Teachable Pros and Cons After 90 Days

Teachable pros and cons after 90 days boil down to this: it’s a genuinely solid course platform for solo creators who want a fast setup and clean student experience, but its transaction fees on lower tiers and limited native marketing tools will frustrate anyone trying to run a full online business without bolting on extra software.

Photo: Callum Hilton (Pexels)

Here’s the full picture — features, pricing, real limitations, and who should look elsewhere.

What Teachable actually is (and isn’t)

Teachable is a hosted course platform. You don’t install anything. You upload your videos, build a curriculum, set a price, and Teachable handles hosting, checkout, student accounts, and basic drip scheduling.

What it isn’t: an all-in-one funnel builder, a robust email platform, or a community hub. If you’ve seen Kajabi ads promising to replace five tools, Teachable is more narrowly focused. That’s a feature for some creators — and a real gap for others.

Teachable currently powers [verify] active schools and processes millions in creator revenue each year. It’s been around since 2014, so it’s not a startup experiment.

Teachable pricing: what you actually pay

Before listing pros and cons, pricing context matters. Teachable’s plans as of 2025:

• Free plan: $0/month, but Teachable takes a 10% transaction fee on every sale.
• Basic: $59/month (billed monthly) or ~$39/month billed annually — 5% transaction fee still applies.
• Pro: $159/month (monthly) or ~$119/month annually — no transaction fees, advanced reports, affiliate program access.
• Pro+: $249/month — higher limits on admins and custom user roles.

The transaction fee structure is the single most debated aspect of Teachable. Selling a $197 course 20 times on the Basic plan costs you ~$197 extra per month in fees alone. The Pro plan pays for itself at a relatively low revenue threshold.

Teachable pros and cons after 90 days: the full breakdown

Evaluating Teachable pros and cons after 90 days requires looking at the platform across four areas: course building, sales and payments, student experience, and business scalability.

Course building tools

Pros:
– The curriculum builder is drag-and-drop and genuinely easy to use. You can have a course live within a few hours of starting.
– Supports video (including native video hosting), audio, PDFs, quizzes, and code embeds.
– Drip scheduling lets you release lessons on a calendar or delay them by X days after enrollment — standard, but it works reliably.
– The lecture completion tracking and quiz builder are built-in, with no plugins needed.

Cons:
– Quizzes are basic. You get multiple-choice; you don’t get graded assessments with weighted questions or branching logic.
– No built-in live session or cohort tools. If you want live Zoom calls baked into the curriculum, you’re embedding manually.
– Certificates of completion exist on Pro and above only — not available on Basic.

Sales and payments

Pros:
– Checkout pages are clean and convert reasonably well out of the box.
– Order bumps and upsells are available on Pro (not Basic), which helps average order value.
– Teachable Payments (powered by Stripe) handles payouts, taxes, and VAT collection automatically in supported regions — a meaningful time saver.
– Coupons, payment plans, and subscription pricing all work without third-party tools.

Cons:
– The 5% transaction fee on Basic is a recurring frustration. Competitors like Thinkific’s Basic plan charge 0% transaction fees.
– You cannot connect your own Stripe account on the Free or Basic plans — you’re locked into Teachable Payments on lower tiers.
– Affiliate management is a Pro-only feature, so Basic users can’t run their own affiliate programs.

Student experience

Pros:
– The student dashboard is clean, mobile-friendly, and loads quickly.
– Students can leave comments on individual lectures, which supports engagement without needing a separate community platform.
– Completion certificates (Pro+) look professional and can be customized with your branding.

Cons:
– There’s no native community or discussion forum. Thinkific and Kajabi both offer community spaces; Teachable does not (as of mid-2025).
– The mobile app experience is functional but not polished compared to Kajabi’s dedicated app.
– Customization of the student-facing school design is limited unless you upgrade to Pro and use custom domains properly.

Business scalability

Pros:
– The affiliate program on Pro is fully functional and trackable — useful once you have enough traffic to recruit affiliates.
– Teachable’s integrations with Kit (ConvertKit), ActiveCampaign, and GetResponse mean you can pipe students into proper email sequences without manual CSV exports.
– Their analytics (Pro) give you revenue over time, completion rates, and quiz performance — enough for most solo creators.

Cons:
– Teachable is not an email marketing tool. You will need a separate platform like Kit or ActiveCampaign to nurture leads and do launches.
– No built-in sales funnel or landing page builder. You’re either using Teachable’s course sales page (limited) or building elsewhere with something like Elementor or a dedicated funnel tool.
– Multi-instructor management is clunky below the Pro+ tier.

Teachable vs. the main alternatives

Who should use Teachable

Teachable makes the most sense for:

• Creators launching their first or second course who want a proven, stable platform without a steep learning curve.
• Anyone who values clean checkout UX and doesn’t want to build payment flows from scratch.
• Creators already planning to upgrade to Pro — at $119/month (annual), the 0% fees and affiliate tools make it a reasonable all-in business spend.
• Teachers and educators who need completion tracking, quizzes, and certificates without customizing a WordPress LMS.

Who should look elsewhere

• Budget-constrained beginners selling low-ticket courses: the 5%–10% transaction fees on lower tiers eat into margins fast. Thinkific’s free plan has 0% fees.
• All-in-one seekers: if you want email marketing, sales funnels, and a community under one roof, Kajabi or Kartra will save you the integration headache.
• Community-first course creators: Teachable has no native community. If peer discussion and group accountability matter to your course design, Thinkific or Kajabi serve that use case better.
• High-volume affiliate marketers: Teachable’s affiliate features are basic compared to what Kartra or Kajabi offer.

The verdict on Teachable pros and cons after 90 days

Teachable pros and cons after 90 days land in roughly the same place for most creators: reliable platform, good student UX, frustrating fee structure on entry plans, and thin native marketing tools.

The platform earns its reputation as a beginner-friendly course host. Setup is fast, checkout works, and students rarely complain about the learning interface. Those are real strengths.

The gaps show up once you start scaling — running affiliate campaigns, doing email-based launches, or building landing pages outside of Teachable’s limited template options. At that point, you’re paying for Teachable plus one or two other tools.

If you’re launching your first course and your budget won’t reach $119/month yet, Thinkific’s free plan (0% fees) or Podia’s entry plan are worth comparing directly. If you’re already generating consistent course revenue and want an upgrade path with solid payment handling and affiliate tools, Teachable Pro is a defensible choice.

Evaluating Teachable pros and cons after 90 days ultimately comes down to one question: are you building a course business or just hosting a course? For the former, you’ll likely outgrow the Basic plan quickly. For the latter, it does the job well.

Frequently asked questions

Does Teachable charge transaction fees on every plan?

Yes, on the Free plan (10%) and Basic plan (5%). Transaction fees are removed entirely on the Pro plan ($119/month billed annually) and above. If you sell courses regularly, the Pro plan typically pays for itself once monthly revenue exceeds roughly $2,000–$3,000.

Can I use my own Stripe account with Teachable?

You can connect your own Stripe or PayPal on the Pro plan and above. On Free and Basic, you’re limited to Teachable Payments. Teachable Payments handles automatic tax calculation and payouts, which is convenient — but you lose direct Stripe access until you upgrade.

How does Teachable compare to Thinkific for beginners?

Thinkific’s free plan charges no transaction fees, making it the stronger choice for creators who aren’t ready to spend on a monthly plan. Teachable’s free plan is easier to set up quickly, but the 10% fee makes it expensive as soon as you start selling. Both platforms are beginner-friendly in terms of course building.

Does Teachable have an email marketing tool built in?

No. Teachable does not include a native email marketing platform. It integrates with Kit (formerly ConvertKit), ActiveCampaign, GetResponse, and AWeber via direct integrations — but you’ll need a separate subscription to send broadcast emails, run automations, or build pre-launch sequences.

Is Teachable worth it in 2025?

For solo creators selling one or two courses who want a clean, stable platform, yes — especially on the Pro plan where fees disappear. For creators who need community features, advanced funnels, or built-in email marketing, platforms like Kajabi or Podia may offer better overall value depending on your revenue stage.

Want more guides like this? Bookmark Two Funnels Away and check back for ongoing comparisons of course platforms, email tools, and funnel builders.

External reference: Teachable’s official pricing page for current plan details before you commit.