Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

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)
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Thinkific Plus
Ranking in Learning Management Systems (LMS)
23rd
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 March 2026, in the Learning Management Systems (LMS) category, the mindshare of Google Classroom is 2.8%, down from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Thinkific Plus is 0.9%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Learning Management Systems (LMS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Google Classroom2.8%
Thinkific Plus0.9%
Other96.3%
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
 

Featured Reviews

Wafaa Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
Professor at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
User-Friendly Platform with Valuable Features but Needs Improvement in Pool of Questions and Statistics
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 reached 100 gigabytes. I have been using Google since having a Gmail account in 2001 when I was a student. Google Classroom allows me to make quizzes and assignments for students with random ordering, but I would appreciate having a pool of questions feature. For example, having 1000 questions and extracting 20 for each student would allow every student to have a different version. Currently, while using quizzes, every question appears to every student, though the order might differ. Adding the pool of questions would be beneficial. Having statistics while students take their exams would be helpful - showing how many students submitted, how many are in progress, and how many have not started the quiz. Having a log file to track students who opened documents would be valuable. In Moodle, I can see which students opened files, downloaded them, or watched videos. This feature is not available in Google Classroom, which is why I prefer other applications with more powerful statistics to trace student performance.
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 most valuable features of Google Classroom are the meetings, mark book, and assignments."
"When a teacher uploads material, all students connected to that class will receive the same information at the same time. I have found this to be a valuable feature. I also like that the material remains in Google Classroom until the teacher removes it. The UI is user-friendly, and you don't have to have prior experience to use the solution."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability for the lecturer to put in work. Additionally, the work can be graded after completion, and there can be feedback provided through the system which has a good interface."
"Google Classroom is very effective for communication and excellent for assigning homework and resources."
"The most valuable feature of Google Classroom is the ability to share my lectures with many students, assign tasks to be completed, and overall student engagement."
"What I liked most about Google Classroom is it was very easy to communicate with the students and simple for me to learn even though it was the first time I was using it. I was able to learn the features very well by navigating through the different discussions forums and becoming proficient, not necessarily a master but knowledgeable in using the solution. The ease of use was the best feature."
"Google Classroom is simple to use."
"The product is easy to use."
"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

"We found that Google Classroom is it is missing a lot in current engagement. We know it has got guardian access, where it sends the reports to the guardian at the end of either the week or the month, depending on how you set it. However, it lacks collaboration between the teacher, student, and parents. The engagement is mostly between the student and the teacher. If you have a school similar to ours, where you're dealing with little children where the parent is supposed to be engaged, you need a system that can engage them as well. It's good for senior students, but not for our students."
"There are some websites where you can create activities and guide students to do them in a sequence. You can guide them to do an activity first and then go to the next one. You can automatically link activities, and there is a flow, but in Google Classroom, you don't have that feature. All you can do is put the material and tell students what to do. For example, I have an assignment, but I want my students to read a particular text before that. They need to tick it, or they need to click next before they start doing the activity. After that, I want them to do comprehension questions or something else. In Moodle, there are activities such as assignments, quizzes, etc. There is a lesson module in which you can put all of the activities in a flow. So, you can decide what they need to do first. If students answer a question incorrectly, you can decide and design to which page do they need to go next, and which part do they need to review. This is currently missing in Google Classroom."
"I like Google Classroom the way it is, but an area for improvement could be its dashboard."
"This feature is not available in Google Classroom, which is why I prefer other applications with more powerful statistics to trace student performance."
"The solution's GUI is an area of concern currently that can be considered for improvement in the future."
"The user interface of Google Classroom could improve by being more user-friendly."
"I would like to see a master list of documents with folder names so that it is more convenient for students to know whether they have submitted a particular document. At present, you need to go to each classroom to check what you have submitted."
"Google Classroom could benefit from tools that help correct coding errors for students, thereby enhancing learning."
"Some of the limitations are the lack of gamification and automation, which we considered important."
"The solution doesn't have too many templates. There are only three templates."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price of Google Classroom has been reasonable."
"Google Classroom is free to use."
"Google Classroom is a free solution. There is paid version that has more options, the cost is approximately eight dollars per student per month."
"I'm using a free version of Google Classroom, so it's a product I don't pay for."
"There are competitors that offer free solutions, making the price of Google Classroom high."
"The tool is available for free."
"I use the free version of Google Classroom."
"My child's school made payments on a subscription-based model to use Google Classroom."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Learning Management Systems (LMS) solutions are best for your needs.
884,797 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
19%
University
15%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Marketing Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise10
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: March 2026.
884,797 professionals have used our research since 2012.