A free site builder with hundreds of customizable templates might sound appealing, but are you going to judge solely by what they advertise?
In fact, it’s a mistake most online content creators like us often make.
And what do we end up with?
Regret for wasting our time and having to start our online courses again on another platform.
This is why we would gladly share this in-depth comparison we made between Thinkific vs Wix – to help you make the right decision, find a website appropriate for your online courses, and choose a platform that gives you maximum value for your effort.
What Really Matters
Thinkific and Wix are online course platforms that carry a lot of features for their creators.
There’s no doubt both have their own strengths and features to boast about when it comes to creating courses.
Among the two sites, how would you know which is for you?
Look for the following elements or factors when choosing between the two:
- User Interface Features & Customization
- Tools for Setting Up A New Course
- Monetization Options
- Marketing Options
- Memberships
- Pricing Range
Honestly, content creators fall into the trap of thinking that numbers are everything.
Basing your comparison on which platform has more educators and students is just another way of allowing yourself to have high expectations for your own courses.
You don’t want to spend weeks or months crafting new courses on one platform, only to end up realizing it would have been better to choose the other.
Remember, it’s not just between the two sites. What really matters is…
- Choosing a platform you are able to use comfortably
- Uploading your content knowing it will have student engagement
- Sleep soundly with the knowledge your content is giving value all over the world
Now that you know what to look for, let’s take an in-depth look at how each platform performs in each category.
Thinkific vs Wix: Weighing One Against the Other
User Interface Features & Customization
Both platforms require no coding experience. With the ease of functionality and adaptability to techy and non-techy users alike, both websites have their features to boast about, among others.
The drag-and-drop feature is also available in both Thinkific and Wix. You simply select a layout that you like and Voila! A ready-made site awaiting the upload of your online courses.
Instead of having to go through complicated codes, all you have to do now is to fill the pre-formatted sections with your courses. Who doesn’t enjoy the drag-and-drop feature?
Not to mention, both platforms offer customizable templates and other features that create an overall innovative site for your students.
However, Thinkific takes the lead here. Let us tell you why.
Winner: Thinkific
Thinkific has features that allow you to customize landing pages on your site.
Not only is the platform a user-friendly site builder, but it also enables you to create a course-specific branding to optimize and sell online courses.
When it comes to student management, this platform is a clear victor too!
Thinkific is a learner-centered system that offers a great avenue for giving feedback to students.
Isn’t this a crucial aspect of online courses? Providing comments from instructors is an integral part of digital learning, as this tracks student progress and gauges their understanding of the courses.
In fact, this platform also provides a community experience. With its student dashboard, learners can support each other throughout online courses.
Tools for Course Creation
Different courses require different ways of teaching, don’t you agree?
Both Thinkific and Wix have built-in content creation tools for various courses. It’s super easy to upload video courses now, as all we need to do is to utilize those tools.
Truth be told, Thinkific and Wix offer different tools for course building.
Wix enables video uploads through Wix Video, which makes it ideal to post tutorials and other courses requiring a video as a medium.
The video uploads aren’t unlimited, though.
In terms of flexibility with the medium of its courses, Thinkific sweeps the floor of this round.
Winner: Thinkific
This platform features twelve different content formats for online courses:
- Video
- Quiz
- Multimedia
- Text
- Survey
- Audio
- Downloads
- Presentations
- Brillium exams
- Assignments
- Live feed (beta)
Whether you’re curating technical courses that need a lot of formulas or a high-definition video about doing the best makeup look, this platform has got your back.
Have I mentioned the sweetest part, yet?
All these perks are available in the free trial plan. Imagine that, full video on your course platform WITHOUT spending… A. Single. Penny. Wow, sign us up!
Thinkific is adored by entrepreneurs. In fact, writers, speakers, and coaches would benefit from different options in conducting the courses.
You would find Thinkific ideal if you are catering to courses that require different types of media to optimize the students’ experience.
Monetization Options
Another important aspect to consider when you sell online courses is the availability of a wide array of payment plans.
Providing a variety of payment options is a retention method. Online courses that offer more ways to pay appear to be flexible and willing to accommodate the needs of their customers.
Another way to monetize is through ads. Thinkific and Wix have a very different focus when it comes to monetization.
Wix has the ability to do the following:
- Integrate Google AdSense via their app, which is honestly, pretty cool. Google AdSense grants online course creators access to a considerable number of advertiser demands.
- Wix links with Google Analytics, which will provide you with new information about your ads, your site, and how you can improve your courses and the audience’s experience.
Thinkific, on the other hand, could be integrated into Youtube, Patreon, and Merch. It also provides support for both Stripe and Paypal.
It was a tight fight, but it’s clear that in this round between Thinkific and Wix, the latter wins.
Winner: Wix
Honestly, being able to integrate into Google AdSense through the app is such a HUGE win. This will generate revenue from ads for the creators.
Not only that, but Wix offers paid membership plans. For online courses, students would be required a monthly subscription to access the videos uploaded in the courses.
Although Thinkific requires direct payments to sellers’ Paypal or Stripe accounts, Wix mastered the art of providing educators with video courses multiple ways to earn.
Marketing Features
Of course, the promotion of an online course is the CORNERSTONE of your marketing strategy.
Both Thinkific and Wix have excellent marketing plans. While the former’s plan focuses on free trials for your online courses, Wix establishes a loyalty program with students.
As you may have noticed, Wix’s plan is to utilize e-commerce tactics to generate “sales”.
Between the two sites, Thinkific takes the lead.
Winner: Thinkific
In terms of providing support for a learning management system, Thinkific has better marketing features that cater to online courses.
Aside from free trials and basic plan for your courses, Thinkific offers marketing features such as JavaScript tracking, which allows the advanced use of accurate visitor metrics.
This feature enables you to provide a better service to your audience and plan a more optimized education based on the data Java gathers for you.
Wix focuses on selling on social channels and marketplaces, but Thinkific’s marketing features take into account the needs of the student.
Who doesn’t want vouchers, right?!
Thinkific motivates memberships through coupons for a certain percentage PLUS it’s also possible to generate multiple coupon codes for EVERY course.
Not to mention that this platform features widgets to promote on partner networks and third-party integrations such as the following:
- E-commerce: Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Stunning
- Automation: Zapier, Infusionsoft
- Analytics: Google Analytics, Facebook, Segment.io
- Email marketing: Mailchimp, ConstantContact, ConvertKit, Aweber
- Student success: Zoom, Accredible, Disqus
- Growth tools: Sumo
Memberships
Part of being an online course creator is providing plans for your revenue.
Thinkific offers five membership plans including:
- Free
- One-time payment
- Subscription
- Monthly payment
- Custom pricing
It isn’t a secret that determining the worth of each course is such a complicated process. That is why Thinkific made everything simpler by enabling a membership site.
This site automatically charges the students a recurring fee in exchange for access. Talk about convenience, right?
On the other hand, Wix offers customizable access plans.
One of the best features of this platform is its customization when it comes to its prices. It allows the educator to create a tailored-fit plan for every type of course.
And to put the cherry on top, you can also customize the design of your pricing plan.
Winner: Wix
Compared to Wix, Thinkific falls short on adaptability when it comes to providing customer plans. Without flexibility, digital learning would not be effective on course platforms.
To address the problem of rigidity in digital education, Wix came up with solutions.
To start, this platform offers the option of purchasing additional services and links them to the existing plans of the students.
We’d have to admit this is a genius move by Wix, among other features that are available on the site.
So what does this mean for Thinkific users?
It means you have great plans to choose from, but you can’t appropriate them according to your needs.
Pricing Range
Everybody wants to have the most value about what we spend our money on, right?
This is where Thinkific delivers best. We’re not just talking about a free plan on courses.
This site features a free trial along with three other paid subscription plans:
- Basic ($49/month) – unlimited courses
- Pro ($99/month)
- Premier ($499/month)
Here’s a more detailed look on Thinkific pricing.
Wix also offers trial and the following three subscriptions plans:
- Business Basic ($17/month)
- Business Unlimited ($25/month)
- Business VIP ($35/month)
The main difference between the two platforms is that Thinkific offers a Growth package that serves as an add-on to the Pro package (especially if you want to upload unlimited courses). This is the platform’s version of per-user pricing.
Another advantage of the other platform over Wix is there is no transaction fee involved in purchasing Thinkific plans.
However, do remember that payment processor fees still apply in online payments.
Winner: Thinkific
It is without a doubt that Wix’s Business Unlimited plan is a great choice when it comes to value for money.
With 24/7 customer care, the ability to post unlimited products, and enabling multiple currencies, this plan is the MOST POPULAR for a reason.
The same goes for the Business VIP plan of Wix. However, we’re really amazed by Thinkific’s robust features, even in its free plan. This beats the limited hours of video courses on the Basic plan of Wix.
When it comes to its paid marketing features, overall student experience, and course building, Thinkific plans enables access to:
- Customized domain
- Affiliate reporting
- Scheduled content/upload of courses
- Thinkific App Store
- Live lessons with Zoom
- Completion certificates for courses
- Live Chat support
You just can’t win against Thinkific when it comes to value, especially when you’ve got the Pro plan and above.
Surely, you will be getting your money’s worth with the great prices for their plans.
Thinkific or Wix: Who Is the Winner?
Wix has a lot to offer as a platform, especially with its powerful features. Wix is an amazing site for any business out there.
BUT, compared to Wix, Thinkific is the clear winner when it comes to making online courses.
This was a close race as both platforms offer great solutions for the need to have better digital education.
When we refer to performance, it’s all about offering solutions to bridge the gap between students and teachers in online course platforms.
On that note, Wix certainly has amazing features including the ease of use for their drag and drop tool. Not to mention, Wix focuses heavily on supporting video formats, which is the most common type of medium used in online courses.
However, Thinkific is radically changing the digital platform for educational courses with their overall great features in the management of students and building online courses from the ground up.
If you want to see more options similar to Thinkific, here are some notable alternatives.
Wrapping It Up
Let’s make one thing clear.
Just because Wix did not win in this article does not mean it’s any less of an incredible platform.
The thing is, Wix caters to the general market. If your plan is to create sites that need tons of designs and external links, Wix is a great choice, especially for small companies.
On the other hand, Thinkific ‘s domain is the creation of a digital course.
We hope that this comparison between Thinkific and Wix has helped you make a sound decision! Feel free to let us know in the comments below!
