5 Teachable alternatives in 2026, compared on fees, caps and API access
Two numbers send people here: the 7.5% on Starter and the 100-student cap. One of them is fixed without moving at all.
Why people leave Teachable
- 7.5% on Starter. On the $39 plan only; Builder and Growth are 0% (teachable.com/pricing). $5,000 of sales costs $375 in fee alone.
- Students are the meter. 100 / 1,000 / 5,000 active, with a separate imported-student allowance of 5 / 50 / 1,000.
- No API below $189. The REST API starts on Growth at 10,000 requests a month, and agent access today is Zapier's two Teachable actions (zapier.com/mcp/teachable).
- Email that does not carry a business. Reviewers call it too basic and report $50 to $200+ a month of bolted-on tools (learningrevolution.net/teachable-review).
The five, in one table
| Platform | From | Cut of your sales | Metered on | Agent access | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teachable (yours) | $39 | 7.5% Starter, then 0% | Active students | Reported basic | REST API from $189 |
| AXL | Free; $49 Starter | 0% | Eight usage meters, same overage rates | Included allowance by plan, then $0.0006 per email | Included on every plan |
| Thinkific | $54 | 0% on Thinkific Payments; 5% down to 0.5% with your own provider where applicable | Feature tier | No nurture sequences reported | Plus only, read-only, rolling out |
| Kajabi | $179 | 0% on Kajabi Payments; 2% down to 0.5% with an eligible third-party provider | Contacts, products | Unlimited | Every plan, drafts only |
| Kartra | $59 | 5% Essentials, then 0% | Contacts, 500 → 25,000 | Unlimited from Starter | No first-party MCP |
| Skool | $9 | 10% Hobby / 2.9% Pro | Flat | None reported | No public API found |
What each one is good at
AXL: if an agent should run it
No student tier, no product tier, no API paywall. CRM, courses, funnels, community, webinars and payments on one record, with ~1,100 operations open to your agent. Start free, paid plans from $49/month, 0% of revenue.
Why AXL: courses connect directly to websites, CRM, webinars, community, messaging, telephony and automation, with every feature on every plan. AXL vs Teachable →
Thinkific: the straight swap
A deeper course product at a similar price, unlimited courses on every tier, and a serious enterprise track above. Basic is $54, Start $109, Grow $219 and Expand $499 a month (thinkific.com/pricing, checked 21 August 2026).
Limits: Basic excludes memberships and certificates; API starts on Grow; MCP is Plus only, read-only and still rolling out.
Kajabi: the established brand
Podcast hosting, unlimited marketing email on every tier, and an MCP server on every plan. Basic is $179, Growth $249 and Pro $499 a month (kajabi.com/pricing).
Limits: the highest entry price here, contacts metered from 2,500, and every agent write lands as a draft.
Kartra: the widest bundle
Pages, checkout, memberships, unlimited email from Starter, video, affiliates and a helpdesk on one bill. $59 / $119 / $229 / $549; Essentials takes 5% (kartra.com/plans-and-pricing).
Limits: contacts become the meter at 500 / 2,500 / 12,500 / 25,000, and “AI uses” run 30 to 250 a month.
Skool: the cheapest sticker
Unlimited members, courses and live calls on both tiers, with a feed and a leaderboard people actually return to. $9 Hobby at 10% or $99 Pro at 2.9% (skool.com/pricing).
Limits: no public API, email marketing or member tagging found (tools4skool.com).
Your reason for leaving, and where it points
| Leaving because… | Pick |
|---|---|
| The 7.5% on Starter | Teachable Builder, $89: it is 0% there. Do not migrate to fix this |
| You crossed the active-student cap | Thinkific or AXL: neither meters students |
| You need an API and cannot pay $189 | AXL: REST API and MCP on every account |
| You want the course product to simply be better | Thinkific |
| Community engagement is the real product | Skool |
Where AXL fits, and where it does not
It fits the creator whose Teachable bill is really a stack (course platform, email tool, scheduler, webinar app) with one contact record under all of it.
It does not fit someone who only wants a cheap place to host one course. Builder does that at $89, and switching platforms to save $39 is a bad trade.
Moving off Teachable
- Students and contacts CSV or XLSX, matched on email
- Course structure Rebuilt, or built by your AI agent
- Completion and quiz results Move nowhere, on any platform
Count imported students separately before comparing bills.
The migration checklist →Is there a free Teachable alternative?
Yes: AXL. New accounts start on its free plan, with no trial clock: 500 contacts, 5,000 emails a month and courses with checkout, with AXL branding and hard limits. Teachable's own free plan ended, Thinkific replaced its permanent one with a 30-day trial, and Skool's $9 Hobby is the lowest paid entry here.
Try the replacement before you cancel anything.
Import the students and rebuild one course while the old account still runs. Start free; paid plans start at $49 a month, with included usage and published overage rates.
Also weighing something else? Kajabi alternatives · Thinkific alternatives
Competitor pricing is verified against each vendor's own page. We re-check quarterly. Spot an error? Tell us and we will fix it within a week.