Both Teachable and Thinkific are one of the most well-known online course platforms that have been around for a while and have proved themselves as powerful learning management systems. If you’re currently at the crossroads of Teachable vs Thinkific and want support in understanding which course platform to choose – you’ve come to the right place!
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If you’re thinking about creating an online course, you will need to have a platform to host your course on.
In most cases, such platforms come with plenty of various features, however, one of the simplest, yet most effective, options to go for a course platforms like Teachable or Thinkific.
Both offer you a similar range of key features, from the content upload to student management, from landing pages to checkouts and well beyond. In short, it’s all you need to set up and start selling your course.
But which platform to go for?
While I started my own course business on Teachable in 2015 and was on the platform for more than 7 years, these days my vote goes to Thinkific for several different reasons (all of which you can explore below!)
Ultimately, it all comes down to what it is that you are searching for in the platform and what type of offers you want to set up.
Teachable vs Thinkific: which course platform to choose?
Brief comparison of Teachable vs Thinkific
Both course platforms have been founded around the same time – Thinkific has been around since 2012 while Teachable was founded in 2014.
And while other learning management systems were also coming up with their offers, I’ve always considered these two to be the OG platforms in the space.
Over the years, both of the platforms have also expanded and changed at a similar pace, introducing more and more different features for course creators, improving their landing page builders and well beyond.
Now, ten years later, they still are very close competitors and often the choice of which platform to go for might fall on your personal preference.
But let’s review the pros & cons of each to make your decision easier!
The pros & cons of Teachable
On Teachable, you can set up and sell online courses, memberships, coaching products and digital downloads. Recently they have also introduced a community platform as a part of their offer.
They have an easy-to-use user interface that is quite straightforward plus their landing page builder is simple but well designed and will give you a chance to create well-looking pages with ease.
Teachable also has several built-in email marketing connections with email marketing softwares like Mailchimp, MailerLite and ConvertKit.
As for the downsides of Teachable, their pricing plans are higher and provide less value than Thinkific.
You can use the free plan of Teachable with a 10% transaction fee and it’s for up to 10 students and one course only. And with so many other options out there, the price just doesn’t cut it.
The paid monthly plans start at $59/monthly and still includes 5% fee which is high.
The pros & cons of Thinkific
Unlike Teachable, Thinkific has stayed more true to their initial goal and their focus is on offering you an option to set up and sell online courses, memberships and communities.
However, as of very recently, they have also introduced digital downloads and Live events! As of July 2024, for some accounts this is still in the Beta phase.
Their user interface is also easy to get started with but one of the key differences is that you can start building your sales pages with the pre-made templates. They can definitely ease up the process!
That being said, the landing page builder itself can be slightly challenging at times and is not as simple to manage as Teachable’s. But that might also come down to a personal preference.
The value for the price definitely is higher on Thinkific. You can create one course and one community and start selling for free, without any transaction fees!
The paid plans start at $49/monthly. However, as you enroll, make sure to review the features each plan includes as the lower priced plans don’t have features like payment plans and memberships!
What makes Teachable better than Thinkific?
While I already revealed that my vote in the Teachable vs Thinkific battle goes to the latter one, there is one thing that Teachable does better.
One of the key things that makes Teachable better than Thinkific is that all of their pricing plan include all of the most important features and you don’t have to bend backwards trying to understand if you’ll need an upgrade to do what you want to do with your offers.
Additionally, if you’re interested in selling your coaching, along with the course offers, Teachable will be the better option.
Overall, I don’t have much against it as a platform but if I’d have to choose to use Teachable or Thinkific, I’d go for Thinkific.
Teachable can be the best choice for you if:
- You don’t mind the extra investment
- You want to sell your coaching offers along with your courses
What makes Thinkific better than Teachable?
The value for the price definitely is higher on Thinkific.
Additionally, they have a great course and community integration and if you want to have a community for your course – this is the way to go! Your students can easily move from the course content to the community and vice versa.
Yes, these days Teachable have also introduced the community aspect but as it’s still in its infancy, Thinkific definitely has an upper hand here.
Plus the simple fact that all plans come with 0% transaction fee! This just means that if you’re selling a $500 product, you’re not giving away $25 for each sale made…
Thinkific can be the best choice for you if:
- You want to start with a low-budget and save on the fees in the long-run
- You want to combine your courses with a community access
- You’re not interested in selling other offers on the same platform
If you’re unsure about your options, make sure to check out my free Course Platform Guide that dives deeper into various course platforms and the key differences between each.
As I always say, there isn’t just one perfect fit – which platform will be the best choice for you depends on your business vision, the features you need and your budget.
I hope this Teachable vs Thinkific guide have inspired you to take the action and make your choice!
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