Thinkific vs Teachable: Which Costs Less Once Fees Are Counted?

Teachable's $39 plan looks like the cheaper one. Sell $500 of courses in a month and it really costs you about $76.50, because that plan keeps 7.5% of every sale. Thinkific's $54 Basic plan, using its built-in payments, stays at $54.

That gap is only the first cost you won't see in the headline price. There's also a monthly fee for some Teachable students, a video-bandwidth cap on Thinkific, and a 5% surcharge if you plug your own Stripe account into Thinkific Basic.

This Thinkific vs Teachable guide puts every one of those numbers in one place, does the math at three sales levels, and tells you which plan to pick at yours.

On this page

1. Thinkific vs Teachable at a glance
2. How we compared
3. What you'll really pay at $500, $1,500 and $3,000 a month
4. Hidden costs and limits neither pricing page leads with
5. Where you live changes the fees
6. Thinkific: best for course-first creators who expect sales
7. Teachable: best for testing an idea or mobile-first students
8. Email, community and the rest of your stack
9. Consider Podia if…
10. How to choose: four decision rules
11. FAQ
12. Bottom line

Thinkific vs Teachable at a glance

A winner for each category, with ties marked.

The pattern: Thinkific wins most cost and course-building categories. Teachable wins on mobile apps, tax handling and the cheapest branding removal.

How we compared

We judged both on real monthly cost at your sales level, transaction fees, trial length, plan limits and who each fits. Every number comes from the official pricing pages, help centers and Teachable's legal usage-fee page. Where those sources disagree, we say so. More in how we review.

Prices are monthly billing unless noted. Annual billing saves 25% on Thinkific and 22% on Teachable.

What you'll really pay at $500, $1,500 and $3,000 a month

What matters is the plan price plus whatever the platform keeps from your sales.

Math basis: plan price on monthly billing + the platform's own fee on sales. Card processing is left out because you pay it on every option: both Thinkific Payments and Teachable list 2.9% + 30¢ for US cards. If you use your own Stripe account on Thinkific, Stripe's processing applies on top as well.

Four break-even points fall out of this table:

• Teachable Starter vs Thinkific Basic: Starter is cheaper only below about $200 a month in sales. That's where 7.5% of sales equals the $15 price gap.
• Teachable Starter vs Teachable Builder: Builder becomes cheaper at about $667 a month ($50 gap ÷ 7.5%).
• Thinkific Basic with Stripe vs Teachable Builder: Builder becomes cheaper at about $700 a month ($35 gap ÷ 5%).
• Thinkific Basic vs Start, both with Stripe: Start becomes cheaper at about $1,833 a month ($55 gap ÷ 3-point fee difference).

On annual billing the numbers shift a little. Thinkific Basic is $40/mo, Teachable Starter $29/mo and Builder $69/mo. Starter then stays cheaper than Builder up to about $533 a month in sales, and cheaper than Thinkific Basic up to about $147.

Plug in your own monthly sales to see the cheapest plan on each platform, fees included.

Want to compare more platforms, plus your email tool, in one place? Try our real cost calculator.

Hidden costs and limits neither pricing page leads with

These costs and caps live in help centers, legal pages and plan tables, not in the headline price.

Two deserve a closer look, because the vendors' own pages disagree.

Teachable's student fees

Teachable's pricing page says students enrolled through its checkout are "Unlimited" on every plan. Its help center and legal usage-fee page tell a more detailed story.

Students who buy through Teachable's checkout are unlimited on new accounts, but students you import, enroll for free, or sell elsewhere cost $0.50/month each beyond the first 100. Older schools still have per-plan active-student caps until their plan renews under the new terms. Under those legacy rules, Starter includes 100 active students, Builder 1,000 and Growth 5,000, with $0.10 (Starter, Builder) or $0.05 (Growth) per extra student per month.

If "charged per learner" made you nervous, here's when it bites: a free lead-magnet course with 1,100 sign-ups would cost about $500 a month under the new policy (1,000 extra students × $0.50). Paid students through Teachable's checkout don't trigger it.

Thinkific's "unlimited" claim and the Stripe fee

A testimonial on Thinkific's pricing page says it "can handle unlimited courses, students, and bandwidth." The plan table on the same page says otherwise. In short: unlimited courses, but there is a 10,000 active-student cap and a monthly video-bandwidth allowance (100 GB on Basic).

On fees, the help center is more precise than the pricing page. Thinkific Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ (US), with no Thinkific cut. If you insist on Stripe, Thinkific adds 5% on Basic, 2% on Start and 1% on Grow (US, Canada, UK and EU sellers). Thinkific says this fee applies only to your first $1M in sales each calendar year, and it currently applies to Stripe.

Where you live changes the fees

Most comparisons assume a US seller. Here's what changes elsewhere, using only what the two vendors publish.

Teachable's pricing lists processing by card type (US or international) rather than by seller country, so it's worth checking the fees for your currency in its payment settings before you launch.

Thinkific: best for course-first creators who expect sales

Thinkific

Best for: Course-first creators

From $54/mo · 30-day trial

Free plan

No (30-day free trial)

Platform fee

0% with Thinkific Payments

Courses

Unlimited on every plan

Current students

10,000

Skip it if: you only want to test one idea for the lowest possible cost, or you need your own Stripe account on the Basic plan.

Try Thinkific free →Opens thinkific.com

Thinkific is built around courses. Every plan includes unlimited courses, a custom domain, email automation with pre-built sequences, and one community. There's no free plan for new users, but the 30-day trial is enough to build a first module and test your checkout. Plans are Basic $54, Start $109 and Grow $219 (Plus is custom).

Start is the plan most growing creators look at next. It adds completion certificates, paid memberships and subscriptions, unlimited digital downloads (Basic allows 5) and a second admin seat. Grow removes Thinkific branding and raises communities to 3 and admins to 6.

The weak spots are the extras: a branded mobile app costs $199 a month, and video bandwidth is capped by plan. If you stream long videos to a big audience, watch the 100 GB Basic allowance.

Start Thinkific's 30-day free trialNo platform fee with Thinkific Payments

Teachable: best for testing an idea or mobile-first students

Teachable

Best for: Testing an idea cheaply

From $39/mo · 7-day trial

Free plan

No (7-day trial + 30-day money-back guarantee)

Platform fee

7.5% on Starter, 0% from Builder

Products

5 / 10 / 50 by plan

Student apps

iOS and Android on all plans

Skip it if: you expect steady sales on Starter, plan to publish many small products, or want to run a large free course.

Try Teachable free →Opens teachable.com

Teachable's plans are Starter $39, Builder $89 and Growth $189 on monthly billing. Custom is "Contact sales".

Starter is the cheapest way into either platform, but it's stripped back. Beyond the 7.5% fee, Starter has no custom domain, no built-in email marketing and no community. Builder adds all three, plus an integrated affiliate program and 0% transaction fees, so for most sellers Builder is the real Teachable plan.

Teachable counts products, not just courses: 5 on Starter, 10 on Builder, 50 on Growth. A library of mini-courses and downloads fills that quickly. Certificates, branding removal, Zapier and the API all sit on Growth.

Teachable pulls ahead on the student side. iOS and Android student apps are listed on every plan, and its checkout handles US sales tax, VAT and GST on every plan, Starter included. For a UK or Australian creator selling worldwide, that's a real point in its favor.

Try Teachable's 7-day free trial30-day money-back guarantee

Email, community and the rest of your stack

Thinkific puts email automation and 1 community on every plan. Teachable's built-in email and community start on Builder. Either is fine for course announcements and a simple welcome sequence. If email is how you sell, a dedicated tool usually gives you more control: see our best email marketing platforms for creators.

Consider Podia if…

Also considered:

• Systeme.io: a free plan with 1 course and 0% transaction fees, and a $17/mo Startup plan with 5 courses. Worth a look if your budget is close to zero. Read our Systeme.io review.
• Kajabi: an all-in-one from $179/mo. If you're weighing it against these two, our Kajabi alternatives guide compares the cost side by side.

How to choose: four decision rules

1. Under about $200 a month in expected sales, and testing one idea? Teachable Starter is the cheapest start. Set a reminder to review your plan once sales pass about $650 a month.
2. Expecting regular sales? Compare Thinkific Basic on Thinkific Payments ($54) with Teachable Builder ($89), both at 0% platform fees. Thinkific is $35 cheaper with unlimited courses; Teachable adds student apps and tax handling.
3. Planning a big free course as a lead magnet? Check Teachable's student fees first. Under the new policy, free students beyond 100 cost $0.50 a month each. On Thinkific, the limit to watch is 10,000 current students.
4. Need your own Stripe account on Thinkific? Budget for the gateway fee (US, CA, UK, EU sellers) and move to Start once you pass about $1,833 a month in sales.

FAQ

Is Teachable still free?

No. Teachable describes itself as a paid service with a 7-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Some older comparison pages still mention a free plan, but there isn't one on its current pricing page. Thinkific has no free plan for new users either; it offers a 30-day trial.

Does Teachable charge per student?

It depends on how students join and when your school was created. Students who buy through Teachable's checkout are unlimited on new accounts, but students you import, enroll for free, or sell elsewhere cost $0.50/month each beyond the first 100. Older schools still have per-plan active-student caps until their plan renews under the new terms.

Does Thinkific charge transaction fees?

Not with Thinkific Payments. You pay processing of 2.9% + 30¢ per US card payment and no Thinkific cut. If you connect your own Stripe account and you're in the US, Canada, the UK or the EU, Thinkific adds 5% on Basic, 2% on Start and 1% on Grow.

Is Thinkific or Teachable cheaper?

Teachable has the lower sticker price ($39 vs $54). Once you sell more than about $200 a month, Thinkific Basic on Thinkific Payments costs less, because Teachable Starter keeps 7.5% of each sale. At $3,000 a month, Thinkific Basic is $54 against $89 for Teachable Builder.

Do I pay Thinkific's gateway fee in Australia or the UK?

UK sellers pay it if they connect their own Stripe account. Australia isn't on Thinkific's list of countries where the gateway fee applies. In both countries, Thinkific Payments is available, so you can avoid the fee by using it.

Which one handles VAT and GST for me?

Teachable's checkout calculates and handles US sales tax, VAT and GST on every plan. Thinkific offers a sales tax and VAT solution that charges 0.5% on each transaction where tax is assessed.

Bottom line

For most solo creators who expect regular sales, Thinkific is the lower-cost pick: $54 a month on Basic with no platform cut, unlimited courses and a 30-day trial. Watch the bandwidth cap, and skip the own-Stripe route on Basic.

Teachable makes sense if you're testing an idea cheaply, your students learn on their phones, or you want tax handling on every plan. Move from Starter to Builder once sales pass about $650 a month, and check the student-fee rules before launching a free course.

Start Thinkific's 30-day free trialBasic is $54/mo with 0% platform fees

Compare Teachable's plans7-day trial + 30-day money-back guarantee