Table of Contents
If you have been on the online learning platform hunt for a while now, you probably already realize that there are a handful of options to choose from out there.
It’s true.
Online learning platforms come in different types, features, and sizes, but your goal is to choose the best one for your individual or company needs.
To help you out, we have prepared a thorough comparison list of the most popular and top-performing online learning platforms in the eLearning market.
This is a comparison between LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi.
Spoilers ahead: LearnWorlds gets the most positive reviews from review sites. More on this below. You can get a free 30-day trial of LearnWorlds to test the platform out yourself!
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All Platforms in a Nutshell
To help you get an idea of what each platform offers, we decided to analyze some of the most important selection criteria that you will need to take into consideration when choosing one:
Course Creation – the ease with which the platform allows you to create online courses and the ability to incorporate the material you want to include in them, focusing on the educational features it comes with and the learning experience it can offer.
Website Building – the ability to build a dedicated eLearning website from which you can sell your online courses calculating the degree of design customization it allows.
White-Labeling – removing the online learning platform’s branding from your website to make it your own.
Sales & Marketing – the features that allow you to promote and sell your online courses.
School Administration – the features that regulate the degree to which you can view and manage the progress of your students or customize their learning experience.
Scalability – the capacity to support a growing amount of traffic and simultaneous users as you grow your business or the ability to support enterprise accounts.
Pricing – the price of each online learning platform compared to its offering.
Here’s how each platform scores in each category in a nutshell:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Course Creation | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
Website Building | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
White-Labelling | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Sales & Marketing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
School Administration | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
Scalability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Pricing | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
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*When comparing the differences between the two platforms, we use a ✔️ to identify where a feature exists and a ❌ where it does not. A slightly darker background indicates where a platform has a better or more advanced version of the feature. Both cells are dark, where features are slightly different but equivalent.
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Overall, as the table shows, Teachable and Kajabi are the weakest regarding course creation, while LearnWorlds and Kajabi are the most powerful regarding website building.
LearnWorlds is the only platform offering a white-label option for your elearning / school website.
All platforms offer a high level of administration capabilities with slight differences in implementation and what they offer.
Lastly, Kajabi is the most expensive option by far compared to the other three learning platforms but offers the most comprehensive marketing tools and automated funnels.
Who uses each
LearnWorlds
LearnWorlds aims to improve the way educators, professional trainers, and companies teach online.
LearnWorlds’ customers are entrepreneurs, educators, and small to mid-sized businesses that value education and look to offer the best learning experiences to their students, customers, and employees.
Teachable
Teachable supports the idea that ‘Everything is Teachable’ and encourages everyone to create online courses.
Teachable’s customers are solopreneurs, creators, bloggers, YouTubers, and artists who are interested in starting a course business, adding a side income, or looking for ways to make money online.
Thinkific
Thinkific aims to enable professional course creators and midsized businesses.
Thinkific customers range from entrepreneurs to mid-sized businesses looking to grow their companies with education for their audiences.
Kajabi
Kajabi aims to make all processes of every online business easy, helping out entrepreneurs sell their products.
Kajabi’s customers are non-techy online course creators, digital entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, creators, and individual instructors who want to sell simple format courses and downloadables.
LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific & Kajabi Reviews Comparison
To get an objective view of all four platforms, we have examined what independent review sites have to say. We have looked at reputable review sites with a learning platform or LMS category specifically:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Elearning Industry | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92%) |
⭐⭐⭐ (71%) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (92%) |
(no reviews) |
G2 | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.0/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.4/5) |
Capterra | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.7/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.4/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.4/5) |
CrozDesk | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.6/5) |
⭐⭐⭐ (4.0/5) |
(no reviews) | (no reviews) |
TrustPilot | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.2/5) |
⭐⭐⭐ (3.1/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5/5) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.6/5) |
While all platforms retain an averagely high remark, LearnWorlds appears to have the highest overall. This makes it clear that users (admins) have a better experience using LearnWorlds over Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi, especially in the Elearning Industry, which is a specialized website with reviews from users experienced in online courses and training.
All reviews point to LearnWorlds as being the best platform to create, manage and sell online courses. A better all-around platform to host your business and responsive support/customer care that values its customers has earned high remarks across all major review sites.
You can also read the side-by-side comparisons of:
LearnWorlds vs Thinkific
LearnWorlds vs Teachable
LearnWorlds vs Kajabi
LearnWorlds vs Podia
Thinkific Vs Teachable Pricing
Teachable vs Kajabi
Course Creation
First and foremost, when it comes to course creation, all platforms – LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi offer basic features such as:
But there are also some differences between the platforms that are worth pointing out:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ease of Course Creation | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Prerequisites and completion rules | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
SCORM* & HTML5 | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Course Player | ✔️ Highly customizable, modern player |
❌ (Basic) Not customizable. |
❌ Limited options to customize it. |
❌ Kajabi has a post player based on themes for courses with minimal customizations. This is not a real course player. |
Copyright protection |
✔️ Add watermarks for both video & pdf |
❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Kajabi offers the least educational capabilities, with only basic support for video and quizzes. No course completion checks or, as you will see below, certificate issuing is not available, making it not suitable for real educational content.
LearnWorlds, on the other hand, has developed a comprehensive set of features to support SCORM files, making it a more ideal alternative for an expensive LMS while also protecting your online content.
This makes LearnWorlds the only course platform offering such built-in copyright protection functionality, meaning you don’t have to spend time and money on third-party products to get a similar result.
Interactivity in Learning
LearnWorlds goes a step beyond traditional course platforms with the addition of interactive features on top of the learning activities.
You can use LearnWorlds’ interactive video editor to add interactive elements to videos, transcripts that follow speech, CTA buttons, subtitles, text, questions, and much more.
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Interactive Videos Interactive video editor to increase course engagement (buttons, questions, labels, and other elements, etc.) |
✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Automatic Video Transcription Create transcripts and subtitles automatically from your video. |
✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Video Captions & Interactive Transcripts | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Interactive Ebooks Increases course engagement with highlights, notes, starring sentences, and more. |
✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Student Assessments
In an online learning platform, you are looking to assess students’ progress. You will need to test and report the results of their progress. Here is how LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi compare in this:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Exams / Assessments | ✔️ | ✔️ (Limited) |
✔️ | ✔️ (Limited) |
Quizzes | ✔️ | ✔️ (Limited) |
❌ | ✔️ (Limited) |
Question banks | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Assignments (open-ended questions) | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Gradebook | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Certificates | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
As the table shows, LearnWorlds has all the necessary features every course creator needs. In contrast to the other platforms, it offers grading capabilities and a more advanced assessment system.
Kajabi comes as the weakest in course creation because the process is more complicated compared to others, while its major drawback is the lack of ability to create certificates.
Live classes
Lastly, as a course creator, you should be interested in a webinar functionality that will allow you to deliver your educational content in an engaging way. This can be done through live classes or with the ability to add embeddable webinars to your course material:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Live Classes / Meetings / Webinars (Through a Zoom Integration) | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Embeddable Webinars | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
While Teachable offers basic features for course creation, it misses out on the ability to integrate with Zoom as the other platforms do.
Social Learning Abilities
An additional capability that is important for every online learning platform to have is social learning, which comes with elements such as the following:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
School Community | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Messenger (inbox) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Course Discussion | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Study Group Creation | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Such features are important to consider before choosing your online learning platform because of the very nature of learning.
Since learning is rarely an activity that happens in a vacuum, it is foremost a social activity, and students need to interact with a teacher, their classmates, and the broader community.
While all platforms have course discussion capabilities, only LearnWorlds ticks off all of the social learning requirements. As such, it comes with a robust built-in social and community-building feature that allows you to create a community of learners and communicate with them directly, either 1:1 through the community inbox or through group discussions.
Website Builder & Design
Next up are website building and design capabilities. This is another important feature you must look out for when conducting your research.
As a course creator and essentially an edupreneur, you will need an attractive, user-friendly, and functional website that will accommodate your courses. How you decide to present your courses online – and online academy, is crucial to your course sales and success.
All platforms offer an easy-to-use system to build, customize, and white-label your elearning website. And, with all platforms, you can:
However, there are a few differentiations when you dig into the details of what is actually offered by each platform:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Building & Editing Landing Pages | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Branding & Identity (Customize the look and feel of your site) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Website Themes | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Page design templates | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ (limited) | ✔️ |
WordPress Plugin | ✔️ For SSO |
❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
Lead capture zones (built-in) | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
As you can see, most platforms offer a set of website templates to choose from, helping you build your unique site. Unlike Thinkific, which has limited options on page design templates, LearnWorlds comes with a large 50+ template collection that is suitable for every niche and allows you to combine different pages and sections to achieve the desired result for your website.
Also, LearnWorlds’ Site Builder makes it easier to use and offers more customization options and control over your website.
If you are already using WordPress – like the majority of people, LearnWorlds or Kajabi are going to be more suitable solutions as they offer plugins to easily integrate with them, unlike Teachable or Thinkific.
White-Labeling
White labeling gives you the opportunity to customize the look and feel of your website to suit your brand. So instead of presenting the platform’s logo on your site, you have the ability to show your branding only.
This is possible to some extent on all platforms, but LearnWorlds takes the lead and goes one step beyond what an average online learning platform can offer.
All of LearnWorlds’ white-labeling options come at the Learning Center plan and offer a thorough removal of the LearnWorlds’ brand mention and logo from the student side of your school.
Let’s find out how all four platforms score at the white-labeling option:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Custom Domain www.yourwebsitename.com or academy.yourwebsitename.com | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Remove Branding From: | ||||
Login | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Website (footer) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Email Notifications | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Social Logins | ✔️ For SSO |
❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Checkout Page | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Terms & Conditions Page | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Custom White-labelled App for your online school (Android, iOS) |
✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
That being said, not only LearnWorlds offers a white-label option with social logins and email notifications that have the customer’s brand, but it also offers further customization for checkout pages, terms and conditions pages, and a custom fully white-label mobile app for your online school.
Sales & Marketing features
If you are reading this, then you are looking to sell online courses, and for this, you will need a platform that has eCommerce features as well as powerful marketing tools.
LearnWorlds, Teachable, Thinkific, and Kajabi offer a multitude of sales and marketing tools that are common to all platforms like:
Then, there are some differences:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1-click sales funnels | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ |
Email Marketing | ❌ (email notifications only) | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Course Marketplace | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
Mobile App Marketplace (non-branded) | ✔️ (fully branded) | ✔️ | ❌ (limited) | ✔️ |
All platforms are backed up with the essentials for marketing and selling your online courses.
The subtle difference between the platforms here is the course marketplace that is only available from Teachable and Kajabi.
However, using their course marketplaces takes a lot from any white-labeling. This means that you lose any white-labeling they might offer and that your courses are viewed alongside your competitors.
Payment Gateways
While selling online courses, you need to also be able to get paid. A payment gateway is an integral part of any offering payment processing.
All platforms offer a number of payment gateways, allowing instant access to your funds while they make sure to offer
Stripe & PayPal integrations.
However, of all the platforms, only LearnWorlds offers localized payments for specific countries. Read more about it here. Also, LearnWorlds and Thinkific offer the option to add two or more payment options at the checkout.
For example, your customers will be able to choose to pay with PayPal or a credit card.
But as the following table shows, the similarities end there:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
EU VAT handling with Quaderno | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Two or more payment gateway options for customers to choose from. | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Stripe | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
PayPal | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Shopify | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
2Checkout | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
PagSeguro (Brazil) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Apple Pay | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
Google Pay | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ |
Stripe Local | ||||
iDeal (Netherlands) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Bancontact (Belgium) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Giropay (Germany) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Sofort – Bank Transfer (8 EU countries) | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
School Administration & Security
The administration is a factor that you can’t ignore when searching for an online learning platform. With it, you have better access to student data and increased control of student management.
For example, you can oversee the progress of your students, download them and analyze results as well as customize their learning experience.
Here’s how each platform performs in this category:
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Different levels of admins | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Advanced user reporting | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Customizable options for student login | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Control who can communicate with whom in private messages | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Set School Language | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
GDPR & Data Security | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Account Sharing Protection | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Mass Enrollments | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
RECAPTCHA | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
24/7 Email Support | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Phone Support | ✔️ | ❌ (limited hours) |
✔️ | ❌ |
Onboarding 1-on-1 | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Having advanced reporting capabilities allows you to get a greater insight into the performance of your students which can make your job a lot easier. LearnWorlds andThinkific is both offering this capability.
But what Thinkific is not offering is GDPR compliance which LearnWorlds excels at. LearnWorlds is the only e-learning platform that offers full GDPR capabilities and can disable multiple sessions that increase account protection.
Scalability & Premium Features
When your business is growing, you want to make sure that the platform can withstand the weather and face just about any obstacle in the way.
This includes the ability to support huge amounts of traffic and simultaneous users as well as meet corporate-level requirements.
LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dedicated Account Manager | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Dedicated servers for high volume accounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
SLAs by request | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
DPA | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Flexible Invoicing | ✔️ | ❌ | ❌ | ✔️ |
Backups | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
While all platforms can do all three and respond well to the high demands, there are differences between the premium services each platform offers, such as flexible invoicing options and DPA.
They also differ in the level of daily backups, a very important feature for schools with high traffic. LearnWorlds offers multiple daily backups to high-volume accounts, and Thinkific offers daily backups, but no mention of the backup frequency from Teachable & Kajabi.
Pricing & Plans:
Finally, the pricing of each platform is another – if not the most- important factor to look at. If you are working on a budget, you are probably searching for an affordable price, and this is where LearnWorlds comes into play.
As you can see below, LearnWorlds offers the most affordable solution compared to the other options:
Pricing | LearnWorlds | Teachable | Thinkific | Kajabi |
---|---|---|---|---|
Higher Plan | $299 per month | $665 | $499 per month | $399 per month |
Middle Plan | $99 per month | $159 | $199 per month | $199 per month |
Starting out at | $29 per month | $59 per month | $49 per month | $149 per month |
Free Trial | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Free Plan | ❌ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Unlimited Courses | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Enterprise / High Volume Plan | ✔️ | ❌ | ✔️ | ❌ |
Teachable has also added limitations to the number of products you can have that did not include initially. Now, Teachable and Kajabi include product limitations, while LearnWorlds and Thinkific offer unlimited courses per account.
Comparing LearnWorlds, Teachable, Kajabi, and Thinkific’s overall pricing and the features they offer on each plan, it becomes easy to see that LearnWorlds is not only the most cost-efficient but also the best value-for-money option for course creators that are looking for a solution that is affordable and scalable.
What do LearnWorlds Customers Say
Check out some of the testimonials we got from LearnWorlds instructors:
Choosing the best solution
To wrap up, it’s only fitting to say that each platform is offering the best service possible, and we have a big respect for them. Undoubtedly, each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s entirely up to you to choose the one that meets your requirements best based on the given criteria.
Deciding on any elearning platform is not a straightforward decision because it all depends on what you are after. In this respect, it doesn’t always come down to capabilities but what you expect the platform can do for you.
LearnWorlds is the choice of top course creators, picky educators, and serious corporate trainers who care about their learners.
At LearnWorlds, we believe that we are doing an excellent job, and one of the many proofs is the success of our very own customers. We are very proud of the platform we offer, and we are committed to constantly getting better every day.
As you can see from the detailed comparison charts, LearnWorlds exceeds expectations in most areas of online learning and can guide you through the exciting journey of creating and selling courses.
Start your own journey with LearnWorlds for free with our 30-day trial, and discover where this can take you!
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Start FREE TrialFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– How much is Teachable per month?
Teachable has the following monthly pricing plans:
– Is the teachable free trial good compared to other options?
Teachable no longer offers a free trial, but it comes with a free plan that is very limited in terms of capabilities. Teachable’s free plan allows only 1 admin user and 1 course to be created. Also, it has a $1 + 10% transaction fee on every sale.
– Does Teachable integrate with Shopify?
Yes, Teachable integrates with Shopify through Zapier.
– What is the best option for video hosting for online courses?
There are many video hosting services available, but using those compatible with your chosen course platform or LMS is always recommended. For example, LearnWorlds has its own video player and library, allowing you to connect your Wistia or Vimeo account.
– What are the pros and cons of Kajabi?
Pros:
Cons:
– What are Kajabi transaction fees?
Kajabi does not have transaction fees, but standard payment processing fees apply.
– Can you remove Kajabi branding?
You can remove Kajabi branding on your custom domain and other parts of your website, but you can not do the same for email notifications, social logins, or the mobile app.
– How can I cancel my Kajabi membership?
Here’s how to cancel your Kajabi subscription:
- Open the Settings tab from the Dashboard.
- Select Billing from the Account Settings section.
- Scroll down to Subscription.
- Click Cancel subscription.
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Kyriaki is a Content Creator for the LearnWorlds team writing about marketing and e-learning, helping course creators on their journey to create, market, and sell their online courses. Equipped with a degree in Career Guidance, she has a strong background in education management and career success. In her free time, she gets crafty and musical.