Thinkific Pricing and Plans, and a Free Alternative for Teachers in India

Thinkific at a glance

Sikhami wrote this comparison, and we make Sikhami, so please read it with that in mind. We checked every detail about Thinkific on its own website on 18 October 2026. Prices and features change, so check them again before you decide. Thinkific is a trademark of its owner; Sikhami is not connected with it.

Thinkific has three self-serve plans, called Basic, Start and Grow. Above them sits Thinkific Plus, an enterprise tier with custom pricing. Prices on the three plans rose by about 10% from 13 August 2026. The US dollar prices below come from Thinkific's help centre, which also lists prices in euros and pounds.

Thinkific charges no transaction fee on sales made through Thinkific Payments, its own processor. Its pricing page puts the card fee there at 2.9%, in line with Stripe and PayPal, and the exact fee depends on your country. The third-party gateway fee in the table applies when you sell through Stripe in a country where Thinkific Payments is offered. It applies to your first $1 million of sales in a calendar year.

A course can mix video, text, PDFs, audio and downloads. It can be self-paced, run on a schedule or run as a cohort. Thinkific lists quizzes, assignments, surveys, completion certificates, communities and live lessons through Zoom. Its pricing page shows which plan includes each one. You can also use your own custom domain.

Learners can use the free Thinkific Mobile app, though they enrol and buy on the web. A branded app with your own App Store listing costs $199 USD a month as an add-on. It is included with select Thinkific Plus plans.

Taking payments on Thinkific from India

Thinkific Payments is the default for creators in the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. India is not on its list of supported countries.

A teacher in India would connect Stripe or PayPal instead. Thinkific says its third-party gateway fee is not charged when Thinkific Payments is not available in your country. Stripe and PayPal still charge their own fees.

Two details matter here. First, an Indian Stripe account can charge only in rupees through Thinkific's Stripe integration, and payments in other currencies are declined. Second, PayPal on Thinkific takes one-time payments, in US dollars by default. Subscriptions and payment plans go through Stripe.

In short, buyers would pay you in rupees through Stripe, or through PayPal for a one-time purchase. Test this with a small real sale during the free trial, before your first paid month.

Thinkific and Sikhami side by side

Each row below is confirmed on both platforms' own pages. On Sikhami, you sell a video course through an institute, which any teacher can create for free.

When Thinkific is the better choice

• You want a full branded site on your own domain, and you already have an audience to bring to it.
• You teach in cohorts or on a schedule, with live lessons over Zoom as part of the course.
• You want assignments and surveys alongside quizzes, or SCORM content on Thinkific Plus.
• You run a community with separate spaces for different groups of learners.
• You want an app under your own name and are ready to pay for the branded app add-on.
• Your buyers are spread across many countries, and your business is based where Thinkific Payments works.

When Sikhami is the better choice

• You are starting out and want no fixed cost. Setting up an institute, its pages and your courses is free, with no subscription.
• Most of your buyers are in India. They can pay by UPI, card or net banking on the website, or through Google Play in the Android app.
• You want to see your earnings before you set a price. Under every price you type, Sikhami shows what you will receive per sale on the website and in the app.
• You do not have a big audience yet. On Sikhami, a social network for learners, your institute and courses have public pages that learners reach by browsing categories.
• You teach on YouTube. Import a playlist as a free course, then add tests and a certificate.
• You also run tuition batches. Attendance, fee plans and receipts come free with the free LMS, and classroom fees are paid to you directly.

How to try Sikhami alongside Thinkific

You do not need to close anything to try it. Set up one course on Sikhami and watch how learners respond.

1. Create a free Sikhami account. In Learning studio, choose New institute, type a name and choose Create institute. It is saved as a draft.
2. Open Details and fill in your logo, username, about section, email, phone, full address and map location. Email and phone are each confirmed with a code. Then publish.
3. Add your bank and tax details, so your share of sales can be paid to your bank account.
4. Under Courses, choose New course and Video course. Upload your videos on the website, each file under 2 GB.
5. Mark two or three lectures as Free preview, add a test, and set a price for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years or lifetime.
6. Publish the course and share its link. Compare the response with your Thinkific site over a month or two.

Our guide to selling courses online walks through payments, earnings and payouts on Sikhami in more detail.

Questions to ask in a sales demo or free trial

A trial or a sales call is your chance to test the parts that cost money later. Ask any platform these questions, and write down the answers.

• I am based in India. Which payment gateway will I use, and in which currency can I charge?
• Can my buyers pay by UPI, or by card only?
• What fee do you take per sale, on top of the plan, on my gateway?
• Who calculates and collects tax, and who issues the invoice to the buyer?
• Which features in your demo are on the plan I would buy, and which are add-ons?
• How do my students use a phone: a shared app, a branded app, or the mobile web?
• If I leave, can I export my students, sales and course content?

Ask for the answers in writing, or find them in the help centre, so you can check them later. For a wider view of the options, see our comparison of online teaching platforms.

Good to know before you start

• On Sikhami, a teacher sells a video course through an institute. A teacher profile alone cannot sell one.
• Video courses are created on the website. Learners can buy and watch them on the website and in the Android app.
• Sikhami does not give you your own app, web address or website builder. Students use the one Sikhami website and Android app.
• There is no built-in live class for batches. A batch keeps your Google Meet or Zoom link.
• There is no DRM, download protection or screen-recording protection on videos.
• Tests are multiple choice with one correct answer, and a course has no PDF lectures.
• A course made from a YouTube playlist is always free, so a paid course needs uploaded videos.