7 Best Teachable Alternatives – Free, Affordable Competitors

Teachable as an Online Course Platform

Teachable is one of the first platforms that come to mind when it comes to creating online courses. If you’ve been familiar with it for a while, then you also probably know that it used to be called Fedora.

But despite the name change, Teachable’s features have remained the same and have even improved with time. It has helpful course creation, course marketing, and website customization tools.

And the best part is that anyone can begin using Teachable. The platform’s interface is so easy to use that even those without prior experience in web design can create their own course and site.

Course instructors will be pleased to know that the lessons they create with Teachable are customizable and marketable. You can easily put them up for sale once you get them set up on the site.

Teachable also has interesting marketing tools like personalized sales pages and automated email options. You can use these to reach new audiences for your courses.

And there are four Teachable plans that you can choose from, based on your level of expertise, business needs, and overall budget.

All of these wonderful features are what made Teachable the widely known online course platform that it is today.

7 Best Teachable Alternatives

1. Kajabi

It’s no surprise that Kajabi is at the top of this list. If you’ve followed us for a while, you’d notice that we find Kajabi to be the best all-in-one platform for all your course creation needs.

Kajabi is one of the most recommended Teachable alternatives because it has more or less the same features.

Its first and most obvious similarity with Teachable is its user-friendly interface. Kajabi’s dashboard and course builder is straightforward enough that you can get set started in just a few clicks.

The dashboard is organized into different tabs and landing pages that contain everything you’ll need to create your course and site.

Site customization options include ready-to-use templates and layouts. You can even set a unique color scheme for your website’s overall theme.

And after everything is set up, you can already market your courses online.

Kajabi lets you use its sales pipeline builder which is a helpful tool for planning your tasks for each course.

Like Teachable, Kajabi has built-in email marketing tools that will help you promote your courses as well. You can send out a bulk email to your users, as well as other potential customers who aren’t on Kajabi yet.

You can also ultimately use the email tools to communicate with your students. Updates on new courses, assignments, and resources can be sent out through Kajabi’s platform.

And you aren’t even limited to just online courses because on Kajabi, you can create other digital products like video lessons and eBooks.

Finally, Kajabi also has really great customer service. The support team is available 24 hours a day via live chat and email to answer your queries.

Kajabi Pricing

Like all other online course platforms, Kajabi first lets you use a free trial. Once that ends, you can avail of one of the three paid plans.

All of the plans have features like:

• Creation of at least 3 products
• Creation of at least 3 pipelines
• Unlimited number of landing pages
• Unlimited sending of marketing emails
• Minimum of 10,000 contacts
• Minimum of 1,000 active members
• Ownership of at least 1 Website
• Authorization of at least 1 Admin User

2. Thinkific

Thinkific is another one of the most popular Teachable alternatives we can recommend. Like Kajabi, Thinkific also offers almost all the same features as Teachable does.

The standout similarity is the easy-to-use interface that guides you to create your own online course. Even if you’re a first-time user, you’ll get to produce fully-working courses and enrich them with resources.

Your courses can also be set to drip the content to your students gradually. That way, they won’t be too overwhelmed with the lessons and information.

The assessment features on Thinkific are pretty useful too. You can choose from different quiz types to suit what kind of lesson you’re giving the students.

Course creators are free to host video lessons and webinars if they want since it can help students understand the courses better.

Thinkific’s site builder has pre-made themes and layouts that you can use to customize your page as well. You can use your own color scheme and then build a sales page for your courses as well.

The sales page will largely benefit your conversion rates since it can entice users to subscribe to your course.

Thinkific always comes up next to both Kajabi and Teachable when you search for a learning platform online. It’s another close and worthy competitor to both.

One more similarity Thinkific shares with Teachable is the option to give certificates to the students. Positive reinforcement will motivate them to study harder.

Though there is one thing that Thinkific lacks and its email marketing features on the site itself. Instructors won’t be able to send updates to their students via email, nor promote their courses either.

You can integrate an outside application for that though. But for most people, it still sounds like too much of a hassle, especially when compared to Teachable that has its own tools.

Thinkific Pricing

What catches our attention with Thinkific’s pricing scheme is that it has a lifetime free plan. Most platforms, Teachable included, only offer a limited free trial.

But with Thinkific, you can keep using the free plan for as long as you want. The only catch is that it has more limited features compared to its three paid plans.

With the three paid plans, you’ll enjoy features like:

• Instant access to your revenue
• Student notifications
• Full e-Commerce options
• Upsell offers and bundles
• Easy drag and drop course builder
• Discussion forums
• Secure cloud hosting
• Multiple instructor profiles
• SSL certificates
• Customer support

3. Udemy

Udemy is another one of the best Teachable alternatives to look out for. In terms of interface and course creation features, it’s pretty similar to Teachable.

When you open the site, you see a clean interface that’s easy to navigate. From there, you can begin creating your online course. For students, they can begin choosing which course they want to enroll in.

And you’ll be glad to know that once you’re enrolled in a course, you’ll get to access it forever. That’s what makes Udemy a great choice for getting your money’s worth from an online learning site.

Plus, all the courses can be taken at your own pace. Udemy and its course creators won’t force you to rush on the learning process.

You can easily pause and repeat the section of your modules in case you don’t understand them on the first go.

Course creators can also reward their students with certificates for every course and step that they accomplish. It’s a nice way to motivate the students.

But what Udemy is most famous for is its creator-centric pricing scheme, which is different from Teachable.

For every course that a creator sells directly to the user, he/she gets 97% of the total profit.

There’s also an option to sell the course on Udemy’s course marketplace. And when you make a sale there, you receive 50% of the profit instead.

Udemy Pricing

Course creators don’t have to pay for a subscription to design courses on Udemy. The platform also won’t ask for any transaction fees or charges.

You can rest assured that course creation on this platform is cost-free so it’s perfect for those on a budget.

Udemy stays afloat solely with the portion of profit it receives from every sale a course creator makes.

4. Learndash

The thing about this Teachable alternative is that it’s actually a plug-in for WordPress websites. So this is a good choice if you’re already well-versed with how WordPress works.

Even though it’s only a plug-in and not a standalone platform, it still provides all the essential features you need for creating a course.

Learndash’s course builder lets you customize your courses with options to enrich and categorize them. You can add different topics and lessons to one course.

And then you can also set different quiz types through Learndash’s assessment features. Some commonly used quiz formats are identification, multiple-choice, and short answer types.

The assessments can also be set to get checked automatically once a student completes them. That way, the instructor can save time on checking.

Course completion certificates and badges may be sent to the students as well. Instructors can even customize them with the students’ individual names and course names.

As for student experience, Learndash allows for open communication on the platform. There’s an interactive discussion forum for all Learndash users.

You can post a question and then wait for other users to come up with answers and suggestions.

Learndash also has its own application that you can install on various devices. This makes for seamless learning since the students can continue whatever they’re doing on their tablets with their phones.

But what Learndash lacks is its own email marketing option. You can still opt to integrate a third-party application though. Something like MailChimp will help you send bulk emails to your students for updates.

Learndash Pricing

The thing about Learndash is that, compared to teachable, it actually doesn’t offer a free trial for new users. Once you sign up, you’ll have to avail of a paid plan.

But Learndash does allow you to refund your payment within 30 days if you are not satisfied with the plug-in’s quality.

All 3 paid plans have features like:

• Up to 10 site licenses
• Unlimited courses
• Unlimited users
• Data protection
• Drip content options
• Advanced quizzing tools
• Certificates and badges for students
• Community forums
• Email and push notifications

5. Podia

Even though Podia is more known for its sales and marketing features, it’s still a worthy Teachable alternative.

Course creators will be happy to know that it’s just as competent as other alternatives when it comes to designing an online course. You can upload supporting files like PDFs, PowerPoints, and Word documents for further reading.

As you create your course, you’ll also get to enjoy the simple and easy-to-navigate interface that Podia has. No need for the unnecessary stress of figuring out how to use a new platform.

You can even host video tutorials and webinars on Podia. These are great types of media for students who are more visual learners.

Add-on freebies to entice students to renew their subscriptions can also be sent out by instructors. You can bundle your courses with coupons and then send them out to your users.

And once you’ve got everything set up on the course creation side of things, you can instantly create and design a sales page. A well-designed sales page will help you sell your courses better and faster.

Podia allows its creators to run an affiliate program for their courses. This means better promotion to a wider audience. Instructors can partner up with affiliates to advertise their courses for more subscribers.

Other features like all-around customer support, onsite messaging, and digital downloads are also possible in Podia. They greatly improve the overall user experience.

Podia Pricing

One difference that Podia has from Teachable is that it only has two paid plans to choose from. They’re called Mover and Shaker.

Before you have to subscribe to either of them though, you can enjoy a free trial of Podia’s essential features first.

All paid plans have features like:

• Your own website
• Online courses
• Digital downloads
• Webinars
• Email marketing
• On-site messaging
• Zero transaction fees
• Round-the-clock customer service

6. Academy of Mine

What sets Academy of Mine apart from the rest of the Teachable alternatives on this list is that it’s geared for big companies and groups.

You can accommodate unlimited users and create unlimited courses when you’re subscribed to Academy of Mine.

Like Teachable, Academy of Mine’s interface is easy enough to understand. It features a drag and drop site builder that speeds up the customization process.

You can add elements and organize them on your site. The pre-made layouts and templates will also be useful in coming up with a structure for your courses.

Other resources like photos and videos can also be uploaded to enrich your courses and website.

As for quiz customization, you can add an assessment to the end of every course you make. That way, a student can self-check whether or not he understood the lesson.

Reinforcements like certificates and badges can also be sent to a student upon accomplishment of a course or task.

We also love that Academy of Mine supports a number of languages. You can design your courses to be in different languages so that more users can subscribe to and understand them.

As for analytics, you can access them all through the Academy of Mine dashboard. You can view the real-time progress of your marketing campaigns and revenue.

Lastly, one of Academy of Mine’s strengths is that it offers optimum security for its users. You get encrypted security options like SSL and TLS 2.0 encryption that protect your personal data while on the platform.

Academy of Mine Pricing

Academy of Mine offers a free trial upon signing up. To avail of it, you must first hop on a Discovery Call with the support team.

And once the trial ends, you can continue to access its features by subscribing to the paid plan which is billed annually.

You’ll enjoy features like:

• Unlimited users and courses
• Quiz and assignment options
• eCommerce tools
• Web and sales pages builder
• Webinars
• 24/7 customer service
• Online community discussions
• SSO (Single Sign-On)
• Custom payment options
• Bulk importing and exporting of data
• Activity and audit logs

7. Learnworlds

Completing this list of Teachable alternatives is Learnworlds. The first word that comes to mind when users have to describe Learnworlds is: Interactive.

This is since the platform has a range of unique file types added to its courses. It’s most popular for its interactive video lessons and eBooks.

A learner will find pop-up messages, hyperlinks, and in-video questions as he/she goes through the course content. That way, the lesson is kept interesting and the student doesn’t lose interest too easily.

And once a student accomplishes a course or lesson, the instructor can even award him with a certificate. It’s a great way to motivate the learner to do well.

For course creators, Learnworlds is easy to navigate. There’s a sales page builder that helps them create landing and sales pages with just a few clicks.

Customization is also a breeze because of the built-in templates that can be used on each creator’s site. The color scheme, photo sizes, and font types can be set.

Once those are all ready, the creators can then immediately market their course. Learnworlds even lets them run an affiliate program to gain more subscribers for their courses and digital products.

Other options like bundling are also possible on Learnworlds. You can add a special coupon with your course when a user subscribes as an incentive.

Like Teachable, Learnworlds also has useful email marketing tools that you can use to further market your course content and digital products.

And one more great thing about this platform is that it has its own social network. Learnworlds users can message each other for help and other queries right on the site. It makes for easier communication.

Learnworlds Pricing

Like most alternatives, this platform offers a free trial upon signing up. Once the trial period is over, you can choose from 3 paid plans, depending on your needs.

Learnworlds’ basic features in all the 3 paid plans include:

• Unlimited courses
• Video library
• Multilingual UI
• Theme and course editor
• Built-in templates and layouts
• Coupons and options to bundle
• Built-in social network
• Interactive e-Books and videos
• Quizzes, assignments, exams
• Analytics
• Conversion tracking

Conclusion

Despite all of Teachable’s great features for creating online courses, it still has a few flaws. And that’s probably why you’ve decided to turn to this Teachable alternatives article.

Out of all the alternatives, we favor Kajabi the most. Not only does it perform well with course creation, but it also has great marketing features.

You can run an affiliate program to advertise your course and also have the option to integrate third-party applications.

Perhaps the only downside of Kajabi compared to Teachable is that it has pricier payment plans. Kajabi’s basic plan costs $129 per month while Teachable’s basic plan only costs $29 per month.

It’s quite a drastic difference. But we still think that the difference in price is worth it anyway, as long as you’re ready to splurge.

Another one of the alternatives that stood out for us is Thinkific. In terms of price, it’s only slightly pricier than Teachable. The basic plan is $39 per month, which is only a $10 difference.

And we think that the fact that Thinkific’s free plan doesn’t expire at all already makes up for that $10 difference. As an online course platform, it offers the users more options.

It has a total of 4 plans that you can choose from all in all, depending on your budget and needs. The only catch is that though it does have a free plan, there will be a transaction fee.

Finally, one more platform from this Teachable alternatives list that we recommend is Udemy. It has a clean and simple interface that eases the course creation and selling process.

And it has the best payment terms since creators earn 97% of the profit they make when directly selling a course. They can even opt to use the Udemy marketplace wherein they’ll still earn 50% of the profit of anything sold.

Plus, there is absolutely no transaction fee nor subscription fee. It’s definitely up to par, if not even better, than Teachable in terms of being a platform for creating and selling online courses and digital products.

Now that you’ve reached the end of this article on Teachable’s alternatives, we hope that you’ve found one that will suit you best.

Depending on your overall preference, budget, and level of expertise, you’re sure to find one that will satisfy your course creation needs.

FURTHER READING: Kajabi Alternatives, Thinkific Alternatives