Thinkific

Pros

It is very easy to get up and running with Thinkific. The course templates are a breeze to edit; users can easily see how to add and edit content, and the presentation is slick and professional.

Cons

Thinkific does not have an integrated email marketing feature, but users can connect MailChimp, et al., with Zapier. The design templates look okay until the user starts to change fonts and adds more content, then they start to look like a Wordpress template. Not bad, but not slick.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific

Pros

This is an absolutely beautiful platform. Thinkific has been in the elearning industry for years and it shows - the portal is easy to navigate and set up courses. The tutorials section is robust and detailed, giving step-by-step information on how to set up various course features and troubleshoot any issues that may come up. There is the ability to issue certificates of completion, add an assignment section for students to upload their work, basic quiz functionality, drip-scheduling as well as compulsory lessons which need to be completed before the student can move on. The lessons can consist of videos, text, PDF's (which can be downloadable or not), or quizzes. You can embed videos and links from other sites too. The course analytics allow you to see how much of a course/lesson was completed before a student drops off, giving valuable insight which enables the course creator to edit and adapt the courses to make them more engaging for the students. There is also a 'community' feature which gives students the chance to chat and give/feedback away from an external site (like a Facebook group). Thinkific does not take any of the course fees and allows the course creator to keep 100% of the profits earned. There is also a free version which has a lot of features included.

Cons

The certificates are quite basic and it's necessary to be design-savvy and tech-savvy to create a certificate which would be accepted in the upload process. The quizzes are very basic and do not support time-limits, limited retries or anything more robust than true/false or multiple choice. Should you want to integrate with a more robust quiz software, their native integrative party is quite pricey! There is no built-in email functionality aside from the notifications that can be sent to existing students. As email is becoming more popular among other learning management systems this is quite a big negative point against them. The option to whitelabel the site completely is only available on the 'Growth' plan which over and above the 'Pro' plan which is already $99.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Thinkific

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific

Pros

I like that it is easy to use, it's easy to upload your course material and publish your course.

Cons

My main issues with thinkific include very slow page load speed (which kills SEO rankings), dysfunction in the assignment feature (specifically, when clicking "next page" on the assignments, it takes you back to page 1 and you have to start all over), inability to edit a course landing page (my course has been published for 4 years and the URL is out in google so I don't want to recreate and for some reason we can no longer edit the page at all), and problems with user experience (students not being able to load a page, etc)

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific

Pros

The intuitive nature of your interface is extremely helpful for both course designers and students. As a site and course administrator, I'm exceptionally impressed with the ease of use. Thank you for incorporating finance management functions. Sleek design, ease of use, great price point. Don't change the price, it's one of your best market differentiators. I switched to Thinkific for the Pro Growth plan which was the key difference for me from other providers like Matrix.

Cons

I really need to market courses via social media with the least number of accounts and steps. It would be awesome if you could integrate some social media marketing tools into the site rather than link accompanying providers. The more I can do WITHIN thinkific, the better. The same applies for business functions like website management, sales of non-course materials (e.g., printed books, e-books), and perhaps QuickBooks

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Thinkific

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific

Pros

I liked that you could design the access portal, the courses, and the payment methods all in 1 interface without any needs for additional products. I particularly enjoy how easy it is to set the courses up if you have your curriculum designed.

Cons

I wish there was an option to be able to have access to all the course features without fees. We are a startup and just are not in a position to charge for courses yet, meaning this would be a huge investment for us that we are not willing to make. It would be great if you could get a 6month burn-in period to test and market before going live.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Thinkific

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Thinkific