Thinkific and Kartra are popular learning management software that offer you the ability to build, develop, market, and manage your courses. They are packed with a plethora of features and automations you need for course-building, marketing, hosting, and analytics, among others. How do you decide which of the two software to choose? How do you know which is best for you? You’d find this article helpful as it critically examines the two software in terms of features, differences, similarities, pricing, and more; hence, you will find it a handy guide to facilitate your decision-making process.
Main differences between Kartra and Thinkific
| Kartra | Thinkific | |
| Pricing | Great | Cheaper |
| Packages | Every package contains all Kartra’s features. | The features in each package vary. |
| E-learning | Good | Much better |
| Plans | No free plan | Free plan |
| Functionality | More use cases | Niche-based |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep) | Unavailable |
| Features | Inbuilt email automation feature | Unavailable |
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Kartra vs. Thinkific: Features and capabilities
Features and capabilities of Kartra
- All-in-one solution: Kartra is a “Jack of all trades” of some sort. Kartra serves as an email marketing platform, marketing automation platform, marketing page builder, shopping cart, video hosting, affiliate management system, graphics designing platform, and a host of others.
- Intuitive user interface: You need not be a designer or programmer to use Kartra, as its UI is intuitive and easy to use. You can kickstart things with the numerous pre-built templates and drag-and-drop interfaces.
- Synchronization and automation: Different sections of Kartra are synced in such a way that automates lots of processes. For instance: once a user fills your Kartra form, Kartra automatically subscribes him to your newsletter, and once someone visits your Kartra page, Kartra Analytics automatically tracks it.
- All-inclusive pricing: Unlike many cloud software platforms that charge you extra for every additional feature, Kartra includes all its available features in all of its packages, with the only difference being in bandwidth size, contact list size, and how much you can create.
Features and capabilities of Thinkific
- Drag-and-drop Course Builder: You do not need coding to build your course on Thinkific. You can add things like videos, PDFs, audio files, surveys, and more to your course content.
- Site Builder feature: With Thinkific, you can easily create and customize your own website, including features such as landing pages, home pages, additional pages, and other custom pages, all without coding.
- Customizability: Thinkific lets you customize and tweak the software to your taste. It offers customizable fields, templates, branding, and forms.
- E-learning features: Thinkific helps ensure a seamless online learning experience for your students by providing tools and features such as live lessons, cohorts, assessments and certificates, and progress tracking, among others.
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Kartra vs. Thinkific: Pricing
Kartra pricing
- Trial Plan (Although very similar to a free trial, it is not exactly free, as you have to pay $1 for 14 days only on any of your chosen Kartra packages.)
- Starter ($79/month annually or $99/month monthly.)
- Silver ($149/month annually or $199/month monthly.)
- Gold ($229/month annually or $299/month monthly)
- Platinum ($379/month annually or $499/month monthly.)
Thinkific pricing
- Free Plan
- Basic ($39/month annually or $49/month monthly)
- Pro ($79/month annually or $99/month monthly)
- Premier ($399/month annually or $499/month monthly)
- Thinkific Plus (Enterprise plan available on request.)
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Reasons to choose Kartra over Thinkific.
Kartra has an inbuilt email marketing automation system, whereas Thinkific doesn’t.
If you are looking to do more than merely sell courses, then Kartra is the better option for you, as it offers better functionalities and tools for your product’s success.
Kartra’s all-inclusive pricing gives it an edge over Thinkific. Whereas Thinkific users have to upgrade to higher packages to enjoy advanced features, Kartra users get to enjoy all features on Kartra regardless of their subscription plan.
Unlike Thinkific, Kartra has an inbuilt calendar scheduling app for your customers to book and schedule appointments.
Reasons to choose Thinkific over Kartra.
Thinkific is the better option for online course creation and membership sites.
In addition to the fact that Thinkific’s packages are cheaper than Kartra’s, Thinkific also offers a free plan, unlike Kartra.
Thinkific is the better option for e-learning as it has features such as learner portals, learning path/tracks, blended learning, and supports interactive learning.
Thinkific is your best bet for student management and engagements, as it offers more features such as quizzes, surveys, and lots more.
Thinkific has better video features such as video conferencing, live videos, and webinars.
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Similarities between Kartra and Thinkific
They both offer customizations and automations.
They both support third-party integrations.
Both software let you create pages and memberships.
Both platforms host your uploads; hence, you need not worry about the storage and compression of files.
Both software offer site builders to help you create your site.
» MORE: Is Thinkific Valuable? Is It Trustworthy & Safe? (Must Read)
Kartra and Thinkific alternatives
- Teachable: Unlike Thinkific, you can create blogs to grow your audience and generate website traffic. Teachable also provides better marketing features than Thinkific.
- Kajabi: Although more expensive than Thinkific, Kajabi offers tons of sophisticated marketing tools, automation, customizations, and an automated email marketing feature.
- Mighty Network: This software is the king of community engagement with tools like Livestreaming, an interactive forum, polls, questionnaires, and many more. You can build and sell courses and memberships with ease.
- Simplero: Like Kartra, Simplero is an all-in-one marketing software for building websites and membership communities, hosting online courses, and selling products.
» MORE: Does Thinkific Keep A Part Of The Sales Revenue?
Kartra vs. Thinkific: Final verdict
Thinkific and Kartra are great software with amazing features; however, they do have their differences in features and pricing, as well as use cases, and you must consider these before making a pick. For instance, while Thinkific is best for your online course creation and e-learning, Kartra is your best bet if you want to expand and do more than just course creation, especially sales and marketing. To aid your decision-making process, you can do a test-run of the two platforms using their free plans/trial plans to see which one works best for you.
» MORE: How Does Thinkific Operate and What Uses Does It Serve? (Easily Described)
FAQ
Does Kartra integrate with Thinkific?
Yes, you can connect Kartra to Thinkific using various software and applications such as Zapier and Onlizer, among others.
Can I use Thinkific for free?
Yes, you can. Thinkific offers a free plan that lets you build up to 3 courses with unlimited students; however, you’d need to upgrade to a paid plan to enjoy more features.
Is Kartra a CRM?
Yes, you can use Kartra as a CRM to maintain communication with your existing and prospective customers and manage your database of customers.
Is Thinkific better than Kartra?
The answer to this depends on your specific business needs, as the two software have unique strengths, making them more suitable for particular use cases. Hence, while an online school may deem Thinkific better than Kartra, a more complex company may find Kartra more appropriate to meet its needs.
Is Kartra free?
Unfortunately, all of Kartra’s plans are paid. The closest thing to free access is the Trial Plan which costs just $1 for 14 days.
What does Thinkific do?
In the simplest of terms, Thinkific is an LMS platform for building, marketing, and selling your online courses and membership sites.