In the digital age, online courses have become the go-to method for sharing knowledge and skills with the world. But, with so many course creation platforms available, how do you choose the one that best fits your needs? “Thinkific vs Teachable” is a common question among course creators. Let’s dive into a detailed comparison of these platforms to help you make an informed decision for your online course business.
Key Takeaways
- Thinkific and Teachable are two popular online course platforms with different features to suit various user preferences.
- Thinkific offers more customization capabilities, while Teachable provides better reporting tools & payment processing solutions.
- Both offer comprehensive sales & marketing, community & coaching features, as well as platform integrations for a customizable learning experience.
| Feature | Thinkific | Teachable |
|---|---|---|
| Customization | More templates & advanced customization options, including code alteration and custom theme import. | Basic customization with ‘Power Editor’ for default site theme and no custom theme import. |
| Course Creation & Management | Comprehensive video library, live lessons, Captivate/Storyline files import, more suited for advanced customization. | Multi-Media Course Builder, Unlimited Courses, AI Curriculum Generator, optimized for efficient course creation. |
| Quizzes & Assignments | Advanced quiz features, assignment submission, and survey creation capabilities. | Basic quiz functionality, no built-in assignment support, workaround through Dropbox for assignments. |
| Certificates & Compliance | Free plans available, competitive paid plans with more features accessible in basic plans. | Certificates applied one course at a time, basic compliance features without detailed security controls. |
| Design & Customization | Capability to apply certificates to multiple courses, extensive security and compliance controls, SOC2 compliant. | Basic design templates, limited white-labeling on core pages, easier for basic customization. |
| Sales & Marketing Tools | Strong tools for sales & marketing, but less advanced checkout process. | Advanced checkout process and strong marketing tools, possibly better for conversions. |
| Reporting & Analytics | Limited reporting capabilities. | Better reporting tools & analytics. |
| Pricing & Plans | Various integrations for a customizable experience, though with less emphasis on marketing integrations. | Free plans are available, competitive paid plans with more features accessible in basic plans. |
| Platform Integration | Live sessions and community features are included. | Strong integration options, especially for sales and marketing tools. |
| Support & Community | Offers a free plan with core features and paid plans for advanced features. | Depends on the plan, with some community features available. |
| Compliance & Security | Robust security features with compliance assurance. | Basic compliance management with guidance for creators. |
| Learning Experience | Limited learning experience features, focus on content creation. | Strong learning management system with a focus on user-friendliness. |
| Technical Skills Required | Some technical skills may be needed for deep customization. | Designed for users without coding or technical expertise. |
| Target User | Suited for users who value customization and have a bit more technical skill. | Ideal for new creators and coaches, particularly those without technical backgrounds. |
This table summarizes the key comparison points between Thinkific and Teachable based on the information provided.
Thinkific and Teachable: An Overview
Thinkific and Teachable are both popular online course platforms designed to help you create, manage, and sell online courses. Thinkific focuses on content creation, offering a white-label online academy, course landing page creation, and payment gateway integration. On the other hand, Teachable enables users to construct a course and monetize their abilities without the need for coding or technical expertise, providing course creation, unlimited video storage, and cost-effective plans.
Comparing strengths and weaknesses, Thinkific stands out with its course creation and site-building tools, despite having limited learning experience features. Teachable, however, boasts strong sales and marketing tools, making it an ideal choice for new creators and coaches, though it is more suitable for small businesses (less than 10 employees) and solo creators.
In comparison to other platforms, Thinkific is considered a superior option for those looking to sell online courses, while alternatives like Podia and LearnWorlds also offer competitive features and pricing. The choice ultimately depends on your specific needs and business goals.
Course Creation & Management
Thinkific and Teachable both provide a wide range of course creation and management features. Teachable provides a Multi-Media Course Builder, Unlimited Courses, AI Curriculum Generator, and more. Thinkific, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive video library, Assignment and Live Lesson types, and the ability to import Captivate and Storyline files.
When discussing course delivery, Thinkific and Teachable both support full content drops and dripped courses, providing an easy way for course creators to organize their content with a drag-and-drop interface. However, Teachable outshines Thinkific in reporting capabilities, offering a wide range of reports within its learning management system, such as Leaderboards report and Video Stats Report, while Thinkific’s course reporting capabilities are relatively limited in comparison.
Thinkific’s Start plan includes features like:
- private and hidden courses
- subscriptions
- bundles
- live sessions
- assignments
- completion certificates
These features make it easy for users to create online courses. In contrast, Teachable’s Multi-Media Course Builder and AI Curriculum Generator provide a more streamlined approach to course creation but may not offer the same level of customization offered by Thinkific.
The decision to choose Thinkific or Teachable for course creation and management ultimately hinges on the individual needs and preferences of the course creator. Both platforms offer a range of features that cater to different needs, but Thinkific may be more suitable for those who require advanced customization, while Teachable might be a better fit for those who prefer a simpler and more efficient course creation process.
Quizzes, Assignments & Surveys
For quizzes, Thinkific offers advanced features like randomized question banks, explanations, and question imports—options that Teachable currently lacks. Teachable, on the other hand, only allows for the inclusion of plain text in a quiz, which can be somewhat restrictive.
In terms of assignments, Thinkific offers the ability to add an Assignment-type lesson to a course and receive submissions from students, with the option to accept or reject them. This feature allows course creators to better manage their course content. At this time, Teachable does not have inbuilt support for assignments; however, the workaround is to use Dropbox’s “File Request” feature, although the user experience is not as optimal.
Thinkific’s free version offers the ability to create surveys, which can be used as marketing features to gather feedback and improve course offerings. Both platforms offer a range of course creation features, including advanced quiz creation tools, feedback surveys, and various sales and marketing tools. However, Thinkific’s advanced quiz and assignment features may provide an edge for course creators seeking a more comprehensive and customizable learning experience.
Certificates & Compliance
Thinkific and Teachable both facilitate the creation and management of course completion certificates, albeit with distinct capabilities and limitations. Thinkific provides the capability to easily apply a certificate design to multiple courses, while Teachable offers the ability to apply it to only one course at a time.
In terms of compliance features, Thinkific offers a robust suite of security, privacy, and compliance controls, ensuring customer and learner data is kept secure. Some of these controls include:
- Access management
- Encryption
- Endpoint security
- Network security
- System monitoring
- Penetration testing
- Vulnerability management
- Application security features
Thinkific is SOC2 compliant and provides a service level agreement (SLA) with 99.5% uptime and 24/7 monitoring.
Teachable provides the following compliance features:
- Course Compliance
- Security Overview
- Creator Terms and Privacy Guidance
- Compliance Management
Although both platforms offer a range of compliance features, Thinkific’s comprehensive security, privacy, and compliance controls may provide an added level of trust and confidence for course creators and students alike.
In summary, both Thinkific and Teachable offer certificate and compliance features, but Thinkific’s advanced security and compliance controls, along with its ability to apply certificate designs to multiple courses, may provide a more well-rounded and secure solution for course creators.
Customization & Design
Thinkific and Teachable both provide numerous customization and design options tailored to the needs of course creators. Both platforms provide:
- Free hosting
- An SSL certificate
- A free subdomain for your website, with the option to utilize a custom domain if desired
- The capability to fully customize the site text or alter the language
Thinkific offers more templates and allows for greater customization, some of which may necessitate coding. They permit advanced users to alter the theme code in the backend and even import custom themes. In contrast, Teachable only permits modification of the default site theme code through the ‘Power Editor’ and does not enable importing custom themes.
When it comes to white labeling, both platforms offer this feature, allowing users to remove the platform’s branding. However, there are some limitations to white labeling on Teachable, as the signup, login, and checkout pages remain on a Teachable sub-domain and cannot be altered.
In terms of website building and sales page creation, Thinkific offers comprehensive features, while Teachable’s page builder is more suitable for basic sales pages with limited customizability.
Overall, Thinkific may be a better choice for course creators seeking advanced customization and design options, while Teachable might be more suited for those who prefer a simpler and more streamlined design process.
Sales & Marketing Tools
Thinkific and Teachable both equip course creators with a variety of sales and marketing tools for effective course promotion and sales. These tools include:
- the ability to create one-time or recurring product sales
- coupons
- course bundles
- upsells
- affiliate programs
Teachable’s checkout process is more advanced than Thinkific’s, optimizing conversions for course creators. Both platforms offer a range of pricing options, such as:
- One-time price
- Recurring subscription
- Payment plan
- Bundling courses
Teachable’s affiliate program offers affiliate marketing capabilities, enabling you to:
- Set up affiliate programs and student referrals to expand a course business through word-of-mouth
- Automatically monitor the number of referrals brought in by students
- Organize payments with affiliates
Moreover, Teachable’s Pay feature provides an efficient solution and ensures compliance with tax regulations for affiliate programs.
Thinkific also offers an affiliate program, though it may not be as comprehensive as Teachable’s solution.
In summary, both Thinkific and Teachable offer a range of sales and marketing tools to help course creators effectively sell their courses. However, Teachable’s advanced checkout process, affiliate program, and Pay feature may provide a more comprehensive solution for those looking to optimize their sales and marketing efforts.
Payment Processing & Payouts
Both Thinkific and Teachable allow students to make payments via credit card (through Stripe) or PayPal. However, there are some differences in how these platforms handle transactions, fees, and currencies.
Thinkific users are unable to:
- Make purchases in multiple currencies
- Manage taxes
- Distribute payouts to affiliates or authors
- Facilitate student referrals
This necessitates the creation of separate Thinkific sites for different countries in order to sell content globally. Additionally, Thinkific Payments cannot manage taxes, distribute payouts to affiliates or authors, or facilitate student referrals.
On the other hand, Teachable supports payments through its own payment gateway or with PayPal. One major benefit of using Teachable’s gateway is that you can accept credit card (or PayPal) payments even if Stripe (or Paypal) is not available in your region, which is not an option when utilizing Thinkific.
In terms of payment processing, Teachable offers a single-step checkout process with Apple Pay/Google Pay capability and EU VAT collection, while Thinkific offers a two-step checkout process with instant payouts for creators on all plans and more third-party integrations.
Overall, Teachable may provide a more efficient and flexible payment processing solution for course creators, especially those who need to cater to a global audience and comply with various tax regulations.
Community & Coaching Features
The role of community and coaching features is critical in fostering student engagement and providing personalized support. Thinkific provides community & engagement features, including an online community builder. Teachable offers a Coaching product type, which enables users to create and sell 1:1 coaching programs.
Teachable’s Coaching product type allows course creators to create and sell personalized coaching programs, offering a valuable addition to their course offerings. Maxime Britto, a course creator, has had a positive experience with Teachable, citing it as a fully-featured solution that saved him months/years of development work and provided peace of mind.
Thinkific’s community feature allows members to post, like, and comment on posts, providing a supportive environment for courses or memberships. However, Thinkific’s community engine has limited functionality compared to other platforms, such as Facebook groups, and may not offer the same level of engagement and interaction.
In conclusion, both Thinkific and Teachable offer community and coaching features that can enhance the learning experience and provide additional value to students. The choice between the two platforms depends on the course creator’s specific needs and preferences, but both options can contribute positively to the overall success of an online course business.
Customer Support & Resources
Guidance and assistance from customer support and resources are vital for course creators throughout their journey on any online course platform. Both Thinkific and Teachable provide excellent customer service, with Thinkific’s support being notably more personable and their email support more prompt on the lower tiers. Teachable provides email support for all their plans. For Professional Plan and higher, they also offer live chat support..
For Thinkific’s free plan, customer support is limited to email and chatbot. Teachable’s customer support is more comprehensive but may not be as personable as Thinkific’s support.
Thinkific offers a range of resources for course creators, such as the Online Education Business Masterclass, a comprehensive guide to creating and selling courses, the Thinkific Course Builder, and a coaching program for personalized support. Teachable, on the other hand, provides a comprehensive range of customization features, such as powerful video lecture and coaching session editing software, quizzes, and third-party integrations.
In summary, both Thinkific and Teachable provide customer support and resources to help course creators succeed in their online course business. While Thinkific’s personable support and extensive resources may appeal to some course creators, Teachable’s wider range of customization features may be more attractive to others.
Pricing Plans & Value
Different pricing plans and value propositions for course creators are available on both Thinkific and Teachable.
Thinkific provides five paid tiers and a free plan.
Teachable has a wide variety of payment options. There are five pricing plans to choose from:
- Free
- Basic
- Pro
- Pro+
- Business
Teachable offers a free account sign-up and the capability to launch an online course business immediately.
In terms of cost, features, and overall value:
- Thinkific offers competitive pricing
- Teachable provides a more comprehensive value overall as it does not require additional payment for core features
- Thinkific’s Pro plan provides a free trial but with limited capabilities and a maximum of 3 courses created
- The Growth add-on to Thinkific’s Pro plan requires additional payment for certain features
In comparison, Teachable’s fees start at 10% for the free plan and 5% for the basic plan, with additional fees for the Discover marketplace and payment processing. Additionally, Teachable’s system is suitable for those who need to pay VAT MOSS taxes.
Overall, Thinkific offers the most cost-effective pricing, but Teachable provides a more comprehensive value for course creators, as it does not require additional payments for core features. The choice between the two platforms depends on the specific needs and budget of the course creator, as well as their preference for the features offered by each platform.
Platform Integrations
Seamless compatibility with third-party tools and services for analytics, marketing, and more is crucial for course creators, making platform integrations essential. Both Thinkific and Teachable offer a range of third-party integrations, including analytics, marketing, and other tools.
Thinkific’s integration with third-party tools offers users the ability to leverage additional features and options to build, sell, and deliver online courses. These integrations provide a variety of innovative learning tools, such as:
- Whiteboards
- Integrated video chat
- Document and code sharing
- And more
Thinkific’s integration with platforms like Zapier facilitates automation and productivity enhancements by connecting with over 1,500 apps. The Thinkific App store provides a range of apps developed by third-party developers, expanding the capabilities and customization options for course creators.
Teachable integrates with a variety of third-party tools, such as:
- Zoom
- AWeber
- ActiveCampaign
- ConvertKit
- Deadline Funnel
- DropInBlog
- Zapier
- MailerLite
- Google Analytics
- Mailchimp
- Segment
- Sumo
- Circle.so
- ClickFunnels Classic
- Google Sheets
- Webhooks by Zapier
- Formatter by Zapier
Teachable can also be connected to a subdomain of a website, Wix, Shopify, or WordPress site, although it does not integrate with any of those systems.
In conclusion, both Thinkific and Teachable offer a range of platform integrations that can enhance the functionality and versatility of their online course platforms. The choice between the two depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the course creator, as well as the third-party tools and services they wish to integrate with their online course platform.
Summary
In summary, both Thinkific and Teachable are powerful online course platforms that cater to different needs and preferences of course creators. Thinkific is known for its advanced course creation and customization features, while Teachable excels in sales and marketing tools, as well as offering a more comprehensive value in terms of pricing plans and core features.
When choosing between Thinkific and Teachable, it is essential to consider your specific requirements, budget, and desired level of customization. Both platforms offer a wide range of features, integrations, and support resources, ensuring a successful and fulfilling experience for course creators and students alike.
Ultimately, the decision between Thinkific and Teachable comes down to your personal preferences and the unique needs of your online course business. Take the time to thoroughly evaluate each platform’s strengths and weaknesses, and choose the one that best aligns with your goals and vision for success.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Teachable better than Thinkific?
It seems Teachable has better sales & marketing tools and Thinkific offers better course creation and site-building tools, so it really depends on your individual needs which one is better for you.
Why is Thinkific better than Teachable?
Thinkific’s comprehensive set of marketing features provide an easier and more effective way to launch campaigns, as compared to Teachable. Additionally, Thinkific offers more payment options, with the ability to instantly accept payments in 130+ different currencies.
What is the difference between Teachable and Thinkific?
Thinkific and Teachable are two popular online course platforms, with Thinkific providing superior course creation and site-building tools and Teachable having better sales and marketing tools.
What is the difference between Teachable and think?
Thinkific offers a free starter plan, while Teachable does not. Thinkific lets you set course compliance at the lesson level, while Teachable works at the course level. Additionally, Teachable provides more features such as interactive quizzes and support options than Thinkific.
Which platform is better for advanced course creation and customization?
Thinkific is the clear choice for course creators seeking control over their courses and website design, offering advanced customization capabilities.
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