Gumroad vs Thinkific: Which platform is right for you?

When it comes to course creation, there are some major differences between Gumroad and Thinkific. While Gumroad and Thinkific both offer course selling tools, Gumroad does not currently offer any course building or creation capabilities. 

Instead, Gumroad operates as a simple e-commerce platform that allows you to upload and sell products on a storefront. In order to sell on Gumroad, you have to upload a course you’ve created on another platform and then link to Gumroad — something that creates a ton of extra work. Plus, you then have to manage your business on at least two separate platforms, creating additional cycles in your process and workstreams. 

Thinkific, in comparison, offers a full course creation suite that makes it easy to build professional-looking courses and learning experiences. The user-friendly, drag-and-drop interface includes templates , themes, and customization options, so you can quickly and easily create a dynamic course. Thinkific also includes tools that enhance the experience such as Live Lessons, assignments, and a built-in presentation creator so you can take your course to the next level.

Preparing educational materials is even easier with Thinkific’s advanced AI technology. For example, creators can build course outlines and quizzes in a few clicks. Thinkific’s AI Course Outline Generator instantly creates a detailed course outline tailored to your audience's needs and Thinkific's AI Quiz Generator creates quizzes that keep learners engaged, test comprehension, and identify knowledge gaps.

An engaging learning experience can make all the difference when it comes to your success — and the success of your students. Since the platforms are so different, Thinkific and Gumroad’s learning experiences also differ quite significantly. 

As Gumroad is not a course building platform, the learning experience depends on whatever course creation tool was used to make your uploaded course. Since it operates solely as a place to market and sell existing digital products, Gumroad can create a disconnected learning experience. 

With Thinkific’s audience-focused course builder and varied course formats, it provides a much more comprehensive and seamless learning experience for students. The Thinkific platform was designed based on extensive research, while always keeping the student experience at the forefront.

Thinkific does more than just courses — they cover helpful digital learning experiences like Digital Downloads and Coaching & Webinars. With Digital Downloads, students can find value in quickly-downloadable guides, templates, exclusive resources, and more. With Coaching & Webinars, students can schedule coaching sessions and other forms of dedicated one-on-one time, attend workshops, and register for webinars. 

When it comes to marketing and selling online courses, Gumroad and Thinkific both provide a number of tools and options. 

As Gumroad operates as a straightforward eCommerce platform to market and sell your existing products, this is their platform’s main focus. From a sales analytics dashboard to creating upsells, Gumroad offers a number of basic built-in marketing and selling tools to make earning easier and straightforward for creators who are in the early stages of their business. 

When compared to Gumroad, Thinkific offers many more advanced features for marketing and selling. In addition to the capabilities Gumroad has, like upsells and seamless payments, Thinkific includes access to more than 90 integrations in the Thinkific App Store. This gives you access to the best tools in the business for marketing and email automation, increasing sales, and enhancing the learning experience through gamification. 

Thinkific’s sales and marketing stack is also powered by AI. You don’t have to worry about list-building or creating sophisticated email flows with Thinkific, as Thinkific also offers an AI-supported email marketing feature. Creators can grow and manage email lists, launch personalized campaigns, and roll out automated sequences that support their sales and marketing strategy.

Thinkific also offers other sales and marketing digital learning products, such as Digital Downloads, Coaching Sessions, and Webinars. Digital Downloads make it easy to maximize your earning potential, engage new audiences, and deliver more content to your existing audience. By offering digital products like eBooks, guides, templates, and more, businesses can open up a new stream of revenue and increase leads. 

Likewise, Coaching Sessions and Webinars make it easy to build a meaningful connection with your audience and find and attract new customers. By adding a price tag to these events, you can boost revenue effortlessly.

Whether you’re an experienced creator or just starting out, you’ll want a digital learning platform that provides the best support at every stage of your journey. 

While both Thinkific and Gumroad have comprehensive online help centers, this is where their similarities end when it comes to support. 

At this time, Gumroad does not offer any phone support for customers. If you need help with the platform, your only option is to reach out through an online form.

In comparison, Thinkific offers best-in-class, 24/7 support options. You can reach out to the team of experts through Thinkific’s chatbot, Champ, live chat (available to Basic plans and above), or book a call for even more personalized help (available on Grow plans and above). Thinkific also has an active and supportive Facebook Community full of other creators and experts, along with other resources such as demo videos, free courses, and more. As your business grows, you can tailor your support and security features to match your evolving needs.

With both Gumroad and Thinkific having mobile apps, it’s important to closely compare their unique features, interfaces, and user experiences to find the one that suits your business’ specific needs. 

Like Thinkific, Gumroad has two mobile app options: the Gumroad Dashboard app and the Gumroad Library app. The Gumroad Dashboard app is catered towards for creators and businesses, letting you track your daily, monthly, and all-time sales. With this app, you’ll see the product name, price, and when the sale was made. The Gumroad Library app is focused more on the customer experience, as it’s where customers can see and access the products they’ve purchased on Gumroad. In the context of e-learning, the Gumroad Library app is where students can access your course materials, as the app offers native experiences for watching listening to, and reading Gumroad products. 

Thinkific also has two mobile app options for you to choose from: Branded Mobile and Thinkific Mobile. Branded Mobile ($199/month) is a white-labeled app that spotlights your brand with your own App Store listing and logo. As a course creator, you’ll get a fully customized and branded mobile app through experts who will build, publish, and maintain your app while you focus on your business. Thinkific Mobile (included with Start plans and above) is a mobile-friendly way for students to access courses or communities under a universal Thinkific branded app. Both Thinkific apps have the student learning experience in mind, as they offer engagement-oriented features like Drip Lesson Release notifications to let students know when previously locked course material is available and push notifications on community activity. 

From a pricing standpoint, Teachable currently only offers three pricing tiers that work well for solopreneurs. They also do not offer a free plan, so you're not able to test and experiment with the platform, and your course, before you start paying. This is a huge barrier to course creators who need ample experimentation time before they are ready to monetize.

Thinkific remains an affordable choice for all creators, whether you’re an established business or if you’re just getting started. Thinkific offers tiers for early-stage businesses all the way to enterprise. With add-on features like a Branded Mobile app ($199/mo) and more, no matter what stage you’re in, you have access to the functionality you need. Thinkific provides the tools that are trusted by many growing learning businesses.