When deciding which online course platform to choose, you’ll probably get a lot of possibilities. The Thinkific platform is an outstanding choice due to its many useful features.
There are a variety of criteria to watch out for in an online course platform and Thinkific has them all. Keep reading through the Thinkific Review below and discover more information about its unique features and advantages.
Review of Thinkific Review Download Videos From Thinkific
Thinkific is among the most well-known options to create and sell online courses. Apart from having an easy-to-use user interface, the platform also offers already-designed templates that you can use for building your personal website.
With just a few mouse clicks, you’ll get to develop and market online courses even without prior experience. The drag and drop mechanism of the site makes it easy to start.
Online course creators are interested in the advanced quiz elements for every course you make. They will make the course more interesting to the students.
The online course builder lets you upload different types of files that can be used to build the content of your Thinkific course.
And like most online course platforms, Thinkific offers email marketing tools as well as integration with third-party apps. It is possible to send email sequences either through Thinkific itself or via external apps such as MailChimp, Zapier, etc.
Continue reading through this Thinkific review to learn more about this well-known online learning platform.
Pros
- Easy-to-use drag & drop editor
- Efficient course site builder
- Pre-made templates
- Different payment options
- Marketing and sales features
- Options for managing students
- Capacity for student feedback
- Adequate customer support
- Lifetime access to the free plan
- There are no transaction fees or hidden charges
Cons
- Limited quizzing features
- The absence of tools for marketing via email
- No live chat support
What is Thinkific?
Thinkific is a cloud-based online course platform. It means that all content you create on it is automatically backed up online. This helps to make course creation more efficient and easy.
Plus that, as a Learning Management System (LMS), it provides many custom options for instructors. You can easily create a course and then upload different resources to enhance your lesson.
If you’re among those course creators who prefer to write your course offline prior to uploading it, then Thinkific is the right choice for you. It allows you to do this and then upload your course online later on.
Thinkific can also host all websites you build with it, so you can upload as much content as you’d like.
You can create an entirely new online course site even without any design expertise as well. There’s no need to endure an arduous learning curve when you use Thinkific, that’s for sure.
There are a variety of ways to market and distribute your course that will accelerate the selling course’s selling Thinkific course. There’s an online marketplace community where you can sell courses on and communicate with other creators of courses.
Additionally, Thinkific is also a good alternative for individuals who have their own websites but would like to improve their marketing efforts and attract more students. You can connect third-party sites to Thinkific to reach a wider market.
The Benefits and Features of Thinkific
In this Thinkific review we review the most important features and advantages that make Thinkific distinguish itself.
Drag and Drop Editor
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The way your courses appear on your site will greatly affect conversion rates. This is the reason we love that Thinkific comes with an editor that drags and drops. It makes it easier to organize your website and digital products.
You can arrange the classes and lessons the you’d like. No need to be concerned with complicated codes or techniques. Simply click on whatever item you’d like to display and drag it over to the place you want it to appear.
Almost all of the important elements needed to create a website that looks professional are covered by the Thinkific editor. From the logos, color schemes, and even fonts. You’ll find everything you need to make your site look professional on this platform.
But if you do want to go the extra mile and personalize your site better, there’s still the option to input CSS and HTML code into Thinkific. It’s up to you decide.
Additionally, you can utilize drag and drop for uploading supplemental materials for your classes. Nearly every type of media file is supported by the editor’s uploader. It is possible to upload questions, audio file, and PDFs to enhance your class.
The quiz types you design can be easily altered with the help of the editor. Choose the assessment type you want to be under your class and then drag it to the appropriate place. You can select from types of surveys, type forms and multiple-choice forms as well as many more.
Course Site Builder
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Thinkific offers more than the drag and drop editors. Its general course website builder can be effective in getting everything all set up and in place.
As we mentioned earlier, Thinkific does its own web hosting. This means that you won’t be concerned about uploading limits. Your online storage capacity is infinite when you’re using Thinkific.
If you’re considering Domains Thinkific allows you to select a unique URL you can use along with its subdomain. Your URL will look something like this: .thinkific.com
So, your website is more memorable and easy for students to remember.
If you prefer to forego the Thinkific subdomain, you have an option to get the domain as a separate domain for your website. It’s just a matter of paying slightly more to get it.
Templates that are pre-made
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With regard to the builder for course websites, Thinkific has a slew of pre-designed layout and course templates that you can choose from. It saves you from needing to create your site completely from scratch.
The platform gives you template choices, depending on the kind of Thinkific course it is that you’re making. If, for instance, you’re making an introduction course, you can select a mini course-type template. For assessment and culminating it is possible to choose a review-type template.
As for themes and layout templates There’s also a bunch that you can pick from. And once you’ve chosen something which is appropriate for your style, Thinkific offers settings to modify the fonts, colors, and the layout of the elements within the template.
There is no requirement to enter complex codes or even text. Simply click on the content you wish to add to your website and drag it to the layout.
If you want to continue using HTML and CSS it’s still the option of doing so.
You can also alter the arrangement and layout of your site at times. The different sections can be placed in order of priority so that students know what lesson they should be focusing on.
Payment Options
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For payment, Thinkific offers options to integrate Stripe and PayPal into your website. With these third-party processors it is possible to get your earnings in as soon as 1 – 2 days.
This is a sharp contrast with other online courses which have a pay-out time of 30 days. With Thinkific it is possible to make cash withdrawals more quickly.
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Students, they can choose from a one-time payment scheme or an installment-based subscription plan. You can also provide discounts, bundles, and coupons with any payment option they pick.
It is important to note that with the one-time payment scheme, your subscribers will pay a one-time transaction fee in addition. The same goes for the installment plan, with the exception that the transaction fee are split over the duration of the installment.
Marketing and Sales Features
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In addition to being an online course creation tool, Thinkific is also effective at marketing online courses. It includes features that let you create and market courses in only a couple of clicks.
After you have published the course you can immediately make it available for sale by using your Market and Sell choice on the menu on your Dashboard.
From there, you are able to modify your website in order to increase the conversion rate of your customers. You can change the way that your checkout and sign-up pages look to the users. That way they’ll be more enticed to sign up for the online course.
You can also improve how your courses appear on your site. They can be more attractive by categorizing them into categories that the people can easily browse.
And as we discussed earlier it is possible to bundle your courses using discounts coupons or freebies. That way, your users will be more motivated to commit more often to your course.
A sales widget could also be created through Thinkific. It’s essentially a button you can embed to third-party websites which will connect directly to your course platform. You can customize them with a certain design and color scheme so that they look more on-brand too.
Thinkific also allows you to manage an affiliate program that will allow you to reach more audiences. Right on the site you can design affiliate links that you’ll send to affiliate partners. These are what they’ll use to direct their customers to your site and sign up in a course.
When the affiliate program has been running, you can access its progress on the Thinkific website. You’ll have the ability to monitor sales, revenue, and other commissions.
You can also choose to add other programs to Thinkific. If you’re looking into emails for marketing, Aweber is a good tool that you can sync to your Thinkific account.
Student Management
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A learning management system will not be efficient if it doesn’t cover every aspect of online teaching. It’s also important to keep track of student performance.
Thinkific provides a simple student management system. With it, you can easily pull up the contact information of your students and other basic details.
You can also customize the sign-up form for your subscribers to ask for specific details. The template from Thinkific asks for names as well as email addresses as well as contact phone numbers. If you’re looking for more particular details, just change your settings and include a second field on the sign-up form.
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Once you have your subscribers pooled you can categorize them based on the courses they signed up to. That way, you can keep track of them for each course easier.
In addition, with the Pro and Premier plans, you can look up a particular user based on his/her dates of enrollment, courses enrolled and job type. There are many different categories you can choose from on the website.
Student Feedback
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Thinkific prioritizes not just the course creators, but also the students. This is why feedback from students is encouraged when enrolled in the course.
An open discussion between the students and the instructors can greatly reduce the learning curve associated with lessons.
There’s a discussion forum on Thinkific wherein students can post questions that they have about their online classes. The course instructors can reply and clarify with answers.
Students also have the option to rate and review the courses they’ve completed. The ratings will reflect the performance of the online course instructor as well. So, instructors can establish their credibility on Thinkific.
These reviews can also assist other students decide whether or not a course is suitable for them. It reduces the likelihood of a student leaving during the lesson all of abruptly.
And if creators of courses are concerned that the reviews could potentially be detrimental to their business, they don’t have to. They’ll be the ones to decide if they want reviews published or not. Thinkific will never publish them without permission.
Finally, a good way to keep students interested is to provide them with regular updates. The Thinkific platform lets instructors send push notifications to their students when they post new lessons or resources through the site.
Customer Support
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As one would expect from systems for learning management, Thinkific does quite a great job with its customer service.
Before you sign up, you can access articles and case studies on the official site. There are also readily available videos and demos of the product that you can go through.
And once you’re already subscribed to Thinkific, you’ll be able to access the Help Center. You’ll find a wealth of information that can help you get started on how to sell online courses.
Thinkific offers guides as well as training videos to guide you through the interface. Additionally, as I previously mentioned, there are forums for users to voice out your concerns. Instructors and other users can respond to help you out.
For more severe issues You can submit a ticket to ask for assistance from our service department. And if you’re subscribed to business plan and above, you get priority responses.
One catch is that Thinkific doesn’t have an option to chat live, however. It’s just a matter of waiting to see if they respond.
How Does Thinkific Work
Similar to any other platform review of course like any other course platform review, this Thinkific review will show you how to begin using Thinkific. It is as easy as following these steps.
Step 1: Create an Account
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First, register and set up an account on Thinkific account. You’ll be automatically subscribed to the trial for free upon signing up.
Step 2: Personalize Your Course Player
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After you have created your account then you can begin to personalize the course players. You can choose a particular colour scheme to ensure it is in line with your logo and the theme.
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Your course player is what your customers will be using to access your course’s content. Videos, audio files, and quizzes will all be accessible via your course’s player.
Step 3: Build Your Course
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The next step is to create an online learning course. With the course Builder software, you are able to set up an entirely new course by adding lessons, modules, and other files to it.
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The course material is divided into sections and categories. You may also assign your online courses custom labels to make them easier to search.
Step 4: Personalize Your Website
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After your content is set, you can finalize the design and layout of your site. With Thinkific You have the option to customize each landing page for each course you’ve got.
This Thinkific Site Builder lets you create a color scheme and the theme of our homepage. This is where all classes will be put up. Students will be able to go through it and choose which ones they like from there.
You can also personalize your landing page for every course. It’s best to set a slightly different look for each course to make them easily identifiable, yet fit in with all of your branding.
Step 5 Step 5: Name Your Website
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What you have to do once the contents, the course player, and customizing are completed is to name your site. Make sure that the name is memorable and still the right fit for your brand.
Step 6: Publish Your Course
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And lastly, when everything is in place then you can launch the course. For publishing, you only must set a cost and specific payment details.
A course card is required to be developed. The course card will be what appears on your students’ dashboards. When they see it, they’ll be able to see quick details about your online course and content.
A well-designed course card can make a huge difference when selling courses on Thinkific.
What needs to be improved on in Thinkific
There’s a lot to be awed by about Thinkific however, it’s not without imperfections. This Thinkific review we’ve listed down what we believe could be improved.
Limited Quizzing Features
Although we believe that Thinkific does an excellent job in creating courses and uploading content, we think that the quiz features can be improved.
The assessment template available on Thinkific is very basic. Though it’s enough to get an idea of what your students know, it isn’t enough for asking more complex questions.
If you’re content with the short, check-up-style tests at the conclusion of every course, then that’s what Thinkific can offer you. If you have questions that require more time and more specific results You might want to consider a different platform.
The absence of Email Marketing Tools
As mentioned, Thinkific can be integrated with third-party applications , and these include tools for email marketing. However, it doesn’t have email marketing tools of its own.
While there are many third-party tools that are efficient, it still would be nice to know that Thinkific already had the software on its own. It would have accelerated the process.
There is no live chat support
And even though we think that the response time to customer inquiries is swift, it does not make up for the lack of a live chat feature.
Users with more urgent issues won’t be able to get the issue resolved in a hurry. They’ll have to just sit and wait for the response in particular if they’re not signed up to paid plans.
Thinkific Pricing
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Thinkific has three paid plans are available to sign up for. When you sign up, you’ll have access to an unpaid plan, without costs for transactions or hidden fees.
Thinkific Free
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The Thinkific free plan is distinctive as, unlike the plans of rivals, it doesn’t expire. It is possible to use the free plan for all the time you’d like to keep using Thinkific. Download Videos From Thinkific
Apart from being free, it does not charge any hidden fees or transaction fees regardless of whether you sell courses. It’s ideal for course creators who want to cut down on expenses or for small-scale entrepreneurs just getting started.
With the Thinkific Free plan you can create three courses that you can customize using your own brand. You can enrich your courses by adding quizzes, other materials and more as well.
You can sign up an unlimited quantity of pupils, streamline their signup process, and then also track their progress. Surveys can also be distributed to them so that you can determine how they feel about the courses they’re taking. Download Videos From Thinkific
Thinkific’s free plan also allows 1 authorized site administrator, multiple instructor profiles, and 24 hours access to your the students’ information. You can also track the conversion rates and click rates of your students.
Additionally, the free plan will also allow search engine optimization for your content. That way, your courses will be more easily discovered by customers. You may also add third-party websites and applications to your own site to enhance the user experience.
Thinkific Basic
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Thinkific Basic is $49 per month, but if you choose for a payment plan that is annual, it will cost you $39 per month.
You get the same features the free plan offers, as well as added benefits that are premium. First, you can make unlimited courses. Selling courses is also easier. Download Videos From Thinkific
One more thing that you don’t get with your free subscription is the ability for drip-feeding your posts, mail out coupons, and accessing analytics.
To put it into perspective into two parts, drip content, you must release information to your students on a set and gradual intervals. The second option is to send out coupons for discounts and other freebies for students who may require additional incentive to remain subscribed. Thirdly, the analytics that you are able to access include the affiliate reports and conversion rates.
And with this plan, you can easily connect third-party tools you want to use. These include Zapier, Aweber, and MailChimp as well as others.
In addition, you could design a custom domain to your site using the base plan. No need to use the Thinkific domain to host your website’s URL any longer.
Thinkific Pro
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Thinkific Pro costs $99 per month but if you get annual billing, it’s $79 each month.
This plan get all the same features like you do with the Free Basic and Basic plans. The only distinction is that you have higher-end settings as well as advantages.
The Thinkific Pro plan lets you manage 2 sites and 5 course admin accounts. There will also be advanced pricing options for your courses as well as HTML/CSS code editing. Download Videos From Thinkific
You’ll be able create exclusive courses which only a certain number of users can access as well. In addition, you’ll be able to offer membership bundles and freebies to your subscribers.
Course creators also have access to the more sophisticated quiz, assignment and assessment tools.
Growth Package
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With the Pro plan, you can avail something called a Growth Plan that you can take advantage of. The best part is that once you’ve got more than 100 people subscribed to your plan, Thinkific will automatically charge an additional fee over the monthly fee of $99.
But don’t fret because the fee entitles you to additional functions. It is possible to send bulk emails, integrate third-party software, and organize your users according to different parameters.
Thinkific Premier
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The Thinkific Premier is the least expensive plan. It is priced at $499 per month. However, when it is billed annually, it costs $399 per month. Download Videos From Thinkific
If you’re a subscriber for this package, you’ll have access to all of the same features available to the Basic, Free, as well as the Pro plan. What makes it stand out and the higher price is the fact that it’s targeted at larger organizations with more members.
The Thinkific Premier plan lets you manage 5 sites and 50 courses admin accounts. You can also have something called a Single-Sign-On (SSO). This is useful when you have a lot of subscribers that will have access to the same website.
Also, this plan includes an onboarding plan that’s a 30-minute onboarding call, as well as a launch preparedness review and online training manual.
Additionally, you’ll have access to the Growth package for a cheaper price. There’ll be a fixed fee that you will only need to pay.
Thinkific Reviews
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Users who have reviewed and used Thinkific particularly love how cost-efficient it is. Even when using it on a free basis, you get access to some useful features. There aren’t any extra charges, so you will not end up spending more than you planned to.
Other users also adored the white-labeling feature of Thinkific. It lets you enhance your brand’s image, even if it’s just a small company.
Many educators also love working with Thinkific because it’s great for children. The interface is simple to use and explore.
“I found it interesting that this site had the option to upload files in the discussions. I’m happy I chose this particular option as others require an amount of your income and it takes longer to wait for funds. There are no transaction fees!” -Anonymous
“I enjoyed the ability to create the access portal, courses as well as the payment methods all in 1 interface without having to purchase additional software. I particularly enjoy how easy setting up the courses up , if you’ve got the curriculum you want to create and it has white-labeling.” – Anonymous
“Thinkific allows you to begin producing courses for free and keep them free forever. This is truly an excellent way to get started with course development without paying a penny.” -Anonymous
“Thinkific made it easy to design and offer our online course to financial advisors. The Thinkific support team was quick to get back to us and helped us to understand the process. I also love the fact the possibility of white-labeling and have an individual domain.” – Anonymous
“Classes were fun as well as entertaining and easy particularly for our students who were older. Teachers were thrilled using it to build their classes and to share their work.” -Anonymous
Alternatives to Thinkific
If the Thinkific review isn’t convincing you of its capabilities as an online platform for online courses take a look at these two alternatives:
Kajabi
Kajabi is one of the very first online course platforms that is likely to recommend to you when you ask around. It’s an all-in-one system which lets you design and sell the online course you’ve created. Thinkific is like Kajabi in that way.
When you subscribe to Kajabi the platform, you’ll be able to easily create a course and add content. The platform offers built-in templates and themes that you can use to customize your site right from the beginning. The site editor lets you add multiple sections and sales pages to your courses. Download Videos From Thinkific
For quiz functions It has an advantage against Thinkific because it has more sophisticated settings. You can make more personalized quizzes and assessment types. Plus, you can conduct webinars and video tutorials to ensure more clarity in your teaching.
A lot of teachers love the fact that they can reward their pupils with certificates for every successful course. Additionally, they are able to drip content to their followers, just like Thinkific.
But another difference that Kajabi differs over Thinkific is the fact that Kajabi has more effective marketing tools. Though Thinkific does let you easily market classes online, it doesn’t let you make an automated sales funnel which will help keep your process efficient.
Kajabi also offers email marketing tools as well as email automation, unlike Thinkific. It isn’t necessary to incorporate an application from a third party to send broadcasts and email sequences to your customers.
Do note though that Kajabi is much pricier than Thinkific.
Check out the Kajabi review – The All-in-One online course platform
Teachable
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Next to Kajabi, Teachable is Thinkific’s most similar rival. This is because they share a lot of similarities as online learning platforms.
Teachable’s interface is easy to use and comes with useful features that will help you get started with creating your content. There are pre-made theme templates that you can use to make your site appear attractive even if you don’t have any previous experience in web design.
As with Thinkific instructors are able to choose to distribute the content they release to their subscribers.
But what sets Teachable apart from Thinkific is the quiz features. Instead of just basic templates, Teachable lets you customize your tests and quizzes.
And like Kajabi You can also create webinars and videos in order to boost engagement with your subscribers. There’s also an option to create a sales page for your online course to increase conversion rates.
Another thing we love about Teachable is that you can also offer your subscribers certificates for every course they complete. In contrast to Thinkific, Teachable has email marketing tools that you can use to send mass emails to your users.
Read: Teachable Review – Unlimited Course Creation Features
Please read: Kajabi vs. Teachable
Final Verdict on Thinkific Review
Download Videos From Thinkific
Thinkific has plenty of features that justify a subscription. It’s simple to use. It’s possible to create an original online course and then market it even if you’re new to the market.
Additionally, it comes with pre-designed layouts and templates that make it easier to set up your website. You don’t have to input complicated CSS or HTML code to create professional-looking websites.
If you select any of these paid options, you get access to advanced options that will improve your brand. You can opt out of your Thinkific subdomain and use Advanced users will set up their own domain names with hosting and create the majority of the pages on their site on the domain’s own address.
It is possible to integrate third-party applications to Thinkific particularly as it doesn’t have its own marketing tools for email.
Students can also interact with instructors via online discussion on Thinkific. They can request assistance during lessons or post questions about their classes. Teachers will be able to respond to them promptly.
Support for customers isn’t bad either. It’s a priority for replies when you’re subscribed to other plans with a paid subscription. Be aware that there is no live chat feature.
Overall though, our verdict for our Thinkific evaluation is worth a shot. Particularly if you’re just beginning to become a course creator, Thinkific seems to be the ideal place to start developing courses.
The free plan lasts for a lifetime, unlike other platforms. If you’re tight on money, then it’s a good choice as you’ll be able to access amazing features for no cost at all.
We highly recommend to try Thinkific out.
If you enjoyed this Thinkific review, you can take a look at our review on one of the Best Online Course Platforms available right now here.
