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When you’re trying to decide which online learning platform to go with You’ll likely get a lot of possibilities. The Thinkific platform is an outstanding choice due to its many useful features.

There are a variety of aspects to be aware of when using an online course platform and Thinkific has them all. Keep reading through the Thinkific review below to learn more about its unique advantages and features.

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A brief overview of Thinkific Review Gumroad Vs Thinkific

Thinkific is among the more well-known options for creating and selling online courses. Besides having an easy-to-navigate design, this platform has pre-designed templates you can build your personal website.

In just a few clicks, you’ll get to make and sell online courses, even if you have no prior experience. Drag and drop functionality of the site allows you to easily begin.

Online course creators are curious about the advanced quiz features in every course you design. These can make your lessons more interesting to the students.

The online course builder lets you upload different types of files to enrich Your Thinkific course.

Like many online courses, Thinkific offers email marketing tools as well as third-party app integration. You can send out emails either via Thinkific itself or via outside apps such as MailChimp, Zapier, etc.

Continue reading the Thinkific review to learn more about this popular online learning platform.

Pros

  • Easy-to-use drag & drop editor
  • Efficient course site builder
  • Templates that are pre-made
  • Different payment options
  • Sales and marketing features
  • Student management options
  • Capacity for student feedback
  • Support for customers in a timely manner
  • Access to the plan for life. plan
  • No transaction fees or concealed charges

Cons

Is there anything Thinkific?

Thinkific is a cloud-based online course platform. This means that everything you create on it is stored online and automatically backup. This makes course creation more efficient and simple.

Additionally it functions as an Learning Management System (LMS), it provides many custom options for creators of courses. You can easily create a course and then upload various material to complement your lessons.

If you’re among those people who would prefer writing your course offline before uploading it online, Thinkific is perfect for you. You can do just that and then upload the course later to the internet.

Thinkific also hosts all of the web pages you make with it, so you can upload as much content as you want.

It is possible to create an entirely new online course website even without any design expertise and. There’s no need to endure an arduous learning curve when you use Thinkific it’s a fact.

There are many distribution and marketing options that will help speed up the sales process of your Thinkific course. There is an online marketplace community that you can offer courses and communicate with other creators of courses.

Finally, Thinkific is also a great platform for those who have their own websites but want to improve their marketing efforts and attract more students. You can connect third-party sites to Thinkific for a greater reach public.

The Benefits and Features of Thinkific

In this Thinkific review We break down the top features and benefits which make Thinkific stand out.

Drag and Drop Editor

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The way your courses appear on your website can greatly impact the conversion rate. This is the reason we love the fact that Thinkific comes with an editor that you can drag and drop. It is a great way to manage your website and digital products.

You are able to arrange the courses and lessons however you like. No need for any complicated codes or methods. All you need to do is click on the 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 make your site look more professional is covered by Thinkific’s editor. From logos to the color schemes and fonts, you’ll discover everything you need to make your site look professional on this platform.

If you’re looking to go that extra mile and make your site better, there’s still the option to enter CSS and HTML code into Thinkific. It’s up to you to decide.

In addition, you may utilize drag and drop to upload additional material to your lessons. Nearly every type of media file can be uploaded with the uploader of your editor. You can upload the audio of your course, as well as quizzes and PDFs to enhance your course.

Even the quiz types that you design can be easily modified using the editor. Simply select the type of assessment you wish to use for your instruction and drag it into the course. You can select from type forms, surveys and multiple-choice forms as well as many more.

Course Site Builder

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Thinkific is much more than just its drag and drop editors. Its general course website builder helps you get everything up and in place.

As we mentioned earlier, Thinkific does its own web hosting. This means you don’t be concerned about uploading limits. Your online storage capacity is infinite when you’re using Thinkific.

If you’re considering Domains Thinkific permits you to choose a unique URL that you can use with its subdomain. Your URL will look like this: .thinkific.com

This way, your site is more memorable and easier for students to recall.

And if you want to forego the Thinkific subdomain, there’s the option of registering the domain as a separate domain for your site. You’ll need to pay a little bit more to get it.

Templates Pre-Made

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In relation to the course site builder, Thinkific has a slew of pre-designed layout and course templates that you can choose from. This will save you from having to design your website completely from scratch.

The platform gives you templates that are based on the kind of Thinkific course it is that you’re making. If, for instance, you’re creating an introduction to course, you can select an outline-type template. For assessment and culminating it is possible to pick a review template.

For themes and layout templates There’s also several to choose from. After you’ve selected one which is appropriate for your style, Thinkific offers settings to alter the colors, fonts, and layout of the elements in the template.

Again, there is absolutely no requirement to enter complex codes or text. Simply click on the content you wish to include on your site and drag it into the layout.

If you still want to use HTML and CSS There’s an option.

You may also change the layout and arrangement of your website at times. The various sections can be organized in order of priority so that students are aware of which lessons to focus on.

Payment Options

Payment-Options

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As for payment, Thinkific offers options to integrate Stripe and PayPal on your website. With these third-party processors you will be able to access your earnings in as soon as 1 to 2 days.

It’s a stark contrast from other online course platforms that have a payout schedule of 30-day intervals. With Thinkific, you can make cash withdrawals more quickly.

Payment-Options

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For your students, they can choose from an one-time payment plan or an installment subscription plan. You can also provide discounts, bundles, and coupons along with whichever payment option they pick.

It is important to note that with the one-time payment plan the subscribers will be charged one-time transaction fees in addition. The same goes for the installment subscription plan, only that the transaction fees will be broken down across the period of installment.

Sales and Marketing Features

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More than being just an online course creation tool, Thinkific is also effective at marketing online courses. As already mentioned, it includes features that let you create and market courses in only a couple of clicks.

Once you publish your course, you can immediately put it up for sale through your Market and Sell feature on the dashboard.

You can customize your website to optimize the conversion rates of your customers. You can change the way that your checkout and sign-up pages will look like to visitors. That way users will be more inclined to check out an online course.

You can also enhance how your courses are presented on your website. Make them look more interesting by categorizing them into categories that users can easily explore.

In addition, as we’ve discussed previously it is possible to bundle your courses using discounts coupons or freebies. This way, your students will be enticed to sign up more often to your course.

A sales widget could also be created through Thinkific. It’s basically a button that you can add to third-party websites which will connect directly to your course platform. You can customize the buttons to use a particular color scheme and logo to ensure that they are more in line with your brand as well.

Thinkific also allows you to manage an affiliate program that will assist you in reaching more people. Through the website, you can create affiliate links to transmit to the affiliates you have. They’ll use these links to lead their audience to your site and sign up in a class.

And once the affiliate program is in operation, you can access its progress right on the Thinkific site. You’ll have the ability to monitor revenue, sales, as well as other commissions.

You can also choose to add other programs to Thinkific. If you’re considering email marketing campaigns, Aweber is a good tool that you can sync directly with the account you have.

Student Management

Student-Management

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A learning management system can not be efficient in the absence of covering all aspects of online teaching. This includes keeping an eye on student development.

Thinkific provides a simple student management system for students. With it, you can easily pull up your students’ contact details and basic information.

You can also customize the form to sign-up your subscribers by asking for specific details. The template by Thinkific requires names as well as email addresses and contact numbers. If you’re seeking specific information, simply switch your settings to include a second field on the sign-up sheet.

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When you’ve had your subscriber pooled, you can then categorize them according to the courses they have signed up for. So, you can monitor them per course much more easily.

With the Premier and Pro plans, you can look up a particular user based on his/her registration date, the date of their enrollment, subscribed courses and job type. There are more categories to choose from as you browse the site.

Student Feedback

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Thinkific places a high value on not only the course creators but as well the students. So, feedback from students is encouraged when taking a course.

An open discussion between the students and their instructors can greatly reduce the learning curve associated with lessons.

There is a discussion area on Thinkific wherein students can post questions that they have about their online classes. From there, the instructors can reply and clarify with answers.

Students are also able to review and rate the courses they’ve taken. The ratings will reflect the performance of the online instructor as well. So, instructors can establish their credibility on Thinkific.

These reviews can also assist students to decide whether or not a course is suitable for them. This reduces the chance of a student leaving within the middle of a lesson all of a suddenly.

If creators of courses are concerned that the reviews could potentially be detrimental to their business but they don’t have to. They’ll have to decide if they want a review published or not. Thinkific will never publish them without permission.

A good method to keep students engaged is to keep them informed with constant updates. Thinkific lets course instructors send push notifications to students when they post new content or other resources on the platform.

Customer Support

Customer-Support

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As one would expect from learning management systems, Thinkific does quite a great job with its customer service.

Before you sign up, you can access cases studies and articles on the official website. There are also easily accessible product demos and video tutorials to browse through.

And once you’re already subscribed You can log into Thinkific’s Help Center. You’ll find a wealth of information that can aid you in understanding how to market online courses.

Thinkific offers guides as well as training videos to guide you through the interface. In addition, as we stated earlier, there are also forums for users to discuss your issues. Users and instructors can respond to help you out.

If you have more serious problems You can submit a ticket to ask for assistance from the customer service team. And if you’re subscribed to an Enterprise plan, or higher you’ll get first-of-the-line response.

One catch is that Thinkific does not offer a live chat feature though. You’ll have to wait patiently for the ticket response.

How Does Thinkific Work

Like every other review of course platforms This Thinkific review will teach you how to begin using Thinkific. It is as easy as following these simple steps.

Step 1: Create an account

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First, sign-up and create your Thinkific account. You’ll automatically be enrolled in the trial trial that is free after registration.

Step 2: Customize Your Course Player

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After you have created your account then you can begin to personalize your player. You can choose a particular color scheme so that it matches your brand logo and the theme.

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Your course player is what your users will be using to access the content of your course. Videos, audio files, and quizzes will be accessible through your course’s player.

Step 3: Create Your Course

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Next, you can create an online learning course. Using the course Builder program, you are able to create a new course by adding modules, lessons, and other files to it.

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The course content is divided into categories and sections. You may also assign your online courses custom labels to help them be easier to find.

Step 4: Customize Your Site

Step-4-Customize

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When your content is set, you can finalize the overall look of your website. With Thinkific You are able to personalize each landing page for every course that you have.

It is the Thinkific Site Builder lets you create a color scheme and theme for your home page. This is where all of your courses will be put up. Students can browse through the course and select which one interests them from there.

You can also customize your landing page for every course. It’s recommended to create an entirely different design for each course, so that they’re simple to distinguish but blend into all of your branding.

Step 5: Name Your Website

Step-5-Name-Your-Site

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The next thing to do after contents, the course player and customization are done is to decide on a name for your website. Make sure that the name is memorable but still appropriate to your business.

Step 6: Create Your Course

Step-6-Publish

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When everything is in place and you are ready to publish the course. To publish, you just must set a cost and provide specific payment details.

A card that is referred to as a course 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 get a quick overview of your online course as well as the content.

A great course card can be a great help for making courses available on Thinkific.

What Needs Improvement on Thinkific

And while there’s so much to be awed by about Thinkific but it’s not without a few shortcomings. This Thinkific review, we’ve listed below what we think can still be improved.

Limited Quizzing Features

While we think that Thinkific is doing a great job at course creation and content uploading but we feel that quiz features could still be enhanced.

The assessment template available on Thinkific is fairly basic. While it’s adequate to get an idea of how much your pupils know, it isn’t enough for asking more complex questions.

If you’re happy with short check-up style tests at the end of each course, then this is what Thinkific offers you. For questions that require longer and more specific outputs You might want to try another platform.

Insufficient Email Marketing Tools

As previously mentioned, Thinkific can be integrated with third-party applications , and these include email marketing tools. But that’s only because it doesn’t come with email marketing tools of its own.

Though there are many third-party tools that work, it still would be great if Thinkific already had it on its own. It would have speeded up the process.

No Live Chat Support

We’re sure that the response time to customer inquiries is swift, it doesn’t make up for the absence of a live chat option.

Users who have more urgent issues will not be able to have the issue resolved in a hurry. They’ll be forced to sit and wait for the response, especially if they aren’t subscribed to the paid plans.

Thinkific Pricing

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Thinkific has three paid plans are available to sign up for. After signing to the plan, you’ll then be able to sign up for the free plan with no transaction fees or hidden charges.

Thinkific Free

Gumroad Vs Thinkific

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The Thinkific free plan is distinctive in that, unlike other plans, it doesn’t expire. You can avail of the plan for all the time you’d like to continue using Thinkific. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

In addition to being completely free, it also doesn’t charge any hidden fees or transaction costs regardless of whether you sell courses. It’s perfect for course creators who want to cut down on expenses or for small-scale entrepreneurs just getting started.

Through the Thinkific Free plan you are able to create 3 courses and customize them using your own brand. Your courses can be enhanced by adding quizzes, other materials and more in addition.

You are able to enroll an unlimited amount of learners, and automate the sign-up process, then also track their performance. Surveys can also be distributed to them so that you can gauge what they think about the classes they’re taking. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

Thinkific’s free plan also allows an administrator with authority to the site and multiple instructor profiles and access to all students’ data. It also allows you to track conversion rates and click rates for your learners.

The free plan allows search engine optimization of your content. This way, your courses will be easier to find by your customers. You can even embed websites and applications from third parties on your own site to enhance user experience.

Thinkific Basic

basic-pricing

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Thinkific Basic is $49 per month, but if you choose for a payment plan that is annual, it’ll only cost $39 per month.

You get the same features the free plan has and more benefits that are premium. First, you are able to create unlimited courses. That way, selling courses will also be easier. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

Another benefit you won’t have in the free plan is the option for drip-feeding your posts, to send coupons to customers, and gain access to analytics.

To simplify in two steps, firstly, drip content means to release information to your students at a set and gradual intervals. Additionally, you can mail coupons with discounts or other freebies to learners that may need a boost in incentive to keep them connected. And third, the analytics you can access are the affiliate reports and conversion rates.

With this plan it is easy to integrate the third-party tools that you’d like to use. They include Zapier, Aweber, and MailChimp, among others.

In addition, you could design a custom domain to your site with the standard plan. No need to use the Thinkific domain for your URL anymore.

Thinkific Pro

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Thinkific Pro costs $99 per month but if you get annual billing, it’s $79 per month.

This plan get all the same features like you do with the Free Basic and Basic plans. The only difference is that you get more advanced settings and advantages.

Thinkific’s Pro plan lets you have 2 site administrators and five course admin accounts. It will also include advanced pricing options for your courses as well as editing HTML/CSS codes. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

You’ll be able create exclusive courses which only a limited number of people can access. Additionally, you can provide discounts and membership packages to your subscribers.

Course creators can also use the more sophisticated assignments, quizzes and assessment tools.

Growth Package

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In it being the Pro plan, there’s a feature called a Growth Plan that is available. The best part is that once you get more than 100 users subscribed to your plan, Thinkific will automatically charge additional fees on top of the $99 per month.

However, don’t worry because the cost of your subscription grants you access to extra features. You can send out mass emails, incorporate third-party tools, and group users based on different criteria.

Thinkific Premier

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Thinkific Premier is the most expensive plan. It is priced at $499 per month. However, when billed annually, it is $399 per month. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

If you’re a subscriber for this package, you’ll get access to the same features that are available in the Free, Basic, or Pro plans. The reason it has a distinct advantage and higher price point is that it’s geared towards bigger companies with more members.

Its Thinkific Premier plan lets you have five site admin accounts and 50 courses admin accounts. It also allows for something called a Single Sign-On (SSO). This is helpful when you have a large number of users who need access to the same web page.

Additionally, this plan comes with an onboarding package which is 30 minutes of onboarding along with an onboarding review of preparations and an online training manual.

And you’ll also get acces to our Growth package for a lower fee. There’ll be a flat rate that you just have to pay.

Thinkific Reviews

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Users who have reviewed and used Thinkific particularly appreciate how economical it is. Even when using the free plan, you’ll have access to useful features. Also, there aren’t any fees hidden, so you don’t be spending more than you anticipated to.

Others also liked the white-labeling option of Thinkific. It lets you improve your own company’s branding even if it’s a small-sized business.

In the end, educators are enthralled working with Thinkific because it’s ideal for students. The interface is simple to navigate and explore.

“I loved that there was the option to upload files in the discussions. I’m happy I chose this option because other sites take an amount of your income and you have to wait longer for money. No transaction fees!” -Anonymous

“I enjoyed the ability to make your access platform, courses as well as the payment methods in one interface, without the need for additional products. I especially like how simple setting up up the courses if you’ve had your own curriculum and has white-labeling.” – Anonymous

“Thinkific lets you begin making courses for free, and will keep them for free for the rest of your life. Really, this is an excellent way to get started with the art of course creation without paying a penny.” -Anonymous

“Thinkific made it simple to create & host our digital course for financial advisors. Thinkific’s support team was always quick to respond and helped us to understand the process. I am also impressed that you can do white-labeling and use the domain of your choice.” – Anonymous

“Classes were more fun, entertaining, and easy especially for our more advanced learners. Teachers were thrilled making use of it to design their classes and then share their ideas.” -Anonymous

Alternatives to Thinkific

If the Thinkific review isn’t convincing you of its potential as an online course platform take a look at the following alternatives:

Kajabi

Kajabi is one of the first online course platforms that is likely to get your attention once you ask around. It’s a complete platform that allows you to create and promote your online courses. Thinkific is like Kajabi in this way.

If you sign up to Kajabi it will allow you to create your own course and add content. It has templates built in and themes that you can modify your website right from the beginning. The editor on your site allows you to add multiple sections and sales pages to your courses. Gumroad Vs Thinkific

For quiz functions It is a step ahead against Thinkific due to its more sophisticated options. You can create more customized quizzes and assessment types. In addition, you can hold webinars and video tutorials for greater clarity in teaching.

Many teachers particularly like the fact that they can award their pupils with certificates for every successful course. Additionally, they are able to drip content to their subscribers, just like Thinkific.

Another difference Kajabi differs from Thinkific is that it has superior marketing features. While Thinkific does let you easily sell your classes online, it doesn’t let you make a sales funnel builder which can help you get your processes more organized.

Kajabi also has email marketing tools and automated email, in contrast to Thinkific. You don’t need to install an application from a third party to send emails and broadcasts to your subscribers.

It is worth noting though that Kajabi is much more expensive than Thinkific.

Read: Review of Kajabi All-in-One Online Course Platform

Teachable

learning-platform

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Next to Kajabi, Teachable is Thinkific’s second closest competitor. This is due to the fact that they share lots of resemblances as online course platforms.

Teachable’s interface is user-friendly and has helpful features that can aid you in creating content. There are pre-made theme templates that you can utilize to make your website appear attractive even if you don’t have any previous experience in web design.

Like Thinkific instructors have the option to drip content they share to their subscribers.

What is what sets Teachable against Thinkific is the quiz features. Instead of using templates that are basic, Teachable lets you customize your assessments and quizzes.

Like Kajabi, you can create webinars and videos in order to boost the participation of your followers. There’s also an option to create a sales page for your online course to increase conversion rates.

One more thing we like about Teachable is the ability to give your subscribers certificates after each course they take. And , unlike Thinkific, Teachable has email marketing tools allow you to send mass emails to our users.

READ: Teachable Review – Unlimited Course Creation Features

Read: Kajabi vs. Teachable

Final Review and Conclusion on Thinkific Review

Gumroad Vs Thinkific

Thinkific has plenty of strengths which make it worthy of a subscription. One of them is that it’s easy to use. It’s possible to create an original online course, and then make money from it, even if new to the market.

Additionally, it comes with pre-designed layouts and templates to simplify setting the website. You don’t have to input complicated CSS or HTML code to create an attractive and professional looking website.

And if you opt for any of these paid options, you get access to advanced features that will enhance your branding. You can forego the Thinkific subdomain and use Advanced users to create their own domain names using hosting and build out most of the pages of their website using their own URL.

It is possible to incorporate third-party apps to Thinkific, especially because it doesn’t come with its own integrated marketing tools for email.

Students are also able to interact with their instructors through online discussions on Thinkific. They can conveniently request assistance during lessons and post queries about their classes. Teachers will be able to answer questions directly.

Customer support isn’t too bad either. It’s a priority for replies when you’re a subscriber to one of other plans with a paid subscription. Be aware that it has no live chat function.

In the end, our conclusion on the Thinkific review is that it’s worth giving it a shot. Especially if you’re a novice author, Thinkific seems to be the ideal place to start creating courses.

The free plan also lasts for a lifetime, unlike other platforms. If you’re strapped for cash, then it’s a good choice since you can access great features at no cost at all.

We strongly suggest that you try Thinkific out.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this Thinkific review, you may take a look at our review on our pick of Best Online Course Platforms available today . Click here.

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About the author

jack_morris

Jack has worked on the video production, audio mastery, and physical coursework for over one-hundred popular online courses to date. He’s here to share his experiences with you, as well as show you what tools are worth your time, how to spot those that aren’t worth a penny, and above all else, how to keep yourself informed about how to navigate online course creation efficiently and effectively.