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thinkific VS Substack

Compare thinkific VS Substack and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

thinkific logo thinkific

Create online courses and membership sites with Thinkific and feel confident that youโ€™ve got the easiest technology and the best support in the industry.

Substack logo Substack

With Substack, anyone can start a publication that combines a personal website, blog, and email newsletter or podcast. It's quick and simple.
  • thinkific Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-12-14
  • Substack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-26

thinkific features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Thinkific offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface which makes it simple for users to create and manage online courses without needing extensive technical knowledge.
  • Customizable Course Sites
    It provides a range of customization options for course creators, allowing them to personalize their websites to match their brand and aesthetics.
  • No Transaction Fees
    Thinkific does not charge transaction fees on course sales, which means creators keep more of their revenue compared to some other platforms.
  • Comprehensive Support
    Users have access to detailed documentation, customer support, and a community forum, which can be quite helpful in troubleshooting and optimizing their course offerings.
  • Integrated Marketing Tools
    Thinkific includes a range of marketing features such as email marketing, affiliate marketing, and coupons to help users promote their courses effectively.
  • Built-in Analytics
    The platform offers robust analytics and reporting tools that enable course creators to track student progress, engagement, and overall performance.

Possible disadvantages of thinkific

  • Pricing
    Thinkific's pricing can be relatively high for smaller creators or those just starting out, especially if they want to access more advanced features available only on higher-tier plans.
  • Limited Course Compliance Features
    While Thinkific is a strong platform overall, it lacks certain compliance features such as certifications and accreditations, which might be important for certain types of educational content.
  • Dependence on Third-Party Integrations
    Some critical features, such as email marketing automation and advanced analytics, require integrations with third-party services, leading to potential additional costs and complexity.
  • No Native Mobile App
    Thinkific does not offer native mobile apps for course creators or students, which can limit accessibility and user experience for those who prefer mobile learning.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While the basic functionalities are user-friendly, leveraging some of the more advanced features may require a steeper learning curve, particularly for less tech-savvy users.
  • Customization Limitations
    Despite offering customization options, some users may find the templates and design capabilities somewhat restrictive compared to fully bespoke web development.

Substack features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Substack offers a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for writers to publish and monetize their newsletters.
  • Built-in Monetization
    Writers can easily charge readers for subscriptions, allowing for straightforward monetization.
  • Direct Audience Connection
    Substack allows writers to build a direct relationship with their audience via email, which can lead to a more engaged readership.
  • Discovery and Community
    Features like staff picks and recommendations help writers get discovered by new readers.
  • No Upfront Costs
    Substack does not charge upfront fees; instead, it takes a percentage of subscription revenues, making it easier to start.
  • Content Ownership
    Writers retain full ownership of their content, giving them more control over their work.

Possible disadvantages of Substack

  • Revenue Share
    Substack takes a 10% cut of subscription revenues, which can add up for writers with a large subscriber base.
  • Limited Customization
    The platform has limited customization options compared to building a custom website or using more flexible CMS options.
  • Dependency on Platform
    Relying on Substack means depending on its policies and infrastructure, which could pose risks if the platform changes its terms or features.
  • Competition
    As more writers join Substack, it can become challenging to stand out amidst the growing competition.
  • Email Deliverability
    Writers may face issues with email deliverability, as some newsletters may end up in spam folders.
  • Payment Processing Fees
    Besides Substack's fee, payment processors like Stripe also take a percentage, further reducing net earnings for writers.

Analysis of Substack

Overall verdict

  • Substack is a good choice for writers seeking autonomy and a straightforward way to monetize their content. However, it may not be the best fit for those who prefer working within the framework of a larger publication or those unfamiliar with the challenges of building and maintaining a subscriber base.

Why this product is good

  • Substack is a platform that allows writers, journalists, and content creators to publish and monetize their newsletters. It is praised for its ease of use, built-in subscription system, and direct-to-consumer model which enables writers to retain control over their audience and content. The platform has attracted both independent writers and established journalists seeking the freedom to monetize their work without traditional media constraints.

Recommended for

  • Independent writers and journalists
  • Content creators looking to monetize their work
  • Individuals seeking a direct relationship with their audience
  • Those who appreciate simplicity in publishing

thinkific videos

+ Add

Thinkific Review - A Complete In-Depth Video Review

More videos:

  • Review - Thinkific vs Teachable: Which is Course Builder is Better?
  • Review - Thinkific Review

Substack videos

+ Add

Monetizing Podcasts and Newsletters - Chris Best of Substack and Jonathan Gill of Backtracks

More videos:

  • Review - E1016 Substack CEO Chris Best empowers writers via email newsletter platform, raised $15M from a16z
  • Review - Why EVERYONE should be on Substack | What it is, How it Works, $$$
  • Review - Beehiiv vs Substack (2024) - Which is Better?
  • Review - My Experience with SUBSTACK: An Honest Review of Substack

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to thinkific and Substack)

thinkific

Substack

Education
100 100%
Education
0% 0
Blogging
0 0%
Blogging
100% 100
LMS
100 100%
LMS
0% 0
CMS
0 0%
CMS
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using thinkific and Substack. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare thinkific and Substack

thinkific Reviews

9 Teachable Alternatives in 2024 Ranked
However, the right platform depends on your needs and goals. If you need a more affordable Teachable alternative, Podia or Thinkific should fit the bill quite nicely. If you are eyeing free Teachable alternatives, Thinkificโ€™s free plan and Podia are good options. But for increased functionality and flexibility top your list of priorities, Teach is the best option to consider.
Source: teach.io
8 best Teachable alternatives for course creators (Features & pricing)
Like Teachable, Thinkific is designed for course creators. You can sell live lessons, pre-recorded videos, self-paced courses, and cohort programs. Thinkific also offers course completion certificates, assessments and assignments, and lesson prerequisites. You can even use Thinkific to build a storefront or website for your courses.
Source: www.podia.com
The Top Free and Paid Teachable Alternatives For Creators
Thinkific doesnโ€™t have a free plan, but it offers a 14-day free trial across all plans except Plus. Paid plans start at $36/month (billed annually) and go up to $374/month depending on the tier. Check out Thinkificโ€™s pricing page to see what you get with each plan.
Source: www.thinkific.com
14 Best Free and Paid Coursera Alternatives For Creators (2024)
Try Thinkific for yourself!Accomplish your course creation and student success goals faster with Thinkific. Please enter a valid email
Source: www.thinkific.com
Top 11 Thinkific Alternatives for Online course Creators in 2023
Lessonly is one of the best Thinkific Alternatives. Lessonly meets all the needs of their respective business better than Thinkific. When comparing the quality of ongoing product support better, you need to select Lessonly rather than Thinkific. For any feature updates and roadmaps, chose the direction of Lessonly over Thinkific. its user interface is simple and easy to...
Source: postforsuccess.com

Substack Reviews

25+ Medium Alternative Platforms for Publishing Articles
Substack offers writers of all experience levels the ability to write an email newsletter thatโ€™s profitable through subscriptions. Substack provides purpose-built web and newsletter publishing tools to enable writers to monetize their newsletters. It is a service often favoured by readers because itโ€™s a convenient all-in-one solution for writing a successful podcast that...
Source: forgefusion.io
10 Best Medium Alternatives for Reading and Publishing
What sะตts Substack apart is its sะตamlะตss intะตgration of contะตnt crะตation and subscription-basะตd monะตtization. Substackโ€™s usะตr-friะตndly intะตrfacะต, distribution tools, and support for various contะตnt formats make it a popular choice for indะตpะตndะตnt crะตators looking to connะตct dirะตctly with thะตir audiะตncะต and turn thะตir passion into a sustainablะต incomะต strะตam.
Source: www.geeksforgeeks.org
9 Best Medium Alternatives for Making Money With Your Writing in 2023
Substack and Medium differ primarily in their monetization methods. Medium pays creators based on reader engagement, while Substack enables writers to monetize directly through paid subscriptions to their newsletters. This business model allows Substack users to build a direct relationship with their readers via their email inboxes, whereas Medium interactions primarily...
Source: www.authorityhacker.com
11 Patreon Alternatives for Audience Monetization in 2023
Like a few of the other platforms weโ€™ve looked at, Substack takes a cut of your earnings rather than charging a 10% platform fee.
Source: www.uscreen.tv
Any good Mailchimp alternatives?
My question for you is, what is keeping you from making $31 per month from your list? Are you using any feature that Substack (free until you get paid) can't handle?
Source: www.indiehackers.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Substack seems to be a lot more popular than thinkific. While we know about 98 links to Substack, we've tracked only 5 mentions of thinkific. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

thinkific mentions (5)

  • Migrate from Thinkific to WordPress. #1 Planning and data preparation
    In this series of 5 articles, I propose to write about how I migrated from the e-learning platform Thinkific to WordPress, how I exported the data from Thinkific, what technologies I used, how WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI) helped me, and how I made other minor changes to templates or using WordPress API hooks. Below, I leave you the list of articles in the series:. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Free Introduction To OSINT Course from My OSINT Training
    I recommend using VPNs for OSINT to increase your privacy, project your presence, and to increase your anonymity. Unfortunately, the platform my courses are hosted on, thinkific.com, may restrict access to their site when you use a VPN. I have no control over this but I think we both can understand why they might do this as our reasons for using VPNs are in conflict with their reasons for blocking some of them. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Job Ideas for Dentist non-clinical
    Hey I think a course is great idea, she has tons of experience thatโ€™s in demand by young clinicians. I have experience in course creations (thinkific) let me know if I can help, good luck. Source: about 3 years ago
  • How to download thinkific videos.
    If you want to watch the thinkific.com videos offline on your Mac or Windows computer or portable devices like iPad, iPhone, iPod, Xbox, Apple TV, PSP, Samsung TV, Samsung phone, Blackberry phone, etc., you will need to download and convert videos from thinkific.com. In this article, we will introduce a professional yet easy to use thinkific.com Downloader and a step by step guide on how to download thinkific.com... Source: over 3 years ago
  • How to download thinkific.com videos.
    Ever wish to download videos form thinkific.com, but failed? If so, you come to the right place. The aim of this article is to recommend a free and green thinkific.com downloader, without virus, malware, plug-ins, adware, etc. With this thinkific.com Download, users are not only able to save countless thinkific.com videos to your pc or devices like phone, pad, TV, etc. Source: over 3 years ago

Substack mentions (98)

  • SpaceX to buy Cursor AI coding agent operator Anysphere for $60B
    The thing is, even the center of the road academics who refrain from such comparisons are noting the similarity. The MAGA movement meets the traditional defining characteristics of fascio. We can be rigid and say that only Mussoliniโ€˜s political movement can be properly be called fascist. But if we call Hitler and the Nazis fascists as well, then we open the door to any movement that meets the criteria. And Trump... - Source: Hacker News / 20 days ago
  • AMA: I'm Eric Ries (The Lean Startup) & Author of New Bestseller Incorruptible
    Yes, it's much different in other countries. See https://substack.com/@doks/p-198191751. - Source: Hacker News / 26 days ago
  • Show HN: Playing with genomics foundation model tutorial/explainer article
    Hi folks, I got curious about how genomics foundation models work and wrote an article explaining how they are trained + can be used. Feel free to use the following as learning resources if you wish to jump into ML for comp bio stuff, it may help: - Code: https://github.com/dillondesilva/nt-promoter-region-classification - Article/Tutorial:... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • CBP Directive 3340-049B: Border Search of Electronic Devices
    The vast majority of people from the developed world have no problems going through any border in the developed world. Your experience is probably representative, but that's not what we're talking about. My understanding is that de facto you have no rights at all in China. The Americans take this sort of thing very seriously, which is why it's in the news and talked about. Some guy gets imprisoned for 37... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 month ago
  • GitHub โ€“ DOS 1.0: Transcription of Tim Paterson's DOS Printouts
    There was never a serious claim DOS copied CP/M code. The controversy was mostly about legality of reimplementation of the API, plus some pretty vague claims about copying the design: https://substack.com/@nemanjatrifunovic/note/p-178321556. - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing thinkific and Substack, you can also consider the following products

Udemy - Online Courses - Learn Anything, On Your Schedule

Medium - Welcome to Medium, a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you.

Adobe Learning Manager - Adobe Learning Manager (formerly Adobe Captivate Prime LMS) is easy to setup and helps in delivering engaging learning experiences in a personalized manner across devices.

Ghost - Ghost is a fully open source, adaptable platform for building and running a modern online publication. We power blogs, magazines and journalists from Zappos to Sky News.

Moodle - Moodle is the world's most popular learning management system. Start creating your online learning site in minutes!

MailChimp - MailChimp is the best way to design, send, and share email newsletters.

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