If you are building an online course in 2025, you’ve probably been seeing two big names for hosting your course: Thinkific and Teachable. They are both trusted platforms used by thousands of creators worldwide, but even though they are similar, they differ in some areas.
Whether you are creating your first course or growing your course business, this article will guide you through everything Thinkific and Teachable offer and help you decide which one meets your needs.
Comparison Table
Brief Overview
Thinkific
Thinkific is a product built for high-quality learning experiences. It focuses on course structure, student interaction, and customization for better student results. Its features include a drag-and-drop course builder, advanced quiz creation, and tools like SCORM/xAPI support for corporate clients, Thinkific also provides tools for users to sell digital downloads, coaching, and memberships.
Teachable
Teachable is an alternative to Thinkific and its goal is to make teaching online as easy as possible and this has made it a popular choice for creators, coaches, and educators who want to launch courses quickly. It supports live lessons, coaching, memberships, and downloadable products. Some of the top features that set Teachable apart include email automation tools, and tax handling.
Course Creation and Student Tools
Thinkific:
Thinkific’s course builder is quite flexible and gives users the ability to add different types of content to their course such as: video, audio, quizzes, text and PDF. Users can also customize their lessons with features like intermission screens and progress pages to keep students engaged. Thinkific also supports more advanced educational formats like SCORM for corporate training needs.
Teachable:
Teachable also provides the ability to add different content types to your course, it also offers features like quizzes, completion certificates, live content, webinars and more. Teachable has a user-friendly course builder but it does not allow users to customize as much as Thinkific does.
Winner: Thinkific
Even though both Teachable and Thinkific make creating a course easy, Thinkific provides more features for increasing student engagement and delivering the best training.
Sales and Marketing Features
Thinkific:
Thinkific provides basic email marketing automation and landing page building tools but it gives users the option to integrate with third party marketing tools like ConvertKit, Mailchimp, and ActiveCampaign to create more advanced campaigns. Users can also add coupons to their course, provide payment plans to students, and create bundled products to improve sales.
Teachable:
Teachable is better than Thinkific on the marketing and sales tools side, it has sales funnels, one-click upsells, and built-in affiliate management. You can send marketing emails, customize your checkout pages, and see basic sales analytics.
Winner: Teachable
Teachable provides better marketing and sales tools to help you market and sell your courses better.
Pricing and Payment
Thinkific:
Thinkific’s pricing plans start at $49/month and there are no transaction fees on any plan. Thinkific allows users to accept payments with Stripe and PayPal and each of these come with standard payment processing fees. Thinkific also provides options for offering payment plans, free trials, and subscriptions to your users.
Basic plan: $49/month for the monthly plan and $36/month for the yearly plan
Start plan: $99/month for the monthly plan and $74/month for the yearly plan
Grow plan: $199/month for the monthly plan and $149/month for the yearly plan
Thinkific Plus plan: Custom pricing
Teachable:
Teachable’s pricing starts at $39/month, but it offers a free plan with a 10% transaction fee. It’s Starter plan also charges a 7.5% transaction fee. It has built-in payment processing and handles taxes, standard payment processing fees also apply here.
Starter plan: $39/month for the monthly plan and $29/month for the yearly plan
Builder plan: $89/month for the monthly plan and $69/month for the yearly plan
Growth plan: $189/month for the monthly plan and $139/month for the yearly plan
Advanced plan: $399/month for the monthly plan and $309/month for the yearly plan
Winner: Thinkific
Thinkific’s zero transaction fees make it a better choice than Teachable for affordability in the long run.
Hidden Costs to Consider
Thinkific:
- May need third-party tools for advanced marketing
- Branded mobile app requires upgrade to a higher plan
- Some features are locked to higher plans
Teachable:
- Charges high transaction fees except you upgrade to higher plans
- Less design control on lower plans
- Extra fees for third-party integrations (Zapier, etc.)
Design and Customization
Thinkific:
With Thinkific, you can build a fully branded website using the theme editor and drag-and-drop builder. Advanced users can even edit code for more customization. Thinkific also allows full white-labeling on higher pricing plans.
Teachable:
Teachable’s website builder works for basic customization needs but provides limited options for advanced customization. It also restricts some features like removing branding except you are on the Growth or higher plans.
Winner: Thinkific
Thinkific has better website and design customization options perfect for those who want a custom branded product.
Community Features
Thinkific:
Thinkific provides tools for building community spaces in your courses. You can create discussion areas, share updates, and set up groups for specific courses or membership plans.
Teachable:
Teachable also offers a community feature that is easy to use. It supports comments and threads but feels a bit more basic in comparison to Thinkific’s.
Winner: Thinkific
Thinkific’s community tools are more extensive and provide better community engagement.
Mobile Experience
Both platforms provide mobile apps for iOS and Android that allow students to access content on the go. You can customize the app to provide a branded experience on both platforms but advanced customization typically requires upgrading to a higher plan.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms provide a strong mobile learning experience with few major differences.
Ease of Use
Thinkific:
Thinkific provides a clean and simple user interface for users. The platform is easy to use, and makes it easy for even complete beginners to launch a course without being tech-savvy.
Teachable:
Teachable is also simple to use and provides a quick setup process with guided tutorials to help users launch courses fast.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms are beginner-friendly, making it fast and seamless to launch a course even if it is your first time.
Customer Support
Thinkific:
Thinkific provides email and phone support, a resource library, video tutorials, and an engaged online community for user-led problem solving.
Teachable:
Teachable provides email support on all plans and live chat on higher plans. It also has a knowledge base and offers regular online training to help users use the app better.
Winner: Tie
Customer support is prioritized on both platforms, with each providing resources and responsive human support..
Pros & Cons
Thinkific Pros
- No transaction fees on paid plans
- Strong customization options
- Better student-focused tools
Thinkific Cons
- Basic marketing tools
- White-label features only on high-tier plans
Teachable Pros
- Excellent built-in sales tools
- Handles global tax and payments
- Fast and easy setup
- Affiliate tools included
Teachable Cons
- Transaction fees on lower plan
- Less control over branding
- Fewer advanced learning tools
User Ratings
- Thinkific: 4.4/5 on Capterra
- Users praise it for good course creation tools and ease of use
- Criticized for limited marketing & sales tools
- Users like the fact that it provides multiple payment options at checkout
- Teachable: 4.3/5 on Capterra
- Users also praise it for good course creation tools and ease of use
- Users like it for its sales features
- Users complain of its pricing
Which Platform Offers The Better Value?
Go with Thinkific if you want:
- More control over branding
- Better tools for learning and student engagement
- Lower cost with zero transaction fees
Choose Teachable if you need:
- Strong marketing & sales features
- Easy tax handling
- Affiliate marketing support
- Live teaching tools
Final Verdict: Thinkific or Teachable?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to which platform is the best. If student experience is your topmost priority, Thinkific is a better option but if you prefer a platform with in-built sales and marketing tools that also allows you create good courses, Teachable is the better option.
The best way to decide is to try both platforms by signing up for their free trial to test what they have to offer, and see which platform works best for your business needs and teaching goals.
FAQs
Can I migrate between Thinkific and Teachable?
Yes, both platforms provide migration support and resources to help creators move their content and student data to other platforms.
Do both platforms support international businesses?
Both Thinkific and Teachable support international creators with multi-currency payments, but Teachable provides better tax compliance features.
Which platform is better for corporate training?
Thinkific provides better corporate training features such as SCORM support, xAPI, advanced user management, and enterprise-focused tools.
Can I create subscription-based courses on both platforms?
Yes, both platforms support subscription models, memberships, and recurring payments for courses.
Can I use my own domain with both platforms?
Yes, both Thinkific and Teachable provide custom domain support..
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