systeme.io vs Thinkific
We give systeme.io a 2.8 GPA and Thinkific a 2.4, out of 4.0. systeme.io grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Thinkific grades higher on features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
systeme.io
All-in-one marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and community
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAsysteme.ioGood | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | ANo plan takes a fee on sales. One course sells on the free plan, and Startup, with 5 courses, is $17 a month or about $14 billed yearly with 2 months free. So $2,000 of sales costs $0 on Free or about $14 a month on Startup, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter ($29). | CBasic is $40 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 $40 a month, the middle of this category. Stripe or PayPal can add a gateway fee in some countries. |
| Free plan and trial | BA free plan with no card and no end date: 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 funnels and 1 course for 500 students. One person selling one course could live on it; 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign is where it pinches. | 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 | CFunnels with upsells, email automations, courses, a community, an affiliate program, a store, bookings, a CRM and webinars. A lot. The course side is the gap: video, PDFs, drip and locking, with no quizzes or certificates in the listing. | 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 App Store rating on record. Templates help, but it's a funnel builder first, so you're building pages, emails and automations before the course sells. | 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 only, with Stripe, PayPal, Zoom, Google Meet, Sheets and Calendar, ActiveCampaign and Twilio, plus a public API. No phone or desktop apps listed. | 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 first course without paying anything | a full course business with a long free 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: systeme.io and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
systeme.io starts at $17 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific starts at $40 a month and scores 2.7.
Thinkific scores higher, and starts $23 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 systeme.io for less, and none scores 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
- systeme.io starts at $17 per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly. Thinkific starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
- systeme.io has a free plan. Thinkific does not, though it has a free trial.
- systeme.io also covers booking links, sales pipeline, marketing automation and email campaigns.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
At a glance
| systeme.io | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $17 per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly | $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 funnels, 1 course with 500 students, 1 community, 1 blog, 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign. No card needed. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| Made by | systeme.io | Thinkific |
| Price read from | systeme.io | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
systeme.io
- New creators who want funnels, email and a course without paying yet
- Sellers who want no transaction fee on any plan
- Agencies or owners of several brands, using unlimited sub-accounts
Thinkific
- Experts selling courses who want a long free trial before paying
- Academies selling seats to companies as well as to individuals
- Course businesses that already run a website elsewhere
Worth knowing
systeme.io
- The free plan stops at 2,000 contacts, 1 course with 500 students, 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign.
- Evergreen webinars start on the Webinar plan at $47 a month.
- No plan charges a transaction fee; Stripe, PayPal and other processors still charge their own.
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%.
- Basic, Start and Grow cap current students at 10,000, and Basic allows 1 admin and 5 digital downloads.
- SSO, SCORM and the AI teaching assistant are only in the Plus plan, which is priced through sales.
Key features
systeme.io
- Sales funnels
- A drag-and-drop funnel builder with templates, A/B tests, one-click upsells, order bumps, countdown timers and evergreen webinars.
- Email marketing and automations
- Unlimited email sends on every plan, with broadcasts, sequences, tags, segments and automation rules triggered by purchases or sign-ups.
- Online courses
- Video lessons, PDF downloads, drip schedules, module locking and student progress, sold through your funnels.
- Communities
- Free or paid members-only spaces with posts and comments, tied to courses and funnels: 1 on the free plan, 5 on Startup.
- Affiliate program
- Run your own affiliate program with custom commissions, referral tracking and payouts, on every plan including Free.
- Store, bookings and CRM
- Sell digital and physical products, take bookings with deposits through a built-in calendar, and track leads in CRM pipelines.
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 Basic and Start, 3 on Grow.
- 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
systeme.io
Free$0
2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course for up to 500 students, 1 community, 1 website, 1 custom domain, 1 automation rule.
Startup$17
per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly
10 funnels, 5 courses with unlimited students, 5 communities, 5 websites, 10 automation rules, 10 email campaigns, 3 custom domains.
Webinar$47
per month for up to 10,000 contacts, billed monthly
Adds 10 evergreen webinars, 50 funnels, 20 courses and communities, 100 automation rules and 10 custom domains. The plan for 10,000 contacts.
Unlimited$97
per month for unlimited contacts, billed monthly
Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses, communities, automation rules and custom domains, plus early access to new features.
Thinkific
Basic$40
per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)
Unlimited courses, 1 community with 5 spaces, 5 digital downloads, 1 admin, 100 GB of video a month, coupons and order bumps.
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.
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
systeme.io
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
systeme.io's pricing page has a monthly and annual switch and says annual billing gives 2 months free on paid plans.
Thinkific
- Annual discount
Save 25% with annual billing
Thinkific's pricing page lists 25% off for annual billing: Basic $40 a month instead of $54, Start $82 instead of $109, Grow $164 instead of $219.
