Disco vs Thinkific
We give Disco a 2.0 GPA and Thinkific a 2.4, out of 4.0. Thinkific grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Disco
Branded learning academy for cohort courses, community and AI help
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADiscoFair | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DOrganization is $399 a month billed yearly, with no transaction fee, so $2,000 of sales costs $399 a month. That's in this category's dearest tenth and nearly ten times its middle figure of $42. It's priced for training firms with up to 500 members. | CBasic is $40 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 $40 a month, the middle of this category. Stripe or PayPal can add a gateway fee in some countries. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a free trial with no card needed: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 in the billing help docs. | 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 | CPrograms with quizzes, assignments, surveys and pathways, chat and events, Disco AI, unlimited automations and revenue reports. A full kit, but the listing names a gap: discount codes and sales tax are set up in Stripe, not in Disco. | 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 App Store rating on record. AI drafts courses and quizzes, but setting up an academy with programs, groups and automations is real work. | 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, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, Zoom, Slack, Zapier, Google Analytics and Tag Manager. The API and webhooks need Enterprise. No desktop app, which an A needs. | 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 | branded academies for training businesses | a full course business with a long free 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: Disco and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
Disco starts at $399 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific starts at $40 a month and scores 2.7.
Thinkific scores higher and starts $359 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 10 score higher than Disco for less, and none scores 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
- Disco starts at $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly). Thinkific starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
- Only Disco lists iOS and Android apps.
- Disco also covers surveys.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
At a glance
| Disco | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly) | $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial with no card required: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 days in the billing help docs | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Disco Inc. | Thinkific |
| Price read from | disco.co | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Disco
- Training businesses running live cohorts with a community around them
- Companies teaching customers, partners or employees in a branded academy
- Programs that split large cohorts into groups and subgroups
Thinkific
- Experts selling courses who want a long free trial before paying
- Academies selling seats to companies as well as to individuals
- Course businesses that already run a website elsewhere
Worth knowing
Disco
- There is no free plan; the one self-serve plan is $399 a month billed annually and covers up to 500 members.
- More than 500 members, the API and webhooks, SAML SSO and a branded mobile app all need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
- Disco charges no transaction fee, but payments run only through Stripe at Stripe's own rates (typically 2.9% + 30 cents).
- Discount codes and sales tax are set up in Stripe, not in Disco.
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%.
- Basic, Start and Grow cap current students at 10,000, and Basic allows 1 admin and 5 digital downloads.
- SSO, SCORM and the AI teaching assistant are only in the Plus plan, which is priced through sales.
Key features
Disco
- Cohort and self-paced programs
- Build programs from modules and lessons with video, quizzes, assignments, surveys, prerequisites and learning pathways, with templates for cohorts.
- Community chat and events
- Channels, threads, DMs, feeds, a member directory and leaderboards sit beside live and in-person events with calendar invites.
- Disco AI
- Generates course outlines, quizzes and images, adds transcripts and summaries to video, and Ask AI answers members from your own content.
- Memberships and checkout
- Sell programs at one-time prices and memberships billed weekly, monthly or yearly through your own Stripe account, with Stripe discount codes.
- Automations and reporting
- Unlimited automations on Organization, plus course progress, engagement, event attendance and revenue reports with CSV export.
- Mobile app
- Members use Disco's iOS and Android app for lessons, events and chat; a custom branded app is an Enterprise option.
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 Basic and Start, 3 on Grow.
- 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
Disco
Organization$399
per month for up to 500 members, billed annually ($499 monthly)
1 branded academy on your own domain, unlimited learning products, AI tools, 100 hours of video storage and onboarding office hours. No transaction fee.
EnterpriseCustom
100,000+ members, a branded iOS and Android app on request, API and webhooks, SAML SSO and a dedicated success manager. Billed annually.
Thinkific
Basic$40
per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)
Unlimited courses, 1 community with 5 spaces, 5 digital downloads, 1 admin, 100 GB of video a month, coupons and order bumps.
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.
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
Disco
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Disco's pricing page lists Organization at $399 a month billed annually against $499 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discount on Organization
Disco's pricing page and billing docs say nonprofits get a discount on the Organization plan, applied for by writing to support.
Thinkific
- Annual discount
Save 25% with annual billing
Thinkific's pricing page lists 25% off for annual billing: Basic $40 a month instead of $54, Start $82 instead of $109, Grow $164 instead of $219.
