Teachable vs Thinkific
We give Teachable and Thinkific the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. Teachable grades higher on ease of use. Thinkific grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Teachable
Online course, coaching and membership platform with its own checkout
Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
How we grade them
| 2.4GPATeachableFair | 2.4GPAThinkificFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $29 a month billed yearly, but its 7.5% fee adds $150 on $2,000 of sales, making $179. Builder at $69 takes no fee with Teachable Payments, so $69 a month is what you'd pay: above this category's dearer quarter ($59), well short of its dearest tenth. | 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 | CNo free plan. There's a 7-day free trial, and the listing doesn't say it needs a card, then a 30-day money-back guarantee once you've paid. | 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 | CCourses with drip, quizzes and graded short answers, coaching, downloads, memberships, upsells, cart recovery and email. The course job is covered; the gap is community, which is a student community on Builder rather than the spaces and events rivals offer. | 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 | B4.62 from about 9,400 App Store ratings, a little under the 4.7 an A needs. The AI course starter drafts a curriculum, so you're not starting from a blank page. | 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, iPhone and Android for students, with Zapier and webhooks on every plan and a public API on Growth. No desktop app, which an A needs. | 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 courses to students around the world | 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: Teachable and Thinkific. How we grade
Price against what you get
Teachable starts at $29 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific starts at $40 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and Teachable starts $11 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Teachable 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
- Teachable starts at $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly). Thinkific starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
- Only Teachable lists iOS and Android apps.
- Teachable also covers email campaigns.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing and community.
At a glance
| Teachable | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly) | $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee | 30-day free trial of the whole platform |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Teachable, Inc. | Thinkific |
| Price read from | teachable.com | thinkific.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Teachable
- Creators selling courses to students in many countries who want tax handled
- Teachers adding coaching or downloads beside a course
- Schools whose students learn on their phones
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
Teachable
- Starter takes 7.5% of each sale on top of processing fees: 2.9% + 30 cents for US cards, 3.9% + 30 cents for international cards.
- There is no free plan, only a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- Certificates, removing Teachable branding and more than 1 admin user all need Growth at $139 a month billed annually.
- Products are capped at 5, 10 and 50 by plan; memberships, bundles and drafts do not count.
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
Teachable
- Courses, coaching and downloads
- Video and text courses with drip content, auto-graded quizzes and short-answer assessments, plus 1:1 or group coaching, digital downloads and memberships.
- Teachable Payments
- Built-in checkout with 35+ local payment methods that collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST in 45+ countries, with daily payouts.
- Sales tools
- Coupons, upsells, order bumps, bundles, abandoned cart emails and built-in email marketing. The affiliate program starts on Builder.
- AI course tools
- An AI course starter drafts a curriculum, a generator turns lessons into quizzes, and videos get subtitles translated into 70+ languages on Growth.
- Student apps
- Students reach their courses on the web or in Teachable's iOS and Android apps, which are included on every plan.
- Integrations and API
- Zapier and webhooks on every plan, and a public API on Growth with 10,000 requests a month.
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
Teachable
Starter$29
per month, billed annually ($39 billed monthly)
5 products, 1 admin user, AI tools, student apps, upsells and cart recovery. Teachable takes a 7.5% transaction fee on each sale.
Builder$69
per month, billed annually ($89 billed monthly)
10 products, 1 admin user, no transaction fee with Teachable Payments, a student community, an affiliate program and real-time support.
Growth$139
per month, billed annually ($189 billed monthly)
50 products, 5 admin users, certificates, no Teachable branding, student imports, custom admin permissions, subtitles and translations.
CustomCustom
For high-volume schools: flexible product and admin seats, a sandbox school, a success manager, priority support and migration help.
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
Teachable
- Annual discount
Save 22% with yearly billing
Teachable's pricing page says yearly billing saves 22%: Starter $29 a month instead of $39, Builder $69 instead of $89, Growth $139 instead of $189.
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.
