The Best Paid and Free Teaching Alternatives for Creators

The good news is that we have both bad and positive information. It's good to know that there's an abundance of different creator platforms that you can use instead of Teachable. And the bad news? There's so many of them, making it difficult to evaluate and make the right choice on time -- just Google Teachable alternatives, and you'll understand what we're talking about.

That's why we've done all the work for us to help. After much weighing and comparison and research, we've put together a thorough list of the top five Teachable alternatives to help you avoid being overwhelmed by the amount of information available. Take a look below.

Tl;Dr

Not ready to take the time to read through the whole piece? Let's take a look at all the alternatives we discussed

Skip ahead:

•         Teachable an outline
•         What are the reasons to look at the Teachable alternative?    
•         The most effective alternative to teachable to creators
•         What should you consider when choosing a Teachable alternative
•         : The best alternative to Teachable
•         Alternate ways to teach FAQs

Teachable: an overview

Let's begin by using a refresher that you can teach to help jog your brain.

What are the things that can be taught?

Teachable is a creator education platform which lets you easily build and sell online courses. The platform offers a simple course builder, user-friendly interface, customizable course pages with the option to work with additional tools such as the email marketing platform and payment processors. After creating a course on Teachable it is possible to sell it on your own website or through it's Teachable marketplace.

Top Teachable includes

Below are some of the functionalities that stand out for Teachable users.

AI course creation

Teachable provides a suite of AI tools that can help you create courses efficiently. You can, for instance, make use of Teachable's AI curriculum generator to swiftly come up with course content and delivery methods. AI can also help with generating quizzes and subtitles to enhance student participation as well as access to content.

Marketing through affiliates

Integrations

Teachable connects to a range of third-party apps, allowing to create more comprehensive courses and distribution. As an example, you could integrate your Teachable dashboard with marketing email platforms such as Convertkit and MailerLite and create automated email workflows that trigger based on the actions of students.

Teachable pricing

Teachable has a free forever plan and three paid plans (billed each year).

• Basic plan Cost: $39/month
• Pro plan: $119/month
• Pro+ plan: $199/month

The site also offers a Business Plan that costs $499/month and includes premium course design features like bulk student enrolment with unlimited admin and author seats, as well as advanced theme customization options.

What are the reasons to look for the Teachable alternative?

Customer support is not great, prices are expensive bad student experience and limited features are some of the main reasons makers look for the Teachable alternative. We will look at these issues in depth.

Poor customer support

Several customer reviews have suggested that Teachable customer support can be slow to respond -- with tickets staying unresolved for months or even weeks.

"One ticket from 4 months ago was totally ignored, even though we made a request following a request to get it addressed. It's still open and not completed, and nobody will be able to respond. Also, a ticket from two months ago, an extremely important one that has received more than a dozen 'we're looking into this' responses when we try to contact the person who made it. We've reached out to every person we know there and even the person who owns it (who hasn't responded to us at all, by the way), and are still waiting. It has not been addressed as of yet, and they haven't put us in touch with someone who can aid us."

Pricing

The costs quickly add up when you use Teachable. Apart from monthly subscription costs, Teachable charges $1 + 10% and 5% transaction fee per sale, for basic plan users and basic plan users, respectively.

Additionally, you'll have to pay processing charges based on the method of payment. For example, if you're receiving international transactions through PayPal, you'll pay 4.99 percent + 49 cents per sale. For international credit and debit card sales, you pay 3.9 30% + 30Cper. In order to not pay processing costs on Teachable it is possible to consider joining with a third party payment processor in the first place, however this is a long and tedious process that becomes complicated quickly.

Teachable is also charged additional charges to promote affiliate programs as well as the "buy now, then pay in the future" option, and admin support.

Student experience

While Teachable can be a breeze for course creators to use, it doesn't offer the most effective educational experiences for learners. The design of the course can be confusing which makes it hard for students to find the information they need and finish their lessons in time.

Some students also struggle with accessing the platform. Take this user, for example, who got error messages for successive login attempts following an initial access.

      "I was only able to gain access to the course one time but after that, any attempts to login received the "incorrect username" or 'incorrect login' message. I attempted at least 20 attempts. I tried contacting Customer Service, but was referred to by circles as other reviewers have stated."  

Limited features

There are a lot of things that you cannot do with Teachable in the capacity of a course creator. For example, there's no choice for a checkout with two steps, and you cannot send automated emails to abandoned carts without establishing a complex integration. Videos aren't fast enough and the system crashes if you upload large files.

Teachable's built-in web builder may be a bit limited in terms of design customization. It is possible to add branding as well as customize basic course elements independently but cannot make more extensive changes without the aid of a programmer.

Engagement of students is also low on Teachable. The creators have a hard time tracking the progress of students because Teachable's analytics dashboard doesn't show group login data for specific periods.

One of the best options to Teachable to creators

There are a variety of online creator platforms offering better pricing, features, and user experience than Teachable. Let's take a look at some of the top alternatives available.

What sets it apart is its versatility and clarity along with the many options (which will be discussed in the coming days). It gives you 100% control over course creation and delivery, allowing you to sell your expertise on the internet in a way you prefer for your organization. It lets you set the price and keep all of your revenue and there are no extra charges.

     " is getting ever better. There's no way that I'd switch to a different platform. They answer all of my questions right away."  

  The best features  

• TCommerce provides a variety of products that help to manage and sell transactions more efficiently. In particular, you can get single-click payments, a comprehensive financial reporting and analytics dashboard as well as BNPPL (buy today, pay later) and formidable integrations with various financial instruments you employ for your company -- such as the accounting software you use.

You'll be able to be less concerned about the balance of your accounts and focus more time on what you do best, which is delivering quality courses to your students.

  Pricing  

  Learn more  

Udemy online course marketplace

Udemy is primarily a marketplace for video and text courses. When you are registered as a Udemy educator, you are able to make a syllabus, film the video, then submit it for review.

If your course is approved, it will be placed on the marketplace automatically and become eligible to be eligible for Udemy promotion in order to attract students. Also, you'll get a personalized link that you can share on social media and other platforms for people who aren't on Udemy. If you choose this option, you'll keep a larger part of your profits.

Udemy offers very limited options for creators. In particular, it isn't possible to sell memberships or communities. In addition it doesn't provide any third-party integrations, meaning it isn't able to sync to your email marketing program or any other business tools.

  Top Features  

• In-platform marketing: Udemy will promote your class to assist you in attracting students and earn revenues. This can be extremely helpful to beginner creators who don't have much of a following yet. However, bear in mind that Udemy has a share of more than 60% of sales revenue resulting from its marketing activities, so it's best to grow your audience and sell off the platform over the long term.
• Analytics and data: Udemy provides detailed analytics as well as insights that help instructors understand how their courses are performing. Course creators are able to track various metrics, including enrollment statistics as well as student engagement and review of course content. This data enables instructors to find areas of improvements and to optimize their classes to improve the outcomes.
• Engagement of students: Udemy offers robust capabilities for connecting with students. There are exams, quizzes and tests for assessing learners. Students also have the option of connecting to instructors through Q&As, announcements and messages directly.

Prices: Udemy is free for course creators but requires sales commissions. Instructors get 97% of any sales revenue earned from their own marketing initiatives like promotion on social media. Udemy is responsible for 63% of all sales revenue resulting from its promotion activities, like the moment a user clicks an Udemy advertisement.

Circle online Community platform for creators

Circle can help you build engaging online communities that allow you to interact with your students in real time. Live events can be hosted within the communities, develop and sell courses, as well as connect with students by participating in conversations and live chats.

Although Circle provides the ability to integrate social media and video, it's missing quite several features on the market and sales side. It doesn't permit you to build online sales funnels that can be customized with landing pages and checkout for community memberships. Additionally, it does not offer other native or third party email marketing tools.

  The best features  

• Live events: Host live gatherings for members of the community. Circle lets you create live streaming and online Ask Me Anything sessions to draw in your audience. It is possible to record these events for those who are unable to join in live or repurpose the content into different formats to distribute.
• Community AI: Circle provides a extensive set of AI tools to help you engage your community effectively. As an example, you could make use of the Content Co-pilot tool to generate discussion topics and transform content into different formats.
• Workflows: Automate time-consuming tasks in your community. As an example, you could create a workflow that sends an exclusive welcome message to new community members or set up the process of assigning new members to appropriate areas based on their profile and previous experiences.

Price: Circle doesn't have a free plan, but it does offer a 14-day free trial across the plans. The cheapest plan is $89 per month (billed annually) and offers basic features including custom domains and branding, conversion tracking, and community engagement tools.

Patreon: Creator monetization platform

Patreon lets creators get funding directly from their supporters or followers, which are commonly called "patrons."

Creators, such as performers, writers, musicians, podcasters, and others who create content can set up a page on Patreon where patrons can make a promise to contribute an amount on a recurring basis, typically monthly. In return, patrons often get various benefits or exclusive content by the creator such as the first access to new works as well as behind-the-scenes information or personalized interactions.

Patreon is a steep learning curve that makes it hard to navigate, both for creators and their audiences. The platform also has high costs which reduce your income significantly.

  The best features  

• Members tiers: Creators may provide different levels of membership for their followers, with different degrees of advantages. For example, a creator might offer a tier of $5 per month which gives users access to exclusive content. A $20/month membership may also comprise a video-call every month to the author.
• Marketing and promotion tools: Patreon offers various tools to assist creators in marketing and showcase their work. Creators, for instance, can design referral links and share them with their followers as well as Patreon offers a newsletter feature to help creators keep their customers informed about their most recent work.
• Tools for building community: Patreon offers tools for creators to build and engage in their communities. As an example, creators could set up an exclusive Discord server to allow their followers to communicate and chat.

Price: Patreon has a free subscription, however it costs 5% transaction cost and processing fee per sale. The company also takes out fees for conversion of currencies, payment tax and payouts.

Creators that require more sophisticated options like teams accounts or membership levels and team accounts, are able to upgrade to higher-tier packages (Pro and Premium). These plans are available for purchase. Patreon subtracts the amount of 8% and 12% of your monthly earnings earned through the platform, as well as.

Gumroad: E-commerce digital product platform

Gumroad is an online platform which allows creators to market digital items such as ebooks songs, videos, software, and artwork directly to customers. The platform takes care of filing hosting, payment processing as well as product distribution and makes it easier for creators to earn money from their work.

Gumroad does not offer tool for creating courses. That means you'll need to create the course on an additional platform, then import it into your Gumroad account before listing it for sale. This process becomes unnecessarily complicated and takes a lot of time. So, it's best to consider selling your product on course development platforms such as  the one that offers sales tools.

  Top features  

• Subscribers and memberships: Your audience is able to pay for recurring charges to access all your digital offerings via Gumroad which allows you to generate a steady revenue from passive sources. Charge fees for a specific period -either monthly, quarterly biannually, yearly, and many more.
• The protection of your copyright: Gumroad offers lightweight digital rights management, which protects your work from unauthorized file-sharing and online piratery.
• Payment processing: Gumroad takes all payments in the process, so you don't have to be concerned about keeping track of transactions or making deductions for taxes. Gumroad automatically collects VAT from every transaction and forwards it to the EU. Additionally, it allows you to accept payments in multiple currencies.

Price: Gumroad charges a 10% flat fee on each transaction. It also charge a % for PayPal transactions and the 2.9 30% plus 30 cents processing fee. These fees quickly add up to beginners who create courses, particularly when you've already paid for separate charges for using software to build courses.

What to consider when selecting a Teachable alternative

There's plenty of Teachable options like you'll find. The best option will depend on

• Consider the exact reason you're seeking a Teachable alternative. Say you don't want to be wasting time marketing your course. If that's the case it is possible to opt for Udemy since it offers in-app sales and marketing services. In contrast should you need a place to list your digital product for sale, Gumroad might be worth exploring.
• Your budget: Compare fees to know which platform gives you the greatest value. Simply because an application is not free does not mean it's the best choice. There could be additional transaction fees and payment processing fees that can add up very quickly. Keep that in your head.
• Features: Choose a platform that offers all the tools you need for running a successful online product company. Make sure you select platforms with courses design and selling features which means you'll be able to control all of your operations from a single place.

: The best alternative to Teachable

stands out from other Teachable alternatives because of the excellent customer service, affordable pricing, and robust capabilities. It's a breeze to utilize (for learners and teachers alike) It's also possible to sell all types of digital items through the platform.

  Get your trial for free right here!

Teachable alternatives FAQs

Answer common queries concerning Teachable alternatives.

What's the distinction between Teachable and ?

Teachable and Teachable are both well-known platforms for creating and selling online courses. They do have key differences.

What are other Teachable alternatives do I have?