SoloStore → Thinkific alternative
Thinkific is a polished course platform you will never own, and in 2026 it got more expensive. SoloStore is a one-time licence you install on your own hosting — courses, funnels, community and checkout, running on your Stripe account.
Short answer: Thinkific is the more polished course player and it has a support team, an app ecosystem and nothing for you to host. But Start is $888 a year, Grow is $1,788, and in 2026 the plans went up about 10% — the first increase since 2022. SoloStore is $497 once plus about $7 a month in hosting. Over five years that is $917 against $4,440, and you break even in about seven months.
Thinkific raised its plans by roughly 10% in 2026, its first increase since 2022. You had no say in that one and you will have none in the next.
The entry plan is $74/mo billed annually. Several things you will reach for sit on Grow at $149/mo — $1,788 a year.
Your courses, your students and your checkout live on Thinkific's infrastructure. Leaving means exporting everything and rebuilding it.
Every number below came off the vendor's own pricing page, checked 5 August 2026.
| Thinkific Start | SoloStore | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay | $74/mo billed annually (Start) | $497 once |
| Year one | $888 | $581 |
| Every year after | $888 | $84 hosting |
| The tier above | Grow — $149/mo, $1,788 a year | no tiers — one licence |
| Billed monthly instead | $99/mo — $1,188 a year | n/a — you pay once |
| Platform cut of each sale | 0% in primary markets | 0% — always |
| Payments run through | Thinkific Payments or your gateway | Your own Stripe account |
| You can host it yourself | No | Yes |
| Free plan | no — 30-day trial | 7-day refund |
| Built-in email marketing | Yes | connects to Kit |
| App store & integrations | Yes | Stripe and Kit |
| Phone & chat support | Yes | email only |
| Five-year total | $4,440 | $917 |
Thinkific figures are public list prices from www.thinkific.com/pricing, checked 5 August 2026. SoloStore's total is the one-time licence plus about $7 a month of self-hosting (Railway and Bunny, paid direct). Stripe's processing fee applies on both sides and is excluded.
A comparison page that only flatters itself is an advert. Here is where Thinkific wins.
Stay on Thinkific if you want the polished player and a company standing behind it, or if you are running a catalogue big enough that the app ecosystem earns its keep. $888 a year buys real things — it just buys them again next year.
Two services, no markup, nothing paid to us — and a five-minute setup with no code and no terminal.
Not sure what self-hosting means in practice? Watch the five-minute setup video — it is the entire process, start to finish.
Other questions? Shoot me an email — matt@mattgiaro.com