4 Best Thinkific Alternatives for 2023

Introduction

When it comes to creating and selling online courses, Thinkific has emerged as a popular choice among educators. Nevertheless, there exists a range of alternative platforms that offer distinctive features and advantages. In this article, we will delve into these alternatives and assess their strengths in comparison to Thinkific.

In this blog post, we'll explore the best Thinkific alternatives for 2023, each with its own set of strengths catering to diverse requirements.

Short Summary

• Explore the best Thinkific alternatives for 2023 and understand their limitations.
• Consider EdisonOS, LearnWorlds, Podia or Teachable depending on your specific needs.

What You Should Look For?

Keep the following checklist in mind while choosing an online platform:

• Has provision to run your own website.
• Let's you create landing pages.
• Provides live chat support.
• Supports free trials to make informed decisions.
• Let's you sell unlimited courses.

Understanding Thinkific's Limitations

Thinkific is a popular and feature-rich platform for creating and selling online courses, it does have some limitations in terms of email marketing, sales funnel building, and the absence of a built-in marketplace. However, these limitations can often be addressed by utilizing third-party integrations and leveraging external tools and marketing strategies to enhance your course sales and marketing efforts.

Email Marketing Constraints

Thinkific's limitation in email marketing is that it does not have its own built-in email marketing platform. Instead, it offers native integrations with popular third-party email marketing tools such as Mailchimp, Keap (Infusionsoft), ConvertKit, Constant Contact, Aweber, and ActiveCampaign. This means that if you prefer to use an email marketing platform that is not among the available integrations, you would need to rely on third-party services or use Zapier to connect your preferred email marketing tool.

Absence of Sales Funnel Builder

Another limitation of Thinkific is the absence of a built-in sales funnel builder platform. While Thinkific does offer a native integration with SamCart, a popular sales funnel and checkout platform, it lacks native integrations with other sales funnel builder tools. If you want to use a different sales funnel builder platform, you would need to rely on Zapier to connect Thinkific with your preferred tool. This extra step of integration may require additional configuration and setup time.

Unavailibility of Marketplace

Thinkific does not have its own marketplace where you can list and sell your courses. Unlike some other online course platforms, Thinkific does not provide a built-in marketplace that helps you gain additional exposure and reach potential students who are browsing for courses. However, Thinkific does offer features and tools to help you create and customize your own course sales pages, where you can showcase your courses and drive traffic to your offerings through your own marketing efforts.

Thinkific vs Other Online Course Platforms

Before delving into the available alternatives, let's take a moment to highlight Thinkific itself. Thinkific offers a comprehensive solution that empowers course creators to develop, promote, and monetize their online courses.

However, considering your individual requirements and financial considerations, you may discover a more suitable match among the alternative platforms to Thinkific.

EdisonOS: An All-In-One Platform Alternative to Thinkific

EdisonOS stands out as a comprehensive and versatile platform that offers knowledge entrepreneurs a wide range of features and capabilities to effectively manage and operate their online education businesses.

Unlike other platforms that focus solely on course creation and delivery, EdisonOS goes beyond that by providing educators with a scalable and robust technological framework to support various types of edtech platforms.

One of the key strengths of EdisonOS is its ability to cater to different types of online education businesses.

Whether you have aspirations to create a tutoring platform, build a vibrant community of learners, develop interactive learning applications, sell courses, or facilitate online assessments, EdisonOS offers the necessary tools and capabilities to turn these ideas into reality. This versatility allows educators to explore different business models and diversify their offerings to meet the needs of their target audience.

EdisonOS provides a seamless and user-friendly experience for educators, empowering them to effortlessly launch and manage their online education platforms. The platform offers intuitive features and a well-designed interface that simplifies the process of setting up courses, managing student enrollment, and tracking learner progress.

Educators can easily upload and organize their course materials, customize the appearance of their platform, and utilize interactive tools to enhance the learning experience for their students.

Moreover, EdisonOS ensures a scalable and reliable infrastructure that can handle the demands of a growing online education business. With advanced technical capabilities, educators can confidently scale their platforms to accommodate increasing numbers of students and adapt to changing business needs. This scalability provides a future-proof solution for knowledge entrepreneurs who aim to expand their reach and impact in the digital education space.

White Labelled Solution

EdisonOS offers a white-label solution, which means users have the ability to package and sell courses online under their own brand. This feature allows educators to maintain a consistent brand image and create a seamless experience for their students.

With EdisonOS, you can easily replicate your brand identity throughout the platform, starting from the landing pages to the course content itself.

The platform provides an intuitive interface that enables users to customize their landing pages with their unique branding elements. Educators can incorporate their logo, color scheme, and visual assets to create a visually appealing and cohesive representation of their brand. This level of customization helps in establishing a strong brand presence and reinforcing brand recognition among students.

In addition to the landing pages, EdisonOS allows users to have their own custom domain. This means that educators can use their own website domain to host their courses, further enhancing the brand identity and providing a professional and personalized experience for their students.

By using a custom domain, educators can align their online courses with their existing online presence, fostering a sense of trust and credibility among their audience.

EdisonOS also enables the creation of course completion certificates that can be customized with the educator's brand elements. These certificates serve as a recognition of achievement for students and can be a valuable asset for their professional or educational advancement. By branding these certificates, educators can further reinforce their brand identity and create a sense of pride and accomplishment among their students.

Furthermore, EdisonOS offers comprehensive course content features that allow educators to design engaging and interactive learning experiences.

The platform supports various multimedia elements, such as videos, quizzes, and assessments, which can be customized to align with the educator's brand. This level of customization ensures that the course content reflects the brand's tone, style, and educational philosophy.

To enhance the brand experience even further, EdisonOS provides the option to create branded mobile apps. With these mobile apps, educators can offer their courses on-the-go, providing convenience and accessibility to their students.

The branded mobile apps ensure a consistent brand experience across different platforms and reinforce the educator's brand presence in the mobile learning landscape.

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Platform Versatility

EdisonOS stands out for its remarkable platform versatility and flexibility, which empowers educators to implement a wide range of use cases in the field of online education.

Whether you aspire to create a tutoring platform, build a community-driven learning platform, develop interactive learning applications, offer online assessments, or sell courses, EdisonOS provides the necessary tools and capabilities to turn these ideas into reality.

One of the key advantages of EdisonOS is its ability to simplify the process of setting up and running an edtech company. The platform takes care of the intricate technical aspects, eliminating the need for extensive technical expertise from educators. This means that knowledge entrepreneurs can focus their efforts on what they do best: delivering high-quality educational content and nurturing their student community.

By relieving educators of the burden of technical complexities, EdisonOS enables them to channel their energy and resources into creating engaging learning experiences and fostering meaningful connections with their students.

EdisonOS provides a comprehensive technological framework that seamlessly integrates various educational components, such as course management, student enrollment, assessments, and community engagement features.

Educators can effortlessly set up their online education platform, customize it to suit their specific needs, and leverage the platform's user-friendly interface to manage their courses and interact with their students. This versatility allows educators to explore different business models and adapt their platform to cater to the evolving demands of the online education market.

Furthermore, EdisonOS's flexibility extends beyond the core platform functionalities. The platform supports integrations with a wide range of third-party tools and services, enabling educators to enhance their offerings and extend the capabilities of their online education businesses.

Whether it's integrating with popular email marketing platforms, payment gateways, or analytics tools, EdisonOS ensures compatibility and interoperability, providing educators with the flexibility to leverage additional resources and services that align with their specific requirements.

In-built Features and Functionalities

EdisonOS offers a comprehensive suite of in-built features and functionalities that empower educators to effectively manage and streamline their online education businesses. These features provide a robust infrastructure for creating, delivering, and monetizing online courses. Here is a more detailed explanation of the key features:

EdisonOS allows educators to cater to an unlimited number of students. Whether you have a small group of learners or a large-scale audience, the platform can handle the capacity without limitations. This scalability ensures that you can accommodate and scale your student base as your business grows.

With EdisonOS, you have the flexibility to offer free courses to your students. This feature can be beneficial for attracting new learners, building your brand reputation, and providing value to your audience. You can choose to offer select courses for free or provide free introductory modules to give students a taste of your educational content.

The platform provides robust user management capabilities, allowing you to efficiently manage and organize your students. You can easily handle user registrations, enrollments, and user roles, granting appropriate access and privileges to different user groups. User management features help you maintain control over your student community and ensure a seamless learning experience for everyone.

EdisonOS offers a seamless content delivery system, enabling you to upload and organize your course materials in various formats such as videos, documents, quizzes, and assignments. You can create structured course modules, arrange lessons, and set up prerequisites to ensure a logical flow of content for your students. The platform's intuitive interface simplifies the process of organizing and delivering educational materials.

EdisonOS provides built-in assessment tools that allow you to create quizzes, assignments, and exams to assess your students' understanding and progress. You can set up automated grading systems, provide instant feedback, and track students' performance. These assessment tools help you gauge the effectiveness of your teaching and enable students to evaluate their own learning.

The platform offers marketing tools to help you promote and sell your online courses. You can create customizable sales pages, utilize coupon codes, and integrate with email marketing services to run targeted campaigns and engage with your audience. These marketing tools assist you in reaching a wider audience and driving enrollment to your courses.

EdisonOS supports integration with various payment gateways, allowing you to securely collect payments for your courses. You can choose from a range of payment options, including credit cards, PayPal, and other popular payment processors. The platform ensures a smooth and secure transaction process, providing a seamless experience for your students.

EdisonOS offers robust analytics and reporting capabilities, giving you insights into various aspects of your online education business. You can track enrollment numbers, student progress, revenue metrics, and other key performance indicators. These analytics help you make data-driven decisions, identify areas for improvement, and optimize your course offerings.

The platform provides advanced pricing options, allowing you to set flexible pricing structures for your courses. You can offer one-time payments, subscription-based models, installment plans, or bundled course packages. These pricing options give you the freedom to monetize your courses in a way that aligns with your business goals and audience preferences.

EdisonOS offers comprehensive reporting capabilities, enabling you to generate detailed reports on various aspects of your online education business. You can access data on course enrollment, completion rates, student engagement, revenue, and more. These reports provide valuable insights into the performance and effectiveness of your courses, helping you make informed decisions and refine your educational strategies.

LearnWorlds: A Top Online Course Platform

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When searching for a worthy alternative to Thinkific, LearnWorlds emerges as a standout option. What sets LearnWorlds apart are its unique features, including interactive video capabilities and integrated social networking functionalities. These exceptional offerings make LearnWorlds an ideal substitute for Thinkific, particularly if your courses heavily rely on video content or require community engagement.

LearnWorlds is a powerful, user-friendly, and dependable training solution suitable for individuals and enterprises alike. It offers a comprehensive set of tools for creating, selling, and marketing online courses. One notable feature is the interactive in-built content authoring tools, which allow educators to design engaging and interactive learning experiences.

Additionally, LearnWorlds provides live class functionality, enabling instructors to conduct real-time sessions and foster direct interaction with their students. The platform also includes course discussion channels, facilitating student engagement and collaboration.

Course Creation

LearnWorlds offers educators the ability to create engaging and interactive online courses, empowering them to deliver impactful learning experiences to their students. The platform provides a range of tools and features to facilitate course creation.

Educators can leverage interactive video capabilities, allowing them to incorporate videos with interactive elements such as quizzes, annotations, and branching scenarios. This enhances student engagement and interactivity within the course content, resulting in a more immersive and effective learning experience.

In addition to interactive video capabilities, LearnWorlds also offers various content authoring tools that enable educators to create engaging course materials. These tools allow for the creation of interactive presentations, assessments, and multimedia-rich content, ensuring that the course content is not only informative but also visually appealing and interactive.
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Marketing Tools

When it comes to marketing, LearnWorlds provides built-in tools that support educators in promoting and selling their online courses effectively. The platform offers SEO (Search Engine Optimization) features, enabling educators to optimize their course pages for better visibility in search engine results. This helps attract organic traffic and potential students.

Additionally, LearnWorlds integrates social media marketing tools, allowing educators to easily share course content on social platforms, engage with their audience, and drive enrollment.

Furthermore, the platform provides email marketing capabilities, enabling educators to communicate with their students through automated email campaigns, course announcements, and newsletters. These marketing tools assist educators in reaching a wider audience and maximizing their course enrollment potential.

Support

LearnWorlds also excels in providing support to its users. The platform offers 24/7 priority email support, ensuring that educators can quickly and efficiently resolve any issues or concerns they may encounter. This timely support system helps maintain a smooth learning experience for both educators and students.

Additionally, LearnWorlds provides a dedicated customer success manager to assist educators in navigating the platform, utilizing its features, and optimizing their online courses. This personalized support ensures that educators receive guidance and assistance tailored to their specific needs, enabling them to make the most out of the LearnWorlds platform.

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Podia: A Thinkific Alternative for Selling Digital Products

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If you're in search of online course platforms similar to Thinkific that also support selling digital products, Podia is a noteworthy option to consider.

Podia not only excels as an online course hosting and selling platform but also offers the unique advantage of allowing creators to build their own website without the need for coding skills.

When comparing Thinkific and Podia, it is Podia's exceptional ability to sell digital products that sets it apart from the rest.

Podia provides a robust set of tools and options for admins to create, manage, and sell digital products. With Podia's digital downloads feature, admins can effortlessly sell and distribute a wide range of digital products such as ebooks, videos, music, and software.

The platform offers a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for admins to upload, manage, and sell their digital downloads. This feature expands the revenue-generating potential for creators beyond just online courses, enabling them to diversify their offerings and cater to a broader audience.

One notable feature of Podia is its pre-launch option. This functionality allows admins to create a compelling landing page with an embedded email capture form. This enables creators to generate interest, build anticipation, and capture leads before their product is officially launched.

By building a list of potential customers early on, creators can effectively market and promote their digital products, including online courses, to a targeted audience, thereby increasing their chances of successful sales and conversions.

Pricing Plans

Podia offers two pricing plans: the Mover plan and the Shaker plan. The Mover plan is priced at around $40 per month and includes features such as the creation of online courses, digital downloads, and email marketing capabilities. This plan is suitable for creators who want to sell online courses and other digital products while utilizing basic email marketing functionalities.

On the other hand, the Shaker plan, priced at around $80 per month, encompasses everything offered in the Mover plan and adds additional features such as membership capabilities, the ability to embed checkouts on external websites, affiliate marketing opportunities, and the option to integrate with third-party tools and platforms.

The Shaker plan is ideal for creators who want to leverage advanced membership features, expand their marketing reach through affiliate partnerships, and integrate with other platforms to enhance their business operations.
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Product Upselling

Podia provides an upsell feature that enables admins to increase their revenue by recommending additional products or upgrades to customers during the checkout process. This feature allows admins to strategically offer complementary or higher-priced products that align with the customer's purchase, increasing the overall value of the transaction.

However, it's important to note that unlike some other platforms, upsells in Podia need to be set up manually by admins. This means that admins have control over the upsell process and can customize and tailor the offers based on their specific marketing strategies and customer preferences.

Integrations and Automations

Podia offers seamless integrations with various third-party automation solutions, including popular tools like ConvertKit, Mailchimp, and Drip. These integrations allow admins to automate their email marketing campaigns and other customer communication processes.

By integrating with these platforms, admins can streamline their workflows, manage customer data more efficiently, and deliver personalized and targeted communication to their audience.

The integration capabilities provided by Podia enhance the overall automation and scalability of the platform, enabling admins to optimize their marketing efforts and focus on creating valuable content and products for their customers.

Teachable: An Affordable Thinkific Alternative for Small Businesses

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Teachable stands as a prominent competitor to Thinkific in the online course platform landscape. A key point of comparison between Thinkific and Teachable often revolves around pricing and user-friendliness.

Teachable offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it an appealing alternative for solopreneurs and small businesses.

Additionally, Teachable's competitive pricing structure further positions it as a strong contender in the market.

Teachable offers a range of features that cater to course creators' needs. With its user-friendly interface, instructors can easily create and customize their online courses.

The platform provides robust course creation tools that empower instructors to design engaging and interactive learning experiences for their students. Teachable also includes a unique referral link feature, enabling administrators to track and incentivize student referrals, fostering organic growth and marketing for their courses.

Furthermore, Teachable offers a mini CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system, allowing administrators to organize, automate, and streamline their interactions with students, thereby enhancing communication and support.

Customisation

In terms of customization, Teachable provides design settings that allow administrators to personalize the appearance of their course website. From selecting a color scheme to customizing colors and previewing changes, instructors can tailor the visual aesthetics to align with their brand and create a cohesive learning environment.

Moreover, Teachable ensures compliance with data protection regulations by implementing opt-in confirmation processes, requiring individuals to provide their contact information and agree to receive communications from the course creator or administrator.

Curriculum Engagement

Teachable prioritizes student engagement by offering a range of features designed to enhance the overall learning experience. The platform provides discussion forums where students can interact with each other, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussions related to the course content. These forums create a sense of community and foster collaboration among students, allowing them to learn from one another and deepen their understanding of the course material.

In addition to discussion forums, Teachable enables instructors to incorporate quizzes into their courses. Quizzes serve multiple purposes, such as reinforcing key concepts, assessing student comprehension, and providing feedback on progress.

By including quizzes, instructors can actively involve students in the learning process and encourage them to actively engage with the course material.

Students receive immediate feedback on their quiz performance, which helps them identify areas that require further study and promotes a sense of achievement as they progress through the course.

Teachable also offers the option to issue certificates to students upon course completion. Certificates serve as tangible recognition of a student's accomplishments and can boost their motivation and sense of achievement.

By providing certificates, Teachable incentivizes students to complete the course and showcases their newly acquired skills or knowledge. This feature adds a sense of credibility and value to the course, which can be particularly beneficial for students seeking to showcase their achievements to employers or professional networks.
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Marketing Tools

Teachable offers a comprehensive set of marketing tools to empower instructors in promoting and selling their courses effectively. These tools are designed to enhance the visibility of courses, attract potential students, and drive conversions.

Teachable allows instructors to create highly customizable sales pages for their courses. Instructors can showcase course details, highlight key benefits, and use compelling visuals to capture the attention of potential students. With the ability to customize the layout, colors, branding elements, and multimedia content, instructors can create sales pages that align with their unique teaching style and resonate with their target audience.

Teachable enables instructors to create and distribute coupon codes to incentivize course enrollment. Instructors can set discounts or special offers to encourage prospective students to take action and enroll in their courses.

Coupon codes can be shared through various marketing channels, such as social media, email campaigns, or partnerships with affiliates. This flexibility allows instructors to implement targeted promotions and track the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.

Teachable provides built-in email marketing functionality to support instructors in engaging with their audience and nurturing relationships. Instructors can utilize email campaigns to communicate with students, provide updates, share valuable content, and promote upcoming courses or special offers.

Teachable's email marketing features allow instructors to segment their audience, personalize messages, and automate email sequences, streamlining their communication processes and maximizing the impact of their marketing efforts.

Conclusion

While Thinkific is a highly regarded platform for online course creation and sales, it's important to explore alternative options to ensure you find the best fit for your specific needs. The alternatives discussed in this article offer unique features and advantages that may better align with your requirements and goals.

Ultimately, the choice of the best Thinkific alternative depends on your specific requirements, budget, and preferences. Consider your priorities, desired features, and target audience to identify the platform that will enable you to create, market, and sell your online courses successfully.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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What are some good alternatives to Thinkific?

Some good alternatives to Thinkific include:

LearnWorlds: LearnWorlds is a robust online course platform known for its interactive video features and built-in social networking capabilities. It offers a range of customization options and marketing tools to create engaging learning experiences.

Podia: Podia is an all-in-one platform that not only allows you to create and sell online courses but also supports the selling of digital products like eBooks and design templates. It offers an intuitive user interface and features like memberships and email marketing.

Teachable: Teachable is a popular alternative that provides a user-friendly interface and competitive pricing. It offers extensive customization options, marketing features, and a simple course creation process.

EdisonOS: EdisonOS is a comprehensive learning management system that focuses on providing a seamless and immersive learning experience. It offers advanced features like virtual reality integration and interactive assessments.

What are the key features to look for in a Thinkific alternative?

Key features to look for in a Thinkific alternative include:

• Course creation capabilities: The platform should support inbuilt course creation tool,  multimedia content, enabling you to create engaging courses with videos, quizzes, and interactive elements.
• Customization options: Look for platforms that allow you to customize the course layout, branding, and sales pages to match your brand's aesthetics.
• Pricing Options: Evaluate the pricing plans and options provided by the alternative platform to ensure they are compatible with your budget and business model.
• Support options: Check for accessible customer support channels, including live chat, email support, and comprehensive documentation, to guarantee prompt assistance whenever required.
• How do Thinkific alternatives compare in terms of pricing?

Thinkific alternatives vary in terms of pricing. Each platform offers different pricing plans with different features and limitations.So It's crucial to carefully evaluate and compare the pricing tiers of the alternatives to figure out the one that suits your budget and requirements.

What are the pros and cons of using a Thinkific alternative?

Pros of using a Thinkific alternative may include:

• Different pricing options to suit various budgets and business models.
• Unique features and tools tailored to specific needs, such as interactive video or support for selling digital products.
• Greater customization options for course creation, branding, and sales pages.

Cons of using a Thinkific alternative may include:

• Potential learning curve when switching to a new platform and adapting to its interface and other features.
• Differences in user experience and navigation compared to Thinkific, requiring a short time to become familiar with the alternative platform.
• Limited or different integrations and third-party app support, which may affect the availability of certain features or tools.
• How easy is it to migrate from Thinkific to an alternative platform?

The ease of migrating from Thinkific to an alternative platform can vary depending on the platforms involved and the complexity of your existing content. Most alternative platforms provide resources and documentation to guide you through the migration process. While it may require some effort to transfer your courses and content, a smooth migration is possible with proper planning and following the instructions provided.

Can I still use my existing content if I switch to a Thinkific alternative?

In most cases, you can use your existing content when switching to a Thinkific alternative. However, some adjustments and formatting might be necessary to ensure compatibility with the new platform. The alternative platform usually provides guidance and tools to assist with content migration and ensuring a seamless transition.

Are there any limitations or restrictions when using a Thinkific alternative?

Each Thinkific alternative may have its own limitations and restrictions. These can vary in terms of available features, customization options, integrations, or even content hosting and storage limitations. It's crucial to thoroughly evaluate the features and capabilities of each alternative to ensure it meets your specific requirements.

How does customer support compare between Thinkific and its alternatives?

Customer support offerings can differ between Thinkific and its alternatives. It's recommended to review the customer support channels and resources provided by each alternative platform. Consider factors such as response times, availability of live chat or phone support, and the quality and comprehensiveness of the support documentation. Prioritize platforms that offer responsive and reliable customer support.

Are there any notable differences in terms of marketing and sales features between Thinkific and its alternatives?

Notable differences in marketing and sales features can exist between Thinkific and its alternatives. Each platform may offer unique marketing tools, such as customizable sales pages, email marketing automation, coupon codes, upsells, or integration with third-party marketing platforms. It's essential to compare the marketing and sales features of each alternative to determine which aligns with your marketing strategies and goals.