If you're in the online course development business, you've probably already heard about Thinkific and Teachable. They're two of the most popular platforms for creating and selling your own online training programs. These two rank as two of the best online course platforms in the market today.
These are both robust course builder platforms, which offer great features like creating video courses, and video storage. They may both offer similar features, great pricing, and delivery methods, but there is some difference between these course creation giants that make one of them better than the other.
Teachable and Thinkific are both great online course platforms. They both have their pros and cons, but which one is the best for you?
Let’s have a look at the differences between the two platforms that make them great.
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What are Teachable and Thinkific?
Teachable is an online course platform that allows you to create, market, and sell courses. You can create a course on any topic, and there are no transaction fees.
Thinkific is an online course platform that enables you to create, deliver, and manage your online courses. You can use Thinkific to host courses on any topic, and there are no transaction fees.
What are the similarities between Teachable and Thinkific?
Both platforms are hosted platforms that allow you to:
- Create a course on any topic
- Market and sell courses
- Have no transaction fees
With both platforms, you can use different types of course content like videos, and quizzes, accept online payments and use their features to engage your students with ease.
What are the differences between Teachable and Thinkific?
Teachable:
- Can offer discounts and coupons
- Can have an affiliate program
- Has a landing page builder
Thinkific:
- Can have memberships
- Can offer courses for free
- has an app store
So, which one is the best for you? It really depends on what you are looking for in an online course platform. If you want to be able to offer discounts and coupons, then Teachable is the better choice. If you want to be able to have memberships or offer courses for free, then Thinkific would be the better choice.
You should understand though that Thinkific and Teachable are not marketplaces for courses. Just like podcast hosting platforms, they act as a place to host your courses and use distribute them to different platforms where people are to buy and enroll in the courses you offer.
Thinkific vs. Teachable: Overview Comparison
Thinkific is a great choice if you want an all-in-one solution. It includes everything you need to create, market, and sell your courses. Teachable is a good choice if you're looking for more customization options.
Both platforms allow you to create beautiful courses with ease. They both have drag-and-drop course builders that make it easy to add content and design your courses.
Thinkific has a few more features than Teachable. For example, it offers built-in membership sites, automatic email marketing, and an affiliate program. However, these features come at a price – Thinkific is more expensive than Teachable.
Teachable is more flexible than Thinkific when it comes to pricing. It has three plans, including a free plan, so you can choose the one that best fits your needs. Teachable also has more payment options than Thinkific.
Both platforms have great features, but Thinkific is better for those who want an all-in-one solution, while Teachable is better for those who are looking for more flexibility. They both offer protection for your data and that of your students.
Thinkific vs Teachable Feature Comparison
Feature
Thinkific
Teachable
Course Builder
Yes
Yes
Membership Sites
Yes
No
Discounts and Coupons
No
Yes
Affiliate program
Yes
Yes
Email Marketing
Yes
No
Landing Page Builder
No
Yes
Plans
3 plans, including a paid plan
4 plans, including a free plan
Payment Options
2 options: Stripe and PayPal
4 options: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, and Offline Payments
Course Creation & Engagement
One of the main reasons both Thinkific and teachable are so popular is because they make it easy to create an online course. With both platforms, you can quickly and easily create your courses using their drag-and-drop course builders. As I have mentioned before there are a good number of similarities between the two platforms.
Thinkific does offer a few more features than Teachable when it comes to course creation. For example, it has built-in membership sites and an affiliate program. These features can be helpful if you want to sell courses as part of a larger membership site or if you want to recruit affiliates to promote your courses.
Both platforms have great features for course creators, but Thinkific is better for those who want an all-in-one solution, while Teachable is better for those who are looking for more flexibility.
Thinkific makes it easy to create and deliver your courses with their drag-and-drop course builder. You can easily add content, such as videos, audio, text, and images. You can also design your courses with ease.
Teachable also has a drag-and-drop course builder that makes it easy to add content and design your courses. However, Teachable does not have as many features as Thinkific when it comes to course creation.
Thinkific wins this round because of its easy-to-use course builder and its ability to deliver engaging courses. You can start creating your course on Thinkific today.
Structuring your online courses
It's always up to you to decide the best delivery method for your online course. But when it comes to course hosting and creation platforms, both Thinkific and Teachable offer you the easiest course management and resources available for you. You can also view your course before making it live.
On both platforms, you can upload your content in video, audio, text, PDF, quizzes, and other multi-media content. Thinkific does however offer more flexibility when it comes to offering course content. You can do assignment lessons, which is a feature not supported in Teachable.
With Thinkific you can import captivate storyline files. This even if not needed by most course developers, is still a great feature to have. There is a bulk content upload option on the platform which is great to get your course in order quickly by using their drag and drop function to rearrange your course content.
The Thinkific service wins this round also for flexibility in the resources you can use to deliver your course content to your students.
Site Design & Customization
Both platforms allow you to build a website on their respective platforms in real time. They give you free hosting and an SSL certificate as part of their subscription plans.
Thinkific has a few more features than Teachable when it comes to website design and customization. For example, it offers built-in membership sites, automatic email marketing, and an affiliate program. However, these features come at a price – Thinkific is more expensive than Teachable.
Both platforms offer great features for website design and customization. However, Thinkific is better for those who want an all-in-one solution, while Teachable is better for those who are looking for more flexibility.
Thinkific is a great platform for those who want an all-in-one solution for their website design and customization needs.
Website Themes
Thinkific gives you a theme library from which to choose a theme for your website. You can also customize your website with their drag-and-drop course builder.
Teachable also has a theme library from which you can choose a theme for your website. You can also use their drag-and-drop course builder to customize your courses. However, Teachable does not have as many features as Thinkific when it comes to site design and customization.
Thinkific wins this round because of its easy-to-use drag-and-drop course builder and its wide range of customization options.
Ease of Use
Both Thinkific and Teachable are easy to use. They both have drag-and-drop course builders that make it easy to add content and design your courses.
Even though the platforms are easy to use, Thinkific is better for those who want an all-in-one solution, while Teachable is better for those who are looking for more flexibility.
Sales & Marketing
Building a successful online course business hinges on sales and marketing. Both Teachable and Thinkific offer you some handy sales and marketing tools for growing your business. You can create a sales page which can help you generate leads for your course.
Thinkific gives you the ability to offer coupons and discounts, as well as upsells and downsells. You can also use their built-in automatic email marketing, and affiliate program to grow your business.
The Thinkific app store gives you a range of tools like Mailchimp and outgrow to help with your marketing. You can use Outgrow to create lead magnets through quizzes, calculators, and assessments. With Mailchimp integration, you can grow your student engagement using email marketing campaigns.
Start a Thinkific free trial to explore how easy it is to create an online course and start selling.
App integrations help you improve the learning experience of customers so they don't only benefit you in marketing.
Teachable also has sales and marketing features such as coupons and discounts, as well as upsells and downsells. In addition, they offer a few more payment options than Thinkific.
Both platforms offer great sales and marketing features. However, Teachable is better for those who want more flexibility when it comes to pricing and payment options.
Blogging Capability
With Teachable you can create a blog with text and images to help promote your courses.
Thinkific also allows you to create a blog to help promote your courses. However, Thinkific's blogging feature is not as robust as Teachable's.
Teachable wins this round because of its more robust blogging feature.
Course Delivery
Both Thinkific and Teachable allow you to deliver your courses via their respective platforms. They both offer features such as course completion certificates and progress tracking.
Thinkific has a few more features than Teachable when it comes to course delivery. For example, it offers built-in membership sites, automatic email marketing, and an affiliate program. However, these features come at a price – Thinkific is more expensive than Teachable.
Pricing
Thinkific has three pricing plans: Free, Basic, Pro, and Ultra. The free plan is great for those who are just getting started. The Basic plan is perfect for those who want to create and sell a few courses. The Pro plan is best for those who want to sell a lot of courses.
The Ultra plan is perfect for those who want to create and sell a membership site. Thinkific offers three pricing plans: Basic, Pro, and Premier. The Basic plan starts at $49/month, the Pro plan starts at $99/month, and the Premier plan starts at $499/month.
Teachable has four pricing plans: Free, Basic, Professional, and Business. The Free plan is just that – free. The Basic plan starts at $39/month, the Professional plan starts at $119/month, and the Business plan starts at $299/month.
Teachable is the winner in this round because it has a free plan and it is more flexible when it comes to pricing. It also has more payment options than Thinkific.
Payment Options
Thinkific offers two payment options: monthly and yearly. You can pay by credit card or PayPal.
Teachable offers three payment options: monthly, yearly, and one-time. You can pay by credit card, PayPal, or Stripe.
Teachable is the winner in this round because it offers more payment options than Thinkific.
Customer Support
Both Thinkific and Teachable offer excellent customer support. They both have extensive knowledge bases and video tutorials. They also offer email and live chat support.
Thinkific wins this round because it offers phone support in addition to email and live chat support. Teachable only offers email and live chat support. You can contact them any time you need help with their platforms.
Final Thoughts
Thinkific and Teachable are both great platforms for those who want to create online courses. They are both easy to use, have drag-and-drop course builders, and offer features such as course completion certificates and progress tracking. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms.
Thinkific is better for those who want an all-in-one solution, while Teachable is better for those who are looking for more flexibility. Thinkific is also more expensive than Teachable.
Teachable is the winner in this round because it has a free plan and it is more flexible when it comes to pricing. It also has more payment options than Thinkific.
When it comes to customer support, both platforms offer excellent customer support. They both have extensive knowledge bases and video tutorials. They also offer email and live chat support. However, Thinkific wins this round because it offers phone support in addition to email and live chat support. Teachable only offers email and live chat support.
If you're looking for an all-in-one solution, Thinkific is a great option. However, if you're looking for more flexibility and a lower price tag, Teachable is the better choice.
Both platforms have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day, it comes down to what you are looking for in an online course platform. Whichever one has the features that are most important to you is the one that you should choose.
Frequently Asked Questions: Thinkific vs Teachable
What is the difference between Thinkific and Teachable?
The biggest differences between the two are that Teachable's free account allows for unlimited classes, students, and products whereas Thinkific doesn't. With Thinkific, you get unlimited students, and you can only create up to three courses with a free plan. This 3 courses limit may limit you revenue potential.
Can you make money on teachable?
Yes you can make money on Teachable. If you've been building up your knowledge for years, crafted a niche, and established an expertise, then creating a course with Teachable could be a fantastic means to earn a profit, grow a business, and diversifying income.
