ARMember vs Thinkific
ARMember and Thinkific both help you sell online, but they're built for different worlds. ARMember is a WordPress plugin for memberships, while Thinkific is an all-in-one course platform. This comparison cuts through the noise to show you which one fits your project.
Robust membership tool with exceptional support.
ARMember provides enterprise-level functionality for comprehensive WordPress membership management. We found the feature set robust, particularly the multi-site support and advanced content dripping options. Overall, we recommend ARMember for established businesses seeking a powerful, reliable solution with stellar customer support.
Pros
- Customer support is prompt, responsive, and highly dedicated to resolving issues.
- Comprehensive, all-in-one feature set with 57+ inbuilt Addons included.
- Flexible monetization models, including proration and Pay Per Post.
- Intuitive, clutter-free administrative back end and easy setup wizard.
Cons
- Image upload functionality for member profiles can be overly restrictive.
- Security protocols sometimes cause “false positives” on uploaded files.
- Free plan has limited support and features only two payment gateways.
Solid all-in-one for knowledge businesses.
We find Thinkific is a robust platform for creators and businesses focused on selling courses and communities. Its core strength is combining creation, marketing, and sales tools in one reliable package. Overall, it's a strong choice for those ready to scale their expertise, though it may not suit the simplest or most custom tech needs.
Pros
- Intuitive drag-and-drop course builder for easy setup.
- All-in-one platform includes marketing, sales, and community tools.
- Reliable hosting with unlimited students and courses.
- Strong customer support and onboarding resources.
Cons
- Interface design can feel slightly dated in places.
- Deep customization of layouts may require more steps.
- Pricing details for higher tiers aren't always fully transparent upfront.
- No native, built-in CRM for direct sales workflow automation.
AboutARMember
ARMember is a complete, turn-key WordPress Membership Plugin. It streamlines all required features for creating a successful subscription service. This tool supports multidimensional businesses, including those selling online courses, building large communities, offering digital content, or providing corporate training. It gives you symmetrical management features, simplifying the way you monetize your WordPress site. ✅
AboutThinkific
Thinkific is an online course platform for creators, coaches, and businesses. 🚀 It lets you build and sell digital learning experiences. You can create courses with a simple drag-and-drop editor, add communities and memberships, and handle payments all in one place. It’s built for anyone wanting to share their knowledge and earn revenue from it.
Highlights
Feature Comparison
Features Overview
We highlight the main differences and pick a winner for each feature.
Core Focus
ARMember builds memberships on WordPress. Thinkific builds and sells online courses.
**ARMember** is a WordPress plugin focused on membership management. It excels at content protection, flexible subscriptions, and community features for existing sites. **Thinkific** is a standalone platform for creating, marketing, and selling courses. It handles hosting, payments, and course delivery in one package. The key difference is the foundation. ARMember adds membership power to WordPress. Thinkific replaces the need for a separate site.
Course Creation
Thinkific has a dedicated course builder. ARMember adds courses via an add-on.
**ARMember** offers an Online Courses add-on, primarily on its Enterprise plan. It's integrated into the membership structure. **Thinkific** provides a drag-and-drop course builder as its core feature. It supports structured learning paths and SCORM compliance on higher tiers. For pure course creation, Thinkific's purpose-built editor is more robust. ARMember's strength is wrapping courses within a larger membership ecosystem.
Pricing Model
ARMember is a low yearly fee. Thinkific is a monthly/annual subscription.
**ARMember** charges annual fees based on site count: $69/year for 1 site, up to $299/year for 10 sites. **Thinkific** uses tiered subscriptions starting at $74/month (billed annually). Pricing scales with active students and features. ARMember offers a more predictable, lower entry cost. Thinkific's pricing reflects its hosted, all-in-one nature and scales with your business growth.
Customization
ARMember offers deep WordPress control. Thinkific offers simpler site styling.
**ARMember** leverages the WordPress ecosystem. You can control themes, use page builders, and access developer hooks for deep customization. **Thinkific** provides customizable themes and a drag-and-drop page builder. Design options are powerful but can feel more constrained than a full WordPress setup. Choose ARMember for ultimate design freedom. Choose Thinkific for guided, quick setup without theme conflicts.
Monetization
ARMember offers diverse payment models. Thinkific focuses on course sales.
**ARMember** supports recurring subscriptions, one-time packages, and Pay Per Post. It offers proration and group memberships. **Thinkific** includes subscriptions, payment plans, upsells, coupons, and abandoned cart recovery. It's optimized for maximizing course sales. ARMember is more flexible for varied membership models. Thinkific is more aggressive with built-in sales boosters for courses.
Scalability
Thinkific scales students automatically. ARMember scales via WordPress hosting.
**Thinkific** is built for scale, handling unlimited courses and large student bases on its cloud infrastructure. **ARMember** scales with your WordPress hosting plan. Performance depends on your server resources and plugin optimization. Thinkific removes scalability worries. With ARMember, you manage scaling through your hosting provider.
Ease of Use
Thinkific is simpler for beginners. ARMember has a steeper WordPress learning curve.
**Thinkific** emphasizes a quick start with AI tools and a guided setup. No technical skills are required. **ARMember** includes a helpful Setup Wizard, but you still need basic WordPress knowledge to manage hosting, themes, and plugins. Thinkific wins for absolute beginners. ARMember is straightforward for anyone comfortable with WordPress.
Security
ARMember has built-in WordPress security. Thinkific provides managed platform security.
**ARMember** includes brute force protection, IP restrictions, and anti-spam tools directly in the plugin. **Thinkific** manages security infrastructure, offering SSL, 99.5% uptime monitoring, and regular updates on its hosted platform. ARMember gives you direct security controls. Thinkific handles security for you as part of the service.
ARMember costs between $0 and $299 per year with four plans: Free at $0, Standard Plan at $69, Professional Plan at $129, and Enterprise Plan at $299.
Let's look closely at what each plan tier offers for your WordPress membership site.
Free
Price: $0 per year Websites Supported: Not explicitly stated Best For: Not explicitly stated Refund Policy: Not applicable Other Features:
- 19+ in-built Addons
- Unlimited Membership Plans
- Includes 2 Payment Gateways (PayPal, Bank Transfer)
- Limited Support
- Unlimited Membership Plans
- 19+ in-built Addons
- 2 Payment Gateways (PayPal, Bank Transfer (Offline))
- Use on 1 Site
- 1 Year Support
- Unlimited Membership Plans
- 57+ In-built Addons
- 5+ Payment Gateways
- Use on 2 Sites
- 1 Year Support
- Unlimited Membership Plans
- 57+ In-built Addons
- 21+ Payment Gateways
- Use on 10 Sites
- 1 Year Support
- Unlimited Membership Plans
- 57+ In-built Addons
- 21+ Payment Gateways
Thinkific pricing: Thinkific offers tiered subscription plans starting at $74/month when billed annually. Pricing scales based on the number of active students, admin accounts, and advanced selling or integration features needed for your learning business.
Each plan includes a 30-day free trial to explore all AI-enabled tools and course-building features risk-free. Annual billing provides a significant discount over monthly payments, with professional-grade tiers tailored for scaling academies and large organizations through Thinkific Plus.
Thinkific also provides native payment processing via TCommerce to help you sell more effectively with no hidden transaction fees on its own processor. All plans include a 30-day free trial to get started.
Pricing Notes
- ARMember's pricing is based on annual fees per number of WordPress sites. The entry point is very affordable at $69/year.
- Thinkific's pricing is based on monthly subscriptions, scaling with active students and features. It starts at $74/month billed annually.
- ARMember offers a free plan with limited features and a 14-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.
- Thinkific offers a 30-day free trial on all paid plans. Using its own TCommerce processor avoids transaction fees.
- Thinkific's higher tiers (Grow, Expand, Plus) include advanced features like phone support and SCORM, but pricing details may require contacting sales.
Pricing Head-to-Head
User Reviews
ARMember maintains a favorable user sentiment, primarily driven by exceptional customer support and strong overall value. Users consistently highlight that the support team is responsive and quick, helping to resolve issues effectively and efficiently, even those that are complex or self-inflicted.
Many reviewers note that the system provides specific, robust features—such as time-based content restriction for online courses—that competitors lack. The plugin is frequently praised for its intuitive, clutter-free back end and its reasonable pricing compared to other premium market options.
This is the best membership plugin we have tried. It has a nice interface with no clutter, making it easy to work with and customize. Plus, the price is very reasonable compared to the competition.
Users consistently praise Thinkific's ease of use, particularly its straightforward course setup and content upload process 👍. However, some note that certain interface elements feel outdated and that customizing layouts can require extra steps.
Customer support responsiveness and the platform's reliability for hosting are frequently highlighted as positive. Recurring feedback points to the value of the all-in-one features for creators and coaches, though some mention that transparent, upfront pricing for all plan details would be helpful.
Setting up my course was incredibly simple. The drag-and-drop editor made everything visual. I had my first module live in under an hour.
Our Verdict
This isn't a one-winner-fits-all battle. Your choice between ARMember and Thinkific depends entirely on your starting point. **ARMember's superpower** is its depth and flexibility on WordPress. It turns your existing site into a powerful membership machine with granular content protection, diverse payment models, and community tools. You control everything. **Thinkific's superpower** is its simplicity and focus. It's a complete, hosted solution designed to get your course business online fast. You get a polished builder, built-in sales tools, and zero server headaches. The deciding factor is your foundation. If you're committed to the WordPress ecosystem and want maximum control, **choose ARMember**. If you want a dedicated, streamlined platform to sell your expertise and scale without tech worries, **pick Thinkific**. For membership sites and content-heavy communities, **ARMember** is the logical choice. For launching and scaling a course business as quickly as possible, **Thinkific** delivers. Know your goal, and the right tool becomes clear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is cheaper for a single course site, ARMember or Thinkific?
ARMember is likely cheaper. Its Standard plan costs $69 per year. Thinkific's comparable plan starts at $74 per month. The annual cost difference is significant.
Can I use Thinkific if I already have a WordPress website?
Yes, but they operate separately. You can link to Thinkific from your WordPress site. Thinkific handles course hosting and payments independently.
Does ARMember have built-in community features like Thinkific?
ARMember integrates with BuddyPress/BuddyBoss for forums. Thinkific includes its own community feature. Both build community, but Thinkific's is native.
Which platform is better for selling subscriptions?
ARMember is designed for flexible subscriptions (weekly, monthly, yearly). Thinkific offers subscriptions but is more focused on one-time course sales and payment plans.
Do I need technical skills to use Thinkific?
No. Thinkific is designed for non-technical users. Its drag-and-drop builder and guided setup make it accessible for beginners. ARMember requires basic WordPress knowledge.
What happens if my student count grows on Thinkific?
You may need to upgrade your plan. Thinkific plans have active student limits (e.g., 10,000 on Start). ARMember typically has unlimited members on all paid plans.
Ready to Choose?
Both tools have their strengths. Choose based on your specific needs.