10 Thinkific Alternatives for Course Creation in 2024!

If you've been researching online course creation, you've likely heard of Thinkific, but many Thinkific alternatives also warrant consideration.

So, what makes Thinkific a popular choice? First, Thinkific has a long history — and a solid fan base — with brand recognition.

Second, Thinkific offers a genuinely free plan.

But, this doesn't guarantee it's the best choice for you!

Read on for the lowdown on nine great Thinkific alternatives so you can make an informed decision about your online course platform.

(Editor's Note: Don't miss our comprehensive Thinkific review and our deep dive into Thinkific pricing.)

🤓 Pricing plans are listed at their monthly rates. Unless otherwise noted, most offer discounts if paid annually. 😉

1. Xperiencify

Xperiencify is a new platform revolutionizing online course creation. Watch the video below to see how it works:

It shines for its use of gamification and critical psychological "triggers" to create an "ethically" addictive learning experience that your students won't want to turn off.

Most courses (and course platforms) have a shocking 97% quit rate, because they don't tap into these triggers.

Xperiencify adds them to your course automatically, leading to 10-30 times higher student completion rates, which drives more repeat purchases and skyrocketing profits.

Pros

• Uses 7 psychological triggers in courses. Xperiencify uses psychology to increase engagement and retention.
• Increased course completion. Only 3% of people finish online courses. Xperiencify uses gamification to ensure 10-30X more students complete courses, which decreases refunds.
• Unique ways to release content. Xperiencify gives out content in 7 ways, including as part of a reward or bonus content.
• Encourages students to log in. Xperiencify automatically contacts students who haven't logged in for a while. In addition, students who take action get congratulatory messages and shoutouts.
• No charge until you publish your course. Take as long as you want to build your course. Xperiencify doesn't charge you until you've designed your course and are ready to publish it.
• No transaction fees.
• Course name generator. Check it out here!
• Offers 50+ other business tools as part of your subscription to save you hundreds (or thousands) of dollars each and every month.
  Includes all this and more at no extra charge:
  • Unlimited Sales Funnels
  • One-Click Upsells, Down-sells, Order Bumps
• Quizzes & Assessments
• Email Broadcasting
• Email Autoresponders
• Full-featured CRM
• Affiliate Management
• Analytics Dashboard & Reporting
• Drag & Drop Page Builder
• Phone Calls
• 2-Way SMS
• Ringless Voicemail
• Community Forums & Groups
• Live Onsite Chat
• Automated Lead Followup
• A/B Testing
• Sales Pipeline Management
• E-signable Contracts
• Beautiful, pre-designed landing pages & funnels
• AI-Powered Copywriting & Content Generation
• Wordpress Site Hosting
• Appointment Booking & Calendar Integration
• Sales Tax Management
• Facebook Messenger Integration
• Reputation Management
• Social Media Scheduling
• Loads of AI tools to bring you more success...

Cons

• Focuses on course delivery and community; may be overkill for simple products, like an ebook or video

Pricing

• Growth Plan: $99/month
• Pro Plan: $199/month
• Platinum Plan: $299/month
• Enterprise Plan: custom pricing

2. Kajabi

As one of the best Teachable alternatives, Kajabi provides course content creation toolsets and a digital marketing arsenal superior to those of many other platforms in this review.

Kajabi allows you to optimize your conversion and retention rates with features like drip-feeds for membership content and a countdown timer for course releases.

And unlike Teachable, you also have the option to replace Kajabi branding with your own.

But you'll have to pay a high-end price for them.

Pros

• Built-in powerful email and marketing automation features
• No transaction fees
• Real-time analytics
• Unlimited landing pages and marketing emails
• Mobile app

Cons

• Kajabi branding with the Basic Plan
• No white-labeling or affiliate program unless you upgrade to Kajabi's Growth Plan
• Need to upgrade to Kajabi's Pro Plan to access a code editor for customization

Pricing

• Kickstarter: $69/month
• Basic: $149/month
• Growth: $199/month
• Pro: $399/month

(If you're looking for more information on Kajabi, check out our Kajabi review, comprehensive overview of Kajabi pricing, and if you're interested in a Kajabi alternative, we've got that, too!)

3. LearnWorlds

Where Kajabi and LearnDash are a good fit for specific users, LearnWorlds is a good all-in-one course creation platform.

It has decent functionality for course creation, hosting, marketing and sales.

If you're looking for a jack of all trades, master of none platform, then LearnWorlds may be for you.

Pros

• Includes student engagement features, such as certificates
• Includes sales, digital marketing, and course creation functionality
• Allows you to add interactions to video easily

Cons

• Lacks a flexible course builder
• Charges $5/sale transaction fees with the Starter plan
• Lacks the site themes that are included in other similar options, like Teachery

Pricing

• Starter: $29/month
• Pro Trainer: $99/month
• Learning Center: $299/month

4. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is community-focused and makes sense if you are promoting a membership site or subscription services rather than creating course material and selling online courses.

Marketing campaign and course delivery features are secondary. It's a Facebook group that's not on Facebook, so users aren't distracted by competing notifications.

Pros

• Stands out for community-centered functionality
• Provides excellent features for membership or subscription services
• Focuses on student engagement which may translate into higher completion rates and better results

Cons

• Lacks a robust marketing tool and course creation features
• Charges a 5% transaction fee with the "Free" Plan
• Creates another social media group that users have to log into separately

Pricing

• The Courses Plan: $119/month
• The Business Plan: $219/month
• The Path-to-Pro Plan: $360/month
• The Mighty Pro Plan: custom pricing

5. FreshLearn

Pros

• 0% transaction fee.
• Sell all types of digital products. You can create and sell courses, live workshops, coaching, digital downloads, newsletters, podcasts and more.
• Advanced assessments and question bank. Import all your questions into the question bank and launch your assessments in few clicks. Include pass %, positive, negative scores and more.
• Compliance and Certification: Add course compliance to mandatory watch the course and issue completion certificates automatically on course completion.
• One stop shop. FreshLearn provides all the tools required for sales and marketing like coupons, affiliates, sales pages, checkout, payment gateways, different type of pricing plan options and more.

Cons:

• Lack of community. There is no option today for students to connect with each other.
• Limited Gamification. There is aspect of gamification like reward points but the badges features is not there.

FreshLearn Pricing:

• Pro Plan: $29/month
• No Brainer: $49/month
• No Brainer+: $119/month

6. LearnDash

LearnDash is the only WordPress plugin on our list and is the most affordable option if you have WordPress expertise.

If you don't, you should steer clear; the learning curve for inexperienced users is steep and likely to result in sourcing paid support to get the desired outcome.

Pros

• Includes features to motivate students, like certificates
• Allows you to leverage the branding and design of an existing website
• Is the most affordable option

Cons

• Excludes marketing features or sales funnel functionality and requires extensive use of other plugins
• Requires strong WordPress technical expertise
• Additional add-ons and plug-ins slow loading times

Pricing

LearnDash LMS Plugin:

• $199/year for one site
• $399/year for up to 10 sites
• $799/year for unlimited sites

LearnDash Cloud:

• Starter: $29/month
• Growth: $49/month
• Pro: $99/month

7. Podia

Podia is a solid option for course creators selling memberships or a digital download but isn't well suited to selling online courses.

It is marketed as an all-in-one platform and provides a robust suite of support for a solo creator with simple products.

It is affordable but calling it an online learning management system (LMS) is a stretch.

Pros

• Supports sales of videos, ebooks, or digital downloads
• Plans include unlimited everything (customers, products, sales, emails, etc.)
• Includes marketing options like upsells and coupons
• Live chat support

Cons

• Lacks learning features like graded quizzes and certificates
• Excludes features like affiliate marketing, blog creation, and memberships unless you pay for the most expensive plan
• Lacks customization and design options

Pricing

• Free Plan: $0/month
• Mover Plan: $39/month
• Shaker Plan: $89/month

8. Teachable

Teachable is a simple course platform that's a good fit with basic course offerings. It emphasizes sales over the learning experience but includes features for delivering quality training content.

Pros

• An affordable option for basic online course delivery
• It's easy-to-use and a solid choice for beginners
• Includes learning features like drip content and course compliance

Cons

• Excludes marketing and sales functionality
• Doesn't offer surveys or other student engagement tools
• Charges a 5% transaction fee with the most affordable Basic Plan

Pricing

• Basic Plan: $59/month
• Pro Plan: $159/month
• Pro+ Plan: $249/month
• Business Plan: $665/month

(For more information about Teachable, check out our in-depth Teachable review. And we've got you covered if you're looking for a Teachable alternative.)

9. Udemy

Udemy is unique as a marketplace rather than an online course platform. It is free to get started, so it has a low barrier to entry.

They do the marketing, but competition is stiff, and you pay a significant percentage of every sale.

A Udemy course can be a good place to test the waters, but once you have a successful course offering, you'd want to pivot to another platform.

Pros

• Offers some student engagement features, like certificates
• It's an easy-to-use, inexpensive way to get started
• Includes free resources for you as an instructor

Cons

• Takes a high percentage of revenue on most sales
• Requires additional marketing effort as you can't control if your course is featured, and you'll keep a lot more money in your pocket if you drive students to your course
• Includes the risk that the platform shuts down your course if it's not performing

Pricing

• Personal: $20/month
• Team Plan: $30/person/month (billed annually)
• Enterprise Plan: custom pricing
• Leadership Academy: custom pricing

10. Teachery

Like Teachable, Teachery is a solid and affordable platform for course creators with simple course offerings.

The biggest drawback is that it doesn't host online learning course content like videos, so it isn't great if you use a lot of embedded multimedia elements and files.

Pros

• Includes "unlimited everything" (courses, students, emails, etc.) with all plans
• Allows for heavy customization of landing pages and course content creation to match your brand
• Allows for customization of course style to align with an existing website

Cons

• Lacks community management features
• Requires content like videos to be hosted elsewhere (e.g., YouTube or GoogleDrive)
• Includes fewer integrations than other alternatives

Pricing

• Monthly Plan: $49/monthly billing

What Thinkific Alternative Will Power You in 2022?

Choosing the best online course platform for your online education business is subjective. The "best" for you would not serve other content creators and vice versa.

Are you selling digital products and looking primarily for business, marketing, or customer relationship management?

Are you just starting with a shoestring budget? Or is ROI and course completion your main concern?

One of these Thinkific alternatives will have everything you need to create fantastic online courses — and start making money.

The world is waiting for what you have to offer. Pick a platform and get your content out there!