Working with Zapier

Zapier is a tool that allows you to connect applications that aren't in our App Store, or expand the possibilities of your existing apps and integrations! If you are looking to tag users in your email marketing solution based on actions in Thinkific, create and enroll students who purchase outside of Thinkific and more, Zapier will help!

As of January 4, 2023, we are updating our Zapier integration from API Key Authentication to OAuth. Creators who have connected with Zapier and have active zaps prior to this date will be able to continue using the legacy version with the option to migrate later to the latest version of Zapier with OAuth. Check out Installing Zapier with OAuth for more information.

What is Zapier?

Zapier is a tool for creating automations between different web applications. By automating manual tasks, it makes your life easier and creates time for more productive pursuits. Zapier is a great alternative when a direct integration is not available - Zapier can also expand the functionality of existing integrations.

You can select from 1,500+ Apps to connect with one another.

Zapier is a third-party platform that you need to sign up for and purchase separately from Thinkific. Check out Zapier's plans and pricing options and see how you can connect Zapier to your Thinkific site.

Zapier is a great solution when there's no existing app for the tool you're using. But if you haven't, make sure to check out the Thinkific App Store — the app you want may already be supported directly!

What are Zaps?

A Zap is the name given to a connected action within Zapier. Each Zap is broken down into Triggers and Actions.

A Trigger is the first step of an event, which sends information to the Action app. If you have trouble remembering which is which, then think of it as "if trigger … then…action"

Examples

Save Gmail emails matching certain traits to a Google Sheet
Trigger: Gmail
Action: Google Sheet
Create a Google calendar event after submitting a Google Form questionnaire
Trigger: Google Form
Action: Google Calendar
Share new Facebook Page posts in Slack
Trigger: Facebook
Action: Slack

Triggers and Actions can be multidirectional depending on which application is sending and receiving information. For example, Gmail and Google sheets can both be used for similar, but different actions:

Thinkific has a range of different Triggers, Actions, and Search that any Zap can contain.

Triggers

You can use triggers in Zapier to send information out of Thinkific and into another app. This works well for automating tasks as a result of events on your Thinkific site.

We support the following Thinkific Triggers in Zapier:

New Order: Fires when a student places an order for a course, community, or bundle. Free courses do not generate an order if you use our two-page checkout however if you have opted into our single-page checkout, free courses will generate an order. If the order has a 100%-off coupon code applied, it still counts as an order (this applies to both checkouts).
New Free Preview Enrollment: Fires when a student enrolls in the free preview of a course. Free trials are differentiated from full enrollments.
New Full Enrollment: Fires when a student enrolls (or is manually enrolled) in the full version of a course. This excludes instances where a student is enrolled in Course Bundles.
Course Completed: Fires when a student completes their course by reaching 100% progress.
New User: Fires when a student signs up for a user account on your Thinkific site. This will fire regardless of whether the user also enrolls in a course.
Lesson Completed: Fires when a student completes a lesson (either a specific lesson or a percentage of lessons) in a particular course.
Subscription Cancelled: Fires when a student cancels an active subscription to a course or bundle.
New Lead: Fires when a new lead is created in Thinkific. Learn more about how to generate leads here and how to manage leads here.

Examples of Uses for Thinkific Triggers:

Add users to a specific mailing list when they sign up for your course using an Action app like AWeber, GetResponse, or MailChimp.
Update your CRM records when a user completes the course using an Action app like Capsule, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Zoho.
Add student data to a spreadsheet using Action apps like Smartsheet or Google Sheets.
Send a push notification to your phone when you receive a new order.

Actions

Actions are available on our Grow plan and higher. They allow you to send information in as well as out. For example, you can create a new user in your Thinkific account using an Action in Zapier.

The following Thinkific Actions are supported in Zapier:

Enroll User: Create a new user/student and enroll them in a specific course or bundle.
Unenroll User: End a student's enrollment in a specific course or bundle immediately or at a future date.

Examples of Uses for Thinkific Actions:

Create your sales funnel using external sales and checkout pages with a Trigger app like Ontraport, ClickFunnels, or Marketo and use the 'Enroll User' Action in Zapier to automatically add the user to your Thinkific account and enroll them into your course or bundle.
Charge varying tax rates, depending on your customer’s location using a Trigger app like Quaderno or Taxamo.
Take payment for multiple products at once using a shopping cart app like SamCart or Shopify.
Use a payment gateway other than Stripe or PayPal using a Trigger app like Alipay, Apple pay, or Braintree.
Unenroll a user upon completion of the course.
Update users:

In the case that the student already exists in Thinkific, Enroll User will update the existing student. The existing student can be enrolled in a new course or bundle, or their information can be updated (first name, last name), or an expiry date can be added to an existing enrollment. Adding an expiry date of the current day to an existing enrollment is how you can end a student’s enrollment. In addition, it can create a new student without any enrollments if no course or bundle is specified.

Search

Besides Triggers and Actions, you can also use search as an intermediary step in your Zaps:

Search User: Search for users in Thinkific by ID or email.
- Note: Search will return information on custom fields and students in Thinkific.

Examples of Uses for Thinkific Search:

Send Group-specific emails when a student enrolls and is a member of a Group
Update the contact in your CRM when a student enters information into a custom field (eg. location, interest)

Custom fields can’t be sent to Thinkific, but custom fields can be sent out of Thinkific to another application when a student signs up. As this is only available on initial sign up, this applies to the New User trigger only.

Explore Using Zapier and Thinkific

Zapier provides all the information you need to explore your options! You can get started with:

Pre-Made Zaps Click an app that you want to connect to Thinkific. Zapier's on-screen instructions will walk you through the rest of the process!
App Directory
Zapier Knowledge Base