Teachable Review
Written by Casey Botticello
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If you haven't already enrolled in or created a Teachable course, try it for free! Teachable makes it easy for creators to take courses to build new skills!
CASEY BOTTICELLO
Founder, Blogging Guide
As online learning trends have evolved, various platforms offering to host digital courses for sale have come – and gone – with varying degrees of success. With demand for eLearning surging, platforms like Teachable have evolved to provide course creators with the comprehensive toolsets and software access they need to supply a growing market with online course content. Teachable offers an end-to-end course and coaching creation solution, allowing course designers to build engaging online courses and coaching programs, market their offerings and earn a stable income from a rapidly growing online learning community.
But with so many online course platforms out there, where does Teachable fit into the online course creation platform marketplace? How does the platform compare to others, and is it a viable option for serious course creators? In this review, we take a high-level look at Teachable, what it has to offer, and if it’s right for you.
What is Teachable?
Teachable offers users more than simply a course-building tool. The platform is an all-in-one online learning management system allowing course developers and coaches to build their courses and programs, market them and sell them all in one location. Creators can assemble engaging courses and coaching content in various styles and structures, complete with videos, lectures, and quizzes, selling them directly to students on the platform.
Teachable offers various features and functionalities, taking care of most course creation needs, including web hosting, course and coaching product building, marketing, and payment processing. Teachable’s stated aim is to give course makers more time to focus on actually creating their programs without having to worry about marketing, handling sales, or processing payments.
Since 2015, Teachable has helped over 100 000 creators sell more than $1 billion in online courses to millions of students across the globe. In 2020 alone, the platform hosted 155 000 new courses, along with 15 000 new coaching products, and has seen massive growth since.
How Does Teachable Work?
Teachable allows creators and coaches to build their courses on the platform, price them accordingly and then upload them to the Teachable site. Students can then browse the course categories and pay to take classes, attend sessions, or download materials. Creators can upload an unlimited number of videos, PDF documents, audio files, templates, you name it, that constitute their courses.
Once published, creators can view, monitor, and analyze their course’s performance, accessing key metrics that allow them to revise and improve their content while adding new courses and offerings. The platform manages the marketing for the courses, and all payments are handled by the platform.
Payments
Teachable charges students a processing fee every time they purchase course or coaching content, with the balance going to the creators. As for creators, they’re required to pay a monthly subscription for using the software, and those on the Free and Basic plans also pay transaction fees, with higher plans waiving them altogether.
Once paid for, the student will have access to the course’s video lectures, downloadable materials, quizzes, and more, while, in the case of coaching sessions, can attend live classes or have one-on-ones. Creators who subscribe to the Pro and publish their content on the Pro and Business plans can also offer completion certificates to students who attend coaching sessions or complete courses.
Hosting
Creators own all of their content and retain full, exclusive usage rights to it, and since Teachable offers unlimited hosting services, creators don’t need a website to offer their courses. Those already with one can simply integrate their site with the platform.
Creators can build and publish their courses using Teachable’s built-in course creator tools. They can choose from one of the platform’s default templates or create their courses from scratch.
Creating Courses
Creating a course or coaching content on Teachable is easy:
- Step 1: Sign up and create your “school“
- Step 2: Use the course builder to build your course within your school
- Step 3: Start creating and adding modules to your course
- Step 4: Upload your course content (video lessons, audio clips, PDFs, etc.) to the various modules
- Step 5: Publish your course on the platform
- Step 6: Start selling via your sales page
Teachable’s easy-to-use drag-and-drop course builder employs a simple interface and is easy to become acquainted with. The course builder program is great for beginners and allows detailed customization with helpful tips along the way. Creating courses and coaching products is quick and easy and offers a stunning array of features depending on which plan you’re on.
Pricing Courses
Pricing your course is up to you, and your prices should align with your income goals. Teachable offers some great insights into pricing strategies, revenue goals, and scaling opportunities, and creators are encouraged to reach out to the platform for guidance.
Selling Your Courses
Teachable’s marketing resources are second-to-none. Course creators can rest easy knowing that the platform has all the necessary functionality in place to ensure that students can find their content. Creators can use the platform’s comprehensive integration capacity, from integrated affiliate programs to leveraging the email list functionality and offering course promotions and giveaways. Selling on Teachable is straightforward and effective.
Transactions
The platform takes care of all payments, with a variety of payment gateways making transacting on the platform easy. Teachable charges processing fees in line with PayPal and Stripes’ standard rates and accepts all major credit cards.
Creators have the option of taking their payouts daily or monthly with support for most major currencies and payment gateways.
Teachable Features
Teachable comes locked and loaded with a vast array of features that drive the platform’s ambition to be the go-to one-stop shop for online courses. Here are some of our top picks.
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- Unlimited Everything – Teachable offers creators a great set of unlimited options. From the Basic plan upwards, you can upload an unlimited number of courses, sell to an unlimited number of students and upload unlimited amounts of video content. This makes the platform especially attractive to course creators looking to scale their businesses.
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- Tools & site integration capacity – Teachable boasts a long list of tools and third-party integrations essential to most course creators and coaches. Capable of integrating with Zapier and Webhooks, Teachable’s compatibility with other platforms like MailChimp and ConvertKit, allows creators to streamline their processes without having to start from scratch. Creators (except those on the Free plan) can connect their custom domain or custom subdomains to the platform as well.
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- Multiple payment options – Course creators on Teachable can receive payments from buyers using Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and most of the other payment methods offered in most major currencies.
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- Customization – One of Teachable’s biggest sweet spots is the degree to which course creators can customize their content. Able to select from a rich collection of free and paid-for templates and then customize them allows course designers of all experience levels to create courses that look professional and appeal to their students.
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- Reporting & analytics – Teachable’s advanced data analysis capabilities give creators the insight and information they need to ensure that their courses perform well. From basic details around conversions to more comprehensive customer engagement data, Teachable’s reporting functionality helps users in making data-driven decisions.
Pros and Cons of Teachable
Teachable has staked its claim as one of the premier online course builders out there – and with good reason. As the platform has grown into the eLearning juggernaut it is today, the people charged with guiding its growth have kept things pleasingly simple and creator-focused.
The result? An all-in-one learning management system that boasts a rich list of exciting pros that enable users to get the most out of their time without compromising on offering their students top-quality content.
Teachable Pros
- Everything in one place – Teachable offers course creators a multi-faceted platform where they can upload their materials, build a course from scratch, market it, publish it, and manage sales without having to work with other sites or tools.
- High-quality customizable templates – Teachable offers course developers a range of high-quality, functional templates to use in ensuring their courses look great. These templates can be customized, allowing users to create authentic courses that are navigable and work well.
- Marketing – While we’ve already mentioned Teachable’s marketing capabilities as a feature, the platform truly excels in giving creators a fantastic selection of marketing extras that help them stand out from creators on other platforms. These include coupon codes, affiliate marketing capabilities, email marketing options, and many other elements to help creators position their courses in front of their target audiences.
- Free version– Another unique advantage of using the Teachable platform is the Free plan, available to anyone, which allows users to still create courses without having to pay a subscription fee. Although with some limitations (and hefty transaction fees), Teachable’s Free plan really challenges what other platforms are offering.
- Student engagement – Teachable is popular among students because the platform allows creators to enrich their course offerings with attractive features like quizzes and certificates while engaging directly with them via the platform’s built-in email functionality, answering any relevant questions and posting course updates.
Teachable Cons
- Transaction fees on the Basic plan – Creators using the Basic plan are charged a 5% transaction fee on all sales. Though pretty low by industry standards, this can hurt revenue, especially when you’re already paying a subscription fee.
- Email-only support – The only way to reach out to the platform’s support resources is via email. Those better plans offer a live chat feature. This can get frustrating, especially for Free and Basic creators who need urgent assistance or want to speak directly to a support agent.
Teachable Pricing
Teachable offers four plans with different pricing tiers. Each plan – including the free version – comes with the following features:
- Integrated website and course builder
- Unlimited student access, coaching, and hosting
- Zero transaction fees on free courses
- Student management
- Basic quizzes
- Course design templates
- Payment processing integrations
- Email support
Teachable Free Plan
The free plan covers the fundamental aspects of Teachable, offering users the ability to create one online course or coaching service while allowing for access by unlimited students. Free plan users also enjoy the default course design templates and can create basic quizzes. However, any sales generated on the free plan are subject to a 10% transaction fee, in addition to a $1 processing charge.
- Cost: Free
- Sales Transaction fee: $1 +10% of your sales
- Number of admin-level users: 1
Teachable Basic Plan
The Basic plan offers creators unlimited access to regular courses, unlimited hosting, and uncapped video bandwidth. Perfect for users looking to create courses with a more professional look, Basic plan users also get access to student management tools and integrated payment processing.
Basic plan features also include third-party integrations, integrated email marketing, and coupon codes. However, your school’s site domain will have a .Teachable.com suffix.
- Cost: $39 per month (or $29/month billed annually)
- Sales Transaction fee: 5% of your sales
- Number of admin-level users: 2
Teachable Professional Plan
With the Teachable Pro plan creators get everything that comes with the Basic plan plus some important additional features.
Pro plan creators can add graded quizzes to their courses, download advanced reports and make use of integrated affiliate programs to boost their sales. Along with API access, priority support, and an unbranded website (yes, with a custom domain, too), Pro plan users can also issue their students with course certificates – a big selling point, plus use live chat, and offer live group coaching.
- Cost: $119 per month (or $99/month billed annually)
- Sales Transaction fee: None
- Number of admin-level users: 5
Teachable Business Plan
Teachable’s business plan offers creators, looking to take things mainstream, a fully comprehensive course creation and coaching business package that ranks as one of the best available. At $299 a month, the plan is on the pricy side, but it is, after all, designed for commercial course creators in need of an end-to-end business solution. This plan has it all.
Business plan users enjoy a litany of features scaled to manage large student volumes and complex course and coaching content. Backed by high-level priority support via an email and live chat interface, the business plan boasts advanced feature sets, including advanced theme, user role and developer customization, group coaching calls, the ability to bulk import students, and an expanded user admin capacity.
- Cost: $299 per month (or $249/month billed annually)
- Transaction fee: None
- Number of admin-level users: 20
Conclusion
There is a reason why Teachable ranks as one of the top learning management platforms online. Stuffed with features, boasting an easy-to-use interface, and offering creators everything they need in one convenient location, Teachable is a force to be reckoned with, though not without a few minor faults.
The platform excels in giving its users unlimited access to the things that many others charge for or like to limit. From offering courses and coaching to an unlimited number of students to the endless video bandwidth, built-in email marketing features, and a third-part integrations list that goes on and on, Teachable really takes things to the next level on the features front.
There are a couple of constrictions if you’re not prepared to open your wallet, though, but if you’re not paying for it, you don’t get to enjoy all of it.
Free-to-use options are dwindling among big platforms, but Teachable’s free plan still allows users generous access to core functions and features without giving everything away on the house. The platform refrains from charging a small fortune for the paid plans, and there is something for everyone.
While transaction fees on the Basic plan can hurt creator revenues, the Pro and Business plans are perfectly suited for serious course creators and coaches looking to manage their businesses with great scalable opportunities.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur just starting out with your very first course, a small business looking for a course creation platform to take things to the next level, or a corporation ready to leverage Teachable’s impressive feature array, you’ll find it on the platform.
Teachable outperforms many of its competitors by offering users a straightforward interface with everything they need, along with the tools that ensure their courses are created, marketed, and sold as they should be.
Unlike many of its competitors, don’t expect Teachable to be going anywhere soon.
