8 Best Teachable Alternatives For Online Courses in 2024

Teachable is one of the most popular courses platforms there! In fact, so many of my online business peers who decide to launch their online courses, rarely look past Teachable.

However….

Teachable is honestly not worth it for most of you reading this. I’ll list down why (they’re many reasons). Let’s dive into the Best Teachable Alternatives in 2024!!

• If you are a SaaS company or startup go with Thinkific
• If you are a solo creator launching courses go for Podia
• If you have no audience and want to tap into an existing market then use Udemy

Why consider using a Teachable Alternative?

I know it would be easy for me to recommend Teachable as it’s very popular and all my friends in the internet marketing space use it. But in a few cases I can’t recommend Teachable and here’s why you should pick one of the Teachable Alternatives instead.

1. 5% Transaction Fee

Teachable’s base plan comes with a 5% transaction fee and you have to pay over $99/month if you want a plan that doesn’t have any transaction fees.

2. Complicated payments & Delays

Teachable has its own payment setup called “Teachable payment” and you can only receive your payments instantly if you use their payment methods, else you have to wait 30 days to receive payments over Paypal.

Also, Teachable Payments is available for schools operating within the United States or Canada. If you are outside the US or Canada, you can’t receive your money without the 30-day delay. That’s f-ed up.

3. Support

Teachable has some pretty crappy support. Many of their competitors like Podia have 24/7  live support and help you in the entire process of selling your courses.

Click Here To Try Podia Free For 14-days

4. Limited Features

Teachable it literally just an online course platform, you have to combine many other services like Clickfunnels for your landing pages, Mailerlite for your drip campaigns, to make your campaign successful.

You can’t use Teachable to run membership sites which is a feature many other course platforms let you do.

Best Teachable Alternatives

1. Thinkific – Best Teachable Alternatives For Large Companies

Thinkific is one of the most powerful course creation platform available right now. Thinkific is one of the easiest to use course platform that makes it super easy for you to go from building your landing page to growing your customers.

Click Here To Get Thinkific

u/rajshankara: I use Thinkific, works great. Makes money from my lectures

u/c01: If you are just starting out, I highly recommend Thinkific and Teachable both. I suggest you do a trial with both and decide for yourself. Both have freemium versions as well.

u/mickmeaney: I liked it apart from not being able to do full customer management on it.

They even have a free plan that allows you to host 3 courses and have unlimited students! It’s even used by companies like Hootsuite and Later to host their courses.

I find that Thinkific is better than Teachable especially for B2B companies that I work with as it all the tools and features you need to have your courses succeed at scale.

While Teachable is geared more towards the Solopreneur, Thinkific is definitely geared to the big SaaS companies looking to scale their customer acquisition with courses.

Thinkific is available in 4 different plans:

1. Free – Test-drive Thinkific’s core feature set for free.
2. BASIC – Start your course creation experience with the basic features and tools you need to launch your first course.
3. Pro – For course creators ready to build a successful online course business, a complete suite of tools to create an amazing student experience
4. PREMIER – For advanced customers ready to build an education empire, get all the Thinkific features + the Growth package. Designed for delivering online education at scale. No limitations – one flat fee.

You can get a 28% Discount on Thinkific. Simply click the link below and start a Free Month trial and pay “Annual” instead of Monthly once your trial expires.

Click Here To Get Thinkific

Who is Thinkific Designed for?

Thinkific is a SaaS technology company that allows businesses and people to create online courses and communities. The platform doesn’t require any technical expertise and is an ideal choice for beginners or first-timers that are looking to venture into the industry. It has all the tools you need for every step of your journey, from product creation to well past its launch. If you are looking for an advanced solution, then you can select its custom CSS and HTML designing feature to customize your course to fit your brand identity. All-in-all, it can handle the requirements of beginners as well as businesses with a big customer base.

2. Podia – Best Teachable Alternative For Creators

Podia is one of my favorite new competitor to Teachable in 2024 Just as ConvertKit changed the email marketing field by building a product designed for “Creator”, the guys at Podia have done the same for online courses!

Click Here To Try Podia Free For 14-days

u/StrictElephante: Podia seems restrictive. There are some things I can’t do with their website builder

Podia is basically an all in one marketing tool and platform for creators to monetize their audience. You can host your online course, market it with landing pages, send email newsletters + drips, and accept online payments, all for one low price.

Podia vs Teachable

Their pricing is also one of the simplest in the industry. While many of their competitors complicated things with having many plans that they can upsell you on, Podia keeps things simple.

Podia is available in 2 different pricing plans:

1. Mover ($39/month): Online courses, Digital downloads, Email marketing, Zero transaction fees, Unlimited everything, 24/7 support.
2. Shaker ($79/month): Everything in Mover + Memberships + Embedded Checkout + Affiliate marketing + Third-Party Code + FREE migration

Click Here To Try Podia Free For 14-days

3. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is also another fine platform one can use. The main selling point here is that there are tons of ways through which you can interact with your student.

Click Here To Try LearnWorlds For Free

u/onlybmd: The top three I’ve looked at has been Teachable, Thinkific, and LearnWorlds. Research them all see what would work best for you.

u/Fit-Explanation-9027: I would check out learnworlds. It’s easy to use, you can build your own website and it has all the signups & co build in. And: A Zoom integration, so you can host your sessions in the Course itself

1. Regular updates

LearnWorlds updates and upgrades its features on a regular basis, to ensure that it remains up-to-date with current technology.

Regular updates also help quickly squash any bugs that arise and hence make up for the best possible experience you can get.

2. Affordable plans

LearnWorlds basic plan is only $29 per month, which is pretty affordable.

A complete list of the plans goes like this:

Starter

Cost is $29 per month. Features include:1 Admin, Unlimited paid courses, Pages Builder (3 pages), 4 Payment gateways, Coupons, Basic Integrations, Free SSL certificate, Drip Feed Courses and 24/5 e-mail support

There is a transaction fee of $5 per course sale.

Pro trainer

This one costs $99 per month and packs the following features: 5 Admins/instructors, Unlimited landing pages, Complete website builder with blog, Subscriptions & Memberships, Installments , Fully customizable Course Player, Customizable checkout page, Custom Certificates, SCORM / Multimedia files, Affiliate Management, Zapier & Premium Integrations, Question Banks, Onboarding call and 24/7 Priority e-mail support

No transaction fees.

Learning center

Priced at $249. Boasts these features: 20 Admins / Instructors, Bulk Student Upload, Full White-label Options, Integrations with API, Interactive video, Auto Customer Insights, Advanced Affiliate Management, Webhooks Integrations, Single Sign-On (SSO), Custom iOS & Android App (extra fee), 2 hours Premium Onboarding, 24/7 Premium Support

3. Customer support

The customer support is great and has some fast responses. Only drawback regarding this is in the basic plan, where the customer support itself is still good but just that it is only available 24/5. All the other plans have 24/7 support though and so this isn’t an issue there.

Click Here To Try LearnWorlds For Free

4. FreshLearn

FreshLearn, a comprehensive course creation platform, enables creators to develop, promote, and monetize their courses seamlessly. With its intuitive mobile app, learners can conveniently access courses and digital content on their mobile devices. Notable features encompass customizable emails, bulk member enrollment, and a referral system.

Freshlearn LMS has garnered acclaim from users across various proficiency levels. The software is hailed as a beacon for those less tech-savvy, offering intuitive tools and robust support systems. Users have found it to be a transformative solution for transitioning offline courses into an engaging online format.

The platform’s standout feature lies in its seamless user experience. Even users who struggled with technical aspects laud the chat and video conference options, finding them both accessible and invaluable. The ability of the support team to simplify complex issues and swiftly resolve user queries has been a highlight.

One notable aspect highlighted by users is the software’s instinctive guidance through various processes. Its user-friendly interface acts as a guiding light, making navigation effortless and empowering users to create, market, and sell courses with ease.

While there have been minor qualms, such as the absence of a timer for project completion and some unclear setup requirements, users acknowledge Freshlearn’s responsiveness to user feedback. Continuous improvements and upgrades have addressed most concerns, demonstrating the company’s proactive stance in catering to user needs.

The platform’s support system remains a cornerstone of its success. Users commend the prompt and effective assistance received, especially for individuals not well-versed in technical intricacies. The support team’s efforts have significantly contributed to user satisfaction and comfort in utilizing the platform.

Overall, Freshlearn LMS stands as an embodiment of user-centric design and unwavering support. It symbolizes a gateway for users, regardless of their technical prowess, to embark on a seamless online learning journey, transforming education and course creation into an accessible and enriching experience.

5. Thrive Apprentice – Best WordPress Alternative to Teachable

If you’re tired of Expensive Course Platforms; Thrive Apprentice is a godsend!

Thrive Apprentice was recently launched by Thrive Themes in early 2024 and it’s honestly a game changer! It’s an easy to use WordPress plugin that can be used to create online courses on your WordPress blog!

Teachable vs Thrive Apprentice

Thrive Apprentice has easy to follow step-by-step setup process that makes it extremely easy for anyone to create stunning online course Lessons, Chapters and Modules with the fast-action design power of a professional web developer (without having to touch a piece of code).

How does Thrive Apprentice compare vs popular course platforms like LearnDash and Teachable??

Well, for starters it’s cheap!

It only costs a one time fee of $67/website to use Thrive Apprentice for life!

In comparison,

• LearnDash costs $199/year/website!
• Teachable costs $348/year in their basic plan and they take a 5% transaction fee on top of that WTF?

Price isn’t the only thing Thrive Apprentice stands out in. One of the biggest change that happens when you use a tool like Thrive Apprentice is that you are taking back control of your content.

You are looking at the big gatekeepers (…. Udemy…Teachable..) and saying “NO, I’m going to build my audience on my own, I’m going to own my own content!”

The downside is that you have to handle the structural issues that come with hosting your own content and dealing with WordPress and WordPress plugins. However, for the technical mindset person, Thrive Apprentice is the best value for the money!

How much does Thrive Apprentice cost? well, this will surprise you!

• Single License @ $67
• 5 License Pack @ $97 ($335)
• 15 License Pack @ $147 ($1005)

Click Here to Get Thrive Apprentice

6. LearnDash – Teachable Alternative For WordPress

Click Here To Get LearnDash

u/rebeccanotbecca: I just met someone who is using LearnDash and he loves it. It is working well for his 1000+ employees. I don’t know what your budget is but $180 seems like a low barrier to implement a LMS.

[deleted]: I’ve used learndash for a couple years and have no complaints. If you are comfortable with wordpress it will be very intuitive. I ended up moving all of my courses to canvas because the one thing learndash is missing is a robust grading system (which wouldn’t matter for you).

u/christyinsdesign: I’ve been using LearnDash with a nonprofit client for about a year, and I’m currently procrastinating writing a proposal for another client where I’m recommending LearnDash. I really like LearnDash, especially for very small organizations or consultants who are selling a handful of courses.

LearnDash gives you quite a bit of control. You can add plugins and customize your experience. Need forums? There’s a plugin for that. If you do get into Storyline or interactive media sometime down the road, you can add that in LearnDash and even track everything via xAPI. It’s on your domain, with your URL

LearnDash is a well-regarded online course builder for WordPress. It is used by a number of universities and entrepreneurs.

1. Focus mode

This is one of the best features LearnDash has to offer. The LearnDash focus mode lets you create a dedicated virtual learning environment.

Basically, it eliminates distractions and hence helps learners retain stuff more and complete courses faster.

It is an optional setting so it is upto the user to configure this mode.

2. Great prices

At first glance, you might think “Damn the prices are high!” but in reality, the LearnDash plugin is quite cheap. Why? Because the listed prices are per YEAR, not per month!

There are three plans and all three of them include the following features:

• Unlimited Courses
• Unlimited Users
• Course Content Protection
• Drip-Feed Lessons
• Advanced Quizzing
• Certificates & Badges
• Course Forums
• Email Notifications
• Free Integrations
• 1-Year Support & Updates

The difference between the different plans lies in the number of site licenses offered. Basic offers 1 site license and costs $199 per year (on discount at $159 right now), Plus offers upto 10 site licenses and is priced at $229 per year ($189 with the sale) and Pro offers upto 25 site licenses and goes for $369 per year ($329 with the sale).

3. Demo site template

All the plans include a free copy of LearnDash’s entire demo site! It will really help beginners kick start their business as soon as they can.

The Verdict: If you already run a WordPress blog, LearnDash is better than Teachable. It packs a great number of features and is priced really good, honestly too good for what it offers. With the demo template, beginners can easily begin with this plugin.

Click Here To Get LearnDash

7. Udemy – Best Teachable Alternative with Marketplace

They’re a ton of articles on the Internet on how to make money selling courses on Udemy. I honestly believe that Udemy is not worth it. Having worked with companies in the online course industry (I used to be the head of SEO at Foundr Magazine) Udemy is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to course platforms.

Udemy takes 50% of your course cost on organic Udemy sales. Udemy and the instructor share equally on these sales, which might occur after a user browses the Udemy marketplace for courses, or makes a purchase via a Udemy promotion

Udemy vs Teachable

Even on sales which you bring to the platform eg. from your own email list using their “instructor coupon”, Udemy takes a 3% cut.

Of course, Udemy might be fine for someone who doesn’t have any audience at all, but you can spend the same amount of time building a brand and sell the course on Podia. Udemy may have a big marketplace but you have to then play by their rules.

Udemy gets to decide how your courses are algorithmically ranked as well as how much you can charge for your courses. Also, Udemy doesn’t market courses that don’t discount themselves a ton.

Udemy is the Fiverr of online courses and if you want to be that kind of content creator then, by all means, go ahead. But if you want to get paid for what you’re worth then it’s a better choice to build your own brand and sell your courses on your own platform.

Udemy is great to market any free courses if you want to as a lead generation tool as you can then upsell your premium courses to them. So it’s not necessarily useless for someone looking to build an online brand.

Click Here To Give Udemy A Whirl

8. Uscreen – Best Teachable Alternative To Sell Video Online

Uscreen is one of the fastest growing video monetization platform in the world right now. It allows anyone to go start selling videos online without having to deal with any of the technical things!

Uscreen is a bit different than most of the other online course platforms and instead is more geared to someone who wants to make money from selling videos.

Uscreen allows you to host unlimited videos and provides super quick streaming without any buffering.

Also the big plus with using Uscreen is that everything is in a single platform, you don’t have to worry about integrating Vimeo with WordPress & firebase. So you can focus on creating!

Best Teachable Competitors

These are some of Best Teachable Alternatives in 2024, these will basically cover all your needs and remember, each Teachable alternative is good and bad in its own way, so there isn’t a single one that’s best.

• If you are a solo creator launching courses go for Podia
• If you are a SaaS company or startup go with Thinkific
• If you have no audience and want to tap into an existing market then go for Udemy.

It makes more sense to understand your preferences and needs before the decision. After all, it doesn’t make sense to get Teachable when it does tie to the results you want in your business.