Head to head

AXL vs Thinkific

Thinkific's first price increase since 2022 is now live. We checked its official pricing and support pages on 21 August 2026.

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The short answer

AXL is the better fit when a course must connect to sales, CRM, webinars, community and follow-up. The difference: Thinkific is LMS-first, while AXL runs the customer journey around the course.

Where it decides AXL Thinkific
Agent access MCP, every account Plus only, read-only, rolling out
API and webhooks Included, no gate Grow, $219
Cut of sales 0%, any provider Up to 5% where applicable
Webinars and booking Live and evergreen Zoom sessions and booking
read-only what Thinkific's MCP currently allows. Plus only and still rolling out
~$219 Grow, the official tier for API and webhooks
13 Aug when the new prices took effect
$49 Starter AXL Starter, with included usage and 0% of sales
Feature by feature

The comparison table

Read this with the numbers Thinkific's own pages were checked on 21 August 2026. Its pricing page lists Basic at $54, Start at $109, Grow at $219 and Expand at $499 monthly. The support article confirms that the new rates took effect on 13 August 2026. Current pricing · 2026 pricing update
AXL against Thinkific. Pricing and plan details checked on Thinkific's official pages on 21 August 2026.
What you are comparing AXL Thinkific
Entry price Starter $49/month, then published overage Basic $54 · Start $109 · Grow $219 · Expand $499 · Plus custom
Cut of your sales 0%, on all 20+ providers and on cash and bank transfer 0% on Thinkific Payments; in the USA, Canada, UK and EU, third-party gateway fees are 5% Basic · 2% Start · 1% Grow · 0.5% Expand on the first $1M in annual sales
Email marketing Broadcasts and automations on the CRM's own filter grammar: 74 condition types, 61 usable in segments and broadcasts Reviewers consistently report no nurture sequences to people who have not bought (learningrevolution.net)
API and webhooks Included, no plan gate, with per-key rights Grow tier and above
AI agent access (MCP) Included on every account: roughly 1,100 operations, about 110 verified recipes, and real writes; publishing and sending stay separate calls Plus tier only, currently read-only, and still rolling out. It retrieves school data but cannot change it, and it might not yet be available on every account (Thinkific MCP guide)
Memberships and certificates Included; the account is the account, with no feature tiers Memberships and certificates start on Start
Live sessions and booking Live and evergreen webinars, plus booking pages Start includes unlimited Zoom sessions, bookable calendars and attendance tracking
Assessment Six auto-graded question types with pass thresholds, a homework queue with voice feedback, certificates with numbering and a registry Quizzes on Basic; certificates and assignments from Start
Automation that waits 27 of 139 node types are listeners: a run parks on “bought, visited or finished this lesson within three days” and takes the timeout branch if not Not named in the sources we read
The money

One business, four bills

Method One reference business, used on every comparison page: 2,000 contacts, one course, 5,000 marketing emails a month, $5,000 a month in sales, on its own Stripe account. Platform cost only; card processing goes to Stripe on both sides and is excluded from both. The own Stripe scenario assumes a region where Thinkific's third-party gateway fee applies. Basic is ruled out because memberships and certificates start on Start.
Worked example using Thinkific prices checked on 21 August 2026.
Scenario Monthly 12 months
Start on Thinkific Payments: $109 + 0% $109 $1,308
Start with your own Stripe: $109 + 2% × $5,000 = $109 + $100 $209 $2,508
Grow, if you want the API: $219 + $100 $319 $3,828
AXL Starter: $49, included usage, API access and 0% of revenue $49 $588

The line this table cannot draw is the email tool most Thinkific users add alongside: reported real-world stacks run $121 to $424 a month in total (klasio.com). AXL Starter is $49 for this reference business; usage above an allowance is billed at the published overage rate. Estimate your own bill →

Moving over

What moves and what does not

Moves cleanly
  • Students and contacts by CSV, matched on email and phone.
  • Products, prices and sales pages: rebuilt from their URL.
  • Contacts same day; one course in half a day to two.
Does not move
  • SCORM packages do not import into AXL. Rebuild those lessons in native course blocks, or keep that specific content on a compatible LMS.
  • Progress, quiz and community history; videos re-upload.
  • Saved cards; ask us before you schedule the switch.

Check your renewal date first. If your billing date was on or after 13 August, the new price applies at that renewal. Plan the migration →

What people ask before they switch

Check your renewal date, then check the bill.

Import your students, rebuild one course and send a nurture sequence to people who have not bought.

Start free; paid plans start at $49/month with included usage and published overage

Leaving Thinkific rather than choosing between two? Five Thinkific alternatives, compared

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