What it is
Teachable is a course and coaching platform: hosting, video delivery, payments, student management and certificates on your own branded site.
Its proposition is almost identical to Thinkific's, and the differences are the checkout experience, payment handling and which interface you find clearer.
It handles tax and payouts through their own payment system, which for creators selling internationally removes a genuine administrative burden.
What it does
Course building with video, text, quizzes and drip scheduling, plus coaching products with scheduled sessions.
Teachable Pay handles payments, tax calculation and payouts, including EU VAT and US sales tax, which is the feature I would pay for.
Student management with progress tracking, certificates and comments on lessons.
Affiliate management lets other people sell your course for commission, included on higher tiers.
Who it's for
Features
Pros and cons
Pricing
| PLAN | WHAT YOU GET | WORTH IT FOR |
|---|---|---|
| Free | One course, transaction fees applied. | Launching and validating. |
| Basic | Custom domain, coupons, lower fees. | New creators. |
| Pro | No transaction fees, affiliates, advanced features. | The usual tier. |
| Pro+ and Business | Higher limits and admin users. | Larger course businesses. |
Transaction fees apply on lower tiers and disappear on Pro, which is the calculation to run against your expected revenue.
Free to validate the course, then Pro once revenue makes the transaction fees more expensive than the subscription. That crossover comes sooner than most people expect.
Alternatives
My verdict
Teachable and Thinkific are close enough that either is a reasonable choice, and the deciding factor for me is the tax handling. If you sell internationally, having EU VAT and US sales tax calculated and remitted is worth real money in avoided administration.
Against that, Thinkific charges no revenue share on any paid tier while Teachable's fees only disappear at Pro. Run both against your expected revenue before choosing.
Whichever you pick, launch on the free tier first. Whether people will pay for your course matters far more than the platform, and both let you find that out cheaply.
Try Teachable →Who should use it
Who should avoid it
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Affiliate disclosure
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the price you pay. It also does not decide what appears on this page: I recommend tools with no affiliate programme just as readily, and leave off tools with generous ones when they do not deserve the space.