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

Pick Ruzuku if

• Fits if you want to try one small course for free before paying
• Works for teachers who want live classes and no platform fee on sales

Look elsewhere if

• Tight if you teach more than 5 students at once, since the free plan caps enrolments at 5 across all courses
• Pricey if you want branding, a custom domain, certificates or more than one instructor, which need Pro at $199 a month
• Skip it if you want a phone app, as it runs in a browser and the pages list no mobile apps
• Watch out: email invitations need a paid plan

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

Ruzuku

• The free plan caps enrollments at 5 students at a time across all courses, and email invitations need a paid plan.
• White-label branding, a custom domain, certificates and multiple instructors need Pro at $199 a month.
• It runs in a browser only; the pages list no mobile 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%.
• 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.

Ruzuku

Courses and cohorts

Unlimited courses on every plan, including live group cohorts, with videos up to 2 GB each (4 GB on Pro).

Live sessions

Zoom meetings are scheduled inside a course, and students see them in their own time zone.

Community and discussions

Each course has discussion areas for students, included on every plan.

Payments with no platform fee

Connect Stripe or PayPal and take payment plans or subscriptions. Ruzuku says it takes no transaction fee; the payment processor still charges its own.

Certificates and branding

Pro adds completion certificates, white-label branding with a custom domain, and several instructor accounts.

Support for students too

The vendor says its support team helps students with login and access problems, not only course creators.

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.

Ruzuku

• Free$0

  Up to 5 student enrollments at a time, unlimited courses, live meetings, community, sales pages and payments. Email invitations need a paid plan.

• Core$99

  per month, billed monthly ($997 per year)

  Unlimited students and courses, unlimited course invitations, live meetings, community and discussions, sales pages and payments.

• Pro$199

  per month, billed monthly ($1,997 per year)

  Everything in Core, plus white-label branding and custom domain, multiple instructors, certificates, a storefront, AI captions and 4K streaming.

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.

Ruzuku

• Annual discount

  Pay yearly: Core $997, Pro $1,997

  The pricing page shows a yearly option of $997 for Core and $1,997 for Pro, which it describes as about $83 and $166 a month, against $99 and $199 monthly.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit and education pricing

  501(c)(3) nonprofits, NGOs and educational institutions can get 30% off annual plans, purchase order invoicing, or a one-time $4,950 Lifetime Pro grant option.

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.