Achene vs Teachable

There’s a better home for your academy.

A course platform that forced every creator onto costlier plans in 2025 — and still charges 7.5% on its entry tier.

Get early access to Achene

0%

vs 7.5% on Teachable Starter

Commission on every student payment

Unlimited

vs 100 students on Teachable Starter

Students on every Achene plan

£19/mo

vs $89/mo for comparable Teachable Builder

Price for unlimited courses, 0% fees

Feature by feature

How Achene and Teachable stack up on the things that matter most to independent educators.

FeatureAcheneTeachable
Commission on sales0% on all tiers7.5% (Starter), 0% (Builder+)
Student limitUnlimited on all tiers100 (Starter) · 1,000 (Builder) · Unlimited (Growth+)
Community forumsGlobal + per-course, all tiersBasic forum only — no live rooms, gamification, or mobile access
Email broadcastsIncluded — no extra costVia third-party integrations only
Video hostingIncluded on all tiersIncluded on all tiers
Custom domainAll paid plansAll paid plans
PaymentsDirect Stripe — funds land in your accountTeachable:pay — held then paid out on a schedule
Bulk student import (CSV)IncludedIncluded
Annual lock-inNone — month-to-month22% discount incentivises annual

Pricing, side by side

Teachable prices in USD. Achene prices in GBP — no commission on student payments on any tier.

Teachable plans

Starter
$39/mo
  • + 7.5% transaction fee on every sale
  • Up to 100 students
  • Up to 1 course
  • Email marketing: Not included
  • Community: Included
  • Custom domain: Not included
Builder
$89/mo
  • Up to 1,000 students
  • Up to 5 courses
  • Email marketing: Not included
  • Community: Included
  • Custom domain: Included
Growth
$189/mo
  • Up to 25 courses
  • Unlimited students
  • Email marketing: Not included
  • Community: Included
  • Custom domain: Included
Advanced
$399/mo
  • Up to 100 courses
  • Unlimited students
  • Email marketing: Not included
  • Community: Included
  • Custom domain: Included

Achene plans

Seed
£5/mo
  • 0% commission on all sales
  • Unlimited students
  • 1 published course
  • Community forums: Included
  • Email broadcasts: Included
  • Custom domain: Included
Taking RootMost popular
£19/mo
  • 0% commission on all sales
  • Unlimited students
  • Unlimited courses
  • Community forums: Included
  • Email broadcasts: Included
  • Custom domain: Included
Thriving
£49/mo
  • 0% commission on all sales
  • Unlimited students
  • Unlimited courses, 1 TB storage
  • Community forums: Included
  • Email broadcasts: Included
  • Custom domain: Included
Established
£99/mo
  • 0% commission on all sales
  • Unlimited students
  • Unlimited courses, 2 TB storage
  • Community forums: Included
  • Email broadcasts: Included
  • Custom domain: Included

See what you’d save

Enter your current plan and revenue to see your estimated annual saving with Achene.

$
Your estimated annual savings

Teachable annually

$3,168

incl. 7.5% in fees

Achene annually

$287

0% commission

You save

$2,881

(~£2,286)

Estimates only. Achene prices in GBP; competitor prices in USD. Conversion at £1 ≈ $1.26. Does not include standard Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30), which apply to all platforms.

Why educators move away from Teachable

  • Teachable Starter charges 7.5% on every sale — on $3,000/month revenue that's $225/month in fees on top of your subscription.

  • Starter caps you at 100 students and 1 product. The moment you grow, you're paying $89/month for Builder — still capped at 1,000 students and 5 courses.

  • In June 2025 Teachable forced every school onto new plans with 30 days' notice and zero grandfathering. Creators on the old $119/mo Pro plan woke up to $309/mo bills.

  • No email marketing on any plan: welcome sequences, broadcasts, and re-engagement campaigns all require a paid third-party tool.

  • The community is a basic forum with flat threads — no live rooms, no gamification, no mobile app access for students.

  • Teachable:pay holds your revenue and pays out on a schedule — unlike direct Stripe, your cash isn't available immediately.

  • Trustpilot score of 3.1/5: users report support shifted to AI chatbots, payout holds lasting 45–90 days, and charges continuing after cancellation.

Ready to make the move?

Achene lets you import your existing students via CSV — migration is straightforward. Get early access below.

Get early access

We’re launching soon. Leave your details and we’ll let you know when you can get started. There will be a generous free trial for early access users.