Circle vs Thinkific
Circle and Thinkific are both online courses & LMS tools aimed at creators and small businesses. Thinkific costs less, from $54/mo versus $89/mo for Circle.
All-in-one community platform for creators and brands
Course platform with communities and memberships
| Pricing | Paid · $89 | Paid · $54 |
| Starting price | $89/mo | $54/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Free trial | 14 days | 30 days |
| Built for | Creators, Small businesses | Creators, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2020 | CA · 2012 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Circle if
Creators and companies who want a premium, branded community with courses and payments.
- Polished, flexible community experience
- Courses, events and payments in one
- Strong for creators and B2B communities alike
Look elsewhere if: Budget communities (Skool, Discord) or knowledge-heavy forums (Discourse).
Choose Thinkific if
Course creators and businesses wanting a dedicated learning platform without fees.
- Free trial to start
- No transaction fees
- Solid learning features
Look elsewhere if: Creators wanting all-in-one marketing (Kajabi).
Circle vs Thinkific pricing
Circle
- Professional$89/moBilled annually; unlimited members, 3 admins, 2% transaction fee
- Business$199/moBilled annually; 5 admins, 1% transaction fee, workflows, API
- Scale$419/moBilled annually; 10 admins, 1% transaction fee, AI agents
- Circle PlusCustomBranded mobile apps, unlimited admins, 0.5% transaction fee
Thinkific
- Basic$54/mo$40/mo billed annually; unlimited courses, custom domain
- Start$109/mo$82/mo billed annually; memberships, full commerce tools
- Grow$219/mo$164/mo billed annually; phone and priority support
- PlusCustom10,000+ seats, custom roles, enterprise integrations
Circle · Key features
- Spaces for posts, chat, events and courses
- Live streams and video rooms
- Paid memberships, tiers and gated spaces
- Workflows for automation and member journeys
- Branded mobile apps (Plus)
- AI agent, analytics and API
Cons
- Price plus transaction fees
- Branded app is a significant add-on
- Search and threading can be weaker than forums
Thinkific · Key features
- Course builder with video, quizzes and assignments
- Communities and memberships
- Certificates and drip content
- Website and landing page builder
- 0% transaction fees
- App store and API
Cons
- Email marketing is basic
- Advanced features need Grow
- Design flexibility limited
Circle vs Thinkific: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Circle or Thinkific?
Thinkific starts at $54/mo and Circle at $89/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Circle and Thinkific have a free plan?
Circle has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Thinkific has no free plan, a 30-day free trial.