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.
Create and sell beautiful online courses with Teachable. Launch quickly and easily with their intuitive platform.
Pricing: It has a free plan. Paid plan Starts at $59/month
Key Features:
- Customizable Sales Pages
- Integrated Email Marketing
- Detailed Course Analytics
Ready to build a thriving community? BetterMode offers customizable features and flexible pricing plans to fit your needs.
Pricing: No free plan is available. Paid plan Starts at $36/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…
Our Take
Build your online business with confidence. With the teachable Builder Plan, you can sell up to 5 products with a 0% transaction fee. Stop losing money on fees and start keeping more of what you earn today.
Key Benefits
- Easy to Use: Teachable has an intuitive drag-and-drop course builder. This means you can create a course without any technical skills.
- Comprehensive Tools: It offers all the essential tools for a course creator. This includes quizzes, student management, and certificates.
- Unlimited Hosting: Even on some of the lower-tier plans, Teachable offers unlimited video storage and courses. This is great for creators with lots of content.
Pricing
- Starter: $29/month.
- Builder: $69/month.
- Growth: $139/month.
- Advanced: $309/month.
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…
Our Take
Unlock your expertise with Thinkific and create unlimited courses for an unlimited number of students. Build a professional, branded online school and keep 100% of your revenue with zero transaction fees.
Key Benefits
- Powerful Course Builder: You can create high-quality, professional courses easily. It uses a simple drag-and-drop builder to organize videos, quizzes, and text.
- Zero Transaction Fees: On their paid plans, Thinkific doesn’t take a cut of your sales. You keep all the money you earn, minus standard payment processing fees.
- Complete Customization: You can fully brand your online school to match your business. This helps you build a strong, professional presence.
Pricing
- Basic: $36/month.
- 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 excels in structured learning and quizzes, while Skool’s gamified community engagement features are significantly superior.
- Teachable vs Swarm: Teachable offers a comprehensive suite for marketing and student management, whereas Swarm focuses on gamified community engagement.
- Teachable vs Circle: Teachable is simpler for creating and selling courses, while Circle is superior for building a community space with advanced features.
- Teachable vs Disco: Teachable simplifies structured course delivery, while Disco excels in cohort based course models and collaborative learning experiences.
- Teachable vs Kajabi: Teachable is more affordable and has a flexible course editor, while Kajabi is a true all in one platform with advanced sales tools.
- Teachable vs GoHighLevel: Teachable is creator-focused with integrated tax/payouts, while GoHighLevel is an agency CRM with expansive sales tools.
- Teachable vs MightyNetworks: Teachable provides a more intuitive, beginner-friendly course builder, whereas MightyNetworks offers more robust community building features.
- Teachable vs Bettermode: Teachable is focused on course sales and a learning management system, while Bettermode is a dedicated, highly customizable community space.
- Teachable vs thinkific: Teachable has built-in tax handling and payment flexibility, while thinkific offers more advanced tools often suited for enterprise users.
- Teachable vs Wylo: Teachable provides a robust course builder and strong sales tools, while Wylo is often cited as a good entry-level option with growing community features.
- Teachable vs LearnWorlds: Teachable is user-friendly for content creation, while LearnWorlds offers a broader range of quiz types and interactive video content features.
- Teachable vs Whop: Teachable is the established course creation platform, while Whop acts as a marketplace to monetize digital products and access communities.
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 Teachable: Thinkific and Teachable are both leading platforms focused on creating and selling online courses.
- 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!
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