Teachable — Course Creator Platform Overview
What It Is
Teachable is a commercial SaaS course creator platform targeting individual educators, coaches, and content creators who want to sell online courses and coaching products. It competes with Open edX at the broad "deliver online education" level but serves a fundamentally different market: individual knowledge sellers rather than institutions.
Teachable is one of three major course creator platforms in this space — see also Thinkific (10) and Kajabi (23). Among the three, Teachable is historically the most popular for individual creators who prioritize simplicity. It is owned by Hotmart, a Brazilian knowledge commerce platform, giving it strong Latin American market presence. Note: Teachable completely overhauled its pricing structure in June 2025 — prior tier names (Free/Basic/Pro/Pro+) no longer exist.
Maintainer
Teachable (Hotmart Company) — Founded 2013 in New York City. Acquired by Hotmart in 2020. Privately held post-acquisition. No ownership change as of 2026.
Target Market
- Individual course creators: Coaches, influencers, educators monetizing expertise
- Small businesses: Knowledge commerce (selling courses, memberships, coaching)
- Content creators: YouTubers, podcasters, and social media creators launching courses
Key Features
- Course builder with multimedia support (video, audio, PDFs, quizzes)
- Built-in payment processing via Teachable Pay (handles international taxes and payouts)
- Sales pages and marketing tools
- Coaching products (1-on-1 scheduled sessions with calendar integration)
- AI curriculum generator
- Affiliate marketing tools
- iOS and Android apps for student access
- Upsells, bundles, and order bumps
Pricing (as of June 2025 restructure)
Teachable eliminated its free plan and restructured all tier names and prices in June 2025.
| Plan | Monthly | Transaction Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $29 | 7.5% |
| Builder | $69 | 0% |
| Growth | $139 | 0% |
| Advanced | $309 | 0% |
A 2% integration fee applies if you use your own Stripe account instead of Teachable Pay.
Relevance to Open edX
| Aspect | Open edX | Teachable |
|---|---|---|
| Target user | Institutions, universities, large orgs | Individual creators, small businesses |
| Scale | Thousands to millions of learners | Dozens to thousands of learners |
| Deployment | Self-hosted (complex) | SaaS only (simple) |
| Cost | Free software, infrastructure costs | $29–$309/month |
| Customization | Unlimited (full source code) | Limited to platform options |
| Standards | LTI, SCORM, xAPI | None |
| Course model | MOOC-style with XBlocks | Video + text + quizzes |
| Revenue features | Limited built-in (e-commerce add-ons) | Built-in payments, tax handling, affiliates |
Teachable's strongest differentiator is its built-in tax and payout handling via Teachable Pay — creators receive payouts and Teachable manages VAT/sales tax in many jurisdictions, reducing administrative overhead for solo operators. It is not a direct competitor for institutional Open edX deployments.