Thinkific helps creators deliver courses and memberships online, but its best features depend on higher-tier plans or using Thinkific Payments. Tools like order bumps, cart recovery, and advanced reporting are gated behind revenue-based dependencies, meaning you pay more, or lose flexibility, as you grow.
ThriveCart gives you everything in one powerful platform without restrictions. From customizable checkouts and built-in upsells to course hosting, automation, and affiliate management, it’s all included with a single lifetime license. No plan upgrades, no platform lock-ins, and no extra costs as your sales increase.
Let’s compare Thinkific’s subscription model to ThriveCart’s lifetime access, and see why more creators are choosing full ownership, flexibility, and predictable growth.
BUSINESSes POWERED
Representing 1.5% of the creator economy, people trust ThriveCart to grow their business & boost revenue.
PRODUCTS SOLD
Sell your digital products, courses, & physical products to a growing audience with tools designed to scale your business, fast.
IN PROCESSED SALES
Driven by high-converting checkouts, upsells, & optimized funnels used across 1000s of businesses.
Feature
ThriveCart
Thinkific (Basic $49/mo, Grow $99/mo, Expand $199/mo)
Pricing
✅ One-time payment for lifetime access
❌ $49–$199/month subscriptions (annual discount available)
Recurring Platform Fees
✅ None, pay once, use forever
❌ Monthly or annual subscription required
Transaction Fees
✅ $0 platform fees
✅ No platform transaction fees on paid plans (processor fees apply; Thinkific Payments recommended)
Revenue Limits
✅ Unlimited
✅ Unlimited students and courses
Checkout Customization
✅ Fully customizable, multi-step, embeddable checkouts
⚠️ Standard templates and performance checkout (limited flexibility)
Order Bumps
✅ Included on all plans
✅ Available via TCommerce when using Thinkific Payments
Cart Abandonment Recovery
✅ Built-in abandonment recovery
✅ Included via “Incomplete Purchase Reminders” in TCommerce
Subscription Management
✅ Advanced dunning and flexible billing (Pro+)
✅ Basic subscription and smart retries via TCommerce
1-Click Upsells & Downsells
✅ Included
❌ Not available
Sales Funnel Builder
✅ Built-in funnels with logic and A/B testing
❌ No true funnel builder
A/B Testing
✅ Native split testing
❌ Not included
Affiliate Management
✅ Integrated affiliate center (Pro+)
⚠️ Basic affiliate reporting; no automated payouts
Courses
✅ ThriveCart Learn included (basic) + Learn+ for advanced tools
✅ Unlimited courses and lessons
Drip Content Options
✅ Trial-based, instant, or rebill-based
✅ Date-based drip scheduling
Communities
✅ Not limited, integrate with any community tool
⚠️ 1 on Basic, 1 on Start, 3 on Grow, unlimited on Plus
Product Bundling
✅ Bundles, tiered pricing, and trials supported
✅ Bundles and add-ons available on Start and above
Custom Integrations
✅ Zapier, API, webhooks, and direct integrations
⚠️ API and advanced integrations available only on Grow and above
Multiple Payment Options
✅ Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Authorize.net, Buy Now Pay Later
⚠️ Stripe and PayPal supported; Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BNPL available only through TCommerce
Custom Domain
✅ Included
✅ Included
Remove Platform Branding
✅ Use your own domain with no ThriveCart branding
❌ Remove Thinkific branding only on Grow plan ($199/mo)
Analytics & Reporting
✅ Full funnel, coupon, and revenue analytics
⚠️ Basic analytics; advanced reporting only on Grow and above
Support
✅ 24/7, 365 support
⚠️ Email and chat on Basic/Start; priority chat and phone on Grow
⭐ 4.3/5
⭐ 3.9/5
⭐ 4.6/5
⭐ 4.2/5
Pay once, grow forever
ThriveCart’s lifetime license replaces recurring subscriptions — saving creators thousands every year compared to Thinkific’s ongoing plans.
Advanced selling tools included
Upsells, bumps, A/B testing, and full funnel logic are all built in — no need for extra gateways or payment dependencies.
Freedom and flexibility
ThriveCart works with your preferred processors, community tools, and course systems — while Thinkific locks advanced commerce features behind TCommerce and higher tiers.
Unlimited growth, one fixed cost
Whether you sell one course or one hundred, ThriveCart gives you complete ownership and scalability for life.
👉 The bottom line: Thinkific is great for hosting courses, but ThriveCart is built for selling them — combining a powerful LMS, high-converting checkout, and full ownership for one simple lifetime payment.
I more than doubled the conversion rate – it was more like 4x or 5xing. Going from a third-party, scammy-looking checkout page to my own branded one really helped. And I loved ThriveCart’s dashboard. Being able to so easily see metrics let me make better decisions powered by data.
Course Creator School and The Passive Project
I was considering Kajabi and Kartra platforms, but if I built my house on that platform I’d be paying over $1,800 per year. And when you’re starting out you want to bootstrap.
ThriveCart expert and strategist
I do all the marketing and we’ve got a decent team of ten different people, and all I have to worry about is content and my podcast. ThriveCart has been an incredible boost for us and allowed us to publish this incredibly meaningful content that’s helped thousands of people.
Course creator and owner of TheRiseToTheTop.com
I’ve released ebooks and online courses through ThriveCart. I’m planning on exploring more complex sales funnels soon.
YouTube marketing coach
It is so easy to setup a sales page or funnel, checkout and bump order with this software. They have a build in “page builder” with all the necessary components and you can simply duplicate your products to create new similar funnels.
Web consultant
The team got Pro+ setup in under an hour, and we have already seen an increase in AOV from adding an additional order bump, accepting crypto and the new reporting has been extremely helpful for our leadership team.
CEO and Founder of Onfolio
“I’m getting that ‘kid in a candy store’ feeling. Hands-down best purchase decision I’ve ever made. Thrivecart is amazeballs.”
MJI Solutions
Upgrading to ThriveCart Pro+ transformed how I run my business affiliate setup became seamless, reporting improved drastically, and features like multiple order bumps and subscription management finally gave me the flexibility I needed to scale effortlessly.
Founder of Passive Income Journeys
