Heights Platform vs Thinkific
We give Heights Platform and Thinkific the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Heights Platform
Course, challenge and community platform with built-in AI tools
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHeights PlatformFair | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CChallenge is $19 a month billed yearly but covers 1 challenge course for 100 students. Basic, with unlimited courses and 5,000 students, is $39, and no plan takes a fee on sales, so $2,000 of sales costs $39 a month: the middle of this category. | 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 30-day trial with no card needed, as long as any in this category. | 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 | BCourses and challenges with quizzes, assignments, certificates and badges, community channels, meeting rooms and live streams, email to students, fee-free checkout and Heights AI. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job; a custom domain waits for Pro. | 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. Heights AI drafts courses, quizzes and pages, which helps, but you're still building a school. | 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, plus Mac and Windows apps, with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Kit, ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics and Dropbox. No iPhone or Android app, which an A needs, and the API is only on Academy. | 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 | fee-free courses and challenges with live lessons | 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: Heights Platform and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
Heights Platform starts at $19 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific starts at $40 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Heights Platform starts $21 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Heights Platform 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
- Heights Platform starts at $19 per month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly). Thinkific starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
- Only Heights Platform lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Heights Platform also covers video calls and email campaigns.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
At a glance
| Heights Platform | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $19 per month, billed annually ($29 billed monthly) | $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Made by | Velora Studios, LLC | Thinkific |
| Price read from | heightsplatform.com | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Heights Platform
- Creators starting with a single challenge or small course
- Course sellers who want no platform fee on payments
- Teachers who run live lessons and group calls
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
Heights Platform
- Challenge allows 1 course and 100 active students and has no community.
- A custom domain and removing Heights branding need Pro at $99 a month billed annually.
- API access and custom student roles are only in Academy.
- No iOS or Android app is listed: students use a mobile browser or the Mac and Windows desktop apps.
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
Heights Platform
- Courses and challenges
- A lesson builder with drip and unlockable lessons, assignments and quizzes, certificates, badges and points, and unlimited video hosting.
- Community channels
- Free or paid channels tied to courses, with student projects, member messaging, and free channels published as public, indexable pages.
- Meeting rooms and live streams
- Live lessons, group calls in meeting rooms from Basic, and live streams in community channels, with 5 to 30 video hours a month by plan.
- Payments without fees
- One-time, subscription and installment prices through your own Stripe or PayPal account, with coupons, order bumps and cart recovery.
- Heights AI
- Drafts courses, quizzes, emails and website pages, moderates the community, builds reports, and on Pro coaches you weekly.
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
Heights Platform
Challenge$19
per month for up to 100 students, billed annually ($29 monthly)
1 challenge course, email to 1,000 contacts, live lessons, certificates, gamification and coupons. No community. No transaction fee.
Basic$39
per month for up to 5,000 students, billed annually ($49 monthly)
Unlimited courses and community channels, digital products, meeting rooms, affiliate program, Zapier, email to 5,000 contacts.
Pro$99
per month for up to 10,000 students, billed annually ($119 monthly)
Custom domain, web page builder, live streaming, no Heights branding, 2 admins, weekly AI coaching, email to 10,000 contacts.
Academy$399
per month for unlimited students, billed annually ($499 monthly)
Email to 100,000 contacts, 25 admins, custom student roles, API access, advanced reporting, a setup consultation and priority support.
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
Heights Platform
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual plans
Heights Platform's pricing page lists 20% off for annual plans: Challenge $19 a month instead of $29, Basic $39 instead of $49, Pro $99 instead of $119.
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.
