Podia Alternatives

Thinkific is a hosted course school: lesson player, quizzes, checkout, student accounts and communities, all under your domain. Where Podia counts products (50 on Mover, 150 on Shaker), Thinkific lists unlimited courses on Start, Grow and Expand, and caps current students at 10,000 instead. Start costs $109 a month, or $82 a month billed annually; Grow is $219 a month or $164 billed annually.

Read against Podia, the annual Start price ($984 a year) lands just under Shaker ($1,008 a year), and Thinkific takes no extra cut when you use Thinkific Payments, priced around 2.9% like Stripe. That 0% holds only on Thinkific Payments: if you connect your own Stripe or PayPal, an extra third-party gateway fee applies, and it varies by plan. The other catch is the count that replaces products: admin seats. Start has 2, the site owner included, Grow 6 and Expand 15. If you want to see where Thinkific users go when they outgrow it, our Thinkific alternatives page covers that path.

Teachable sells courses, coaching, digital downloads and memberships from a hosted school, with iOS and Android student apps and global tax handling on every plan. Its ladder counts products: 5 on Starter, 10 on Builder, 50 on Growth. Starter costs $39 a month or $29 billed annually but takes a 7.5% transaction fee, which is higher than Podia Mover's 5%. Builder at $89 a month, or $69 billed annually, drops that fee to 0% when you use Teachable Payments. One counting rule helps: memberships, bundles and unpublished drafts do not count toward the product limit, so a 10-product cap stretches further than it looks.

That Builder price is the interesting number for a Podia user. Billed annually it is $828 a year, against $1,008 for Podia Shaker, the first Podia plan without a fee. You give up Podia's 150-product room but keep a built-in email tool, which Builder includes and Starter does not; you gain student apps on every tier. Our Teachable alternatives page shows what Teachable users weigh when they look the other way.

Circle started as community software and now bundles courses, live events, a website and member apps. Podia also has community spaces (25 on Mover, 100 on Shaker), but Circle is built around them: unlimited members, member directory, rich profiles and iOS, Android and desktop apps on every plan. Professional costs $89 a month, Business $199 and Scale $419, all prices based on annual billing.

Against Podia, Circle Professional sits between Shaker ($84 a month billed annually) and Earthquaker ($150). It also keeps a transaction fee where Podia drops one: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale. And email is not included: Circle's Email Hub is an add-on on Professional, Business and Scale, charged on top of the plan once you pass 100 contacts, with the first 30 days free. So it is not the fee escape route, and a Podia user with a newsletter should price that add-on first. It is the move for a creator whose members stay for the conversations. If you need member billing and access rules more than a social space, compare it with our membership management software ranking.

Systeme.io is an all-in-one builder for funnels, email, courses, blogs and affiliate programs. Its plans count contacts, funnels and courses rather than products. The free plan covers 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course, 1 blog and a custom domain, with unlimited email sends and no expiry. Startup costs $17 a month for 5,000 contacts and 5 courses, Webinar $47 for 10,000 contacts and 20 courses, Unlimited $97.

The comparison with Podia is blunt on email. Podia's top plan, Earthquaker at $150 a month billed annually, includes 1,000 email subscribers. Systeme.io's free plan includes 2,000 contacts, and every plan has 0% transaction fees. You trade polish: the course player is plainer, integrations are thinner (see the Systeme.io and Make integration for the gaps), and the free plan allows 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign. Canceling a paid plan is gentler than on Podia: the account drops back to the free plan instead of going offline. If you later leave Systeme.io, our guide to switching from Systeme.io lists the exits.

LearnWorlds is a course platform built for training: interactive video, assessments, certificates and SCORM uploads, with a white-label option higher up. Its plans count monthly active learners and admins. Starter costs $49 a month, or $44 billed annually, with 1,000 active learners, 1 admin and a $5 fee per course enrollment. Pro Trainer costs $99 a month or $79 billed annually with 2,000 active learners, 5 admins and no enrollment fee.

Read against Podia, Starter's fee works differently: $5 per enrollment instead of 5% of the price. On a $200 course that is 2.5%, cheaper than Mover; on a $29 course it is 17%. Billed annually, the two plans cost the same at 7 paid enrollments a month, and Pro Trainer is cheaper from the 8th. Two limits push you up anyway: SCORM uploads (20 packages) and certificates start on Pro Trainer, and all prices exclude VAT, which EU buyers without a VAT number pay on top. For a wider view of learning platforms, see our LMS platforms comparison.

Kajabi covers the same ground as Podia (courses, coaching, memberships, community, website, email and checkout), with deeper funnels and automations. Basic costs $179 a month, or $143 billed annually ($1,716 a year); Growth is $249 or $199; Pro $499 or $399. Kajabi takes a 0% revenue share and sends unlimited emails. Basic includes 2,500 contacts, 5 products, 1 website and 1 community.

Here is the number Podia users rarely run. Kajabi Basic billed annually costs $1,716 a year, less than Podia Earthquaker at $1,800, and it holds 2,500 contacts against Earthquaker's 1,000 email subscribers. The trade is products: 5 on Basic against unlimited on Earthquaker. Two Basic details the guides skip: the footer still shows "Powered by Kajabi" until Growth, and if you use your own payment processor where Kajabi Payments is offered, Kajabi adds a processing fee. Our Kajabi alternatives page shows what people give up when they leave it.

Payhip is a storefront for digital downloads and courses, with checkout handled for you. Every plan has all features, unlimited products and unlimited revenue; the plans differ by the fee they take. Free Forever costs $0 with a 5% transaction fee, Plus $29 a month with 2%, Pro $99 a month with no transaction fee. PayPal and Stripe still charge their standard rates on top.

Against Podia, Free Forever is Podia Mover's 5% fee without the $504 a year, and with no product cap. Moving up is a sales question: Plus beats the free plan above about $967 of monthly sales, Pro beats Plus above $3,500. What you lose is Podia's email tool and website polish: Payhip sends updates to your customers and can add buyers to a Mailchimp, ConvertKit or AWeber list, but sequences live in that other tool. For a wider look at download stores, see our best platforms to sell digital products.

Gumroad is a checkout and storefront for digital products, with no subscription at all. It takes 10% plus $0.50 per transaction on sales through your profile or direct links, and 30% when a new customer finds you through its Discover marketplace. Gumroad acts as merchant of record, so it collects and remits sales tax for you, which removes a job most small sellers dread.

Read against Podia, the price is all variable. A $49 template costs you $5.40 per sale, which is more than Podia Mover's 5% ($2.45) but with no $504 yearly bill. Card processing (2.9% plus $0.30) comes on top of direct sales, while the 30% Discover fee already includes it. Against Payhip Plus at $29 a month, Gumroad stops being cheaper at about seven $49 sales a month (around $320). One perk the guides skip: once your paid sales pass $20,000 in a calendar month, new direct sales that month drop to 5% plus $0.50, with no application. If you already sell there and want out, our switching from Gumroad guide covers the next step.