Mini Lessons Academy vs Teachable
Creating Your Course With AI vs Hosting a Course You've Made
Last updated October 2026
The Short Answer
- Both tools host and sell online courses.
- Mini Lessons Academy is a better match if you haven't built the course yet and want AI to create it from your expertise or documents, with landing pages, checkout, and email campaigns included.
- Teachable is a better match if your course is already made and you want a long-established place to host and sell it, with checkout that handles sales tax and VAT, and a low entry price on annual billing.
Homepage, November 2026
Built for
Experts who sell what they know
From $35/mo
Screenshot coming
Built for
Creators hosting a course they've already made
From $39/mo
Overview
How They Differ
Mini Lessons Academy and Teachable both host courses, enroll students, and take payments. The difference is how much of the course the tool creates for you.
Mini Lessons Academy is an AI course creator that turns your expertise, documents, or videos into a finished online course, then hosts it and sells it for you with Stripe checkout built in. Teachable is a course hosting and selling platform. Its AI can turn a short course description into an outline and "sample content," which Teachable presents as a way to get started.
This page uses each company's own website and help docs. Mini Lessons Academy publishes this page, so we've stuck to facts each company states about itself.
Before You Compare
Three Questions to Answer First
Is Your Course Already Made?
If your videos and lessons exist, you mostly need hosting (a place students log in and take the course) and checkout. If they don't, a tool that builds full lessons from your material will save the most time.
What Will You Start From?
Some AI tools only take a short text description. Others can build from your own PDFs, docs, or slides, which keeps the course closer to your method and voice.
What Will Each Sale Cost?
A transaction fee is the percentage a platform keeps from each sale. Payment processors charge their own separate fee. Also check product caps, the number of courses or products a plan allows.
Product
What Teachable Offers
Teachable is a long-established course platform for creators who want reliable hosting, checkout, and student management. It also sells coaching, memberships, and digital downloads.
- "Generate with AI" on every plan: turns a course description (up to 1,000 characters) into sections, lessons, "sample content," and a sales page
- AI quizzes, lesson summaries, subtitles, and translations into 70+ languages
- Teachable Payments checkout that handles sales tax and VAT, with 35+ local payment methods
- Upsells, order bumps, coupons, memberships, coaching, and digital downloads
Where Teachable Is Strongest
Proven Hosting and Checkout
Teachable has hosted and sold courses for many years, and its checkout handles sales tax and VAT for you.
Low Entry Price on Annual Billing
Starter is $29/mo billed annually ($39/mo monthly).
0% Transaction Fee on Builder and Up
when you use Teachable Payments.
Many Local Payment Methods
(35+), which helps if your buyers are in different countries.
Product
How MLA Works
Mini Lessons Academy is built for coaches, consultants, and subject matter experts who have the knowledge, and often the documents, but not a finished course. You can start from an idea, or upload PDFs, docs, slides, or a YouTube link. MLA builds a full course in minutes. MLA has 100,000+ courses created and an 83%+ completion rate.
- Upload your material, or start from an idea
- MLA builds lessons, quizzes, exams with AI grading, and speaker scripts around your content
- Edit every word, or ask Canvas mode for changes in plain language
- Publish with an auto-generated landing page, a storefront, and Stripe checkout
Where MLA Is Strongest
Builds the Full Course from Your Files
MLA writes complete lessons, quizzes, and exams from your PDFs, docs, slides, or a YouTube link. Teachable's AI works from a text description and produces sample content to build on.
Keeps Your Wording
A "keep my document" import option keeps your text as written instead of rewriting it.
Email Campaigns Included
MLA includes 10 to 100 email campaigns a month by plan. Teachable has no built-in email marketing and points to integrations instead.
No Product Cap
Unlimited courses, ebooks, students, and landing pages on every plan. Teachable allows 5, 10, or 50 products by plan.
Comparison
Feature Comparison: MLA vs Teachable
| Feature | Mini Lessons Academy | Teachable |
|---|---|---|
| Built mainly for | Creating a course with AI, then selling it | Hosting and selling a course you've made |
| Start from your own files | PDFs, docs, slides, YouTube link | The AI works from a text description |
| What the AI builds | Full course: lessons, quizzes, exams with AI grading, speaker scripts | Outline, sample lesson content, sales page; AI quizzes and summaries |
| Ebooks and audiobooks | Yes | Not mentioned on site |
| AI video | Slideshow, presenter, cinematic (allowance by plan) | AI subtitles and translations for your videos |
| Sell courses | Stripe | Teachable Payments (handles sales tax and VAT) |
| Platform fee per sale | 0% to 5% depending on your plan. See pricing | 7.5% on Starter; 0% on Builder and up with Teachable Payments |
| Products | Unlimited | 5 / 10 / 50 by plan |
| Upsells, order bumps, coupons | Coupons, bundles, and subscription tiers; no upsells or order bumps | Yes |
| Email marketing | Email campaigns, 10 to 100 a month by plan | Not built in; uses integrations |
| Certificates | With exams, every plan | Growth plan |
| SCORM export | SCORM 1.2 and 2004 | Native SCORM support, per Teachable's docs |
| Free plan or trial | 7-day free trial | Free plan. 7-day free trial |
Pricing
Pricing Side by Side
USD list prices. Teachable was running a promotion when checked, so check its site for current offers.
USDHustlers
$35/mo or $300/yr
Founders
$75/mo or $660/yr
Legends
$150/mo or $1,300/yr
Enterprise
Custom
7-day free trial on monthly plans. 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
USDStarter
$39/mo or $29/mo billed annually, 7.5% fee
Builder
$89/mo or $69/mo billed annually, 0% fee*
Growth
$189/mo or $139/mo billed annually, 0% fee*
List prices from Teachable's own pricing page.
What Is Limited Per Month
*With Teachable Payments.
- MLA: document uploads (35 / 100 / 300), videos, and audiobooks, plus a per-sale fee on Hustlers and Founders. Courses and students are unlimited.
- Teachable: products (5 / 10 / 50), certificates (Growth), and a 7.5% fee on Starter.
How to compare total cost: at $1,000 a month in sales, MLA Hustlers costs $35 plus a $50 fee, and Teachable Starter costs $39 plus a $75 fee (monthly billing). On the next plan up, both fees drop: MLA Founders charges 2%, and Teachable Builder charges 0% with Teachable Payments. Payment processing fees apply on both.
Who Each Fits
Choose MLA If / Choose Teachable If
Choose Mini Lessons Academy If
- You have expertise or documents but no finished course yet
- You want the course built from your own material, in your own words
- You want email campaigns without adding another tool
- You'd like an ebook, audiobook, or lead magnet from the same content
- You may need SCORM for corporate or school clients
For example: a therapist turning a client handout series into a self-paced course; a consultant packaging a workshop into a course and companion ebook.
Choose Teachable If
- Your course is already made, and you mainly need hosting and checkout
- You sell to buyers in many countries and want sales tax and VAT handled
- You want upsells, order bumps, and coupons at checkout
- You'd rather use your own email tool through an integration
- You want a low annual price for a small catalog
For example: a video creator moving a finished course to a dedicated platform; a creator selling one flagship course with coaching add-ons.
Your Decision
Which One Fits You
Mini Lessons Academy suits you if the course doesn't exist yet. Its AI builds it from your material, then hosts and sells it with marketing included.
Teachable suits you if the course is already made and you want an established place to host and sell it, with strong checkout features.
The question is whether you need help creating the course or only hosting it.
Some creators use MLA to build the course, ebook, or lead magnet from their material, then export it to host elsewhere. MLA exports PDF and DOCX on every plan, and SCORM on Founders and up. You can also embed a course page on another site with MLA's embed code (an iframe). Upload the files to Teachable lessons.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mini Lessons Academy a good Teachable alternative?
Yes, if you want AI to create the course. MLA builds full lessons, quizzes, and exams from your documents, and includes landing pages, Stripe checkout, and email campaigns. If your course is already finished and you want mature checkout features like order bumps and local payment methods, Teachable is a strong choice.
Can Teachable create a course with AI?
Partly. Teachable's "Generate with AI" turns a course description of up to 1,000 characters into sections, lessons, sample content, and a sales page. Teachable describes this as a starting point. It doesn't build from uploaded files.
Which costs less, Teachable or MLA?
On monthly billing, MLA Hustlers is $35/mo with a 5% fee, and Teachable Starter is $39/mo with a 7.5% fee. On annual billing, Teachable Starter is $29/mo and MLA Hustlers is $300/yr (about $25/mo). Teachable's Builder plan and up charge 0% with Teachable Payments; MLA's Legends plan charges 0%.
Does either have a free plan?
No. Teachable has a 7-day free trial. MLA has a 7-day free trial on monthly plans (annual plans have no trial) and a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
Does Teachable include email marketing?
Teachable doesn't include built-in email marketing; it points to integrations. MLA includes 10 to 100 email campaigns a month, depending on plan.
Do students finish courses built with Mini Lessons Academy?
Mini Lessons Academy reports an 83%+ completion rate across 100,000+ courses created. Short lessons, built-in quizzes, and a clear outcome for each module are part of how MLA structures every course.
Try Both With Your Own Material
Run the same document through each one and compare the drafts side by side.