Ticket Offer

If you're looking to offer courses without giving full access to your entire community, here are two workarounds that work well:

1. Use Read-Only Channels for Course-Only Buyers

• Create a read-only channel visible only to course purchasers

• Add a pinned post with upgrade instructions for community access

• Keeps the core community hidden while giving a controlled entry point

2. Use Upsells for Locked Channels

If you're using Heartbeat Payments, you can:

• Show locked icons on non-course channels

• Display upsell messaging when a user clicks a locked channel

• Let them purchase full community access directly from inside Heartbeat

Use the course as an entry-level product and build in natural upsells to unlock deeper community features.

In Short

• You can’t sell courses without a community on Heartbeat

• But you can tightly control which parts of the community members see

• Our platform is optimized for creators who want to build sustainable, recurring revenue — and that usually means anchoring around a community