Teachable vs. Graphy | Podcastbricks

Launched in 2013 by Ankur Nagpal, Teachable is one of the most established platforms in the online course creation space. It is a versatile LMS that allows users to create and sell courses, coaching programs, and digital downloads. Teachable is known for its user-friendly interface, extensive customization options, and comprehensive marketing tools. With over 100,000 instructors and millions of students, Teachable has a strong global presence and is particularly popular among creators in the U.S. and other Western markets.

Graphy, a newer player in the market, is a product of Unacademy, India’s leading EdTech platform. Launched as a robust alternative to platforms like Teachable, Graphy focuses on providing an all-in-one solution for course creators, with features like branded mobile apps, live sessions, and community-building tools. Graphy is especially admired by Indian course creators for its affordability and support for Indian payment gateways, but it also serves a global audience.

Both platforms aim to simplify the process of building an online teaching business, but their approaches differ in terms of features, pricing, and target audiences. Let’s dive into a detailed comparison across key parameters.

1. Ease of Use and User Interface

Teachable

Teachable is renowned for its intuitive and beginner-friendly interface. The platform’s drag-and-drop page builder makes it easy to create professional-looking course landing pages and websites without coding skills. Users can upload pre-recorded lectures, organize course content, and customize their course pages effortlessly. Teachable also provides inline help (explanations for features) and a knowledge base, though some users note that help icons are not always available where needed.

However, some users have reported frustrations, such as the lack of an autosave feature, which can result in lost work due to system glitches. For example, pressing “Enter” during editing has been known to delete course text without a backup option.

Graphy

Graphy also prioritizes ease of use, particularly for novices. Its clean and straightforward dashboard allows users to create courses, host live sessions, and manage their audience without a steep learning curve. Graphy’s platform is cloud-based, ensuring that all content is securely stored on their servers, reducing the risk of data loss during course creation or hosting.

Graphy’s setup process is streamlined, with options to schedule demos with experts to guide users through onboarding. However, some users have reported post-purchase support issues, such as delayed responses to technical queries, which can hinder the setup process.

Verdict: Teachable has a slight edge for its polished interface and drag-and-drop builder, but Graphy’s simplicity and demo support make it equally accessible for beginners. Teachable’s lack of autosave is a notable drawback.

2. Course Creation and Features

Teachable

Teachable offers two main products: Courses and Coaching. The Courses product allows users to upload pre-recorded lectures, quizzes, and multimedia content, while Coaching supports live classes for more interactive engagement. Key features include:

Customization: Users can add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to personalize their course pages.
Unlimited Courses and Students: Even on the Basic plan, users can create unlimited courses with unlimited enrollments.
Bulk Import: Pre-created videos can be uploaded in bulk, saving time.
Pricing Options: Teachable supports one-time payments, subscriptions, payment plans, and bundle pricing (e.g., combining courses and coaching).
Student Engagement: Features like discussion forums, messaging tools, and coupons enhance learner interaction. However, graded quizzes are only available on higher-tier plans.

A limitation is that Teachable primarily supports asynchronous learning, with no built-in feature for live classes or webinars, which may reduce real-time engagement.

Graphy

Graphy is designed to support both pre-recorded and live courses, offering a more flexible approach to course delivery. Its standout features include:

Live Sessions: Graphy supports live classes with tools like raise-hand, Q&A, and whiteboard features, fostering real-time interaction.
Live Tests and Forms: Unlike Teachable, Graphy allows creators to conduct time-bound live tests and collect student feedback via forms during the course.
Branded Mobile Apps: Graphy offers white-labeled Android and iOS apps, enabling creators to deliver a fully branded experience to students.
Community Building: Graphy’s Community Platform includes gamification features like points and leaderboards, boosting student retention by up to 5x.
Multimedia Support: Users can add quizzes, multimedia elements, and store assets in a library for reuse.

However, Graphy lacks support for custom code (e.g., HTML/CSS), which limits design flexibility compared to Teachable.

Verdict: Graphy excels for creators who prioritize live sessions and community engagement, while Teachable is better for those focused on asynchronous courses with extensive customization. Graphy’s mobile app feature gives it a significant advantage for mobile-first audiences.

3. Pricing and Transaction Fees

Teachable

Teachable’s pricing structure includes four plans:

Free Plan: Limited features, 10% transaction fee per sale.
Basic Plan: $39/month (or $29/month annually), 5% transaction fee.
Pro Plan: $119/month, no transaction fees, includes advanced features like graded quizzes.
Business Plan: $299/month, designed for large-scale businesses with additional features.

The transaction fees on the Free and Basic plans can add up quickly for creators with high sales volumes. Additionally, Teachable does not support Indian payment gateways (e.g., Razorpay, PayU) on lower-tier plans, requiring a Zapier integration (available only on the Pro plan) for Indian creators, which increases costs.

Graphy

Graphy offers a 14-day free trial, after which users must subscribe to a paid plan. Pricing starts at:

Basic Plan: Rs. 2,999/month (~$36) or Rs. 2,749/month annually (~$33).
Higher-tier plans are available but not publicly detailed.

Graphy’s plans include more comprehensive features than Teachable’s Basic plan, with no transaction fees across all plans. It also supports Indian payment gateways (e.g., Razorpay, Instamojo) and international options like Stripe and PayPal on all plans, making it more accessible for Indian and global creators. Graphy allows country-specific pricing, which helps creators maximize profits by adjusting prices based on local currencies.

Verdict: Graphy is more affordable, especially for Indian creators, with no transaction fees and broader payment gateway support. Teachable’s transaction fees and limited payment options on lower plans make it less cost-effective for high-volume sellers.

4. Marketing and Sales Tools

Teachable

Teachable provides a robust set of marketing tools, including:

Coupons and Promotions: Create discounts to attract students.
Affiliate Marketing: Available on higher-tier plans, allowing creators to leverage affiliates to boost sales.
Analytics: In-depth insights into course performance, student progress, and completion rates.
Custom Domains: Connect your own domain for a branded experience.
Integrations: Supports tools like Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and Zapier (on Pro and higher plans).

However, Teachable lacks built-in email marketing automation and abandoned cart recovery, which are critical for scaling sales.

Graphy

Graphy emphasizes marketing and conversion optimization with features like:

SEO Tools: SEO-optimized blogs, meta tags, and clean HTML code to drive organic traffic.
Affiliate Dashboard: Track conversions from affiliates and turn learners into promoters.
Automated Campaigns: Built-in email engine for nurturing leads and recovering abandoned carts.
Webinars: Host webinars for up to 5,000 attendees to engage prospects.
Push Notifications: Keep students engaged via mobile app notifications.

Graphy’s all-in-one approach reduces the need for third-party tools, making it easier to manage marketing efforts within the platform.

Verdict: Graphy’s marketing tools, especially its email automation and webinar capabilities, give it an edge over Teachable, which relies on integrations for similar functionality.

5. Student Experience and Retention

Teachable

Teachable offers a mobile-responsive platform and an iOS app, but it lacks an Android app, limiting accessibility for over 3.3 billion Android users. Students can access courses via a web browser or the iOS app, with features like discussion forums and messaging tools to enhance engagement. However, the lack of live session support and community-building features can lead to lower retention rates.

Graphy

Graphy provides a superior student experience with:

White-Labeled Mobile Apps: Both Android and iOS apps ensure a seamless, branded experience.
Gamification: Points and leaderboards create an addictive learning environment.
Community Features: Social engagement tools mimic a college-like experience, increasing retention by 5x and encouraging students to spend 50% more on additional offerings.
Mobile Responsiveness: Courses are optimized for all devices, with push notifications to keep learners engaged.

Verdict: Graphy’s branded apps, gamification, and community features make it far better for student engagement and retention compared to Teachable’s more limited offerings.

6. Customer Support

Teachable

Teachable offers customer support via email and live chat, with a comprehensive knowledge base, webinars, podcasts, and community forums. However, live chat is only available on the Pro plan and above, leaving Basic plan users with email support only, which can be slow for urgent issues. Some users have reported unresolved support tickets lasting weeks or months.

Graphy

Graphy provides email, live chat, and webinar-based support across all plans, with a knowledge base and product roadmap for self-help. Users can schedule demos with experts for onboarding. However, some reviews highlight inconsistent post-purchase support, with delays in technical assistance after payment.

Verdict: Graphy’s consistent support across all plans is a plus, but both platforms have room for improvement in response times. Teachable’s restricted live chat access for Basic plan users is a drawback.

7. Content Security and Scalability

Teachable

Teachable’s cloud-based hosting ensures scalability, handling large numbers of students without performance issues. It uses shared servers on the Free plan, which may result in slower load times, but paid plans offer better performance. Content is protected, but Teachable does not emphasize specific security features like encryption.

Graphy

Graphy’s platform is hosted on secure servers, with data encryption to protect course content. It is designed to scale efficiently, supporting large webinars and live sessions without lag. Graphy’s focus on content ownership ensures creators retain full control over their website, audience, and email lists.

Verdict: Both platforms are scalable, but Graphy’s emphasis on encryption and content ownership gives it a slight edge in security.

8. Pros and Cons

Teachable

Pros:

Beginner-friendly interface with drag-and-drop builder.
Extensive customization with custom code support.
Comprehensive marketing and analytics tools.
Established platform with a large global user base.

Cons:

Transaction fees on Free and Basic plans.
No live session or webinar support.
Limited support for Indian payment gateways.
No Android app, restricting mobile accessibility.

Graphy

Pros:

Affordable pricing with no transaction fees.
Branded mobile apps for Android and iOS.
Live session and community-building features.
Strong support for Indian and international payment gateways.

Cons:

Limited customization compared to Teachable.
Inconsistent post-purchase support reported by some users.
Newer platform with a smaller global presence.

9. Who Should Choose Teachable?

Teachable is ideal for:

Beginners looking for a user-friendly platform to create asynchronous courses.
Creators who need extensive customization through custom code.
Those with a global audience, particularly in Western markets, who don’t require live sessions.
Entrepreneurs comfortable with integrating third-party tools for marketing and analytics.

However, creators on a budget or those targeting Indian audiences may find Teachable’s transaction fees and lack of Indian payment gateway support limiting.

10. Who Should Choose Graphy?

Graphy is best suited for:

Indian course creators or those targeting Indian audiences, thanks to its support for local payment gateways.
Educators who want to offer live classes and build engaging communities.
Creators seeking branded mobile apps to enhance student experience.
Those looking for an all-in-one platform with built-in marketing and webinar tools.

Graphy’s affordability and comprehensive features make it a strong choice for creators prioritizing scalability and engagement.

Conclusion

Both Teachable and Graphy are powerful LMS platforms, but they cater to different needs. Teachable is a reliable, established choice for creators who value customization and are comfortable with asynchronous course delivery. However, its transaction fees, lack of live session support, and limited mobile accessibility (no Android app) may deter some users. Graphy, while newer, offers a more affordable and feature-rich alternative, with branded mobile apps, live session capabilities, and robust community-building tools. Its support for Indian payment gateways and lack of transaction fees make it particularly appealing for Indian creators and those targeting diverse markets.