What are New Zenler and Teachable?
Teachable and New Zenler are both popular platforms to create and market your online courses.
However, these two platforms cannot be directly compared.
New Zenler is an all-in-one platform that not only helps deliver and host your course but also creates a site, funnels, email marketing, plus a few more bells and whistles.
Teachable focuses solely on course hosting and selling with some light page-building features. But it's not meant to build a site or handle your email marketing needs as a course creator.
This is why we won't just do a feature comparison, but look at both holistically so that you can make the best decision for you.
New Zenler
New Zenler is an up-and-coming all-in-one online course platform. It's still in beta but has a lot to offer and is slowly building a base of raving fans who refer the platform to more users, as it can only be accessed by invite.
Feature/UX
Affordability
Community
Teachable
Teachable is possibly one of the most well-known course hosting platforms of its kind.
It's been around since 2014 and quickly became one of the most used in the market, boasting over 100,000 users.
Feature/UX
Affordability
Community
Features : New Zenler vs Teachable?
Here is a quick overview of the main features of both platforms, with differences bolded.
But let's break down each of these major features further so you can see what the main differences are.
Site & Page Builder
Now, Teachable isn't really a site builder, but it doesn’t pretend to be!
When it comes to pages, Teachable allows you to create some basic static pages (sales pages mostly) for you to lay out details about your course, but it's far from a real page builder.
Teachable Page editor
That's why most course creators use Teachable alongside another tool to build effective sales pages and a proper site (often WordPress or ClickFunnels).
On the other hand, New Zenler has a robust site/page building capabilities with a great front-end drag and drop editor.
You'll also be able to create site-wide and dynamic menus, headers and footers to easily create your site and funnels.
This also means full customization capabilities of the page layout and structure, which is something Teachable is lacking and makes you edit with a static framework.
On top of that, New Zenler offers a range of pre-made templates you can use for any type of page you want!
Thus, New Zenler is superior when it comes to page building.
Selling / Checkout
New Zenler will let you edit your checkout page to any degree you want, whereas Teachable will only allow for limited customization.
That said, both platforms allow for similar capabilities for pricing your programs (one-off, subscription, free and paid trial, etc.).
But Teachable does not allow for multiple pricing on the same checkout, whereas New Zenler does! Teachable does not allow for order bumps either.
But, both platforms have an easy set-up for one-click upsells.
You can also automatically handle your taxes if you enable it to calculate and add them to the price of your course at checkout (based on the user's location).
Both New Zenler and Teachable also have an affiliate program to help you spread the word about your courses!
They're rather similar and allow for flexibility with the affiliate commission and allowing them to create their own links to promote.
Teachable affiliate payouts are automatic, while New Zenler will have to be manual.
Course delivery
Delivering a great course experience is vital to your online courses in the long term, and you need a platform that can help you deliver excellent user experiences.
New Zenler's course feel is not the greatest and gives you limited control.
The only page you can properly edit is the course dashboard, which appears before your students get into the course content and modules.
Teachable doesn't offer much more control but does have a rather polished and good-looking library.
Both Teachable and New Zenler offer some type of learning support with quizzes and more.
But on that end, New Zenler is a bit ahead with actual assignments. Students can upload files you can correct and send back, as well as surveys, quizzes, and certificates.
Teachable remains limited with only right/wrong quizzes.
A good thing to notice about New Zenler is the ability to create SCORM compliant modules.
Overall, both platforms provide a rather static and basic course experience but New Zenler does have a few more bells and whistles to play with.
Email & Automations
As mentioned in the introduction, email automation is one of the biggest differences between New Zenler and Teachable.
New Zenler, as an all-in-one, does have an integrated email marketing system for you to manage your list, set up campaigns and automation.
Teachable doesn't; beyond the system notifications, the only emails you can send are to your current students that have already enrolled in a course.
It does mean that you'll probably have to use one of Teachable's native integration for email marketing. This, on top of potentially a proper funnel builder, can add to your investment.
Other feature
Beyond the main features of an online course platform we've already discussed, these additional features could nudge you one way or another when making a decision.
New Zenler has a few more features like a blog, a community forum you can build for your course members, and a live room feature.
These are all things Teachable simply doesn't have!
On the other hand, Teachable does have a cool coaching area that allows you to manage your coaching clients with things like milestones, assignments and call scheduling.
While these features might not make or break your decision, they are a place where the two platforms have major differences.
User Experience: New Zenler vs Teachable
The user experience can also make a difference in your choice of platform.
This comparison includes both from your point of view using the back-end, and the end-users going through the course.
New Zenler doesn't have a stellar UX when it comes to the back-end and feels a little clunky.
Things can be a little unintuitive, and a few elements would need some finishing touches (e.g. the icons have a bit of a cheap feel).
Although this doesn’t take away from a functioning site, since you're likely to spend quite some time there, it matters!
Teachable has a lot more minimalist and clean UX with a very intuitive flow and interface.
Now to be fair New Zenler, does have a few more features!
In terms of the end-user interface (for the students), things are pretty equal for both platforms, there's not a lot you can influence.
But, sometimes, the simple and easy to plug in Teachable approach can be enough to ensure a good user experience, even if you can't customize it much.
Pricing: New Zenler vs Teachable
Before comparing pricing across, it is important to understand what you are paying for.
New Zenler should handle pretty much all of your needs as a course creator. That means you will not need any external tools (apart from Stripe/PayPal and Zoom).
At first glance, Teachable is a cheaper option. However, you might also need to purchase a funnel builder and email marketing tool (which could add up to a few hundred dollars a month).
Also, note that New Zenler is still in beta and at a discounted price!
Both platforms offer an annual payment to save up. Here is the breakdown of cost:
- Teachable starts at $29/mo. (billed annually) with 5% transaction fees
- New Zenler starts at $54/mo. (billed annually) with 0% transaction fees
New Zenler has a free beta version you can start with to get your feet wet.
Teachable offers a 14 days free trial.
Community & Support: New Zenler vs Teachable
Here again it's about picking your battle!
The community and support you get when investing in an online course platform can make a big difference in your experience.
On the one hand, Teachable has a large community. With over 100k+ active users, it is probably the most used platform in the industry.
Teachable doesn’t have a Facebook group, but they do have an internal forum where you can meet fellow users.
With their forum, you'll have plenty of other course creators using the platform to talk to and help you along the way.
That said, Teachable customer support is notoriously poor.
Live chat is available during office hours, and you can also submit a ticket. But it typically takes a long time to get a response, and their customer service isn't always very useful.
On the other hand, New Zenler has a strong but still growing community. With a Facebook group of just over 5k+ people, you'll still get to talk with other users.
Plus, New Zenler support is helpful and responds quickly!
New Zenler Vs Teachable : The Bottom Line
New Zenler would be a better choice if?
Teachable would be a choice if?