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LMS · head to head

LearnDash vs Thinkific

LearnDash logo

LearnDash

LMS

WordPress plugin that turns a site you already own into a course platform with no revenue share

From
$199/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thinkific logo

Thinkific

LMS

Create and sell online courses your way

From
$36/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: LearnDash the flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.; Thinkific no free plan, 14-day trial only
  • They diverge on capability: LearnDash covers Quiz engine, Thinkific covers Website builder.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LearnDash and Thinkific actually diverge.

Attributes where LearnDash and Thinkific differ
AttributeLearnDashThinkific
Starting price$199/year$36/month
Pricing modelPer site per yearUnknown
PlatformsWeb, WordPressWeb, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in LearnDash

  • Quiz engine
  • Groups and group leaders
  • Commerce integration
  • Ownership of data

Only in Thinkific

  • Website builder
  • Quizzes
  • Communities
  • Memberships
  • Marketing tools
  • Analytics
  • Zapier
  • Mailchimp

Both cover

  • Course builder
  • Certificates

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

LearnDash

  • A creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer wouldnot Thinkific
  • Organisations that already run WordPress and want courses on their own domain and brandnot Thinkific
  • Training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor accountnot Thinkific
  • Agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licencenot Thinkific

Thinkific

  • Course creationnot LearnDash
  • Membership sitesnot LearnDash
  • Coaching programsnot LearnDash
  • Corporate trainingnot LearnDash

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

LearnDash

  • The flat licence excludes everything around it. Hosting, backups, security patching, video hosting and email deliverability are now your cost and your responsibility, and they are not small once traffic grows.
  • WordPress plugin conflicts are a live risk. A core or theme update can break checkout or course progression at a moment you did not choose, and there is no vendor operations team standing behind uptime.
  • Performance under load needs deliberate hosting work. Shared hosting handles a small course and fails visibly during a launch, and fixing that is a hosting migration rather than a setting.
  • Selling requires assembling several plugins for payments, memberships and email, so the true stack is four or five vendors with independent update cycles rather than one product.
  • Support covers the plugin, not your site. When the fault sits in the interaction between your theme, your host and another plugin, resolving it is your problem and often a contractor invoice.

Thinkific

  • No free plan, 14-day trial only
  • Transaction fees on third-party payment processors (5% on Basic tier)
  • PayPal only available on Grow plan ($199/month), not on Basic or Start
  • Limited customization on lower-tier plans
  • Cannot embed courses in external domains or iframes
  • Limited number of spaces per plan
  • Less interactive community features compared to alternatives
  • Features continuously moved to higher-priced tiers
  • Payment processing delays reported (up to 90 days)

Pricing, plan by plan

LearnDash

$199/year
  • LearnDash LMS, 1 site$199/year
    • Single site licence
    • All course, quiz and certificate features
    • No share taken of course revenue
  • LearnDash LMS Plus, 10 sites$399/year
    • Up to ten sites
    • Same feature set
    • Suits agencies and multi brand operators
  • LearnDash LMS Pro, unlimited sites$799/year
    • Unlimited sites
    • Same feature set
    • Priced for agencies building for clients

Thinkific

$36/month
  • Basic$36/month
    • 1 course
    • Up to 500 students
    • Thinkific Payments (0% fees)
  • Start$74/month
    • Up to 3 courses
    • Up to 2,000 students
    • Third-party payment (3% fees)
  • Grow$149/month
    • Unlimited courses
    • Unlimited students
    • Third-party payment (0% fees)

Which should you pick?

Choose LearnDash if

  • You need quiz engine.
  • You work on Web, WordPress.
  • You also want groups and group leaders.
LearnDash review

Choose Thinkific if

  • You need website builder.
  • You work on Web, Mobile.
  • You also want quizzes.
Thinkific review

Questions people ask

Is LearnDash or Thinkific better?
Neither clearly leads. LearnDash starts at $199/year and Thinkific at $36/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LearnDash or Thinkific?
LearnDash starts at $199/year and Thinkific at $36/month.
Does LearnDash or Thinkific run on more platforms?
LearnDash runs on Web, WordPress. Thinkific runs on Web, Mobile.
What is LearnDash best used for?
LearnDash is most often used for a creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer would, organisations that already run wordpress and want courses on their own domain and brand, training businesses that need learner data in a database they control rather than in a vendor account, agencies building course sites for multiple clients under one unlimited site licence. Of those, a creator whose course revenue has grown to the point where a percentage based platform costs more than a developer would and organisations that already run wordpress and want courses on their own domain and brand are not what Thinkific is typically brought in for.
What can LearnDash do that Thinkific cannot?
LearnDash covers Quiz engine, Groups and group leaders, Commerce integration, Ownership of data. Thinkific covers Website builder, Quizzes, Communities, Memberships. Both handle Course builder, Certificates.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

LearnDash: Does LearnDash take a percentage of my course sales?

No. It is a flat annual licence per site and you keep all revenue. That is the main financial argument against percentage based hosted platforms once sales volume is meaningful.

Thinkific: Does Thinkific have a free plan?

No. Thinkific does not offer a free plan but provides a 14-day free trial. Paid plans start at $36/month (Basic tier).

Source
LearnDash: What is the real total cost?

The licence plus hosting capable of handling your traffic, plus video hosting, plus an email service, plus whatever developer time keeps the stack working. Budget for the stack, not the plugin.

Thinkific: Are there transaction fees on Thinkific?

Thinkific charges no transaction fees when using their built-in Thinkific Payments. Third-party payment processors incur 5% fees (Basic) down to 0% (Plus), plus 3.6% for Stripe with subscriptions.

Source
LearnDash: Should I use LearnDash Cloud instead?

If you want the plugin without administering WordPress, yes. You give up some of the cost advantage and some control in exchange for not being responsible for the server.

Thinkific: What payment methods does Thinkific support?

PayPal is locked to Grow plan ($199/month). Basic and Start plans do not support PayPal, limiting payment options for international creators and potentially reducing conversions.

Source
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