Ever dreamed of sharing your knowledge online and earning some cash?
It’s a great idea, right? However, choosing the right platform to build your online course can feel overwhelming.
You’ve probably heard of Teachable and Thinkific, but how do you know which one is best for you?
This comparison dives deep into Teachable vs Thinkific, exploring their features, pricing, and pros and cons.
Let’s get started!
Overview
We’ve spent countless hours exploring both Teachable and Thinkific, diving into their features, building sample courses, and even experiencing their customer support.
This hands-on testing, combined with user feedback and industry analysis, forms the basis of our comparison, helping you make an informed decision.
Join a thriving community of over 180,000 creators who have already launched successful courses with Teachable.
Pricing: Site builder available. Paid plan Starts at $39/month
Key Features:
- Course creation
- Sales tools
- Student management
Ready to join the 50,000+ creators already using Thinkific to sell their courses? See how easy it is to build your online empire.
Pricing: 30-day free trial available. Paid plan Starts at $74/month
Key Features:
- Course Creation
- Marketing Tools
- Community Features
What is Teachable?
Teachable is a popular platform specifically designed to create and sell online courses.
It’s known for being user-friendly and affordable.
Many creators appreciate its simple interface and focus on core course features, making it an excellent option for beginners.
Also, explore our favorite Teachable alternatives…
Join a thriving community of over 180,000 creators who have already launched successful courses with Teachable. Start building your online empire today!
Key Benefits
- Powerful course creation tools: Teachable offers various tools to build engaging courses.
- Robust sales and marketing features include features to help you market and sell your courses.
- Flexible pricing options: You can offer various pricing plans, including subscriptions and bundles.
- Comprehensive student management: Teachers make itmanaging your students and tracking their progress easy
- Built-in payment processing: It handles payments seamlessly so that you can focus on teaching.
Pricing
Teachable’s pricing starts at $29 per month. This plan includes basic course creation and hosting features.
- Basic: ($39- billed annually) 5 published products of each type (course, coaching, downloads)
- Pro: ($119- billed annually) 50 published products of each type (course, coaching, downloads)
- Pro+: ($199 billed annually) 5 published products of each ty
Pros
Cons
What is Thinkific?
Thinkific is a popular platform. It’s focused on creating and selling online courses.
It offers tools to build, market, and manage classes effectively.
Thinkific is a solid choice for course creators.
Also, explore our favorite Thinkific alternatives…
Ready to join the 50,000+ creators already using Thinkific to sell their courses? Start your free Thinkific trial today and see how easy it is to build your online empire.
Key Benefits
Thinkific really shines when it comes to course creation. Here’s what makes it stand out:
- Robust Course Builder: You get a lot of control over how your courses look and function. Thinkific lets you add videos, quizzes, downloads, and more.
- Marketing Tools: They offer tools to help you promote your courses, like email integrations and sales page templates.
- Customization: You can tailor the look and feel of your course platform to match your brand.
Pricing
Thinkific offers a range of plans to fit different needs. Their Basic plan starts at $36/month. Here’s a quick breakdown of what you can expect as you upgrade:
- Start: $74/month
- Grow: $149/month
Pros
Cons
Feature Comparison
Let’s dive into the core features of Thinkific and Teachable, comparing them side-by-side to see where each online course platform shines.
This breakdown will help you determine which platform aligns best with your needs for creating and selling courses.
1. Course Builder
Both Thinkific and Teachable offer user-friendly course builders, but they have different strengths.
Teachable’s drag-and-drop course builder is intuitive, allowing you to easily structure your content.
Thinkific also boasts a drag-and-drop builder, and unlike Thinkific, Teachable has a more streamlined feel to it.
Both platforms allow you to create engaging learning experiences.
2. Quiz and Assessment Tools
Creating quizzes is essential for student engagement and knowledge assessment.
Both platforms offer quiz functionality.
Thinkific offers more quiz features out of the box, whereas Teachable integrates with more third-party quiz apps.
3. Sales and Marketing
If you want to sell courses and make money with online courses, having the right sales and marketing tools is crucial.
Teachable and Thinkific both offer features to boost your course sales and course business.
Thinkific has better marketing features built-in, whereas Teachable relies more on third-party marketing tools.
Thinkific also has a built-in affiliate program, which can be helpful for course creators.
4. Landing Pages and Website Design
Attract students with compelling landing pages.
Both platforms offer customizable landing pages.
Teachable’s page builder makes designing your website easy, though Thinkific allows more flexibility and customization of design, especially with third-party themes.
Thinkific’s landing page customization with their new site builder update may make it better than Teachable in this regard.
5. Community Building
Fostering a sense of community around your courses can significantly increase student engagement and satisfaction.
Thinkific excels in this area, offering robust community features that allow you to create a vibrant space for students to interact, share ideas, and support each other.
While Teachable offers some community features, they are not as comprehensive as Thinkific’s.
6. Integrations and Apps
What about integrations with other apps and services?
Consider features like email marketing, analytics, and payment gateways. Both platforms integrate with popular tools.
7. Student Experience
Thinkific and Teachable both offer ways to keep students engaged.
Thinkific offers course communities better than Teachable.
Teachable focuses on a more direct course experience. Both platforms offer android app and ios app options.
Thinkific is known for its excellent coaching sessions features for creating learning pathways. AI tools are slowly integrating into both platforms, though this is an evolving area.
What to Look for When Choosing a Community Platform?
- Integration: Does it seamlessly integrate with your existing course platform?
- Customization: Can you brand the community to match your course?
- Moderation: Are there tools to manage and moderate discussions?
- Engagement Features: Does it offer features like forums, direct messaging, or live events?
- Scalability: Can the platform handle your community as it grows?
- Mobile Experience: Is there a mobile app or mobile-friendly design?
- Analytics: Can you track community activity and engagement?
- Pricing: Is the community platform’s pricing reasonable and transparent?
- Support: Does the platform offer adequate support for community managers?
- Ease of Use: Is the platform easy for you and your students?
Final Verdict
Choosing between Thinkific vs Teachable depends heavily on your specific needs.
While both Teachable and Thinkific offer robust platforms, Thinkific edges out Teachable for its comprehensive marketing tools, strong community features, and flexible customization.
If building a thriving community and having advanced sales funnels are priorities, Thinkific is a better choice.
While Teachable allows for course creation and Teachable automatically handles some aspects of course delivery, Thinkific allows you to create a more immersive and engaging learning environment.
Although Teachable charges transaction fees on some plans, Thinkific payments are more straightforward.
Compared to Teachable, Thinkific’s built-in features often mean fewer third-party integrations, saving you money.
More of Teachable
Here is a brief comparison of Teachable with the listed alternatives:
- Teachable vs Skool: Teachable focuses on courses, and Skool emphasizes community with gamification.
- Teachable vs Swarm: Teachable is course-centric, and Swarm builds structured interest-based communities.
- Teachable vs Kajabi: Teachable is course-first, and Kajabi is an all-in-one marketing and course platform.
- Teachable vs GoHighLevel: Teachable sells courses; GoHighLevel is broad marketing automation, including courses.
- Teachable vs MightyNetworks: Teachable sells courses, and Mighty Networks integrates community, courses, and content deeply.
- Teachable vs Bettermode: Teachable is for courses with community; Bettermode specializes in highly customizable standalone communities.
- Teachable vs LearnWorlds: Both strong course platforms, LearnWorlds often highlights interactive learning features.
- Teachable vs Circle: Teachable sells courses with community, Circle is primarily a dedicated community platform.
- Teachable vs Disco: Teachable offers traditional courses, Disco focuses on cohort-based learning communities.
- Teachable vs Wylo: Teachable is for paid courses/community, Wylo connects people via free interest communities.
- Teachable vs Whop: Teachable builds creator sites for courses, Whop is a marketplace for access to communities and digital goods.
More of Thinkific
Here are brief comparisons of Thinkific against the specified alternatives:
- Thinkific vs Skool: Thinkific is a core course platform; Skool combines community, courses, and gamification.
- Thinkific vs Swarm: Thinkific is a course platform with a community; Swarm focuses on structured community engagement.
- Thinkific vs Kajabi: Thinkific is primarily a course platform; Kajabi is an all-in-one marketing, course, and website builder.
- Thinkific vs GoHighLevel: Thinkific is a course platform, while GoHighLevel is a broad marketing automation platform that includes courses and a community.
- Thinkific vs MightyNetworks: Thinkific is a course platform with a community; MightyNetworks integrates community, courses, and content more deeply.
- Thinkific vs Bettermode: Thinkific is a course platform; Bettermode focuses on building highly customizable community spaces.
- Thinkific vs LearnWorlds: Thinkific is a course platform; LearnWorlds specializes in interactive courses and learning communities.
- Thinkific vs Circle: Thinkific is a course platform with a community; Circle focuses purely on building standalone communities.
- Thinkific vs Disco: Thinkific is a general course platform; Disco is tailored for cohort-based learning communities.
- Thinkific vs Wylo: Thinkific is a course platform; Wylo connects individuals via interest-based groups/communities.
- Thinkific vs Whop: Thinkific is a course platform with a community; Whop sells access to communities and digital products via a marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main differences between Thinkific and Teachable?
The primary differences between Thinkific and Teachable lie in their marketing features and community-building tools. Thinkific boasts stronger built-in marketing functionalities, while Teachable provides a simpler, more streamlined course creation experience. Thinkific gives you more control over branding and customization. Teachable doesn’t have as many native marketing features.
Which platform is better for beginners?
Both Thinkific and Teachable provide user-friendly interfaces. Many find Teachable slightly easier to get started with due to its more straightforward course builder. However, Thinkific also offers a clean interface, and its added marketing tools can be beneficial from the start.
Can I sell digital downloads on Thinkific or Teachable?
Yes, both platforms allow you to sell digital downloads as part of your courses or as standalone products. Thinkific supports various file types, and Teachable also facilitates digital product sales.
What are the payment options on Thinkific and Teachable?
Both platforms offer various payment gateways. You should carefully review Teachable pricing and Teachable payments as Teachable charges transaction fees on some plans. Thinkific payments are generally more transparent. You need to know about Teachable and Thinkific’s payment structures before deciding.
Which platform is the best overall in 2025?
While both platforms are excellent, Thinkific is our top pick for best in 2025. Its robust marketing tools, community features, and overall flexibility make it a superior to Teachable choice for many creators. Thinkific will also continue to evolve. Judge between Thinkific and Teachable based on your needs and priorities. Offers Thinkific everything you need? Choose Teachable if its simplicity better meets your needs. Consider building a course on Teachable or course with Teachable to get a feel for the platform. Thinkific comes pre-loaded with features many course creators need. Join Mighty community to discuss further!
