✦
Our verdict
- Best for
- First-time course creators who want a proven, guided path to selling
- Price
- Free plan / paid from ~$39-59/mo
- Alternatives
- Thinkific, Podia, Kajabi
Teachable is many creators' first course platform, and the onboarding shows why: course builder, checkout, and student management that a non-technical person can navigate on day one. The thing to read before buying is the fee schedule — Teachable's cheaper plans have historically taken a per-sale cut, and that changes the real cost math depending on your volume.
Pros
- One of the easiest course builders to learn
- Handles checkout, EU VAT and payouts for you
- Free plan exists to build and test
- Solid quizzes, certificates and course compliance features
- Big ecosystem of tutorials and community knowledge
Cons
- Transaction fees on free/lower tiers eat into early sales
- Email marketing is basic — you'll still need a real email tool
- Design customization is limited without workarounds
Read the fees before the features
Teachable's pattern (verify current numbers on their pricing page): the free and entry tiers charge a percentage plus fixed fee per sale, with fees dropping or disappearing on higher tiers. The math that matters: at low volume, paying fees on a cheap plan beats a big monthly bill; the moment you're selling steadily, upgrading to a no-fee tier pays for itself. Do this arithmetic with your actual numbers — it's the whole decision.
What it's like to use
Genuinely pleasant. Upload videos, drag lessons into sections, set a price, connect a payment method — a first course can be live in an afternoon. Student experience is clean on any device. Where you'll feel limits: email marketing depth (pair it with a real email platform) and page design flexibility (fine templates, limited deviation).
Teachable vs its rivals
Thinkific matches it feature-for-feature with a friendlier free plan; Podia undercuts it on simplicity and email inclusion; Kajabi outclasses it for 3x the money. Teachable's edge is the maturity of its selling machinery — checkout, taxes, affiliates for your own course. See our head-to-heads for the full breakdowns.
Scorecard
Overall: 8.3/10. A safe, proven first platform — just do the fee math at your expected volume before picking your plan.
Frequently asked questions
Does Teachable take a percentage of sales?
On free and lower tiers, historically yes — the percentage drops as you move up plans. Check the current fee schedule; it's the most important line on the pricing page.
Is Teachable good for beginners?
Yes — it's one of the smoothest first-course experiences available.
Teachable or Thinkific?
Extremely close. Thinkific's free plan is friendlier for validating; Teachable's selling tools are slightly more mature. Our comparison covers the tie-breakers.