Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover courses & coaching. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Circle | Podia | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $89 | From $42 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | 30 days |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Some of it | Not stated |
| Their cut | 2% of what you earn | 5% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Not stated | Web |
| Covers | Community Platforms, Courses & Coaching | Courses & Coaching, Digital Products & Storefronts |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
Community software that looks like yours, not ours
Circle gives you spaces, events, courses and live streams under your own branding and domain. It is the more configurable answer to Skool, and the price reflects that. Worth it once a community is paying for itself.
Our note
The right answer when the community has to look like it belongs to you, and an expensive one before that is true. Against Skool it is more money and more control, which is the entire difference between them.
Only on this side
Courses, downloads and email in one place
Podia sells courses, digital downloads, coaching and memberships from one storefront, with an email tool attached so the list and the products live together. Nothing in it is the best version of itself, and that is the trade being offered: one subscription instead of four. The entry plan charges 5 percent of sales, which the two plans above it drop.
Our note
The 5 percent on the entry plan is the number to run first. Past about $850 of monthly sales the fee costs more than the $42 jump to Shaker, and that jump also removes the email subscriber cap.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.