Thinkific vs Teachable: Which One is the Best?
After years of hosting my online courses on Thinkific, I recently had the chance to try out Teachable when a friend launched their class there. Teachable’s slick design immediately caught my eye – it made my own Thinkific courses seem outdated in comparison!
This led me to dig deeper into the Thinkific vs Teachable debate. As a hands-on user of both platforms, I wanted to provide an unbiased, side-by-side comparison to help fellow course creators determine the best platform.
In this review, you’ll see the same sample course loaded on Thinkific and Teachable as I walk through the key factors like:
- Pricing tiers and transaction fees
- Course creation tools and multimedia options
- Design and customization capabilities
- Marketing and analytics integration
- Payments and tax processing
My goal is to give you the details you need to decide if Thinkific or Teachable is the right choice for your online courses. I’ll share my personal recommendation at the end based on using both platforms extensively.
Let’s dive in!
Major Features Comparison
Based on my hands-on testing of Thinkific and Teachable, 6 major factors really differentiate the two platforms:
Pricing Plans
Pricing is often one of the first considerations when choosing a course platform. Here’s how Thinkific and Teachable’s plans compare:
| Plan | Thinkific | Teachable |
| Free | 💚 3 courses✅ Unlimited students | ❌ No longer offered |
| Basic | 💲 $29/month✅ 5% transaction fee | 💲 $39/month❌ No transaction fee |
| Pro | 💲 $99/month | 💲 $79/month |
| Premium | 💲 $249/month | 💲 $399/month |
At first glance, Teachable’s Basic plan seems cheaper at $39/month versus Thinkific’s $29/month. However, Thinkific offers a free version for up to 3 courses which is great for getting started at no cost.
Teachable’s Basic plan also charges a 5% transaction fee on payments whereas Thinkific has no fees. So if you’re earning $1000 in course sales on Teachable, you pay $50 extra in fees.
For premium plans, Teachable provides more advanced features but at a higher price point. Thinkific’s Pro plan offers a solid mid-tier option at $99/month.
Overall for pricing, I give the edge to Thinkific thanks to the free plan and lack of transaction fees.
Try Thinkific’s various pricing plans here
Course Creation Tools
Both Thinkific and Teachable make it easy to create beautiful online courses with drag-and-drop editors and multimedia support.
However, there are a few key differences in their course creation tools:
- Surveys: Thinkific has built-in surveys to get feedback from students. Teachable requires a 3rd party integration.
- Video library: Thinkific stores your uploaded videos for reuse in other courses. Teachable does not.
- Navigation: Teachable lets you edit course settings without entering the course builder. Thinkific requires accessing the builder.
While the navigation control is handy, I find more value in Thinkific’s video library for quickly repurposing content. The survey tool also allows me to get student feedback without any extra integrations. ✅
For course creation, Thinkific has the advantage.
Try out Thinkific’s course creator for yourself here
Course Player and Design
Teachable used to have a nicer looking course player interface in my opinion. But Thinkific has invested heavily in improving their player’s design over the past year.
Now, Thinkific’s course player has a clean, modern look and feel that matches Teachable’s player.
Thinkific also provides more templates to customize the course themes – handy for tailoring to your niche.
For example, there are specific designs for yoga, photography, cooking and other topics. Teachable just has a basic branded template.
Both platforms allow you to customize your logo, colors, and navigation. But Thinkific has put more thought into designing attractive course players out of the box. 🏆
See examples of course designs on Thinkific here
Sales Page Customization
Your course sales page is key for convincing visitors to enroll, so customization tools are important.
Teachable lets you edit HTML and CSS code directly for maximum flexibility. Thinkific uses a drag-and-drop editor.
Thinkific’s editor is very intuitive, but Teachable offers more direct code access for tweaking every aspect of your page design and layout.
For example, you can hand-craft elements like testimonials, FAQs, guarantees and other sales page components with total creative freedom.
So for designers and developers who want total sales page control, Teachable is the winner here. 🏆
Try customizing a Teachable sales page here
Email Marketing Integrations
Email marketing is crucial for engaging your students and selling more courses.
Out of the box, Thinkific integrates with more email services like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, AWeber and ActiveCampaign.
Teachable only includes Mailchimp and ConvertKit integration. You’d need to pay extra for Zapier to connect other email platforms.
Since it connects to double the email providers, Thinkific comes out ahead for email marketing and automation. ✅
See all of Thinkific’s email integration options here
Tax Calculations
Collecting and paying sales tax can be tricky when selling courses globally.
Teachable automatically handles VAT and GST tax calculations and payments for you in supported regions. Thinkific does not offer automated tax tools.
If you need to handle VAT or GST taxes, Teachable’s automation is extremely helpful – albeit for an extra 2% transaction fee.
For anyone selling courses internationally, Teachable has a major advantage here.
Both platforms have their strengths and weaknesses across these core features. But Thinkific edges out Teachable in more categories like pricing, course creation, design, and email marketing.
However, Teachable shines when you need total sales page control or tax automation. Evaluate which factors are most important for your courses to help decide!
Course Creation Process
The course creator is the most important part of any online course platform. An intuitive, feature-rich editor can make developing courses a breeze compared to a clunky, limited toolset.
As two leading platforms, both Thinkific and Teachable offer excellent course creators. However, there are some notable differences:
Course Content Options
Thinkific supports more content formats out of the box, including:
- Text – add articles, descriptions, transcripts, etc.
- Images – upload JPGs, PNGs, GIFs, SVG, etc.
- Video – embed videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, etc.
- Audio – include MP3 audio clips
- Files – share PDFs, docs, slides, zip files
- Live streams – live video broadcasts using RTMP
- Email integrations – send onboarding & automation emails
- Discussions – let students discuss course topics
- Surveys – poll students for feedback
Teachable has text, images, video, and file support. But you need 3rd party tools for audio, live streaming, email, discussions, and surveys.
Thinkific includes more baked-in content options for versatility.
Customization Capabilities
Both platforms use drag-and-drop builders to arrange course content without coding.
Thinkific has a simpler editor focused on usability. Teachable gives more direct access to HTML and CSS customization.
For example, you can edit backend code on Teachable to tweak things like:
.lesson-title {
font-size: 24px;
text-align: center;
padding: 10px;
}
So developers will appreciate Teachable’s deeper access for customization. But for quick styling changes, Thinkific’s visual editor is great.
Multimedia and Interactivity
Online courses are most engaging when they leverage rich media and interactivity.
Thinkific and Teachable support features like:
- 📹 Video hosting – upload and embed videos
- 🎥 Screen recording – record your screen to create tutorials
- 👂 Audio – add MP3 files as standalone clips or commentary
- ✏️ Quizzes – assess understanding with multiple question types
- 📋 Downloads – share PDFs, docs, images, audio files
- 💬 Discussion forums – let students discuss course topics
However, Thinkific has a few advantages:
- 📽️ Video libraries – store your videos for reuse in other courses
- 🧠 Knowledge checks – interactive cards to reinforce concepts
- 🗒️ Note taking – students can take timestamped notes
Reusing videos saves a ton of time. And knowledge checks and note-taking increase engagement.
For multimedia course content, Thinkific has the edge.
See examples of interactive courses on Thinkific here
Templates and Sample Content
Starting from a template can make course creation much easier.
Both platforms include professionally designed course templates. However, Thinkific offers significantly more template options – over 50 last time I checked.
They have tailored templates focused on topics like:
- 👩🎓 Academics
- 🏋️ Fitness
- 👨🍳 Cooking
- 📸 Photography
- 🎸 Music
- 👩💻 Technology
- 💼 Business
- and more…
The templates instantly give your course a polished look suited to your niche.
Thinkific also provides sample courses with realistic filler content to reverse engineer. This can help kickstart your own course structure and content.
Given the multitude of templates and sample courses, Thinkific makes it easier to quickly get started building professional courses.
Importing Existing Content
If you already have existing materials like videos, documents or slides, it’s helpful to import them into your course rather than starting from scratch.
Both Teachable and Thinkific support basic file importing from your computer’s file system.
But Thinkific also lets you import content from external platforms like:
- 📺 YouTube videos
- 📷 Facebook and Instagram posts
- 🎞️ SlideShare presentations
- 📁 Google Drive documents
- …and more!
Bulk importing external content can significantly accelerate your course development on Thinkific.
Course Hosting and Delivery
Once your course is created, your platform needs to reliably host it and deliver it to students.
Thinkific and Teachable both handle course hosting and CDN seamlessly. There are no major differences in course delivery between the two.
Fast, responsive playback on desktop and mobile is crucial – and I’ve found both platforms to perform well in this regard.
Instructor Experience
At the end of the day, your course creation experience as the instructor is what matters most.
Both platforms are very user-friendly with minimal learning curves. However, Thinkific’s slightly simpler interface may have the edge for complete beginners.
Thinkific also offers thorough step-by-step guidance in their knowledge base for every task. Teachable’s help documentation is decent but not quite as robust.
The ability to import existing content and tap into niche templates can also help instructors build professional courses faster on Thinkific.
So for course creation, Thinkific comes out ahead thanks to more content options, templates, and an easy learning curve for new users.
Start building your course for free on Thinkific here
Course Player and Aesthetics
A polished, professional-looking course player is important for delivering great student experiences. Let’s see how Thinkific and Teachable compare.
Customization Options
Both platforms allow you to customize:
- 🎨 Color schemes
- 🖼️ Logos and branding
- 🖱️ Navigation and menus
- ➕ Layouts and widgets
Thinkific uses a simple visual editor while Teachable lets you modify HTML/CSS code directly.
For quick styling tweaks, Thinkific’s drag-and-drop editor is excellent. Developers can dig deeper with Teachable’s code access.
Page Templates
Thinkific offers significantly more course page templates – over 50 last time I checked across various niches.
Teachable includes one branded template. Thinkific’s tailored designs help your course stand out.
For example, photography courses can use a template with image galleries built-in. Yoga courses may have a video-centric layout.
Student Experience
The player interfaces on both platforms are modern, fast, and mobile-friendly. I don’t notice much difference in actual course delivery and playback.
But Thinkific’s visually appealing templates do elevate the student experience compared to Teachable’s basic template.
For aesthetics and design, Thinkific wins thanks to the variety of templates catered to different niches.
See Thinkific’s course templates in action here
Customizable Sales Pages
Your sales page visuals and copy must convert visitors into course sign-ups. Here’s how the platforms’ customization tools compare.
Layouts and Design
Thinkific uses drag-and-drop editing with pre-made blocks for sections like:
- 📝Text – headlines, subheads, dividers
- 🎞️ Media – images, videos, GIFs
- 👍 Testimonials
- ✔️ Checklists
- 💬FAQs
- 🚀Call-to-action buttons
The block editor makes building sales pages easy. But advanced users may want Teachable’s open HTML/CSS editing.
Branding and Styling
Both platforms allow customizing:
- 🎨 Colors
- 🖼️ Logos
- 📝 Typography
- ➕ Layouts
For basic branding, the experiences are similar. Teachable gives more granular styling control with code access.
Conversion Optimization
Thinkific and Teachable support key conversion elements like:
- 🎬 Video embeds
- 💰 Pricing tables
- ⭐ Reviews
- 🤝 Guarantees
- 🎉Bonuses
I didn’t notice significant advantages on either platform here. Both have robust customization for sales pages.
Ease of Use
Thinkific’s drag-and-drop editor lets you build sales pages faster. Teachable requires HTML skills for advanced customization.
For beginners, Thinkific has the edge in easy sales page creation. But developers may prefer Teachable’s code access.
Try Thinkific’s sales page editor for free here
Email Marketing Integrations
Connecting your course platform to email marketing tools is crucial for driving sales.
Integrations
Out of the box, Thinkific integrates with:
- 💌 Mailchimp
- 📧 ConvertKit
- 📨 AWeber
- And more
Teachable only includes Mailchimp and ConvertKit integrations.
For other tools, Teachable requires Zapier at added cost. Thinkific has more baked-in integrations.
Email Features
Both platforms allow sending automated emails like:
- 👋 Welcome emails when students enroll
- 🥳 Graduation emails when completing a course
- 📅 Drip campaigns with email lessons
These automations can be configured based on course progress and events.
Audience Management
You can build segmented email lists based on:
- 📚 Courses enrolled
- 📆 Enrollment date
- 🔎 Interests and behavior
For example, you can send targeted emails only to students in a particular course.
For email marketing, Thinkific is the winner with its wider range of integrated platforms.
See all of Thinkific’s email features here
Tax Processing
Collecting, calculating, and remitting sales tax can be complex, especially for global digital products.
Automated Tax Tools
Teachable offers automated VAT, GST, and sales tax tools in supported countries. Thinkific has no built-in tax automation.
However, Teachable’s tax engine costs a 2% transaction fee on top of your plan.
Tax Compliance
You are still responsible for compliance in regions that aren’t covered by Teachable’s tools.
Third-party integration may be required on both platforms for complete tax compliance.
International Tax Implications
VAT, GST, and other taxes may apply when selling to students worldwide. Teachable’s automation helps navigate this.
Some regions have exceptions and exemptions to understand. Teachable’s tools can handle the complexity.
For sellers needing tax automation, Teachable is the winner here. But room for improvement remains on both platforms.
Additional Features
Beyond the major differences covered already, here are some other notable features offered by Thinkific and Teachable.
Discussion Forums
- 💬 Thinkific: Allows creating topic-based forums for student conversations
- 💬 Teachable: No built-in forums, but easy to integrate with tools like Discourse
Quizzes and Surveys
- ✍️ Thinkific: Interactive quizzes and surveys to assess and collect student feedback
- ✍️ Teachable: More basic quiz support; no native surveys
Drip Content
- 📅 Thinkific: Schedule lessons, emails, and materials to drip feed over time
- 📅 Teachable: Also offers content dripping, but not for lessons
Affiliate Marketing
- 💵 Thinkific: Affiliate tools to reward partners for promotions
- 💵 Teachable: Provides an affiliate program with special coupon codes
API Access
- 🤖 Thinkific: Robust developer APIs available
- 🤖 Teachable: Limited API access for premium plans only
Both platforms cover the basics well. Thinkific edges ahead with more advanced features like discussion forums, interactive quizzes, and API access. But evaluate which extras are important for your courses.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Thinkific and Teachable both offer excellent solutions for creating and selling online courses. So which one should you choose?
Based on using both platforms extensively, here is my recommendation:
For Most Course Creators
I recommend Thinkific for its well-rounded set of features, intuitive interface, and value pricing.
Beginners will appreciate Thinkific’s simplified course creator and sales page builder. The templates provide great starting points tailored to your niche.
Robust email marketing and multimedia content capabilities give you room to create engaging courses. And the affordable plans make Thinkific accessible even if you are just starting out.
Unless you need deep HTML access or tax automation, Thinkific is a smarter choice for most course businesses.
For Advanced Developers
Teachable may be better suited for experienced developers who want total control over frontend code and styling.
Teachable also shines if you need built-in tax calculation and compliance features. The automation can streamline sales to students worldwide.
So if you have development chops, sell internationally, or plan to scale your online courses substantially, explore Teachable’s advanced offerings.
See Teachable plans and features here.
Either platform can empower you to create polished courses that reach and benefit more students. Focus on picking the solution that aligns closest with your current and future needs as a course creator!
Thinkific vs Teachable – FAQs
Is Thinkific better than Teachable?
For most course creators, I believe Thinkific has a slight edge. It offers more features and templates to create engaging online courses at a lower price point. Beginners also benefit from Thinkific’s intuitive interface and documentation.
Is Teachable better than Thinkific?
For advanced developers or sellers dealing with complex taxes globally, Teachable has some advantages. The ability to directly edit HTML and automated tax tools cater to more technical users with specialized needs.
Does Teachable have a free plan?
Teachable discontinued their free plan in 2020. Thinkific still offers a free version for up to 3 courses.
Is Thinkific cheaper than Teachable?
Generally yes, Thinkific has lower pricing tiers compared to Teachable. Especially when you account for Thinkific’s free offering and lack of transaction fees.
Which is easier to use Thinkific or Teachable?
The platforms have similar ease of use overall. But Thinkific’s drag-and-drop editors may have a slight edge for beginners. Teachable allows code customization for advanced capabilities.
Can you transfer a course from Thinkific to Teachable?
There is no direct way to transfer courses between the platforms. You would need to manually recreate the course in the new platform. Video, file, text, image assets can be imported.
Does Thinkific have an app?
Yes, Thinkific offers iOS and Android apps so students can access courses on the go. Teachable also provides mobile apps.
