Why an Online School with 3,300+ Students Chose Webflow, Wized, and Xano for Their Custom E-Learning Platform

TradingLab is one of the leading trading academies in Spain with more than 3,300 students and growing.

The Problem

They initially built their academy platform on Webflow because they loved its customization flexibility, SEO capabilities, and CMS. To handle authentication, they integrated Memberstack, and to store course data, they used Airtable synced via Make.

While this setup was a good starting point for testing their courses and understanding market demand, it soon hit significant limitations.

• Rate Limits on Webflow CMS API: With their increasing number of students and courses, the Webflow CMS quickly reached its limits, impacting the platform’s performance.
• Unreliable Automation: Make, used for syncing data between Airtable and Webflow, occasionally failed, causing inconsistencies and delays.

TradingLab realized they needed a more robust solution to scale their academy and meet the demands of their growing student base.

But they chose not to use LMS platforms like Teachable or WordPress plugins because these options lacked the level of design customization needed to maintain their brand identity and fell short when it came to advanced integrations.

The Solution

TradingLab reached out to me to help them build the v2 of their academy. They had already designed the new student portal in Figma.

Here’s how I approached the project:

• Building the Backend with Xano: I developed a custom backend on Xano to handle all data management needs. This included user accounts, course details, lesson content, student progress tracking, and quiz. Xano’s scalability ensures that TradingLab can now support thousands of students without any performance issues.
• Integrating Memberstack: I connected Memberstack to Xano, enabling TradingLab to maintain their existing authentication system while leveraging a much more powerful backend.
• Send Academy Event to 3rd-party: To streamline communication with other platforms, I created a notification system using Xano's triggers database to notify external webhooks of specific events that occurred within Xano.
• Using Wized for Front-end Logic: To bring the Figma design to life, I used Wized to connect the frontend (built on Webflow) with the backend. Students can now view their courses, track their progress, and interact with the portal.

The Results

The new platform transformed TradingLab’s academy:

• Performance & Scalability: With Xano as the backend, TradingLab no longer has to worry about CMS limits or performance bottlenecks. The platform can easily scale to accommodate thousands of students.
• Streamlined Integrations: The Academy event system ensures smooth communication with external platforms, simplifying internal processes and enhancing student experience.
• Future-Proof Stack: TradingLab retained their preferred tools, like Memberstack and Webflow, while gaining the flexibility to integrate new features and platforms as needed.
• Brand-Consistent Design: The student portal reflects TradingLab’s branding while providing an intuitive user experience.

Conclusion

TradingLab’s journey highlights the importance of building a scalable foundation for online education platforms. By transitioning to a custom backend with Xano and leveraging tools like Wized and Memberstack, they’re now equipped to support their growing student base and future-proof their academy.

If you’re facing similar challenges with your academy platform, let’s discuss!