Thinkific has carved out a specific niche in the course platform world: solid features, fair pricing, and a genuinely usable free plan. It’s not trying to be an all-in-one business platform like Kajabi. It’s focused on being a really good place to build and sell courses.

📅 Pricing last verified: June 2026. We check and update pricing quarterly. If you notice a change, email us.

Here’s the complete pricing breakdown for 2026: what each plan includes, where the limits actually matter, and which tier makes sense depending on where you are in your creator journey.

Pricing at a Glance

Feature	Free	Basic	Start	Grow
Monthly price	$0	$49/mo	$99/mo	$199/mo
Annual price	$0	$36/mo	$74/mo	$149/mo
Courses	1	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Students	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Transaction fees	0%	0%	0%	0%
Custom domain	❌	✅	✅	✅
Assignments	❌	❌	✅	✅
Memberships	❌	❌	✅	✅
Bundles	❌	❌	✅	✅
Communities	❌	❌	❌	✅
Advanced analytics	❌	❌	❌	✅

All plans: including the free one: charge 0% transaction fees. You only pay Stripe/PayPal processing (typically 2.9% + 30¢).

The 0% Transaction Fee on Every Plan

This is Thinkific’s biggest competitive advantage and it’s worth emphasizing: even the free plan has zero transaction fees. Thinkific takes nothing from your sales.

Compare this to Teachable:

• Teachable Free: 10% + $1 per sale
• Teachable Basic ($39/mo): 5% per sale
• Teachable Pro ($119/mo): 0%

On Thinkific, a creator selling a $100 course keeps $100 minus payment processing ($2.90 + 30¢ = $96.80). On Teachable’s free plan, that same sale nets you $86.80 after the 10% + $1 fee plus processing. Over hundreds of sales, that gap becomes enormous.

If you’re price-sensitive and want to keep every dollar possible, Thinkific’s fee structure is the most creator-friendly in the industry.

Free Plan: What You Actually Get

Thinkific’s free plan isn’t a crippled trial. It’s a functional course platform with one major limitation:

Included:

• 1 course (with unlimited lessons and content)
• Unlimited students
• 0% transaction fees
• Course builder with video, text, quizzes, and downloads
• Basic website/landing page
• Student progress tracking
• Email integration (connect your existing email tool)
• Stripe and PayPal payment processing

Not included:

• Custom domain (your site is yourname.thinkific.com)
• More than 1 course
• Drip scheduling (releasing content over time)
• Assignments
• Memberships or subscriptions
• Bundles
• Certificates
• Coupons and promotions
• Priority support

The 1-course limit is the defining constraint. You can build one course with as much content as you want: 50 lessons, 100 videos, workbooks, quizzes: but you cannot create a second course. For creators validating their first product, this is fine. You probably should focus on making one excellent course before building three mediocre ones.

The branding situation: On the free plan, your site lives at yourname.thinkific.com and includes Thinkific branding. For most students, this isn’t a dealbreaker: they care about the content, not the URL. But if you want a professional, branded experience, you’ll need at least the Basic plan.

Who it works for: First-time course creators testing the waters, educators validating a course concept, and anyone who wants to sell one course without any platform cost.

Basic Plan ($49/month)

The Basic plan removes the course limit and adds the tools needed for a professional course business:

What’s added beyond Free:

• Unlimited courses
• Custom domain (yoursite.com)
• Drip content scheduling
• Coupons and promotions
• Email marketing (basic built-in)
• Affiliate reporting
• Course completion certificates
• Course player customization
• Remove Thinkific branding
• Live chat and email support

Unlimited courses is the headline. Once you’re on Basic, there’s no cap on how many courses you can create or sell. Build a library of 5 courses or 50: the price stays the same.

Custom domain is essential for professional branding. Instead of yourname.thinkific.com, your course site lives at courses.yoursite.com or learn.yoursite.com. This matters for credibility, especially if you’re selling premium courses.

Drip scheduling lets you release content over time rather than all at once. This is important for cohort-based courses, preventing overwhelm, and keeping students engaged over weeks or months. Without it (free plan), everything is available immediately.

Coupons and promotions seem small but they’re critical for marketing. Running a launch discount, offering early-bird pricing, or providing affiliate-specific discount codes all require this feature.

What’s still missing: Assignments (student submissions you can review), memberships and subscription billing, course bundles, communities, and advanced analytics. The Basic plan is for selling standalone courses: if you need recurring revenue or interactive learning, you’ll need Start or Grow.

Who it works for: Creators selling multiple standalone courses who want professional branding and drip content.

Start Plan ($99/month)

The Start plan adds the engagement and revenue features that transform a course library into a real education business:

What’s added beyond Basic:

• Assignments (student submissions + instructor grading)
• Memberships and subscriptions (recurring billing)
• Course bundles
• Advanced course building (prerequisites, conditional content)
• Live lessons (Zoom integration)
• Bulk student management
• Instructor-led upsells
• Priority support

Assignments change the learning dynamic entirely. Students submit work, you review it, provide feedback, and mark it complete. This is essential for certification programs, coaching-adjacent courses, and any program where passive video consumption isn’t enough.

Memberships unlock recurring revenue. Instead of one-time course sales, you can charge monthly or annually for ongoing access to a content library, regular new material, or an all-access pass. For creators who want predictable monthly income, this is the feature that matters most.

Course bundles let you package multiple courses together at a discount. This is a standard pricing strategy: sell courses individually at $99-199 each, or offer the bundle for $399. Bundles increase average order value and give students a reason to buy more upfront.

Live lessons via Zoom integration add a synchronous element. You can run live Q&A sessions, workshops, or coaching calls within your course structure. Recordings become permanent course content after the session.

The $50 jump from Basic is significant, but it’s justified if you want recurring revenue (memberships), interactive learning (assignments), or cohort-based programs (live lessons). If you’re purely selling standalone, self-paced courses, Basic is still sufficient.

Who it works for: Educators building interactive courses with assignments, creators wanting membership/subscription revenue, and programs that blend self-paced with live elements.

Grow Plan ($199/month)

The Grow plan is for established education businesses that need community features, advanced analytics, and enterprise-level tools:

What’s added beyond Start:

• Communities (built-in community platform)
• Advanced analytics and reporting
• API access for custom integrations
• Bulk email to students
• Group analyst role
• Phone support
• White-label options
• Advanced segmentation

Communities are the headline addition. Instead of sending students to a Facebook Group or Discord server, you can host your community directly on Thinkific. Discussions, peer interaction, and community engagement all happen inside your course platform. Students don’t need another login or app.

Advanced analytics give you deeper insight into student behavior: which lessons get completed, where students drop off, how long they spend on each module, cohort comparisons, and revenue breakdowns. If you’re optimizing your courses for completion and results, this data is essential.

API access opens up custom integrations with your broader tech stack: CRM, email platform, analytics tools, or custom apps. For creators with sophisticated business infrastructure, this flexibility matters. For most, it’s not a factor.

The community question: Thinkific’s built-in community is good but not best-in-class. Dedicated community platforms (Circle, Skool) offer more features. The advantage of Thinkific’s communities is integration: student profiles, course progress, and community all live in one place. The disadvantage is fewer community-specific features compared to dedicated tools.

Who it works for: Established course businesses with significant student bases that want community, advanced analytics, and API integration.

Thinkific vs Teachable: Plan-by-Plan Comparison

Since creators constantly compare these two, here’s how they stack up at each price point:

Free tier: Thinkific wins decisively. 0% transaction fees vs Teachable’s 10% + $1. Thinkific’s free plan is a legitimate starting point; Teachable’s is barely functional for selling.

$49/mo tier (Thinkific Basic vs Teachable Basic at $39/mo): Close. Teachable charges 5% transaction fees at this tier; Thinkific charges 0%. If you’re doing $1,000+/month in sales, Thinkific’s $10 higher base price is easily offset by the fee savings.

$99/mo tier (Thinkific Start vs Teachable Pro at $119/mo): Thinkific is $20/month cheaper AND includes memberships and assignments. Teachable Pro removes transaction fees but costs more. Thinkific wins on value.

$199/mo tier (Thinkific Grow vs Teachable Business at $199/mo): Even pricing. Thinkific offers communities and advanced analytics. Teachable offers advanced customization and more admin seats. Choose based on whether you need community (Thinkific) or custom coding flexibility (Teachable).

The verdict: For most creators, Thinkific offers better value at every tier due to the 0% transaction fee policy.

Annual Billing Savings

Plan	Monthly	Annual (per month)	You save
Basic	$49/mo	$36/mo	$156/yr
Start	$99/mo	$74/mo	$300/yr
Grow	$199/mo	$149/mo	$600/yr

Annual billing saves 25-27%: more aggressive than most competitors. If you’re committed to Thinkific, locking in annual saves real money.

When to Upgrade: The Practical Guide

• Free → Basic: When you want to sell more than 1 course, need a custom domain, or want to run promotions
• Basic → Start: When you want recurring revenue (memberships), student assignments, or live lessons
• Start → Grow: When you need community features, advanced analytics, or API access for custom integrations

Most creators start on Free, move to Basic within 3-6 months, and land on Start within their first year if their business is growing. Grow is a year-2+ decision for most.

For a broader comparison of course platforms, check out our guide on Teachable vs Kajabi vs Podia. Considering Kajabi’s all-in-one approach instead? Here’s our Kajabi pricing breakdown. And for learning management beyond individual creators, see our review of the best LMS for small training companies.

FAQ

Is the Thinkific free plan good enough to actually sell a course?

Yes, with caveats. You can create one course, host unlimited students, and sell it with 0% platform fees. Students can sign up, access content, and complete your course without issues. What you won’t have: custom domain, coupons, drip content, or certificates. For testing your first course idea with real paying students, the free plan works. For building a professional, branded course business, you’ll eventually need Basic.

Does Thinkific take a percentage of my sales?

No. Zero transaction fees on every plan, including the free one. You only pay standard payment processing (Stripe at 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction). This is Thinkific’s most compelling differentiator: Teachable charges 5-10% on lower plans, which adds up fast. Every dollar your students pay goes to you (minus the unavoidable Stripe/PayPal fee).

Can I migrate from Teachable to Thinkific easily?

Reasonably well. Thinkific offers migration support and can import your course content (videos, text, files). Student accounts can be migrated with their progress data in most cases. What doesn’t transfer cleanly: email sequences, sales pages, and custom designs: you’ll rebuild those. The biggest challenge is maintaining student access continuity during the switch. Most creators run both platforms simultaneously for a transition period.

Is Thinkific good for membership sites?

On the Start plan ($99/mo) and above, yes. You can create membership-based content with monthly or annual billing, drip new content to members regularly, and manage access levels. It’s not as specialized as a dedicated membership platform (like Memberstack or Circle), but for course creators adding a membership component, it handles the job well without needing a separate tool.

What happens if I cancel my paid plan?

Your courses and content remain on Thinkific, but you lose access to paid features. If you drop to the free plan, only one course remains visible to students (you choose which one). Your other courses aren’t deleted: they’re just hidden until you re-upgrade. Student data and purchase history are preserved. There’s no punitive lock-in, but obviously losing access to features mid-business can be disruptive, so plan any downgrade carefully.