Expand the reach of your courses with Thinkific Apps; these third-party applications can provide a variety of new features and improvements, and help you deliver the best possible experience to your students!
In this article:
Why does Thinkific have an App Store?
Installing an App from the Store
Theme Extension and Site Script Apps
About Thinkific Apps
What is a Thinkific App?
“App” is short for “application”, meaning a program or a piece of software. Thinkific Apps are pieces of software that work seamlessly with Thinkific. Just like Android or iOS apps work effortlessly with your phone without the need to do any complex set-up; Thinkific Apps have been built to work effortlessly with Thinkific.
All Thinkific Apps can be installed with a few clicks and no technical knowledge required; they are then easy to customize and get working for you. You can also think of apps as ‘next-generation integrations’ that are nicely packaged and require no technical expertise to set up and use.
What do Thinkific Apps do?
Thinkific Apps add new features and options that you can leverage to help build, sell, and deliver your online courses. Apps allow third-party developers to contribute to the Thinkific platform, and add specialized functionality or features that are well-suited to your specific approach to online education. You can browse all available apps in our App Store.
Why does Thinkific have an App Store?
We understand that our team can only do so much to meet all of the needs of the amazing course creators on the platform. While we would love to build everything, there are constraints that prevent us from doing so - which is where the Thinkific App Store comes in. We pride ourselves on developing the best core product, that our app developer partners can then enhance through apps!
Using the Thinkific App Store, we have effectively extended the functionality of Thinkific to better meet the needs of you: the course creator. Our wonderful partners have seen pain points and listened to creators to inform the apps that they build.
Take a look and see if there is an app for you!
Thinkific App Categories
We have apps for all aspects of your online course business to enhance the experience for course creators and students. Check out the great categories currently available:
- Selling & Conversion - Boost conversion and sell more courses
- Email & Marketing - Reach more people and manage your audience
- Learning Experience - Provide a richer learning experience for your students
- Site Design - Optimize your site with a range of powerful site sections and pages
- Engagement & Assessment - Increase engagement and improve learning outcomes for your students
- Connections & Social - Create personal connections and showcase social proof
- Business Operations - Manage your business and streamline operations
How It Works
Installing an App from the Store
You can find apps to install by browsing the Thinkific App Store, or by following a direct installation link from the app's developer. The first step of every installation is the same: Thinkific will ask you to confirm that you are giving the app permission to access your Thinkific site. Some apps will also ask for permission to add scripts or code to specific pages on your site.
After you confirm and continue, the installation will continue through a series of steps that are specific to each application. Some apps will be very simple to install, while others may require multiple steps. Apps that integrate with third-party websites or other external applications may require that you set up a corresponding account on that website.
Once the installation is complete, the new app will appear in the Apps section of your Thinkific admin dashboard, where you can access further settings and support for that particular app.
For more detailed instructions on how to install, configure, and uninstall Thinkific Apps, please read our article on Managing Your Thinkific Apps.
Who is responsible for apps?
Most apps are built by third-party developers and Thinkific Partners.
These developers register their app with Thinkific as they build and test them, and then submit them to the App Store. All apps in the Thinkific App Store have been reviewed by the Thinkific team for quality assurance and security purposes.
If you are having an issue with a specific application, you can find support resources on your Apps page.
Interested in developing your own apps for Thinkific? Read more about becoming an App Developer.
Theme Extension and Site Script Apps
Some apps will include new sections that you can add to your website using Site Builder. These sections will appear when adding a section to an applicable page, at the bottom of the list of sections. Apps also have the ability to add Site Scripts to enhance site functionality!
Read more about Theme Extension and Site Script Apps
Getting Help With Your Apps
The apps in our App Store are created by third-party developers, and the help resources they have created are generally the best place to start. If you are having trouble figuring out how to use an app, or something is not working as expected, you have a few options to get help:
- Every app in the Thinkific App Store will include a link to external help documentation that the developer has created to support the app. You can find this link on the individual app's settings page, located on the Apps page in the Thinkific admin panel.
- If you aren't able to find what you are looking for, and you need additional support with an app, reach out to our support team.
Managing Thinkific Apps
For more detailed instructions on how to install, configure, and uninstall Thinkific Apps, please read our article on Managing Your Thinkific Apps.
Important Considerations
- Apps are available on all Thinkific plans, however, some apps may also make use of specific features that are only available on higher-tier plans; for example, an app that lets you do cool things with Groups will only be useful if you are on a Pro+Growth plan. If a particular plan is required for an app, it will be listed under the Requirements section on its page in the app store.
- While we review every app before it is added to the Thinkific App Store, third-party apps can also be installed directly off a developer's site. These apps are not necessarily reviewed by Thinkific, so make sure you understand what the app will do before installing it on your site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to pay extra for apps? How much does an app cost?
Apps can have a range of prices, from free to not-so-free. Some apps may be free to install, but also require that you have an account with a related service; for example, many integrations work this way.
The price for an individual app is set by the developer, and will be clearly listed along with any requirements on that app's details page in the App Store.
Where did my integrations go? Why is everything an app now?
With the recent introduction of the App Store, we have moved a lot of our existing integrations into the store, and updated them to use the new app installation workflow. We also created a new top-level Apps page in the Thinkific Admin dashboard, and removed the old Integrations section under Market & Sell.
Previously, our integrations mostly relied on public API key access, which resulted in a technical, sometimes confusing installation experience. As part of the new App Store, we created a completely new security framework to allow third-party apps to access necessary account information without using the API, making for a much easier and more secure process.
Once we had that new framework in place, it made sense to update our own integrations to use the new authorization process, and add them to the app store. This way, everything can be consistent moving forward: whether it's built by a third-party developer or created internally by our Thinkific teams, you'll see it as a new app in the store, and know exactly what to expect when installing.