Podia
Podia is an all-in-one creator commerce platform for courses, downloads, memberships and coaching, aimed squarely at solo sellers. It bills by tier and is the cluster's only standing free plan (1 product, 8% fee); paid tiers are flat-priced with unlimited products and 0% fees on Shaker and up.
Verified against: podia.compodia.com as of 2026-09-19
Quick verdict: Podia earns 4.0/5 in our research-based assessment — the cluster's entry point. A standing free plan, flat unlimited products on every paid tier, and 0% fees once you reach Shaker make it the cheapest real business in the set; the 39-89/mo band sits below everything else here. The ceiling is just as clear: no mobile apps, lighter course tooling and email that trails Kajabi. Pick Podia to launch a small shelf of products without a $150/mo commitment; pick Teachable for course depth, Thinkific for 0% fees at every tier, or Kajabi when the suite pays for itself. (Research sweep, no paid workspace tested.)
- Our rating: 4.0/5
- Strongest dimension: Usability (5/5, research only)
- Weakest dimension: Functionality (3/5, research only)
- Pricing: Free plan · $39/mo (monthly, Mover)
- Verification: Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-19. Sources: podia.com, podia.com
Podia pricing details
- Free plan available
- 30-day free trial
- paid plans from $39/mo (monthly, Mover)
- mover $39/mo · Shaker $89/mo · Earthquaker $166/mo (monthly)
- mover $33/mo · Shaker $75/mo · Earthquaker $159/mo (annual)
Podia bills by tier, never by student or product — every plan, free included, carries unlimited students and unlimited products. The free plan takes an 8% transaction fee; Mover at $33-39/mo drops the platform fee to 5% while bundling unlimited courses, downloads, webinars, coaching and basic email; Shaker at $75-89/mo removes fees entirely (0%) and adds affiliates, memberships and community.
In our index: Free plan available (1 product, 8% fee, no card); Mover $39/mo monthly ($33 annual, 5% fee) · Shaker $89/mo monthly ($75 annual, 0%) · Earthquaker $166/mo (annual, 0%); unlimited products on all tiers
How Podia scores across our 6 index dimensions
- Functionality: 3/5 (research only)
- Usability: 5/5 (research only)
- Stability: 4/5 (research only)
- Collaboration: 3/5 (research only)
- Localization: 3/5 (research only)
- Value: 5/5 (research only)
Score rationale: The cheapest real entry in the cluster — a standing free plan, flat unlimited products on every tier, and 0% fees once you reach Shaker (value 5/5). It is deliberately shallow: no native mobile apps, lighter quizzes/certificates than Teachable or Thinkific, and email tooling stops short of Kajabi (core 3/5). The right answer for solo creators selling a small shelf of products. No hands-on testing this round; figures from the official pricing page.
What Podia does well
- Only standing free plan in the cluster: 1 product, unlimited students, 8% transaction fee — no card required
- Flat pricing with unlimited products and students on every paid tier — the bill never scales with catalog size
- 0% platform fees from Shaker up; Mover's 5% is the only fee in the paid ladder
- Courses, downloads, webinars, coaching, memberships, affiliates and basic email in one dashboard (ease 5/5)
Where Podia falls short
- Deliberately shallow: no native mobile apps, and quizzes/certificates are lighter than Teachable or Thinkific
- Email tooling stops short of Kajabi's automation suite — serious funnels mean an add-on
- Community and memberships are capped to the Shaker/Earthquaker tiers
How Podia compares to other Online Courses tools
Our index tracks 5 Online Courses tools. Podia sits at 4.0/5, with mover $33/mo · shaker $75/mo · earthquaker $159/mo (annual). Here are the 4 closest alternatives we hold pricing and scoring evidence for.
- Kajabi — 4.2/5 · 14-day free trial · $143/mo (annual, Basic)
Kajabi is the all-in-one creator operating system: courses, coaching, podcasts, community, email marketing, landing pages and a website in one subscription. It bills by product and contact volume, and its January 2026 restructure removed the cheap Kickstarter entry — Basic is now the floor at $143/mo annual. - Thinkific — 4.1/5 · 30-day free trial · $40/mo (annual, Basic)
Thinkific is a hosted course platform that builds, markets and sells courses, communities and digital downloads without a developer. It bills by tier and is the cluster's standout on fees: 0% platform transaction fees on Start, Grow and Plus tiers, with a 5% surcharge on Basic — and the only cluster member whose free option is a 30-day full-featured trial. - Teachable — 3.9/5 · 7-day free trial · $39/mo (monthly, Starter)
Teachable is a course-first platform for selling self-paced courses, coaching and digital products with native iOS and Android student apps. It bills by product count, not by seat, and its entry tier carries a 7.5% transaction fee that drops to 0% at the Builder tier. - LearnDash — 3.8/5 · 48-hour live demo (no card) · $259/yr (Essentials, about $21.58/mo)
LearnDash is the WordPress LMS plugin: a one-time annual license you install on your own site, with unlimited courses and learners on every tier. It bills by license (Essentials / Pro / Elite per year), takes no cut of your sales, and is the only cluster member priced annually-only.
Frequently asked questions about Podia
How much does Podia cost?
Free plan available; 30-day free trial; paid plans from $39/mo (monthly, Mover); mover $39/mo · Shaker $89/mo · Earthquaker $166/mo (monthly); mover $33/mo · Shaker $75/mo · Earthquaker $159/mo (annual). Billing detail: Podia bills by tier, never by student or product — every plan, free included, carries unlimited students and unlimited products. The free plan takes an 8% transaction fee; Mover at $33-39/mo drops the platform fee to 5% while bundling unlimited courses, downloads, webinars, coaching and basic email; Shaker at $75-89/mo removes fees entirely (0%) and adds affiliates, memberships and community. Figures verified 2026-09-19.
Does Podia have a free plan?
Yes. Podia has a free tier; paid plans start at $39/mo (monthly, Mover).
What is Podia rated in our index?
Podia sits at 4.0/5 in our index, strongest on usability (5/5, research only) and weakest on functionality (3/5, research only). Podia earns 4.0/5 in our research-based assessment — the cluster's entry point. A standing free plan, flat unlimited products on every paid tier, and 0% fees once you reach Shaker make it the cheapest real business in the set; the 39-89/mo band sits below everything else here. The ceiling is just as clear: no mobile apps, lighter course tooling and email that trails Kajabi. Pick Podia to launch a small shelf of products without a $150/mo commitment; pick Teachable for course depth, Thinkific for 0% fees at every tier, or Kajabi when the suite pays for itself. (Research sweep, no paid workspace tested.)
What are the drawbacks of Podia?
Deliberately shallow: no native mobile apps, and quizzes/certificates are lighter than Teachable or Thinkific Email tooling stops short of Kajabi's automation suite — serious funnels mean an add-on Community and memberships are capped to the Shaker/Earthquaker tiers.
What does Podia do well?
Only standing free plan in the cluster: 1 product, unlimited students, 8% transaction fee — no card required Flat pricing with unlimited products and students on every paid tier — the bill never scales with catalog size 0% platform fees from Shaker up; Mover's 5% is the only fee in the paid ladder Courses, downloads, webinars, coaching, memberships, affiliates and basic email in one dashboard (ease 5/5).
How was Podia verified?
Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-19. Sources: podia.com, podia.com.
What are the alternatives to Podia?
We track Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific, LearnDash, Podia as the closest alternatives in our Online Courses index, and 4 head-to-head comparisons against Podia are available.