If you are a teacher or instructor who wants to provide online courses to your students, then it’s a good idea to sign up with a course-building platform that allows you to put your classes together.
Teachable is one of the most popular platforms for teachers because it allows you much more creative freedom to build successful courses.
This makes Teachable absolutely worth the fee.
In this article, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of this large online course-creator site, and answer: ” Is teaching on Teachable worth it?” (See also ‘How To Teach On Teachable [Ultimate Guide]‘)
Advantages Of Teachable
Before we find out whether Teachable is really worth trying, let’s take a look at the many features this online course platform offers.
Easy To Use Course Builder
Teaching on a course-building website like Teachable can be so easy when the course builder itself is simple and quick to use.
If you have never worked with a course platform, then this is a learning curve.
However, for many experienced online instructors, the Teachable software is straightforward.
The course editor is user-friendly and you can put your content together in a short space of time.
Just upload all your content, organize and publish it to your course site. (Check out ‘How Much Money Can You Make On Teachable?‘)
Plus, the results of what your students see on the site look great.
Commenting Options
When you compare Teachable with other teaching platforms, then there is one big difference: Teachable offers a variety of ways for unlimited students to interact with course material.
You can add a comment or discussion section to your class, so students can talk about their experiences from the course and any questions they may have.
It’s a great way for teachers to interact with their students during a lesson.
Plus, the commenting options underneath each course also make your class look more professional.
Great Variety Of Content
Another fantastic feature of Teachable is that you can add a large variety of different media content to your class, including audio files, video, PDF, and text files.
You can even embed videos in your course pages to tell your students more about the specific course content.
This does not just make your class more engaging and interesting but your students can also learn more about the topic through different learning methods.
It also gives you as a teacher more freedom with the content that you create.
Whatever content type and teaching method you prefer, Teachable offers flexibility.
Sales And Affiliate Marketing
One of the biggest issues that many course creation platforms have is that their payment process features are difficult to use for instructors.
Teachable allows you to use its integrated payment processor, and it’s flexible enough to integrate other payment and marketing software with Teachable. (Check out ‘How To Get Paid On Teachable [Payment Gateways Explained]‘)
While the platform takes a cut of your earnings for these features, it can help you save a lot of time to market your course material.
In addition, Teachable also has some special tax settings that can save you time when it comes to writing your tax return for your teaching work.
Good Choice Of Marketing Tools
Teachable also has a decent choice of different marketing tools, from customizable thank-you pages to features that help you upsell your courses.
The online learning platform has a great variety of resources and support videos, so you can market your courses and sell courses in the most effective way.
Create Your Own Blog
Another handy feature of Teachable is that you can build and create your own blog on your admin page.
This means that you don’t have to have a separate website to manage any of your course materials or content.
This does not just save you a lot of time when it comes to content management but it also saves you any hosting, learning management system or website maintenance costs.
Even better, Teachable allows you to pick your own domain name, so you can use your brand name to ensure potential students can find your Teachable courses and that will also make it easier to sell online courses.
Teachable Mobile App
Similar to other course platforms, Teachable also offers a mobile app for students.
This means that students can access your course from anywhere they like.
This is not just an advantage for students but also teachers can use this flexibility to offer more varied content in different formats to their students.
However, the Teachable app is only available on iOS at the moment.
The platform recommends that teachers design their course content for desktop and use the app as a complementary option for their course.
Unfortunately, teachers, instructors, and school owners can’t manage course material with the app, and you will need to make your course available on the app first.
Disadvantages Of Teachable
Despite all the great Teachable features, Teachable also has some drawbacks that teachers should be aware of before they start teaching on Teachable.
High Transaction Fees
When you choose to go with Teachable’s free plan, then the platform charges very high transaction fees for each payment that you receive from students.
This can be up to 10%.
However, you can also use the professional plan and integrate PayPal or Stripe on your Teachable course page.
This means that you won’t be charged transaction fees by Teachable but you will have to pay fees to your integrated payment processor.
This being said, these charges are typically much lower than you would pay with the free plan from Teachable.
While there is no way to get around transaction fees as this is very common in the course and e-commerce space, you can shop around for the cheapest rates.
Long Payout Times
Unless you have one of the platform’s paid plans, you will need to wait up to 30 days to get paid.
This can be an issue, especially if you budget on a weekly basis.
However, the reason why Teachable takes so much longer to get the money into your account is that they need to process all affiliate payments.
This being said, if you have a paid plan, then the payments are processed much faster.
Issues With The Site Builder
Any different Teachable review regularly points out problems with the platform’s site builder.
While the course creation tool is very basic, it is limiting if you want to create material that stands out from the crowd.
For a more sophisticated and professional look, you will need to have knowledge of web development or hire a web developer.
Few Customization Options
If you have your own course website, then you know that you can customize almost every element of your course and site without any issues.
However, you are limited to only a few customization options on Teachable.
For example, for every instructor who hosts more than one course on Teachable, the layout looks very similar.
All the pages have the same template which makes it difficult to truly make your course material stand out from the competition.
While this may not be an issue for everyone, if you are looking to create more unique courses that can help increase selling online courses, then this can be a limiting factor that makes teaching on Teachable not ideal.
No White Labeling
White labeling is when you make your course look like it’s hosted on your own website with your own branding.
While you are able to create a blog on Teachable with your own domain name, the URL will always refer to Teachable.
This means that students will know you are hosting your course on Teachable.
In addition, no white labeling options on Teachable can also make it difficult to integrate your Teachable course with other marketing tools, such as your email marketing software.
Although Teachable offers a great variety of built-in marketing features, there are only a few external integrations that you can add to your Teachable site.
Can Everyone Teach On Teachable?
Everyone can teach on Teachable.
You only need a minimal amount of tech knowledge to get your online courses onto Teachable.
The biggest advantage of Teachable is that you don’t need to know anything about website hosting or web design.
All you need is a good idea for your course and upload your course content, such as videos, PDFs, audio files, and images.
How Much Is Teachable?
Another aspect to consider if you want to find out whether teaching on Teachable is worth it is how much the platform charges its teachers.
Teachable is one of the more expensive online-course builders.
While it also offers a greater choice of features, you will need to think about your budget.
While Teachable offers a free plan, you will need to consider what happens when you need to upgrade in the future.
It’s also good to keep in mind that you can save some money if you pay yearly instead of monthly.
Teachable Free Plan
The free plan is the most basic plan that Teachable offers, with limited features and functionality.
You will get only one admin and one course. It doesn’t give you the option to create a custom domain and there are only limited marketing features available on the free plan.
However, the big disadvantage of the free version is that you will be charged a steep transaction fee which is much higher than on other course-building platforms.
In addition, you will also pay a higher percentage on international sales, as well as US PayPal transactions and international PayPal transactions.
Teachable also has a chargeback fee that applies across all its plans.
It’s important to keep in mind that you will also pay a fee directly to Teachable for each sale on your sales page.
This is in addition to the transaction fees.
Teachable Basic Plan
The basic plan just offers slightly more extra features than the free plan.
You will need to pay exactly the same transaction fees as the free version.
However, the basic plan allows you to have a couple of admin users and you can publish up to five different courses.
You will have access to the Teachable integration and marketing tools, as well as your own brand domain name.
Teachable Pro Plan
The Teachable professional plan doesn’t charge you any transaction fees which is one of the reasons why it’s more popular.
However, it is also significantly more expensive and the best option if you want to create unlimited courses with unlimited digital downloads.
An advantage of the pro plan is that you get access to Live Chat and Live Group Coaching features.
Teachable Business Plan
If you are already a successful business, school, or institution, then Teachable also offers a custom business plan with a variety of features.
A small caveat with Teachable’s business plan is that you will need to contact their sales department to get a quote.
Is Teaching On Teachable Worth It?
Yes, teaching on Teachable is worth it, if you make the most of all the features the platform offers.
From a financial standpoint, Teachable charges slightly higher transaction fees and sales charges but they also offer more marketing tools.
In order to understand if teaching on Teachable is worth your time and investment, it is a good idea to try it on their free plan.
While the free plan has limited features, it will give you a feeling of what the platform has to offer.
If you only have one course that you want to make available to your students, then the free version of Teachable is ideal.
This being said, if you plan to create courses in the near future, then you will need to look carefully at the upgrading options that are more expensive compared to other course platforms.
Make sure that you compare Teachable’s transaction fees with other platforms, and explore all the features that you need to create your individual class.
You will also need to ensure that you can upgrade to a reasonably priced tier if you want to create more courses and increase selling courses.
Final Thoughts
Teachable is definitely worth it if you want to start teaching online courses or if you already have some material for different classes.
It’s worth comparing Teachable with other course platforms to ensure that the course builder works for you and to keep your transaction fees as low as possible.