What is Searchie?

What is Searchie?

Many of our clients are content creators and are always eager to learn more about new platforms that make engaging with followers and creating membership communities to access their paid content easier. Today we’ll explore Searchie, a platform that we’re hearing about frequently as a relatively new entrant to the world of content hosting apps.

 

So, what is Searchie?

Searchie is a course and membership platform designed so you can create, manage and sell your content on one platform. Searchie integrates with apps that you already use to store your content: Dropbox, Facebook, Google Drive, OneDrive and more so you can easily bring content onto the platform where it will be hosted for your members. It also allows you to create podcasts (audio and video) and record videos on the platform if you want to generate all of your content in one place.

 

What does Searchie cost?

Searchie offers a 7-day trial membership (one plus we found is that they don’t collect credit card information until the trial is over!), and then plans are available in Basic, Pro and Business depending on your needs. 

  • Basic plans allow you to build one course, or one membership hub and give you features like 5 hours of uploads a month, unlimited screen time and auto-generated transcripts. This plan costs $29/month.
  • Pro plans allow all of the Basic features, plus up to three hubs, 15 hours of uploads a month and access to analytics for $99/month.
  • Business plans allow all of the Basic and Pro features, and unlimited hubs, uploads, widgets and access to all premium tools and support for $166 per month.

In comparison, popular course and content creation website Kajabi’s account services range from $149 to $399 per month for varied features. In fairness, their base account allows creation of 3 products and funnels versus just one, but the startup costs are definitely higher.

 

Why would I choose Searchie over other platforms (Patreon, Kajabi, etc.)?

Searchie’s biggest differentiating feature is that it allows you to make your video content fully searchable. Members can search for certain content, down to specific terms, and Searchie will give them a list of results that include specific timestamps in videos where those terms occur, allowing them to access precisely what they want when they want it.

According to reviews, Searchie is simpler to use and adapt than other platforms, plus it offers features like automatically processing audio to generate transcriptions and closed captioning on your videos. This feature is what makes your content searchable so more people can find what they’re looking for.

Searchie also seems to be leading the way in accessibility. In addition to transcripts and closed captioning, it generates an audio only file if members prefer to listen to content in audio form. This means members can access videos, transcripts, closed captioning and audio files automatically no matter what their needs and preferences.

 

Why wouldn’t I want to choose Searchie?

Searchie’s primary focus is on video content. There are tons of great tools to build your membership community, but if you’re not creating audio or video, you could likely host your community elsewhere for less money (see our recent article Should I Start a Patreon?).  

 

We asked Lyric Kinard, founder of the Academy for Virtual Teaching what she thinks about Searchie: 

I haven’t tried Searchie personally yet. In my research the advantage is that it automatically creates captions and searchable transcripts from your video or audio content. That’s a really cool feature, although you can add transcription services into video creation for a very reasonable cost at rev.com or turn on CC for live Zoom classes. It’s a great niche to fill. You can use it for your full website, which is great if you want simple and quick templates, but it’s not as customizable as a platform like New Zenler. Searchie also hosts your videos. 

There are some cons though. You still need another email service like Mailchimp, while many of the platforms have that service built in. I find Searchie limited compared to all-in-one course creation platforms like New Zenler, Kajabi, or Thinkific.

Also, sometimes searchable video content isn’t enough to help a student who does not yet know what search words they need for the specific knowledge they want to access. So overall, Searchie is a very cool idea, but still a bit limited in use.”

 

If you’d like to strategize how to launch your own membership community and courses on Searchie (or any other platform) we’d love to work with you! Contact us today to get started.

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