Teachable + Thinkific sell video playlists.
Vacademy runs academies.
Teachable and Thinkific are excellent if you're a solo info-creator selling a self-paced video course on the internet. They start to break the moment you run live classes, real exams, cohorts of paying students, branded mobile apps, parent portals, or anything resembling a real academy.
Why teams switch from Teachable
Three reasons your team will move
Flat video playlists hit a ceiling
Teachable / Thinkific structure a course as a list of lessons. Real curricula (Class 9 Math, JEE Physics, IELTS) need year / subject / module / chapter hierarchy + cohort delivery + live classes.
Almost nothing beyond 'sell the course'
No live sessions, no exam engine, no AI, no parent portal, no admissions CRM, no native mobile apps, no doubt support. Each missing piece becomes a separate $100/mo SaaS subscription.
Branding is shallow
You can change colours and logos but the URLs say teachable.com / thinkific.com; native apps are theirs, not yours; emails come from their domain. Real white-label is missing.
Vacademy Research · October 2026
What our research found about Teachable
We scored 37 education platforms on 13 capabilities using only what each vendor documents publicly. Teachable documents 5.5 of 13; Vacademy documents 13. Vacademy publishes this research and is scored with the same rubric.
- Type of platform
- Course platform
- Entry price
- $39/mo
- Fee on each sale (entry plan)
- 7.5%
- Coverage (teaching · operations)
- 60% · 31%
| Capability | Teachable | Vacademy | Evidence for Teachable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courses (LMS) | Yes | Yes | Courses with video, quizzes, drip, completion certificates |
| Live classes | Partial | Yes | Coaching product for 1:1/group sessions 'live or on-demand'; no native live classroom described |
| Online exams | Partial | Yes | Quizzes, auto-graded and short-answer assessments; no exam engine/proctoring |
| AI content | Yes | Yes | 'Create with AI' on all plans: Course Starter (curriculum + sales page), quiz generator, subtitles, translation into 70+ languages |
| AI grading | No | Yes | AI hub lists no AI grading |
| Branded apps | Partial | Yes | 'iOS & Android student apps' included on all plans (Teachable app); no white-label app offer on pricing page |
| Website | Yes | Yes | Site Builder, own brand and domain |
| Fee collection | Yes | Yes | Teachable Payments: global payments, automatic tax handling |
| Admissions CRM | No | Yes | No CRM listed on pricing/home pages |
| No | Yes | WhatsApp not listed on pricing or feature pages reviewed | |
| ERP / HR | No | Yes | No ERP/HR/attendance module on pricing or feature pages reviewed |
| AI calling | No | Yes | No AI voice-calling product on pricing, feature or AI pages reviewed |
| Parent app | No | Yes | No parent/guardian app; product targets adult learners/members |
“Not documented” means we found no public description; Teachable may still offer it. Read on 20 October 2026 from Teachable's own pages. Spot an error? Email support@vacademy.io with a source and we will correct it.
See all 37 platforms on the Education Platform Map →Side-by-side · honest comparison
Vacademy vs Teachable
We don't hide what Teachable does well. Where they win, we mark it. Where we win, we explain why.
How to switch
Teachable / Thinkific → Vacademy in a week
Both platforms support CSV export of students + courses + transactions. We've migrated solo creators-turned-academies — typically in 5–7 working days end-to-end.
Export courses + students + payments
Use Teachable / Thinkific's standard CSV exports. Send us the files. Videos can stay on Wistia / YouTube and embed into Vacademy.
Restructure into Vacademy hierarchy
Flat 'lessons list' becomes proper Course → Module → Chapter → Slide. We do this with you in a working session — 2–4 hours per course.
Apply branding + open AI features
Custom domain · brand kit · mobile apps generated · payments + AI features enabled. Email templates ported.
Switch over
Cut-over weekend. Learners get a re-login email + WhatsApp. Old account remains read-only for 90 days. Re-charges (subscriptions) seamlessly migrate to your new gateway.
They moved from Teachable to Vacademy
STEM Bootcamp · grew from solo to 1,400 learners
“I started selling my robotics course on Teachable as a side project. Two years in, I had 1,400 learners, needed live classes, parents wanted progress updates, and I was paying for Teachable + Kajabi + Calendly + Mailchimp + Kahoot. Vacademy replaced all five — and gave me a native mobile app under my brand on day one.”
— Founder, STEM Bootcamp
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See comparisonOutgrowing Teachable / Thinkific?
Send us your course list — we'll migrate the first course free.
List your top 3 courses on Teachable / Thinkific. In a 48-hour pilot we'll re-structure one of them into Vacademy's hierarchy, apply your brand, and let you walk through it before committing.