Thinkific vs. Udemy: Which platform is right for you?

As Udemy is a course marketplace, while Thinkific is an all-in-one course building, marketing, and selling tool, the two platforms offer different features when it comes to actually creating a course.

Udemy offers the features necessary to build a standard course. Creators have all the basic functionality such as adding videos and creating quizzes. Creators looking for deeper learning tools may quickly run into a ceiling when it comes to what’s possible with Udemy’s course creation features.

Thinkific offers a course builder designed for creators who have the students’ learning experience in mind. This includes tools made to enhance the experience such as live lessons with Zoom, assignments, and a built-in presentation creator that make it easy to take your course to the next level.

Preparing course (and other educational) materials is even easier with Thinkific’s advanced AI technology. For example, creators can build course outlines and quizzes in a few clicks. Thinkific’s AI Course Outline Generator instantly creates a detailed course outline tailored to your audience's needs and Thinkific's AI Quiz Generator creates quizzes that keep learners engaged, test comprehension, and identify knowledge gaps.

A great learning experience is vital to your success as a course creator, as it helps with student engagement and retention. As Udemy is a course marketplace, the learning experience differs from an all-in-one course creation and marketing platform like Thinkific.

Udemy offers a no-frills learning experience. Students are brought into an interface that could be expected from any online course platform.

In comparison, Thinkific offers an unmatched suite of functionality that extends beyond what’s capable in a course marketplace like Udemy. These features help turn a student’s experience from exciting to extraordinary. Afterward, your students have the option to leave reviews that you can share publicly — something that helps more students find your course.

Thinkific does more than just courses — they also offer helpful digital learning experiences like Digital Downloads and Coaching & Webinars. With Digital Downloads, students can find value in quickly-downloadable guides, templates, exclusive resources, and more. With Coaching & Webinars, students can schedule coaching sessions and other forms of dedicated one-on-one time, attend workshops, and register for webinars.

After you make a course, you need to get it in front of the right audience so that you can actually earn money from it. Udemy and Thinkific both have sales and marketing tools that help make this easy. However, as Udemy is more student-focused rather than creator-focused, there are some key differences between the platforms. 

In comparison to Thinkific, Udemy provides a small number of sales tools and a few basic marketing features to help you earn revenue from your course. These include coupons, a course landing page, and promotional emails.

Thinkific offers powerful sales and marketing features that help any course creator promote and sell their content with ease. For example, Digital Downloads make it easy to maximize your earning potential, engage new audiences, and deliver more content to your existing audience. By offering digital products like eBooks, guides, templates, and more, businesses can open up a new stream of revenue and increase leads. 

Likewise, Coaching & Webinars make it easy to build a meaningful connection with your audience, and find and attract new customers — while boosting revenue by adding a price tag to these events. 

You don’t have to worry about list-building or creating sophisticated email flows with Thinkific, as Thinkific also offers an AI-powered email marketing system. Creators can grow and manage email lists, launch personalized campaigns and roll out automated sequences that support their sales and marketing strategy.

With 90+ integrations in the Thinkific App Store, Thinkific also includes access to the best tools in the business for marketing and email automation, increasing sales, and enhancing the learning experience through gamification. This lets you take advantage of of apps like ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Shopify, Salesforce, and many more. These apps are created by developers for Thinkific and can be downloaded, installed, and implemented without any coding required for all Thinkific users.

When it comes to online course platforms, the level of support offered to creators can make a significant difference in their teaching experience and overall success rate. Udemy and Thinkific differ in the support options they provide to course creators. Let's take a closer look at the support offered by each platform. 

Since Udemy is focused on students much more than instructors, finding answers to your questions as a course creator can be tough. They have an online help center that includes some answers to frequently asked questions and a teaching center that provides updates and news, but if you have anything more specific you need help with you’ll need to use their contact form to submit a request. 

With Thinkific, getting help is much more straightforward. Whether you’re looking for a network of experts, a community of peers, or a responsive support team, Thinkific has you covered with a best-in-class support program. You can get help via a 24/7 chatbot, live chat (for those on any paid plan), phone support,  expert Facebook Community, and the help center. In addition, Thinkific offers more security and support options as your business grows.

Udemy offers two kinds of mobile apps: Udemy Business and non-business. The non-business app is meant for typical students, as it gives them the option to study on their phones with added features like offline viewing, casting capabilities, and learning reminders. The app provides access to Udemy’s thousands of online courses and the ability to earn certificates of completion. Alternatively, Udemy for Business is catered to businesses looking to train internal teams. The business app offers more specialized customer support, as well as tracking tools to see how team members are navigating their online training. Although Udemy for Business serves businesses, it does not give creators the ability to manage and edit courses. Pricing models and the variety of courses are different for both app types.

Thinkific also offers two mobile app options: Branded Mobile and Thinkific Mobile. Creators can manage and edit courses with both mobile app options.  Branded Mobile ($199/month), is a white-labeled app that puts your brand front and center with your own App Store listing and logo. This app option is great for creators and businesses who aren’t confident in their coding skills, as you’ll get a fully customized and branded mobile app through experts who will build, publish, and maintain your app.

More comparable to Udemy’s non-business app, Thinkific Mobile (included free with Start plans and above) is a way for students to access both courses or communities under a universal Thinkific branded app. Both Thinkific mobile apps offer added student engagement features like Drip Lesson Release notifications to let students know when previously locked course material is available and push notifications on community activity. 

Both Udemy and Thinkific offer distinct pricing models, each with their own features and benefits. Let’s take a look at how the pricing plans for both platforms compare so you can make an informed decision that aligns with your budget and goals. 

Udemy currently offers four pricing tiers that work well for solopreneurs. The low entry point gives you access to tools that fit those just starting out.

Thinkific offers pricing tiers for early-stage businesses all the way to enterprise. With add-on features like a Branded Mobile app ($199/month) and more, you have access to the functionality you need without having to pay for features you don’t.