Systeme.io vs Teachable (2026): Pricing Honestly Compared
Short answer: Systeme.io is the cheaper all-in-one option -- its permanent free plan bundles course hosting, unlimited email sends, and a funnel builder in one place, with 0% transaction fees on every tier. Teachable retired its free plan in June 2025; every current tier is paid, starting at $39/mo month-to-month (or $29/mo billed annually) on Starter, which still charges a 7.5% transaction fee on top of the subscription. Teachable is a dedicated course platform with deeper course-specific tooling (drip content, certificates, native mobile app) but no email marketing or funnel builder at any price -- you need a separate tool alongside it. If you are selling one course and want a $0 starting point with email and funnels included, Systeme.io wins on cost. If course delivery is your whole business and you want the most polished course-only experience, Teachable is the specialist.
The 30-second answer
Pricing: the table that decides most of this
Checked directly against both vendor pricing pages, September 2026 (Teachable retired its old Free/Basic/Pro/Pro+/Business lineup in June 2025 and replaced it with the tiers below):
| Systeme.io | Teachable | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, permanent -- 2,000 contacts, 1 course, 3 funnels, unlimited email, 0% transaction fees | None -- retired June 2025. 7-day free trial only, credit card required |
| Entry paid plan | Startup, $17/mo: 5,000 contacts, 5 courses, unlimited funnels, 0% fees | Starter, $39/mo ($29/mo annual): 5 products, 100 active students, 7.5% transaction fee |
| Mid plan | Webinar, $47/mo: 10,000 contacts, evergreen webinars | Builder, $89/mo ($69/mo annual): 10 products, 1,000 students, 0% fee (conditional on using the Teachable payment gateway) |
| Top plan | Unlimited, $97/mo: unlimited everything, 0% fees | Growth, $189/mo ($139/mo annual): 50 products, 5,000 students, 0% fee, white-label branding |
| Transaction fees | 0% on every plan, including free, no conditions | 7.5% on Starter only; 0% on Builder/Growth/Custom, but only when using teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway -- plus Stripe/PayPal processing fees (2.9%+30 cents on US cards) apply on every plan regardless |
| Email marketing | Included on every plan -- broadcasts, automated sequences, tagging, segmentation, unlimited sends | Not included -- basic transactional email only; real email marketing needs a separate tool |
| Funnel / landing page builder | Included on every plan | Not included -- sales pages are course-checkout pages, not a general funnel builder |
The gap is not just the subscription price -- it is what each platform assumes you already have. Systeme.io assumes you have nothing else and gives you a full funnel-plus-email-plus-course stack for free. Teachable assumes courses are the whole job and gives you a deeper course builder (drip content, certificates, native iOS/Android apps for students) but expects you to bring your own email tool and your own traffic funnel.
What Teachable has that Systeme.io does not
Teachable is a dedicated course platform, and it shows in the details: native mobile apps so students can watch lessons offline, a more polished certificate-of-completion system, a built-in affiliate program (Builder plan and up) specifically for recruiting course promoters, and course-specific analytics (completion rates, quiz performance) that a general-purpose funnel tool does not track as deeply. For a creator whose entire business is one flagship course sold to a large student base, that course-specific depth can be worth the extra subscription cost.
The catch: none of that includes getting students there in the first place. Teachable has no email marketing beyond basic transactional messages and no landing-page/funnel builder for the pre-sale journey -- most Teachable users pair it with a separate email tool (commonly Kit or ConvertKit) and either a separate landing-page tool or the Teachable limited built-in sales page. That second subscription is real money not reflected in the advertised $39-189/mo range.
Where each one breaks
Teachable failure modes
- No free plan since June 2025. Every tier is paid now; the only free test is a 7-day trial that requires a credit card up front.
- The Starter tier 7.5% fee is easy to underestimate. At $533/mo in course sales, the fee costs more than just upgrading to Builder ($69-89/mo) -- below that, Starter is cheaper; above it, staying on Starter is a real leak.
- The 0% fee on higher plans has a condition. You only get 0% Teachable fees on Builder/Growth/Custom if you route payments through teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway -- route another way and the fee comes back.
- No email marketing or funnel builder included at any price. Budget for a second subscription (Kit, ConvertKit, or similar) if you need a real pre-sale funnel and nurture sequence.
- A 4th plan (Advanced, $309-399/mo) exists but is not shown on the public pricing page -- it is documented only in the Teachable help center, between Growth and the Custom tier.
Systeme.io failure modes
- Course tooling is more basic than a dedicated platform. No native mobile app for students, and certificate/completion tracking is less developed than the Teachable purpose-built system.
- No built-in course affiliate recruitment tooling like the Teachable Builder-plan affiliate program -- Systeme.io affiliate features are aimed at promoting the whole business, not per-course.
Verdict by business type
- Selling one course plus building an email list and a sales funnel: Systeme.io free plan -- the whole stack (funnel, email, course) at $0, versus the Teachable $39/mo-plus-7.5%-fee starting point with no email or funnel included.
- Course delivery is the entire business with a large student base already: Teachable Builder or Growth ($69-189/mo annual) -- the course-specific depth (drip content, certificates, native apps, per-course affiliate program) earns its keep at scale.
- Validating a first course with uncertain sales volume: Systeme.io free plan -- no transaction fee risk and no trial-expiry pressure while you find out if the course sells.
- Need automation beyond course/funnel/email (custom workflows, API-driven agents): Neither -- see the n8n vs Zapier or n8n vs Make breakdowns for that layer of the stack.
FAQ
Is Systeme.io cheaper than Teachable?
Yes. Systeme.io has a permanent free plan that includes course hosting alongside funnels and email. Teachable retired its free plan in 2025 -- every tier is now paid, starting at $39/mo month-to-month ($29/mo billed annually), and that cheapest Starter tier still charges a 7.5% transaction fee on every sale. Systeme.io charges 0% transaction fees on every plan, including free.
Does Teachable have a free plan in 2026?
No. Teachable retired its Free, Basic, Pro, Pro+, and Business plans in June 2025. The current lineup is Starter ($39/mo, 7.5% fee), Builder ($89/mo, 0% fee), Growth ($189/mo, 0% fee), and a Custom/consultation tier. Every plan includes a 7-day free trial that requires a credit card, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Which one is better for a course creator who also needs email and funnels?
Systeme.io, if budget matters more than course-specific polish. Teachable is a dedicated course platform with no email marketing or funnel builder at any price -- you need a separate tool like Kit or ConvertKit alongside it. Systeme.io bundles course hosting, unlimited email sends, and a funnel builder into the same free plan, so a creator selling one course with an email list pays $0 on Systeme.io versus a minimum of $39/mo plus 7.5% per sale on Teachable, plus a separate email tool.