Podia vs Teachable
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
Teachable is a course platform first: curriculum builder, quizzes, certificates, coaching products and a student experience tuned for structured learning. Podia is a broader creator storefront: courses, digital downloads, webinars, memberships, email marketing and a website builder in one account, with a simpler course builder. If teaching is the product, Teachable's course tooling is deeper. If you sell a mix of downloads, community access and the occasional course, Podia bundles more of that under one roof.
Podia is the pick when
- you sell downloads, memberships and webinars, not only courses
- you want email marketing and a website in the same tool
- a simpler builder is worth more to you than deep course features
Teachable is the pick when
- structured courses with quizzes, completion certificates and drip schedules
- coaching or cohort products alongside self-paced courses
- you want the platform many students already recognise
Written by hand from both vendors’ own documentation, checked 2026-09-15. Sources: Teachable, Podia. Prices below come from the pricing we track. How we score tools.
What Podia is
What Podia isPodia is an all-in-one platform for creators looking to sell online courses, digital downloads, and memberships. It replaces the need for a separate website builder, email marketing tool, and checkout system. Designed with simplicity in mind, Podia allows you to set up your entire digital storefront in a matter of hours. Its clean, professional interface and friendly customer support make it a favorite for educators and influencers who want to focus on their content rather than technical headaches.
What Teachable is
What Teachable isTeachable is a leading online course platform that allows creators to build and sell professional-grade educational content. It focuses on providing a world-class student experience with its clean, structured course player and native payment processing. Teachable handles all the technical aspects like hosting and tax calculations, allowing you to focus on teaching. With powerful features for coaching and bulk user management, it is a trusted choice for both independent educators and large training organizations.
Side by side
| Podia | Teachable | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce | E-commerce |
| How to start | $84/moverified | $29/moverified |
| Public API | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | Yes |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | No |
| SSO (SAML) | No | No |
| Visit | Podia ↗ | Teachable ↗ |
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What Podia is built to do
- Digital Downloads
- Sell PDFs, cheat sheets, and videos easily with instant delivery.
- Course Builder
- Create beautiful, structured online courses with video and quiz support.
- Email Marketing
- Send broadcasts and automated sequences to your entire customer list.
- Webinars
- Host live events and sell tickets directly through your storefront.
What Teachable is built to do
- Course Player
- A structured, distraction-free environment for students to consume your content.
- Coaching Module
- Sell one-on-one coaching sessions and manage bookings in one place.
- Bulk Student Import
- Easily migrate your students from other platforms with one click.
- Certificates
- Automatically issue professional certificates to students who complete your course.
Choose Podia if
- Creators selling courses, downloads and memberships from one flat-priced site
- Anyone who wants to test the whole product first — there is a 30-day full-feature trial
- Sellers with enough volume that dropping the 5% cut pays for the higher tier
Skip Podia if
- You want a free plan — Podia has none; the entry tier is $42/mo
- You are on Mover and selling steadily: it takes a 5% cut on top of Stripe/PayPal's 2.9% + 30¢
- Your sales are occasional; a flat $42/mo before any revenue is a lot of runway
Choose Teachable if
- Course creators who want hosting, payments and a student experience in one place
- Sellers with enough volume to justify skipping the transaction cut
- Trying it first: 7-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee
Skip Teachable if
- You start on Starter and sell steadily — Teachable takes 7.5% of every sale on top of card fees
- You want a free plan; there is none, only a trial
- You are comparing on the sticker price: dropping the 7.5% cut means Builder at $69/mo annual
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
Podia: pros & cons
- Ultra Simple: One of the easiest platforms to set up and start selling.
- No Transaction Fees: You keep all your earnings on most paid plans.
- All-in-One: Includes email marketing and site building in one subscription.
- Great Support: Known for having some of the most helpful human support in the industry.
- Limited Customization: You cannot change every detail of your site's design.
- Basic Funnels: Marketing automation features are less advanced than Kajabi.
- No Community App: Lacks a dedicated mobile app for student engagement.
Teachable: pros & cons
- Great Student Experience: A polished course player that students rarely complain about.
- Tax Handling: Automatically handles VAT and sales taxes for your sales.
- Affiliate Marketing: Built-in tools to let others sell your courses for you.
- Native Payments: Their own payment system (Teachable:pay) is very reliable.
- Transaction Fees: High fees on the free and basic plans can cut into profits.
- No Site Builder: Not designed to be a full website, just a course storefront.
- Basic Email: Requires an external tool like ConvertKit for serious email marketing.
Our verdict on Podia
Enough features to sell courses and memberships without the setup burden of a larger platform.
Our verdict on Teachable
A solid, dependable platform with a primary focus on high-quality course delivery.
Published plans, side by side
Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page and is shown with the sentence it came from. Where a vendor publishes no plan prices, we say so rather than guess.
Podia
- Shaker$84/mo
Shaker $84/mo with no Podia fees
- Earthquaker$150/mo
Earthquaker $150/mo with no Podia fees
Teachable
No published plan prices verified. Teachable either quotes on request or renders its prices in a way we could not read from the pricing page.
Podia vs Teachable: common questions
- Is Podia cheaper than Teachable?
- Teachable is the cheaper entry point at $29/mo, against $84/mo for Podia. Both figures come from the vendors' own pricing pages.
- Does Podia or Teachable have a free plan?
- Podia has no free plan listed, while Teachable has no free plan listed.
- What is the difference between Podia and Teachable?
- On the criteria we check, only Teachable has public api and mobile app. The table above lists every criterion side by side.