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Thinkific Pros and Cons: Top Advantages and Disadvantages

Quick AI Summary Based on G2 Reviews

Generated from real user reviews

Users appreciate the ease of use of Thinkific, which simplifies course creation and enhances the learning experience. (87 mentions)
Users love the ease of adding and updating course content with Thinkific, creating engaging and aesthetically pleasing experiences. (51 mentions)
Users appreciate the excellent customer support from Thinkific, which enhances their overall course creation experience. (48 mentions)
Users highlight the intuitive design of Thinkific, making course creation and navigation simple for everyone. (41 mentions)
Users love the customization options in Thinkific, allowing tailored experiences and streamlined course management for diverse clients. (29 mentions)
Users appreciate the seamless integrations of Thinkific, enhancing functionality and making education management easier. (26 mentions)
Users feel the limited features of Thinkific don't justify the high price, lacking essential options they need. (39 mentions)
Users find the limited customization options frustrating, as they desire more flexibility in features and templates. (32 mentions)
Users feel Thinkific lacks advanced features and analytics, leaving room for improvement compared to competitors. (24 mentions)
Users face feature issues with Thinkific, including documentation gaps, UI challenges, and limited reporting capabilities. (21 mentions)
Users experience integration issues that lead to a less cohesive platform and require inconvenient workarounds for functionality. (15 mentions)
Users find the steep learning curve of Thinkific challenging, complicating the admin setup and overall experience. (15 mentions)

Top Pros or Advantages of Thinkific

1. Ease of Use
Users appreciate the ease of use of Thinkific, which simplifies course creation and enhances the learning experience.
See 87 mentions

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Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Simple Platform, Cost Effective for Courses"

What do you like about Thinkific?

How easy it is to use and replicate courses. I use this as my primary online product platform so I used it multiple times a week. The customer support

Verified User
U

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Great curriculum that help with both website design and marketing"

What do you like about Thinkific?

The content is very easy to understand and very beneficial

2. Course Creation
Users love the ease of adding and updating course content with Thinkific, creating engaging and aesthetically pleasing experiences.
See 51 mentions

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Bob A.
BA

Bob A.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Excellent platform for hosting online courses"

What do you like about Thinkific?

It's particularly easy to add and update course content.

Sharrell H.
SH

Sharrell H.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"New and improved!"

What do you like about Thinkific?

Thinkific Plus has been a great platform to build engaging content for our users. We wanted to create an aesthetically pleasing and low-maintenance ex

3. Customer Support
Users appreciate the excellent customer support from Thinkific, which enhances their overall course creation experience.
See 48 mentions

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Tobi D.
TD

Tobi D.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Smooth, easy tool and experience to set up our customer academy"

What do you like about Thinkific?

Support from staff has been excellent, and the course builder is easy to navigate

RM

Rayana M.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Less work for more revenue! Great for Online Course Creators!"

What do you like about Thinkific?

I really like Thinkific because it’s so simple and easy to follow. The help center is FANTASTIC! I’m not a tech person, but Thinkific makes it easy

4. Intuitive
Users highlight the intuitive design of Thinkific, making course creation and navigation simple for everyone.
See 41 mentions

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Marc M.
MM

Marc M.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Thinkific - Platform for Any Business Moving to Enterprise Solution"

What do you like about Thinkific?

Thinkific has everything you need in a Learning Management System or Learning Business Solution. It has tools and integrations for small or enterprise

MR

Mandy R.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Thinkific great investment"

What do you like about Thinkific?

I love the ease of use. I have little techy skills, but I feel like Thinkific Plus really is self explanatory.

5. Customization
Users love the customization options in Thinkific, allowing tailored experiences and streamlined course management for diverse clients.
See 29 mentions

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Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Good facility for building and selling online courses"

What do you like about Thinkific?

The flexibility to add custom content, web pages for marketing Easiness of adding content

Srikar C.
SC

Srikar C.

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"The best for running your Academy"

What do you like about Thinkific?

The diverse feature set and processes in place to design, implement and run the on- demand education programs like an Academy, course series, on-dmean

6. Integrations
Users appreciate the seamless integrations of Thinkific, enhancing functionality and making education management easier.
See 26 mentions

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Ahmad  U.
AU

Ahmad U.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Fantastic experience with Thinkific Plus LMS"

What do you like about Thinkific?

Well, I'll attribute it to the exciting feature of the Thinkific extension that's present in the Plus LMS. Especially the Learning Path feature, it re

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Great features and easy to setup yourself as an LMS"

What do you like about Thinkific?

Ease of creating courses. Reasonable cost. Easy to brand and theme pages Ability to integrate with Salesforce using API interface, including user

Top Cons or Disadvantages of Thinkific

1. Limited Features
Users feel the limited features of Thinkific don't justify the high price, lacking essential options they need.
See 39 mentions

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Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

5.0/5

"Very useful"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

The integrated payment system. I was hoping to have more options to choose from.

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

0.5/5

"Poor show"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

The price is extortionate for the features provided.

2. Limited Customization
Users find the limited customization options frustrating, as they desire more flexibility in features and templates.
See 32 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Bob A.
BA

Bob A.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Excellent platform for hosting online courses"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

The off-the-shelf website creation functionality is very limited, but this can be addressed (as I have done) using one of Thinkific's specialist partn

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Overall, a user-friendly platform to use, and I'm looking forward to new features and updates."

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

The built-in survey feature is not easy to use to build out a long survey. I wish it was similar to the quiz import set up where questions, answer cho

3. Missing Features
Users feel Thinkific lacks advanced features and analytics, leaving room for improvement compared to competitors.
See 24 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Good overall experience"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

It is missing some advanced reporting features. also the fact that uploading a SCORM resource creates a new course is not so intuitive

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"Ease of use & friendly customer support"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Downsides might be the day turn around time for responses from support. I've also seen more options for product features and stats with some of Thinki

4. Feature Issues
Users face feature issues with Thinkific, including documentation gaps, UI challenges, and limited reporting capabilities.
See 21 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Sara F.
SF

Sara F.

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.5/5

"Game Changer for onboarding new clients & employees"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Thinkific's UI on the admin side could use some tweaking. Its not super intuitive to find what you are looking for. I also wish there were better

Verified User
A

Verified User

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4.0/5

"Good facility for building and selling online courses"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Needs more documentation on adding custom content Custom content needs to support source control so it can be versioned and managed easily.

5. Integration Issues
Users experience integration issues that lead to a less cohesive platform and require inconvenient workarounds for functionality.
See 15 mentions

See Related User Reviews

Verified User
A

Verified User

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.0/5

"Smooth experience creating external-facing academies, but UX is not always intuitive"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

The user management is only on the reporting level, and not on the assignment level. Some of the features are not native to the platform, rather inte

Deepak T.
DT

Deepak T.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Thinkific: An Effective and User-Friendly Learning Environment"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Although Thinkific Plus is a strong platform, its higher pricing can be difficult for smaller businesses to justify. The analytics, while useful, coul

6. Steep Learning Curve
Users find the steep learning curve of Thinkific challenging, complicating the admin setup and overall experience.
See 15 mentions

See Related User Reviews

HD

hanne d.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

4.5/5

"My thinkific review"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

In the beginning there was a learning curve. Header & footer are domain based, which is a bit unhandy for us since we build platforms for differen

Deepak T.
DT

Deepak T.

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5.0/5

"Thinkific: An Effective and User-Friendly Learning Environment"

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Although Thinkific Plus is a strong platform, its higher pricing can be difficult for smaller businesses to justify. The analytics, while useful, coul

Thinkific Reviews (378)

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Thinkific Reviews (378)

View 2 Video Reviews
4.5
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Alysha K.
AK
Founder and CEO
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"I've Been Using Thinkific for Nearly 10 years"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

I chose Thinkific because I did not want to just "sell online courses." I wanted to truly teach those that bought my courses. Thinkific's features like submittable homework assignments, drip schedules and prerequisite filters allow me to ensure that my students are truly engaging with the course they purchased. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

I think the Community space could use some work in terms of the way it connects to other products. First, we should be able to customize the welcome email for the Community the same way we can for individual courses. Second, being able to mass email Community members on all plans would be very helpful in terms of increasing engagement. And finally, the Community doesn't come up as a course so it can't connect to Zapier which makes creating streamlined workflows or communication to community members impossible. I think it's a good start, but I would appreciate if more of these updates could be worked on. The Community space has had very little improvement since I first started using it over 3 years ago. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Valérie G.
VG
Instructional designer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Guest users or non-business users of the software, not included in G2 scores.
"Great experience so far for a non english and low budget academy startup!"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

It's easy to use - the easier I used of all LMS. It answer my need specially the Wysiwyg aspect, you can for sure get a beautiful Academy that offer a great experience to your learner since the basic plan! Price are reasonable and the support team is a superstar! They give you fast answer and they make sure to follow up each time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

I wish some tiny feature were not so far in the advanced plan or could be offered à la carte like access to custom code, SSO or SCORM format... For exemple the scorm format is only available in the Enterprise plan which I dont see buying in a near future. But I would gladly pay for that feature as a stand alone. Also, I really appreciate that we can custom many type of banner and add dynamic content on custom page but there is still some detail and terminology we cannot modify like the term "product" in the catalogue or "lesson" and "course" even if the "course"' only contain a webinar recording. More possibility to tag those content following our needs will be great.

But overall I really enjoy my experience with Thinkific and my team is super impress with the result of our academy so far! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Chris S.
CS
Founder
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A great online course platform with all in one services"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

As a teacher and not a business person, Thinkific made it very easy for me to get started on creating my courses. With the built in landing pages and website pages for each course, Thinkific makes everything look professional and seamless. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

Thinkific is constantly making h updates (which is great), however, this sometimes forces you to pay more for things that you might not need. I reached out to them for support and they were able to help be picked up the right tier for what I needed. This keeps the finances manageable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Non-Profit Organization Management
AN
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Empowering, Intuitive, and Reliable. Thinkific Exceeded My Expectations"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

Thinkific makes it incredibly easy to create and deliver professional-quality online courses without needing any tech background. I love how intuitive the course builder is — it allows me to upload videos, add quizzes, and structure lessons in a clean and user-friendly format. The platform feels stable and reliable, and the design is clean and modern, which enhances the experience for both creators and learners. I also appreciate the ability to fully customize my site to match my brand without needing to code. Their support team and help resources are top-notch — fast, helpful, and genuinely invested in user success. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

I haven't found anything that I dislike. Perhaps, something about the design customization. Although strong, it has a bit of a learning curve if you’re aiming for something highly tailored without coding. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Higher Education
AH
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Thinkific has been a one stop shop to market, build and sell online courses."
What do you like best about Thinkific?

Easy interface to build courses. But the best really was the bootcamp they offered (that I'm not sure they offer anymore). It was a 6 month program that absolutely got me up to speed to sell courses. It was invaluable. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

I have had an issue with digital downloads that I put a request in to fix over 9 months ago. I've checked back in every few months on their progress for fixing the issue and I get the same canned response that they are working on it. . . for over 9 months! This issue has made it so I cannot use digital downloads as a feature at all. Long story short, their customer service is lacking. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Zach B.
ZB
Director and Lead Developer
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Excellent software for Curriculum Development"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

I like the ease of use that the platform provides to business owners who are looking for a simple yet professional platform that can host their resources and courses. I enjoy the customization options for the course players and the in-depth tutorials provided on the Thinkific website. The course management system is straightforward and user-friendly, making it a breeze for our managers to assign courses and change drip schedules when needed for our users. Other than that, the integration is easy, and the video library is extremely helpful when you are uploading many videos to your modules!! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

As far as downsides go, I would say the customer support is lacking as far as communication goes. They are great when you can get an answer via email but it can be very difficult to reach a support member even on a paid plan. We had a system error that caused are courses to go down for over a day, and we were not able to get timely responses or have a support number that we could call. The online resources for help were not sufficient, and we ended up needing a technician to reset something manually. The chatbots can be extremely frustrating and not helpful. The other downside would be the payment software they developed. It makes it very difficult to do anything other then charge someone a subscription fee, so we usually opt for using Stripe and just setting up our clients with a free account. We are not able to view any payment options for our customers or offer them a one-time payment for a service or something that it easy without them having to enter their payment info into a separate digital download that we need to create. Lastly one of my biggest frustrations is that you cannot set a course to be no payment at all (not free) and only include it in certain memberships. It makes you select either free, subscription, or one-time payment. I don't want to select free because then it allows anyone to access it if they have the link. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Legal Services
AL
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"Powerful Tool"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

I’ve been using Thinkific since 2018 and it’s been a fabulous tool for our niche online school. We’ve built a fabulous reputation and a brand with students loving the course experience. Many leaving reviews that the interface is so much easier than our competitors what they keep coming back to use every 2 years when they need to do their continuing education to maintain their professional certification. The frequent product updates are great too because we can keep improving as the tool continues to improve. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

There are two things I dislike, which aren’t dealbreakers and this isn’t a new complaint, but worth mentioning here since it’s being asked:

1. The transaction records show purchased in UTC time and not my current or preferred timezone. Which is a pain for external record keeping.

2. You can’t reset a student’s progress on a course. So if a student completes a course and wanted to take the same course again a year or two later, they are unable to. There are workarounds like duplicating courses, but that can be a pain. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in E-Learning
AE
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"A professional and perfect platform for training freelancers"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

I find that the offer to create courses in Thinkific is one of the most complete and versatile (having tested several). It is easy to create a diverse range of courses with varied conditions.

The tools are practical and quick to use, I like the fact that I can use multiple content elements in different courses without having to start everything over in the upload process.

Uploading the courses is very quick and simple. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

There is a lack of variety and originality in the features and assessment options to support online learning, as with tools like Ans, Genially, or others, but nothing major.

I would like the choice of lesson options to be more integrated when the wrong option is selected, for example, when choosing text and eventually wanting video or download. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Holly R.
HR
Intimacy Coach
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.
"I like this software a lot…it’s been massive in my growth"
What do you like best about Thinkific?

It’s very user friendly easy to navigate and creating courses is super simple, I like how it’s easy to see sales, etc…and a lot of functions to help make course creation more seemless much preferred this to other platforms I’ve used, Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

only issue is tracking integrations have had issues with meta tracking….Would love you to sort this so I can do CAPI tracking and not have to migrate Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Computer Software
UC
Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)
"I have been using it for about 3 years. Very disappointed."
What do you like best about Thinkific?

There are really not so many things I like about this platform. It works and has a little downtime. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about Thinkific?

I even don't know where to start... :) The user experience is terrible—it's slow and unintuitive.

The tools available for B2B sales are very limited, especially for EU-based companies. The features that do exist for B2B Sales often don't work properly or feel unfinished.

The way user roles are set up is poorly designed. For example, if I want someone to only add or remove subtitles on my lessons, I have to grant them the 'ADMIN' role just for that small task, which is absurd. The worst part is that admins can access your financial data. There's a checkbox labeled 'Hide financial Data for Admins,' but it only hides the accumulated revenue reports. Admins can still access 'Orders' and 'Transactions,' making that checkbox practically useless, since an admin could just take screenshots and quickly get a summary using any LLM.

Recently, they launched email marketing tools, but the only customization options for your emails are basic formatting like bold or italic text—nothing more. Why not allow instructors to provide their own email HTML so I could import templates from Mailchimp or design my own emails? These are just a few of the issues that immediately come to mind & I am not talking about player bugs my students always experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

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