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Teachable vs IImagined

These two get compared, but they do different jobs. Teachable is software: you put your own course, coaching, downloads or membership on it and it takes the payments. IImagined is a membership where you learn how to build an audience and a digital product in the first place. It hosts nothing. So the useful question is not which is better. It is which one you need first.

Reviewed . IImagined publishes this page and sells one of the two things on it, so everything about Teachable is taken from Teachable's own pages and linked. Prices and terms change: check those pages before you pay.

The short answer

If a course is your product and you already know who will buy it, go to Teachable: it hosts the course, runs the checkout and handles sales tax, and its own Academy teaches course building for free. Come to IImagined first if you have not settled what to sell, to whom and at what price, or if your product may not be a course at all. Plenty of people will need both, and some will need only Teachable.

Choose Teachable if

  • You have a course outline and people asking for it. Teachable gives you hosting, checkout and student apps from $29 a month, billed annually.
  • You want to learn course building without paying for lessons. Teachable Academy's "Build With Us: Courses" is free: 21 lessons from idea to launch.
  • You sell across borders. Teachable calculates and remits sales tax, VAT and GST in 45+ countries.
  • You plan to sell coaching, downloads or a membership from the same storefront.

Choose IImagined if

  • You do not yet know what to sell. Digital Products starts with validation and pre-selling, before any platform is chosen.
  • You have no audience. Instagram Ignited is 24 lessons on building one, and a storefront does not bring buyers by itself.
  • You are not sure a course is the right product. IImagined also covers ebooks, templates, AI characters and software.
  • You want a weekly live call about your whole plan, not only about one platform.

The facts, side by side

Each row shows the date it was checked and numbered links to the pages it was read from.

marks the side the facts favour on a row: Teachable on 1, IImagined on none. Rows without a mark are even, or come down to what you want.

Compared
TeachableSoftware for selling your own courses
IImaginedFour programs, one membership
What it is26
Software for building and selling your own online courses, coaching, digital downloads and memberships.
A membership where you learn to build an audience and a digital product. It does not host or sell anything for you.
Who it is for17
People who already have something to teach. Teachable says more than 150,000 creators, experts and businesses use it.
People still working out what to sell, to whom and how, or building the audience to sell to.
What you get126
A course builder, checkout, iOS and Android apps for your students, quizzes, drip content and tax handling.
Instagram Ignited, AI Influencers, Digital Products and AI SaaS Builder, with a weekly coaching call, a members-only Discord and the files that go with each lesson.
Does it host and sell your product?126
Advantage: Yes. Unlimited students, up to 1TB of video storage, and daily payouts through Teachable Payments.
No. You will still need a platform such as Teachable, or your own site, to sell what you make.
Does it teach you how?347
Yes, for courses. Teachable Academy lists free courses such as "Build With Us: Courses", 7 sections and 21 lessons from idea to launch.
That is all it does. Digital Products is 8 modules and 27 lessons on validating, making, pricing and launching a product, next to three other programs.
Platform it teaches348
Teachable. Its free courses cover ideas, pricing and sales pages, with the building done on Teachable.
None in particular. The free Starter Kit includes a pricing worksheet covering 13 ways to sell across 9 platforms.
A cut of your sales16
7.5% of each sale on Starter. 0% on Builder and Growth when you use Teachable Payments. Card processing is charged on every plan.
None. You sell nothing through IImagined, so it takes no share.
Product limits16
5 published products on Starter, 10 on Builder and 50 on Growth. Memberships and bundles do not count toward the limit.
Not applicable: there is nothing to publish.
Coaching and community156
Free group events at Teachable Academy, including a weekly live platform Q&A. Real-time support starts on the Builder plan.
A live coaching call every week and a members-only Discord, both included in All Access.
Free to start18
A 7-day free trial; a banner on the pricing page was offering 30 days when read. There is no free plan.
A free account holds the Starter Kit (5 working files), the first lesson of each program and the Futures Trading course. The calculators at /tools are free too.
Refunds19
30-day money-back guarantee in your first 30 days.
30-day money-back guarantee on your first payment, monthly or yearly. Renewals are not refunded, except where the law requires.
If you stop paying19
Cancel any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the billing cycle.
Cancel any time. Access runs to the end of the period you paid for, then stops.

Where each one is stronger

Teachable

  • It does the job IImagined cannot

    Teachable hosts your lessons, takes payment in 35+ local payment methods and pays you out. IImagined has no storefront, no checkout for your products and no student area. If you are ready to sell a course, only one of these two can do it. 26

  • Tax and payments handled

    Teachable says it calculates and remits sales tax, VAT and GST automatically in 45+ countries. That is real work taken off a one-person business, and nothing IImagined teaches removes it. 2

  • Free training on its own ground

    Teachable Academy's "Build With Us: Courses" is free and goes from validating an idea to a live course in 21 lessons, and its coaching calendar says all events are free to attend. For building a course on Teachable, that is the better source. 45

IImagined

  • The questions that come before a platform

    Digital Products opens with finding a problem people will pay to solve, pre-selling before you build, and studying competitors. A hosting plan answers none of that, and it bills from $29 a month whether or not anything sells. 17

  • An audience to sell to

    Instagram Ignited is 6 modules and 24 lessons on building an audience from nothing. Teachable gives you coupons, upsells and, from the Builder plan, an affiliate program, which help once buyers are arriving. 17

  • Not only courses

    Digital Products covers ebooks and templates as well as courses, and All Access adds AI SaaS Builder (10 modules and 52 lessons) for people whose product turns out to be software. 7

Who each one suits

  • People keep asking you to teach what you know

    Pick Teachable

    You have demand and a subject. Start Teachable's free trial, take its free course-building course, and publish. IImagined would be a detour. 14

  • You want to sell something online and have not chosen what

    Pick IImagined

    Decide the product and test that anyone wants it before paying for a storefront. The free Starter Kit and the first lesson of Digital Products cost nothing and will tell you whether the rest is useful. 78

  • You have a product idea and no audience

    Pick IImagined

    A course on Teachable with nobody to show it to earns nothing. Build the audience first, or alongside. 7

  • You already sell a few products and fees are adding up

    Pick Teachable

    Builder and Growth have a 0% transaction fee with Teachable Payments, against 7.5% on Starter. That is a platform decision, and IImagined does not sell platforms. 1

  • You want to learn and launch in the same month

    Use both

    They fit together: learn offer, pricing and launch on IImagined, and build the course on Teachable with its Academy open in another tab. Budget for both bills: $99 a month and from $29 a month. 136

What each one costs

Teachable states that its prices are in US dollars, the same currency as IImagined. Remember that the two bills buy different things: Teachable's is the cost of a storefront, and its fees come out of your sales on top of the plan; IImagined's is the cost of lessons and coaching.

Compared
TeachableSoftware for selling your own courses
IImaginedFour programs, one membership
Entry plan16
Starter: $29 a month, billed annually. 5 products, and a 7.5% fee on each sale.
All Access: $99 a month or $890 a year.
Middle plan16
Builder: $69 a month, billed annually. 10 products, 0% transaction fee with Teachable Payments.
One plan. Nothing is held back for a higher tier.
Top listed plan16
Growth: $139 a month, billed annually. 50 products, course certificates and your own branding. Above it is a Custom plan with no public price.
The same plan.
Paying by the month16
Starter 39, Builder 89 and Growth 189 US dollars a month. Annual billing is 22% less.
$99 a month, cancel any time.
Fees on each sale16
Card processing: 2.9% plus 30 cents on US cards, 3.9% plus 30 cents on international cards. A chargeback costs $15.
None.
Trial and guarantee19
7-day free trial, then a 30-day money-back guarantee.
No trial. A free account shows the first lesson of each program, and a first payment is refundable for 30 days.

Questions people ask

Is IImagined an alternative to Teachable?

No. Teachable is a platform for selling your own course, and IImagined is a place to learn: it cannot host or sell your product. If you are looking for somewhere else to host a course, compare Teachable with other course platforms. If you are deciding what to build and how to sell it, that is what IImagined teaches. 26

Should I learn how to make a course before paying for Teachable?

If you already know your subject and who will buy, no. Start Teachable's free trial and take its free "Build With Us: Courses" course, which goes from idea to launch in 21 lessons. If you are unsure what to sell or have no audience, sort that out first: a Teachable plan starts at $29 a month, billed annually, whether or not anything sells. 14

How much does Teachable cost?

Three plans have public prices, in US dollars. Billed annually they are $29 a month for Starter, $69 for Builder and $139 for Growth; billed monthly they are 39, 89 and 189 US dollars. They allow 5, 10 and 50 published products. There is no free plan, each has a 7-day free trial, and Teachable gives a 30-day money-back guarantee. 1

Does Teachable take a cut of my sales?

On the Starter plan, yes: 7.5% of each sale. Builder, Growth and Custom have a 0% transaction fee when you use Teachable Payments. Card processing applies on every plan, at 2.9% plus 30 cents for US cards and 3.9% plus 30 cents for international cards. IImagined takes no share, because nothing is sold through it. 16

Does IImagined teach how to build and sell a course?

Partly. Digital Products is 8 modules and 27 lessons on validating an idea, making an ebook, a course or templates, building a funnel, pricing and launching. It is not a guide to any one course platform. For Teachable's own screens and settings, Teachable Academy is the better source, and its course-building course is free. 37

Can I use Teachable and IImagined together?

Yes. They do not overlap: one is where the course lives, the other is where you work out what to make and how to sell it. Start with what is free on each, Teachable's trial and IImagined's Starter Kit, before paying for either. 18

Sources

Each page was read on the date beside it. The links open the current version, which may have changed since.

  1. 1Teachable: plans and pricing
  2. 2Teachable: home page
  3. 3Teachable: Teachable Academy catalogue
  4. 4Teachable Academy: Build With Us: Courses
  5. 5Teachable Academy: free coaching calendar
  6. 6IImagined: All Access
  7. 7IImagined: the four programs
  8. 8IImagined: free Starter Kit
  9. 9IImagined: refund policy

See the work before you pay for any of it.

The free Starter Kit is 5 working files, one from each IImagined program and one from the trading course: 32 fill-in-the-blank hooks, an AI character bible, a pricing worksheet, a unit economics calculator and a position size calculator. They open in your browser with a free account.

Get the free Starter Kit

If the kit is useful, All Access is the paid step: $99 a month or $890 a year for the four programs, the weekly coaching call and the community, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.