Our Verdict
Teachable gets courses live faster than almost any other platform. The free plan lets you test the model before spending anything – though the 10% transaction fee means you’re paying as you earn. The interface is clean and the course delivery experience is solid. It’s not as full-featured as Kajabi for creators who need community, email, and funnels in the same platform, but for someone who just wants to sell courses without a steep learning curve, Teachable is the standard recommendation.
Who Teachable Is Best For
- First-time course creators who need a straightforward setup and want to make their first sale without navigating a complex platform
- Creators testing unproven ideas who want to build and publish on the free plan before paying monthly fees
- Instructors whose entire focus is structured course delivery and have no need for built-in community or email automation tools
- Educators who want to sell both coaching sessions and online courses from a single dashboard without stitching together separate tools
- Solo creators without technical backgrounds who need a reliable built-in payment system that handles transactions from day one
Who Should Look Elsewhere
- Creators who need community features alongside courses - Kajabi or Circle.so are better fits
- Businesses that need full marketing automation - Kajabi or GoHighLevel cover more ground
- Creators already at scale who find transaction fees expensive - move to Pro for zero-fee processing
- Designers who need full brand customization control - Teachable's customization is more limited than WordPress
Features Breakdown
Course Builder
Teachable’s course builder handles video, audio, PDF, and text content organized into sections and lectures. The upload process is straightforward – drag files in, set the order, configure completion requirements. Drip scheduling lets you release lessons over time rather than all at once. Quizzes and completion certificates are built in on all paid plans.
Payment & Checkout
Teachable’s payment system processes purchases via Stripe and PayPal. One-time payments, payment plans (split into installments), and recurring subscriptions are all supported natively. Checkout pages are templated and clean. Coupons and discounts are built in. Backpack (the affiliate management feature) on Pro lets you set up affiliate programs for your courses.
Student Experience
The student portal is clean and intuitive. Progress tracking shows completion status per lecture. The mobile app allows offline content access. Discussion sections allow instructor-student and peer interaction on each lesson. Certificates of completion are auto-issued when a student finishes a course – a useful retention and motivation feature for structured programs.
Coaching Products
Teachable added Coaching as a product type – scheduled 1-on-1 or group sessions that can be sold alongside courses. Sessions integrate with Calendly or Google Calendar for scheduling. This allows creators to bundle asynchronous course access with live coaching availability as a single product, with Teachable handling the payment and access management.
Teachable Pricing (Verified Apr-26)
Prices verified Apr-26. Always confirm on the vendor's site before purchasing.
| Plan | Type | Starting Price | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Starter | $0 | 1 course, 10 students, basic features - 10% transaction fee |
| Basic | Getting Started | $39/mo | 5 courses, unlimited students, email marketing, 5% transaction fee |
| Pro | Growing Creator | $119/mo | Unlimited courses, no transaction fees, live lessons, affiliate management |
| Pro+ | Scale | $199/mo | Priority support, advanced customization, group coaching sessions |
What We Like
- Fastest path from course idea to live sales page
- Free plan to validate your concept before paying monthly fees
- Clean, professional student experience out of the box
- Built-in payment processing with Stripe and PayPal
- Live lessons and coaching sessions available from Pro
- Affiliate management included from Pro plan
Watch Out For
- 10% transaction fee on free plan hurts early revenue - upgrade to Pro for zero fees
- 5% transaction fee persists on Basic - Pro is required for fee-free processing
- No built-in community features - requires Circle or Discord integration
- Email marketing features are basic - external tool recommended for serious automation
- Less design flexibility than a custom WordPress setup
Frequently Asked Questions
Before You Buy — Know This
- The free plan has a 10% transaction fee. If you're selling a $200 course, that's $20 per sale. Model whether upgrading to Basic (5% fee) or Pro (no fee) pays off at your expected sales volume.
- Pro plan ($119/mo) removes transaction fees entirely. At $200/course, you break even on Pro vs. Basic after just 8 additional sales per month.
- Teachable's email features are basic - an external email tool (Kit, MailerLite, ActiveCampaign) is recommended if email marketing is a significant part of your launch strategy.
- The 30% recurring affiliate commission via ShareASale is competitive. Annual conversions can generate meaningful recurring commission for active review sites.