Hotmart vs Thinkific (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hotmart grades higher than Thinkific: 2.6 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hotmart grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Thinkific grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
Which one is for you
Pick Hotmart if
- Fits if you want to sell a first course without paying a monthly fee
- Works for creators who want an affiliate programme built in
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell a lot, as the 9.9% plus R$1 fee is taken from every sale
- Watch out: the fee is quoted in Brazilian reais, so check the fees page for your currency
- Watch out: withdrawing earnings costs a fee, in reais a minimum of R$2.00 plus R$1.99
- Watch out: payout timing depends on the sale currency and the buyer's payment method
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
| 2.6GPAHotmartGood | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BNo monthly or annual fee, but 9.9% plus R$1 comes off every approved sale up to five figures of revenue. A seller with steady income pays more than a flat plan would charge. | 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 | BA free account with no limit on products, and a platform fee only when something sells. One person can run on it. | 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 | BMembers area, checkout, affiliate programme, events and webinars, funnels, email automation and analytics. Nothing named in the listing is missing for selling a course. | 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. You build the product, the members area and the checkout yourself. | 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 | CWeb only on the listing, with no integrations on record. | 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 | selling a course or digital product with no monthly fee | 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: Hotmart and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hotmart has no paid plan 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 $82 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Hotmart 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
- Hotmart also covers marketing automation, affiliate tracking, digital downloads and webinars.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
At a glance
| Hotmart | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | No monthly or annual fee and no limit on products. Hotmart charges a fee on each approved sale; the home page gives 9.9% + R$1 for revenue up to five figures. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Launch Pad Technology, Services and Payments Ltd. | Thinkific |
| Price read from | hotmart.com | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hotmart
- The fee is quoted in Brazilian reais (9.9% + R$1 per sale) for revenue up to five figures; check the fees page for your currency.
- Withdrawing earnings costs a fee; in Brazilian reais the minimum is R$2.00 plus R$1.99.
- Payout timing depends on the sale currency and the buyer's payment method.
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
Hotmart
- Members area
- A customizable area for courses and other content, where you can also promote your other products to buyers.
- Checkout and payments
- Its own payment system with local payment methods and a checkout builder with order bumps, localized to the buyer's language and currency.
- Affiliate program
- Affiliates can promote your products, and Hotmart automates their payouts.
- Events and webinars
- Host webinars or online events and sell with one-click buying during them.
- Funnels and email automation
- Upsells and downsells, plus automated emails for abandoned carts and sales recovery.
- Co-creation and analytics
- Add partners to a product and split profits automatically, with sales reports and tracking pixels.
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
Hotmart
Free account$0
No subscription. The fee is 9.9% + R$1 per approved sale for revenue up to five figures, and it falls as earnings rise. The page states the rate in Brazilian reais.
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
Hotmart
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, Hotmart or Thinkific?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hotmart is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $82 a month for Thinkific. Hotmart is free, and Thinkific starts at $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Hotmart or Thinkific?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Hotmart has a free plan. Thinkific does not, though it 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.