Teachable is one of the most popular course platforms and this Teachable review is here to help you to explore if it will be a good fit for you. If you’re searching for a platform to set up and sell your online offers – you’ve come to the right place!
FOR FULL TRANSPARENCY = This post was originally written in September 2021, when I have been on Teachable myself for 6 years already. Since then, I have moved my own offers for various reasons. But as I always say – there isn’t just one perfect fit platform and Teachable might be the best one for you!
Through the years I have tried and tested plenty of various online course platforms and Teachable used to be my long-time favorite. It was actually the very first platform I ever used!
Either you are just starting your journey of course creation or you’re looking forward to moving from one platform to another, this Teachable review will give you insight into some pros and cons to consider.
If you want to get a more in-depth insight into your options, make sure to check out this free review of the most popular platforms.
Disclaimer: This blog post includes affiliate links! If you make a purchase using one of the provided links, I’ll receive a commission from the purchase. If you do – THANK YOU. Your support keeps this blog going!
Teachable review for online course creators
What is Teachable?
Teachable is a learning management system (LMS), a course platform you can use to set up and sell your digital courses and other similar offers.
These days Teachable supports selling products like:
- Courses
- Memberships
- 1:1 Coaching
- Communities
- Digital downloads
Teachable is one of the leading course platforms and it has been around since 2014.
It provides all the key elements you need to easily set up and sell your products like landing pages, checkout with easy payment system integration, thank you pages and student management system.
As I already mentioned above, Teachable was my own first course platform and I really enjoyed using it. It was back in 2015 when I had little to know experience with any kind of tech setups and I really liked how simple it all was (it was very fresh-in as a platform back then as well!)
I hope this Teachable review will help you to explore if this platform might be the best fit for you.
Pros of Teachable
You can get started for free
Yes, their free plan is BACK. This means that you can set up and sell your online courses without ANY subscription fees.
You’d need to pay from each sale made ($1 + 10% transaction fee) but this happens only after your sale is made. There is a student and lesson limit though so this would be a good fit only for a smaller course, maybe a freebie or a mini course.
If you want to start for free and keep it on the free plan, I’d suggest considering Thinkific instead!
The user interface is clean and easy to use
It’s always been super important for me that the platform LOOKS GOOD and feels good to use. And Teachable really does.
It’s minimal and simple, the backend solutions are very clear and straightforward, the learning curve isn’t too high.
Overall the platform is nice to use and creates a good user experience on both sides – for you, as well as your course students.
The Sales page builder is very straightforward and effective
Creating effective sales pages can be a whole other challenge and an easy-to-use Sales page builder can truly go a long way.
Well, lucky for us, Teachable has implemented a new page builder (version 2.0) with some simple yet effective solutions that can be easily manageable with or without any previous knowledge.
They have implemented drag & drop page builder features which means that you can use various page blocks and easily combine your own perfect sales page. Besides that, you have control over details like colors, buttons, size of the text used, etc.
They have an on-site 1:1 coaching platform
This used to be a paid option only but now it’s also available for the free plan!
The 1:1 Coaching platform is the perfect fit for online coaches who do 1:1 coaching as well. Besides that, if you want to sell your course and offer 1:1 support, this can also come in handy.
Within this product you can:
- Choose how the clients can enroll – directly, by filling out a form or filling out a form AND having your approval.
- Use any of the standard pricing options, for example, free, one-time payment or subscription-based.
- Start it right away or set a date.
- Create milestones and add in specific dates for each Milestone
- Create Sales and Thank you pages
- Preview how the student will see the space
2022 Update: Digital products
Now you can also easily set up and sell simpler digital products, for example, e-books or any downloadables.
Some of my clients have used this opportunity to move away from Etsy and fully sell all of their digital products on Teachable.
If you’re still thinking about adding additional digital products into your offer suite, this might be your chance!
2024 Update: Community space
Now Teachable have also introduced a community functionality! Which actually was the key reason I left them for Circle when I created my membership. I needed the community and they didn’t have that.
Community platform gives you a chance to provide added value in your courses, give your students a chance to interact with each other and potentially receive follow-up support from you.
If you had a community space planned as a part of your offer – you can now get it done on Teachable as well.
Cons of Teachable
While Teachable was a long-time favorite of mine, I have already admitted that these days Thinkific has taken its place. And there are several reasons why…
- It’s pricey. Compared to where it used to be years ago, they have increased their prices quite dramatically and the features you receive for the price won’t always make sense… The lowest paid plan starts at $39/monthly if you pay for a year but will be as high as $59/monthly if paid month to month. However, the next point adds to the price even more…
- Their fees are high! You’re about to pay 5% from the purchase even on the PAID plan. At the same time, on Thinkific you get the same features without the fee…
- The community space is new. Even though it’s great that they have added the community space feature (as of 2024), any new space means some trial and error until it gets to a truly solid place. If community space is something you want to have in your offer – it might be valuable to explore other options.
- The page builder is very simple. While it has all the functionality you might need, the overall page builder is rather simple and will require for you to have some base design knowledge to design a nice-looking site.
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