The Thinkific Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about Thinkific in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
Thinkific
The Insider’s Guide
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among course and community platforms, read from Thinkific’s own pages.
Made by Thinkific · checked Oct 17, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from Thinkific’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on Thinkific’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.4
GPA, above 8 of the 18 other course and community platforms we grade
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.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about Thinkific, taken from its own pages and our grades.
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.
- 1
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.
- 2
Paid plans start at $40 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
- 3
You can try it first
30-day free trial of the whole platform
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Course builder
Drag-and-drop courses with video, quizzes, drip schedules, discussions and compliance rules; assignments and certificates start on Start.
- 6
Communities
Standalone communities with topic spaces, live events and paid memberships: 1 community on Basic and Start, 3 on Grow.
- 7
TCommerce checkout
Thinkific Payments with order bumps, gifting, buy now pay later, payment plans, abandoned cart reminders and automated sales tax.
- 8
A 2.4 GPA, above 8 of 18
That is against the other course and community platforms we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
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.
Thinkific at a glance
- Pricing
- Free trial, from $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)
- Free plan
- No
- Free trial
- 30-day free trial of the whole platform
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Thinkific
- Category
- Courses & Communities
- Our grade
- 2.4 GPA, fair
The report card
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.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | Basic 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 | C | No 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 | B | Drag-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 | C | No 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 | B | Web, 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. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
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 it 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
Good to know
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.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$40
A month to start
Thinkific is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $40 per month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly).
Stripe or PayPal can add a gateway fee in some countries.
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.
Plus
Custom
AI teaching assistant, SSO, SCORM and learning paths, HubSpot and Salesforce integrations, 10,000+ user seats and a dedicated success team.
Trying it first
30-day free trial of the whole platform
Read from thinkific.com on Oct 17, 2026.
Ways to pay less
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.
Stated on thinkific.com
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: public API, AI features, invoicing, online courses, community.
Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job.
- 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.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Zoom
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Zapier
- Google Analytics
- Meta Pixel
- HubSpot
- Salesforce
Thinkific is made by Thinkific.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
8/18
Other course and community platforms it is graded above
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
- CFree plan and trialAbove 3 of 18
- BFeaturesAbove 10 of 18
- CEase of useAbove 0 of 18
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 18
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 19 course and community platforms. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Thinkific is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
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.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Teachable, Kajabi, LearnWorlds, Podia and LearnDash
The 5 tools Thinkific is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 2.4GPA
Teachable
Free trial · from $29/mo
Online course, coaching and membership platform with its own checkout.
- Only Teachable lists iOS and Android apps.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing and community.
- Teachable also covers email campaigns.
- 2.0GPA
Kajabi
Free trial · from $143/mo
All-in-one platform for selling courses, coaching and communities.
- Only Kajabi lists iOS and Android apps.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
- Kajabi also covers marketing automation, email campaigns and paid newsletters.
- 2.4GPA
LearnWorlds
Free trial · from $24/mo
Online academy builder for course creators and training teams.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
- LearnWorlds also covers email campaigns.
- 2.4GPA
Podia
Free trial · from $42/mo
Website, store, courses, community and email for creators in one place.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing.
- Podia also covers marketing automation and email campaigns.
- 2.0GPA
LearnDash
Free trial · from $399/yr
WordPress plugin for building and selling online courses.
- Thinkific also covers invoicing and community.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
14
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Could I make my own version of Thinkific?
The plain part of Thinkific you could make: online courses and invoicing.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from Thinkific’s own pages on Oct 17, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 17, 2026. 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.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Thinkific. Prices change, so check thinkific.com before you buy.
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
1,880
Tools graded, in 47 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
1,880
tools graded
47
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- Thinkific, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/thinkific
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "Thinkific: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 17, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/thinkific
Know someone choosing between course and community platforms?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/thinkific/guide
ToolGPA elsewhere: youtube.com/@toolgpa
See our other guides
The best-graded course and community platforms after Thinkific, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- Courses & Communities Insider's GuideEvery one of the 19 course and community platforms we grade, compared
- Circle Insider's GuideCommunity platform with courses, events, payments and branded apps2.8 GPA
- Simplero Insider's GuideAll-in-one platform for courses, community, email and coaching2.8 GPA
- systeme.io Insider's GuideAll-in-one marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and community2.8 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what Thinkific’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. ToolGPA uses affiliate links and may earn a commission from them, and it works with sponsors; anything paid for is labelled, and no one can pay for a grade. Thinkific is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Thinkific. Prices and plans change: check thinkific.com before you buy.