No matter where you have been living. The Internet has officially penetrated more than half of the world (including the oceans). Increasing penetration of the internet has guaranteed a new medium for interactions, transactions, and business to list a few.
Most recently it is the education sector which started blossoming online thanks to the Internet. Thinkific vs WordPress, Be it a professor, entrepreneur, business, school, or college every educator is moving online to sell their courses.
The market is flooded with solutions for eLearning. Topping the charts and igniting the debate are these two solutions, WordPress and Thinkfic. Today we dive into this debate to help you decide which solution is best for you.
| WordPress | Thinkific | |
| Features | An easy addition to functionality via Plugins | Suitable for subject matter experts |
| Setup | Easy Setup | Easy Setup |
| Security & Hosting | Self-Hosted, Full Ownership and Control | Secure, Has access to your data |
| Design | Thousands of themes | Customize if using Legacy theme and Pro Plan user |
| Customization | Dozens of page builder tools | Need to be a Pro plan user or above |
| Support | Support team, Forums, FAQ’s, Facebook Communities | Dedicated on call and email support. |
| Price | Cheaper | Expensive recurring payments |
Features Offered
Provided that both (Thinkific vs WordPress) of the solutions are Learning management systems (LMS), they both offer rich and strong features making them extremely useful. Features like Drip-feed content, Course content ( quiz, lessons, video content), Monitoring & Reporting, Live video, and webinars, etc.
What seems to be a differentiating factor between WordPress and Thinkific is that WP needs plugins to enable a few of these capabilities. While with Thinkific they come out of the box. And according to us downloading a few plugins isn’t that big of a task.
Our Opinion
Both of the LMS platforms are equally strong and offer similar features. But WordPress is best for people who are starting their own course, school or marketplace. Whereas subject experts might do better with Thinkific given it is pre-designed to equip you with great functionalities.
Ease of Setting Up
Given that Thinkific is a hosted platform, it means you don’t have to put in extra effort to set up the LMS. It is super quick and straightforward. WordPress on the other hand is self-hosted. Meaning you have to get things done on your own and spend time in installation and setting up the LMS.
Having just stated the difference in setting up both platforms. Let me tell you using WordPress isn’t exactly rocket science. The huge collection of guides, FAQs, and forums will help you set up and launch your eLearning website in a wink.
Also Read: How to Create Website Content that Actually Converts
If you already have a fixed revenue then Thinkific is perfect for you provided its ease of setup. But if you are starting out with a new business or your existing business isn’t profitable then WordPress can be your long-term choice.
Security & Hosting
As mentioned earlier Thinkific is a hosted platform. This also means that all your activities will rely upon the functioning of their server. If their main system is down or there is an outage, it will automatically stall your activities as well. When it comes to security, Thinkific doesn’t own your data but have access to it.
On the contrary, you have full ownership of your data and its control is not shared when you work with WordPress. Your activities won’t get stalled unless you suffer an outage on your end. Issues might arise from the plugin or vendors but you can change them instantly.
WordPress gives you peace of mind. Your data is always in your control and secure.
Also Read: Best WordPress Affiliate Plugins
Design & Customization
WordPress is hands down the best option available in the market for designing capabilities. There are thousands of free and paid themes with almost all kinds of customizability options. Page builder tools can also help you in designing your eLearning WordPress website by mere drag and drops.
Although Thinkific offers design customization it is only allowed in their pro or higher packs. So there is a big barrier between you and your dream website called $$$.
Go with WordPress if you have a design in mind and you want to see it up on your eLearning website. It is cheaper when compared to Thinkific.
Support
WordPress has a wide variety of Support outlets. Starting with dedicated support for the plugins by their creators, FAQ, and forums for them. Then there are WordPress specific tutorials, FAQ, Forums, and videos to help the millions of people using WordPress.
Thinkific has offered its users a dedicated phone line and support email.
Thinkific offers dedicated support for all its users. But it doesn’t make sense to wait on call for 15minutes to resolve a minor issue. Hence, WordPress offers better support outlets and is our pick.
Price- Our Opinion
We believe going with LearnDash and WordPress makes more sense from an economical point of view. Given the freedom to add/remove plugins to add/remove functionalities. Thinkific vs WordPress Whereas with Thinkific you have to pay the same amount irrespective of whether the features are being utilized or not.
Before We Part,
WordPress paired with LearnDash and Thinkific are both fantastic solutions to build an eLearning website. It’s is up to you to decide which LMS solution is best for you. We have done the hard work for you above. Now all you gotta do is evaluate your needs and decide what works best for you.
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