Thinkific

This is where I have my courses

Comments: 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.

Alternatives Considered: Teachable

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific: Thinkific had the ability to upload docs in the discussion area of courses. And doesn't charge a transaction fee.

Suitable For All Levels

Comments: Thinkific has been perfect as a solution for my starting an online training product that also has spreadsheet tools included. My experience has been great. I have only once had to contact support and it turns out it was my error that was causing a visual issue, which was soon easily corrected, once I saw my error. They were quick to spot what I'd done and let me know.

Pros:

That it's really comprehensive, yet still has a free to low-cost entry-level option. It's easy to use and looks visually great too with its customisable interface options. Oh and I love that you can i-frame other websites and URL's into your courses (this is great for spreadsheets and websites) - it saves a lot of time and energy, and updating! Oh, and it has / had a low payment processing fee structure.

Cons:

I haven't hit any issues with it yet so to date there's nothing I don't like about it.

Alternatives Considered: Teachable

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific: It's entry-level plans (including the free plan that was / is available at the time I joined) are fully featured. Certainly enough to get started and have to commit to a paid or more expensive plan. It looked great and also (at the time of joining and still I think) had a lower fee structure, etc.

The best online course platform for those who are starting out.

Comments: Excellent, it has helped us get more clients and earn more money without having to set up a website from scratch.

Pros:

The number of options available and the affordable price.

Cons:

Poor HTML editor. I hope they can improve this.

Good overall with critical limitations for teaching online live

Comments: Good. They have excellent customer support and they responded to me quickly even during busy times. I actually recommended them for a company that has recorded videos and could benefit from using a modern LMS to share their recorded lessons.

Pros:

I think I like the idea of the software. There are alternatives. I think I picked Thinkific first because they have clear description about their software, seemed reputable and seemed like they have good customer service and responsiveness. Their website is nicely responsive for different screen sizes. Although the theme itself is limited, and you are on your own to customize it, I felt that the drag and drop choices for the editor covered everything I need.

Cons:

There were critical limitations that I felt decreased the value of the software for my business. The first thing that made me feel uncomfortable is that the website you build for your business through their LMS software would publish to the public immediately as you save the changes. I look thoroughly through the website theme settings, but there was no way to keep the website as "password protected" or "private" before it is published. As a result, I felt I should hold on about sharing important details until I write the entire content of the website, then drag and drop the content for the layout, and then put the content. After that first issue, I felt less excited. There were other limitations that resulted in me losing interest. I didn't feel like I want to pay to customize my website with HTML and CSS. importing your own website website was not a convenient option. My courses were live online but their website had no way of sharing the time on the website based on the user local or system time. I would have to pay for their Pro plan and do it myself with javascript. I could look up and learn how to do it, but I didn't want to. I felt like the software was good for only recorded content. The price they were asking for was not convincing anymore. Slowly and slowly I lost interest. Finally, I saw that they charge a flat fee for each student plus their monthly fee, for any student after the 100th student. I decided not to move forward with them.

Alternatives Considered: Teachable, TutorBird and Kajabi

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific: I ended up not choosing Thinkific and went with an alternative.

Great Course Platform

Comments: Thinkific is much better than trying to remember to share Google Drive links with people to watch courses. It also looks much more professional.

Pros:

Thinkfic integrates well with CRM systems which is so important to manage leads and data. It works well with Zapier as well which gives numerous possibilities.

Cons:

I wish some things were a bit more clear. It provides the ability to have courses that renew or memberships but doesn't do great on the backend of highlighting pros and cons of each.