Report

Should I Use Thinkific?

thinkific.com·Analyzed 1 hour ago·Based on 10 sources

Online course platform to sell courses and communities

Depends

Buy if you're a creator or small business selling structured courses and can live with $49+/month.

Solid 4.5/5 course platform for creators, but the $49 entry tier gates features and rivals cost less.

Confidence: Medium

4.5/5

Review rating

across 840+ G2 reviews

$49/mo

Starting price

paid plans run $49–$199/mo

Disputed

Free tier

some 2026 reviews say it's gone

2012

Founded

Vancouver, Canada

Value for money

$49 tier reportedly locks out too much

Ease of use

Users report smooth course creation and hosting

Feature depth

Courses, communities, Plus tier for larger orgs

Support quality

Cancellation friction reported on Trustpilot

Security posture

Mature program, but two public CVEs exist

Pros

Holds a 4.5/5 rating across major review platforms
Creators have sold $3.7B in courses on the platform^³
Serves 35,000+ creators; proven at scale
Positioned for corporate customer training, not just hobby courses
Repeatedly recognized by G2 among top software companies

Cons

The $49 plan locks out too many features, reviewers say^³
Users report frustration trying to cancel^²
Users on Reddit criticize the data analytics^⁶
Multiple 2026 roundups pitch cheaper alternatives

Gotchas

highEntry $49/mo plan reportedly gates core features; expect upsells to get real value^³
mediumFree plan availability is disputed — at least one 2026 review covers 'without the free plan'^⁵
mediumTrustpilot shows complaints about difficulty cancelling subscriptions^²
mediumAnalytics weaker than rivals per Reddit comparisons; migration threads suggest some churn^⁶

Best for

Solo creators selling courses
Small businesses doing customer training
Coaches bundling courses and communities
Knowledge entrepreneurs scaling past $100M

Not for

Data-driven teams — users call the analytics weak
Anyone needing a free-forever simple course page
Corporate L&D wanting enterprise-grade reporting
Budget sellers — the $49 tier locks too much

Companies that use it

IntelyCare¹⁰
Mayple
PaySheperd
Elizabeth Rider

Pricing

Free

Basic course hosting
Listed in 2026 pricing guides

Basic

$49/mo

Entry paid tier
Reviewers say key features locked

Higher tiers

up to $199/mo

Full feature set
Plus tier sold separately for enterprise

Security

Publishes a security overview, DPA and GDPR guidance, but two CVEs are on record.

CVE-2020-35698Vulnerability affecting Thinkific's online course creation platform, tracked in the GitHub Advisory Database.^⁷
CVE-2022-2426 — stored XSS in Thinkific Uploader WordPress pluginAdmin+ stored cross-site scripting in the Thinkific Uploader plugin versions ≤1.0.0.^⁸