Thinkific Alternatives After the Free Plan (2026)

Disclosure: YourSolopreneurKit.com earns commissions from affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Systeme.io is an affiliate partner. Thinkific, Teachable, Podia, Gumroad and Payhip are not.

How we tested: We tested Systeme.io's free plan in one hands-on session on October 10, 2026: we created a course with a module and a lesson and read the plan limits inside the account. The same day we listed a product on Payhip's free plan. We did not open Thinkific, Teachable, Podia or Gumroad accounts for this article. Their details come from each company's public pricing page, checked October 10, 2026.

Thinkific used to be the easy answer for a first course: sign up free, upload lessons, pay nothing until you grew. That door has closed. Thinkific's pricing FAQ now answers the free-plan question with one word, "No", and points to a 30-day trial. After the trial, the lowest plan is $54 a month. If you have a small course that earns a little, or one you have not launched yet, this guide covers where to host it without a monthly bill.

The Short Answer

• A free home for one course, with email and a checkout: Systeme.io. 1 course, 500 students, 0% platform fee.
• A free store for courses and downloads: Payhip. All features at $0 with a 5% fee.
• No monthly fee and a marketplace: Gumroad. 10% plus $0.50 per sale.
• You have steady revenue and want to stay: Thinkific Basic at $54 a month is fair value for unlimited courses.

Host your course on Systeme.io free →

What Changed at Thinkific

Thinkific's pricing page lists three self-serve plans: Basic at $54 a month ($40 on annual billing), Start at $109 and Grow at $219. Every plan includes unlimited published courses. The FAQ on the same page asks whether there is a free plan and answers: "No, instead, you can explore the whole platform with a 30-day free trial."

Two groups feel that change.

Creators who have not launched. Building a course takes weeks. A 30-day trial can end before your first sale, and then the meter runs at $54 a month while you finish recording.

Creators with a small course. A course that sells $150 a month was profit on a free plan. On Basic, a third of it goes to software.

If you sell $1,000 a month or more, $54 is about 5% of revenue and Thinkific remains a good tool. This article is for everyone below that line.

One Thing to Know Before You Jump to Teachable

The reflex move from Thinkific is Teachable. Check the pricing first. Teachable's page lists no free plan either. It calls itself a paid service with a 7-day trial. The Starter plan is $39 a month and adds a 7.5% transaction fee. You would trade a flat $54 for $39 plus a cut of every sale. We break that down in Teachable alternatives.

Where to Host a Course Free in 2026

Platform	Monthly cost	Fee per sale	Free-plan limits	Tested hands-on?
Thinkific	From $54 after a 30-day trial	Payment processing	No free plan	No, pricing page
Teachable	From $39 after a 7-day trial	7.5% on Starter	No free plan	No, pricing page
Systeme.io	$0	0%	1 course, 500 students, $10,000 in sales	Yes, free plan
Payhip	$0	5%	None listed, all features	Yes, free plan
Gumroad	$0	10% + $0.50	None listed	No, pricing page
Podia	From $42 after a 14-day trial	5% on Mover	No free plan	No, pricing page

Card processing fees from Stripe or PayPal apply on top wherever a platform uses them.

What Each Option Costs at Small Revenue

Monthly course sales	Thinkific Basic	Systeme.io Free	Payhip Free	Gumroad (10 sales)
$0 (still building)	$54	$0	$0	$0
$150	$54	$0	$7.50	$20
$500	$54	$0	$25	$55
$1,000	$54	$0, or $17 on Startup	$50	$105

Gumroad's column assumes ten sales in the month, since its fee has a fixed $0.50 part. Platform costs only. Processing fees excluded.

1. Systeme.io: A Free Plan That Hosts a Course

Systeme.io is a sales platform with a course area built in. Its public pricing page says the free plan never expires and needs no credit card, and it lists no transaction fees on any plan.

Building the course

We went to Courses, clicked "Add a new course", named it and picked a theme. One snag: the URL path field starts blank, and the Create button does nothing until you fill it. Then "Add module", a name, "Add lecture", a name and a layout. Three minutes after the first click we had a course with one module and one lesson.

Each lecture has a Delay field for drip release. We left it at 0, and the curriculum labelled the lesson "Drip: immediately". Finding drip scheduling on a free plan stood out.

What the free plan holds back

We read these numbers off the My plan screen:

• 1 course. Thinkific gives unlimited courses on every paid plan. If you run a catalog, Systeme.io's free plan is too small. Startup at $17 a month allows 5 courses.
• 500 students.
• $10,000 sales revenue limit. After that you need a paid plan.
• 1 email campaign and 1 automation rule. Enough for a welcome sequence, not a full marketing setup.
• 0 evergreen webinars. Those start on the $47 plan.

Two setup steps come before your first sale. Systeme.io asked us to connect a payment gateway before it would create a payment page. It also required a sender email address before it would create an email campaign, and none was set up in our new account. Neither costs money. Both take a few minutes you should plan for.

What we did not test: quizzes, certificates and the student-side view of a paid enrollment. Thinkific's course player and assessment tools have years of refinement. Expect Systeme.io's to be simpler.

Choose Systeme.io if: you have one course and want $0 fixed cost with email and checkout in the same account. Read our Systeme.io review for the rest of the platform.

Create a free Systeme.io account →

2. Payhip: Free With Every Feature, 5% Per Sale

Payhip takes the opposite approach to limits. Its pricing page says all plans have the same features, with no feature-gating, and you choose the fee: 5% on the free plan, 2% at $29 a month, none at $99.

We opened a free account and added a product in about 75 seconds. The first screen offers Digital Product, Course, Membership and Physical Product. We listed a digital download, not a course, so we cannot describe Payhip's lesson builder from experience.

The friction: our product page told visitors the seller could not receive payments until a PayPal or Stripe account was connected. Same step as Systeme.io.

Choose Payhip if: you want several courses or a mix of products on a free plan and accept a 5% fee in exchange for no caps.

3. Gumroad: No Monthly Fee, Highest Cut

Gumroad charges nothing per month. Its pricing page lists 10% plus $0.50 per sale on your own links, and 30% on sales that come through its Discover marketplace. For a $30 course sold direct, Gumroad keeps $3.50.

Gumroad works best for simple products: a video series, a workbook, a bundle. It is a storefront more than a classroom, with less lesson structure than Thinkific gives you.

Choose Gumroad if: your course is a small bundle of files and you want the simplest possible setup.

4. Podia: Paid, With a Lower Entry Than It Looks

Podia's pricing page lists Mover at $42 a month on yearly billing with a 5% fee, and Shaker at $84 with none. There is a 14-day trial and no free plan. It is cheaper than Thinkific Basic on paper, and the 5% narrows the gap as you grow.

Choose Podia if: you want a website, email and courses in one paid tool and prefer its interface.

Free Plan Now, Paid Plan Later

A free plan is a starting point. Plan the step after it before you pick. On Systeme.io the next tier is $17 a month for 5 courses, unlimited students and no sales cap. On Payhip you never have to upgrade, and the 5% fee grows with you until the $29 plan at 2% makes sense, around $970 a month in sales. On Gumroad there is no cheaper tier to move to. If you expect the course to grow, the low ceiling on the next step matters more than the size of the free plan.

How to Move a Course Off Thinkific

1. Note your trial or billing date. Plan the move to finish before the next charge.
2. Download your lesson files. Videos, PDFs, audio. Find your originals if Thinkific holds the only copy.
3. Export your students from Thinkific's user list as a CSV.
4. Rebuild on the new platform. Create the course, then modules and lessons in order. Budget an afternoon for a 20-lesson course.
5. Connect Stripe or PayPal and set a sender email address before you build the sales page.
6. Give existing students access by importing the CSV or sending a free enrollment link.
7. Update every sales link, then cancel Thinkific.

We have not migrated a live Thinkific school. The steps follow the export and import tools each platform documents.

Bottom Line

Thinkific without a free plan is still a solid product at $54 a month for a course business with steady sales. For a first course or a small one, that bill arrives before the revenue does. Systeme.io hosted our test course at $0 with no transaction fee, inside limits you can read up front: one course, 500 students, $10,000 in sales. Payhip is the pick if you need more than one course free and can live with 5%.

Start on Systeme.io's free plan →

Related: best online course platforms for solopreneurs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Thinkific still have a free plan?

No. Thinkific's pricing FAQ says there is no free plan and offers a 30-day free trial. Paid plans start at $54 a month, or $40 on annual billing.

What is the best free alternative to Thinkific?

For one course, Systeme.io's free plan: 1 course, 500 students, no transaction fee. For several courses, Payhip's free plan with a 5% fee per sale.

Is Teachable free?

No. Teachable's pricing page lists no free plan. Plans start at $39 a month with a 7.5% transaction fee and a 7-day trial.

Can I drip lessons on a free plan?

On Systeme.io, yes. Each lecture has a Delay field on the free plan. We set up a lesson and saw the drip label in the curriculum.

Did you test every platform in this article?

No. We built a course on Systeme.io's free plan and listed a product on Payhip's free plan on October 10, 2026. Thinkific, Teachable, Podia and Gumroad are described from their public pricing pages.