Thinkific Vs Teachable vs Podia – Here’s the Best

When it comes to selecting the best online course platforms for your course as a new creator or entrepreneur, it can be really tough due to the vast and little add-ons each of the online learning platforms possesses, hence making it really difficult for you to know your best-fit.

To say the least, all of the top online training software we shall consider today are used by hundreds of thousands of creators who make 6 to 7 figures and millions of students all around the world.

Nonetheless, our duty today is to help you select the most preferable for your online course needs by comparing them.

Therefore, with this online learning platform comparison featuring Thinkific vs Teachable vs Podia, at the end of the day, you would have been able to choose the best and suitable online course site for your courses.

Here are the top online course creation comparison tools & features, pros, and, cons and the best fit for creators we shall be looking at today.

• Simplicity & Easy usage at first sight.
• Transaction fees.
• Free plan for creators.
• Advanced Building Facilities
• Ease of migration.
• Video Hosting.
• Online live class platform
• Customer Support and History
• Best sales page & Marketing Strategist.
• Types of creators Best for.
• Pricing and cost.
• Free Trials.
• Overall comparison Table/ (infographic).
• Getting started.

 

And by the way, in case you are not yet sure why online learning was a hit in 2020 and made creators super-rich, here is a stat to relate with.

In the latest e-learning market analysis, trends, and forecasts, strategyr.com recorded that the e-learning market worldwide is projected to grow by USS312.5 billion.

Also, Poised to reach over $202.7 Billion by the year 2025, Academic will bring in healthy gains adding significant momentum to global growth.

 

Coming back to the online course creation tools, let’s summarize their side-by-side comparison before we review each of the online course platforms for a preamble decision.

 

Thinkific vs Teachable vs Podia Summary

Thinkific and Podia charge no transaction fees while Teachable does in its Basic plan. Thinkific and Teachable offer the most advanced course facilities than Podia. Lastly, Podia offers the friendliest interface followed by Teachable and Thinkific.

Getting started, Thinkifc and Teachable offer free plans while Podia does not.

 

The Online Course Creation Tools Summary Table

 

Facilities	Thinkific	Teachable		Podia
User Friendly	B+	B+		A
Simplicity	B	A		B+1
Transaction fees	No	Yes, Basic plan		No
Free plan	Yes	Yes		–
Advanced Builder	B+2	B+		B
Course migration				Best
Video Hosting	A	A		A
Live Class	A	A		A
Customer Support	B+	C+ [(B+ (Pro plan+)]		A
Support History	B+1	B+		A
Marketing Strategies	A	A		B+
Best Use Cases	All users	All users		Solo creators
Price/mo	$49/mo	$39/mo		$39/mo
Free Trials	30 days	14 days		14 days

Disclosure: kindly note that I have used these platforms and tested them. If you wanna sign up, please consider using my affiliate link. Thank you so much.

Let’s see how they compete with each other.

Thinkific Vs Teachable Podia In-depth Review

 

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the online learning platforms.

 

1]. “User Friendliness”

While all the learning platforms are intuitive for creators and students, Podia has the friendliest interface to navigate your class sections followed by Teachable, and Thinkific.

Overall Winner – Podia.

 

2]. “Simplicity & Easy usage at first sight”

In terms of simplicity, Teachable is the winner here, followed by Podia.

For Thinkific, you will have to take some time to figure out how everything works because it has lots of advanced course-building facilities to customize your course to your taste.

Overall Winner – Teachable

 

3]. “Transaction fees”

Teachable charges transaction fees in her “Basic plans”, while Thinkific and Podia do not.

Overall Winner – Thinkific and Podia

 

4]. “Free plan for creators”

All of the platforms offer free plans for beginners with limited functions.

Overall Winner – Thinkific, Podia and Teachable

 

5]. “Advanced Facilities”

Thinkific has the most advanced course facilities to build and customize your online course, followed by Teachable, and Podia.

For instance, all of the online course hosting sites allow Unlimited Courses, Unlimited Users, and third-party integrations, however, when it comes to independent multifaceted infrastructure for course building, you have to consider Thinkific first followed by Teachable before Podia.

Overall Winner – Thinkific.

 

6]. “Ease of Course and Students migration”

While all of the online training software allows course migration to another platform based on certain terms, Podia specifically offers the best migration service, followed by Thinkific and Teachable.

For Podia, you can get your course moved all for FREE from any other platform (when you pay for any of its annual plans).

For Thinkific and Teachable, you can only move when you are a paid user. That is, on Teachable, students import is from the Business plan at $299 while with Thinkific from the Pro plan at $99.

Overall Winner – Podia.

 

7]. “Video Hosting”

All the 3 online learning platforms allow video hosting, with options to use a third-party video hosting sources like Vimeo, YouTube, Wistia, and more.

Best Overall Winners – All three (3)

 

8]. “Online Live Class Platform”

All the 3 online learning platforms allow live sessions, with options for inbuilt live class hosting using Zoom, self-host, or with a third-party platform like Zapier and the rest.

Best Overall Winners – All three (3)

 

9]. “Customer Support and History”

All the online course creation tools have customer support for creators. However, Podia and Teachable offer instant customer support via chat or phone call.

For Podia, you get instant chat support with real people or with an email working 24/7.

For Teachable, you get instant chat with real persons if only you are on the Pro or Business plan.

As for Thinkific, you get email support which is monitored 24/7, and Facebook community support.

 

As for Customer support history, Teachable users (mostly Basic plan creators) haven’t had it so good since instant support starts from the Pro plan. 

So, Podia, and Thinkific customer support histories have all been amazing.

Best Overall Winners – Podia and Thinkific, plus Teachable from the Pro plan.

 

10]. Best Sales Page & Marketing Strategies

All of the 3 platforms allow you to create Landing and Sale Pages for your online course using both inbuilt tools. However, Thinkific is not sophisticated with a sales page or funnel.

Nonetheless, when it comes to core marketing, Thinkific, Podia, and Teachable offer the best sales funnels and marketing systems.

And specifically, Thinkific offers the best and several marketing strategies.

Unfortunately, none of these platforms feature standalone blogging tools which allow you to share additional info and communicate with your students while also implementing SEO and content marketing to attract and convert new visitors to your site.

Therefore, if you’re considering adding a blog to Thinkific or Teachable, you want to check out DropInBlog which offers a robust solution. Here is a comprehensive guide on how to add a blog on Thinkific.

 

All in all, Thinkific trumps the other 2 when it comes to versatile marketing strategies.

 

11]. Best Use Cases for Creators

Thinkific and Teachable all possess the features and builder facilities suitable for both solo creators, educational institutions, and tutors while Podia works best for solo creators who are focused on selling online courses, memberships, webinars, and digital downloads.

Overall usages – Thinkific and Teachable.

Podia – Solo creators.

 

12]. Thinkific Vs Teachable vs Podia Price & Plans Comparison

 

Teachable and Podia “Basic plans” start at $39 per month, and Thinkific at $49/month – when paid per month.

Teachable “Pro plan” starts at $119 per month, Podia at $89/month, and Thinkific at $99/month.

And for the “Business plans”, Teachable, pricing starts at $299 per month, Podia at $199/mo, and Thinkific at $499/mo.

Plans	Thinkific	Teachable		Podia
Basic	$49/mo	$39/mo		$39/mo
Pro	$99/mo	$119/mo		$89/mo
Business	$499/mo	$299/mo		$199/mo

Kindly note – all of the course hosting sites give you different discounts if you are subscribed yearly

Also, some of them offer custom plans where you can get a customized course builder.

 

13]. Free Trials

Thinkific offers a 30-day free trial while Teachable and Podia offer 14 days.

Overall best Winners – Thinkific.

 

14]. Between Teachable, Podia, and Thinkific, which is the best for me?

Best for creators: All platforms are suitable for solo creators, but for tutors and educational institutions, Thinkific and Teachable come first.

 

Solo creators: Podia is best for solo creators, bloggers, and entrepreneurs who want to make money off their online courses using various routes of content (Digital downloads, Webinars, Membership, and course selling).

 

Advanced Facilities: Thinkific offers the most advanced infrastructures for creators to build their online courses, followed by Teachable, and lastly, Podia.

 

With core marketing strategies: Thinkific offers the best standalone marketing strategies before Teachable and Podia.

 

Simplicity: Teachable offers the simplest platform at a go and navigation followed by Podia.

While Teachable also has advanced options, as for Thinkific, you will have to take some time out and learn how its advanced options works if you care too much about customizing your course.

 

Best customer support and history: Teachable, and Podia offer instant support + other routes while Thinkific offers email, scheduled calls, and community supports.

Overall, they are all supportive, however, Podia is excellent in terms of customer support. Thinkific at very good (B+), and Teachable at very good (from its Pro plan -B+).

 

Pricing: All the 3 platforms offer competitive pricing for creators based on specific needs.

However, if you are going with Thinkific or Teachable, start with at least their Pro plans to build the best course you will love and convert for your audiences.

For Podia, I would recommend you start your free trial with the “Shaker plan” so you can utilize all the facilities available for you.

And lastly, when you settle for a plan after the free trial I recommend you pay for a year so as to have the best uptime for course performances, without interruptions, and Easy account balancing  – to see your profits.

 

Getting started with Thinkific, Teachable, and Podia

My most preferred – Check out Thinkific: most advanced facilities, responsive customer support history/community plus great marketing strategies – suitable for – solo creators, schools, and other educational transactions.

 

My Second – Podia – Podia is best for solo creators selling online courses, webinars, membership, and digital downloads + free course migration.

 

Third – Check out Teachable: the second choice for most advanced facilities with simplicity and instant customer support (if from the Pro plan) – suitable for – solo creators, schools, and other educational transactions. 

 

 

Let’s see the individual platforms.

1. Thinkific

Thinkific is a software platform that enables entrepreneurs to create, market, sell, and deliver their own online courses.

Its mission is no less than to revolutionize the way people learn and earn online by giving them the tools they need to turn their expertise into a sustainable business that impacts both them and their audiences.

Thinkific offers highly modern facilities for successful course creation and money-making routes.

 

Pros and Cons with Thinkific

 

Cons with Thinkific

• They have a limited payment integration system — just Stripe and PayPal.
• Not in-depth with data reporting for creators.
• They do not offer live instant chat.

 

Pros with Thinkific

• Offers free “but limited” plan for users.
• Targeted sales and marketing strategies for creators.
• Zero transaction fees.
• It allows unlimited Courses, video hosting, and unlimited users.
• It offers a simple and clean interface for both beginners and advanced instructors.
• It offers advanced extensions & integrations for successful course building.
• Instructors can easily send course updates and announcements.
• Instructors can make recurring income via upselling to students.
• Thinkific allows for instant payouts.
• Thinkific has an excellent customer support history, AKA, users are happy with the support they receive.

 

Thinkific Pricing and Plans Review

 

Thinkific paid plans start at just $49 per month for the Basic package if paid monthly or $39 if paid annually. It also offers a Professional pricing package at $99 per month or $79 if paid yearly, and the Premier plan at $499 per month or $399 if paid per year.

Here’s a breakdown of Thinkific’s pricing plans:

• Basic Plan: $49 per month or $39 if paid yearly.
• Professional Plan: $99 per month or $79 if paid yearly.
• Premier Plan: $499 per month or $399 if paid yearly.

Thinkifics’ pricing deal: you get to save 20% of the payment if you pay annually.

 

ThinkificFree Trial

Thinkific offers a free trial with any plan you want to go with. However, the most popular and recommended plan is the Professional plan which gives you a prototype of the infrastructures you will get to build your online course.

➡ Try Thinkific (save 20%)

 

2. Teachable

Teachable offers a simple platform for instructors to build and sell online courses.

By usage, we’ve found that Teachable is a basic and a bit advanced platform for building and selling courses.

If you’re a kind that HATES a lot of tools, integrations, and advanced extensions then you might want to go with Teachable.

 

Pros and Cons with Teachable

Cons with Teachable

• Instant support is only available for Pro and Business users.
• The Collection of leads out of the box using your sales page is not possible.
• Customer support history is not so good for Basic users.

 

Pros with Teachable

• Offers free “but limited” plan for users.
• It allows unlimited Courses, video hosting, and unlimited users
• It is a simple online school for instructors with few but basic modern infrastructures.
• It offers a generic platform for course instructors to easily produce content and make money.
• Instructors can easily send course updates and announcements.
• Instructors can make recurring income via upselling to students.
• Teachable is used by popular digital marketing influencers.
• The setup is easy.
• It is the go-to online course platform if you don’t want anything complicated.

 

Teachable Pricing and Plans Review

 

Teachable plans start at just $39 per month for its Basic package paid monthly or $29 if paid yearly. It also offers a Professional package at $119 per month or $99 if paid yearly, and the Business plan at $299 per month or $249 if paid yearly.

Here’s a breakdown of Teachable’s pricing plans:

• Basic Plan: $39 per month or $29 if paid yearly.
• Professional Plan: $119 per month or $99 if paid yearly.
• Business Plan: 299 per month or $249 if paid yearly.

 

Teachable Free Trial

Teachable offers a 14-day free trial with its Professional plan which gives you a prototype of the infrastructures you will get to build your online course.

Try Teachable (save up to $187)

3. Podia

Podia offers a clear, feminine-like, and clean interface online school for course instructors.

Podia is your best fit if you are looking for a dynamic platform for selling an online course, webinars, course building, membership, and digital downloads.

 

Pros and Cons with Podia

 

Cons with Podia

• Not so good for educators and institutions.
• Need for more integrations. More integrations would make it a super-flexible tool for those that love customizing their projects.

 

Pros with Podia

• It offers an intuitive interfaced platform for both beginners and advanced course instructors.
• Offers course instructors the capacity to sell product bundles — for more money.
• Course instructors are allowed to collect leads pre-launch as well as sell one-off digital products or membership sites.
• They offer super-intelligent integrations for course building.
• They will migrate your course from another platform to theirs, all for FREE –on paid plans.
• You can even send unlimited emails if you want. Also, you can add an unlimited number of courses if you want.
• There are no transaction fees.
• It allows unlimited Courses, video hosting, and unlimited users
• You can host unlimited students in your school. Pretty exciting.

 

Podia Pricing and Plans Review

 

Podia plans start at just $39 per month for Mover or save $78 when paid yearly. The next hosting plan is the Shaker plan which is $89/mo, or you get to save up to $158 when you pay annually. And the last plan is the newly introduced Earthquaker plan which starts at $199/mo or save $1790/yr (Save $358/yr) when you pay annually.

Here’s a breakdown of Podia’s pricing plans:

• Mover Plan: $39 per month or save $78 when paid yearly
• Shaker Plan: $89 per month or save up to $158 when you pay annually
• Earthquaker plan: $199 per month or Save up to $358 when you pay annually

 

Podia Free Trial

Podia offers a 14-day free trial with its Shaker plan which gives you the advanced prototype of the infrastructures you will get to build your online course to perfection.

Try Podia (save up to $158)

Quick [4] FAQs about Thinkific, Teachable, and Podia

 

#1. Does Podia offer a free course Migration (Podia Migration)?

Yes, they do. The Podia migration service is free for online creators. However, to get the free migration from the Podia team, you will have to subscribe to her Shaker plan or annually with the Mover plan.

 

#2. Podia video, do they offer video hosting?

Yes, Podia does offer video hosting for your students/audiences, and that is unlimited.

 

#3. Is LearnWorld a good Thinkific Alternative?

Yes, it is. Like Thinkific, LearnWorlds is an all-inclusive course builder for online courses with core advanced building facilities.

Let’s compare it below.

 

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Best Thinkific vs Teachable and Podia Alternative? LearnWorlds

Clearly, LearnWorlds is the number #1 alternative to the 3 reviewed online course builders.

 💡 Compared to Thinkific, LearnWorlds is more sophisticated if you are looking for core advanced options with lots of customizations. Also, it offers instant chat support for teachers + excellent user support history.

 💡 LearnWorlds or Podia? LearnWorlds still trumps Podia with more advanced options, although Podia is hot and popular for its 4 major purposes: selling online courses, webinars, members’ sites, and digital downloads.

 💡 LearnWorlds or Teachable? Like Thinkific, LearnWorlds offers more advanced builder infrastructures as compared to Teachable plus instant support for all plans unlike on Teachable where you get an instant chat for the Pro and Executive plans.

All in all, if you are cool with taking some time to figure out all the advanced customization offers with LearnWorlds, then I prefer it (personally – LearnWorlds) to Thinkific and Teachable since they are the top 3 alternatives in terms of advanced options.

 ➡ Check out LearnWorlds Today

 

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Conclusion on Thinkific Vs Teachable vs Podia Usage Comparisons for Entrepreneurs and Instructors

I hope this total review based on usage brought you to a decision point.

Just as we have seen, all the best online course platforms have their Alphas and need-for-more features and benefits, which allows us to go for what fits our best interests.

The good news is that you have the liberty to start all of them for free and see what you get. With this, I recommend you start with the best plans so you can utilize all the course-building facilities available for you to cover your audiences and upsell for more money.

If you want “a core” and popular online course platform with flexible options with top marketing strategies then you want to try out Thinkific.

And if you want a platform for selling online course, Webinars, Digital download, and Membership + instant customer support, then start with Podia.

If you want to start creating and selling online courses using a simple platform with moderately advanced facilities, I recommend you get started with Teachable.

LearnWorlds vs Thinkific Vs Teachable vs Podia vs LearnDash Comparisons Video

That’s it on the best online course platforms comparison for solo creators and educational institutions.

Do have a great day.

#Success.

Also: Can you build a course selling shoes? | Thinkific vs Teachable vs Udemy | Graphics: Canva.com. Ref: LearnWorlds vs Podia