If you’re deciding on which online course platform to go with, you’ll probably get a lot of suggestions. Thinkific is a worthy standout due to its numerous useful features.
There are many criteria to watch out for when using an online course platform and Thinkific has them all. Read through the Thinkific Review below and discover more details about its distinctive advantages and features.
Overview of Thinkific Review WordPress Vs Thinkific
Thinkific is among the more well-known options to create and sell online courses. Apart from having an easy-to-use design, this platform has ready-made templates that you can utilize to build your own brand-new website.
With just a few clicks, you’ll get to create and sell online courses, even if you have no prior experience. The drag and drop feature of the website allows you to easily begin.
Online course creators will be particularly curious about the advanced quiz features in every course you design. These can make your lessons more appealing to the students.
This online tool for creating courses lets you upload different kinds of files that can be used to build your Thinkific course.
And like most online courses platforms, Thinkific offers email marketing tools as well as third-party app integration. You can send out email sequences through Thinkific itself or via external applications like MailChimp, Zapier, etc.
Continue reading through this Thinkific review to learn more about this popular online platform for learning.
Pros
- Easy-to-use drag & drop editor
- Efficient course site builder
- Templates that are pre-made
- Different payment options
- Marketing and sales features
- Student management options
- Feedback capabilities for students
- Support for customers in a timely manner
- Lifetime access to the free plan
- There are no transaction fees or concealed charges
Cons
- Limited quizzing features
- Lack of email marketing tools
- Live chat is not available.
How do you define Thinkific?
Thinkific is a cloud-based online course platform. It means that all content you make on it is stored online and automatically backup. This makes course creation easier and simple.
Furthermore it functions as a Learning Management System (LMS) offers a variety of custom options for creators of courses. You can create an easy course and then upload various material to complement your lessons.
If you’re one of the instructors who like to write your course offline prior to uploading it, then Thinkific is just right for you. You can do that and then upload the course online later on.
Thinkific is also the host for all web pages you make with it, so you can upload whatever content you want.
You can design an entirely new online course site without site design knowledge as well. There’s no need to go through an excruciating learning curve with Thinkific It’s that simple.
There are also plenty of ways to market and distribute your course to accelerate the selling procedure of your Thinkific course. There is an online marketplace where you can offer courses and collaborate with other creators of courses.
Finally, Thinkific is also a excellent platform for those who already have their own website but would like to improve their marketing efforts and attract more students. You can link third-party sites to Thinkific to reach a wider market.
Features and Benefits of Thinkific
In this Thinkific review we review the top features and benefits that make Thinkific stand out.
Drag and Drop Editor
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The way your courses appear on your site will greatly impact the conversion rate. This is why we are so happy the fact that Thinkific offers an editor that you can drag and drop. It makes it easier to organize your website and digital products.
You can arrange the classes and lessons in any you like. No need to be concerned with complicated codes or techniques. Simply click on whatever object you’re looking for and drag it to where you would like it to appear.
A majority of the crucial components needed to create a website that looks professional are covered by the Thinkific editor. From the logos, color schemes, as well as fonts to discover everything you need from the site.
If you’re looking to go that extra mile and make your site There’s still the option to input CSS and HTML codes into Thinkific. It’s your choice to make the decision.
Plus, you can also utilize drag and drop to upload additional material to your lessons. The majority of types of media file can be uploaded through the editors uploader. You can upload audio files, quizzes, and PDFs to enhance your course.
The quiz types you design are easily altered with the help of the editor. Just choose which assessment type you wish to use for your class and then drag it into the course. You can select from surveys, type forms as well as multiple-choice assessments among others.
Course Site Builder
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Thinkific is much more than simply a drag and drop editors. Its overall course site builder can be effective in getting everything up and in place.
As mentioned, Thinkific does its own web hosting. This means you don’t be concerned about uploading limits. Your online storage capacity is unlimited with Thinkific.
If you’re thinking about domains, Thinkific allows you to select a unique URL you can use with its subdomain. The URL you choose will look like this: .thinkific.com
So, your website will be more memorable and easier for students to remember.
If you’d like to forego the Thinkific subdomain, there’s the option of registering an individual domain to your website. It’s just a matter of paying slightly more to get it.
Pre-Made Templates
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With regard to the builder for course websites, Thinkific has a slew of pre-designed layouts and course templates that you can use. It will help you avoid needing to create your site entirely from scratch.
The platform provides you with templates, based on the type of Thinkific course it is that you’re creating. For instance, if you’re creating an introduction to course, you could choose an outline-type template. For the assessment and culmination, you can select a template that is review-oriented.
As for themes and layout templates There are many to choose from. And once you’ve chosen something that is suitable for your needs, Thinkific offers settings to modify the colors, fonts, and the layout of the elements within the template.
Again, there is absolutely no requirement to enter complicated codes or even text. You simply have to click on the content you wish to include on your site and drag it into the layout.
But yes, if you still want to use HTML and CSS, there’s still the option of doing so.
You can also change the layout and arrangement of your site from time to time. The different sections can be placed in a chronological order so that your students know what lesson they should be focusing on.
Payment Options
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For payment, Thinkific offers options to incorporate Stripe and PayPal into your website. With these third-party processors, you can easily access your earnings in as little as 1 – 2 days.
It’s a stark contrast with other online courses with a payment time of 30 days. With Thinkific, you can withdraw more quickly.
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Students, they can choose from an one-time payment plan or an installment plan. You can also offer bundles, discounts, coupons, and bundles with the payment method they select.
Just note that for the one-time payment option the subscribers will be charged a one-time transaction fee as well. Similar to the installment subscription scheme, except that the transaction fee will be divided over the installment period.
Marketing and Sales Highlights
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Beyond being an online course creator, Thinkific is also effective in promoting online courses. Like we said, it has features that help you create and market courses in just a few clicks.
When you’ve published your course, you can immediately place it for sale using your Market and Sell option on your dashboard.
From there, you are able to alter your website’s design to improve the conversion rates of your visitors. You can alter the way your checkout and sign up pages appear to the users. That way, they’ll be more encouraged to take a look at the online course.
You can also improve how your courses are displayed on your site. They can be more attractive by filtering them into categories that people can easily browse.
In addition, as we’ve discussed previously, you can opt to bundle your courses with discounts coupons and freebies. That way, your users will be more motivated to commit longer in your class.
A sales widget could also be created through Thinkific. It’s basically a button that can be embedded on other third-party sites that will direct users to your platform for courses. It is possible to personalize them with a certain design and color scheme so that they are more in line with your brand and also look more professional.
Thinkific also allows you to manage an affiliate program that will assist you in reaching more people. On the website you can make affiliate links to send to affiliate partners. These links will be used to direct their customers to your platform and enroll in a course.
And once the affiliate program is running, you can access its progress right on the Thinkific site. You’ll get to monitor revenue, sales, as well as other commissions.
In the end, you have the option to incorporate other apps into Thinkific. If you’re considering email marketing campaigns, Aweber is a good tool to sync directly with the account you have.
Student Management
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A learning management system will not be effective if it doesn’t cover all aspects of online teaching. And that includes keeping the track of students’ progress.
Thinkific offers a user-friendly student management system. It lets you easily access the contact information of your students as well as basic information.
You can also customize the sign-up sheet for your subscribers, asking them for specific details. The template from Thinkific asks for names emails, names, and contact numbers. If you’re seeking specific information, simply toggle with your settings and add a new field to the sign-up sheet.
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When you’ve had your subscribers pooled you can then categorize them, depending on which courses they signed up to. So, you can monitor them per course much more easily.
In addition, with the Premier and Pro plans, you can search for a specific user by his/her enrollment date, subscribed courses, and job-type. There are more categories to choose from as you browse the site.
Student Feedback
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Thinkific is not only focused on the course creators but also students. This is why feedback from students is highly encouraged when you’re enrolled in an online course.
An open discussion between the students and instructors can significantly reduce the learning curve of lessons.
There is a discussion area on Thinkific in which students can submit questions they have regarding their online courses. After that, course instructors can reply and provide clarification.
Students also have the option to rate and evaluate the courses they’ve taken. The rating will include the quality of the instructor online as well. This way, course instructors can prove their expertise on Thinkific.
The reviews will also aid students to decide which course is right for them. It decreases the chances of a student dropping out during an entire class all of a suddenly.
And if creators of courses are concerned that the reviews could be detrimental to their business but they don’t have to. They’ll have to decide whether they’d like to publish a review or not. Thinkific will not publish any reviews without permission.
Finally, a good way to keep students engaged is to provide them with regular updates. Thinkific lets course instructors send notifications via push to their students when they update their materials or lessons through the site.
Customer Support
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Finally, as is expected from learning management systems, Thinkific does quite a excellent job in providing customer support.
Before you sign-up, you can access case studies and article guides 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, you can access Thinkific’s Help Center. There, you’ll find tools to aid you in understanding how to market online courses.
Thinkific offers guides and training videos that will assist you in navigating the interface. Additionally, as I previously mentioned, there are forums for users to discuss your issues. Instructors and other users can be available to assist you.
For more severe issues You can submit an online request for help from the service team. And if you’re subscribed to an Enterprise plan, or higher you get first-of-the-line answers.
One catch is that Thinkific does not offer live chat, but it does have. You just have to wait to see if they respond.
How Does Thinkific Works
Like any other platform review of course, this Thinkific review will teach you how to start using Thinkific. It is as easy as following these six simple steps.
Step 1: Create an account
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The first step is to sign up and create your Thinkific account. You’ll automatically be enrolled in the trial for free upon signing up.
Step 2: Personalize Your Course Player
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Once you have a login then you can begin to personalize your course player. You can select a certain color scheme so that it corresponds with your company’s logo and the theme.
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Your course player is what your subscribers will use to access your course content. Videos, audio files and quizzes will be accessible via your course’s player.
Step 3: Create Your Course
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Next, you can create your online course. Utilizing this Course Builder program, you can create a new course by adding modules, lessons and other files to it.
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The course content can be broken down into categories and sections. You may also assign your online courses customized labels that make them easier to search.
Step 4: Customize Your Site
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After your content is set, you can finalize the design and layout of your website. With Thinkific, you are able to personalize every landing page to suit each course you offer.
The Thinkific Site Builder lets you choose a color scheme as well as a the theme of our homepage. This is where all classes will be put up. Students will be able to browse through the course and select which one interests them from there.
You can also personalize those landing pages to suit each class. It’s recommended to create a slightly different look for each course so that they’re easily identifiable, yet fit in with the overall brand.
Step 5 Step 5: Name Your Website
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What you have to do after the content, course player and customizing are completed is to identify the name of your website. Make sure the name is memorable but still appropriate to your business.
Step 6: Publish Your Course
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When everything is all set, you can publish the course. For publishing, you only need to decide on a price and provide specific details for payment.
A card that is referred to as a course will have to be created. The course card will be the thing that students see on their’ dashboards. If they view it, they’ll be able to get a quick overview of your online course and content.
A great course card can be a great help for selling courses on Thinkific.
What Needs Improvement on Thinkific
There’s a lot to love about Thinkific, it isn’t without shortcomings. For this Thinkific review we’ve listed the areas we think can still be improved.
Limited Quizzing Features
We think Thinkific is doing a great job of creating courses and content uploading, we think that the quiz features can still be improved.
The assessment form on Thinkific is very basic. While it’s adequate to get an idea of what your students are aware of, it’s not enough to be able to answer more complicated questions.
But if you’re satisfied with short check-up type tests at the end of each course, then that’s what Thinkific can offer you. For questions that require longer and more specific outputs, you might want to try another platform.
The absence of Email Marketing Tools
As we’ve mentioned earlier, Thinkific can be integrated with third-party applications , and these include email marketing tools. However, this is only because it doesn’t have email marketing tools on its own.
While there are many third-party tools that are efficient but it would still be nice if Thinkific already had this on its own. It would have accelerated the process.
No Live Chat Support
Even if we believe that the response from customer service is fast, it isn’t enough to make up for absence of a live chat option.
Users with more urgent issues will not be able to have the issue resolved in a hurry. They’ll need to wait for a response to their ticket particularly if they’re not signed up to paid plans.
Thinkific Pricing
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Thinkific has three plans with paid subscriptions that you can sign up to. And upon signing up, you’ll first be able to sign up for the free plan with no fee for transactions or other hidden charges.
Thinkific Free
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The Thinkific free plan is distinctive because unlike that of competitors, it doesn’t expire. You can avail of the free plan the duration you wish to continue using Thinkific. WordPress Vs Thinkific
Apart from being free, it does not charge any hidden fees or transaction costs, even when you sell courses. It’s ideal for course creators who want to cut down on costs or small entrepreneurs just beginning their journey.
The Thinkific Free plan you can design three courses and then customize them by incorporating your personal branding. Your courses can be enhanced with quizzes and other resources as well.
You can enroll an unlimited quantity of pupils, automate the process of signing up, and then also track their progression. Surveys can also be sent to them, so you can gauge their opinions about the course they’re studying. WordPress Vs Thinkific
The free plan of Thinkific also provides an administrator with authority to the site, multiple instructor profiles, and 24 hours access to your student data. You can even monitor the click rate and conversion rates of your learners.
Finally, the free plan will also allow search engine optimization of your content. This way, your courses will be more easily discovered by your customers. You can even embed websites and applications from third parties on your site to improve user experience.
Thinkific Basic
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Thinkific Basic costs $49 per month. However, if you decide to pay annually, it’ll cost $39 per month.
You get the same features the free plan offers, as well as added premium benefits. First, you can make unlimited courses. This way, selling your courses is also easier. WordPress Vs Thinkific
Another benefit you wouldn’t get in the free plan is the option to distribute your contents, to send coupons to customers, and gain access to analytics.
To break that down in two steps, firstly, drip content is to provide information to your students at regular intervals over time. Second, you can send coupons for discounts and other freebies to learners that might need extra motivation to stay subscribed. And third, the analytics that you have access to are affiliate reporting and marketing conversion rates.
In this way, you can easily connect third-party tools you would like to utilize. They include Zapier, Aweber, and MailChimp, among others.
Additionally, you can design a custom domain to your website with the basic plan. There is no need to use the Thinkific domain to host your URL anymore.
Thinkific Pro
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Thinkific Pro costs $99 per month but if you get annual billing, it’s $79 each month.
With this plan, you get all the same features that you get with the Free and Basic plans. The only difference is that there are greater options for setting up and advantages.
Thinkific’s Pro plan will let you have two site administrators and 5 course admin accounts. It will also include advanced course pricing options and HTML/CSS code editing. WordPress Vs Thinkific
You’ll be able to create individual courses only accessible to a specific number of people can access. Additionally, you can provide subscription bundles and freebies for your users.
Course creators can also access the more advanced assessment, quiz and assessment tools.
Growth Package
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With the Pro plan, you can avail something called a Growth Package you can take advantage of. It’s a good thing that once you have more than 100 users subscribed to your plan, Thinkific will automatically charge you an extra fee on top of the $99 per month.
Don’t be concerned, as the fee entitles you to extra features. It is possible to send large quantities of emails, use third-party toolsand groups users based on different requirements.
Thinkific Premier
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Thinkific Premier is the most expensive plan. It costs $499 per month but when it is billed annually, it costs $399 per month. WordPress Vs Thinkific
If you’re a subscriber to this plan, you’ll get access to all the same features as the Basic, Free and Pro plans. What gives it its edge and higher price point is that it’s geared towards larger companies that have more members.
This Thinkific Premier plan lets you have five site admin accounts and 50 courses admin accounts. There is also a feature known as a Single Sign-On (SSO). This is helpful when you have a lot of customers who will need access to the same web page.
Additionally, this plan comes with an onboarding plan that’s a 30-minute onboarding call, as well as a launch preparedness review and online training guides.
And you’ll also get an access Growth package for a much cheaper price. There’ll be a flat fee that you will only need to pay.
Thinkific Reviews
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Reviewers and users of Thinkific particularly appreciate how economical it is. Even when using the free plan, you get access to useful features. There aren’t any fees hidden, so you don’t end up spending more than you originally planned to.
Others also liked the white-labeling option of Thinkific. It lets you improve the branding of your company, even if it’s just a small-sized company.
Many educators also love the use of Thinkific because it’s perfect for students. The interface is simple to use and explore.
“I found it interesting that this site had a place to upload documents within the discussion. Then I’m glad I choose this one because others take a % of income AND you have to wait longer for money. No transaction fees!” -Anonymous
“I enjoyed the ability to design the access portal, the courses and payment methods all in 1 interface, without the need for additional software. I particularly enjoy how easy it is to set up the courses up , if you’ve got the curriculum you want to create and has white-labeling.” – Anonymous
“Thinkific will let you start making courses for free, and will keep them for free for the rest of your life. Really, this is a great way to learn course development without paying a penny.” -Anonymous
“Thinkific made it easy to develop and run our online course for financial advisors. The Thinkific support team was quick to reply and help us to understand the process. And I love the possibility of white-labeling and also use an individual domain.” – Anonymous
“Classes were fun, entertaining, and easy especially for our more advanced learners. Teachers enjoyed making use of it to design their classes and then share their content.” -Anonymous
Alternatives to Thinkific
If this Thinkific review hasn’t convinced you of its potential as an online learning platform, then check out the following alternatives:
Kajabi
Kajabi is one of the very first online course platforms that are likely to recommend to you once you begin asking questions. It’s an all-in-one system that allows you to create and promote the online course you’ve created. Thinkific is similar to Kajabi in this way.
When you sign up with Kajabi, you’ll be able to easily create a course and add content. Kajabi has built-in templates and themes that you could use to customize your site immediately. The editor for your website lets you add multiple sections and sales pages to your courses. WordPress Vs Thinkific
As for quiz features It is a step ahead over Thinkific because it comes with more advanced options. You can make more personalized assessments and quizzes. In addition, you can hold webinars and video tutorials to ensure greater clarity in teaching.
Many educators particularly love the idea of rewarding their pupils with certificates for each successful course. Additionally, they are able to deliver content to their followers, just as Thinkific.
Another difference Kajabi is different over Thinkific is the fact that Kajabi has superior marketing features. Although Thinkific lets you easily sell your online courses, it doesn’t allow you to create an online sales funnel that can help you get your processes more efficient.
Kajabi also offers tools for marketing emails and email automation, which is different from Thinkific. It isn’t necessary to incorporate an application from a third party to send out broadcasts and email sequences to your customers.
It is worth noting that Kajabi is costlier 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 other closest rival. This is due to the fact that they share lots of resemblances as online courses platforms.
Teachable’s interface is also easy-to-use and comes with useful features that can help you get started with creating your content. There are templates for themes that have been created that you can use to make your website look attractive, even if you have no previous web design experience.
Like Thinkific, instructors can choose to drip the content that they distribute to their subscribers.
What is what sets Teachable against Thinkific is its quiz options. Instead of having basic templates, Teachable lets you customize your quizzes and assessments.
Like Kajabi You can also organize webinars and videos to encourage the participation of your followers. You can also include a sales page to your online course to increase conversion rates.
One more thing we like about Teachable is that you can also give your subscribers certificates for each course they finish. And unlike Thinkific, Teachable has email marketing tools that you can use to send mass email to our subscribers.
Please read: Teachable Review – Unlimited Course Creation Features
Read: Kajabi vs. Teachable
Final Verdict on Thinkific Review
WordPress Vs Thinkific
Thinkific has plenty of features that make it worth the cost of a subscription. For one, it’s extremely user-friendly. 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-made templates and layouts to make it easier to set the website. You don’t have to input complex CSS or HTML codes 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 choose to skip using the Thinkific subdomain and opt for Advanced users will set up their own domain names with hosting and develop the majority of the pages of their site on your own domain name.
You can also connect third-party software to Thinkific, especially because it doesn’t come with its own built-in email marketing tools.
Students can also interact with instructors online via a discussion forum on Thinkific. They can request assistance during lessons or post questions about their classes. Teachers can assist questions promptly.
Support for customers isn’t bad either. You get prioritized for responses when you’re a subscriber to one of the other paid plans. Be aware that there is no live chat function.
Overall though, our verdict in the Thinkific evaluation is well worth a try. Especially if you’re a novice course creator, Thinkific seems to be a good starting point for developing courses.
The free plan is also available for the duration of time unlike other platforms. If you’re in a pinch for money, then it’s a good choice since you can access incredible features at absolutely no cost.
We strongly suggest that you try Thinkific out.
If you enjoyed the Thinkific Review, then you can take a look at our review on one of the Best Online Course Platforms available today . Click here.