Given the Teachable pricing plans, it is vital to know whether you should invest in it.
There is no denying that it’s a pretty popular platform for creators to create and sell online courses.
Although it offers a course builder, student management, and marketing tools, its extra fees and limitations are often overlooked.
In this blog, we’ll explore Teachable pricing, pros, and cons to help you decide if it's right for your online course business.
In addition, you will get to know more affordable alternatives, too.
Let’s get started.
What is Teachable?
Teachable is an online course platform that allows creators to easily build, sell, and manage courses.
With the platform, you can create courses, create landing pages, and process payments.
Teachable supports various content formats. It includes videos, PDFs, and quizzes, making learning engaging for students.
The platform also provides marketing features like sales pages and affiliate programs to help increase revenue.
However, you won't need to worry about VAT, sales tax, or complicated payment systems. It also handles all of that for you and supports Stripe and PayPal payments.
Not-so-great parts of Teachable pricing plans
Now, let’s talk about the not-so-great parts of the platform.
Teachable pricing now starts at $29/month (annually) on the Starter plan. But, this plan takes 7.5% of your earnings as a transaction fee.
Plus, it has only 5 products, 1 admin user, and no branded mobile app that most online course platforms offer.
And, you can’t remove the Teachable branding tag on its lower-priced plans. Besides, no webhooks, API, or even priority support is given to them.
So, if you are serious about your course business, it’s not going to be a worthwhile deal for you!
If you want to avoid transaction fees and other downsides, you’ll need to buy the Growth plan ($139/month annually) or higher.
If you’re growing fast, costs can add up quickly. The real-time support is only available on Builder plans and higher.
Plus, if you’re on the Starter plan, get ready for slower email responses.
Teachable’s top features
Let’s break down key features, highlighting both the strengths and the sneaky limitations:
Usage
It lets you products, admin-level users, active students, imported students, and video storage options on all plans. Based on the Teachable pricing plans, it has fewer options visibly. Like:
Starter: 5 products, 1 admin, 100 students, 5 imported students, and 1TB+ of video storage.
Builder: 10 products, 1 admin, 1000 students, 50 imported students, and 1TB+ of video storage.
Growth: 50 products, 5 admins, 5000+ students, 1000 imported students, and 1TB+ of video storage.
Custom: Personalized based on your needs.
Platform features
It offers you tons of options for diverse needs, including courses, community, and other niches.
For course creations, you’ll find student management, drip course content, course compliance, bulk student imports, and lesson comments.
In fact, it has auto-graded quizzes, course design templates, and certificates. With that, it has community and membership options.
Sales & marketing
Teachable comes with great features for sales and marketing needs. Like, you’ll find teachable pay for a payment gateway.
With that, it lets you add student referrals, coupons, upsells, order bumps, bundles, and custom reporting.
For reaching out, you can add abandoned cart emails and use email marketing.
Plus, it has an integrated affiliate program and US sales tax, global tax, and GST handling option.
For course creations, you’ll find student management, drip course content, course compliance, bulk student imports, and lesson comments.
In fact, it has auto-graded quizzes, course design templates, and certificates. With that, it has community and membership options.
Customizations
This platform has no customization options for the Starter plan. In the Builder plan, you’ll get CSS snippets and a custom domain.
However, you’ll get all the features on Growth and Custom plans, including removing branding and custom user roles.
Integrations
It has 1 (on Starter), 3 (on Builder), and 5 (on Growth) third-party integration options. In the Custom plan, this feature is unlimited.
But, the Starter and Builder plans don’t have Zapier or webhooks. However, you’ll find these options on the Growth and Custom plans.
Developer tools
Both Starter and Builder plans have no developer tools feature. But, you’ll find Public API and QAuth options in Growth and Custom plans.
Besides, it has a 10K/month API request volume limit and a 100/minute API request rate limit on the Growth plan. These features are also personalized on the Custom plan based on your needs.
Learning & support
You basically don’t get any priority support, dedicated account manager, implementation & migration services on the Starter, Builder, and Growth plans.
In addition, the real-time support isn’t available on the Starter plan. Apart from this, you get email support, Teachable University access, and Launch Accelerator access on all its plans.
Teachable pricing plans: How much does Teachable cost?
Teachable pricing plan structure comes with a few surprises, some good, some are… not so much. Now, let’s see in-depth:
Plan 1: Starter ($29/month annually)
Transaction Fee: 7.5%
Products: 5
Admin Users: 1
Students: 100 active students + 5 imported ones
AI Course Creation: Yes
iOS & Android Mobile App: Only for students
White-label Mobile App: Not available
Sales Tax Handling: Yes (automated VAT, GST, etc.)
Marketing Tools: Coupons, abandoned cart recovery, & upsells
Support: Email only (No live chat!)
Limitation: Why pay $29/month (annually) and give up 7.5% of your sales? At this price, most competitors 0% transaction fees.
Plan 2: Builder ($69/month annually)
Transaction Fee: 0%
Products: 10
Admin Users: 1
Students: 1000 active students + 50 imported ones
AI Course Creation: Yes
Sales & Marketing: All Basic features + affiliate program
Course Certification: Yes (Issue completion certificates to students)
Affiliate Program: Yes
Support: Real-time
Customization: Custom domain + CSS snippets
Limitation: $69/month (annually) is steep for small creators, especially when platforms like EzyCourse offer similar features for half the price.
Plan 3: Growth($139/month annually)
Transaction Fee: 0%
Products: 50
Admin Users: 1
Students: 5000+ active students + 1000 imported ones
AI Course Creation: Yes
Starter & Growth Features: Included
Special Features: Bulk student imports, 5 integrations, 10K/m API volume limit, & 100/minutes API rate limit
Affiliate Program: Yes
Support: Real-time
Customization: Remove Teachable branding + custom user roles
Limitation: If you go with this plan, you’re still limiting yourself to a limited number of products. Whereas, you can grab the Unlimited plan of EzyCourse with this investment!
Plan 4. Custom (Personalized pricing)
Transaction Fee: 0%
Growth Plan Features: Included
Third Party Integrations: Unlimited
Priority Support: Included
Custom Reporting: Personalized
Dedicated Account Manager: Personalized
Implementation & Migration Services: Personalized
Limitation: Even with this high investment, you are still lagging behind with this plan.
Teachable Processing Fees
Here’s a breakdown of the processing fees of Teachable:
What’s the Issue with Teachable pricing?
Even after paying $59/month, Teachable keeps 5% of your earnings.
You need the Pro plan ($159/month) or higher to keep all your revenue.
White-labeling is only available on Pro ($159/month) and above.
Lower plans restrict the number of published products, forcing upgrades.
Only email support for Basic users. Live chat is for Pro+ ($159/month+).
The much-hyped AI course creator is not available on free plans.
To get essential features, you have to pay at least $249/month.
Is it a good decision to purchase Teachable?
While Teachable is a beginner-friendly platform, the pricing structure can feel a bit like a pay-to-play system.
If you’re just starting and don’t want high upfront costs, the transaction fees on the Basic plan might be frustrating.
And if you want to secure the essential features to run your business, be prepared to pay higher than usual.
So, it’ll be worth it for you to consider a Teachable alternative.
Why should you look for a better alternative to Teachable?
Is Teachable the best option for you? Maybe not! Here are 9 reasons why you might want to explore better alternatives:
1. High transaction fees
The Starter plan takes 7.5% transaction fees.
Other platforms, like EzyCourse, charge 0% transaction fees on all plans.
So, why pay Teachable just to use your own content?
2. Expensive monthly fees
The Growth plan, which is still limited in features, costs $189/month.
That’s nearly double what some competitors charge for similar features.
If you’re a small creator, this price can kill your profit margin.
3. Limited features
The Starter plans lack key features like an affiliate program, course certifications, and white-label branding.
You don’t even get live chat support unless you pay $89+ per month.
4. No built-in community
To create a student community, you need to be on a higher-tier plan.
Other platforms, like EzyCourse, offer built-in community features for all users.
5. Clunky website builder
While Teachable offers a "no-code" site builder, it’s basic and not very customizable.
You’ll still need third-party tools if you want a polished, professional website.
6. Poor customer support
Basic plan users only get email support.
Live chat support is only available on the higher plans.
7. No branded mobile app
Teachable has a student mobile app, but creators can’t manage their courses from a mobile device.
Other platforms like EzyCourse offer a Free white-label mobile app for both students and instructors.
8. No marketing automation
Unlike EzyCourse, Kajabi, and Kartra, Teachable lacks built-in email marketing and sales funnels.
You’ll need Zapier and other integrations to create automated workflows.
9. Better & affordable alternatives exist
If you want:
Lower fees: EzyCourse doesn’t take any transaction fees.
Better marketing tools: Consider ClickFunnels, EzyCourse, or Kartra.
More customization: Go with Learnworlds, Thinkific, or EzyCourse to customize your site as you want.
Indeed, there are more affordable choices out there with great features.
Is There Any Better Alternative?
There are a lot of platforms that claim to be a good Teachable alternative. Here, we’ll consider showing EzyCourse as the best alternative to Teachable.
Let’s have a quick idea about EzyCourse.
EzyCourse: The Best All-in-One Online Course Platform
EzyCourse is a powerful, all-in-one online coaching and course platform designed to help educators, coaches, and businesses create, connect, and monetize their expertise.
It stands out as the best alternative to traditional LMS platforms by offering a feature-rich solution at an affordable price.
With this, you’ll find some great options like:
Unlimited courses, students, and course tools.
Sell 5 digital products.
10K.month email marketing with automation.
Free branded app on Unlimited & Elite plans ($189+ per month).
0% trasnaction fees or commission.
Create 2 communities, group chats, and events.
Unlimited storage usage.
Get email and chat support.
Includes membership site, cart checkout, and 1 appointment.
You don’t even need any third-party tools.
One of its key advantages is its built-in community engagement features, allowing users to foster meaningful interactions with students through forums, live chat, and gamification.
Also, EzyCourse supports SCORM-compliant courses, AI-generated subtitles, advanced quizzes, and native Zoom integration. It also offers multi-currency and geo-pricing features.
With flexible pricing plans and top-tier customer support, EzyCourse is the perfect platform for anyone looking to scale their online education business efficiently.
Best For
Online course creators
Coaches and consultants
Businesses selling digital products
Membership site owners
Educators and trainers
+ Any type of digital creators and businesses
Benefits
All-in-one platform.
No need for third-party tools.
More features at a lower cost than competitors.
Free white-label mobile app*
Native Zoom integration
1:1 & group coaching sessions
Advanced community features
Robust security & DRM protection
Built-in email automation
Multilingual support
24/7 customer support
Downsides
No free plan.
1 coaching program with 20 active users.
Pricing plans
1. Essential: $55/month for the annual plan or $69/month.
2. Pro: $129/month for the annual plan or $159/month.
3. Unlimited: $189/month for the annual plan or $279/month.
4. Elite: $279/month for the annual plan or $479/month.
EzyCourse vs Teachable: Which one is better for you?
When it comes to building and selling online courses, Teachable and EzyCourse are two of the most popular platforms.
However, if you're looking for a complete, all-in-one solution, EzyCourse stands out as the better choice. Let’s break down why.
1. Pricing & transaction fees
Let’s see the difference between Teachable pricing and EzyCourse pricing and transaction fees.
Teachable
1. Starter: $29/month (annually) + 7.5% transaction fee.
2. Builder: $69/month (annually).
3. Growth: $139/month (annually).
4. Advanced: Personalized plan (pretty expensive).
EzyCourse
In contrast, EzyCourse offers 0% transaction fees on all plans:
1. Essential: $55/month (annually).
2. Pro: $129/month (annually).
3. Unlimited: $189/month (annually) + free branded app.
4. Elite : $279/month (annually) + unlimited coaching program + all the features of Unlimited plan.
2. Course creation
EzyCourse puts you in control of your course creation. It’s easier, more flexible, and has high customization options compared to Teachable.
You can also enjoy 12+ lesson types, live streaming, 6 pricing options, unlimited storage, SCORM compliance, advanced quizzes, gamification, and much more!
3. Community features
Teachable lacks strong built-in community features like EzyCourse. Then, EzyCourse comes with:
Unlimited communities on its Unlimited plan.
Live chat, forums, and gamification features to keep students engaged.
Group chats and role creation for more personalized experiences.
Plus, it helps you build a loyal, engaged community around your courses with more options with community tabs like events, live streaming, and more.
4. Free branded app
EzyCourse offers a free white-label mobile app with Unlimited and Elite plans. It also supports audio and video calls inside the mobile app.
You can allow your students to connect, interact, and enjoy better video-quality calls. If you want to increase engagement and offer an improved learning app experience, EzyCourse will be a better choice for you.
On the other hand, Teachable only offers a student mobile app (no branded app). Again, it’s only available on iOS.
5. Customization & branding
Teachable allows you to add branding to your courses, but with limitations. To get white-label branding, you have to go with the Growth or Custom plans.
EzyCourse takes customization to the next level. From the essential plan, you get:
Full white-label customization for your platform, emails, and mobile apps.
Fully branded mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Custom transactional emails with your branding.
6. Sales & marketing features
Teachable offers the basics, but it lacks many advanced features that help your business grow. Plus, EzyCourse provides tools to scale, such as:
Advanced quizzes and grading systems.
Built-in live session.
Automated email marketing.
Affiliate programs.
Lead generation
Sales funnel
These advanced features make EzyCourse the perfect platform for creators looking to expand their online business.
7. Priority support
Maybe this is the most frustrating issue when you need help from the support team. Teachable has a poor reputation for customer support.
On the other hand, EzyCourse is the best when you are talking about reliable customer support. Enjoy VIP support, with quick help when you need it most.
Final Words
Although Teachable is popular among those who create online courses, its hidden fees and limited features can become problematic.
While it offers the basics, you might pay extra for the features you actually need.
EzyCourse truly shines here. It offers no transaction fees, unlimited courses, coaching, communities, and digital products.
Plus, these features like gamification and live streaming are all inclusive! It's simple. It also offers more flexibility and power at a better value.
So, if you're looking for a platform that gives you everything you need to scale your business, it might be the answer. Your business deserves the best, after all!
