CourseStorm vs Thinkific (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Thinkific grades higher than CourseStorm: 2.4 against 1.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Thinkific grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
CourseStorm
Class and camp registration software for education programs
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
Which one is for you
Pick CourseStorm if
- Fits if you run classes or camps that families register for
- Works for organisations that want rosters and waitlists
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you run small programs, as $2.49 per registration comes on top of the monthly price
- Skip it if you want to host lessons, as it has no course delivery
- Watch out: payment plans and attendance tracking start at Pro ($269)
- Watch out: integrations are listed from All Access ($399)
- Not for you if you want a trial, as none is listed
Pick Thinkific if
- Fits if you want a month to build your course before paying anything
- Works for academies selling seats to companies as well as to people, on Grow at $164
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're starting small, as there's no plan under Start at $82 a month billed yearly, or $109 monthly
- Not for you if your students expect an app, unless you'll pay $199 a month more
- Skip it if you need SSO or SCORM, which only come with the custom-priced Plus plan
- Watch out: Stripe and PayPal carry an extra Thinkific gateway fee in some countries
- Tight if you're on Start, with 2 admins, 1 community and 10,000 current students
How we grade them
| 1.6GPACourseStormWeak | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | D$99 a month billed annually is already above the dearer-quarter line ($89), and payment plans and attendance sit on Pro at $269. A $2.49 fee per registration comes on top. | CStart, now the cheapest plan, is $82 a month billed yearly with unlimited courses, and Thinkific takes no fee on sales through Thinkific Payments, whose 2.9% is card processing. So $2,000 of sales costs $82 a month, just past this category's dearer quarter at $79. Stripe or PayPal can add a fee in some countries. |
| Free plan and trial | FNo free plan and no trial; the site pushes a demo. | CNo free plan, but a 30-day trial of the whole platform, as long as any in this category. The listing doesn't say it needs a card. |
| Features | CCatalogue, rosters, waitlists, payments and forms do class registration fully, but it is a smaller job than a course platform and has no lessons or video. | BDrag-and-drop courses with quizzes and drip, a community with spaces and events, a site builder, email automation, checkout with order bumps and sales tax, and B2B group orders on Grow. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Onboarding takes 3 to 6 weeks according to the site. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's drag-and-drop, but you're building a course, a site and a checkout, so there's some setting up before you sell. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Zapier, Spektrix, Little Green Light, Neon One, Bloomerang, Mailchimp and Constant Contact listed. | BWeb, with Zoom, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, HubSpot and Salesforce, and an API on Grow. Students get no app unless you buy the branded one for $199 a month. |
| Best for | class and camp registration pages | a course business with a 30-day trial |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: CourseStorm and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
CourseStorm starts at $99 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific starts at $82 a month and scores 2.7.
Thinkific scores higher and starts $17 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 17 score higher than CourseStorm for less, and 2 score higher than Thinkific for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- CourseStorm also covers forms, reports and class booking.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing, online courses and community.
At a glance
| CourseStorm | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Paid | Free trial |
| Starts at | $99 per month, billed yearly ($119 billed monthly) | $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| Made by | CourseStorm | Thinkific |
| Price read from | coursestorm.com | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
CourseStorm
- Every plan adds a $2.49 per-registration fee and standard Stripe card processing costs.
- There is no free plan or free trial listed; the site pushes a demo and onboarding of 3 to 6 weeks.
- It handles class registration, not course hosting, so there is no lesson or video delivery.
- Integrations with donor and ticketing systems run through Zapier, and the integrations feature is listed from All Access.
Thinkific
- There is no free plan; the 30-day trial is the only way to try it.
- Stripe and PayPal carry an extra Thinkific gateway fee in some countries that varies by plan; Thinkific Payments charges 2.9%.
- Start, Grow and Expand cap current students at 10,000, and Start allows 2 admins and 1 community.
- SSO, SCORM and the AI teaching assistant are only in the Plus plan, which is priced through sales.
Key features
CourseStorm
- Class catalog website
- Publishes a searchable catalog of classes and camps that families register for online; a WordPress plugin can show classes on an existing site.
- Rosters and waitlists
- Keeps rosters, waitlists and student transfers; advanced waitlists and attendance tracking start at Pro.
- Payments
- Takes card payments through Stripe; payment plans are listed from the Pro tier.
- Registration forms
- Custom registration forms and price-adjusting questions start at Core; class-specific forms start at Pro.
- Marketing emails and reminders
- Sends automated reminders and marketing emails, with low enrollment alerts and abandoned-cart emails described on the homepage.
- Reporting
- Basic reports on every plan; an AI reporting assistant that answers typed questions is listed on All Access.
Thinkific
- Course builder
- Drag-and-drop courses with video, quizzes, drip schedules, discussions and compliance rules; assignments and certificates start on Start.
- Communities
- Standalone communities with topic spaces, live events and paid memberships: 1 community on Start, 3 on Grow and 10 on Expand.
- TCommerce checkout
- Thinkific Payments with order bumps, gifting, buy now pay later, payment plans, abandoned cart reminders and automated sales tax.
- Site builder and email
- Branded websites and landing pages on a custom domain, members-only pages, and email automation with pre-built sequences.
- B2B selling
- Grow adds group orders so companies can buy bulk seats, and invoicing to bill and collect from business buyers.
- Branded mobile app
- Your own iOS and Android app with push notifications, sold as a $199 a month add-on and included on some Plus contracts.
Plans
CourseStorm
Starter$99
per month, billed yearly ($119 billed monthly)
Catalog website, family accounts, rosters, waitlists and transfers, card processing and basic reporting.
Core$169
per month, billed yearly ($219 billed monthly)
Adds a customized registration form, automated reminders, roster emails, price-adjusting form questions and marketing emails.
Pro$269
per month, billed yearly ($329 billed monthly)
Adds payment plans, class-specific registration forms, age restrictions, instructor access, attendance tracking and advanced waitlists.
All Access$399
per month, billed yearly ($499 billed monthly)
For programs processing $100k or more a year; adds integrations, AI-powered reporting, class-specific promo codes, private classes and flash sale protection.
Thinkific
Start$82
per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly)
Live cohorts with Zoom, certificates, assignments, memberships, bundles, upsells, payment plans, an HTML and CSS editor, 2 admins.
Grow$164
per month, billed annually ($219 billed monthly)
No Thinkific branding, 3 communities, group orders and invoicing for B2B buyers, API and webhooks, phone support, 6 admins.
Expand$374
per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly)
10 communities with 200 spaces, 1,000 GB of video a month, unlimited group sizes, email white-labeling, 15 admins, revenue sharing with 10 partners and launch support.
PlusCustom
AI teaching assistant, SSO, SCORM and learning paths, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, 10,000+ user seats and a dedicated success team.
Ways to pay less
CourseStorm
No public discounts listed.
Thinkific
- Annual discount
Save 25% with annual billing
Thinkific's pricing page lists 25% off for annual billing: Start $82 a month instead of $109, Grow $164 instead of $219, Expand $374 instead of $499.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, CourseStorm or Thinkific?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Thinkific is cheaper to start with: $82 a month, against $99 a month for CourseStorm. CourseStorm starts at $99 per month, billed yearly ($119 billed monthly), and Thinkific starts at $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, CourseStorm or Thinkific?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither CourseStorm nor Thinkific has a free plan. Thinkific has a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.