# AXL vs Thinkific Thinkific's first price increase since 2022 is now live. We checked its official pricing and support pages on 21 August 2026. ## The short answer **AXL is the better fit** when a course must connect to sales, CRM, webinars, community and follow-up. **The difference:** Thinkific is LMS-first, while AXL runs the customer journey around the course. Where it decides | AXL | Thinkific ------------------|------|------------ Agent access | MCP, every account | Plus only, read-only, rolling out API and webhooks | Included, no gate | Grow, $219 Cut of sales | 0%, any provider | Up to 5% where applicable Webinars and booking | Live and evergreen | Zoom sessions and booking read-only | what Thinkific's MCP currently allows. Plus only and still rolling out ~$219 | Grow, the official tier for API and webhooks 13 Aug | when the new prices took effect $49 Starter | AXL Starter, with included usage and 0% of sales ## The comparison table | What you are comparing | AXL | Thinkific | |----------------------------------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | Entry price | Starter $49/month, then published overage | Basic $54 · Start $109 · Grow $219 · Expand $499 · Plus custom | | Cut of your sales | 0%, on all 20+ providers and on cash and bank transfer | 0% on Thinkific Payments; in the USA, Canada, UK and EU, third-party gateway fees are 5% Basic · 2% Start · 1% Grow · 0.5% Expand on the first $1M in annual sales | | Email marketing | Broadcasts and automations on the CRM's own filter grammar: 74 condition types, 61 usable in segments and broadcasts | Reviewers consistently report no nurture sequences to people who have not bought | | API and webhooks | Included, no plan gate, with per-key rights | Grow tier and above | | AI agent access (MCP) | Included on every account: roughly 1,100 operations, about 110 verified recipes, and real writes; publishing and sending stay separate calls | Plus tier only, currently **read-only**, and still rolling out. It retrieves school data but cannot change it, and it might not yet be available on every account | | Memberships and certificates | Included; the account is the account, with no feature tiers | Memberships and certificates start on Start | | Live sessions and booking | Live and evergreen webinars, plus booking pages | Start includes unlimited Zoom sessions, bookable calendars and attendance tracking | | Assessment | Six auto-graded question types with pass thresholds, a homework queue with voice feedback, certificates with numbering and a registry | Quizzes on Basic; certificates and assignments from Start | | Automation that waits | 27 of 139 node types are listeners: a run parks on “bought, visited or finished this lesson within three days” and takes the timeout branch if not | Not named in the sources we read | AXL against Thinkific. Pricing and plan details checked on Thinkific's official pages on 21 August 2026. ## One business, four bills MethodOne reference business, used on every comparison page: **2,000 contacts, one course, 5,000 marketing emails a month, $5,000 a month in sales, on its own Stripe account.** Platform cost only; card processing goes to Stripe on both sides and is excluded from both. The own Stripe scenario assumes a region where Thinkific's third-party gateway fee applies. Basic is ruled out because memberships and certificates start on Start. | Scenario | Monthly | 12 months | |---------------------------------|----------|------------| | Start on Thinkific Payments: $109 + 0% | $109 | $1,308 | | Start with your own Stripe: $109 + 2% × $5,000 = $109 + $100 | $209 | $2,508 | | Grow, if you want the API: $219 + $100 | $319 | $3,828 | | AXL Starter: $49, included usage, API access and 0% of revenue | $49 | $588 | Worked example using Thinkific prices checked on 21 August 2026. The line this table cannot draw is the email tool most Thinkific users add alongside: reported real-world stacks run $121 to $424 a month in total. **AXL Starter is $49 for this reference business**; usage above an allowance is billed at the published overage rate. ## What moves and what does not ### Moves cleanly - Students and contacts by CSV, matched on email and phone. - Products, prices and sales pages: rebuilt from their URL. - Contacts same day; one course in half a day to two. ### Does not move - **SCORM packages do not import into AXL.** Rebuild those lessons in native course blocks, or keep that specific content on a compatible LMS. - Progress, quiz and community history; videos re-upload. - Saved cards; ask us before you schedule the switch. **Check your renewal date first.** If your billing date was on or after 13 August, the new price applies at that renewal. ## What people ask before they switch ### Did Thinkific raise prices in 2026?+ Yes. Thinkific raised Basic, Start and Grow by about 10%, its first subscription increase since 2022. New monthly prices are $54, $109 and $219, effective from 13 August 2026. Expand stayed at $499. Existing non-profit and discounted accounts were exempt. ### Does Thinkific have an API for AI agents?+ The REST API and webhooks start on Grow at $219 a month. Thinkific MCP is Plus only, currently read-only and still rolling out, so it might not appear on every eligible account. AXL's MCP server is on every account and writes: [what an agent can do here](/content/ai-agent/index.html). ### Is AXL cheaper than Thinkific?+ Often, once you count the external email tool. In regions where Thinkific's gateway fee applies, Start is $109 a month plus 2% if you keep your own Stripe instead of using Thinkific Payments. AXL Starter is $49, includes an email allowance and automation, and takes 0% of revenue. ## Check your renewal date, then check the bill. Import your students, rebuild one course and send a nurture sequence to people who have not bought. Start free; paid plans start at $49/month with included usage and published overage.