Spotlightr vs Thinkific (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Spotlightr and Thinkific share a 2.4 GPA, neither has a free plan, and Spotlightr starts cheaper, at $13 a month against $82 a month.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Spotlightr grades higher on value for money. Thinkific grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Spotlightr
Encrypted video hosting with a course module for creators
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
Which one is for you
Pick Spotlightr if
- Fits if you sell courses and want encrypted video
- Works for LearnDash or WordPress course sites
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as there is only a 14-day trial
- Tight on Light: 25 videos and no AI transcription minutes
- Watch out: the course module, gallery module and student reporting start on Plus, in-video quizzes on Premium
- Watch out: overage is $0.05 per GB of bandwidth and $0.03 per GB of storage
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
| 2.4GPASpotlightrFair | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BLight is $13 a month billed yearly ($15 monthly), inside the cheapest quarter ($20) but above $12. Plus is $21. | 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 | CA 14-day trial with no card. There is no free plan. | 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 | CVideo hosting with HLS encryption, analytics, subtitles and in-video engagement tools. It does that smaller job fully, and the course module needs Plus. | 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 | CA web app where you upload and set up video, with no store rating on record. | 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, with WordPress, LearnDash, Stripe, Kajabi and Thinkific on the list. | 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 | protected video for course sellers | 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: Spotlightr and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
Spotlightr starts at $13 a month 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 $69 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 1 scores higher than Spotlightr 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
- Spotlightr also covers reports and popups.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing and community.
At a glance
| Spotlightr | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $13 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly) | $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Zimmplify LLC | Thinkific |
| Price read from | spotlightr.com | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Spotlightr
- Overage is billed at $0.05 per GB of bandwidth and $0.03 per GB of extra storage.
- The Light plan allows 25 videos and includes no AI transcription minutes; extra minutes cost $0.10 each.
- The course module, gallery module, student reporting and email gating start on the Plus plan.
- In-video quizzes, GeoControl and team accounts start on Premium.
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
Spotlightr
- HLS encryption
- Every uploaded video is encrypted, which the vendor says stops browser extensions from downloading it. Plans add password protection and dynamic IP watermarks.
- Course module
- On Plus and above, build video courses with open, opt-in, access-code or Stripe-paid access, with student profiles and progress reporting.
- Gallery module
- Netflix-style pages of videos with the same access options as courses, including paid access through a Stripe integration.
- In-video engagement tools
- Clickable calls to action, lead capture forms, hotspots and email gating, with quizzes and comments on the Premium plan.
- Analytics and tagging
- Viewer analytics with heatmaps, and on Premium, CRM tags and tracking codes that fire at set timestamps.
- Transcription and subtitles
- Transcribes video, adds subtitles and translates into over 100 languages, using monthly AI minutes that vary by plan.
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
Spotlightr
Light$13
per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly)
25 videos, 200 GB bandwidth and 50 GB storage a month, with HLS encryption and a brandable player.
Plus$21
per month, billed annually ($25 billed monthly)
Unlimited videos, 600 GB bandwidth, 200 GB storage, 100 AI minutes, course and gallery modules.
Premium$55
per month, billed annually ($65 billed monthly)
2,000 GB bandwidth, 600 GB storage, in-video quizzes, GeoControl and 5 team accounts.
Scale$163
per month, billed annually ($195 billed monthly)
6,000 GB bandwidth, 2,000 GB storage, 600 AI minutes and 20 team accounts.
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
Spotlightr
- Annual discount
Annual billing saves 15% to 18%
Yearly billing is cheaper than monthly on every plan; the page says annual billing saves over 15%, and over 18% on Premium.
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, Spotlightr or Thinkific?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Spotlightr is cheaper to start with: $13 a month, against $82 a month for Thinkific. Spotlightr starts at $13 per month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly), and Thinkific starts at $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Spotlightr or Thinkific?
As of Nov 13, 2026, neither Spotlightr nor Thinkific has a free plan. Both have 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.