Teachable Review 2026
What Teachable costs at each tier, where the 7.5% Starter fee changes the answer, and four rivals compared.
Teachable's cheapest plan is $29/mo billed annually, but Starter costs more than Builder once you sell more than $6,400 of courses a year. Starter takes a 7.5% transaction fee on every sale, while Builder ($69/mo billed annually) and Growth ($139/mo billed annually) take 0% through Teachable Payments. For most solo creators, Builder is the plan to start on.
The biggest strength is what every paid plan includes: unlimited students, iOS and Android student apps, and a checkout with upsells and cart recovery. The biggest catch is that there is no permanent free plan, and the trial length appears two ways on the same pricing page. The strongest alternative is LearnWorlds for deeper course and training features, or Kajabi if you want email and funnels in the same bill.
Key factsBest for: Solo creators and small course businesses that want…
- A clean paid course platform whose cheapest plan costs more than its middle plan once sales grow.
- Free plan: None, trial only
- Starter fee: 7.5% per sale
- Builder fee: 0% through Teachable Payments
- Tools evaluated: 69 in the online course category
Pros
- Unlimited students on all three paid plans, with iOS and Android student apps
- Builder and Growth charge 0% platform transaction fee through Teachable Payments
- Upsells and cart recovery included on all three paid plans
Cons
- Starter costs more than Builder once annual sales pass $6,400, because its 7.5% fee grows with each sale
- The pricing page shows a 7-day trial on the plan cards and a 30-day trial in a pop-up
- Email marketing is not built in and runs through integrations such as Mailchimp and AWeber
Teachable is a course platform that also sells coaching sessions and digital downloads from the same storefront. It is aimed at creators and small businesses that want one bill for the course, the checkout and the student app.
The real question for most buyers is what it costs once sales start, because the cheapest tier carries a fee that the middle tier does not.
This review sets out the price of every tier, works out the cost at one stated volume, and names the buyers for whom a rival is the better choice.
Our methodology: each price is read on the vendor's own pricing page in October 2026, the cost scenario is computed from those prices, and the market count comes from Toolradar.
Toolradar data: we evaluated 69 tools in the online course platform category, as of October 2026.
What is Teachable?
Teachable is a hosted platform for selling online courses, coaching sessions and digital downloads from one storefront. It is built for creators who want to run a course without managing a payment gateway or a separate student area.
The product is the course, the checkout and the student app in one subscription.
The toolkit covers a drag-and-drop course builder, quizzes with a quiz generator that drafts questions from your material, and drip content that releases lessons on a schedule.
Teachable also markets built-in AI tools for creating and translating content. Teachable Payments accepts 35+ local payment methods and handles automatic tax, according to Teachable's homepage.
What it does not include is a full email marketing suite.
The homepage lists email only through integrations such as Mailchimp and AWeber, so a creator who wants a newsletter and funnels in one place will pay for those tools separately.
How Teachable works
The workflow is course-first. You build the course in the drag-and-drop builder, set a price, connect Teachable Payments and publish, and the student dashboard handles access.
The learner side is the strongest part: students get a mobile-friendly dashboard plus iOS and Android apps on every paid plan.
The rough edges show up in plan limits rather than in the editor. A product counts as a course, coaching offering or digital download, and Starter caps you at five products and one admin user.
Builder raises the cap to 10 products with the same single admin seat. Growth is the first tier a team can work in together, with five admin users and custom admin permissions.
Teachable key features
Teachable pricing
Teachable publishes USD prices for three paid plans. Starter is $29/mo billed annually or $39/mo billed monthly. Builder is $69/mo billed annually or $89/mo billed monthly. Growth is $139/mo billed annually or $189/mo billed monthly.
Custom is quote-only ("Contact sales"). Annual billing saves $120 a year on Starter, $240 on Builder and $600 on Growth.
The transaction fee, not the subscription, decides the cheapest plan. Starter takes 7.5% of every sale, while Builder and Growth take 0% when sales run through Teachable Payments.
At a scenario of $50,000 a year in course sales, a $100 average price (500 sales), billed annually, the platform bill is $4,098 on Starter ($348 of subscription plus $3,750 of fees) and $828 on Builder (subscription only).
Starter is cheaper only while annual sales stay under $6,400, the point where its 7.5% fee equals the $480 gap between the two subscriptions.
Growth costs $1,668 a year at the same volume, $840 more than Builder, for five admin users, course certificates and branding removal.
Card and PayPal processing fees are excluded from every total here because each platform charges them on top of its plan.
Teachable's pricing page shows a 7-day free trial on the plan cards and in the FAQ, while a pop-up on the same page says the trial was extended to 30 days.
Confirm the length at signup.
Sources: Teachable pricing, Kajabi pricing, Podia pricing, LearnWorlds pricing and Thinkific pricing, all checked in October 2026.
Thinkific's page lists its core plans in euros only, so no dollar figure is quoted for them.
| Plan | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Teachable Starter | $29/mo billed annually ($39/mo monthly) | 5 products, 1 admin user, unlimited students, up to 1TB video storage, 7.5% transaction fee |
| Teachable Builder | $69/mo billed annually ($89/mo monthly) | 10 products, 1 admin user, affiliate program, 0% transaction fee with Teachable Payments |
| Teachable Growth | $139/mo billed annually ($189/mo monthly) | 50 products, 5 admin users, course certificates, branding removal, imported students |
| Teachable Custom | Contact sales | Quote-only tier with 0% transaction fee through Teachable Payments; limits not published |
| Kajabi Basic | $143/mo billed annually ($179/mo monthly) | 5 products, 2 admin users, 2,500 contacts, no free plan |
| Kajabi Growth | $199/mo billed annually ($249/mo monthly) | 50 products, 11 admin users, 25,000 contacts, 500 AI credits |
| Kajabi Pro | $399/mo billed annually ($499/mo monthly) | Unlimited products, 26 admin users, 100,000 contacts, 3 websites |
| Podia Mover | $42/mo, or $504 billed annually | 50 products, 5% transaction fee, up to 100 email subscribers |
| Podia Shaker | $84/mo, or $1,008 billed annually | 150 products, no transaction fee, up to 500 email subscribers |
| Podia Earthquaker | $150/mo, or $1,800 billed annually | Unlimited products, no transaction fee, up to 1,000 email subscribers |
| LearnWorlds Starter | $29/mo billed monthly ($24/mo billed annually) | 1 admin, $5 per paid enrollment, 1,000 active learners a month |
| LearnWorlds Pro Trainer | $99/mo billed monthly ($79/mo billed annually) | 5 admins, no enrollment fee, free and paid courses, 2,000 active learners a month |
| LearnWorlds Learning Center | $299/mo billed monthly ($249/mo billed annually) | 25 admins, no enrollment fee, 2,000 active learners a month |
| Thinkific Basic | €53/mo billed monthly (€39/mo billed annually) | Lowest paid plan, 30-day trial, no permanent free plan; the page shows euro prices only |
Teachable pros and cons
What we like
- Unlimited students on all three paid plans, with iOS and Android student apps
- Builder and Growth charge 0% platform transaction fee through Teachable Payments
- Upsells and cart recovery included on all three paid plans
What could be better
- Starter costs more than Builder once annual sales pass $6,400, because its 7.5% fee grows with each sale
- The pricing page shows a 7-day trial on the plan cards and a 30-day trial in a pop-up
- Email marketing is not built in and runs through integrations such as Mailchimp and AWeber
Who Teachable is for
Teachable fits a solo expert or small team selling a handful of courses, coaching calls and downloads, who wants the student app and checkout without building a stack. Builder is the right tier for most of them, because it removes the transaction fee and gives you 10 products.
It is the wrong buy for three groups.
Creators who want a newsletter and funnels at the center of the business should price Kajabi, which bundles them. Teams training staff at scale should look at LearnWorlds for SCORM packages. Anyone who needs a permanent free plan has no option here.
Best Teachable alternatives
If Teachable is not the right fit, these are the closest options.
| Tool | Best for | Starts at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachable | Solo creators and small course businesses that want courses, coaching and checkout in one bill. | From $29/mo billed annually | Visit → |
| Kajabi | Creators who want courses, email marketing and funnels on one bill, and will pay for the marketing suite. | From $143/mo billed annually ($179 monthly) | Visit → |
| Podia | Creators selling digital downloads and courses who want a fee-free plan once sales grow. | From $42/mo ($504 billed annually) with a 5% fee | Visit → |
| LearnWorlds | Course sellers who want SCORM support and a deeper LMS, and will move up to Pro Trainer. | From $24/mo billed annually plus $5 per paid enrollment | Visit → |
| Thinkific | Creators who want a straightforward course site and a 30-day trial of the full platform before they pay. | Euro prices only on its pricing page (Basic from 39 euros/mo billed an | Visit → |
The bottom line
Teachable is worth it for a creator who will sell steadily, and Builder is the plan to start on. The 7.5% Starter fee is the trap to avoid: past the break-even volume, the cheapest plan costs more than Builder.
If you need course certificates on a tier below Growth, or a built-in email suite, Teachable's plan list does not give you either, so check those before you pay.
For a deeper LMS, pick LearnWorlds; for an all-in-one marketing bill, pick Kajabi.
Full tool profiles are on Toolradar: Teachable and LearnWorlds. Cite this: Techpresso, "Teachable Review 2026: Pricing, Pros, Cons and Alternatives", October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Teachable cost in 2026?
Is there a free Teachable plan?
Is Teachable cheaper than Kajabi?
What is the Teachable transaction fee?
Does Teachable include certificates, quizzes and an affiliate program?
Sources
Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.
- Teachable pricingchecked Sep 2026
- Kajabi pricingchecked Sep 2026
- Podia pricingchecked Sep 2026
- LearnWorlds pricingchecked Sep 2026
- Thinkific pricingchecked Sep 2026
Some offers on this page may be paid placements or contain affiliate links.
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