Thinkific ‑ Online Courses vs. Create & Sell Digital Products: An In-Depth Comparison

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Thinkific ‑ Online Courses vs. Create & Sell Digital Products: At a Glance
3. Deep Dive Comparison
4. The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively
5. Conclusion
6. FAQ

Introduction

Adding digital products to a physical storefront presents a significant opportunity for growth. Whether the goal is to monetize expertise through educational content or to expand into digital assets, choosing the right infrastructure is essential. Many merchants find that the transition from purely physical goods to a hybrid model introduces technical complexities, specifically regarding customer access and store integration.

Short answer: Thinkific ‑ Online Courses is designed for merchants who want to add structured, external course environments to their Shopify store, while Create & Sell Digital Products focuses on the niche market of minting and selling NFTs. For brands seeking to scale without the friction of separate logins or fragmented customer data, native platforms often offer a more cohesive long-term solution.

The purpose of this article is to provide a neutral, feature-by-feature comparison of Thinkific ‑ Online Courses and Create & Sell Digital Products. By looking at functionality, pricing, and user experience, merchants can determine which tool aligns with their specific business goals.

Thinkific ‑ Online Courses vs. Create & Sell Digital Products: At a Glance

The following table provides a high-level overview of the core attributes of both applications to assist in the initial selection process.

Deep Dive Comparison

To understand the value these apps provide, it is necessary to examine their core workflows, pricing structures, and how they handle the merchant-customer relationship. While both exist within the Shopify ecosystem, their approaches to digital commerce are vastly different.

Core Features and Workflows

Thinkific ‑ Online Courses functions as a bridge between the Shopify store and the Thinkific Learning Management System (LMS). When a merchant installs this app, they are effectively connecting their checkout to an external hosting environment. This allows for complex educational features such as quizzes, surveys, and drip-fed content. The primary workflow involves creating the course content on Thinkific's servers and then listing those courses as products within Shopify.

Create & Sell Digital Products, developed by Spocket, takes a different path. It is specifically built for the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) market. The workflow is streamlined to allow merchants to upload images and turn them into digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. Unlike traditional digital downloads, this app handles the minting process, meaning the merchant does not need to manage a crypto wallet or deal with technical blockchain configurations.

Educational Capabilities vs. Digital Asset Creation

Thinkific provides a robust environment for education:

• Structured course builders with drag-and-drop functionality.
• The ability to host communities alongside content.
• Student management tools, including enrollment and email communication.
• Assessment tools like quizzes and assignments on higher-tier plans.

Create & Sell Digital Products focuses exclusively on the tokenization of files:

• One-click process for minting images into NFTs.
• Elimination of upfront crypto costs for the merchant.
• Direct delivery of NFTs to customers after purchase approval.
• Integration with the Ethereum blockchain without technical overhead.

Customization and Branding Control

Branding consistency is a major factor in customer trust. Thinkific ‑ Online Courses offers website themes for the course area, but because the content lives on an external platform, there is often a visible shift when a customer moves from the Shopify storefront to the course environment. Removing the "Thinkific" branding is a feature reserved for the most expensive pricing tier.

In contrast, Create & Sell Digital Products operates more closely within the storefront, as the "product" being sold is the NFT itself. However, the post-purchase experience—where the NFT is delivered and viewed—is dictated by the app's delivery mechanism and the blockchain. Customization of the learning or viewing experience is limited compared to dedicated educational platforms.

Pricing Structure and Value

The cost of these applications can vary significantly based on the volume of content and the number of administrative users required.

Thinkific ‑ Online Courses Pricing Tiers

Thinkific uses a tiered monthly subscription model. As the merchant's needs grow, the costs increase.

• Free Plan: Allows for 3 courses and 1 community with unlimited students. It includes basic quizzes and the drag-and-drop builder.
• Basic Plan ($49/month): This tier introduces unlimited courses, custom domains, and drip content features. It is the entry point for merchants wanting a more professional appearance.
• Start Plan ($99/month): Adds advanced features like assignments, live lessons, and the ability to bundle courses or create memberships.
• Grow Plan ($199/month): Designed for scaling brands, offering 3 communities, 2 admins, API access, and the removal of Thinkific branding.

Create & Sell Digital Products Pricing

The provided data does not specify structured monthly tiers for Create & Sell Digital Products. However, since the app is developed by Spocket and deals with blockchain minting, costs are typically associated with transaction fees or individual minting actions. Merchants should be aware that blockchain-based apps often have fluctuating costs related to network fees (gas fees), though this app aims to simplify that for the user. When comparing plan costs against total course revenue, merchants often find that flat-rate models are easier to manage than those with hidden or fluctuating fees.

Integrations and Technical Fit

The "Works With" section of an app's data reveals how well it will play with the rest of a merchant's marketing stack. Thinkific ‑ Online Courses has a wide range of integrations, particularly with email marketing tools.

Thinkific integrates with:

• Zapier
• ConvertKit
• MailChimp
• ActiveCampaign
• Keap / Infusionsoft
• ConstantContact

These integrations are necessary because the customer data is often siloed on the Thinkific platform. To sync student progress or enrollment data with a marketing list, an external connection is required.

Create & Sell Digital Products integrates with:

• Spocket
• Ethereum Blockchain
• Jubilee
• Solana

The focus here is clearly on supply chain and blockchain technology rather than marketing automation. If a merchant's goal is to build a community or an email list around their digital products, they may need to find additional tools to bridge the gap.

Performance and User Experience

A significant hurdle for many merchants using external platforms is the "split-head" experience. When a customer buys a course via Shopify through an external app like Thinkific, they often have to create a second account or log into a separate portal to access their purchase. This can lead to increased support tickets regarding login issues.

Reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from is a useful way to see if other users have faced these friction points. With Thinkific's rating sitting at 1.9, many merchants have expressed frustration, often related to the technical hurdles of keeping the two platforms in sync. Similarly, the 1.0 rating for Create & Sell Digital Products suggests that the niche NFT approach may not yet be seamless for the average Shopify user.

The Alternative: Unifying Commerce, Content, and Community Natively

While Thinkific and Create & Sell Digital Products offer specific paths for digital goods, they often lead to "platform fragmentation." This occurs when a merchant’s business is split across different websites, databases, and login screens. This fragmentation creates friction for the customer and technical overhead for the merchant.

The strategic alternative is an all-in-one native platform. By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, merchants can keep their customers "at home." In a native environment, the course or community lives directly inside the existing Shopify store. There are no separate logins, no external hosting fees, and no broken branding.

Platforms like Tevello prioritize this unified experience. By using a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members, brands can scale their digital offerings without being penalized for their success. This approach has led to significant outcomes for diverse businesses. For instance, how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses demonstrates the power of keeping digital and physical goods under one roof. When customers can buy a physical kit and immediately access a tutorial without leaving the site, conversion rates and satisfaction naturally climb.

Another critical benefit of the native approach is the reduction of administrative work. Many brands struggle with solving login issues by moving to a native platform. When the course access is tied directly to the Shopify customer account, the "I can't log in" emails virtually disappear. This stability is essential for high-volume stores, as seen in cases of migrating over 14,000 members and reducing support tickets effectively.

Furthermore, native integration allows for better data utilization. Instead of trying to sync external databases, a native app uses Shopify's own customer data. This makes it easier to implement lessons from brands merging education and commerce to drive repeat sales. A merchant might see that a customer has finished a beginner course and automatically offer them a physical product that helps them with the next stage of their journey.

Fixing a fragmented system can have an immediate impact on the bottom line. One brand doubled its store's conversion rate by fixing a fragmented system that had previously relied on disconnected tools. By achieving a 100% improvement in conversion rate, they proved that the fewer clicks a customer has to make, the more likely they are to complete a purchase and engage with the content.

Conclusion

For merchants choosing between Thinkific ‑ Online Courses and Create & Sell Digital Products, the decision comes down to the type of digital product being offered and the desired level of integration. Thinkific is a heavy-duty option for complex education but carries the burden of being an external system with high potential for customer friction. Create & Sell Digital Products is a specialized tool for the NFT market but lacks the community and educational features many modern brands require.

Ultimately, the goal of adding digital content is to increase customer lifetime value and create new revenue streams. Doing this through a native, all-in-one platform minimizes technical hurdles and keeps the brand experience consistent. Before committing to a subscription, it is worth assessing app-store ratings as a trust signal to see how other merchants have fared with their chosen setup. Using a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses ensures that as the business grows, the software costs remain predictable and manageable.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by confirming the install path used by Shopify merchants.

FAQ

Is Thinkific or Create & Sell Digital Products better for beginners?

Thinkific ‑ Online Courses is more suited for beginners in the education space due to its guided drag-and-drop builder, though the setup of the external integration can be complex. Create & Sell Digital Products is a beginner-friendly entry point specifically for NFTs, as it removes the need for crypto wallets.

Can I sell physical products and courses together?

Both apps allow you to list digital products alongside physical goods in your Shopify store. However, Thinkific requires customers to access their courses on a separate site, whereas a native solution would keep both the purchase and the consumption of the product on your main domain.

How does a native, all-in-one platform compare to specialized external apps?

A native platform integrates directly with Shopify’s customer accounts and checkout, meaning customers use a single login for everything. External apps often require third-party hosting and separate logins, which can increase support requests and decrease the cohesiveness of the brand experience.

Do these apps charge transaction fees?

Thinkific’s fees are generally wrapped into their monthly subscription tiers, though external payment processors still apply. Create & Sell Digital Products involves blockchain transactions, which may involve costs related to the Ethereum network, though the app aims to simplify this for the merchant.