If you’re planning to create and sell online courses, one of the biggest decisions you’ll make is choosing the right platform to build your business on. And while there are many platforms out there, each promising flexibility, customization, and ease of use, Thinkific continues to stand out as one of the most creator-friendly options, especially in 2025.
What makes Thinkific so popular among course creators, coaches, consultants, and digital entrepreneurs? The answer lies in its features. Thinkific was designed from the ground up to help you turn your expertise into a polished, market-ready course without needing a tech team, expensive custom software, or an engineering background.
In this deep-dive article, we’ll explore every major Thinkific feature, how each one works, what makes it useful, and whether it’s worth using as your course platform of choice in 2025.
What Makes Thinkific Different?
Before we break down the features one by one, it’s helpful to understand Thinkific’s overall approach.
Unlike some platforms that blend everything into one “do-it-all” solution, Thinkific is built with learning first in mind. Their tools are designed to help you deliver a professional, structured, and enjoyable learning experience, while still giving you full control over branding, monetization, and student engagement.
Thinkific’s biggest strengths include:
- A clean, intuitive course builder
- Deep customization without code
- Built-in AI to speed up course creation
- A strong focus on student experience
- Payment and sales tools that help you scale
- A flexible ecosystem with apps and integrations
Now, let’s break down everything Thinkific has to offer.
Core Thinkific Features (Explained)
1. AI Course Builder & AI Content Tools
AI is one of Thinkific’s newest and most impactful additions. Whether you’re building your first course or scaling a full course catalog, AI helps you speed up the creation process.
What Thinkific’s AI can do:
- Generate complete course outlines
- Suggest modules and lessons
- Create learning goals and outcomes
- Write lesson content drafts
- Produce quizzes or assessments
- Create worksheets and summaries
- Adapt content for beginners, intermediates, or advanced learners
The AI doesn’t replace your expertise, it helps you convert your expertise into structured content much faster.
Why this feature matters
Most creators know their topic extremely well but struggle with how to structure it. Thinkific’s AI removes that early friction and gets you launching faster.
2. Drag-and-Drop Course Builder
Thinkific’s course builder is one of the simplest on the market. You can add:
- Video lessons
- Text lessons
- Audio files
- PDFs and ebooks
- Quizzes
- Assignments
- Multimedia
- Presentations
- Community activities
You can rearrange everything easily with drag-and-drop. No coding. No technical setup.
Useful for:
- First-time creators
- Course designers who want speed
- Coaches building digital training
- Teams that need a simple workflow
3. Built-In Video Hosting
Thinkific hosts your videos for you at no extra cost. That means:
- No need for Vimeo or Wistia
- No worrying about bandwidth limits
- Faster uploads and playback
- Less tech setup
Thinkific also supports:
- HD video
- Captions
- Video download controls
- Chapter markers
This allows you to deliver polished video lessons without external tools.
4. Quizzes, Assignments & Assessments
Assessment tools help your students apply what they learn, and they also give you insights into performance.
Thinkific offers:
- Multiple-choice quizzes
- Marked assignments
- File upload tasks
- Surveys
- Final course assessments
You can also set:
- Passing scores
- Retakes
- Timed assessments
- Completion conditions
These tools make Thinkific a strong fit for educators, corporate trainers, schools, and certification programs.
5. Communities & Student Engagement Tools
Thinkific isn’t just a course delivery platform, it also helps creators build a learning community.
Thinkific Communities include:
- Discussion boards
- Member posts
- Activity feeds
- Livestream sessions
- Course-linked communities
- Space for challenges, events, and workshops
Students can interact with one another and with you, turning your course into a living ecosystem rather than a one-way content drop.
Why this matters
Community increases:
- Student motivation
- Course completion rates
- Repeat sales
- Long-term engagement
It turns your course into a membership-like experience.
6. Websites & Landing Pages
Every Thinkific account comes with a website builder built in. You don't need WordPress, coding knowledge, or external hosting.
You can build:
- Full course websites
- Landing pages
- Sales funnels
- Homepages
- Instructor bios
- Checkout pages
- Upsell and cross-sell pages
Customization options:
- Drag-and-drop sections
- Themes
- Typography settings
- Full branding control
- Custom domains
- Custom CSS (if you want advanced customization)
For most creators, this eliminates the need for an external website entirely.
7. Payment & Monetization Tools
Thinkific gives creators multiple ways to earn money from their expertise.
You can sell using:
- One-time payments
- Subscriptions
- Payment plans
- Bundles
- Memberships
- Free trials
- Upsells
- Order bumps
- Coupons & promos
Supported currencies & payment processors
- Thinkific Payments (recommended)
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Multi-currency support
Why Thinkific Payments is valuable
With Thinkific Payments, you unlock:
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options
- Faster payouts
- No third-party checkout
- Higher conversions
For creators selling at scale, this is a major upgrade.
8. Course Bundles & Digital Products
Thinkific isn't just for individual courses. You can also sell:
- Course bundles
- Digital downloads
- Membership portals
- Coaching programs
- Learning pathways
This allows you to increase your average order value (AOV) and diversify revenue streams.
9. Student Experience & Learning Pathways
Thinkific prioritizes learning outcomes. Students get access to:
- A clean dashboard
- Progress tracking
- Lesson completion indicators
- Certificates (optional)
- Community spaces
- Downloadable course materials
Thinkific also supports Learning Paths, which help you design structured multi-course programs.
This is perfect for:
- Certification programs
- Professional development
- Corporate onboarding
- Skill-based learning journeys
10. Certificates of Completion
Thinkific lets you issue branded, customized certificates when students complete a course or a pathway.
Certificates include:
- Your logo
- Student name
- Course title
- Completion date
- Unique identifiers
This adds credibility and helps your students showcase their achievement.
11. Analytics & Reporting Dashboard
Thinkific gives you access to data on:
- Student progress
- Quiz performance
- Revenue
- Sales trends
- Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
- Enrollment data
- Drop-off points
You can export data or integrate analytics tools for deeper insights.
Why this matters
Data helps you improve:
- Course content
- Retention rates
- Marketing strategy
- Pricing decisions
You get a clearer picture of what’s working and what needs improvement.
12. Thinkific App Store
Thinkific’s ecosystem is larger now than ever. The App Store includes tools for:
- Email marketing
- Automation
- Analytics
- Live sessions
- Sales funnels
- CRM systems
- Gamification
- Certificates
- Surveys
- Affiliate programs
Popular integrations include:
- Zapier
- Mailchimp
- ActiveCampaign
- ConvertKit
- HubSpot
- Zoom
- Google Analytics
This makes Thinkific flexible enough for growing businesses and enterprise-level teams.
13. Affiliate Marketing Tools
Thinkific allows you to run your own affiliate program.
Affiliates can get:
- Custom affiliate links
- Tracking dashboards
- Commission payouts
Creators can:
- Set custom commission rates
- Track sales
- Recruit affiliate partners
This is one of the easiest ways to grow course sales without additional ad spend.
14. Thinkific Mobile App
Thinkific now supports a mobile app option so your students can learn:
- On their phone
- On tablets
- On the go
This improves:
- Completion rates
- Engagement
- Accessibility
Creators can choose white-label options depending on plan and region.
15. SCORM & Multimedia Support
While Thinkific isn’t fully SCORM-native, it does allow:
- Multi-format uploads
- Interactive content through apps
- Presentations
- PDFs
- Video + text combinations
This supports a wide range of teaching styles.
Who Thinkific Is Best For
Thinkific’s features make it ideal for:
- Coaches and consultants
- Educators and trainers
- Entrepreneurs building digital products
- Influencers and creators
- Nonprofits and community organizations
- Corporate training teams
- Schools and professional development programs
Its combination of ease-of-use + instructional design tools + monetization features make it flexible for nearly any type of learning business.
Conclusion
Thinkific is one of the best platforms you can choose in 2025. Its feature set is deep, yet accessible. Its AI tools remove the hardest part of course creation. And its commitment to learning design makes it stand out in a crowded market.
Whether you're building your first online course or expanding your digital education empire, Thinkific gives you all the tools you need in one platform.
(can change CTA here to "start free trial")
