Comparisons

7 Best Podia Alternatives in 2026, Compared on Fees

Outgrowing Podia's included email subscribers or its 5% Mover fee? Seven alternatives compared on price, fees, payouts and what you'd give up.

Ijharul Islam October 30, 2026 11 min read

Podia is one of the friendliest all-in-ones: courses, downloads, coaching, a community, live events, email and a website, at $49, $99 or $179 a month. The friction comes as you grow: a 5% fee on Mover, 100, 500 or 1,000 included email subscribers before a paid add-on, affiliates, upsells and PayPal only from Shaker, and no student app.

Here are seven alternatives compared on price, what each takes from your sales, how each pays you and what you'd give up by leaving Podia.

The short answer

The best Podia alternative depends on what's pinching. For 0% fees and your own Stripe with stronger course tools (quizzes, assignments, certificates), Klasira. For student apps and tax handled, Teachable. For more scale, Thinkific or Kajabi. For a free plan, Payhip or systeme.io. For selling mainly from a link in bio, Stan Store.

Key takeaways

Podia costs $49, $99 or $179 a month ($42, $84 or $150 billed yearly), with a 14-day trial and no free plan.
Mover charges 5% per sale; Shaker and Earthquaker charge 0%. Plans include 100, 500 or 1,000 email subscribers; bigger lists cost extra as an add-on.
Klasira, Stan Store and systeme.io charge 0% on every plan; Payhip's free plan charges 5%, like Mover, with no monthly fee.
Coaching, a community and live events on every Podia plan are hard to match at $49, so check those before you move.

Disclosure: we make Klasira, one of the platforms on this list. Every other product's details come from its own public pages, checked in October 2026 and linked at the end. We include each one's real strengths, and say who it suits better than us.

How we compared them

We picked the platforms Podia users most often move to, from bigger course platforms to cheaper stores, and checked each one's pricing and help pages in October 2026. We compared monthly price, fees per sale, payouts, email limits and whether students get an app.

At a glance

Platform	Price	Transaction fee	How you're paid	Student app
Podia	$49, $99 or $179 a month ($42, $84 or $150 yearly)	5% on Mover; 0% above	Your own Stripe or PayPal (PayPal on Shaker and up)	No
Klasira	See Klasira's pricing; 0% transaction fees	0%	Your own Stripe account, on Stripe's schedule	No
Teachable	$39, $89 or $189 a month ($29, $69 or $139 yearly)	7.5% on Starter; 0% above	Teachable Payments, daily (about 2 business days after a sale)	Yes, iOS and Android
Thinkific	$109, $219 or $499 a month ($82, $164 or $374 yearly)	0% on Thinkific Payments; 0.5% to 2% on direct Stripe	Thinkific Payments daily (2 business days in the US), or your own Stripe	Branded app as a $199/month add-on
Kajabi	$179, $249 or $499 a month ($143, $199 or $399 yearly)	0% on Kajabi Payments or PayPal; 0.5% to 2% on other processors	Kajabi Payments, monthly with a 7-business-day delay for new accounts	Yes; branded app on Pro
Payhip	Free, $29 or $99 a month	5% on Free; 2% on Plus; 0% on Pro	Straight to your PayPal or Stripe after each sale	No student app found
systeme.io	Free, $17, $47 or $97 a month	0% on every plan	Your own Stripe or PayPal (other gateways too)	None found
Stan Store	$29 a month (Creator) or $99 (Creator Pro); $300 or $948 a year	0%	Through Stripe or PayPal (their fees apply); cash out from $10	Not applicable (a storefront)

The platforms, one by one

1. Klasira

Best for: Creators who want a designed school, 0% transaction fees and every sale paid into their own Stripe account
Price: See Klasira's pricing; 0% transaction fees. Fee: 0%.

Klasira is a new course platform. Against Podia, its edge is the teaching side: quizzes graded automatically with a pass mark, attempt limits and explanations; assignments you approve or send back with feedback; certificates with a public verification link; drip schedules; and course insights that show how many students finish each lesson.

On the selling side it has courses, downloads, subscriptions, bundles and payment plans, coupons, an order bump and one-click upsells, PayPal on one-time offers, an affiliate program, coaching calls booked from your availability, and a community with a discussion under every lesson. Every student is a CRM contact for email automations. Klasira takes 0% and pays each sale into your own Stripe account; plan prices and limits are on its pricing page.

What it lacks against Podia: no live events or webinars, no app, no free migration service (students come over by CSV and courses are rebuilt), and no long track record.

Where it shines: Stronger course tools, 0% fees and your own Stripe, designed themes.

Watch out for: New; no live events, app or migration service; you handle tax registration and filing yourself.

2. Teachable

Best for: Creators who want student apps and tax handled for them
Price: $39, $89 or $189 a month ($29, $69 or $139 yearly). Fee: 7.5% on Starter; 0% above.

Teachable sells courses, coaching and downloads, with student apps on every plan and its own payment system that calculates, collects and remits sales tax and VAT. Certificates need the Growth plan, and affiliates and built-in email start on Builder.

Against Podia: Teachable adds student apps and remits sales tax and VAT on Teachable Payments. Its Starter fee (7.5%) is higher than Mover's 5%, so the fair comparison is Builder ($89) against Shaker ($99).

Where it shines: Student apps, tax remitted on Teachable Payments, a large creator base, payment plans up to 36 months.

Watch out for: 7.5% fee on Starter; certificates only on Growth; product limits of 5, 10 or 50 by plan.

3. Thinkific

Best for: Established course businesses that want unlimited courses and deep commerce tools
Price: $109, $219 or $499 a month ($82, $164 or $374 yearly). Fee: 0% on Thinkific Payments; 0.5% to 2% on direct Stripe.

Thinkific offers unlimited courses on every plan, quizzes, assignments, certificates, communities, Zoom sessions inside courses, and commerce tools such as order bumps, payment plans, bundles and gifting. Thinkific Payments remits US and Canadian sales tax. Plus adds SSO, SCORM and learning paths.

Against Podia: Thinkific is the step up, with unlimited courses, communities, Zoom lessons, certificates and payment plans on every plan, and an enterprise tier. It starts at $109 a month.

Where it shines: Unlimited courses, mature commerce, live sessions in courses, an enterprise tier.

Watch out for: Highest entry price here; a gateway fee if you connect your own Stripe; 0.7% extra on Thinkific Payments for subscriptions and payment plans.

4. Kajabi

Best for: Creators who want the most complete all-in-one and have the budget
Price: $179, $249 or $499 a month ($143, $199 or $399 yearly). Fee: 0% on Kajabi Payments or PayPal; 0.5% to 2% on other processors.

Kajabi covers courses, coaching with built-in live video, communities, newsletters and podcasts, with unlimited marketing emails, funnels and landing pages on every plan and an AI assistant called Cofounder. Affiliates and cohort courses start on Growth.

Against Podia: Kajabi is the bigger all-in-one: unlimited marketing email, funnels, landing pages, a student app and far larger contact allowances (2,500 on Basic, 25,000 on Growth) than Podia's included subscribers. It costs about twice as much at entry.

Where it shines: The broadest toolkit, live video coaching, a student app, unlimited marketing email.

Watch out for: Expensive; 5 products and 2,500 contacts on Basic; monthly payouts for new Kajabi Payments accounts.

5. Payhip

Best for: Low-cost selling of downloads and courses, paying as you grow
Price: Free, $29 or $99 a month. Fee: 5% on Free; 2% on Plus; 0% on Pro.

Payhip gives every plan the same features and unlimited products; you choose between a higher transaction fee and a monthly price: 5% on the free plan, 2% on Plus and 0% on Pro. Payhip says it collects, reports and remits EU and UK VAT on digital sales for you.

Against Podia: Payhip's free plan takes the same 5% as Mover with no monthly price, and every plan has every feature. Its site and course tools are simpler.

Where it shines: A real free plan, all features on every plan, instant payouts to PayPal or Stripe.

Watch out for: Simpler course and site tools than course-first platforms.

6. systeme.io

Best for: Budget-minded creators who want funnels, email and courses on a free or cheap plan
Price: Free, $17, $47 or $97 a month. Fee: 0% on every plan.

systeme.io bundles sales funnels, email marketing, courses, a blog and an affiliate program, with 0% transaction fees. The free plan allows 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course and 500 students with unlimited email sends; Startup ($17) raises that to 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels and 5 courses, Webinar ($47) to 10,000, 50 and 20, and Unlimited ($97) removes the limits. It connects to Stripe and PayPal at no extra cost.

Against Podia: systeme.io gives you email, funnels and courses for much less, with 2,000 contacts even on the free plan against Podia's 100 on Mover.

Where it shines: The cheapest way to get funnels, email and courses together; a usable free plan.

Watch out for: Plain course and site design; limits on contacts, funnels and courses below Unlimited; no student app found.

7. Stan Store

Best for: Social media creators selling from a link in bio
Price: $29 a month (Creator) or $99 (Creator Pro); $300 or $948 a year. Fee: 0%.

Stan Store is a link-in-bio storefront for courses, digital products and bookings, designed for creators selling from Instagram or TikTok. Creator Pro adds discount codes, upsells and order bumps, affiliates and email.

Against Podia: if most of your sales come from Instagram or TikTok, Stan's mobile link store is quicker to set up and takes no fee. You lose Podia's website, blog and live events.

Where it shines: Fast setup for social sellers, 0% fees, mobile-first checkout.

Watch out for: A storefront rather than a full school; upsells, coupons and affiliates need Creator Pro.

What Podia does better

Podia includes coaching, a community and live and in-person events on every plan, which few platforms do at $49. It's easy to learn, has a website with a blog, pays you through your own Stripe or PayPal account, offers free migration help, and lets you try every feature for 14 days without a card. If you run webinars or live events often, that's a real reason to stay.

What $2,000 a month of sales costs on each

Here's one month at $2,000 of sales: each platform's plan price plus what it takes from those sales. Card processing (about 2.9% + 30¢ per US card sale) comes on top of every row.

Platform and plan	Plan price a month	Platform fee on $2,000	Total before processing
Podia Mover	$49	$100 (5%)	$149
Podia Shaker	$99	$0	$99
Teachable Starter	$39	$150 (7.5%)	$189
Teachable Builder	$89	$0 on Teachable Payments	$89
Thinkific Start	$109	$0 on Thinkific Payments	$109
Kajabi Basic	$179	$0 on Kajabi Payments	$179
Payhip Free	$0	$100 (5%)	$100
Payhip Plus	$29	$40 (2%)	$69
systeme.io Startup	$17	$0	$17
Stan Store Creator	$29	$0	$29
Klasira	See pricing	$0	Plan price only

At $2,000 a month Mover already costs more than Shaker, so if you're on Mover and selling at that level, upgrading inside Podia is the first fix to price out.

Email list limits

Podia's email limits are the most common reason creators outgrow it: 100 subscribers are included on Mover, 500 on Shaker and 1,000 on Earthquaker, and bigger lists are a paid add-on (for example $28 a month more for 2,500 on monthly billing). Among the alternatives, Kajabi allows 2,500 contacts on Basic and 25,000 on Growth, and systeme.io 2,000 on its free plan, 5,000 on Startup and 10,000 on Webinar. On Klasira every student is a CRM contact with email automations; plan limits are listed on its pricing page.

How to choose

Outgrew the email caps: Kajabi or systeme.io.
Want stronger course tools at 0% fees: Klasira or Thinkific.
Want student apps and tax remitted for you: Teachable.
Want to cut costs: Payhip, systeme.io or Stan Store.
Run webinars and live events often: stay on Podia, or look at Thinkific's Zoom lessons.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Podia?

For stronger course tools with 0% fees, Klasira or Thinkific. For student apps and tax handled, Teachable. For more marketing, Kajabi. For the lowest cost, Payhip or systeme.io.

What is cheaper than Podia?

Payhip and systeme.io have free plans, systeme.io Startup is $17 a month and Stan Store Creator is $29. Teachable Starter is $39, but it takes 7.5% of each sale.

Is there a Podia alternative with no transaction fees?

Yes. Klasira, Stan Store and systeme.io charge 0% on every plan, and Teachable, Thinkific and Kajabi charge 0% on their own payment systems. Card processing applies everywhere.

Is Kajabi better than Podia?

Kajabi does more (unlimited marketing email, funnels, a student app and much larger contact allowances) but costs $179 a month against Podia's $49. Podia is easier and includes events and coaching on every plan.

Can I move my courses and students off Podia?

Yes. Most platforms import students from a CSV file, including Klasira; course videos and files are uploaded again. Run both platforms briefly so nobody loses access.

Try Klasira with your own course

If Podia's email add-on costs or Mover fee are why you're looking, try Klasira with one course and your own Stripe. Pick a theme, add one course and connect Stripe, then judge it on your own material. Start your school or see pricing.

Sources

Details about other companies in this post were checked against these public pages in October 2026. Products, prices and rules change, so confirm with each source before you decide.

#podia alternatives #course platforms #comparisons