Head-to-head
Teachable vs Thinkific: which one in 2026?
Teachable is a course-selling platform from Teachable, Inc., and Thinkific is a course platform from Thinkific Labs Inc. in Canada. Teachable prices in dollars and caps products per plan, while Thinkific prices in euros, offers unlimited courses and caps students, bandwidth and administrators instead.
Verdict
Thinkific ranks above Teachable on this site because its feature set reaches further: communities, cohorts, SCORM and B2B invoicing arrive without a product cap. Teachable is the simpler pick for a creator with a few products who wants unlimited students and built-in tax handling, though its 7.5% Starter fee erodes the cheap plan. Teachable shows a 7-day trial on its plan cards and a 30-day banner elsewhere, so confirm which applies when you sign up.
Teachable and Thinkific side by side
| Teachable | Thinkific | |
|---|---|---|
| Price entry | $39 per month billed monthly, $29 on annual billing (Starter) | €79 per month on annual billing (Start), shown in euros to European visitors |
| What the plan limits count | Products: 5 on Starter, 10 on Builder and 50 on Growth. Students are listed as unlimited on all three. | Students and bandwidth: 10,000 current students and 200 GB of video per month on Start. Courses are unlimited. |
| Monthly price of the first paid tier | Starter is $39 billed monthly or $29 billed annually, with a 7.5% sales transaction fee on top. | Start is EUR 107 billed monthly or EUR 79 billed annually. The pages checked show a 2.9% Thinkific Payments fee in the FAQ. |
| Fee on sales | 0% on Builder and Growth when you use Teachable Payments, and 7.5% on every sale made on the Starter plan. | Plan price is separate from payment processing, which the FAQ puts at 2.9% as a standard rate. |
| AI features named by the vendor | A course starter that drafts a curriculum, a quiz generator, and automatic subtitles and translations in 70+ languages. | AI-assisted course generation in the builder, with an AI teaching assistant that sits only on the quote-only Plus plan. |
| Tax handling at checkout | Teachable Payments calculates sales tax, VAT and GST in 45+ countries and pays out daily with no reserve held back. | Automated sales tax and VAT, plus B2B invoicing, purchase orders and seat licensing from the Grow tier. |
| API and webhooks | APIs and webhooks are listed among the platform features, along with Zapier, Mailchimp and Stripe connections. | API and webhooks are blocked on Start and arrive with Grow. Plus adds HubSpot and Salesforce CRM links. |
| Training data and AI use | The privacy policy lets Teachable and creators use student data for their own business purposes. AI training is not addressed. | The AI section says AI data is not used to train models, while another clause permits third-party training without separate consent. The two statements do not fully align. |
| Security attestations | SOC 2 Type II, audited annually by A-lign. ISO 27001 is not claimed and is described as depending on customer demand. | The product page claims SOC 2 Type II and 99.9% uptime. The privacy policy itself names no SOC 2 or ISO. |
Where each one wins
Teachable wins on
- Product caps are the only hard ceiling, and students are unlimited from the cheapest plan
- Zero sales fee from Builder, with daily payouts and tax in 45+ countries handled in one checkout
- Lower monthly list price in dollars and a named auditor for SOC 2 Type II
Thinkific wins on
- Unlimited courses on every tier, so a catalog does not hit a product cap
- Communities, live cohorts, bundles and SCORM import in a larger feature set, with B2B invoicing from Grow
- A stated seven-year retention for financial records and a clear AI-data clause in the policy
Which to pick
Pick Teachable if
You sell a handful of courses or memberships to consumers, want unlimited students, and prefer payments, tax and payouts to run through one built-in system.
Pick Thinkific if
You run a large catalog, cohorts or a community, or sell to companies, and can live with student caps and an API that starts at Grow.
Each tool in context: Teachable, Thinkific, and the full Best AI Course Creation Tools in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is Thinkific or Teachable better for a creator with one course?
Teachable suits a single course well because Starter allows 5 products and unlimited students, and the plan includes the AI course starter and mobile apps. Thinkific works too, but its entry price is higher in euros and its strengths, such as communities and cohorts, matter more once you grow past one offer.
Does Teachable charge a transaction fee that Thinkific does not?
Teachable charges 7.5% on Starter and 0% on Builder and Growth when you use Teachable Payments. Thinkific lists no plan-level sales fee on the pages checked, though its FAQ gives a 2.9% standard Thinkific Payments processing fee. Compare total cost at your monthly revenue, not only the subscription.
Which platform lets me remove its branding?
On Teachable, removal of its branding comes with Growth at $189 per month billed monthly. On Thinkific, branding removal starts at Grow at EUR 213 per month billed monthly and is not on Start. Either way, the cheapest plan carries the vendor's name on your school.
Do either of them offer a free plan?
Neither does. Teachable has a trial, shown as 7 days on its plan cards with a 30-day guarantee, though a banner mentions 30 days free. Thinkific answers No to a free plan in its FAQ and states a 30-day trial, while its headline says to start for free. Read the trial terms at checkout.