Teachable
Focused, well-known course hosting.
Teachable hosts courses, coaching and digital downloads with a straightforward student experience and built-in checkout.
Visit Teachable
Is Teachable worth it?
Teachable is worth it for creators selling their first or second course who want a simple setup and a checkout that handles tax and payouts. It is less suited to creators who want a fully designed site or built-in marketing tools. The main catch is transaction fees on lower plans, so check them at your expected sales volume.
The short version
- Best for
- Creators selling their first or second course.
- Made for
- Course creators
- Free plan
- Check site
- How it charges
- Monthly plans; transaction fees vary by plan. Prices change often; check the current plans on Teachable’s site.
Good at
- Easy to set up a course
- Familiar to students
- Handles tax and payouts
Where Nub hesitates
- Transaction fees on lower plans
- Site design is fairly limited
Pick Teachable if
- You are selling your first or second course and want to launch quickly.
- You want payment, tax and payouts handled for you.
- You also sell coaching or downloads alongside the course.
Skip it if
- Transaction fees would eat into sales at your volume; Thinkific has none on paid plans.
- You want site, email and funnels in one place; Kajabi or systeme.io do more.
- Design matters a lot to you; Teachable’s site options are fairly limited.
What launching a course on Teachable involves
Launching on Teachable follows a short path. You create a school, upload video lessons into sections, add any downloads, write the sales page, set a price and turn on checkout. Students buy and get access to a course area many of them will have seen before, which removes a little friction for first-time buyers. Coaching and digital downloads can be sold from the same school.
Teachable handles the parts that trip up new sellers: collecting payment, dealing with tax and paying you out. For a creator selling a first course, that is often worth more than advanced features. The trade-off is on fees: lower plans charge a transaction fee on each sale, so as your revenue grows, moving to a higher plan or comparing alternatives starts to make sense.
Compared with Thinkific, Teachable is the simpler of the two; Thinkific offers stronger quiz and course-building tools and no transaction fees on paid plans. Compared with Kajabi, Teachable is a focused course host while Kajabi adds a website, email marketing and funnels at a higher price. If you mainly want to sell downloads with a short course, Podia or Payhip are also worth a look.
In a creator stack, Teachable is usually the delivery and checkout layer. Your audience comes from YouTube, a podcast or a newsletter, your email tool nurtures them, and Teachable hosts the sales page and the course. Site design is fairly limited, so some creators keep their main website on a builder like Squarespace and link to Teachable for the course itself.
Teachable vs similar tools
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | How it charges |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachable | Creators selling their first or second course. | Check site | Monthly plans; transaction fees vary by plan |
| Kajabi | Established creators who want one platform for the whole business. | No | Monthly or yearly plans (free trial) |
| Thinkific | Structured courses with quizzes and certificates. | Check site | Monthly or yearly plans |
| Podia | Solo creators who sell a mix of small products. | Check site | Monthly plans; fees vary by plan |
| LearnWorlds | Serious course businesses with structured learning. | Check site | Monthly or yearly plans |
Teachable FAQ
Is Teachable free?
Teachable’s plans change, so check its pricing page for the current options. At the time of writing it is sold as monthly plans, and transaction fees vary by plan.
Teachable vs Thinkific: which is better?
Teachable is simpler to launch with and handles tax and payouts. Thinkific has stronger course-building and quiz tools and charges no transaction fees on paid plans. For a straightforward first course Teachable is easy; for structured learning Thinkific does more.
Does Teachable take a cut of sales?
On lower plans, yes: transaction fees vary by plan at the time of writing. Payment processing costs apply on top, so check the current numbers against your expected sales.
Can I sell coaching and downloads on Teachable?
Yes. Besides courses, Teachable lets you sell coaching and digital downloads from the same school and checkout.
Is Teachable good for YouTubers?
Yes, for YouTubers who teach something and want to sell a first course without building a whole business system. Link the sales page from your descriptions and pinned comments, and use an email tool to follow up with interested viewers.
Compare Teachable
Alternatives
- Kajabi · Established creators who want one platform for the whole business.
- Thinkific · Structured courses with quizzes and certificates.
- Podia · Solo creators who sell a mix of small products.
- LearnWorlds · Serious course businesses with structured learning.
- Skool · Paid communities where the course is part of membership.
- Circle · Paid communities with a polished, branded feel.
