What: A cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that lets users create, market and sell online courses
Expected pay: Varies
Commissions & fees: 10% of your course price or a monthly fee
Where: Nationwide
Requirements: Legal rights to teach the course you choose to instruct
Review:
PROS:
- Allows individuals to design and publish an online course
- You decide how much you charge for your course
- The site does not limit your communications with clients to their platform
- A lot of positive reviews from contributors
- You can use the platform for free, unless your course sells, in which you will pay a 10% commission
- If your class is popular and and you sell a lot, you can switch to a monthly fee plan
CONS:
- The site does not help you with marketing your course
What Users Say: (From SoftwareAdvice)
Blackboard Course sites, Moodle, and Instructure Canvas are great products, but you have to invest in additional solutions to collect payments, etc. for selling the online courses. Thinkific does all this in 1 system with more options for site design than the big education players do. Some of the features could be more well-thought-out, but for a non-LMS company, it is incredibly easy to set up and allows you to design instructional sound materials.
Pros
I liked that you could design the access portal, the courses, and the payment methods all in 1 interface without any needs for additional products. I particularly enjoy how easy it is to set the courses up if you have your curriculum designed.
Cons
I wish there was an option to be able to have access to all the course features without fees. We are a startup and just are not in a position to charge for courses yet, meaning this would be a huge investment for us that we are not willing to make. It would be great if you could get a 6month burn-in period to test and market before going live.
Alternatives Considered
Moodle, Blackboard Learn, Bridge
Reasons for Choosing Thinkific
Payment portal and customization features.
Anytime I have a problem their tech support is great. And I haven’t had any tech problems with the platform – my students are happy and use it easily.
Pros
When I was researching all the different software for course hosting, I liked that this had a place to upload documents in the discussions. That might be really important for people teaching code or other products. Then I’m glad I choose this one because others take a % of income AND you have to wait longer for money.
Cons
The layout isn’t as clean and modern as others – I’m hoping that will be updated at some point. It’s a little ugly.
