When deciding to leap into an online educator career and start creating online courses, one of my most critical decisions is choosing the teaching platform where you’re going to host your courses.
After some trial and error, I am happy to say that Teachable (review link) is a great online course platform for all types of creators. It perfectly supports educators and online entrepreneurs alike at an affordable cost.
They offer four different hosting Teachable pricing plans, depending on the size of your business. I have tried most of the paid plans (minus the “Business” plan created for enterprise-level e-learning businesses), and I’m here to break down the plans in detail.
This article will cover everything you need to know about the Teachable pricing plans, including key features and pointers about which one might be ideal for your business.
So, how much is Teachable per month?
Table of Contents
Teachable Offers Four Different Pricing Plans:
- Free: a free account
- Basic: $39/month or $29/month for annual billing
- Pro: $119/month or $99/month for annual billing
- Business: $299/month or $249/month for annual billing
Choosing monthly billing will give you the flexibility to cancel your subscription at any time, but you will be missing out on the annual savings.
The good news is that Teachable offers all of the most important services and features in each of their plans, even in the free plan!
Editor’s Note: the free Teachable plan may have been discontinued.
With each Teachable pricing plan, you get:
- Unlimited video
- Unlimited courses
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited hosting space
- Teachable payment processing integration
- Integrated sales pages for online courses
- Student account management
- Discussion boards and forums
- Basic quizzes and tests
- Free courses
- Sales page design features
- Marketing features
- 30-day money-back guarantee
One thing that drew me to Teachable was that it allowed me to publish, manage, and market my training courses on one platform and offered multiple third-party integrations (even on their free plan).
With the way Teachable works, though, there are clear incentives to switch to other plans as your business grows.
As we continue, keep the transaction fees that are associated with each plan in mind.
The Free Plan
The first question that most people ask about course platforms like Teachable is, “how much does Teachable cost?”
Well, you can start for free!
Teachable has a free plan that includes all the features and tools you need to create an online course, host it, and market it. No hidden tricks or gimmicks.
The Teachable Free plan is by far the best way to get started on the Teachable platform. Creating an online course can take time and effort, so using a platform that costs nothing in the meantime is just a sound business decision. Most of the beginners do it.
While a free plan is perfect for setting up and hosting a course, it lacks the value and features when it comes to marketing and selling your course.
To be precise, the transaction fees, which Teachable charges as commission, will eat into your profits. Each course you sell under the free plan will cost you $1 plus 10% of the sale price of the course.
Selling ten courses a month at a $100 price point will cost you $110 in transaction fees. At this point, it is already more affordable to switch to a Teachable Professional Plan.
The key advice here is to stay on a free plan as you put the course together and test the platform to make your first sales. As soon as the business picks up, it is time to upgrade.
Teachable’s Free Plan Editor’s note: In 2020, Teachable discontinued their free plan for course creation, but brought it back in 2021!
The Basic Plan
The first paid Teachable plan is the Teachable Basic plan which comes in at a $39 price tag when billed monthly or $29 for annual billing.
It is an entry-level paid hosting plan that offers additional value and features to those who want to upgrade from the free plan.
When you purchase the Basic plan, you receive all of the features the free plan provides, plus:
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited courses
- Transaction fees on all courses reduced from a fixed $1 charge per sale to 5% of the course sale price
- Instant payouts
- Two admin-level accounts for owners/managers or authors
- Customer live chat support and training for creating courses
- A custom domain name for your online school
- Ability to create coupon codes to promote your courses
- Support for affiliate marketing of the courses (create your own affiliate program)
- Access to Teachable email marketing tools for emailing your students
- Support for third-party integrations
- Drip course content
You created an online course and made your first sales. The business seems to be getting some traction, and it might be time to make your school and courses seem more professional. This is the perfect time to switch to the Basic plan.
Start with a custom domain. On a Free plan, your school will have a subdomain that looks like this: yourschool.Teachable.com.
The Basic plan enables you to choose any domain you like for the school, a perfect way to integrate it with an existing website if you have one. All you need to do is choose a domain. The hosting stays at Teachable.
Another perk is the 30-day refund policy you have to offer your students. The only problem is that you will not be able to access your funds from that sale during that period.
Additionally, the money from the sales will be transferred to your payment gateway method of choice during the next available Teachable payment cycle, which occurs every two weeks. Waiting for your funds for 45 days is not ideal, especially for those running a startup on a tight budget.
Additional features offered in the Basic plan are great, but there are some downsides as with the Free plan.
The biggest downside is the 5% transaction fee. Yes, the fees are half of what they are on the Free plan, but if your online courses are taking off and you are making more sales, your wallet will feel it.
If you are selling courses for $100 and making twenty or more course sales a month, it might already be time to switch to the Professional plan.
Ultimately, the Basic plan is ideal for running a startup online course business or a side gig to their main job. As long as you do not expect a lot of sales, it might suit you.
The Professional Plan
The $119 per month (billed monthly) or $99 per month (billed annually) Professional plan is the choice of many successful online course creators, and there are plenty of reasons for that.
In addition to all the perks and features from the two previous plans, Teachable is adding:
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited courses
- Instant payouts
- Bye-bye fees! You keep all the money from course sales
- No waiting for payments! Money is available instantly
- Five admin-level accounts for your business
- Priority customer service and product support
- Customize the theme of your school by using Teachable Power Editor which allows custom code for added functionality and improved design
- Advanced analytics and detailed reporting tools
- Unbranded website
- Create graded quizzes and test for students and issue them certificates for the completed course
- Course compliance
- Course completion certificates
- Integrated affiliate marketing
Teachable supports the growth of your online course business and has provided a perfect plan for it. The best value and all the features and tools you need to make your courses popular and your pockets full.
Getting to keep all of the revenue from course sales is great value in itself, and getting the funds on your preferred payment method instantly is so convenient.
Advanced analytics, reports, and graded quizzes and certificates allow you to improve the course experience for your students and identify any weak spots your course might have.
Teachable Power Editor will make your school and courses stand out among other creators and help you attract more students.
Additionally, third-party integrations will boost the functionality of your courses and significantly improve the course experience for your students. Third-party apps can help you automate many tasks related to the marketing and sales of the courses, as well as let you keep up with your students.
Most importantly, with a Professional plan, you finally get to own all of the data from your school and courses. All of the contact information, course materials, quizzes, discussions, and correspondence are finally yours.
At any point in time, you can download the entire contents of your school, including all of your courses, course content, revenue analytics, and student information.
You might decide to launch your own e-learning platform in the future or transfer your business off of Teachable, and this is the only plan that will allow you this flexibility.
It is simple. You have put a lot of work and time into creating something special for your students to enjoy. A Teachable Professional plan is perfect for getting your courses out there and letting the students experience them.
The Business Plan
The Teachable Business plan is an enterprise-level hosting plan for schools that need more than five admin-level accounts.
It will cost you $299 per month when billed monthly or $249 per month when billed annually, and it includes these added features:
- Unlimited students
- Instant payouts
- Up to 100 admin-level users
- Bulk import enrollment for students
- Manually manage student enrollment
- Custom user roles
Basically, it is a Professional plan with the bonus account management tools and customer support for up to 100 authors or other roles in your school.
This plan might not be for you unless you are running a business with many authors and support staff helping you manage it.
Are You Ready to Sign Up for a Teachable Pricing Plan?
So, that’s a wrap. Now that you know all of the details and perks of each Teachable pricing plan, it’s time to start selling your new course.
If it isn’t obvious by now, choosing the right plan for your business mainly depends on three factors:
- How far along is your business?
- What are your ambitions?
- How many sales do you have per month?
Those just starting and creating their first course will feel at home with a Free plan.
Startups and side gigs should be okay with a Basic plan. However, if you prefer to not pay transaction fees, upgrade your Teachable pricing plan.
For those who have an existing business plan and are ready sell online courses, the Professional plan is probably best. You can bulk import students and get started ASAP.
Let me know what you think of the Teachable pricing plans and your experience with the plan you choose. I would love to hear from the community and learn how you use Teachable to grow your e-learning business.
Teachable Pricing FAQs
Can You Make Money With Teachable?
Yes, lots of course instructors and business owners make money by selling courses on Teachable. Course creators like Pat Flynn, of Smart Passive Income fame, are one of Teachable’s big-time users.
Does Teachable Have Transaction Fees?
The Basic Plan has 5% transaction fees. If you’d like to avoid transaction fees, it’s recommended to skip the Basic Plan and go with the Pro / Professional plan or the Business Plan. However, even with the fees, you still keep more than Udemy.
Are There Processing Fees?
There are payment processing fees only when you are charged fees by PayPal and/or Stripe. Teachable lets you take credit card payments via PayPal and Stripe.
Is Thinkific Better Than Teachable?
Thinkific is definitely a competitor to Teachable in the online course platforms arena, but the jury is out among some. One can argue that selling online courses on Teachable is better because Teachable offer advanced features when it comes to checkout pages and upselling.
Related:
- Thinkific Pricing (2024): Discover Which Plan is Right for You
- Thinkific vs Teachable In-Depth Comparison
Does Teachable have a money-back guarantee?
In the event you aren’t satisfied with Teachable, you may get a refund on any of their monthly subscriptions within the first month of your membership. If you’ve joined up for their yearly plan, you can get a refund within the first month of upgrading or renewing your subscription.
Does Teachable have a free trial?
Not anymore. Instead, you can now sign up for a free Teachable account. More information here.
2024 Updates
- 2020: Teachable discontinued their free plan and only offer a free trial for all their Teachable pricing plans.
- 2021: Teachable brought back their Free Plan!
Frequently Asked Questions About Teachable:
