On this page
- The plans side by side
- What you pay at your sales level
- What you pay at your course count
- Add an email tool to both
- A real decision, start to finish
- Three more setups, priced on both
- Feature by feature, for the money
- What each one does better
- How both prices changed in 2026
- Hidden costs on each side
- How to pay less on each
- Other platforms worth a look
- Which one should you pick?
- Questions to ask before you choose
- The cost over three years
- Switching later
- How we compared
- Our verdict
- Teachable vs Thinkific FAQs
Some links on this page may earn us a commission. It never changes the numbers or the verdict. How we make money.
Teachable vs Thinkific used to be an easy call: Thinkific Basic cost $40 a month, and Teachable could not match it. That plan is gone. Today the cheapest Teachable plan with no sales fee, Builder at $69 a month billed yearly, costs less than Thinkific’s cheapest plan, Start at $82. But Builder stops at 10 products, and Thinkific Start has no course limit at all.
I checked both pricing pages on 3 November 2026 and re-checked them on 6 November. Below is what each costs at your sales level and course count, and when each one wins.
Selling up to 10 products? Teachable Builder is $13 a month cheaper than Thinkific Start, with 0% fees on both. Selling more than 10 courses, or planning to? Thinkific Start beats Teachable Growth by $57 a month. Testing a first course with small sales? Teachable Starter at $29 is cheapest until you sell about $533 a month.
The plans side by side
| Teachable Starter | Teachable Builder | Teachable Growth | Thinkific Start | Thinkific Grow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billed yearly | $29/mo | $69/mo | $139/mo | $82/mo | $164/mo |
| Billed monthly | $39/mo | $89/mo | $189/mo | $109/mo | $219/mo |
| Fee on sales | 7.5% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Products / courses | 5 products | 10 products | 50 products | Unlimited courses | Unlimited courses |
| Students | Not capped | Not capped | Not capped | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Free option | 7-day free trial, 30-day money-back guarantee | Free trial | |||
Sources: teachable.com/pricing and thinkific.com/pricing, US visitor, checked 3 and 6 Nov 2026. Teachable’s 0% fee on Builder and up applies with teachable:pay. Card processing (about 2.9% + 30¢) applies on both.
What you pay at your sales level
The fee on Teachable Starter is what changes the ranking. Here is the monthly cost, billed yearly, at three sales levels:
| Monthly sales | Teachable Starter | Teachable Builder | Thinkific Start | Cheapest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $300 | $51.50 | $69 | $82 | Teachable Starter |
| $500 | $66.50 | $69 | $82 | Teachable Starter |
| $1,000 | $104 | $69 | $82 | Teachable Builder |
| $3,000 | $254 | $69 | $82 | Teachable Builder |
Our arithmetic. Billed yearly, card processing left out because it is about the same on both.
Two lines matter. Teachable Starter stops being the cheapest at about $533 a month in sales, where Builder takes over. And Starter costs more than Thinkific Start above about $707 a month. If you expect steady sales, compare Builder with Start, not Starter with Start.
What you pay at your course count
Now the other limit. Teachable counts every course, coaching offer or download you sell as a product. Thinkific does not cap courses on any plan.
| Products you sell | Teachable plan you need | Teachable, yearly | Thinkific Start, yearly | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–5 (low sales) | Starter | $29 + 7.5% | $82 | Depends on sales |
| 1–10 | Builder | $69 | $82 | Teachable, by $156/yr |
| 11–50 | Growth | $139 | $82 | Thinkific, by $684/yr |
Our arithmetic from the vendors’ yearly prices, 6 Nov 2026.
That last row is where Thinkific earns its higher entry price. A creator with 12 courses on Teachable needs Growth at $1,668 a year. On Thinkific Start, the same 12 courses cost $984 a year.
Add an email tool to both
Neither platform is a full email marketing tool, so most course sellers add one. At 1,000 subscribers, Kit Creator is $33 a month and MailerLite Comfort is $17.10, billed yearly.
| Full setup at 1,000 subscribers | With MailerLite | With Kit |
|---|---|---|
| Teachable Builder | $86.10/mo | $102/mo |
| Thinkific Start | $99.10/mo | $115/mo |
The $13 gap stays the same whatever email tool you pick. For comparison, Kajabi Basic includes email for $143 a month.
A real decision, start to finish
A photography teacher I advised (I’ll call him Leo) had one paid course and a plan for “a few more”. He was about to pay for Thinkific Start because of the unlimited courses.
We wrote his product list for the year: three courses, one coaching package, two presets bundles. That is six products. Teachable Builder covered it with room to spare, at $13 a month less. He chose Builder, and we set a reminder: if the list ever passes ten products, compare again.
Three more setups, priced on both
1. A coach with one $997 program and a few sales a month
Two sales a month is $1,994. On Teachable Starter that costs $29 + about $150 in fees, so $179. On Builder, $69. On Thinkific Start, $82. Builder wins; Starter is a poor fit for high-ticket offers.
2. A teacher with 15 short courses at $29 each
Fifteen products rules out Teachable Builder. Teachable Growth costs $139 a month. Thinkific Start costs $82 with unlimited courses. Thinkific saves $684 a year.
3. A brand-new creator testing one idea
Expected sales: $200 to $400 a month. Teachable Starter at $29 plus 7.5% costs $44 to $59. Thinkific Start costs $82 regardless. Start on Teachable Starter, and switch plans when sales grow.
Feature by feature, for the money
Courses and products
Thinkific Start gives unlimited courses and students. Teachable plans limit products: 5, 10 or 50. Students are not capped on either.
Fees on sales
Both charge 0% on their mid plans. Teachable Starter charges 7.5%, the main reason to move off it once you sell. Thinkific has no fee on any plan.
Community and memberships
Thinkific Start includes communities, memberships and bundles. If a community is central to your business, also compare with Skool, which is cheaper for a pure community.
Both have basic course emails. For newsletters and sales sequences, plan on Kit or MailerLite with either platform.
Free options
Teachable gives a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Thinkific offers a free trial. Neither has a free plan any more.
What each one does better
- Cheapest 0%-fee plan: Builder at $69
- Starter at $29 for testing an idea
- A 30-day money-back guarantee
- Unlimited courses on every plan
- No sales fee on any plan
- Communities and memberships on Start
How both prices changed in 2026
-
Basic retired for new customers. Entry price up from $40 to $82 a month billed yearly. Details.
-
Free plan dropped. New users start with a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Hidden costs on each side
| Teachable | Thinkific |
|---|---|
| 7.5% fee on Starter, the highest of the big course platforms | A higher entry price since Basic was retired |
| Product limits push you to Growth at $139 | The pull to upgrade to Grow at $164 |
| No full email tool, so add one | No full email tool, so add one |
How to pay less on each
- Teachable: pay yearly (about 22% off), move from Starter to Builder at $533 a month in sales, and bundle small products to stay within 10.
- Thinkific: pay yearly (25% off, $324 a year on Start), stay on Start unless a Grow feature earns its keep, and use Kit’s free plan for email at first.
Other platforms worth a look
- Podia Shaker at $84 a month billed yearly, 0% fee, with email for 500 subscribers included. See Podia pricing.
- LearnWorlds Pro Trainer at $79, with certificates, SCORM and memberships. See LearnWorlds pricing.
- Systeme.io, free up to 2,000 contacts with one course and 0% fees. See Systeme.io pricing.
Which one should you pick?
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First course, under $533 a month in sales | Teachable Starter | $29 is the cheapest way in |
| Steady sales, up to 10 products | Teachable Builder | $156 a year less than Thinkific Start |
| More than 10 courses | Thinkific Start | $684 a year less than Teachable Growth |
| Course plus community | Thinkific Start | Communities included |
| Want one tool with email built in | Neither | Look at Kajabi or Podia |
Questions to ask before you choose
- How many products will I sell this year? Write the list. Ten or fewer favours Teachable Builder.
- What are my monthly sales today? Under about $533, Teachable Starter is cheapest. Above it, look at Builder.
- Will I run a community? Thinkific Start includes communities. If community matters, check what each plan offers before you buy.
- Do I already pay for an email tool? If so, the platform price is your whole extra cost.
- Do I want a refund window? Teachable’s 30-day guarantee lowers the risk of trying.
The cost over three years
| Setup, billed yearly | 3 years |
|---|---|
| Teachable Builder (up to 10 products) | $2,484 |
| Thinkific Start (unlimited courses) | $2,952 |
| Teachable Growth (11–50 products) | $5,004 |
Our arithmetic at today’s yearly prices.
Over three years, Builder saves $468 against Thinkific Start. But if your catalog grows past 10 products in year one, Teachable Growth costs $2,052 more than Thinkific Start over the same period. Your product plan matters more than the sticker price.
Switching later
Moving course platforms means re-uploading videos, rebuilding course pages and checkout, and moving students and active subscriptions. Keep your email list in a separate tool such as Kit or MailerLite, and the move gets much easier. Plan an overlap month so no student loses access.
How we compared
We checked teachable.com/pricing and thinkific.com/pricing as a US visitor on 3 November 2026 and again on 6 November. Every total on this page is our own arithmetic from those prices. Email tool prices come from kit.com/pricing and mailerlite.com/pricing on the same dates. We left card processing out of the tables because it is about the same on both platforms.
Our verdict
For most course creators with a handful of products, Teachable Builder is the better buy. It costs $69 a month billed yearly, $13 less than Thinkific Start, and both take 0% of your sales. Ten products is enough for a few courses, a coaching offer and a download or two.
Thinkific wins once your catalog grows. Above ten products, Teachable pushes you to Growth at $139 a month, while Thinkific Start stays at $82 with unlimited courses. Thinkific also includes communities and memberships on its entry plan, which helps if you want students to talk to each other.
And if you are just testing an idea, Teachable Starter at $29 is the cheapest start. Just move to Builder the month your sales pass about $533. My rule: count your products, check your sales, and pick the plan that fits the next twelve months, not the next twelve days.
Teachable vs Thinkific FAQs
Is Teachable cheaper than Thinkific?
Usually, yes. Teachable Builder is $69 a month billed yearly and Thinkific Start is $82, both with 0% fees. Above 10 products, Thinkific Start is cheaper than Teachable Growth.
Which has transaction fees, Teachable or Thinkific?
Only Teachable Starter, which takes 7.5% of each sale. Teachable Builder and Growth, and every Thinkific plan, charge 0%. Card processing applies on both.
Does Teachable or Thinkific limit students?
Neither caps students. Teachable limits products per plan; Thinkific allows unlimited courses.
Which is better for many courses?
Thinkific. Start allows unlimited courses for $82 a month billed yearly. On Teachable, more than 10 products needs Growth at $139.
Do Teachable and Thinkific have free plans?
No. Teachable offers a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Thinkific offers a free trial.
What replaced Thinkific Basic?
Start, at $82 a month billed yearly. Basic was retired for new customers on 26 October 2026.
Which is better for coaching, Teachable or Thinkific?
Teachable counts coaching offers as products, so Builder covers up to 10 courses and coaching packages combined. Thinkific Start has unlimited courses; check its page for coaching features.
How much do Teachable and Thinkific cost per year?
Billed yearly: Teachable Builder is $828 and Thinkific Start $984. Teachable Starter is $348 plus 7.5% of sales.
Amanat Mossalli Taju
Amanat has spent 6+ years on the strategy side of digital businesses, working with 175+ brands including SaaS companies like Tactiq, Restoke.ai and WeMoney on pricing and growth. He checks every number on PricingVerified against the vendor's own pricing page.
