Teachable Review (2025) - Pros, Cons & Expert Insights

Teachable Review: A Powerful Online Course Platform with Some Rough Edges

As a Teachable Expert, I work with this platform every day. In this review, I’ll highlight its strengths, the areas that could use improvement, and who I think will benefit from using it.

Introduction

Teachable is one of the most popular platforms for creating and selling online courses. Whether you’re an educator, coach, or entrepreneur, it provides a comprehensive set of tools to help you launch and manage your courses with ease.

But no platform is perfect. While Teachable excels in many areas, there are some aspects—particularly around customization and documentation—that can be frustrating. In this review, I’ll break down the platform’s key features, my experience working with it, and where I think it could be improved.

What Makes Teachable Stand Out?

1. Ease of Use

One of the biggest advantages of Teachable is its intuitive interface. Setting up a course is straightforward, even for beginners without technical knowledge.

2. Built-In Payments & Taxes

Teachable handles payments, including tax calculations via services like Teachable Payments and integrations with Stripe/PayPal. This is a game-changer for creators who don’t want to deal with third-party payment systems.

3. Student & Course Management

From drip content scheduling to course completion certificates, Teachable offers strong admin tools for managing students and content effectively.

4. Highly Customizable Sales Pages (But With a Hidden Catch)

Teachable’s page builder allows for deep customizations, especially with the use of the HTML block, which enables advanced modifications via custom code. This makes it possible to tailor sales pages and lesson pages extensively—far beyond what most users might initially think.

This image is from one of Tailored Tutors lesson page and yes, this is built in Teachable. Visit Tailored Tutors for more information on study guides for UK high school students. A more detailed breakdown of this development can be found at coming soon.

However, there’s one major roadblock:

☑️ The HTML block is locked by default. To access it, users must contact Teachable support via chat or a ticket to get it enabled.

Custom HTML Block Support on Teachable.com

This limitation isn’t well-documented, and as a result, many users assume Teachable pages aren’t customizable, discouraging them from exploring advanced design possibilities—or even seeking expert help from freelancers like myself.

Example: If you want to add custom Liquid code inside a page, it’s possible—but only if you know about the HTML block and get access to it.

So while Teachable does offer powerful customization options, the lack of clear documentation and the hidden nature of the HTML block can be frustrating for users who don’t know these features exist.

5. Teachable Memberships: Build Recurring Revenue

Memberships allow you to offer ongoing value to students through a subscription-based model. Instead of selling a one-time course, you can create a membership site with exclusive content, resources, and direct access to you.

✅ Benefits of Teachable Memberships

• Recurring Income: Generate stable, predictable revenue with monthly or annual subscriptions.
• Exclusive Content Access: Offer premium courses, Q&A sessions, live coaching, or downloadable resources.
• Student Retention & Engagement: Keep learners committed by delivering consistent new content over time.
• Flexible Pricing Options: Set different membership tiers with varying levels of access and perks.

Best For: Coaches, educators, and content creators who want to build a community of engaged learners while ensuring ongoing revenue.

6. Teachable Communities: Engagement Beyond Just Courses

Teachable Communities provide interactive spaces where students can connect, ask questions, and share ideas — similar to a private social network or forum.

✅ Benefits of Teachable Communities

• More Engagement & Student Retention: A dedicated space keeps students actively learning, even after completing courses.
• Direct Creator Interaction: You can lead discussions, offer feedback, and strengthen relationships with students.
• Monetizable Community Access: Offer free or paid communities as an upsell to your existing courses or membership.
• Alternative to Facebook Groups & Slack: Avoid distractions and keep everything inside Teachable!

❌ Limitations of Teachable Communities

• New Feature The communities service is still a relatively new product and as such may not have all the services available on other platforms such as Circle.
• No Custom Domain At present (and no sign of this being changed), it’s only possible to have a something.community.teachable.com domain.

Best For: Course creators who want to foster discussions, mastermind groups, or exclusive coaching spaces without relying on external platforms.

7. Teachable Bundles: Increase Sales with Smart Packaging

Bundles allow you to combine multiple courses, memberships, or digital products into a single, higher-value offer.

✅ Benefits of Teachable Bundles

• Increase Average Order Value (AOV): Sell multiple products at a discounted bundled price, encouraging larger purchases.
• Segmented Learning Paths: Group related courses together for students who want a step-by-step learning experience.
• Flexible Pricing Options: Create time-limited bundles for promotions or evergreen package deals for ongoing sales.
• Great for Upsells and Promotions: Use bundles to encourage students to level up their learning with additional content.

Best For: Creators who want to maximize revenue from existing content while providing bundled learning experiences.

Where Teachable Could Improve

1. Limited Customization Options

While Teachable allows some customization via HTML/CSS and Liquid templating, the flexibility is restricted. Advanced customizations often require workarounds.

Example: There’s no built-in way to get coupon information using liquid, nor is there a way to get digital products outside the ‘Power Editor’.

2. Liquid Documentation & Support Could Be Better

Teachable uses Liquid, a templating language, to allow for customization. However:

• The official documentation is incomplete or outdated in some places.
• Some Liquid features that work in Shopify (where Liquid originated) don’t work in Teachable.
• Debugging issues can be difficult due to limited visibility.

Example: In order to loop through liquid objects, we need to know the ‘container’, but Teachable’s Liquid documentation does not include this information.

3. Pricing Can Be High for Some Users

Teachable is a premium platform, and while it’s worth the price for many, the transaction fees and subscription costs can add up for smaller creators.

Teachable Pricing Plans (2025)

Below is a comparison of Teachable’s core paid plans:

💡 Note: Teachable also has a free plan, though it’s more limited and includes higher transaction fees.

When Should You Upgrade from Basic to Pro?

If you’re on Teachable’s Basic plan ($39/month billed annually or $59/month billed monthly), you pay a 5% transaction fee on every sale. The Pro plan ($119/month billed annually or $159/month billed monthly) removes this fee—but is it worth upgrading?

Let’s break it down using an average course price of $25.

Profit Per Course on the Basic Plan

• Sale Price: $25
• Teachable Fee (5%): $1.25
• Earnings after Fee: $23.75 per course

How Many Courses Do You Need to Sell to Justify Upgrading?

Key Takeaways

✅ Sell 64+ courses per month? → Upgrade to Pro (Annual) to maximize profits.
✅ Sell 80+ courses per month? → Switching to Pro (Monthly) makes sense.
✅ Bonus Perks: You also unlock affiliate marketing, live chat support, and more admin accounts on Pro.

In short: If you’re consistently selling 60+ courses per month, switching to Pro eliminates the 5% fee and keeps more money in your pocket while giving you additional features!

If you’re interested, check out Teachable’s official pricing page§ for the latest details.

Who Should Use Teachable?

Teachable is a great fit for:

✅ Course creators who prioritize ease of use over deep customization
✅ Coaches and consultants who need an all-in-one platform (course hosting, payments, limited email tools)
✅ Those who want to sell courses without worrying about external payment processors

It may not be the best fit for:

❌ Users who need extensive design customization (think Webflow or WordPress-level flexibility)
❌ Users who need a robust email marketing platform, Teachable allows for rudimentary emails, some automation related to course drip. To be fair, if you need robust email marketing you should already be using a service designed for such.
❌ Developers who want more control over backend functionality

Final Thoughts: Is Teachable Worth It?

💡 My Take: Despite some limitations, Teachable remains one of the best platforms for online courses. The combination of ease of use, payment integration, and student management makes it a solid choice. However, if you’re a developer or someone looking for deep customization, you might find yourself frustrated at times.

If you’re serious about launching an online course, I still highly recommend giving Teachable a try.

👉 Sign up for a free Teachable account here § and get 10% off your first year.

Got Questions About Teachable? Let’s Talk!

As a Teachable Expert, I help course creators set up, customize, and optimize their schools. If you need help, feel free to contact me.

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