Teachable vs Thinkific vs owning your course platform

The short answerTeachable has a cheaper entry plan that takes a share of sales; Thinkific starts higher with no platform cut. Both are rented every month. Owning your course platform costs more on day one and less within two to three years, and then nothing more.

The prices

Plan	Price	How you're charged	Cut of your sales
Teachable Starter	~$39 a month	Monthly	7.5%
Teachable Builder	~$89 a month	Monthly	None
Thinkific Start	~$109 a month	Monthly	None
Thinkific Grow	~$219 a month	Monthly	None
Deedmade^™ Everything	$2,499 once	Once (or 3 monthly payments)	None, ever

What each is built for

Teachable: courses, coaching and digital downloads, with simple sales pages.
Thinkific: courses with a strong course builder, plus communities and an app store for add-ons.
Deedmade^™: your course with quizzes and certificates, website, members app and email marketing, on your own accounts, paid once.

Side by side over the years

	Teachable Builder	Thinkific Start	Deedmade^™ Everything
Year 1	~$1,070	~$1,310	$2,499
Year 3	~$3,200	~$3,920	$2,499
Year 5	~$5,340	~$6,540	$2,499
Who owns the platform	They do	They do	You do
If prices go up	You pay more	You pay more	Nothing changes
Your member list	In their system	In their system	In your own accounts
Your name on members' phones	Varies by plan	Varies by plan	Yours, with your icon

Renting Teachable Builder, the cheaper of the two Owning with Deedmade^™ Everything, paid once

Year 1

~$1,070$2,499

Year 2

~$2,140$2,499

Year 3

~$3,200$2,499

Year 4

~$4,270$2,499

Year 5

~$5,340$2,499

Owning has cost less from month 29. After that, renting keeps going and owning doesn't.

Owning still has small running costs: the card fee on each sale (as anywhere), your domain, and hosting that's free or about $5 a month. And you can try it before paying anything: build yours free in early access and see it working first.

How to choose

Teachable if you're selling very little at first and want the cheapest start.
Thinkific if you prefer its course builder and app store and will pay monthly.
Deedmade^™ if your course already sells and you'd rather stop paying rent, with email marketing and your own app included.

Compare: Teachable alternative and Thinkific alternative. Features change, so check each company's site.

Prices of other companies are approximate, from their own pricing pages on October 11, 2026, and they change. Where a page shows a monthly price that is billed a year at a time, we say so. Check their websites for today's prices.

Stop renting. Own it.

Build your platform free in early access and see it working, usually within the hour. You pay only if you approve it, once, and keep today's price.

No card
Pay once, no monthly fee
0% of your sales
On your own accounts

Build yours free