Teachable vs Thinkific: Which Online Course Platform is Better?
Walking through the halls of online education is quite a journey these days, with so many online course platforms vying for your attention.
But we all know that not every option is created equal. Some online course platforms are better equipped to help you launch a successful course business and really teach the world, while others may leave you scratching your head as the students remain mysteriously absent.
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Today, I will look at two of the biggest players in the online course platform game: Teachable and Thinkific.
We’ll compare their features, pricing, and course creation process to help you decide which one is the best fit to help you transform your expertise into an engaging and profitable online course.
But be warned – once you see which platform truly shines, you may find yourself itching to get started building your course right away!
Let’s get into it – the online course world awaits!
Brief Overview: Teachable vs Thinkific
First, I’ll give you a quick overview of Teachable and Thinkific:
Teachable
Teachable is an all-in-one platform that allows you to easily create and sell online courses. It focuses on providing a user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and powerful tools for marketing and analytics. Teachable is designed to help educators monetize their skills and knowledge effectively.
Key Selling Points:
- Enables you to sell and create online courses, coaching, and digital downloads
- Used by successful entrepreneurs globally
- Offline reader available on iOS for learning on the go
- A no-code platform for online creators
- Track student progress and course performance
- Includes affiliate programs and coupon codes
Thinkific
Thinkific is a robust online course platform that offers end-to-end solutions for creating, marketing, and selling online courses. It stands out with its ability to provide a highly customizable course experience, advanced data tracking, and solid community-building features.
Key Selling Points:
- Comprehensive suite of tools for course creation and delivery
- Supports a variety of content formats (video, text, downloads, quizzes)
- Allows for interactive course features like discussions and surveys
- Provides resources for marketing and selling courses online
- Fosters student interaction and community building
Quick Verdict: Teachable vs Thinkific
Teachable makes creating and selling online courses exceptionally straightforward and user-friendly.
Teachable is an ideal choice for creators seeking simplicity without sacrificing functionality. It offers an intuitive course builder, making it effortless to design courses.
The platform’s integrated payment processing eliminates the hassle of managing transactions, and its comprehensive analytics provide valuable insights into student progress and course success. The customizable website feature allows for a seamless branding experience.
With Teachable, you get a blend of user-friendliness and powerful tools, making it a top pick for educators at all levels.
Thinkific stands out with its advanced customization options and strong community-building features.
If you’re looking for a platform that offers more control over the look and feel of your courses and student experience, Thinkific is the way to go. It provides extensive customization capabilities, allowing you to tailor every aspect of your course.
Interactive content features like quizzes and discussions help in keeping students engaged. The platform’s built-in marketing tools aid in effectively promoting courses, while comprehensive reporting offers deep insights into student engagement and revenue metrics.
Thinkific is particularly made for creators focused on building a strong learning community and offering a highly personalized course experience.
Product Overview: Teachable vs Thinkific
What is it?
Teachable is an online course platform that enables you to create, market, and sell courses and coaching services. Its strength lies in its simplicity and effectiveness, allowing you to focus on content creation and sales.
Thinkific is a comprehensive platform for creating and selling online courses, known for its high level of customization and interactive course elements. It offers tools for both course creation and student engagement.
Who is it for?
Teachable is perfect for entrepreneurs, influencers, and experts looking to monetize their knowledge and reach a wider audience. Whether you’re a fitness guru, a coding expert, or a business coach, Teachable can help you share your expertise and earn from it.
Thinkific, with its extensive toolset, is ideal for educators, businesses, and individuals who value versatility and control in their course creation process. Whether you’re an individual educator or a large company, Thinkific offers the tools you need to create engaging online courses.
What makes it special?
Teachable sets itself apart with its easy-to-use interface and focus on helping creators monetize their knowledge. Its built-in sales and marketing toolkit and iOS app for learning on the go make it a unique platform for online course creation.
Thinkific stands out with its comprehensive suite of tools for creating and delivering online courses. It supports a variety of content formats and includes interactive features, making it a versatile and flexible platform for online education.
What does it do?
Teachable provides an all-in-one platform where you can create and sell your online courses. It offers tools for course creation, including videos, quizzes, discussion forums, and built-in marketing and sales tools to help you reach and attract students.
Thinkific offers a robust platform for creating and delivering online courses. It supports a variety of content formats, including videos, quizzes, surveys, and discussions, and offers resources for marketing and selling your courses. It also provides extensive customization options, allowing you to create a unique learning experience for your students.
Quick Comparison: Teachable vs Thinkific
| Key Features | Teachable | Thinkific |
|---|---|---|
| #1) Pricing | Winner | |
| #2) Free Plan | Tie | Tie |
| #3) Design & Functionality | Winner | |
| #4) Course Creation | Winner | |
| #5) Sales and Marketing Tools | Winner | |
| #6) Quiz Features | Winner | |
| #7) Affiliate Marketing | Winner | |
| #8) Community Feature | Winner | |
| #9) Customer Support | Winner | |
| #10) Third-Party Integrations | Winner | |
| #11) Mobile Responsiveness | Tie | Tie |
| #12) Certificates of Completion | Tie | Tie |
| #13) Student Management and Tracking | Winner | |
| #14) Drip Content | Winner | |
| Overall | Winner |
Feature Comparison: Teachable vs Thinkific
Let’s compare the features of these online course platforms so you can make the right decision for you and your business.
#1) Pricing
Teachable’s pricing kicks off at $59 per month for the Basic Plan, which includes a 5% transaction fee. If you’re looking for more sophisticated tools and the ability to customize roles, you have options like the Pro, Pro+, and Business Plan. Each plan caters to your evolving needs as you expand your online course offerings.
In contrast, Thinkific’s Basic Plan starts at a more wallet-friendly $49 per month and notably comes without any transaction fees. As you scale your online business, you can opt for their Start, Grow, and Thinkific+ Plans, each unlocking new features to match your growth.
It’s a balancing act when deciding which platform offers better value in terms of pricing. If you’re budget-conscious and wary of transaction fees, Thinkific stands out as the more cost-effective choice, especially when starting out. Teachable, although slightly pricier, will appeal more if you anticipate needing advanced features and customization down the line.
Verdict: For pricing, Thinkific edges ahead for its lower starting cost and absence of transaction fees, making it a more attractive option for those just beginning their online course journey.
#2) Free Plan
Teachable provides a free plan that allows you to publish one product of each type: course, coaching, and downloads. This option is great if you’re starting out and want to test the waters with a variety of offerings without any initial investment.
Thinkific’s free plan, on the other hand, permits the creation of one course and one community. This is an excellent choice for you if your focus is on building a single, strong course while fostering a community around it.
Deciding which free plan is superior depends mainly on your specific needs. Teachable’s diverse allowance will suit you better if you want to explore a mix of digital products. However, if you aim to concentrate on a single course and grow a community around it, Thinkific’s focused approach could be more beneficial.
Verdict: For the free plan, it’s a tie. Teachable is ideal for experimenting with various types of content, while Thinkific excels in building a community around a single course.
#3) Design & Functionality
Teachable offers a clean, user-friendly design that makes it easy for you to create and manage your courses. It also provides a drag-and-drop builder for course creation, allowing you to easily add content, quizzes, and discussions. Plus, it’s customizable, letting you tailor your course pages to match your brand.
Thinkific, on the other hand, also boasts a clean, intuitive interface. It features a comprehensive course builder with support for a wide variety of content types. It also allows for deeper customization, giving you control over the look and feel of your own website, right down to the CSS and HTML.
Both platforms provide excellent design and functionality, but Thinkific pulls ahead slightly with its more advanced customization options. If you want to create a course that genuinely reflects your brand and offers a unique learning management system experience, Thinkific’s customization capabilities may be more appealing.
Verdict: Thinkific vs Teachable for design and functionality? Thinkific edges out Teachable due to its advanced customization options.
#4) Specific Course Creation Features
Teachable offers a range of course creation features, including a drag-and-drop builder for easy content placement, quizzes to engage your students, and the ability to add discussion forums. In addition, you can also create certificate programs, which can be a big draw for many students.
Thinkific also offers robust course creation tools. It provides a comprehensive course builder, quizzes, surveys, and discussions. Additionally, Thinkific allows you to provide assignments to your students and supports advanced scheduling of content releases, which can help keep your students engaged over time.
Both platforms offer a robust suite of course creation tools. However, Thinkific stands out for its assignments and advanced content scheduling features. These features can improve student engagement and success, making Thinkific a slightly more appealing option for those focused on offering an interactive and structured learning experience.
Verdict: Teachable vs Thinkific for creating and selling online courses? Thinkific takes the lead with its advanced course creation features.
#5) Sales and Marketing Features
Teachable provides a robust set of sales and marketing tools. It allows you to create sales pages for your courses and offers a variety of promotional tools, including coupons and promotions. Additionally, Teachable has an affiliate marketing feature, allowing your students or other affiliates to promote your courses and earn a commission.
Thinkific also offers a comprehensive suite of sales and marketing tools. You can create custom landing pages, provide coupons and promotions, and use their affiliate marketing feature. However, Thinkific goes a step further with its built-in email marketing tool, which allows you to send targeted emails to your students directly from the platform.
Both platforms provide excellent sales and marketing features, but Thinkific’s built-in email marketing tool gives it a slight edge. This feature lets you keep your students engaged and informed without integrating an external email marketing service.
Verdict: Thinkific vs Teachable for sales and marketing features? Thinkific takes the lead with its integrated email marketing tool.
#6) Advanced Quiz Features
Teachable provides robust quiz features, allowing you to create a variety of quiz types to enhance learning engagement. You can include multiple-choice questions, image-based questions, and more. These quizzes can be used for both assessment and interactive learning, adding a dynamic element to your courses.
Thinkific also offers strong quiz capabilities but emphasizes ease of use and integration. Its quiz features support multiple-choice, true/false questions, and surveys. Thinkific’s quizzes are designed to be seamlessly integrated into your course structure, providing a smooth user experience.
When evaluating advanced quiz features, your choice depends on the depth and variety you need. Teachable is better if you’re looking for a wide range of question types and more intricate quiz functionalities. However, if you prefer simplicity and ease of integration, Thinkific could be more suitable.
Verdict: Teachable vs Thinkific for the ability to create quizzes? Teachable edges ahead with its more diverse and sophisticated quiz options.
#7) Affiliate Marketing Capabilities
Teachable offers a built-in affiliate marketing program. This allows you to recruit affiliates, who can then promote your courses to their audiences. You can set custom commission rates, and Teachable will automatically track referrals and pay out commissions.
Similarly, Thinkific also includes an affiliate program. You can set different commission rates for each affiliate, track the performance of your affiliates, and automatically pay out commissions. Additionally, Thinkific allows you to create affiliate groups to help manage larger affiliate programs.
Both platforms offer robust affiliate marketing programs, but Thinkific’s ability to create affiliate groups gives it a slight edge. This feature can make managing a large number of affiliates easier and more efficient.
Verdict: Thinkific is the winner with its advanced management features for affiliate marketing capabilities.
#8) Community Features
Teachable’s community features are designed to foster interaction and engagement among students. It offers tools for discussions and comments, allowing students to interact with each other and with you, the course creator. This can create a dynamic learning environment and enhance the overall educational experience.
Thinkific also has community features but is generally more focused on course-specific discussions. While these features facilitate student interaction and provide a space for questions and discussions, they are less extensive than Teachable’s offerings regarding overall community building.
Regarding community features, Teachable may have an edge due to its broader, more interactive tools for fostering a community. These features can significantly enhance the learning experience by promoting peer-to-peer interaction and a sense of belonging among students.
Verdict: For building community, Teachable stands out with its more comprehensive and interactive community engagement tools.
#9) Customer Support
Teachable offers strong customer support with a comprehensive knowledge base, email support, and live chat support options. They also provide resources like webinars and community forums, where you can get additional help and advice from both the Teachable team and other course creators. This multi-channel support system is designed to assist you promptly and effectively.
Thinkific also delivers solid customer support, with an extensive help center, email assistance, and resources like webinars and guides. Thinkific takes pride in its responsive email support and the wealth of educational materials available to help you navigate through any challenges.
Both Teachable and Thinkific offer robust assistance to their creators regarding customer support. However, Teachable has a slight edge due to its live chat feature, which can provide immediate help. On the other hand, Thinkific’s detailed educational resources are excellent for in-depth guidance.
Verdict: For creator support, Teachable slightly leads by including live chat and offering quicker, on-the-spot assistance.
#10) Third-Party Integrations
Teachable excels in third-party integrations, offering a wide range of options that can enhance your course and business management. This includes integrations with marketing tools, analytics platforms, and payment processors. These integrations are designed to streamline your workflow, making it easier for you to manage various aspects of your course and business operations in one place.
Thinkific also offers a good selection of third-party integrations, focusing on essential tools for course creators. This includes integrations with email marketing platforms, CRM tools, and other services crucial for running an online course business. Thinkific’s integrations are user-friendly and add significant value to your course creation and management process.
When comparing third-party integrations, both Teachable and Thinkific provide valuable options. However, Teachable has an advantage in terms of the breadth and variety of integrations available, which can be particularly beneficial if you’re looking to integrate a wide range of tools into your platform.
Verdict: For integrations, Teachable slightly leads due to its broader range of third-party integration options, offering more flexibility in customizing and enhancing your course platform.
#11) Mobile Responsiveness
Teachable ensures that its platform and courses are fully mobile-responsive. This means that courses you create on Teachable are easily accessible and navigable on smartphones and tablets, offering a seamless user experience. This is crucial considering the increasing use of mobile devices for learning.
Similarly, Thinkific places a strong emphasis on mobile responsiveness. Courses created on Thinkific are designed to be equally effective and user-friendly on mobile devices. Thinkific’s platform adapts well to different screen sizes, ensuring that content is easily readable and interactive elements are easily accessible on mobile.
In terms of mobile responsiveness, both Teachable and Thinkific perform excellently. They both understand the importance of mobile access in today’s digital landscape and have designed their platforms to accommodate this need effectively.
Verdict: For mobile responsiveness, it’s a tie. Both Teachable and Thinkific offer outstanding mobile-friendly experiences, ensuring that courses are accessible and engaging on any device.
#12) Certificates of Completion
Teachable offers customizable certificates of completion, allowing you to design and award these certificates to students who finish your courses. These certificates can be tailored to match your brand and course aesthetic, adding a professional touch. This feature is handy for courses that aim to provide professional development or recognition.
Thinkific also provides the ability to create and issue certificates of completion. Their customizable certificates enable you to add your branding and specific course details. The process of creating and awarding these certificates is straightforward and adds value to the learner’s experience.
Comparing the certificates of completion feature, both Teachable and Thinkific offer similar functionalities. They both understand the importance of acknowledging learner achievement and provide ample customization options to make these certificates meaningful and reflect your brand.
Verdict: For certificates of completion, it’s a tie. Both Teachable and Thinkific offer robust, customizable options for creating and awarding certificates, making them equally effective.
#13) Student Management and Tracking
Teachable provides robust student management and tracking features. It allows course creators to monitor student progress, engagement, and completion rates. Additionally, it offers features like student segmentation and the ability to manually enroll or unenroll students.
Thinkific also offers comprehensive student management and tracking tools. It provides detailed reports on student progress and course completion. Furthermore, Thinkific allows you to export student data for further analysis and offers a unique feature that lets course creators see their students’ last login dates.
While both platforms offer strong student management and tracking features, Thinkific’s ability to export student data and track last login dates gives it an edge. This can help course creators gain a more in-depth understanding of their students’ behavior and engagement levels.
Verdict: Thinkific is the more robust option for student management and tracking due to its additional features.
#14) Drip Content
Teachable offers a drip content feature, allowing course creators to schedule the release of their course content over time. This can be a valuable tool for keeping students engaged and preventing them from feeling overwhelmed. The drip content settings in Teachable are flexible, enabling you to set specific dates or intervals for content release after enrolment.
Thinkific also supports drip content, letting course creators release their content gradually. This can be set up based on a specific schedule or based on when a student enrolls in the course. However, Thinkific’s drip content feature is less flexible than Teachable as it doesn’t allow setting specific dates for content release.
While both platforms offer drip content features, Teachable’s greater flexibility in scheduling content releases gives it an edge. It provides more control to course creators in pacing their course content delivery.
Verdict: Teachable is the better choice for drip content due to its greater flexibility in scheduling content releases.
Final Thoughts on Teachable vs Thinkific
After closely comparing Teachable and Thinkific, both platforms offer robust features tailored to your diverse online course creation and management needs.
Teachable stands out with its advanced customization options, making it ideal for you if you’re keen on tailoring every aspect of your course experience. Its comprehensive affiliate marketing and detailed student tracking also make it a strong contender for more established course creators.
Thinkific, however, shines brightly due to its user-friendly interface, making course creation straightforward and accessible, especially if you’re just starting out. Its pricing structure is also more appealing for beginners, and the platform excels in community-building features, which are essential for engaging and retaining students.
While Thinkific is more budget-friendly and offers a good range of features, Teachable boasts a sleek interface and strongly focuses on marketing tools. Choosing between these two giants will ultimately depend on your specific needs and goals as an online course creator.
However, based on my personal experience and research, I would choose Teachable. Not only does it offer user-friendly customization options and advanced marketing features such as drip content, but it also takes care of all the technicalities like hosting and payment processing so you can focus on creating quality content for your students.
Now, go out there and make your mark in the digital education world with the help of Teachable – trust me, the possibilities are endless!
Teachable makes creating and selling online courses exceptionally straightforward and user-friendly.
