The best Teachable alternatives in 2026

Why Creators Look Beyond Teachable in 2026

Teachable is still one of the simplest ways to sell an online course. Every plan includes unlimited students who enroll through Teachable checkout, up to 1TB of video storage, a free student app on iOS and Android, coaching products, memberships and bundles. Teachable Payments also calculates, collects and remits sales tax, VAT and GST across 45+ countries. On a Custom Payment Gateway, Teachable does not handle tax.

But the last 18 months brought changes that make many creators check their options. All of the points below come from Teachable's own pricing page, help center and usage fee policy.

• A 7.5% fee on Starter. Starter costs $39 billed monthly or $29 a month billed annually, and Teachable takes 7.5% of every sale on top of payment processing. Builder and higher plans have a 0% plan fee.
• Plan renames in 2025. On June 15, 2025 Teachable retired Basic, Pro and Pro+ and introduced Starter, Builder, Growth and Advanced (Basic moved to Builder, Pro to Growth, Pro+ to Advanced). Today the pricing page shows Starter, Builder, Growth and a sales-led Custom plan, with no Advanced card, while the "Change your plan" help article still lists Advanced. If you are on an older plan, check what you will renew into.
• New usage fees from September 2026. Under the usage fee policy (updated September 28, 2026), students added through a paid checkout above $0, on Teachable's native gateways or a Custom Payment Gateway, never generate a fee. Students added any other way (imports, API, manual enrollment, $0 checkouts and 100% coupons, access from sales on other platforms) count toward a 100-student allowance per school, then cost $0.50 per student per month. Video storage above 1,000 GB costs $15 a month per extra TB. The fees are the same on every plan and apply to schools created from September 3, 2026; older schools stay on legacy fees until their first renewal on or after April 30, 2027.
• Extra admins cost $20 a month. Teachable's Admins help article lists $20 a month ($240 a year on annual plans) per extra admin seat. Starter and Builder include 1 admin, Growth 5.
• Product caps. Starter allows 5 published products, Builder 10 and Growth 50. Memberships, bundles and drafts do not count, but courses, coaching and downloads do. Above 50 you need Custom.
• Community is in maintenance mode. Teachable's help center says Community gets no new features or bug fixes and is no longer available to new schools or schools that have not created one before. The pricing page's mobile plan tables still show a Community row on Builder, Growth and Custom, so do not read that row as a promise of access.
• Payment fee bundles. On Teachable Payments the default "Standard" bundle adds 0.5% on tax-assessed transactions and 0.7% on recurring transactions. The "Global" bundle adds 2.8% on all transactions, waives those two fees, and unlocks 35+ local payment methods and Adaptive Pricing.
• Features gated high. Certificates, bulk student imports, branding removal, Zapier, webhooks and the public API all need Growth ($189 billed monthly or $139 a month billed annually).

None of this makes Teachable a bad choice. It does mean the real monthly cost depends on how you sell, so it is worth running your own numbers.

The Quick Answer

• Best Teachable alternative for most course creators: Thinkific. Unlimited courses on every plan, communities on every plan, no Thinkific transaction fee when you use Thinkific Payments, and a 30-day free trial.
• Best for solo creators who want everything in one simple plan: Podia. Courses, downloads, coaching, community, email and a website, with no Podia fee from Shaker ($99 billed monthly).
• Best all-in-one marketing suite: Kajabi. Unlimited marketing emails, funnels, website and community, with no revenue share. Expensive, starting at $179 billed monthly.
• Best for deep course tooling and training: LearnWorlds. Interactive video, SCORM, assessments and certificates, plus full white-label on Learning Center.
• Best free or budget option: Systeme.io. A free plan that never expires, 0% transaction fees on every plan, and unlimited students from $17 billed monthly.
• Best for funnel-first marketers: Kartra. Email, SMS, funnels and checkout with courses and memberships built in.

Teachable Alternatives at a Glance

Payment processing fees from Stripe, PayPal or each platform's own payments product apply on top on every tool.

What Teachable Really Costs: Worked Examples

These examples use Teachable's published plan prices and fees. They leave out card processing (2.9% + $0.30 on domestic cards with Teachable Payments), which applies on every platform.

Example 1: Selling $2,000 a month on Starter. 7.5% of $2,000 is $150 in Teachable fees, plus the $39 plan, so $189 a month billed monthly. Builder costs $89 billed monthly with a 0% fee, so it saves $100 a month at that sales level. The break-even point is about $667 a month in sales: the $50 price gap divided by 7.5%. On annual billing the gap is $40 ($29 vs $69), so Builder wins above about $533 a month in sales.

Example 2: A free lead-magnet course. Free enrollments and $0 coupons count as students added outside checkout. If a new school enrolls 600 students into a free course, 500 are above the 100-student allowance: 500 x $0.50 = $250 a month on top of the plan. Migrating 400 imported students costs 300 x $0.50 = $150 a month, or $1,800 a year.

Example 3: A small team. Builder includes 1 admin. Adding two more costs 2 x $20 = $40 a month, so $129 billed monthly. Growth includes 5 admins plus certificates and branding removal for $189 billed monthly, so a team that also wants certificates is better off on Growth.

Example 4: Selling worldwide. If you choose the Global bundle for local payment methods, 2.8% of $2,000 in monthly sales is $56 a month. On the Standard bundle, $2,000 of subscription revenue adds 0.7%, or $14 a month, plus 0.5% on any sale where tax is assessed.

The same $2,000 a month on the alternatives (entry plan that has no platform fee, billed monthly, before processing): Thinkific Basic $54, Podia Shaker $99 (Mover would be $49 + $100 = $149), LearnWorlds Pro Trainer $99, Kartra Starter $119, Kajabi Basic $179, Systeme.io Startup $17. On LearnWorlds Starter, 20 paid enrollments at $100 each would cost $29 + (20 x $5) = $129, so Pro Trainer is cheaper once you pass 14 paid enrollments a month.

Which Alternative Fixes Which Complaint

• "I hate the 7.5% fee." Thinkific, Kajabi and Systeme.io take no platform fee on any plan, as long as you use Thinkific Payments or Kajabi Payments where offered. Podia and Kartra drop their 5% fee from the second plan up.
• "I hit the product cap." Thinkific has unlimited courses on every plan, LearnWorlds has unlimited paid courses on every plan, and Podia's Mover allows 50 products. Kartra Starter and Systeme.io Unlimited are also unlimited.
• "I need a community." Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, LearnWorlds and Systeme.io all include communities. Kartra has membership comment forums but no dedicated community product.
• "I import or give away a lot of students." Systeme.io has unlimited students from Startup. Thinkific caps current students at 10,000 on its self-serve plans. LearnWorlds prices by monthly active learners (1,000 on Starter, 2,000 on Pro Trainer and Learning Center).
• "I need more admins." Kajabi Basic includes 2 admin users and Growth 11. LearnWorlds Pro Trainer includes 5 admins or instructors. Kartra Starter includes 5 team members. Systeme.io has unlimited assistant accounts on every plan.
• "I want certificates without paying for Growth." Thinkific includes certificates from Start, LearnWorlds from Pro Trainer, and Podia and Kajabi list certificates among their course features. Systeme.io's help center shows an "Issue certificate upon completion" option, though its courses page FAQ still says certificates are not available.

Where Teachable stays strong: automatic sales tax, VAT and GST remittance in 45+ countries with Teachable Payments, unlimited checkout students, 1TB of video on every plan, and a free iOS and Android student app on Starter. The alternatives handle tax differently: Thinkific calculates, collects and remits sales tax for the US and Canada, says only that it calculates UK and EU VAT (after opt-in), and charges 0.5% per tax-assessed sale, Kajabi calculates and collects sales tax at checkout and produces filing reports but does not file or remit it, and Podia lists sales tax for 230 tax jurisdictions.

Teachable review

Overview

Teachable is a course and coaching platform built around its own checkout, Teachable Payments. It sells courses, coaching, digital downloads, memberships and bundles on every plan.

Key features

• Unlimited students through Teachable checkout and up to 1TB of video on every plan
• Teachable Payments with sales tax, VAT and GST handled in 45+ countries
• Free student app for iOS and Android with offline viewing
• Coupons, upsells, order bumps and abandoned cart emails on all plans
• Course Starter and Quiz Generator AI tools, plus AI subtitles and translation into 70+ languages (free on Growth and Advanced, an extra usage cost on Starter and Builder)

Pricing

Starter: $39 billed monthly or $29 a month billed annually ($348 a year), 5 products, 1 admin, 7.5% fee. Builder: $89 billed monthly or $69 billed annually ($828 a year), 10 products, 0% fee, custom domain, email marketing, affiliates. Growth: $189 billed monthly or $139 billed annually ($1,668 a year), 50 products, 5 admins, certificates, branding removal, API. Custom: contact sales. Usage fees are covered above. The pricing page shows a 7-day trial on its plan cards and a 30-day trial offer in a popup, so the trial you get may vary. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee. Processing fees differ by source: the pricing page lists 3.9% + 30c for international cards, while the help center lists 4.4% + $0.30 for US schools.

Pros

• Tax remittance in 45+ countries with Teachable Payments
• Unlimited checkout students and 1TB of video on every plan
• Student mobile app on all plans
• 0% plan fee from Builder

Cons

• 7.5% fee on Starter
• New per-student and storage usage fees, plus $20 a month per extra admin
• Product caps of 5, 10 and 50
• Community closed to new schools

Who should use it

Solo creators selling a handful of paid courses or coaching offers through checkout, especially to buyers in many countries.

Who should skip it

Anyone who gives away free courses at scale, imports large student lists, needs a community, or wants certificates without paying for Growth.

Thinkific review

Overview

Thinkific calls itself a learning commerce platform. It leans more toward a full LMS than Teachable, with unlimited courses on every plan and communities built in.

Key features

• Unlimited published courses on all plans
• Communities on every plan (1 on Basic and Start, 3 on Grow)
• Built-in email automation, landing pages and site builder
• Certificates, assignments and Zoom cohorts from Start
• Thinkific Payments with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Klarna and Afterpay, plus local currency at checkout for one-time prices (Klarna and Afterpay are hidden when local currency is on)

Pricing

Basic: $54 billed monthly or $40 a month billed annually. Start: $109 billed monthly or $82 billed annually. Grow: $219 billed monthly or $164 billed annually. Plus: custom quote. Self-serve plans cap current students at 10,000. Thinkific charges no transaction fee with Thinkific Payments; US card processing is 2.9% + $0.30, plus 0.7% on subscriptions and payment plans and 0.5% on tax-assessed sales. Its help center also lists a fee for using Stripe instead (5% on Basic, 2% on Start, 1% on Grow), but that article still names retired plans, so confirm before relying on Stripe. 30-day free trial, no free plan.

Pros

• No product cap on any plan
• Community included from Basic
• No platform fee with Thinkific Payments
• 30-day trial
• Bundles, memberships and payment plans from Start

Cons

• Basic lacks certificates, paid memberships, bundles and payment plans
• PayPal, API, webhooks and branding removal only from Grow
• Branded mobile app is a $199 a month add-on
• Start costs more than Teachable Builder

Who should use it

Course creators who outgrew Teachable's product caps or lost Community, and academies that want certificates, assignments and cohorts.

Who should skip it

Creators selling to buyers worldwide who rely on Teachable's broader tax coverage, or anyone on a tight budget who needs memberships (Start or higher).

Kajabi review

Overview

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for coaches and creators: courses, coaching, community, email, funnels and website in one account, with no revenue share.

Key features

• Unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels on all plans
• Courses with quizzes, drip and automatic completion certificates
• Communities, coaching programs, memberships, newsletters and podcasts
• Kajabi Sales Tax calculates and collects tax and produces filing reports, but does not file or remit
• Customer app on all plans; branded app on Pro

Pricing

Basic: $179 billed monthly or $143 billed annually ($1,716 a year), 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 2 admins. Growth: $249 billed monthly or $199 billed annually, 50 products, 25,000 contacts, 11 admins, affiliates. Pro: $499 billed monthly or $399 billed annually, unlimited products, branded app and API. US Kajabi Payments card rates are 2.9%, 2.8% and 2.7% + $0.30 by plan. Using another processor where Kajabi Payments is offered adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% (PayPal excluded). Going over a contact limit does not force an upgrade: you can add blocks of 25,000 contacts for $125 a month, or move up a plan. Only the product cap forces an upgrade. Standard trial is 14 days, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Pros

• No revenue share on any plan
• Email marketing and funnels included, so fewer extra tools
• 2 admins on Basic, 11 on Growth
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

• Highest entry price here
• Basic is capped at 5 products, the same as Teachable Starter
• Affiliates and branding removal need Growth
• The product cap forces an upgrade (extra contacts can be added at $125 a month per 25,000)

Who should use it

Creators who already earn and currently pay for separate email, funnel and community tools alongside Teachable.

Who should skip it

New creators who have not sold yet, or anyone who mainly wants more courses for less money.

Podia review

Overview

Podia is a simple all-in-one store for solo creators: courses, downloads, coaching, community, events, email and a website.

Key features

• Courses with quizzes, drip, certificates, cohorts and bulk CSV import
• Community spaces with free or paid tiers
• Email broadcasts, sequences and automations
• Checkout with payment plans and 20+ currencies (upsells and order bumps need Shaker)
• Sales tax for 230 tax jurisdictions

Pricing

Mover: $49 billed monthly or $42 billed annually, 50 products, 100 email subscribers, 5% fee. Shaker: $99 billed monthly or $84 billed annually, 150 products, 500 subscribers, no Podia fee, PayPal, affiliates and Zapier. Earthquaker: $179 billed monthly or $150 billed annually, unlimited products, 1,000 subscribers. Subscriber limits are included amounts, not hard caps: more subscribers are a paid add-on (2,500 subscribers for $28 a month billed monthly), and Podia never upgrades your plan automatically. 14-day trial, no card needed.

Pros

• 50 products even on the entry plan
• Unlimited customers on every plan
• Community and events included
• No Podia fee from Shaker

Cons

• Low email subscriber counts on every plan
• 5% fee on Mover
• No branded mobile app found
• PayPal, upsells, order bumps and affiliates need Shaker

Who should use it

Solo creators who want one tidy subscription and sell several smaller products.

Who should skip it

Creators with large email lists, or anyone who needs a mobile app for students.

LearnWorlds review

Overview

LearnWorlds is the most LMS-like tool here, with interactive video, SCORM, assessments and full white-label, aimed at course businesses and training teams.

Key features

• Unlimited paid courses and video hosting on every plan
• Interactive video (Basic on Pro Trainer, Advanced on Learning Center; not on Starter) and AI assessments with a question bank
• Certificates, SCORM (up to 20 uploads on Pro Trainer, unlimited on Learning Center) and learning paths from Pro Trainer
• Built-in community on all plans
• White-label, API, webhooks and SSO on Learning Center

Pricing

Starter: $29 billed monthly or $24 billed annually, 1,000 monthly active learners, 1 admin, $5 per paid enrollment, paid courses only. Pro Trainer: $99 billed monthly or $79 billed annually, 2,000 active learners, 5 admins, no enrollment fees, subscriptions and bundles. Learning Center: $299 billed monthly or $249 billed annually. Corporate: custom quote. Prices exclude VAT. 30-day trial.

Pros

• Deepest course and assessment tools in this list
• No product caps
• Community included on every plan
• Full white-label on Learning Center

Cons

• $5 per paid enrollment on Starter
• Starter lacks certificates, free courses, subscriptions and interactive video, and has only essential question types
• Active learner caps push large schools to Corporate
• Branded app (Mobile App Builder) is a $149 a month add-on, available on Pro Trainer, Learning Center and High Volume but not Starter

Who should use it

Course businesses that care about teaching quality, and companies selling training to customers or partners.

Who should skip it

Creators who give away large free courses (free courses need Pro Trainer), or anyone who wants native tax handling: tax runs through the Quaderno and Stripe Tax integrations included on every plan, which calculate, collect and report tax (Quaderno also files).

Kartra review

Overview

Kartra is a marketing suite with email, SMS, funnels and checkout first, and memberships and courses built in.

Key features

• Membership sites and courses with drip and free and paid tiers
• Email and SMS marketing (Essentials capped at 10,000 emails and texts a month, unlimited from Starter)
• Funnels with a funnel mapper and simulation (Growth+)
• Calendars, webinars and video hosting from Starter
• Checkout in 24 languages and 21 account currencies

Pricing

Essentials: $59 billed monthly or $52 billed annually, 1 product, 1 course, 500 contacts, 5% fee. Starter: $119 billed monthly or $99 billed annually, unlimited products and courses, 2,500 contacts, 5 team members, 0% fee. Growth: $229 billed monthly or $189 billed annually, 12,500 contacts. Professional: $549 billed monthly or $429 billed annually. Hitting a contact limit moves you up a tier automatically, with a mid-cycle reconciliation fee. Kartra's own site gives different trial lengths, so check the current offer before signing up.

Pros

• Unlimited email and SMS from Starter
• Unlimited courses and products from Starter
• 5 team members on Starter
• 30-day money-back guarantee

Cons

• Essentials is too limited for a real course business
• Automatic contact-based upgrades
• No dedicated community product
• No mobile app found

Who should use it

Marketers and coaches whose business runs on funnels and email, with courses as one part.

Who should skip it

Creators who mainly want a course platform with community and certificates.

Systeme.io review

Overview

Systeme.io is a low-cost all-in-one for funnels, email, courses and communities, priced by contacts and plan limits.

Key features

• Free plan forever: 1 course, 500 students, 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails
• 0% transaction fees on every plan
• Courses with drip, quizzes, bundles and progress tracking
• Communities, funnels, blogs, affiliate program and booking calendar
• White label included on every plan

Pricing

Free: $0. Startup: $17 billed monthly or $170 a year billed annually, 5 courses, unlimited students, 5,000 contacts. Webinar: $47 billed monthly or $470 a year, 20 courses, evergreen webinars. Unlimited: $97 billed monthly or $970 a year, unlimited courses and contacts. Processor fees still apply.

Pros

• Real free plan with no time limit
• Unlimited students from Startup
• No platform fee on any plan
• Unlimited assistant accounts

Cons

• No branded mobile app
• Mixed messaging on video hosting (host on Systeme.io vs embed from YouTube, Vimeo or Wistia)
• AI Chat only on Unlimited
• Automation rules (1, 10, 100 or unlimited) and workflows (1, 5, 20 or unlimited) limited by plan; only email sends are unlimited

Who should use it

Budget-minded creators, or anyone who wants to test a course idea before paying for a platform.

Who should skip it

Schools that need a student app or rich course tooling.

How to Choose

1. Add up your real Teachable bill. Plan price, 7.5% on Starter, students added other than through a paid checkout above 100 at $0.50 each, extra admins at $20, and any payment bundle fee. If Builder at $89 billed monthly covers you, staying may be cheapest.
2. Count your products. If you need more than 10 products, Teachable means Growth at $189 billed monthly, while Thinkific Basic ($54), LearnWorlds Starter ($29) and Podia Mover ($49, up to 50 products) cost far less per month before fees.
3. Decide whether you need a community. If yes, and you are a new school, Teachable is out.
4. Check tax handling. If you sell into many countries and want tax remitted for you, Teachable's 45+ country coverage with Teachable Payments is hard to beat.
5. Check your audience size. Thinkific caps current students at 10,000, LearnWorlds caps monthly active learners, Kajabi includes a set number of contacts (more in $125-a-month blocks of 25,000), and Podia includes a set number of email subscribers (Podia never auto-upgrades).
6. Use the trials. Thinkific and LearnWorlds offer 30 days, Kajabi and Podia 14, and Systeme.io has a free plan.

What to test before you commit

Rebuild one full course, run a test purchase including tax and a coupon, invite a second admin, and export your student list. Plans and prices change often, so check each vendor's pricing page before you buy.

The Verdict

Thinkific is the best Teachable alternative for most course creators. It fixes the biggest complaints directly: no product caps, no platform fee with Thinkific Payments, communities on every plan and a 30-day trial. Basic at $54 billed monthly costs less than Teachable Builder, though you need Start ($109 billed monthly or $82 billed annually) for certificates, memberships and bundles. Choose Podia for a simpler and cheaper all-in-one, Kajabi if you want email and funnels in one place, LearnWorlds for serious training, and Systeme.io if budget comes first. Stay on Teachable Builder if you sell a few paid products worldwide and value its tax remittance.