Are you considering using Thinkific for your online course? Let’s go through Thinkific review for online course creators: explore why Thinkific is one of my favorite course platforms and reasons to use Thinkific for your next course!
You can also learn more in this free guide to online course platforms.
Before we even dive into this review, I want to say – Thinkific has made one of the best comebacks in my books!
For years, this platform was somewhat of an underdog as it was in a close competition with Teachable and Teachable was usually coming on top in all the most important categories.
Not anymore though!
These days I consider Thinkific to be one of the best platforms for your online course and it’s also my go-to suggestion for most course creators and I have even moved my own offers to Thinkific as well.
Let’s explore why, shall we?
What is Thinkific?
Thinkific is a learning management platform that gives you a chance to host and sell your digital course or membership.
Like most learning management platforms, Thinkific has easy-to-use back-end management for your course portal, sales pages, thank you pages, checkout, customer management and other elements you might need to successfully start selling digital courses.
In short, it really has everything you need to set up and sell your online course. So let’s explore the reasons to use Thinkific for your next course!
But if meanwhile you’re interested in other options, get my free guide to the best course platforms here.
Disclaimer: This blog post includes some affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase via the provided link, I will make a commission of that. It keeps the blog going so THANK YOU!
Thinkific review for online course creators
Before we dive into a specific list of this Thinkific review, I want to state the somewhat obvious – Thinkific thicks all of the key boxes when it comes to setting up and selling an online course.
It absolutely has all of the base elements in place like:
- Student enrollment, checkout, management
- Course content upload and systemizing
- Pricing tier options for your products
- Page builder, including sales and thank you pages
Instead, learn what makes Thinkific better than other platforms, and what features and options stand out!
REASONS TO USE THINKIFIC no.1: Zero transaction fees on all plans AND a free plan available
November 2024 Update: It seems that their free plan is currently removed from the offer. If you’re searching for a free platform to start with, explore this article instead.
It’s one of the most budget-friendly options in the market with a wide range of features available for each price point plus – you can get started for free.
Okay, first things first. You can get started with Thinkific FOR FREE and it’s a major bonus as it releases that pressure of making money fast just to start paying for the platform.
While many other platforms also offer free plans, they usually come with a hefty fee you have to pay for each purchase – this usually ranges from 3 to 10%/per purchase. Thinkific has ZERO fees on all of the plans, including the free one.
On the free plan you can create only one course and one community but it makes perfect sense for starting out. (Note that the free plan does not support monthly payment plan so you won’t be able to create a membership offer on it)
REASONS TO USE THINKIFIC no.2: Native video hosting included in all plans
There was a time when I didn’t think I’d write this… But turns out, these days more and more platforms DON’T have a native video hosting included and it’s a major red flag for me.
Now, let’s take a bit of a closer look to what that means.
A native video hosting means that you can upload your videos directly on the platform and you don’t have to, first, use any third-party apps (often it’s Youtube or Vimeo).
Video hosting fees can be HIGH and the fact that it’s included is golden.
Plus the native video hosting creates a lot better experience for your audience as it can be all brand-aligned, not a sudden random Youtube video peeking around the corner…
REASONS TO USE THINKIFIC no.3: Sales page templates
One of my favorite things about Thinkific is that they offer sales page templates to get started with.
For comparison, their closest competitor Teachable has just one default sales page layout to work with. Meanwhile, Thinkific gives you a variety of setups to choose from: different preset colors, fonts and styles to work with.
It can be a very fun way to start buiding your landing pages.
For full transparency – I don’t madly love the landing page builder as it can be slightly limiting BUT the landing page templates make it all worth it.
REASONS TO USE THINKIFIC no.4: Thinkific has a highly functional community feature
Okay, hear me out. I have put that “highly functional” there for a reason. Plenty of online course platforms have the community space added but it’s just… bleh.
A forum, group – call it what you want. Thinkific has it and I consider it being THE key factor of why it stands out from other course creation platforms.
Having a built-in community space can be an amazing feature to use for your course or membership website plus it can serve as a great alternative to a Facebook group!
Explore 5 ways how to support your course students here.
The downsides of Thinkific
As I always say, all of the course platforms have their set of pros and cons, it’s just inevitable.
Ultimately, it’s not the question of “which is the best course platform to use?”. Instead, it’s all about choosing the one that suits YOU the best and, well, has the least cons in your eyes.
I have to say that Thinkific doesn’t have many downsides – if you’re searching for a course focused platform with a community feature included, it probably will be the perfect fit for you.
But here are a few things to keep in mind…
REVIEW THE PAYMENT PLAN FEATURES BEFORE COMMITTING
Not all payment plans include all of the features.
For example, memberships can be created only on the $99/monthly plan as lower plan doesn’t support payment plans and subscription feature.
For most of the options, there will be a workaround opportunity and the lowest plans still have full functionality. But if you are searching for a specific setup, make sure to review it first!
UNDERSTAND THE THIRD-PARTY CONNECTIONS YOU WILL NEED
You might want to consider connecting Thinkific with your email marketing software so each new sale of the course can receive a welcome email sequence.
One of the things to pay attention to is which platforms support direct connection and if yours is included.
If not, you can still make it happen with Zapier instead but Zapier is also available for a higher plan only.
YOU CAN’T BUILD A FULLY FUNCTIONAL WEBSITE ON THINKIFIC
To be fair, when it comes to digital product focused platforms, very few offer an option to build a fully functional website – this is the type of a feature you’d find in an all-in-one platform like Kajabi. However, I felt like it’s an important part to include in this Thinkific review.
Thinkific gives an option to build landing pages for your offers but sometimes it might not be enough. Thinkific will work the best in combination with your own website.
Now, just to give you some context… You don’t NEED to have a website to successfully sell digital products online, you CAN use only Thinkific or any other digital product platform to sell. But in the long run, having your own website can have many benefits like a chance to create SEO focused content and drive Pinterest traffic.
My experience with Thinkific
My own experience with this platform has also been a story of ups and downs.
When I first got into the online course business in 2015, I chose Teachable over Thinkific. For years, I stayed on the platform and was content with my decision. Teachable also has always been my go-to suggestion for starters as their user interface is really easy to use.
In early 2023, I moved my own membership from Teachable to Circle. Mostly because of the community feature. However, around the same time (late 2022, to be precise), most of the platforms started shifting their offers.
As of now (mid 2024), I have made yet another move and actually have chosen to use Thinkific for my online courses and Your Course Creation Membership.
Currently Thinkific actually has a way better offer for starters than Teachable and I’d definitely suggest you to check it out first. The fact that there are 0% commission fees AND the chance to build your community space there too.
Despite the fact that I haven’t been much of Thinkific’s fan in the past, I now see it as one of the best platforms for course creators.
I hope this insight into Thinkific pros and cons gave you a good idea of whether or not this might be your perfect fit platform. If you’re still unsure, join us in Your Course Creation Membership where you’ll get access to full platform insight and will get a chance to ask me anything as well.
Connect with me on Instagram @coursecreationlab to learn more
