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
Thinkific is the better buy for a focused course platform, and for SCORM. AXL is the better buy when the course is one part of a business.
The comparison table
| 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, deliberate 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 |
| SCORM | Not supported at all | On the Plus tier |
| Integration catalogue | Smaller | Larger |
| 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 |
One business, four bills
| 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 →
Who should actually choose Thinkific
Thinkific is the most focused of the big course platforms and it shows: course creation is clean, the student experience is well regarded, and its integration catalogue is larger than ours. Plus carries SCORM, a feature AXL does not support at any price. If your buyers ask for SCORM packages, an LMS-first vendor and a procurement process, Thinkific belongs on your shortlist and AXL does not. For a straightforward paid course with no CRM ambitions, its Start plan does the job.
Usually shortlisted together: AXL vs Teachable, cheaper but capped at 100 active students, and AXL vs Kajabi, the all-in-one at $179.
What moves and what does not
- 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.
- SCORM cannot move at all; if any content is SCORM, stay.
- 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
Yes. Thinkific raised Basic, Start and Grow by about 10%, its first subscription increase since 2022. New monthly prices are $54, $109 and $219, effective from 13 August 2026. Expand stayed at $499. Existing non-profit and discounted accounts were exempt.
The REST API and webhooks start on Grow at $219 a month. Thinkific MCP is Plus only, currently read-only and still rolling out, so it might not appear on every eligible account. AXL's MCP server is on every account and writes: what an agent can do here.
Often, once you count the external email tool. In regions where Thinkific's gateway fee applies, Start is $109 a month plus 2% if you keep your own Stripe instead of using Thinkific Payments. AXL Starter is $49, includes an email allowance and automation, and takes 0% of revenue. See the automation you would gain.
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.
Plans start at $49/month with included usage and published overage
Leaving Thinkific rather than choosing between two? Five Thinkific alternatives, compared