Passion.io vs Thinkific (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Passion.io if

• Fits if your audience would rather use an app than a website
• Works for creators who already sell courses and want a mobile home for them

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try it free, as there is no free plan or trial
• Pricey if you want your own branding, which needs Scale at $279 a month
• Tight if you want a store listing under your name, since that needs Expand at $599 a month
• Watch out: Apple, Google and Stripe fees apply on top of the PassionPayments fee, which the page gives as 3.9% on Launch
• Watch out: Passion Plus has no published price

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

Passion.io

• There is no free plan or trial listed on the pricing page; the cheapest plan is $119 a month on yearly billing.
• Your own branding needs Scale, and a store listing under your name needs Expand at $599 a month.
• Apple, Google and Stripe processing fees apply on top of the PassionPayments fee, which the page gives as 3.9% on Launch.
• Passion Plus has no published price.

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.

Passion.io

Your own app

Customers get an app for courses, videos and memberships. Your own branding starts on Scale, and a store listing under your name on Expand.

Courses and drip content

Interactive courses with quizzes, progress tracking and timers, released on a schedule; advanced drip content starts on Scale.

Communities and messaging

Group communities, chats and one-to-one messages inside the app; advanced versions from Scale.

AI coach

A context-aware AI coach trained on your content answers members, with monthly Conversational AI messages that rise by plan.

In-app payments

One-off and subscription payments, with a PassionPayments fee that falls from 3.9% on Launch to 1.9% on Passion Plus.

Push notifications and offline mode

Unlimited push notifications and offline mode are listed on Expand.

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.

Passion.io

• Launch$119

  per month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)

  Your own app, basic communities and drip content, one-to-one messaging, courses priced up to $10k, email support and 3,000 AI messages. PassionPayments fee 3.9%.

• Scale$279

  per month, billed annually ($349 billed monthly)

  Everything in Launch, plus your own branding, Zapier, advanced communities, DMs and drip content, chat support and 7,500 AI messages.

• Expand$599

  per month, billed annually ($699 billed monthly)

  Everything in Scale, plus an App Store and Google Play listing, Apple and Google Pay, unlimited users, products and videos, offline mode and 20,000 AI messages.

• Passion PlusCustom

  Price agreed on request. Adds custom analytics, fast content migration, app submission by the vendor, a success manager and 60,000 AI messages.

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.

Passion.io

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with yearly billing

  The pricing page says annual billing saves 20% against paying month to month: Launch $119 instead of $149, Scale $279 instead of $349, Expand $599 instead of $699.

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.