If you’ve ever thought about turning your knowledge into an online course, you’ve probably come across Thinkific. It’s one of the most popular course platforms out there.
I’ve explored a number of tools for building and selling digital courses, and Thinkific is one of the few that’s designed to make life easier for creators at every stage, whether you’re just starting out or already managing a growing student base.
Thinkific is a cloud-based learning management system (LMS) built for entrepreneurs, educators, and small businesses that want full control over how they create, manage, and sell online courses.
In this Thinkific review, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know – from how to get started to what features stand out the most, how communities work, what the pricing really looks like, and where Thinkific shines (and where it doesn’t).
If you’re trying to figure out whether this is the right platform for you, I’ll help you decide based on real use cases and what kind of course business you’re trying to build.
Let’s get started.
Getting Started with Thinkific
Getting started with Thinkific is surprisingly easy, even if you’ve never built a website or created an online course before. The platform is designed for non-techies, and that really shows in the onboarding process.
When you first sign up, you can choose the free plan, which includes up to three courses, one learning community, and unlimited students. This gives you more than enough room to test the waters without feeling rushed or limited.
Once you log in, Thinkific guides you through a step-by-step setup that helps you build your first course, customize your site, and start collecting enrollments.
You don’t need to worry about installing WordPress, buying extra plugins, or dealing with confusing settings. Everything runs in the browser, and there’s nothing to download.
The course builder uses a clean drag-and-drop interface. You can add different types of content, like video lessons, text, PDFs, quizzes, and surveys, with just a few clicks.
If you’ve used tools like Canva or Wix before, the experience will feel familiar. You can structure your course into chapters and lessons, making it easy for students to follow along.
Thinkific also allows you to upload your videos directly, so you don’t need a separate Vimeo or YouTube account for hosting.
What I like most is that Thinkific doesn’t just throw you into the dashboard and expect you to figure things out. There are helpful prompts throughout, and the help center is just a click away if you need detailed instructions.
For users on paid plans, there’s also access to live chat support and onboarding specialists who can walk you through anything that feels tricky.
You also get a basic website builder built into the platform. It’s not as flexible as something like WordPress or Webflow, but it’s more than enough to create a homepage, course catalog, and custom pages to promote your courses.
You can set your domain name, choose a color scheme that matches your brand, and even edit text and images right on the page without any code.
If you’re coming from another platform, Thinkific has tools to help you migrate your content. You can import students, export data, and even use bulk actions to move or duplicate course materials.
These options are useful if you’re switching from another LMS like Teachable or Kajabi and don’t want to rebuild everything from scratch.
In short, Thinkific makes the setup process smooth, with just the right mix of automation and customization. Whether you’re building your first online course or moving an existing business over, you can have your school up and running in a matter of hours, not weeks.
Thinkific Core Features for Course Creation
When it comes to actually building your course, Thinkific gives you a solid set of tools to create a complete learning experience. You’re not just uploading videos and calling it a course; you can mix in different content formats, control how students move through the material, and even track progress with built-in analytics.
At the core of Thinkific’s course creation is its lesson editor. You can build your course by adding videos, audio files, PDFs, text lessons, downloadable files, and even HTML for custom content.
There’s also support for SCORM files and multimedia embeds, so if you use tools like Articulate or iSpring, you can bring that content into Thinkific, too.
For video content, Thinkific includes free video hosting. You don’t need to pay for a third-party video platform or worry about storage limits.
You simply upload your video files directly, and they’re streamed securely to your students through a responsive, mobile-friendly player. This is a huge win, especially for creators who heavily rely on video-based training.
But what makes a course really engaging is interaction, and Thinkific covers that, too.
You can add quizzes at the end of any lesson, use surveys to collect feedback, and offer downloadable worksheets to help students apply what they’ve learned.
For drip-fed content, you can schedule lessons to be released over time, which helps prevent information overload and keeps students coming back.
One feature I find useful is the course reviews tool. You can enable student reviews, which let learners rate and comment on your course.
Not only does this give you social proof to attract new students, but it also gives you honest feedback you can use to improve future versions.
Thinkific also supports prerequisite lessons, so if your course needs to follow a specific order, like completing Module 1 before moving to Module 2, you can set those rules easily.
That’s important for instructors who are teaching step-by-step processes or technical subjects that build on earlier lessons.
The video library inside Thinkific helps you manage your media more efficiently.
Every video you upload can be reused across multiple courses without uploading it again. This saves a lot of time if you’re building several courses around a core topic or want to repurpose content across lessons.
If you’re creating a bundle of courses, Thinkific lets you group and sell them as a package. This works well for certification programs or membership-based learning, where users get access to a series of courses over time.
All in all, Thinkific’s course creation tools strike a good balance between flexibility and simplicity. You get enough options to build a high-quality, interactive course, without getting bogged down in features you don’t need.
Whether you’re creating a basic training or a complex multi-module curriculum, the platform gives you room to grow while keeping things easy to manage.
Communities & Student Engagement
One area where Thinkific has really stepped up its game is in community building.
They’ve added built-in learning communities that let you create more than just a course. You can now build an entire learning experience around your brand.
When I say “community,” I don’t mean a basic comments section or a private Facebook group. Thinkific’s Communities feature is built right into the platform, and it’s made specifically for course creators.
You can create dedicated spaces where students interact, share ideas, ask questions, and connect, all without ever leaving your site.
Each community can include multiple “spaces.” These are like subgroups or channels inside your community.
You might have one space for general discussion, another for Q&A, and a third for a specific course module. You control how each space works; some can be read-only, some allow replies, and some can be limited to members of a particular course or membership level.
To make engagement easy, Thinkific includes familiar features like @mentions, likes, direct replies, and notifications.
Students get notified when someone replies to their posts or tags them, so conversations don’t get lost. This helps keep the energy up and encourages active participation.
Live events are also supported inside communities. You can schedule virtual meetups, webinars, or Q&A sessions and promote them right inside your community space. This type of live interaction builds trust and makes the learning feel more personal.
There’s also a trending posts area that highlights popular discussions, so new members can quickly find what others are talking about.
And because students can create their own posts and interact with each other, not just with you, it creates a peer-to-peer learning environment that’s hard to replicate through static lessons alone.
Communities work especially well if you’re running a cohort-based course, coaching program, or membership site. They help you build long-term relationships with your students and give your brand a place to grow beyond one-off course sales.
What I appreciate is that everything about the community – its layout, access rules, content, and engagement tools – is controlled from your Thinkific dashboard.
That means you don’t have to stitch together multiple tools or send people to different platforms. Everything lives in one place, under your branding, which keeps the learning experience smooth and professional.
If student engagement is important to you (and it should be), then Thinkific’s learning communities are a feature worth using. It gives your students a reason to keep coming back, helps reduce churn in memberships, and adds real value to your courses.
Commerce & Payments
Selling your course is just as important as building it, and Thinkific makes that side of things pretty straightforward with its built-in commerce tools.
Whether you’re selling a single course, offering payment plans, or running a full-scale membership site, you can manage all of it directly from your Thinkific dashboard.
At the core of the platform’s payment system is Thinkific Payments, also known as TCommerce. It’s their native payment processor, and it lets you accept payments via credit card without needing to set up a separate Stripe or PayPal account, though those options are still available if you prefer.
With Thinkific Payments, you get access to instant payouts, automated tax calculations, and sales reporting, all in one place. The standard transaction fee is 2.9%, which is pretty much in line with other platforms.
Selling options are flexible, which is something I always look for. You can set a one-time price, offer recurring subscriptions, split payments into installments, or even allow customers to pay what they want (great for donation-based models or early-bird pricing).
There’s also a coupon system where you can offer discounts by dollar amount or percentage – handy when running promotions or limited-time offers.
Thinkific also lets you boost your course revenue with options like order bumps and upsells.
For example, when a student checks out, you can show them a related course and offer it at a discounted rate. Or you can bundle multiple courses together and sell them as a package. These features help increase your average order value without needing to be pushy or salesy.
If you’re selling to businesses or teams, Thinkific offers group orders, which let someone purchase seats for multiple people. This is useful for corporate training or educational programs aimed at companies, where one person pays and then distributes access to their team.
From a back-end perspective, Thinkific gives you basic sales reports so you can track transactions, revenue, and customer behavior. If you need deeper analytics, you can integrate with tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, or even use third-party apps through Zapier.
Another big plus is that Thinkific handles global sales. You can sell in multiple currencies and serve students around the world without having to piece together separate regional solutions.
Taxes like VAT for EU customers, however, still require some manual setup or integration with a dedicated tax tool, especially if you’re not using Thinkific Payments.
Overall, Thinkific gives you most of the tools you need to run a profitable course business. You don’t need to bolt on an external e-commerce solution, and you’re not stuck with only one way to charge your customers.
Whether you’re running a side hustle or a full-time digital education business, the platform’s sales tools help you launch faster and keep things organized.
Pricing Plans Overview
Thinkific offers a pricing structure that’s easy to understand and gives you a chance to grow without forcing you into a paid plan right away.
One of the strongest selling points is the free plan. It’s not just a free trial, it’s a free‑forever plan that lets you publish up to three courses, host unlimited students, and even build one learning community.
For someone testing out the platform or creating a small course for the first time, this is more than enough to get started without pressure.
Aside from this option, there’s free 30-day trial offer for the Start and Grow plan. Thinkific allows you to test either the Start or the Grow plan for a 30-day risk-free period. This is good if you already have a busines going just looking for the right platform to scale.
When you’re ready to upgrade, Thinkific gives you a few clear options:
- The Basic plan starts at $49 per month (or $39/month if you pay annually). This plan adds key tools like content dripping, custom domains, coupons, affiliate selling, and third-party app integrations. If you want to create a more polished experience and start marketing your course seriously, this is usually the first step up from the free plan.
- The Start plan (formerly known as Pro or Grow, depending on when you joined) costs $99 per month ($74 for one-time 12 months billing). It unlocks features, such as live lessons via Zoom, advanced course pricing options, and more robust community controls, such as multiple spaces and deeper engagement tools. You can also assign admin roles, which helps if you’re building a team or working with a co-instructor.
- The Grow plan is $199/month ($149/month when billed annualy) and adds even more admin-level controls, bulk enrollments, API access, and additional customization tools.
- Expand is Thinkific plan that allows you to create optimal learning experience and get more features with team workflow. It cost $499 month-to-month anbilling, or $374 for the annual subscription. You have access to priority email and phone support, can install custom SSL, build upto 10 communities, and add 5 administrators.up to
If you’re running large-scale operations or managing course delivery for a business, there is the Thinkific Plus plan.
This is quote-based enterprise solution tailored for high-volume creators, B2B training companies, and larger organizations. With this tier, you get onboarding support, priority service, white-label branding, and access to more learning communities and administrators.
If you commit to annual billing, you’ll save roughly 25% on most plans. That’s worth considering if you’re in this for the long haul and want to cut down on monthly expenses.
One thing to note: Thinkific doesn’t charge transaction fees on paid plans. That’s a big deal because it means you keep more of your revenue.
Some competing platforms (like Teachable) take a percentage cut unless you’re on their higher-tier plans. With Thinkific, your revenue stays yours, even if you’re just starting.
The pricing is fair for what you get, but it’s important to match the plan to your actual needs.
For example, if you’re running one course and don’t need fancy integrations, the free or Basic plan might be all you need. But if you’re creating a full membership site with live lessons, multiple communities, and ongoing coaching, the Start or Grow plan is more realistic.
Thinkific doesn’t try to upsell you aggressively, and the upgrade path is flexible. You can switch plans as your business grows or downgrade if you’re simplifying your setup.
That kind of pricing flexibility, paired with the strong 30-day free trial offer, is one of the reasons so many course creators stick with Thinkific over time.
Support
Thinkific does a solid job when it comes to support. Whether you’re just starting or running a large course business, there are several ways to get help when you need it.
If you’re on the free plan, your main support resource will be the Thinkific Help Center. It’s packed with step-by-step articles, how-to guides, and quick answers to common questions.
I’ve found it really easy to use, just type what you’re stuck on in the search bar, and you’ll usually find a detailed article with screenshots and clear instructions.
For self-starters, the Help Center alone is often enough to troubleshoot issues or learn how to use a new feature.
There’s also a great selection of video tutorials and walkthroughs that cover everything from setting up your course and customizing your site to connecting third-party tools and using advanced features like communities and memberships.
For those on paid plans, Thinkific offers email support and live chat during business hours.
In my experience, the response time is pretty fast, usually within a few minutes, and the reps are helpful and informed.
They don’t just send you to an article; they actually read your question and offer step-by-step answers. If something isn’t working, they’ll dig into it with you.
If you’re on one of the higher-tier plans (like Expand or Thinkific Plus), you get access to priority support and onboarding specialists. Sometimes, even dedicated customer success managers, especially if you’re running a large operation or handling corporate training programs.
For extra learning, Thinkific runs regular webinars, live training events, and a community called Thinkific Academy, where you can take free mini-courses on how to improve your course content, pricing strategies, or student engagement in just 4 days.
These resources are great if you’re building your first course and want to learn from others who’ve done it successfully.
Lastly, there’s an active Thinkific Facebook Group with 53k followers, where creators share tips, ask questions, and get quick help from peers. It’s not official support, but sometimes you’ll get faster, more real-world advice there, especially on creative use cases or marketing strategies.
Overall, Thinkific’s support setup feels built for course creators who prefer to learn on their own but want to know there’s a real person ready to help when needed.
It’s not the most hands-on or high-touch support in the industry, but for the price point, especially with the free and lower-tier plans, it’s better than most. And as your course business grows, the support options grow with you.
Student Experience
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how pretty your course looks on your end if your students struggle to navigate it.
One thing I’ve always appreciated about Thinkific is how smooth and intuitive the student experience is. It feels like they really designed it from the learner’s point of view.
When a student enrolls in your course, they get immediate access through a clean, distraction-free interface. The course player is simple but polished. It’s easy to focus on the content without extra clutter.
The layout shows the course outline on the left side, with each lesson clearly marked, and the main content takes up the right side of the screen. As they complete lessons, progress is tracked automatically, and students can see how far along they are.
The video player works well on all devices. It adapts to screen size, and videos stream smoothly even with slower connections.
Since Thinkific hosts the videos internally (with the help of fast content delivery networks), your students won’t have to deal with ads, pop-ups, or buffering issues you’d sometimes get with platforms like YouTube.
Each lesson can include extra features like downloadable resources, text notes, and embedded quizzes. These show up right below the main content, so everything feels cohesive and easy to find.
If you’ve enabled discussions or community features, students can ask questions and join conversations without leaving the platform, which helps them feel connected to others in the course.
Drip scheduling works seamlessly. If your course releases content week by week, students will see the upcoming lessons listed but locked until the release date. This helps guide them through the course without overwhelming them with too much content upfront.
For accountability, students can mark lessons as complete, take quizzes to test their understanding, and see immediate feedback. If your course includes certificates, they’ll be able to download them automatically once they finish everything.
What’s also great is the mobile experience. Thinkific offers a branded mobile app, as an add-on, which offers students the chance to learn on the go. That means students can watch videos, take quizzes, and download materials from their phones or tablets without missing any functionality.
From an admin perspective, you can track student progress through your dashboard. You’ll see which lessons students have completed, how many are active, and where they might be dropping off. This helps you identify if certain parts of your course need more clarity or engagement.
If you’re building a membership or recurring program, the student dashboard can include multiple courses, community access, and even upcoming events, all in one place. This creates a central hub where students can engage regularly, not just once and done.
All in all, Thinkific delivers a student experience that’s clean, consistent, and easy to navigate. It makes learning feel simple, which, in my opinion, is one of the most important things an online course platform can do.
Site Builder & Design Options
Thinkific gives you a built-in website builder, which means you don’t need a separate WordPress site or website builder to host and sell your course.
This is especially helpful if you want to keep everything in one place – your course content, landing pages, sales pages, and checkout system all live under one roof.
The site builder is drag-and-drop and doesn’t require any coding. You can customize your homepage, course landing pages, about page, contact page, and more using pre-designed sections.
These sections include things like testimonials, course curriculum previews, countdown timers, pricing tables, instructor bios, and even blog posts. You can reorder them, change the text, upload your own images, and match the layout to your brand.
There are a handful of default themes that you can start with, and each one comes with different styles for layouts and fonts.
It’s not as flexible as something like WordPress + Elementor, but it’s good enough for most course creators who want a clean, professional look without hiring a designer. You can also add a custom domain to give your school a fully branded URL (like yourbrand.com instead of yourbrand.thinkific.com).
For branding, Thinkific lets you change colors, fonts, and logos across your entire site. While you don’t get full design freedom (you can’t drag every pixel to where you want), the builder is solid and stable.
You won’t break anything, and it’s built specifically to help sell courses, so the layout is conversion-friendly by default.
You can also create separate landing pages for each course or bundle, which helps if you’re selling multiple products.
Each page can have its own layout, headline, call-to-action, testimonials, and sales copy. That makes it easy to tailor the messaging depending on what you’re promoting.
If you want more control, Thinkific lets you add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in various parts of your site. This is great if you have a developer or want to do things like install tracking pixels, use third-party forms, or add special scripts for analytics or design tweaks.
What I like is that your site is automatically optimized for mobile. You don’t have to design a separate mobile version, it just works across phones, tablets, and desktops.
One thing worth mentioning: Thinkific’s blog feature is pretty basic. It works if you want to publish the occasional update or article, but if content marketing or SEO blogging is a big part of your strategy, you’ll probably want to run a blog separately on WordPress and link it to your Thinkific site.
To sum it up: Thinkific’s site builder won’t replace a full-scale web design tool, but it does exactly what most course creators need.
It gives you a clean, simple site that’s fast, mobile-friendly, and built to help you sell. You can go live quickly and focus more on building and marketing your course, not getting lost in endless design tweaks.
Integrations & Apps
Thinkific gives you the flexibility to connect your course platform with the other tools you already use in your business. This is one area where the platform has made real improvements over the years.
You’re not boxed into a single workflow; instead, you can extend Thinkific’s functionality through integrations and apps.
Right out of the box, Thinkific supports native integrations with popular tools like Mailchimp, Shopify, Hubspot, Constant Contact, Keap, and AWeber for email marketing.
These let you automatically add students to your email list, tag them based on purchases, or trigger email sequences when someone enrolls in a course.
If you use automation platforms like Zapier, Integrately, or Pabbly, you can connect Thinkific to thousands of other apps – CRMs, spreadsheets, calendars, payment tools, webinar platforms, and more.
I’ve used Zapier to set up automations like sending new student info to Google Sheets, notifying my team in Slack when someone buys a course, and even triggering onboarding emails through Gmail.
For payments and checkout, Thinkific works with Stripe, PayPal, and its own Thinkific Payments system (TCommerce). If you’re selling subscriptions or memberships, these integrations are important because they handle recurring billing and refunds smoothly.
On the sales and marketing side, you can connect your Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, and Google Tag Manager. This helps track ad performance, measure conversions, and improve your marketing campaigns.
There’s also support for Hotjar, Microsoft Clarity, and Segment, if you’re into deeper behavior tracking.
Thinkific also has a growing App Store where you can browse third-party apps built to work specifically with the platform. These apps cover everything from gamification and certificates to live video, affiliate programs, and even AI-powered writing assistants.
Some of the more popular ones include:
- Circle.so for community integration
- Zoom for live lessons and webinars
- Google Sheets for student data tracking
- Rewardful for setting up affiliate programs
- Disqus for external comment systems
If you’re on one of the higher-tier plans, you also get access to Thinkific’s API, which lets developers build custom integrations or connect with internal tools. This is useful if you’re working with a developer or building something tailored for a business or team setup.
Everything installs through the Thinkific dashboard, so there’s no need to mess with backend code unless you want to. Most apps are plug-and-play, with simple setup instructions and easy permission management.
Bottom line: If you’re worried about whether Thinkific will work with your favorite tools, don’t be.
Whether you’re sending leads to an email funnel, tracking sales data, running webinars, or managing affiliate sales, the integration options are there. You can build out your tech stack in a way that works best for your course business without having to switch platforms.
Analytics & Reporting
Once your course is live and students are enrolling, you’ll want to know how things are going. Are people watching the lessons? Where are they dropping off? Which products are selling the most?
Thinkific gives you the reporting tools you need to answer these questions without needing a data analyst on your team.
The analytics dashboard inside Thinkific covers the basics really well. You can track revenue, student enrollments, course progress, and engagement.
For each course, you can see how many people are enrolled, how far they’ve gotten, and when they last logged in. This helps you identify which lessons are working and which ones may be confusing or boring.
You can also track quiz performance, surveys, and lesson completion rates. If you’re using drip content, you’ll be able to see if students are actually coming back each week or dropping off after the first module.
These insights can guide you in updating your course material, adding support, or reworking the lesson structure.
On the business side, the sales reporting gives you a breakdown of orders, revenue, and payment methods. You can filter by product, time frame, or customer to find out what’s bringing in the most income.
If you’re selling multiple courses or bundles, this helps you focus your marketing and product strategy. There’s also detailed reporting on coupons and affiliates, so you can see how well your promotions are doing.
If you’re using Thinkific Communities or Memberships, there’s a dedicated area for community engagement metrics too. You’ll see which posts are getting the most attention, who your most active members are, and how often students interact within the community spaces.
Thinkific recently expanded its analytics under what it calls Student Success Analytics. This gives you a more detailed look at how each student is progressing – lesson by lesson, quiz by quiz.
You can use this info to follow up personally, offer help, or simply understand how people are using your content. It’s a great tool if you want to boost completion rates or spot early signs of churn in a subscription product.
For creators who like to dig deeper, Thinkific supports Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and third-party tracking via Google Tag Manager. This lets you track traffic sources, conversion rates, and visitor behavior across your site.
You can see where your leads are coming from, what’s working in your ads, and which landing pages are converting best.
If you’re on the Grow or Thinkific Plus plan, you’ll also get bulk student export and advanced reporting, which is helpful if you’re managing hundreds or thousands of users and want to move the data into your CRM, email platform, or team dashboard.
In short, Thinkific gives you access to the kind of data that helps you make better decisions. You’re not left guessing which parts of your course are effective or where your revenue is coming from.
You get clear, useful insights that help you improve the student experience and grow your business with confidence.
Pros & Cons (From Reviews)
After digging through this Thinkific review, personal experience, and what other course creators are saying about the platform, here’s a realistic breakdown of what users like and what they think could be better.
What users like most (Pros).
One of the biggest pros people highlight is the intuitive drag-and-drop builder. Whether you’re setting up your site, building lessons, or structuring your course content, it’s all very beginner-friendly.
You don’t need to know how to code or mess with complicated tools, just pick the elements you want, arrange them, and hit publish. For creators who want to move fast without hiring developers, this is a huge plus.
Another strong point is that Thinkific charges no transaction fees, even on the free plan.
That’s something a lot of platforms sneak in, but Thinkific lets you keep 100% of your course revenue (aside from standard payment processor fees). If you’re running a tight budget or scaling sales, those savings can add up.
The free plan itself is also a crowd favorite. It’s not just a glorified trial; it lets you create and sell a course with no cost upfront.
That makes Thinkific one of the most accessible platforms for beginners who want to test the waters without financial risk.
Then there’s the community features. I love the built-in learning communities and private spaces for students to connect, ask questions, and stay engaged.
This is a big deal if you’re trying to create a more interactive, long-term learning environment. You don’t have to rely on third-party tools like Facebook or Discord – it’s all part of the same platform.
Where Thinkific falls short (Cons).
That said, some reviews do point out a few limitations.
First, the template variety is limited. While the site builder is easy to use, there aren’t a ton of design options or layouts.
If you’re someone who really wants a highly custom-looking site, you might find it a bit restrictive unless you’re comfortable adding your own code.
Another common complaint is around the course player customization. While the student experience is clean and easy to navigate, you don’t get as much control over the layout or branding of the video player, lesson interface, or progress markers.
Compared to platforms that allow deep design control over every pixel, Thinkific keeps things pretty locked down.
Lastly, the more advanced features, like assignments, advanced analytics, multiple communities, API access, and live chat support, are mostly reserved for the higher-tier plans.
If you’re on a tight budget or just starting out, you might feel a bit limited unless you upgrade.
Overall, Thinkific gets high marks for ease of use, solid core features, and how accessible it is to new course creators. But if you want full creative freedom or all the advanced tools from day one, be ready to invest in one of the premium plans.
Comparing Thinkific with Alternatives
If you’re shopping around for the best course platform, it helps to know how Thinkific stacks up against other popular options like Teachable, LearnWorlds, Podia, Mighty Networks, and Kajabi.
Each of these tools has strengths, but the right one depends on what matters most to you (cost, features, customization, or community).
Thinkific vs. Teachable
This is one of the most common comparisons, and for good reason. They’re both all-in-one platforms that make it easy to launch and sell online courses.
Thinkific gives you a few clear advantages:
- No transaction fees, even on paid plans. Teachable charges up to 5% on lower tiers unless you upgrade.
- A stronger free plan. With Thinkific, you can actually sell a course with zero monthly cost. Teachable’s free plan limits you more in terms of features and branding.
However, Teachable handles EU VAT and digital taxes better, especially for instructors who sell courses to customers in Europe.
Thinkific leaves this part up to you, so if compliance is a concern, Teachable may save you the headache.
Thinkific vs. LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds offers deeper tools for interactive content, like interactive video, pop-ups inside lessons, and in-video quizzes.
If you’re building something more academic or media-rich, it might give you an edge.
That said, LearnWorlds can feel more complex to set up.
Thinkific’s ease of use, clean UI, and straightforward navigation make it better if you want a platform where you can learn quickly and manage without a technical team.
Pricing-wise, LearnWorlds tends to be a bit more expensive at comparable tiers, especially if you need branded mobile apps or advanced assessments.
Thinkific vs. Podia
Podia is another user-friendly platform that’s popular with course creators and digital product sellers. It’s easier than most when it comes to selling digital downloads, webinars, and coaching offers alongside your courses.
However, Podia doesn’t yet offer the same depth of course structure or student analytics that Thinkific does. If you need detailed progress tracking or multiple course types under one roof, Thinkific handles that better.
Podia also lacks built-in learning communities. You’d have to rely on third-party tools or stick to email support, while Thinkific lets you build community spaces right into your student experience.
Thinkific vs. Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is built more around community-first learning. If your main focus is group interaction, memberships, or building a private social network, it could be a better fit. It feels more like a cross between a course platform and a private Facebook replacement.
However, Thinkific gives you more structure and better tools for curriculum-based learning. You can build detailed courses, organize content in modules, and track student progress more effectively.
So if the course is the main product and community is secondary, Thinkific fits better. If the community is the core and courses are an add-on, Mighty Networks might make more sense.
Thinkific vs. Kajabi
Kajabi is a premium, all-in-one marketing and course platform. It includes landing pages, email marketing, automation, CRM, and sales funnels, all under one roof. It’s powerful but comes at a premium price.
Thinkific doesn’t try to be everything. Instead of building an all-in-one funnel machine, it focuses on being a solid course platform that plays well with other tools. This makes it more flexible and affordable if you already have an email tool or prefer to use your own funnel stack.
For those who want done-for-you funnels and marketing tools and don’t mind the cost, Kajabi is impressive. But for creators who want more control over their tech stack, or just don’t need all the bells and whistles, Thinkific is a leaner and more affordable alternative.
In short, Thinkific sits in a sweet spot between ease of use, pricing, and features. It doesn’t try to be everything to everyone, but if your main goal is to create a professional course with optional memberships and a strong learning experience, it covers the essentials very well.
If you need native support for EU tax, built-in sales funnels, or highly interactive content, you might want to explore some of these other platforms.
Who is Thinkific Best For?
Thinkific works well for a wide range of creators, but it’s especially great for a few specific groups.
First, it’s ideal for beginners and small creators who are launching their very first online course.
If you’ve never built a course before and don’t want to deal with complicated tools or coding, Thinkific makes the process smooth.
The drag-and-drop builder, free plan, and zero transaction fees remove most of the early friction. You can test ideas, sell your first course, and grow at your own pace, without needing to hire a developer or pay upfront.
It’s also a solid choice for instructors who want to build a real learning experience, not just to sell a product. The built-in community features, structured courses, and engagement tools help you go beyond just uploading a few videos.
If your goal is to support students, encourage progress, and build a connected learning environment, Thinkific gives you the tools to do that without needing Facebook groups or outside platforms.
Lastly, it’s a good fit for businesses that want scalable digital commerce but don’t need complex EU tax handling built-in.
If you’re in the U.S., Canada, or most places outside the EU and just want a clean way to sell courses, bundles, or memberships, Thinkific scales well. You can grow from one course to a full course catalog, connect your payment tools, and even build custom integrations if needed.
Larger teams can use Thinkific Plus for more control and support, without switching to an entirely new platform down the road.
So, whether you’re just starting out, building a deeper learning community, or scaling a course-based business without the need for complex tax automation, Thinkific is well-suited to support your growth.
Conclusion
After spending time using Thinkific and comparing it to other platforms, I can say this: it strikes a great balance between power and simplicity.
You get a clean, intuitive course builder, flexible pricing, zero transaction fees, and tools that help you create not just courses, but complete learning experiences.
The strengths of Thinkific really shine if you’re focused on structured learning, student engagement, and building a course business you can grow over time.
The 30-day free trial plan is generous, the drag-and-drop builder is beginner-friendly, and the ability to build private communities right inside your course environment is something you won’t find on many other platforms at this level.
You don’t need to commit to anything upfront. My suggestion is that you should try Thinkific for a 30-day risk-free trial on the Start or Grow plan.
Play with the community feature and see how it fits your teaching style. When you’re ready to scale, upgrade to a plan that matches your goals and audience size.
The platform is built to grow with you, whether you’re teaching a single course or building a full-scale digital academy.
