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Thinkific and Teachable are two of the most popular platforms for creating and selling online courses, and they are closer than most comparisons admit. Both let you build courses with video, quizzes, and downloads, take payments, and run your school on your own domain. The differences show up in plan limits, fees, certificates, community, and how each fits the way you teach. This guide compares Thinkific vs. Teachable for educators and trainers, plan by plan.
Pricing checked October 2026. Both companies adjust plans regularly, so confirm on their pricing pages before you buy.
The Short Answer
- Choose Thinkific if you want unlimited courses on every plan, a structured learning experience, built-in communities with live events, and certificates from the mid-tier plan.
- Choose Teachable if you want the lowest entry price, a simple storefront for courses, coaching, and downloads, and an affiliate program for your own promoters from the Builder plan.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Thinkific | Teachable | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price (billed annually) | Basic, about $40/month | Starter, about $29/month |
| Mid-tier price (billed annually) | Start, about $82/month | Builder, about $69/month |
| Upper tier (billed annually) | Grow, about $164/month | Growth, about $139/month |
| Platform transaction fees | None with Thinkific Payments; a gateway fee applies if you use your own Stripe or PayPal | 7.5% on Starter; 0% on Builder and above with Teachable Payments |
| Number of courses | Unlimited on all plans | 5 products on Starter, 10 on Builder, 50 on Growth |
| Completion certificates | Start plan and above | Growth plan and above |
| Quizzes | All plans | All plans |
| Community | Built-in communities with live events | Lesson comments; less community-focused |
| Live sessions | Zoom sessions inside courses from Start | Coaching and live session tools |
| Student mobile app | Yes; branded app is a paid add-on | iOS and Android student apps on all plans |
| Your own affiliate program | Affiliate reporting from the Start plan | Builder plan and above |
| Remove platform branding | Grow plan | Growth plan |
| Admins | 1 on Basic, 2 on Start, 6 on Grow | 1 on Starter and Builder, 5 on Growth |
| Free trial | 30 days | Yes, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee |
Card processing fees, typically 2.9% plus 30 cents per U.S. card sale, apply on both platforms.
Pricing and Fees Compared
Teachable is cheaper to start, but its Starter plan charges 7.5% of every sale. On a $200 course, that is $15 per sale on top of card processing. Once you sell more than a few hundred dollars a month, Teachable’s Builder plan, with no platform fee, usually costs less overall.
Thinkific’s Basic plan costs a little more but includes unlimited courses and no platform fee when you use Thinkific Payments. The catch is that certificates and assignments start on the Start plan.
For a trainer who wants certificates, the realistic comparison is often Thinkific Start (about $82/month) against Teachable Growth (about $139/month), because Teachable puts certificates on its higher plan.
Course Building and Learning Experience
Both platforms use a drag-and-drop curriculum builder with modules and lessons. You can upload video, add text, PDFs, and quizzes, and schedule drip content.
Thinkific tends to appeal to educators who think in learning design terms. Its course player is clean and structured, and on higher plans it adds assignments and advanced exams. Unlimited courses on every plan make it easy to build a library of short courses or split one program into parts.
Teachable is fast to set up and works well when a course is one of several products you sell, alongside coaching sessions and digital downloads. AI tools help draft course outlines and lesson content.
Community and Live Learning
If peer discussion and live sessions are central to how you teach, Thinkific has the edge. Its communities live inside the platform, support live events, and can be bundled with courses. From the Start plan, you can embed Zoom sessions directly into a course, which suits cohort-based programs. See cohort vs. self-paced courses for how to decide on a format.
Teachable supports coaching products and learner comments, and works well for self-paced courses with occasional live support.
Selling and Marketing
Both platforms handle checkout, coupons, payment plans, bundles, and subscriptions. Teachable includes upsells and cart recovery on every plan and handles global sales tax. Its Builder plan adds an affiliate program so partners can promote your course. Thinkific offers similar commerce tools, including affiliate reporting from the Start plan, with more advanced features and integrations on higher plans.
Neither replaces a full email marketing system for larger audiences. Most creators connect an email tool to either platform.
Selling to Organizations
If clients buy training for their teams, look at group enrollment, reporting, and admin roles. Thinkific’s higher plans and Plus tier add features for organizations, including SSO and SCORM on Plus. Teachable’s Growth plan supports importing students and custom admin permissions. If corporate training is your main market, also compare LearnWorlds and other course platforms.
Which Should You Choose?
| Your situation | Better fit |
|---|---|
| Testing your first course on the smallest budget | Teachable Starter |
| Building several short courses or a course library | Thinkific |
| Need certificates at a moderate price | Thinkific Start |
| Running cohorts with live sessions and community | Thinkific |
| Selling courses, coaching, and downloads together | Teachable |
| Want an affiliate program for your own promoters | Teachable Builder |
The best way to decide is to use the free trials and build the same short module on both. Pay attention to how the course builder feels, how the lesson looks to a learner on a phone, and how long setup takes.
The online programs at Innovation Courses, which offer facilitator and workshop design training, run on Teachable, and several video tutorials on this site come from Thinkific’s training library. Both platforms can support a professional training business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Thinkific or Teachable cheaper?
Teachable has the lower entry price, but its Starter plan charges a 7.5% fee on each sale. At moderate sales volume, the two platforms cost about the same, and the plan you need for certificates often decides which is cheaper.
Do Thinkific and Teachable have free plans?
As of October 2026, neither offers a permanent free plan. Both offer free trials.
Can I move my course from Teachable to Thinkific, or the reverse?
Yes. You can export student lists and re-upload course content, and both companies offer migration help on some plans. Moving active subscriptions takes more planning.
Which is better for corporate training?
Thinkific has more organization-focused features on its upper plans. For heavy corporate use with SCORM and client reporting, also look at LearnWorlds.
Related guides: how to outline an online course, how to price an online course, and how to turn a webinar into an online course.
