Thinkific Pricing: What You'll Really Pay at $500 to $3,000 in Sales

"Does Thinkific have a free plan?" and "What does it actually cost?" are really one question: what leaves your account each month once you start selling?

Thinkific's current plan prices are $109, $219 or $499 a month on monthly billing. The rest depends on how you take payments. Use Thinkific Payments and the platform keeps nothing from your sales. Connect your own Stripe account and Thinkific adds a fee of up to 2%.

Below you'll find every plan, the fees around it, and the real monthly cost at $500, $1,500 and $3,000 in sales.

Quick verdict

1. 1

   Thinkific Start: cheapest current plan

   $109/mo · 30-day trial

   0% platform fee on Thinkific Payments, with certificates and memberships included.

   Start Thinkific's free trialRead our notes
2. 2

   Systeme.io Cheapest if budget is near zero

   Free plan; paid from $17/mo

   1 course on the free plan and no Systeme.io transaction fees.

   Start Systeme.io freeRead our notes
3. 3

   Teachable Lower entry price, with trade-offs

   $39 or $89/mo · 7-day trial

   Starter keeps 7.5% of sales; Builder is 0% from $89.

   Try TeachableRead our notes

Prices checked Nov 2026. Plans change, so please confirm on each vendor's site.

On this page

1. Thinkific pricing at a glance
2. Is there a Thinkific free plan?
3. What you'll really pay at $500, $1,500 and $3,000 a month
4. Thinkific Payments vs your own Stripe account
5. Extra charges on Thinkific Payments
6. The sales tax and VAT solution fee
7. Limits that decide which plan you need
8. Annual vs monthly billing
9. Cheaper or better-fit alternatives
10. Which Thinkific plan do you need?
11. FAQ
12. Bottom line

Thinkific pricing at a glance

Prices below are from Thinkific's pricing page, checked on Nov 1, 2026. Plus is custom (you talk to sales), so we leave it out of the math. The page no longer lists a Basic plan, though older reviews still mention one at $54.

Every listed plan has unlimited courses and digital downloads, certificates, memberships and subscriptions, a custom domain and email automation templates. The gateway fee in the last row only applies if you connect your own Stripe account. More on that below.

Is there a Thinkific free plan?

No, not for new users. Thinkific's pricing page answers its own question: "Does Thinkific have a free plan? No, instead, you can explore the whole platform with a 30-day free trial."

One wrinkle: Thinkific's help center still lists a "Free" plan in its gateway-fee table, with Thinkific Payments required. That reads as a legacy plan for older accounts. If you're signing up today, plan on the trial.

A 30-day trial is long enough to build a first module, connect checkout and run a test purchase. For comparison, Teachable offers 7 days plus a 30-day money-back guarantee, and Systeme.io has a free plan (see the alternatives below).

What you'll really pay at $500, $1,500 and $3,000 a month

The plan price is only part of the bill. The other part is whatever the platform keeps from your sales.

Math basis: monthly-billing plan price + Thinkific's own fee on sales. Card processing (2.9% + 30¢ for US cards) is left out because you pay it on either route. Stripe's own processing fees also apply on the Stripe route.

Worked example: Start with Stripe at $1,500 is $109 + (2% × $1,500 = $30) = $139. The same month on Thinkific Payments is $109.

Three things fall out of the table:

• Start on Thinkific Payments stays flat. It's $109 at every sales level above, because the platform takes no cut.
• On Stripe, Start stays cheaper than Grow until about $11,000 a month. The plan gap is $110 and the fee gap is 1 point: $110 ÷ 0.01 = $11,000. Most solo creators won't need Grow for the fee savings.
• The Stripe surcharge on Start is $10, $30 and $60 at these sales levels. That's 2% of $500, $1,500 and $3,000.

Plug in your own monthly sales to see the cheapest plan on each platform, fees included.

Thinkific Payments vs your own Stripe account

This is the choice that moves your bill the most.

Thinkific Payments charges processing only. In the US that's "2.9% plus 30 cents for every successful credit card payment", with no Thinkific cut on top. It's available to sellers in the USA, Canada, the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

Your own Stripe account adds Thinkific's third-party gateway fee. It applies when the seller is in the US, Canada or the UK, or in an EU country. Thinkific's help center says the fee "will only apply to your first $1M in sales made through Thinkific in a calendar year, after that we will waive the fee." That cap won't matter at the sales levels in this article. The fee currently applies to Stripe; the help center says PayPal is "in the future". Plus lists "no fee at this time".

Australia isn't on the list of countries where the gateway fee applies, though Thinkific Payments is available there.

Our read: unless you need Stripe for something Thinkific Payments can't do, Thinkific Payments is the cheaper route on every plan. Please confirm the current rules on Thinkific's help center before you decide.

Thinkific Payments processing rates

For example, a $100 US card sale costs 2.9% × $100 + $0.30 = $3.20 in processing.

Extra charges on Thinkific Payments

Beyond the base rate, Thinkific lists these add-ons:

These can stack on one payment. A subscription paid by an international card, for instance, carries the base rate plus both extras. Payment plans and memberships are where the 0.7% shows up most.

Apple Pay, Google Pay and other payment methods

Apple Pay and Google Pay are charged at the "standard Thinkific Payments transaction fee, with no additional fees", so there's no surcharge for them.

Other methods cost more:

If you turn on Buy Now Pay Later, a $100 sale costs 6.5% × $100 + $0.30 = $6.80 in processing, against $3.20 for a US card.

The sales tax and VAT solution fee

If your students are in the US, Canada, the UK or the EU, Thinkific offers a sales tax and VAT solution. It charges 0.5% on every transaction where tax is assessed. On a $100 sale, that's $0.50. The invoicing fee is 0.4% (max $5).

This is optional, and the right choice depends on where you sell and your own tax obligations. Please check with an accountant. For a comparison, Teachable lists US sales tax, VAT and GST handling on every plan; we cover that in Thinkific vs Teachable.

Limits that decide which plan you need

Video bandwidth

Bandwidth is a monthly allowance: 200 GB on Start, 400 GB on Grow, 1,000 GB on Expand. Plus starts from 7,500 GB a month. A testimonial on Thinkific's pricing page says the platform "can handle unlimited courses, students, and bandwidth", but the plan table sets these caps. In short: unlimited courses, with a monthly video allowance. If you plan long video lessons for a large audience, check the allowance first. Please confirm with Thinkific what happens when you go over.

The 10,000 current-student limit

Start, Grow and Expand all allow 10,000 current students (Plus is custom). Thinkific defines that as "unique students who currently have unexpired access to at least one course". Courses themselves are unlimited. For a first course, this limit is unlikely to bite; it matters if you run a large free course.

What each plan adds

So the jump from Start to Grow is mostly about removing Thinkific branding, two more communities and four more admin seats. Expand adds more bandwidth, communities and admins on top.

The branded mobile app

A branded mobile app is a $199 a month add-on, according to the pricing page. It's "included on select Plus plans". Most solo creators skip it at the start; students can still learn in a mobile browser.

Annual vs monthly billing

Thinkific's page lists these per-month prices for annual billing:

Saving per year is our math: for Start, ($109 − $82) × 12 = $324. The listed annual prices are rounded, so the pricing page's own saving figure for Start ($330) differs by a few dollars.

Annual billing makes sense once you're confident you'll keep the platform for a year. If you're still testing an idea, the 30-day trial and a month-to-month plan carry less risk.

Cheaper or better-fit alternatives

Thinkific's entry plan is $109 a month, which is more than some competitors charge. Two budget options worth a look:

Systeme.io

Start Systeme.io freeFree plan with 1 course

Teachable

Try Teachable's 7-day free trial30-day money-back guarantee

Want to compare more tools and your email platform in one place? Use our real cost calculator.

Which Thinkific plan do you need?

1. Testing your first course: Start on Thinkific Payments ($109). Use the 30-day trial to build before you pay.
2. Need to remove Thinkific branding or add communities: Grow ($219).
3. Insisting on your own Stripe account: price in the gateway fee (2% on Start). It adds $10, $30 or $60 a month at $500, $1,500 or $3,000 in sales.
4. Want a lower entry price than $109: compare Teachable Builder ($89) or Systeme.io (from $0 to $17).

FAQ

Does Thinkific have a free plan?

Not for new users. Thinkific's pricing page says no, and offers a 30-day free trial instead. Older accounts may still sit on a legacy free plan that requires Thinkific Payments.

How much does Thinkific cost per month?

On monthly billing: Start $109, Grow $219, Expand $499. On annual billing the per-month prices are $82, $164 and $374. Plus is custom-priced. Older reviews mention a $54 Basic plan, which the pricing page no longer lists.

Does Thinkific take a cut of my sales?

Not with Thinkific Payments, which charges processing only (2.9% + 30¢ on US cards). If you connect your own Stripe account and you sell from the US, Canada, the UK or the EU, Thinkific adds 2% on Start, 1% on Grow and 0.5% on Expand, on your first $1M in sales each calendar year.

Does Thinkific charge extra for Apple Pay or Google Pay?

No. Thinkific lists Apple Pay and Google Pay at the standard Thinkific Payments rate with no additional fees. Cash App, Link and Amazon Pay are 3.9% + $0.30, and Buy Now Pay Later is 6.5% + $0.30.

Which Thinkific plan includes certificates and memberships?

Both are included from Start ($109 a month), which means every plan on the current pricing page.

Is there a limit on students?

Courses are unlimited, but Start, Grow and Expand each allow 10,000 current students: those with unexpired access to at least one course.

Bottom line

For most solo creators, Thinkific Start on Thinkific Payments is the cost to beat on this platform: $109 a month, no platform cut, unlimited courses, certificates, memberships and a 30-day trial. Treat the own-Stripe route as a $10 to $60 a month extra on Start at the sales levels above.

If your budget is tighter, look at Systeme.io's free plan or Teachable Builder first.

Start Thinkific's free trialStart is $109/mo with 0% platform fees