Thinkific
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
Thinkific report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 17, 2026
Best for a full course business with a long free trial
Thinkific covers the whole job: course builder, community, site, email and its own checkout, with no cut of sales when you use Thinkific Payments. Basic is $40 a month billed yearly, and you get 30 days free to build first. But certificates, assignments and memberships wait for Start at $82, and students get no app unless you pay $199 a month.
Who Thinkific is for
- Great if you want a full month to build your course before paying anything
- Good for academies selling seats to companies as well as to people
- Handy when you want course, community and email in one place with no sales cut
Who Thinkific is not for
- Tight if you need certificates or memberships, which start on Start at $82 a month
- 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
Why Thinkific gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyBasic 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.
- CFree plan and trialNo 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.
- BFeaturesDrag-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.
- CEase of useNo 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.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, 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.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Thinkific's own pages on 17 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/thinkific#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/thinkific.svg" alt="Thinkific: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Thinkific stands among course and community platforms
Thinkific's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 8 of the 18 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 6.
It stands best on features (B, above 10 of 18) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $40 a month, against a middle price of $41 for the category: 7 of the 17 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 19 course and community platforms we grade, cut by the letter each got. Thinkific’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 3 of 18, level with 13
- CFree plan and trialAbove 3 of 18, level with 13
- BFeaturesAbove 10 of 18, level with 8
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 18, level with 15
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 18, level with 17
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 19 course and community platforms. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
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
Keep Thinkific, or make your own?
Keep it
The plain part of Thinkific you could make: online courses and invoicing. What surrounds it you could not. The 6 things listed below take a company, not a weekend.
It costs $480 a year.
What you could make
- Online courses and invoicing: an app builder makes these well.
What you could not
- A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to.
- It plugs into other products, Zoom, Stripe and PayPal among them, and has an API.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- People on the other end: coaches. No app builder makes those.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: single sign-on.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Thinkific’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Thinkific?
Thinkific is a platform for creating and selling online courses, communities, memberships, digital downloads, coaching and webinars. It includes a site builder, landing pages, email automation and its own checkout, Thinkific Payments. A Plus plan adds SSO, SCORM and CRM integrations for academies and companies that train customers or partners.
Thinkific is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly). See every plan
Good for
- 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
- 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
- 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.
Thinkific pricing
- Starts at
- $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of the whole platform
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $40per 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 | $82per 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 | $164per 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. |
| Plus | Custom | AI teaching assistant, SSO, SCORM and learning paths, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, 10,000+ user seats and a dedicated success team. |
Read from thinkific.com on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Thinkific before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountSave 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.
Stated on thinkific.com
Works with
Thinkific alternatives
- Thinkific vs Teachable
Free trial · from $29/mo
- Thinkific vs Kajabi
Free trial · from $143/mo
- Thinkific vs LearnWorlds
Free trial · from $24/mo
- Thinkific vs Podia
Free trial · from $42/mo
- Thinkific vs LearnDash
Free trial · from $399/yr
Common questions
Is Thinkific free?
No, Thinkific is a paid product, but you can try it first. 30-day free trial of the whole platform.
How much does Thinkific cost?
Thinkific lists 4 plans. Basic: $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly). Start: $82 per month, billed annually ($109 billed monthly). Grow: $164 per month, billed annually ($219 billed monthly). Plus: custom pricing. Prices were read from thinkific.com on Oct 17, 2026.
What platforms does Thinkific work on?
Thinkific is available on Web.
Does Thinkific offer any discounts?
Thinkific publicly lists the following: Save 25% with annual billing.
Does Thinkific have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Thinkific is listed for Web.
Does Thinkific have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Thinkific is listed for Web.
Is Thinkific open source?
Thinkific is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.
Does Thinkific have an API?
Yes. Thinkific offers a public API, according to its own site.
What does Thinkific integrate with?
Thinkific's listing names Zoom, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, HubSpot and Salesforce. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.
Who makes Thinkific?
Thinkific is made by Thinkific.
What are the alternatives to Thinkific?
The closest alternatives to Thinkific in our directory are Teachable, Kajabi, LearnWorlds, Podia and LearnDash. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Thinkific.
How does Thinkific compare with other course and community platforms?
Thinkific's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 8 of the 18 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 6. It stands best on features (B, above 10 of 18) and worst on ease of use (C, above 0).
Is Thinkific good value for money?
ToolGPA grades Thinkific C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $40 a month, against a middle price of $41 for the category: 7 of the 17 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.
Could I make my own version of Thinkific?
The plain part of Thinkific you could make: online courses and invoicing. What surrounds it you could not. The 6 things listed below take a company, not a weekend. It costs $480 a year. What you could not make: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. It plugs into other products, Zoom, Stripe and PayPal among them, and has an API. AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. People on the other end: coaches. No app builder makes those. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026.