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CompareVerified 2026-11-07

MemberPad vs Thinkific

Thinkific has spent years on the course itself and has since grown spaces, member profiles and direct messages around it. MemberPad starts from the community and puts courses, podcasts and live video inside it, and takes nothing at all until a member pays you.

The short version

Choose Thinkific if

  • You are teaching students who will never need to meet each other. Thinkific has spent a decade on that one job and the course builder is where it shows.2
  • You want a mobile app carrying your own name. Thinkific offers branded iOS and Android apps on select Plus contracts or as a $199 a month add on, and MemberPad has no version of that at any price.1
  • Quizzes, graded assignments, certificates and scheduled release matter more to you than anything social. All four come on Thinkific’s cheapest plan, and Plus adds exams and SCORM.1
  • You would rather owe a known number each month than a share of what you earn. Past roughly $1,211 a month in member revenue the Start plan costs you less in total than a flat 9%.1

It is a tie on

  • Both build courses with hosted video, graded quizzes, assignments a creator reviews and certificates on completion, and both release lessons on a schedule.2
  • Both carry a community with spaces, member profiles and direct messaging, and both put the whole operation on a domain you own rather than a shared address.2
  • Both publish what a transaction costs and what each tier is limited to, row by row, which is rarer in this category than it should be.1

Choose MemberPad if

  • You are starting from nothing. Thinkific’s cheapest plan is $109 a month before a single student enrolls, and MemberPad charges nothing at all until a member pays you.1
  • You have a show. Thinkific names no audio hosting and no feed anywhere in its features, and MemberPad hosts the episodes and issues every member an authenticated RSS feed of their own.2
  • You want live sessions to happen where the community already is. Thinkific schedules Zoom calls, and MemberPad broadcasts, runs two way video rooms and runs audio rooms itself.2
  • You would rather not count heads. Every published Thinkific plan stops at ten thousand current students, and MemberPad has no member ceiling because there is no plan for one to sit on.1

At a glance

One row per category. The full table, with every row and every source, is further down.

The eight categories at a glance. Every row here also appears in the full table below.
CapabilityThinkificMemberPad
Real time chatThe difference between a forum people check weekly and a room they sit in.PartialPosts, comments and reactions, with no live chat room named2YesLive rooms with typing and presence, free on every community6
Build courses inside the platformA course hosted somewhere else is a second login and a second bill.YesCourses are the thing everything else was built around2YesCourses, modules and lessons, with video uploaded here or linked from YouTube6
Private member only podcast feedA private feed puts your paid show in the app people already listen in.NoNo RSS, so a show needs its own host elsewhere2YesAn RSS feed unique to each member, authenticated per person6
Broadcast to an audienceOne to many video, where the audience watches rather than joins.DifferentLive events are scheduled Zoom sessions rather than a broadcast2YesAny audience size, but the community needs one paid tier6
What the platform takesThe number that decides how much of every membership actually reaches you.YesThinkific Payments takes 2.9%, which is the card processing1Different9% of what a member pays, and nothing at all before that5
Desktop appA window that stays open is very different from a tab that gets closed.NoNo desktop application is named for students or staff2YesWindows and macOS installers that update themselves7
On demand video libraryA back catalog people can browse is worth more than the same videos buried in a feed.PartialVideo sits inside lessons rather than a library of its own2YesUploads or YouTube links, browsable, with progress, bookmarks and comments6
Start without paying anythingWhat you owe in the months before the community is earning anything at all.No$109 a month on Start, or $82 billed annually, before anyone enrolls1YesNothing. There is no MemberPad subscription to buy5

What each one costs

Thinkific charges a monthly fee and then 2.9% through Thinkific Payments, and that 2.9% is the card processing rather than a cut sitting on top of it. MemberPad charges no monthly fee and 9%, with Stripe billed separately on your own account, so the two shapes are opposites.13

Start is the cheapest published plan, at $109 a month or $82 billed annually, and it sells memberships and subscriptions as well as courses. Against it the two meet at roughly $1,211 a month in member revenue, and below that MemberPad costs less.1

The limit that catches people is not a price at all. Every plan below Plus stops at ten thousand current students, and the number of communities and the spaces inside them are both rationed by tier.1

Thinkific Start

$109/moplus 2.9% of each sale

  • $82 a month billed annually
  • 1 community, 10 spaces, 2 admins
  • Memberships, quizzes and certificates

Thinkific Grow

$219/moplus 2.9% of each sale

  • $164 a month billed annually
  • 3 communities, 20 spaces, 6 admins
  • No branding, API and webhooks

Thinkific Expand

$499/moplus 2.9% of each sale

  • $374 a month billed annually
  • 10 communities, 200 spaces, 15 admins
  • Email white labeling and custom SSL

Thinkific Plus

Custom pricingplus 2.9% of each sale

  • Custom communities and students
  • Unlimited spaces per community
  • Branded app on select contracts

MemberPad

$0/moplus 9% of each sale

  • No plans and no tiers
  • Uncapped members and courses
  • No feature behind a higher plan

What each one takes on top

Where a percentage is shown above, that is Thinkific's own rate and it already covers card processing, so unlike ours there is nothing further to add to it. MemberPad takes 9% of what a member actually pays you, and card processing sits on top of ours as well, billed by Stripe on your own account. There is one plan, nothing is held back behind a higher one, and a month where nobody pays you costs nothing.

From about $1,211 a month, Thinkific Start costs less than MemberPad. Below that we are cheaper, mostly because there is no monthly bill to pay in a quiet month.

  • Start overtakes us at about $1,211 a month
  • Grow overtakes us at about $2,433 a month
  • Expand overtakes us at about $5,544 a month

Community

Spaces arrived here later, and the plan limits still show it

Thinkific does have a community now, and it is a real one. Public and private spaces, posts with comments and reactions, direct messaging between members, and profiles that carry a student’s course progress around with them.2

What gives away the order things were built in is the rationing. The $109 Start plan allows one community with ten spaces in it, three communities need the $219 Grow plan, and ten need Expand at $499. None of those are numbers a product designed around community would think to charge for.1

MemberPad counts none of it. Chat rooms grouped into sections, a community feed, profiles with follows and private notes, and as many communities as you want to run, because there is no tier for a limit to attach itself to.

Courses

The course builder is the strongest thing in this comparison

This is Thinkific’s home ground and there is no point pretending otherwise. Hosted lesson video, with quizzes, graded assignments, certificates and scheduled release all on the cheapest plan, and exams and SCORM on Plus.1

MemberPad answers all four. Graded quizzes hold the next lesson shut until a member passes, assignments come back for a creator to approve or send back, certificates generate on completion, and a section or a lesson opens on a date or a set number of days after that member started.

Where the two part company is what a course can be gated on. MemberPad can open a whole course at a gamification level, so a member sees the climb and the points left rather than a wall, and Thinkific publishes no levels for anything to be earned into.2

Podcasting

One of these hosts audio and the other does not mention it

There is no podcast anywhere in Thinkific’s features, and that is consistent rather than an oversight. A product built for instructors is not going to grow audio hosting, and nobody choosing it is choosing it for a show.2

The practical shape of that is a second product and a second bill. Your audio lives with a podcast host, your course lives in Thinkific, and the show can never be part of what a paid membership actually buys.

MemberPad hosts the episodes, organizes them into shows, and issues every member an RSS feed authenticated to them personally, so a paid show plays in the app they already listen in rather than on a web page they have to remember to visit.

Live

Scheduling a Zoom call is not the same as going live

Thinkific names live events and scheduled sessions, and from the Start plan it advertises unlimited Zoom sessions. Read that carefully: the limit is unlimited because Thinkific is not carrying the video, Zoom is.1

That is a reasonable answer for office hours with a cohort of twelve. It is a worse one for anything that should feel like an event, because members leave the place you built, land in somebody else’s product, and the recording has to be carried back in by hand as a lesson.

MemberPad carries live itself. Broadcasts to any audience size, two way video rooms, audio only rooms with a stage, and replays saved automatically into the video library. The honest caveat is that all three need the community to have at least one paid tier, and the monthly minute pool starts small and grows with what you earn.

Money

A complete plan at $109 a month, against nothing until you earn

Thinkific’s cheapest published plan is Start, at $109 a month or $82 billed annually, and it is a complete one: memberships and subscriptions, bundles, upsells and payment plans, quizzes, assignments and certificates, and a custom domain.1

That is a fair price for a working course business, and it is owed in the months before anyone has paid you. Past about $1,211 a month in member revenue a flat bill beats a share and Thinkific becomes the cheaper of the two. Below that line MemberPad is, and at the very start it costs nothing at all.1

MemberPad sells monthly and yearly tiers, one time purchases of any single piece of content, digital products from a shop tab, physical merch you ship yourself, coupons scoped per tier, trials up to a year, and a member run affiliate program, all on the same nothing a month.

Access

A branded app for $199 a month, against apps you share

Thinkific wins a row here and it is worth saying plainly. Branded iOS and Android apps with push notifications are available, either bundled into select Plus contracts or as a $199 a month add on, and MemberPad cannot put your name on a store listing at any price.1

What you get on our side instead is reach without a line item. Native iPhone and Android apps, self updating Windows and macOS installers, and a server rendered web app, all included, all carrying the MemberPad name rather than yours.

Which of those is better depends entirely on whether the app is the product or the way in. For most creators below the revenue where $199 a month disappears into the noise, it is the way in.

Content

Lessons hold the media, which works until you want a library

On Thinkific a video is a lesson and a file is an attachment to one. That is tidy while everything you publish belongs to a course, and it gets awkward the moment you have a back catalog people should be able to browse without enrolling in something first.2

MemberPad keeps the course and the library separate on purpose. A browsable video library with progress, bookmarks and comments, a file library with folders, photo albums, notebooks, polls in posts and in chat, and events that repeat and carry timezones.

On events the two are close. Thinkific schedules live sessions inside its communities, and MemberPad events repeat, carry timezones, take RSVPs with a waitlist, and remind everyone going before they start, so a community that runs on scheduled sessions is well served either way.2

Value

Ten thousand students is a ceiling you will not see coming

Every Thinkific plan below Plus, from $109 to $499, stops at ten thousand current students. It is the only hard member ceiling on any platform in this comparison, and it sits on the plan you would be on for years before it ever bites.1

The other rationed things are quieter. The API and webhooks wait for the $219 Grow plan, where MemberPad publishes a documented API and outbound webhooks to everybody. Bulk email to students waits there too, and once it arrives it carries no monthly sending limit, which is more generous than our allowance.

Ours are rationed differently and it is fairer to say so than to claim they are not. Members, communities, posts, courses and tiers are genuinely uncapped, while storage, stored video and email sends start at a floor and grow every month your revenue does, stopping counting once you pass two thousand a month.

Everything we checked

Every row carries a note rather than a tick, and every claim about Thinkific links to the page it came from.

Thinkific and MemberPad compared. Every claim about Thinkific is sourced, and was last checked on 2026-11-07.
CapabilityThinkificMemberPad
Community Whether people actually talk to each other, and what the plan lets you build for them.
Separate spaces for separate topicsOne undifferentiated feed is where a growing community starts to feel noisy.YesPublic and private spaces, rationed at ten on the cheapest plan1YesChat rooms grouped into sections, beside one community feed6
Real time chatThe difference between a forum people check weekly and a room they sit in.PartialPosts, comments and reactions, with no live chat room named2YesLive rooms with typing and presence, free on every community6
Direct messages between membersMembers who can reach each other privately stay for each other, not only for you.YesDirect messaging between members is named as standard2PartialOne to one or groups of up to 10, but starting one needs a paid tier6
Member profilesA face and a history is what turns an account into a person other members recognize.YesMember profiles that carry course progress with them2YesPublic profiles with follows, blocks and private member notes6
Moderation toolsWhoever helps you run the place needs powers that stop short of your own.PartialAdmin seats run one to six by plan, with no moderator role named1YesPick each moderator's powers: moderate messages, time out, ban6
Points, levels or a leaderboardVisible progress is one of the few things that reliably brings people back daily.NoNo points, levels or badges appear anywhere2YesPoints, levels, streaks, badges, celebrations, and a leaderboard the creator switches on6
Courses Whether you can teach something and check that it landed, not just publish videos.
Build courses inside the platformA course hosted somewhere else is a second login and a second bill.YesCourses are the thing everything else was built around2YesCourses, modules and lessons, with video uploaded here or linked from YouTube6
Course video hosted for youEmbedding from YouTube means your paid lessons live on someone else’s player.YesLesson video is hosted and streamed by Thinkific itself2YesHosted and streamed by us, uploads capped at 1080p6
Quizzes and graded assessmentsChecking that someone learned it is the difference between a course and a playlist.YesQuizzes are included on every plan, the cheapest one too1YesGraded quizzes that hold the next lesson shut until passed6
Assignments you reviewWork handed in and marked up is what cohort programs are built on.YesAssignments you grade are included from the cheapest plan1YesAssignments a creator reviews, approves or sends back6
Certificates on completionA certificate is the thing a member posts, which is free marketing for you.YesCompletion certificates are included from the cheapest plan1YesGenerated on completion, in the community accent color6
Release lessons on a scheduleDrip keeps a cohort together and stops a member finishing in a weekend and leaving.YesScheduled content is included on every plan1YesOn a fixed date, or a number of days after each member starts6
Courses that unlock by taking partEarning your way into the next course is a reason to show up that a paywall never gives anybody.NoNo levels exist, so nothing can be earned into2YesA course can open at a level, showing the climb rather than a paywall6
Podcasting Whether a paid show reaches members in the app they already listen in.
Host podcast audioPodcast hosting is otherwise a separate product and a separate monthly bill.NoNo podcast product is named on the features page2YesAudio hosted here, organized into shows and episodes6
Private member only podcast feedA private feed puts your paid show in the app people already listen in.NoNo RSS, so a show needs its own host elsewhere2YesAn RSS feed unique to each member, authenticated per person6
Plays in normal podcast appsAudio that only plays on the website is not really a podcast.NoNothing is published for a podcast player to collect2PartialOne tap subscribe covers Apple Podcasts and Overcast only6
Lock a show to a paid tierAudio is one of the easiest things to charge for, if the platform lets you.DifferentPut the audio in a lesson and gate the course around it2YesA whole show can be held to a paid tier6
Live experiences Whether the live part happens inside the product or somewhere you bolt on.
Broadcast to an audienceOne to many video, where the audience watches rather than joins.DifferentLive events are scheduled Zoom sessions rather than a broadcast2YesAny audience size, but the community needs one paid tier6
Two way video roomsOffice hours, coaching calls and cohort sessions all need faces on both sides.DifferentUnlimited Zoom sessions from Start, hosted by Zoom itself1YesTwo way rooms, and again a paid tier is required6
Audio only roomsFar lower effort to show up to than video, so far more people do.NoNo audio only room exists on any plan2YesAudio only rooms with a stage, paid tier required6
Replays saved automaticallyMost of a live session’s value is watched by people who missed it.PartialA Zoom recording has to be uploaded back in as a lesson2YesSaved automatically and publishable to the video library6
How live time is meteredEvery platform meters live somehow, and the shape of the limit decides what you can run.DifferentMetered by the Zoom account you bring, not by Thinkific1DifferentA monthly minute pool that grows with your own revenue5
Monetization What you can charge for, and how many ways a member can pay you.
Recurring paid membershipsRecurring revenue is the reason most creators move onto a platform at all.YesMemberships and subscriptions are included on every plan1YesMonthly and yearly tiers, charged on your own Stripe account5
One time purchasesNot everything should be a subscription, and not every buyer wants one.YesA course sells as a single purchase on every plan1YesAny piece of content can be sold once instead of gated6
Digital products and downloadsA template pack or a preset is often the first thing a member ever buys.PartialDownloads live inside a course rather than in a shop2YesDownloads or external links, sold from a shop tab6
Sell physical merch you shipA shirt, a record or a print is something a fan will buy long before a membership.PartialNot through its checkout, though a stand in course can collect an address4YesVariants, stock and shipping rates. You ship within the US, and buyers need no account6
Coupons and promo codesA launch or a seasonal offer needs a code you can hand out and expire.YesCoupons throughout, with bundles and upsells from Start1YesPercent or amount, once, repeating or forever, scoped per tier6
Free trials on a paid tierA trial is the cheapest way to show someone what is behind the wall.PartialPayment plans are named from Start, free trials are not1YesUp to 365 days, with the card taken up front6
Affiliate program for membersMembers who earn for referring are the cheapest growth channel there is.PartialNo affiliate arrangement appears in the plan comparison1YesMembers earn a commission on referrals at a rate you set6
What the platform takesThe number that decides how much of every membership actually reaches you.YesThinkific Payments takes 2.9%, which is the card processing1Different9% of what a member pays, and nothing at all before that5
Access Which screens a member can reach the thing on, and what that costs you.
Web appWhere most members will actually read, and the only surface search engines see.YesThe web app is the primary way everybody gets in2YesA full web app, server rendered for speed and search7
iPhone appPush notifications and a home screen icon are what make a community a habit.PartialA branded iOS app needs a Plus contract or $199 monthly1YesPublished on the App Store as a native app7
Android appHalf the phones in most audiences, and often the majority outside the US.PartialAndroid carries the same Plus contract or add on requirement1YesPublished on Google Play as a native app7
Desktop appA window that stays open is very different from a tab that gets closed.NoNo desktop application is named for students or staff2YesWindows and macOS installers that update themselves7
Your own domainThe address decides whether the community reads as yours or as rented.YesA custom domain is included on every plan1YesYour own domain on any community, with no upgrade6
Content Where things live once you have made them, and how a member finds them again.
Posts with mediaThe everyday surface. Whatever is awkward to post here will simply not get posted.YesPosts, comments and reactions inside a community space2YesCreators and admins post text, sixteen images, video and polls, and members comment and react6
On demand video libraryA back catalog people can browse is worth more than the same videos buried in a feed.PartialVideo sits inside lessons rather than a library of its own2YesUploads or YouTube links, browsable, with progress, bookmarks and comments6
Events and a calendarAnything recurring needs a place members can see it coming.YesLive events and scheduled sessions sit on a calendar2YesRepeating events with timezones, RSVPs, a waitlist, and reminders to everyone going6
File libraryTemplates, worksheets and swipe files are what members quietly value most.PartialFiles attach to a lesson rather than a library members browse2YesA file library, 50 MB a file, folders one level deep6
PollsThe lowest effort thing a quiet member will ever do, and often their first.NoNo poll appears in the published community feature list2YesIn posts and in chat rooms, results hidden until you vote6
A public page that sells the communityThe page a stranger lands on decides whether they ever become a member.YesA site builder and landing pages come with every plan2YesA public page by default, a block builder, and a link in bio page6
Value What you owe before anything sells, and what the plan quietly limits.
Start without paying anythingWhat you owe in the months before the community is earning anything at all.No$109 a month on Start, or $82 billed annually, before anyone enrolls1YesNothing. There is no MemberPad subscription to buy5
Members without a capA member cap turns your own growth into a bill you did not plan for.PartialCurrent students stop at ten thousand on every published plan1YesMembers, communities, posts, courses and tiers are all uncapped5
Email your membersEmail is the only channel you keep if the platform ever goes away.PartialBulk email with no monthly sending limit, from the $219 Grow plan1Partial5,000 sends a month to start, growing with your revenue5
API and webhooksThe difference between a platform you can build around and one you cannot.PartialThe API and webhooks start on the $219 Grow plan1YesA documented public API and outbound webhooks6
Remove the platform brandingWhether the product reads as entirely yours, or visibly built on someone else.YesGrow removes Thinkific branding, and a branded app is $199 a month more1NoA Powered by MemberPad link always sits on the public page6

Moving from Thinkific to MemberPad

  1. Take the student list out before anything else

    Export students from Thinkific first, because it is the only part of this that gets harder the longer you wait. Everything else can be rebuilt at your own pace once you know who you are rebuilding it for.

  2. Rebuild each course, and decide what the quizzes are doing

    Videos re upload and lessons re enter. While you are in there it is worth deciding whether a quiz should simply be scored or should hold the next lesson shut, because MemberPad can do the second and it changes how a course teaches.

  3. Re enter the release schedule and pick its anchor

    Scheduled content carries over as a concept but not as data. Decide per section whether the days should count from when a member started the course or from when they joined the community, because the two produce very different cohorts.

  4. Turn the spaces into rooms and sections

    Thinkific spaces inside one community usually become MemberPad chat rooms grouped into sections, plus the community feed. Most people end up with fewer rooms than they had spaces, which is worth doing deliberately rather than by accident.

  5. Work out where live is going to happen

    If your sessions were Zoom calls scheduled from Thinkific, you can keep doing exactly that, or move them inside. Moving them in needs at least one paid tier on the community and an eye on the monthly minute pool while your revenue is still small.

What does not come across

MemberPad imports your Thinkific student list and emails each person a one tap invitation to join, so the move is no longer entirely by hand. Paid subscriptions are the part that cannot follow, because payment methods never transfer between platforms, so each student re subscribes on the new plan.

A branded mobile app has no equivalent here. If you are on a Plus contract with your own app in the stores, moving means giving that up, and there is no price at which MemberPad sells it back to you.1

Certificates and quiz results do not travel. Anybody who finished a course on Thinkific arrives here with nothing to show for it, so it is worth telling people before they notice rather than after.2

Questions people actually ask

Does Thinkific have a free plan?

No. Thinkific offers a free trial, and after it the cheapest published plan is Start at $109 a month, or $82 billed annually. MemberPad has no plan to buy at all, so a community that has not earned anything yet costs nothing to keep running.

Can I sell a membership on Thinkific’s cheapest plan?

Yes. Memberships and subscriptions are part of Start, the cheapest published plan, alongside bundles, upsells and payment plans. What you pay for that is $109 a month, or $82 billed annually, before a single member has paid you, where MemberPad takes 9% of what members pay and nothing before.

Is Thinkific cheaper than MemberPad?

It depends entirely on what you earn. Thinkific costs a monthly fee plus 2.9% that covers processing, and MemberPad costs 9% with Stripe billed separately. Against Start at $109 the two meet at roughly $1,211 a month in member revenue, and below that we cost less.

Does Thinkific host podcasts?

No. Nothing in Thinkific’s published features names audio hosting or an RSS feed, so a paid show has to live with a separate podcast host and cannot be part of what a membership buys. MemberPad hosts the audio and gives each member a private feed.

How many students can a Thinkific plan hold?

Ten thousand current students, on Start, Grow and Expand alike. The Plus plan quotes a custom figure. That is the only published member ceiling on any platform in this comparison, and MemberPad has none because there is no plan for a limit to sit on.

Does MemberPad have quizzes and certificates like Thinkific?

Yes, and without waiting for a tier. Graded quizzes hold the next lesson shut until a member passes, assignments come back to you to approve or send back for another attempt, and certificates generate on completion in the community accent color.

What does Thinkific do about live sessions?

It schedules them. Live events appear on a calendar and the Start plan advertises unlimited Zoom sessions, which are unlimited because Zoom carries the video rather than Thinkific. MemberPad runs broadcasts, video rooms and audio rooms itself, though all three need a paid tier.

How this was checked

Every figure about another platform on these pages came from that platform’s own published pricing, feature or documentation pages, and each one is listed with the date it was read. Where a company does not publish an answer, the page says that rather than guessing at one.

Nothing here is based on testing a competitor’s product hands on, and no page claims otherwise. Claims about MemberPad are checked against the code that ships rather than against our own marketing, which is why several of them are unflattering.

Fee comparisons put both sides on the same footing. Some platforms quote a percentage that already covers card processing and some quote one that sits on top of it, and treating those two numbers as the same thing is the most common way a comparison like this misleads.

Last verified

Who published it

This comparison was written and published by MemberPad, so read it knowing we make one of the two products in it. We have tried to earn your trust the only way that works, which is by being specific about what the other platform does better and where ours falls short.

Competitor pricing and features change. If you find something here that is out of date or wrong, the sources and the date we checked them are listed on every page so you can see exactly what we were looking at, and we would rather hear about it than have it sit here.

Drew AumanFounder, MemberPad

Sources

  1. 1PricingThinkific · thinkific.com · checked 2026-11-07
  2. 2FeaturesThinkific · thinkific.com · checked 2026-09-20
  3. 3PricingStripe · stripe.com · checked 2026-11-07
  4. 4Can I sell physical products with my course?Thinkific · support.thinkific.com · checked 2026-10-20
  5. 5PricingMemberPad · memberpad.com · checked 2026-11-07
  6. 6FeaturesMemberPad · memberpad.com · checked 2026-11-07
  7. 7AppsMemberPad · memberpad.com · checked 2026-11-07

Try it before you decide.

Creating a community is free, and the 9% only applies once a member pays you something.