Looking to create and sell online courses? With the growing demand for online learning, choosing a reliable platform to host your content is important.
Enter Thinkific, a course creation platform that has been making waves in the e-learning industry. Founded in 2012, Thinkific has become one of the most trusted and user-friendly platforms. But the big question remains – is Thinkific legit?
In this article, we’ll explore Thinkific’s features, pricing, security, customer support, and reputation to help you determine whether this platform is the right choice for your e-learning needs.
Thinkific’s History
Thinkific was founded in 2012 by Greg Smith and Matt Payne to create a platform that allows anyone to easily create and sell online courses. Since its inception, Thinkific has experienced significant growth and has become a leader in the online learning space.
The platform has helped course creators from many industries monetize what they know. It has since expanded to support over 50,000 instructors in over 160 countries.
Thinkific’s success has not gone unnoticed, as the platform has received numerous awards and recognition for its innovative approach to online learning. In 2018, Thinkific was awarded the Best Online Course Platform by FinancesOnline and received the 2019 Great User Experience Award from Software Advice. In 2020, Thinkific was recognized as a Leader in the G2 Crowd Grid® Report for Online Course Platforms based on customer satisfaction and market presence.
With such accolades, it’s clear that Thinkific has established itself as a reliable and reputable platform for creating and selling online courses.
Thinkific’s Features
Thinkific offers various features to help course creators create, market, and deliver their courses effectively. Here are some of the main features:
Course Creation
- Thinkific’s drag-and-drop course builder makes it easy to create engaging and interactive courses without any coding skills.
- Course content can include text, images, videos, quizzes, surveys, and more.
- Thinkific supports multimedia file types, including video, audio, and PDFs.
Course Management
- Thinkific’s course management tools allow instructors to easily manage course content, including creating modules and lessons, setting pricing and payment options, and managing course access.
- The platform also includes a built-in course completion tracking system, which allows instructors to monitor student progress and completion rates.
Course Marketing
- Thinkific offers several marketing tools to help instructors promote their courses, including customizable landing pages, email marketing, and affiliate marketing programs.
- Instructors can also create coupon codes and offer free trials to attract new students.
Course Delivery
- Thinkific supports a variety of course delivery methods, including drip content, self-paced learning, and live webinars.
- Instructors can also create quizzes and assessments to help students test their knowledge and track their progress.
Course Customization
- Thinkific allows instructors to customize the look and feel of their courses with customizable themes, logos, and color schemes.
- Instructors can add custom codes to their courses to customize the user experience further.
Third-party Integrations
- Thinkific integrates with hundreds of third-party tools, including email marketing software, payment processors, and marketing automation platforms.
- These integrations help instructors streamline their workflows and manage their courses more efficiently.
Analytics
- Thinkific provides robust analytics and reporting tools to help instructors track student engagement, completion rates, and revenue.
- Instructors can also use these analytics to identify areas for improvement and optimize their courses for better results.
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Thinkific’s Pricing
Thinkific offers a range of pricing plans to suit different needs and budgets. Its free plan allows first-time instructors to get a taste of creating and selling courses, but only with limited features. The free plan includes basic course creation tools, hosting, and unlimited students.
Besides the $0/month plan, Thinkific offers four paid plans: Basic, Start, Growth, and the custom-priced Thinkific Plus. Each plan offers more features and functionality than the previous one, with pricing starting at as low as $36/month for the Basic plan. Paid plans include features such as custom domains, advanced course marketing tools, and integrations with third-party tools.
Comparison of Paid Plans
The Basic plan offers core features like unlimited courses and students, quizzes and surveys, and coupons and promotions. It costs $36/month if paid annually and is a great fit for those ready to build a fortune by creating meaningful course content.
The Start plan, at as low as $74/month, lets users enjoy additional functions not accessed in the previous tier, such as course certificates, advanced pricing options, and affiliate reporting features. Meanwhile, the Growth plan includes advanced marketing features like memberships and subscriptions and an onboarding call with a Thinkific expert.
The Thinkific Plus plan is the most advanced of the five and is usually aimed toward large-scale enterprises and established businesses. Aside from white-labeling and bulk selling, it offers additional perks like priority support, a dedicated account manager, and custom development.
While Thinkific’s pricing plans may seem expensive compared to other platforms, they offer robust features and functionality that make it a powerful tool for online course creators. Additionally, the pricing is transparent, and there are no hidden fees so that instructors can be confident in their investment.
Thinkific’s Security
Thinkific takes its users’ data security seriously and has implemented several measures to ensure data protection. Here’s a breakdown of some of the key security features:
SSL Encryption
Thinkific uses SSL encryption to protect sensitive data in transit, such as credit card information and login credentials. SSL encryption ensures data is securely transmitted between the user’s browser and Thinkific’s servers.
Data Storage
Thinkific stores user data on secure servers hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). These cloud hosting providers offer robust security features, including data encryption at rest and multi-factor authentication.
Backup
Thinkific performs daily backups of user data to ensure that you can recover it in the event of data loss or corruption. Backups are stored securely on off-site servers to protect against physical damage or theft.
GDPR Compliance
Thinkific is GDPR compliant, which meets the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation requirements. The platform’s GDPR compliance includes features like user data access requests and data erasure requests.
PCI Compliance
Thinkific is PCI compliant, which meets the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard requirements. The platform’s PCI compliance ensures user credit card data is stored securely.
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Thinkific’s Customer Support
Thinkific provides various customer support options to help users with questions or issues. It offers a range of customer support channels, including email support, live chat, and an extensive knowledge base.
The Thinkific Academy and Help Center include a huge library of articles, tutorials, and frequently asked questions, which provide answers to common issues and questions. Thinkific’s customer support team is also available 24/7 to help users with questions or issues. The support team knows Thinkific’s features and can provide personalized guidance to help users achieve their goals.
Customers generally praise Thinkific’s customer support for being responsive, helpful, and friendly. Some users have reported issues with response times, particularly during busy periods, but overall, Thinkific’s customer support is highly regarded.
To summarize, Thinkific’s customer support options are comprehensive. With various channels and a knowledgeable support team available 24/7 and warm reviews, there’s no doubt that Thinkific could be one of the best course creation platforms online.
Thinkific’s Reputation: The Success Stories of Its Course Creators
Thinkific has numerous success stories from course creators who have used the platform to launch successful online courses. These success stories demonstrate the versatility of Thinkific and showcase its ability to help course creators achieve their goals.
One example is the success story of Mark Webster and Gael Breton, who used Thinkific to create an online course teaching people how to build successful authority websites. They launched their course on Thinkific and generated over $15,000 in revenue in just the first week. With the help of Thinkific’s analytics and marketing tools, they optimized their course content and grew their audience, ultimately generating over $250,000 in revenue from their course.
Another success story comes from Remy Blom, who used Thinkific to create an online course teaching people how to build custom bicycles. He leveraged Thinkific’s customization options to create a unique and engaging course experience for his students. With the help of Thinkific’s marketing tools and integrations, he was able to attract a large audience and generate over $100,000 in revenue from his course.
These success stories highlight the versatility of Thinkific and demonstrate its ability to help course creators achieve their goals. With its comprehensive feature set, user-friendly interface, and strong reputation in the industry, Thinkific is a great choice for anyone looking to create and sell online courses.
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Is Thinkific Legit? Conclusion
Thinkific has everything you need to create and sell successful online courses, from its comprehensive feature set to its user-friendly interface. With its commitment to security, strong customer support, and numerous success stories from course creators, Thinkific is an excellent choice for anyone looking to launch an online course.
Throughout this article, we have explored Thinkific’s history, features, pricing, security, customer support, and reputation. We have seen how Thinkific has grown over the years to become one of the most popular course platforms, with robust features that make it easy to create and sell online courses.
Based on our research and experience using the platform, we wholeheartedly recommend Thinkific as a legitimate course platform. With its free and affordable paid plans, Thinkific is accessible to course creators of all levels. Its comprehensive feature set makes it a great choice for beginners and experienced course creators.
So if you want to launch an online course, we encourage you to try Thinkific. With its strong reputation in the industry, numerous success stories, and commitment to helping course creators achieve their goals, Thinkific is a platform you can trust.