Course platforms
Thinkific
A course platform, published at $49–199/mo, 0% platform fee.
What it is good at
Thinkific is a strong course builder with unlimited courses and students on every plan, a 0% platform fee, a 30-day trial without a card, and a 4.6 on Capterra.
What it covers
Recorded against Coachful, because that is the comparison we have data for. Read the Coachful column as an interested party’s account of itself.
- Online courses with drip & quizzesThinkificYesCoachfulYes
- Session scheduling (self-serve booking)ThinkificNoCoachfulYes
- Two-way calendar syncThinkificNoCoachfulYes
- Built-in video + Zoom / Meet / TeamsThinkificPartialCoachfulYes
- Coaching programs with daily tasksThinkificPartialCoachfulYes
- Habits & daily check-insThinkificNoCoachfulYes
- Contracts & e-signaturesThinkificNoCoachfulYes
- Client intake formsThinkificPartialCoachfulYes
- Community & group cohortsThinkificYesCoachfulYes
- Client mobile appThinkificYesCoachfulYes
- Coach-run affiliate programThinkificYesCoachfulPartial
Pricing and features verified May 2026
Where it sits
Built to sell and deliver recorded content. Strong at courses, thin on the ongoing relationship.
Common questions
Is Coachful a good Thinkific alternative for coaches?
If you coach people live, yes. Thinkific is a course platform; its coaching product has no booking calendar, no calendar sync, no contracts, and no habit tracking. Coachful covers courses with drip and completion tracking and adds booking, built-in video, contracts, programs, habits, check-ins, and community, from $29/mo.
Does Thinkific charge transaction fees?
No platform fee on any paid plan. Thinkific Payments processes at 2.9% plus a card fee, and the older US Stripe surcharge was dropped in 2026. Coachful is also 0% platform fee; you keep everything after Stripe or Razorpay processing. One thing to know: Thinkific raised prices 10% in August 2026 for existing customers at renewal.
How does Thinkific pricing compare to Coachful?
Thinkific Basic is $49/mo ($36 annual), Start $99 ($74), Grow $199 ($149), and Plus is custom. The branded mobile app is a $199/mo add-on. Coachful is $29/mo for up to 5 clients, $49/mo Solo for up to 20 clients, and $99/mo unlimited Pro, with the branded client app included.
Can I do 1:1 coaching on Thinkific?
You can sell a Coaching & Webinars product (5 on Basic, unlimited on Start and above), but sessions are booked through a pasted Calendly or Google Calendar link and delivered on Zoom. There is no intake form for coaching clients, no notes on a client record, and no progress dashboard. That layer is what Coachful is built around.
When is Thinkific the better choice?
When your product is the course library and coaching is a side offer. Thinkific goes deeper on quizzes, assignments, certificates, SCORM on Plus, enterprise needs like SSO, and automated affiliate administration. Coachful creates affiliate links and tracks clicks, conversions, and attributed revenue, but payouts are handled manually. Thinkific's 30-day no-card trial is generous too.
Is there a free trial?
Yes — a 7-day free trial. Card required at signup, no charge during the trial, cancel in one click.
Elsewhere
We also publish a Coachful vs Thinkific comparison on our product site. It argues our case, and it is labelled as ours.