No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

Google Classroom vs Thinkific Plus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Google Classroom
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.0
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Thinkific Plus
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
22nd
Average Rating
5.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Google Classroom is 2.2%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thinkific Plus is 0.9%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Classroom2.2%
Thinkific Plus0.9%
Other96.9%
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Sanket-Shinde - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer at a insurance company with 10,001+ employees
Seamless collaboration has improved how I manage assignments, deadlines, and class resources
Google Classroom has the very best feature of assignment workflow, which is its core strength. I can create it, assign it, submit it, and have a grade on it all in one flow, so there is nothing to be changed. It also has real-time collaboration, allowing multiple students to work on the same documentation or assignment simultaneously, and the teacher can also see that and comment live. It has an automatic file management system where I can save my work, which is important because sometimes I do an assignment and forget to save, losing those assignments. This feature includes built-in video learning, allowing me to directly join classrooms via Google Classroom. It also supports Google Forms, Google Slides, and is very mobile-friendly. Google Classroom has reduced time in task tracking because I can have clear ownership and deadlines for everything. It has helped me to appreciate structured workflows by ticketing systems and improved collaborations, allowing many people to work together. I can understand that time has also been reduced. It has a limited impact on deep technical skills, but that is also good. It has helped me to understand structured workflow and utilize real-time features through Google Docs and Drive.
Carlos Da Silva - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at a comms service provider with 1-10 employees
Supports assessment creation but needs gamification and automation
I used it mainly for clients that worked in the school industry, taking their educators through content or a course concept It had options where you could create quizzes and assessments and upload PDFs. These features were beneficial in structuring educational content. Some of the limitations…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The features I found most valuable in Google Classroom are live chatting, sending messages, notifications, and accessing documents, which is very easy, simple, and user-friendly."
"Using Google Classroom has saved significant time by centralizing content, communication, and feedback in one location."
"The customer service and support are very good."
"If you're only looking at it from the standpoint of assigning a unique copy to students and giving out information, then Google Classroom is the best."
"What I like about Google Classroom are the video lessons. I enjoy using it because it makes my life easier, for example, I can easily change my class and my lecture notes."
"Google Classroom is simple to use."
"I would definitely recommend this product, especially for K12 schools, because as an online solution it is very simple and very easy, and even year three, four, or five students can manage to go there and log in without any problem."
"The most valuable features of Google Classroom are the meetings, mark book, and assignments."
"User management is good in Thinkific Plus. The solution has nice features like certifications and email notifications."
"It had options where you could create quizzes and assessments and upload PDFs."
 

Cons

"There's room for improvement in the offline functionality. When you're working with a class, you can't close the class or perform certain tasks when you're offline."
"They have recently embedded Google Meet with it, but Google Meet needs to be improved. It is not like Zoom, which has a lot more functionality."
"Google Classroom could improve by being easier to use. For example, making it functional with only a few buttons. It's difficult to know how to connect with students and make a link and share it with them. I found it difficult, and this is why I didn't continue using it. Additionally, it should be available to be downloaded to the desktop for use, similar to Zoom."
"The initial setup of Google Classroom is straightforward. The deployment took us two to three months because we had to train the faculty."
"Google Classroom could improve by having better integration with other platforms, such as Google Meet."
"The stability could be improved."
"The initial setup is not very easy. It has modern complexity."
"Students used to have points that were accumulated and the letter grades, such as A's, B's, C's, et cetera. Google Classroom should add a feature by which you can toggle in between both of them."
"The solution doesn't have too many templates. There are only three templates."
"Some of the limitations are the lack of gamification and automation, which we considered important."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."
"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."
"Google Classroom is a free solution. There is paid version that has more options, the cost is approximately eight dollars per student per month."
"For Google Classroom, you don't need to pay for its license because they offer free access to the platform."
"The tool is available for free."
"If you do a certain size and build, it's like any Google solution. You have to pay for storage, but you don't need to pay extra to use the interface. There may be Google Classroom partners that provide more integrated solutions, but I don't know. I'm strictly DIY."
"The product is free."
"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Learning Management Systems (LMS) solutions are best for your needs.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
16%
University
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise12
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Google Classroom?
The integration with Google Workspace is great because we have many tools such as Google Meet, Google Sheets, and Google Drive. However, the space is very limited. We purchased extra space until it...
What is your primary use case for Google Classroom?
I'm not creating classrooms using Google Classroom, as I join courses that other professors have created. Our university works with Outlook and Teams, but I still use Google Classroom when joining ...
What advice do you have for others considering Google Classroom?
I don't have experience with grading rubrics or to-do lists in Google Classroom. Most of my work involves Google Classroom, Google Sheets, Word, shared documents, and Gmail. The log files and live ...
What needs improvement with Thinkific Plus?
Some of the limitations are the lack of gamification and automation, which we considered important. These were areas where I felt the product could improve.
What is your primary use case for Thinkific Plus?
I used it mainly for clients that worked in the school industry, taking their educators through content or a course concept.
What advice do you have for others considering Thinkific Plus?
Overall, I would rate Thinkific a three or four out of ten. With the affordability, you get a lower level of quality.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Google Classroom is used in major urban school districts throughout the United States, including: * Los Angeles Unified School District * Chicago Public Schools * New York City Department of Education * Houston Independent School District * Miami-Dade County Public Schools * Dallas Independent School District * Broward County Public Schools * Clark County School District (Las Vegas) * Philadelphia School District
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Google Classroom vs. Thinkific Plus and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.