Hotmart vs Teachable 2026: Fees, Pricing and Which One to Pick

Hotmart and Teachable represent the two philosophies of selling courses online: the commission-based marketplace with an army of affiliates ready to sell for you, versus the flat-fee school under your own brand where every student is fully yours. The right choice hangs on three variables: how much you sell, where your students live, and who generates your traffic. Getting it wrong costs you either 10% of everything forever, or monthly fees for an empty store. Here are the numbers without the sales pitch.

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The numbers, side by side

Indicative data, July 2026. Both adjust plans often; verify before deciding.

The break-even math (run it with your numbers)

With Teachable’s mid plan (~$99/month, reduced fees) against Hotmart’s ~10%:

• Selling $500/month → Hotmart costs ~$50, Teachable ~$99 plus processing. Hotmart wins.
• Selling $1,000/month → roughly a tie.
• Selling $3,000/month → Hotmart ~$300, Teachable ~$99-150. Teachable wins, and the gap grows with every sale.

Rule of thumb: below ~$1,000/month in sales, Hotmart; above it, Teachable, IF the traffic is yours. Because one variable breaks the whole equation.

The variable that changes everything: who brings the student?

• If your traffic is your own (audience, email list, webinars, Instagram): Hotmart’s commission is a toll with nothing behind it. You are paying 10% for a checkout. Teachable hands that margin back.
• If you have no audience yet: Hotmart’s affiliate marketplace is a real sales channel Teachable simply doesn’t have. An affiliate selling your course for a 30-40% cut is still profitable; it is pure performance-based acquisition with zero risk. For a creator starting from nothing, this can be the difference between selling and not selling.
• The honest caveat about affiliates: the marketplace genuinely works in hot niches (marketing, finance, personal development). In cold or very specific niches, affiliates won’t show up on their own; you would carry the commission without the army.

Where your students live matters (a lot)

• US/UK/Europe: roughly a tie on payments; Teachable wins on branding and control.
• Latin America and Brazil: Hotmart wins by a mile. PIX in Brazil, OXXO in Mexico, local currencies and card-free installments. A meaningful share of the LatAm market literally cannot pay you through Stripe. If you teach in Spanish or Portuguese, or your audience skews LatAm, this alone decides it.
• Mixed: running the same course on both (Hotmart for LatAm and affiliates, Teachable for your direct English-speaking audience) is legitimate and fairly common, at the cost of managing two student areas.

Student experience and branding

• Teachable: your domain, your design, your sender address. The student lives in YOUR school. For premium or B2B training, that sustains your pricing.
• Hotmart: the student enters through Hotmart’s ecosystem (their app, their account). Familiar and trusted for the LatAm public, but your brand rides in the back seat, and marketplace cross-promotion can put your student in front of other people’s courses.

Verdict

• First course, no audience, hot niche: Hotmart. Zero fixed risk and the only sales channel that doesn’t depend on you.
• Creator with an audience selling $1,000-1,500+/month: Teachable. Reclaim the margin and build the brand.
• LatAm audience central to your business: Hotmart, almost by default, because of local payments.
• High-ticket training ($300+) with a curated brand: Teachable.
• Either way: build your email list from day one. It is the only asset that travels with you if you ever switch platforms.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Hotmart take per sale? Around 9.9% plus a small fixed transaction fee. If the sale comes from an affiliate, add the commission you offered them (typically 30-50%).

Does Teachable have a free plan? A very limited entry tier with high per-sale fees, useful only for testing. Selling seriously starts at ~$39/month.

Who handles sales tax and VAT? Hotmart acts as merchant of record and settles international taxes for you, a huge simplification if you sell across borders. On Teachable more of that responsibility sits with you; talk to your accountant if you sell internationally at volume.

Can I migrate from one to the other? Student emails, yes. Content must be re-uploaded and active students re-enrolled, which is a delicate communication. Better to decide well today than migrate under pressure tomorrow.

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