Thinkific vs AccessAlly 2023 • Which One Should You Choose?

When comparing Learning Management Systems, you may be wondering about Thinkific vs AccessAlly.

Both let you create, market, and sell online courses and launch membership sites. But AccessAlly’s unique feature lies in the fact that it’s a WordPress plugin.

Thinkific gives you all the features you need to build a website, create your online courses, and sell them with integrated business tools. AccessAlly shares similar features in the form of a WordPress plugin. So which one is best for your online educational venture?

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Thinkific

Over 50,000 online course creators worldwide use Thinkific. Drag and drop editor makes developing excellent curriculum material simple while giving you a range of educational-themed templates to pick from for your website.

Innovative marketing and business tools lets you reach your target audience, giving you the sales you want to grow your online course business. And it’s affordable with pricing plans ranging from free up to $499 per month.

AccessAlly

For WordPress (WP) fans looking for a WP plugin for online courses, AccessAlly is the solution. A flexible but powerful platform, AccessAlly is easy to use if you’re familiar with WP.

Marketing tools and conversion features make this platform the perfect choice for businesses developing and growing their online courses. AccessAlly is popular for its membership site software. Pricing plans range from $99 to $250 per month.

Thinkific vs. Accessally at a Glance

	Thinkific	Accessally
Free Trial	Yes, 14 days.	No. Full 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pricing Range	Free – $0/month Basic Plan – $49/month Pro Plan – $99/month Premier Plan – $499/month Save 20% when signing up annually * Growth Package add-on with Pro Plan (costs based on active students) *** Lower monthly rates for annual subscriptions	AccessAlly Essentials – $99/month AccessAlly Pro – $129/month AccessAlly In-House-Training – $250/month * Lower monthly rates for annual subscriptions
Best For	Online course creators who want a third-party platform with easy-to-use features, integrated marketing/business tools, and the capacity to launch membership sites	Online educators who want to scale their courses and membership sites with advanced functionality, marketing tools, and e-commerce capabilities
User Interface Features	Easy to use and accessible on most devices with downloadable apps for iOS and Android.	Intuitive, user-friendly, and compatible with WordPress.
Online Courses	12 themes + style combinations HTML and CSS coding Drag & drop builder Quizzes and surveys Customization features Live and drip-scheduled courses	Works with any WordPress theme (11,000) HTML and CSS coding Flexible builder Three quiz types Customization features Live and drip-fed courses
Monetization Options	Course bundles Upsells Membership sites Affiliate marketing Subscription courses	Membership sites Affiliate marketing One-click upsells Recurring subscriptions
Marketing Options	Coupons Bulk emailing Free trials Payment plans for students Charge in local currency	Coupons Bulk course enrolment Free or reduced trials Payment plans for students Charge in local currency

Thinkific’s 14-day trial period gives you the confidence you need if you want to try out all the features before taking on the platform as your preferred online course software.

However, AccessAlly offers a full 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied.

Thinkific is ideal for online course creators looking for an affordable all-in-one platform. Its Pro Plan, at $99 per month, includes all core features for creating, marketing, and selling online courses plus membership site capabilities.

Comparatively, the AccessAlly Pro plan comes in at $129 per month.

Thinkific vs. AccessAlly: Pricing Comparison

Thinkific offers three affordable pricing plans plus Premier for online education at scale.

Its Pro Plan add-on includes an additional $0.10 per active student. AccessAlly has three pricing plans with its Pro plan being the recommended LMS.

Thinkific Pricing:

Free ($0 per month) – includes audio, video, and PDF hosting, unlimited students, and limited courses. Doesn’t support custom domain or membership sites.
Basic Plan ($49 per month or $39 per month if paid annually) – includes coupons, bulk emailing, affiliate reporting, custom domain, and allows unlimited courses and students. Doesn’t support membership sites.
Pro Plan ($99 per month or $89 per month if paid annually) – includes site and admin course accounts, flexible pricing, and membership sites, allows unlimited students and courses.
Premier Plan ($499 per month or $399 per month if paid annually) includes group analysts, SSO, onboarding packages, and no limits on students or courses.

AccessAlly Pricing:

AccessAlly Essentials ($99 per month or $82 per month if paid annually) – includes mobile-friendly order forms, searchable member directories, affiliate tracking, allows unlimited members and courses. Doesn’t support progress tracking, assignment submissions, or quizzes.
AccessAlly Pro ($129 per month or $108 per month if paid annually) – includes progress tracking, social sharing, gamification, allows unlimited students and courses.
AccessAlly In-House-Training ($250 per month or $208 per month if paid annually) – includes one production site license, digital training, complete onboarding, allows unlimited members and courses.

Thinkific’s affordable pricing plans offer a range of core features compared to AccessAlly’s three pricing plans at slightly higher costs but with more advanced features.

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Detailed Overview of Thinkific Pricing

Thinkific vs. AccessAlly: A Comparison of Features and Tools

Our in-house experts have done extensive research on the key features you should look out for when deciding between the two LMS platforms. These include how online courses perform using Thinkific and AccessAlly software, sales and marketing features, students’ online experience, and business tools such as analytics.

The team has also identified which platform is best for customizing your online courses to match your branding and business profile.

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Detailed Overview of Thinkific Features

Online Courses

Thinkific and AccessAlly offer a range of templates and themes while giving you full access to HTML and CSS. However, for LMS and course creation, AccessAlly Pro is the best for online education capability.

All Thinkific plans allow you to create online courses with membership site capabilities available from Pro Plan upwards.

Which Platform Offers the Better Solution for Hosting Online Courses?

Thinkific’s hosting for online courses is better because it’s easy to use with minimal technical knowledge, and it stands on its own without WordPress. However, AccessAlly Pro offers all the same features as a WordPress plugin. So if you are already in the WP environment, it could still be a winner for you.

Sales & Marketing Features

Both platforms allow you to market and sell your online courses with a wide range of promotional tools. Thinkific and AccessAlly use coupons, upsells, membership sites, and features such as bulk emailing and course enrolment.

Payment plans, conversion tracking, multiple currencies, and affiliate tracking are other sales and marketing features offered by both platforms.

Which Platform Offers Better Sales & Marketing Solutions?

Thinkific platforms’ sales and marketing solutions are better because you can get most of the benefits from the affordable Basic plan and upwards.

Student Experience Features

AccessAlly’s gamification and bonus points system stands out for encouraging student engagement and online experience with the platform. Its searchable member directories allow for a conducive social interaction and learning environment. AccessAlly is user-friendly with fast login links.

Thinkific offers a rich student environment that is easy to navigate on most devices. Students also have the option of selecting their preferred language while learning online with this platform.

Which Platform Offers Better Student Experience?

The AccessAlly student experience is better because its motivational gamification feature encourages students to earn points and bonuses.

Analytics Features

Thinkific offers comprehensive and fully detailed analytics and reporting features. AccessAlly metrics and analytics give you the information you need to gauge student engagement performance and sales.

Which Platform Offers Better Analytics Features?

Thinkific’s analytics features are better because of its comprehensive reports on sales and student engagement performance.

Customization Features

While both Thinkific and AccessAlly offer you a range of education-themed templates to pick from, Thinkific allows you to customize your courses to align with your brand. You can also customize the way your courses run from private and hidden to drip schedule content.

AccessAlly flexible builder allows you to create any number of modules, lessons, and quizzes. You can also select both live or drip-fed courses. Customizing your brand requires some background technical knowledge and is doable under the Custom option.

Which Platform Offers Better Customization Features?

Thinkific’s customization feature is better because it allows easy harmonization with your branding without extensive technical knowledge.

Final Thoughts

Choose Thinkific if: You’re looking for a self-contained third-party LMS that is easy to use for creating online courses, includes integrated sales and marketing tools, and lets you launch membership sites.
Choose AccessAlly if: You want a WordPress plugin for selling online courses, active engagement features for your students, and advanced functionality to scale your business.

Both Thinkific and AccessAlly offer similar basic features for creating, marketing, and selling online courses. Thinkific lets you launch a membership site from its Pro Plan and upwards, and AccessAlly prides itself on unlimited courses, students, and membership sites on all three plans.

If you want a WordPress plugin for building your membership site or online courses, AccessAlly is the better choice. It aims to not only help you sell more but to teach better and improve student engagement.

However, Thinkific wins hands-down for easy-to-use software to get your online courses up and running quickly. The standalone nature and accessible pricing make this platform an attractive option for startups still building their online educational courses and anyone not on WordPress.

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