Podia’s free plan is gone, so the cheapest way in is its Mover plan: $42 a month billed yearly, plus 5% of every sale.
Pick the wrong replacement, though, and moving your students can cost more than the fee you’re escaping.
We lined up five Podia alternatives by plan price, transaction fees and migration effort, using each vendor’s own pricing and help pages.
One of them now charges a monthly fee for the students you bring with you.
Which Podia alternative fits your business?
- Best for course-first creators: Thinkific, with unlimited courses from $40 a month billed yearly.
- Closest all-in-one replacement: Kajabi, if you can spend $143 a month or more, billed yearly.
- Best for interactive training: LearnWorlds, with assessments and SCORM on Pro Trainer.
- Best for a small catalog with a student app: Teachable, with no transaction fee from $69 a month billed yearly.
- Best for live classes: Graphy, with class minutes on every plan.
- Best free option: none of these five. They all use free trials, and the FAQ covers two free tools.
How we picked: We compared plans, fees, trials and migration options against Podia’s, using official pricing pages and help docs checked in October 2026. We haven’t run a course business on these platforms for this update, so this is research, not hands-on testing. How we review software
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes our scores. How we make money.
Why creators start looking for Podia alternatives
The pressure points are on Podia’s pricing page, and most land on the cheapest plan.
- No free plan. Podia has offered only a 14-day trial since October 2024, so even a quiet store costs at least $42 a month.
- A 5% cut on Mover, on top of Stripe or PayPal processing (typically 2.9% + 30¢ per sale).
- Growth tools start on Shaker. PayPal, affiliate marketing, upsells and Zapier need the $84-a-month plan, billed yearly.
- Small email allowances. Mover includes 100 subscribers, and growing to 2,500 adds $22 a month on yearly billing.
| Plan | Price | Podia fee | What’s included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mover | $42/mo billed yearly ($504) or $49 monthly | 5% per sale | 100 email subscribers, 50 products, 500 videos |
| Shaker | $84/mo billed yearly ($1,008) or $99 monthly | None | 500 subscribers, 150 products, PayPal, affiliates, Zapier |
| Earthquaker | $150/mo billed yearly ($1,800) or $179 monthly | None | 1,000 subscribers, unlimited products and videos |
Since its relaunch in June 2026, Podia also centers on a shared community feed, with courses living inside the community. That suits memberships more than standalone courses. Our Podia review covers the rest of the feature set.
Podia alternatives compared on price, fees and migration
Here’s how the five stack up against Podia on the numbers that decide a switch.
| Platform | Cheapest plan and fee | Does better than Podia | Migration effort |
|---|---|---|---|
| Podia | $42/mo yearly or $49 monthly, plus 5%; no fee from $84/mo | Baseline: courses, downloads, community and email in one plan | None |
| Thinkific | $40/mo yearly or $54 monthly; no fee on Thinkific Payments | Unlimited courses on every plan | Medium: support imports students from a spreadsheet |
| Kajabi | $143/mo yearly or $179 monthly; no revenue share | 2,500 contacts and unlimited marketing email on Basic | Medium: CSV import, paid plans only |
| LearnWorlds | $24/mo yearly or $29 monthly, plus $5 per paid enrollment | Interactive video, SCORM and learning paths on Pro Trainer | Low with its paid migration service |
| Teachable | $29/mo yearly or $39 monthly, plus 7.5% per sale | iOS and Android student apps on every plan | High: imports need Growth and cost $0.50 a student a month over 100 |
| Graphy | $49/mo monthly on US pricing, 0% fee; India from ₹24,999 a year plus 10% | Built-in live classes; 10,000 contacts on Launch | Low: Graphy says it moves Podia stores for free |
The sticker price is the smaller decision. What usually settles it is the fee on the plan you’d actually use, and how many customers you have to bring with you.
The 5 best Podia alternatives in 2026
1. Thinkific: best for course-first creators
Thinkific is the closest swap if courses are most of what you sell. Every plan includes unlimited courses, a community and a custom domain, with no platform fee when you sell through Thinkific Payments. Email is the weak spot.
- Unlimited courses from the Basic plan, where Podia’s Mover stops at 50 products.
- Assignments, certificates and live Zoom lessons on Start, for cohort programs that need graded work.
- No platform fee on Thinkific Payments. Stay on Stripe and Basic adds a 5% gateway fee in the US, Canada, UK and EU.
- A 30-day free trial, more than twice as long as Podia’s.
Price. Basic is $40 a month billed yearly ($54 monthly), but it allows only five digital downloads and no memberships or payment plans. Most Podia sellers will want Start at $82 billed yearly ($109 monthly). Pricing checked October 2026 on Thinkific’s pricing page.
The catch. Per Thinkific’s help center, built-in email means one automated sales sequence, abandoned-cart emails and manual mass emails to students. It has shown no email analytics since September 2026. Keep a separate newsletter tool if email drives your sales.
Moving from Podia. Send Thinkific’s support team its spreadsheet template five business days ahead, and it bulk-imports your students and enrollments. Course progress carries over only as 0% or 100%.
- Best for: course-first creators who want no platform fee at roughly the price of Podia’s Mover.
- Skip it if: email marketing is your main sales channel.
2. Kajabi: closest all-in-one replacement
Kajabi is the email tool, website, community and checkout in one, like Podia, with heavier marketing tools and no revenue share on any plan. It won’t save you money, though: Basic costs $59 a month more than Podia’s Shaker on yearly billing.
- 2,500 contacts and unlimited marketing emails on Basic, against 100 email subscribers on Podia’s Mover.
- The Kajabi customer app on every plan, and your own branded app on Pro.
- Kajabi Payments card fees are 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic for US cards, lower on higher plans. Where it’s offered, using another processor besides PayPal adds 2% on Basic.
- Affiliate programs and branding removal start on Growth, not Basic.
Price. Basic is $143 a month billed yearly ($179 monthly) with five products. Growth is $199 billed yearly ($249 monthly) with 50 products and 25,000 contacts, and extra contacts cost $125 a month per 25,000. There’s a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee; pricing checked October 2026 on Kajabi’s pricing page.
Moving from Podia. Kajabi’s importer can grant course access as it loads your CSV, but only on a paid plan, not during the trial. You rebuild products and pages yourself.
- Best for: creators earning steadily who want marketing, community and an app in one bill.
- Skip it if: you’re leaving Podia to cut costs, or you need affiliates for under $199 a month.
3. LearnWorlds: best for interactive courses and training
LearnWorlds is built for teaching rather than selling. Its interactive video, assessments, SCORM support and learning paths go well past Podia’s multiple-choice quizzes. Just don’t judge it by Starter.
- Interactive video and AI-built assessments, with text, video and file answers as well as multiple choice.
- Up to 20 SCORM packages on Pro Trainer, so content from other authoring tools comes with you.
- Certificates, learning paths, subscriptions and payment plans from Pro Trainer up.
- A 30-day free trial, and full white-label on the Learning Center plan.
Price. Starter is $24 a month billed yearly ($29 monthly) plus $5 per paid enrollment, with no free courses, landing pages, bundles or subscriptions. Pro Trainer drops the enrollment fee for $79 billed yearly ($99 monthly). On yearly billing, it’s the cheaper plan once you sell more than 11 enrollments a month. Prices exclude VAT; checked October 2026 on LearnWorlds’ pricing page.
Moving from Podia. A paid, done-for-you service moves courses, users, enrollments, subscriptions and progress, and LearnWorlds says it has moved Podia customers before.
- Best for: coaches, trainers and academies that need assessments, certificates or SCORM.
- Skip it if: you mainly sell downloads and a newsletter.
4. Teachable: best for a small catalog with a student app
Teachable suits creators with a handful of courses who want students on a phone app. Its Builder plan removes transaction fees for less than Podia’s Shaker. Bringing an existing audience in is the catch.
- iOS and Android student apps on every plan. Per Teachable’s app guide, the app covers courses with offline lessons, but not downloads, memberships or community.
- No transaction fee from Builder at $69 a month billed yearly, against $84 for Shaker, though Builder caps you at 10 products.
- An affiliate program from Builder, and certificates from Growth.
Price. Starter is $29 a month billed yearly ($39 monthly) and takes 7.5% of each sale, more than Podia’s 5%. Builder is $69 billed yearly ($89 monthly), and Growth is $139 billed yearly ($189 monthly) with 50 products. There’s a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee; pricing checked October 2026 on Teachable’s pricing page.
The catch: Bulk import needs the Growth plan. Teachable’s usage-fee policy then charges $0.50 a month per student added outside its checkout, past the first 100, and imports and free-course signups both count. For schools created since September 3, 2026, importing 1,000 Podia customers would add $450 a month.
New to Teachable? Our step-by-step guide to creating a course on Teachable covers the setup.
- Best for: new course businesses with up to 10 products that want a student app.
- Skip it if: you’re bringing hundreds of students, or you run free lead-magnet courses.
5. Graphy: best for live classes and a branded app
Graphy is built around live teaching, with class minutes and webinars included and AI sales and support agents from its Rise plan. Its US plans have no transaction fee; its Indian plans do. Our Graphy review covers the course tools in more depth.
- Live classes run inside Graphy. US Launch includes 10,000 minutes a month and up to 500 webinar participants, and Indian plans list unlimited live classes, while Podia’s events hand off to Zoom, Google Meet or YouTube Live.
- On US pricing, Launch includes 10,000 contacts and 5,000 marketing emails a month.
- A branded iOS and Android app from Rise on US pricing, while every Indian plan includes a branded Android app.
- DRM protection on your course videos.
Price. On US pricing, Launch is $49 a month, Rise $149 and Scale $399, all with a 0% transaction fee. Yearly billing takes 25% off, and there’s a 14-day trial.
Indian creators see rupee plans billed yearly. Launch is ₹24,999 plus 10% per sale (minimum ₹10), and higher plans cut the fee to 7.5% and 5%. Pricing checked October 2026 on Graphy’s pricing page, which shows your region’s plans.
Moving from Podia. Graphy’s Podia comparison page says its team moves your courses, students and pages for free. Removing Graphy’s branding needs Scale on US pricing.
- Best for: live teachers who want their own app without Kajabi Pro’s price. Graphy Rise is $149 a month and Kajabi Pro $499, both billed monthly.
- Skip it if: you sell low-priced products in India, where the 10% Launch fee bites.
What about Udemy?
Udemy was on the old version of this list, but it’s a marketplace, not a storefront you own. Under its instructor terms, you keep 97% of a net sale made with your own coupon or referral link. When Udemy finds the buyer, you keep 37% (checked October 2026).
That’s useful for reach. It can’t replace Podia’s website, checkout and email list, so we dropped it.
Should you switch at all?
Often, no. Podia still bundles a website, courses, downloads, coaching, community and email in one bill. Staying put is the better call when:
- You’re on Mover and selling more than $840 a month. On yearly billing, Shaker ($84) then costs less than Mover plus its 5% fee, and it adds PayPal, affiliates and Zapier. On monthly billing, the break-even is $1,000.
- Your business is community-led. Podia’s rebuild, launched in June 2026, centers on a shared feed, group chats and member messaging.
- You have a big customer list, because moving it costs money on Teachable or a paid service on LearnWorlds.
Switch when you need something Podia doesn’t list: a native student app, SCORM, graded assignments, built-in live classes or a far bigger contact allowance.
Two other routes exist. Wix sells online programs and digital downloads alongside a full website (see our Wix review and our no-code website builders roundup). Or run WordPress with a course plugin on your own hosting, with more upkeep; our Hostinger review covers that side.
Before you cancel: Podia refunds only within 72 hours of your latest payment, with no partial refunds on annual plans. Time your move for just before renewal.
How to leave Podia without losing customers
- Export your contacts, each product’s customer list and your sales history from Podia as CSV files.
- Rebuild products, prices, coupons and bundles during the new platform’s trial, then run one test purchase.
- Import customers using that platform’s rules from the sections above.
- Ask how active subscriptions move, and get the answer in writing.
- Point your domain at the new site and email customers their new logins before you cancel Podia.
Podia alternatives FAQs
Does Podia still have a free plan?
No. Since October 2024, Podia has offered a 14-day free trial with no card required instead of a free plan. Its stated reason was that a free plan made it too easy to keep building without ever launching. After the trial, Mover at $42 a month billed yearly is the cheapest way to stay.
Is there a free alternative to Podia?
Not among these five, which all run on free trials. For $0 a month, Payhip’s Free Forever plan includes every feature but takes 5% of each sale. Systeme.io’s free plan charges no transaction fees but allows one course, 500 students and 2,000 contacts. Both were checked in October 2026.
Which Podia alternative has the longest free trial?
Thinkific and LearnWorlds both give 30 days. Kajabi and Graphy offer 14 days, the same as Podia, and Teachable offers 7 days backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee. Use the trial to rebuild one real product and run a test purchase before you pick a plan.
Is Kajabi better than Podia?
For marketing-heavy businesses it often is, but you pay for it, and its Basic plan still lacks an affiliate program. The gap narrows as your list grows. At 25,000 email subscribers, Podia Shaker plus its email add-on costs $192 a month billed yearly, against $199 for Kajabi Growth.
Which Podia alternative works best in India?
Graphy is the most natural fit: its Indian plans are billed yearly in rupees, include a branded Android app and support Razorpay. The catch is a 10% fee per sale on the ₹24,999 Launch plan. Systeme.io also supports Razorpay and has a free plan with no transaction fees.
Does Podia have a mobile app for students?
Podia’s feature list describes a mobile-friendly site and checkout, not a native student app. If an app matters, Teachable includes iOS and Android student apps on every plan. Kajabi includes its customer app on every plan, and Graphy’s Rise plan adds your own branded app.
Is Podia still worth it?
Yes, if you sell a mix of downloads, coaching, community and email and you’ve outgrown the Mover fee. Shaker covers that mix for $84 a month billed yearly. Every plan now includes Podia Agent, an AI assistant that drafts products, emails and site edits but asks before publishing anything.
Our verdict by creator type
There’s no single winner among these Podia alternatives, so here’s the call by business type.
- Choose Thinkific for a course-first business, because unlimited courses and no platform fee start at $40 a month billed yearly.
- Choose Kajabi if you already earn steadily, because one bill covers 2,500 contacts, marketing email and an app.
- Choose LearnWorlds if your training needs assessments or SCORM, because Pro Trainer covers both.
- Choose Teachable for up to 10 products and a student app, because Builder has no transaction fee.
- Choose Graphy if you teach live, because class minutes come with every plan.
Stay on Podia if you sell a mix of downloads, community and email and Shaker fits your budget.
Our pick for most readers is Thinkific: unlimited courses, no platform fee on Thinkific Payments and a 30-day trial to prove it. Add a separate email tool if your newsletter drives sales.
