Which is cheaper, Podia or Ruzuku?

To start, Ruzuku: its free plan costs nothing indefinitely, while Podia's cheapest plan is $42 a month plus a 5 percent fee. Once a paid, fee-free plan is the goal, Podia's Shaker at $84 a month undercuts Ruzuku's Core at $99, since Shaker drops Podia's transaction fee entirely.

Does Ruzuku sell anything besides courses, like Podia does?

Only on its higher tier, which adds a storefront and digital products. Podia is built from the start to sell courses, downloads, coaching and memberships from one storefront with email marketing included.

At what point does Podia's transaction fee cost more than upgrading?

Its own listing puts that at around $850 of monthly sales, where the 5 percent fee on Mover costs more than the $42 jump to Shaker, which removes the fee entirely. Ruzuku has no equivalent crossover to calculate, since it never charges a transaction fee at any tier.

Is Ruzuku's free plan a real product or a limited trial?

A real product: it costs nothing, needs no card and does not expire, unlike a trial with a clock running. Podia has no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial before Mover's $42-a-month, 5-percent-fee plan applies.

Podia vs Ruzuku Comparison 2026

Podia charges 5 percent of sales on its cheapest plan, Mover at $42 a month billed yearly, though that fee disappears entirely at Shaker, $84 a month billed yearly. Ruzuku charges no transaction fee ever, at any tier, and its free plan costs nothing, needs no card and never expires, a real place to find out whether anybody wants the course first. Ruzuku is cheaper to start. Podia is cheaper once a fee-free plan is the goal, since Shaker at $84 undercuts Ruzuku's $99 Core plan.

Podia

Courses, downloads and email in one place

Ruzuku

Course hosting that takes nothing per sale

At a glance

Podia starts cheaper, at $42.
Only Ruzuku has a free tier.

Side by side

	Podia	Ruzuku
Starting price (they differ)	From $42	From $99
Pricing model (they differ)	Free trial, then paid	Free plan, paid tiers
Free tier (they differ)	No	Yes
Billing	Monthly or annual	Monthly or annual
Free trial (they differ)	30 days	None

Podia

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

Covers digital products & storefronts

More Podia alternatives Visit Podia

Ruzuku

Course hosting that takes nothing per sale

Ruzuku sells course hosting with no transaction fee and a free plan that is not time limited, which between them make it a reasonable place to find out whether anybody wants the course before paying for the privilege. Lessons can be dripped, students can be graded and the whole thing runs on Ruzuku's own domain. It will not build you a funnel. Anybody who needs one is in the wrong category.

Why people weigh these two

Ruzuku instead of Podia: Ruzuku takes nothing from each sale, where Podia's entry plan keeps 5 percent until a higher tier drops it. Ruzuku also has a free tier to test the fit first.
Podia instead of Ruzuku: Podia carries courses, downloads and email together from $42.

Which one should you pick

Choose Podia if courses are one product among several: downloads, coaching and memberships sell from the same storefront, with an email tool built in so the list and the products live together. Mover is $42 a month billed yearly with a 5 percent fee, and its own listing says that fee costs more than the jump to Shaker's $84 once monthly sales pass around $850. Nothing here is the best version of itself, the trade for one subscription instead of four.

Choose Ruzuku if the course is the whole business and you want to prove it works before paying anything: the free plan has no time limit and needs no card, and Core at $99 a month adds unlimited courses and students with no transaction fee at any tier, ever. It will not build a funnel, sell downloads or run email marketing, so anybody wanting Podia's broader storefront is buying a narrower teaching tool here. The jump from free to $99 has nothing in between, so plan to move only once a course is actually selling.

Common questions

Which is cheaper, Podia or Ruzuku?: To start, Ruzuku: its free plan costs nothing indefinitely, while Podia's cheapest plan is $42 a month plus a 5 percent fee. Once a paid, fee-free plan is the goal, Podia's Shaker at $84 a month undercuts Ruzuku's Core at $99, since Shaker drops Podia's transaction fee entirely.
Does Ruzuku sell anything besides courses, like Podia does?: Only on its higher tier, which adds a storefront and digital products. Podia is built from the start to sell courses, downloads, coaching and memberships from one storefront with email marketing included.
At what point does Podia's transaction fee cost more than upgrading?: Its own listing puts that at around $850 of monthly sales, where the 5 percent fee on Mover costs more than the $42 jump to Shaker, which removes the fee entirely. Ruzuku has no equivalent crossover to calculate, since it never charges a transaction fee at any tier.
Is Ruzuku's free plan a real product or a limited trial?: A real product: it costs nothing, needs no card and does not expire, unlike a trial with a clock running. Podia has no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial before Mover's $42-a-month, 5-percent-fee plan applies.

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.