With the continuous advancement of artificial intelligence technology, the COVID-19 crisis has also spurred the rapid development of online education. Based on the theory of perceived value, the paper explores the factors that influence users’ willingness to pay for courses on online education platforms from the perspective of consumer behavior. In this study, questionnaires were used and a structural equation model was used to verify the hypothesis. The empirical analysis shows that the quality of course information, audition experience and perceived price can effectively explain and predict users’ perceived value of paid courses on online education platforms. Besides, the results identified the partial mediating effect of perceived value between these situational variables and users’ willingness to pay for courses, and the full mediating effect of perceived value between perceived cost and users’ willingness to pay. Crowd psychology negatively moderates the relationship between perceived value and willingness to pay.