Thinkific Fees and Payouts Explained
Thinkific takes 0% of your sales on every plan, as long as you use Thinkific Payments.
That’s the short version, and it’s rare enough in this industry to say twice. No platform cut on Basic, Start, or Grow. But “0% platform fee” isn’t the same as “free to get paid,” and the gap between those two ideas is where most people get surprised. Here’s what actually happens to your money.
Short answer
- If you’re starting out and want the simplest setup -> use Thinkific Payments on any plan, because the platform fee is 0% everywhere and you only pay processing.
- If you want to keep using a Stripe or PayPal account you already run -> check the third-party gateway fee for your plan first, because it’s not published and stacks on top of processing.
- If you, the course creator, are based in a country where Thinkific Payments isn’t available -> the third-party gateway fee doesn’t apply to you at all, since that fee only kicks in when Thinkific Payments exists in your country and you choose to bypass it.
- If you need PayPal as a checkout option at the register -> you need the Grow plan ($219/month, or $164/month billed yearly), because Basic and Start don’t offer it to buyers.
- If you’re comparing this to what Teachable or Podia charge -> read how their fee structures differ in Podia vs Teachable: Which One Actually Saves You Money? before you lock in.
How much does Thinkific actually take from a sale?
Zero percent, on the platform side, on Basic, Start, and Grow alike. That’s the headline, and it’s accurate: Thinkific doesn’t skim a cut of your revenue the way some competitors do on their entry tier. What you do pay is payment processing, which runs at 2.9% through Thinkific Payments — that’s the cost of moving money through a card network, not a Thinkific markup.
So on paper, a creator on the $54/month Basic plan pays the same processing rate as someone on the $219/month Grow plan. The platform fee doesn’t change with price. Student capacity doesn’t change either — Basic, Start, and Grow all cap out at 10,000 students. What actually shifts between tiers is administrators, communities, video bandwidth, and features like PayPal checkout, not what Thinkific keeps from each transaction.
What if I want to use my own Stripe or PayPal account?
You can, but it costs more, and Thinkific doesn’t say exactly how much. If you connect Stripe or PayPal directly instead of using Thinkific Payments, a third-party gateway fee gets added on top of normal processing. The rate depends on which plan you’re on, but the pricing page doesn’t publish the actual percentage, so I’m not going to guess one, and neither should you before checking with their support directly.
What I can tell you: this fee only applies if you, the creator, are based in a country where Thinkific Payments is available and you choose a third-party gateway anyway. If Thinkific Payments doesn’t operate in your country at all, you’re routed to a third-party gateway by default, and this extra surcharge doesn’t come into play, since there was no Thinkific Payments option to opt out of. Worth confirming your own country’s status before you commit to a plan, not your buyers’ locations.
Do Apple Pay and Google Pay cost extra?
They come with their own processing rates, and those rates aren’t the same as standard card processing. Thinkific doesn’t list exact figures for Apple Pay or Google Pay on its pricing page. If you plan to lean on mobile wallet checkout heavily, that’s a detail to confirm with support rather than assume matches the 2.9% card rate.
When does the money actually land in my account?
Thinkific gives you access to funds right after a successful purchase, with no extra holding period layered on top. That’s the structure, stated plainly: no rolling delay, no waiting period added by Thinkific itself. If your payout feels slower than that, the hold is coming from somewhere else in your setup, not from Thinkific’s own payout rules.
Why isn’t PayPal available at checkout on cheaper plans?
Because Thinkific gates it by tier, and that’s one of the real differences between plans worth knowing before you pick one. PayPal as a checkout option for your buyers only shows up on the Grow plan, at $219/month ($164/month billed yearly). Basic ($54/month, $40/month yearly) and Start ($109/month, $82/month yearly) don’t offer it. If a chunk of your audience only trusts PayPal and won’t pull out a card, that’s a real reason to skip straight to Grow rather than start cheap and upgrade later, moving plans after launch is annoying, but moving platforms is worse.
Decision criteria that actually matter here
Which payment method you use. Thinkific Payments means 0% platform fee plus 2.9% processing, flat, on every plan. Bring your own Stripe or PayPal and you add an unpublished third-party fee, the exact number depends on your plan tier, so get it in writing from Thinkific before you build pricing around it.
Whether Thinkific Payments is available in your own country, as the creator. If it isn’t, you’re routed to a third-party gateway by default and the extra surcharge question never comes up, because there’s no Thinkific Payments option to skip in the first place. If it is available and you choose Stripe or PayPal anyway, that’s when the unpublished gateway fee applies.
Whether you need PayPal at checkout. That’s a Grow-plan feature ($219/month, $164/yearly), not available on Basic or Start.
Payout timing. Access to funds comes right after a successful sale with no extra Thinkific-side hold, which matters if cash flow is tight early on.
Decision table
| Reader situation | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New creator, wants simplest fee structure | Use Thinkific Payments on Basic ($54/month) | 0% platform fee, flat 2.9% processing, no gateway guesswork |
| Already has a Stripe/PayPal account they rely on | Confirm the third-party gateway fee with Thinkific support first | The rate isn’t published and varies by plan, don’t assume it’s small |
| Creator is based in a country where Thinkific Payments isn’t available | No extra gateway surcharge applies, you’re on a third-party gateway by default | The fee only exists where Thinkific Payments is an option you’re choosing to skip |
| Audience insists on PayPal at checkout | Go straight to Grow ($219/month, $164/yearly) | PayPal checkout for buyers only exists on this tier |
| Heavy mobile-wallet checkout (Apple Pay/Google Pay users) | Ask support for current rates before launch | Pricing page doesn’t list these fees |
Common mistakes
Assuming “0% platform fee” means no fees at all. It means no Thinkific cut, processing still applies at 2.9% through Thinkific Payments, and that’s before you even touch a third-party gateway. People read “0%” and forget processing is a separate line.
Connecting a personal Stripe account without checking the surcharge first. The third-party gateway fee isn’t on the pricing page, and it varies by plan. Creators who skip this step find out the real cost only after their first payout lands lower than expected.
Picking Basic or Start because PayPal isn’t a priority yet, then needing it later. PayPal checkout only exists on Grow ($219/month). If your audience shifts or you start selling in a market where PayPal trust matters, you’re looking at an upgrade you didn’t plan for.
Assuming payout timing works the same as other platforms you’ve used. Thinkific releases funds right after a successful purchase with no added hold on its end. If you’re coming from a platform that’s trained you to expect a waiting period before money shows up, don’t carry that assumption over here, it doesn’t apply.
If you’re still weighing Thinkific against the field, How to Choose a Course Platform (Without Regretting It Later) walks through the broader decision, and Cheapest Course Platform: A Guide to Picking Without Getting Burned covers how entry pricing tricks people across the board, not just here.
FAQ
Does Thinkific charge a transaction fee on top of the monthly plan? Not a platform transaction fee, that’s 0% across Basic, Start, and Grow when you use Thinkific Payments. You still pay standard payment processing (2.9%) regardless of plan, since that’s the cost of running cards, not something Thinkific adds.
What’s the actual cost of using Stripe or PayPal directly instead of Thinkific Payments? Thinkific adds a third-party gateway fee on top of normal processing, and the rate depends on your plan, but the specific percentage isn’t published, so get a direct answer from support before assuming a number.
Can buyers pay with PayPal on any plan? No. PayPal checkout for your customers is a Grow-plan feature only ($219/month, $164/month billed yearly). Basic and Start don’t include it, which is easy to miss if you’re comparing plans purely on price.
How fast do I get paid after a sale? Access to funds happens right after a successful purchase, with no extra holding period added on Thinkific’s end. That’s a real point in its favor if you’re used to platforms that sit on your money for a few days before releasing it.
Are Apple Pay and Google Pay fees the same as card processing? No, and Thinkific doesn’t list the exact rates for either on its pricing page. If mobile wallets will carry a meaningful share of your sales, confirm current rates with support rather than assuming parity with the 2.9% card rate.
Does the third-party gateway fee apply everywhere? No, it only kicks in in countries where Thinkific Payments is actually available as an option. Outside those countries, a third-party gateway is your only path anyway, so the “extra fee” framing doesn’t quite apply the same way.
How we got these numbers. Prices and fees come straight from the official pricing pages of Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, checked in September 2026. Where a value wasn’t published, the table shows “—”. Prices in this space change often — confirm on the provider’s site before you buy.