Pathwright vs Thinkific (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Pathwright if

• Fits if you teach in cohorts and want each lesson laid out as steps
• Works for course makers who want discussion inside each step

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you run many cohorts, since Starter allows 1 per course and Essentials 3
• Pricey if you grow: past 1,000 members, extra member blocks are added to the monthly bill automatically
• Watch out: Stripe charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per course sale
• Watch out: the public pricing page loads its figures with JavaScript, so these prices come from the help centre, where Starter shows a $99 monthly fee

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

Pathwright

• Plans include 1,000 members; beyond that, extra member blocks are added to the monthly bill automatically.
• Cohorts per course are limited to 1 on Starter and 3 on Essentials; unlimited cohorts start on Complete.
• Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction on course sales, according to the vendor's help center.
• The public pricing page loads its figures with JavaScript, so these prices come from the vendor's help center.

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.

Pathwright

Path Designer

Lay out a course visually as a Path of Steps, with a source Path that new cohorts start from.

Interactive blocks

More than 30 block types for media, text, questions, quizzes and project uploads.

Cohorts

Teach one Path to several groups, each with its own teachers, schedule, discussions and price.

Discussion inside Steps

Discussion prompts sit within each Step instead of a separate forum.

Progress tracking

A per-learner view of where each person stopped, and CSV exports of progress and grades.

Selling

Sell publicly or privately through Stripe, with no fee from Pathwright on course sales.

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.

Pathwright

• Starter$89

  per month for up to 1,000 members, billed annually ($99 monthly)

  1 administrator, unlimited courses with 1 active cohort each, 1 Mentor Group. Extra staff $2 a month each; extra members from $49 per 500.

• Essentials$179

  per month for up to 1,000 members, billed annually ($199 monthly)

  5 staff. Adds custom domain, Zapier, 1 subscription plan, 3 active cohorts per course, 5 Mentor Groups. Extra staff $4 a month each.

• Complete$449

  per month for up to 1,000 members, billed annually ($499 monthly)

  20 staff. Unlimited cohorts, several subscription plans, certificates, 20 Mentor Groups. Extra staff $9 a month each.

• Enterprise$1,349

  per month and up for 1,000 members, billed annually ($1,499 monthly)

  50 staff. Adds single sign-on, GraphQL API access, priority support and custom integrations. Extra staff $12 a month each.

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.

Pathwright

• Annual discount

  10% off with annual payment

  Paying 12 months up front takes 10% off the standard plan price.

• Education

  Scholarships

  Classroom teachers, parents teaching at home and nonprofits can apply for a scholarship on Starter, Essentials or Complete; it does not stack with the annual discount.

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.