There’s a better home for your academy.
A course platform with hidden Stripe surcharges, a $199/mo mobile app add-on, and a Trustpilot score of 2.7.
Get early access to Achene0%
vs 5% Stripe surcharge on Thinkific Basic
Extra fee on every Stripe payment
Built-in
vs not included on any Thinkific plan
Email broadcasts to your students
£19/mo
vs $49/mo for Thinkific Basic (then +5% per sale)
For unlimited courses with 0% surcharge
Feature by feature
How Achene and Thinkific stack up on the things that matter most to independent educators.
| Feature | Achene | Thinkific |
|---|---|---|
| Extra fee on Stripe payments | 0% — no surcharge ever | 5% (Basic) · 2% (Start) · 1% (Grow) · 0.5% (Expand) |
| Email broadcasts | Included — no extra cost | Very basic transactional only — no campaigns or broadcasts |
| Community spaces | Global + per-course, all tiers | Start plan ($99/mo) and above only |
| Mobile app for students | Mobile-optimised on all plans | $199/month add-on — not included in any plan |
| Unlimited courses | Taking Root and above | All paid tiers |
| Student limit | Unlimited on all tiers | Unlimited on all tiers |
| Custom domain | All paid plans | All paid plans |
| Video hosting | Included on all tiers | Included on all tiers |
| Annual lock-in | None — month-to-month | 25% discount incentivises annual |
Pricing, side by side
Thinkific prices in USD. Achene prices in GBP — no commission on student payments on any tier.
Thinkific plans
Achene plans
See what you’d save
Enter your current plan and revenue to see your estimated annual saving with Achene.
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 Thinkific
Thinkific adds a 5% surcharge to every Stripe payment on Basic — on $3,000/month revenue that's $150/month in hidden fees on top of your subscription.
Want a mobile app for your students? That's a separate $199/month add-on — not included in any plan, and it doesn't even support quizzes or community events.
No email marketing on any plan: campaigns, broadcasts, and automations all require a separate paid tool like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
Community spaces are locked behind the $99/month Start plan. Basic gives you no community at all.
No gamification, no live streaming, and no cohort course scheduling — you're piecing together external tools for anything beyond self-paced video.
Accounts have been suspended without explanation and courses deleted for inactivity. One creator with over $1M in revenue had their funds held for 90 days.
Trustpilot score of 2.7/5 (840 reviews): recurring complaints include billing after cancellation, payment processor access revoked mid-launch, and no clear path to resolution.
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.