Teachable
Sell courses and coaching without the setup
See it in action
How does Teachable work? (three keys to success as a course creator)
Published by Teachable on YouTube · loads only when you press play
Teachable is the best platform for launching a first course, and the fee structure is what you must model before you scale on it.
Where it wins. Setup genuinely takes an afternoon: upload content, set a price, and the checkout, student area, and receipts already work. Teachable Pay handles global sales tax and VAT remittance, which is a real liability most creators do not want to own. Course delivery is solid — drip scheduling, quizzes, certificates, completion tracking — and the student experience holds up on mobile. Coaching products and digital downloads sell from the same account, so a creator with a mixed offer needs one tool.
Where it falls short. Transaction fees are the recurring complaint: the free and entry plans take a percentage of every sale on top of payment processing, and it only disappears on higher tiers. Design customisation is limited without touching code. Email and marketing tooling is present but shallow enough that most sellers pair it with a real email platform. Reporting is adequate rather than analytical.
Our call. The right first platform. Once revenue is consistent, run the maths against Thinkific, which charges no transaction fee at all.
Best for
Creators launching a first paid course who want payments, tax, and student delivery handled for them.
Key takeaways
- 1Fastest setup in the category — live in an afternoon
- 2Teachable Pay handles global VAT and sales tax remittance
- 3Transaction fees apply on free and entry plans
- 4Courses, coaching, and downloads sell from one account
- 5Design customisation is limited without code
- 6Built-in email is too shallow to replace a real platform
Teachable is the fastest route from an idea to a paid course with your own students and your own payments. It handles the unglamorous parts — checkout, EU VAT, US sales tax, affiliate payouts — that quietly consume weeks if you assemble the stack yourself. The trade is transaction fees on lower plans, which is the number that decides whether it stays the right choice.
What we like
- Very fast to launch
- Global tax handling included
- Strong course delivery and student experience
- Coaching and downloads alongside courses
- Built-in affiliate programme
Worth noting
- Transaction fees on lower plans
- Limited design flexibility
- Shallow marketing tooling
- Basic reporting
Plans
Pricing
Free
- 1 published product
- Unlimited students
- Basic quizzes
- Highest transaction fee tier
- Teachable branding
Basic
per month
- 5 products
- Custom domain
- Teachable Pay with tax handling
- Coupon codes
- Reduced transaction fee
- Email support
Pro
per month
- 50 products
- No transaction fees
- Graded quizzes and certificates
- Affiliate programme
- Advanced reporting
- Live chat support
Pricing verified Aug 13, 2026. Prices shown are billed annually where available and may change — always confirm on the vendor site.
Capabilities
Features
Content
- CertificatesPro plan
- Drip scheduling
- Quizzes & assessmentsGraded quizzes on Pro
Channels
- Built-in email marketingBasic — most sellers pair a real platform
Monetisation
- Built-in affiliate programmePro plan
- Global tax handlingTeachable Pay remits VAT and sales tax
- Memberships & subscriptions
- No transaction feesFees apply on Free and Basic
Design
- Website builderCourse pages, not a full site
Collaboration
- Student communityNo native community
Platform
- Mobile appiOS student app
From real users
Reviews
No verified reviews yet
We publish a user score only once real, verified reviews exist — so this tool is rated on our hands-on testing alone for now. Used it? Your review would be the first.
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Teachable alternatives
Thinkific
Course hosting with no transaction fees
Podia
A simple storefront for digital products
Kajabi
All-in-one platform for knowledge businesses
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Does Teachable charge transaction fees?＋
Yes on the free and entry plans, where a percentage of every sale is taken on top of payment processing. The fee disappears on the Pro tier. Model this against your expected revenue — at volume the fee often exceeds the cost of upgrading, or of moving to Thinkific.
Does Teachable handle VAT and sales tax?＋
Yes. Teachable Pay acts as merchant of record for digital goods in many jurisdictions, calculating and remitting EU VAT and US sales tax. This is a genuine liability removed and one of the strongest reasons to choose it over a self-assembled stack.
Can I use my own domain?＋
Yes, on paid plans. The free plan runs on a Teachable subdomain with Teachable branding, which is fine for validating an idea and wrong for a business you intend to build.
Is Teachable good for memberships?＋
It handles subscription products and payment plans competently, but it is not a membership-first platform. If recurring community access is the core offer rather than courses, Kajabi or a dedicated membership tool fits better.
Teachable or Thinkific?＋
Teachable is faster to launch and handles tax for you. Thinkific charges no transaction fees on any paid plan and offers deeper course building. First course: Teachable. Established business: run the fee arithmetic, and it usually points to Thinkific.
Teachable
From $39/mo