Podia vs Teachable Comparison 2026
Podia sells courses, downloads, coaching and memberships with email built in, Mover at $42 a month billed yearly plus a 5 percent fee that disappears at $84 on Shaker. Teachable is course-first, deeper on the course features by Podia's own admission, Starter at $39 a month plus a steeper 7.5 percent fee that disappears at $89 on Builder. Both platforms play the same trick: the cheaper-looking entry tier costs more once sales pass a threshold, around $850 a month on Podia and around $700 on Teachable, past which the pricier fee-free tier is actually cheaper. Neither platform's own pricing page presents it that way.
Courses, downloads and email in one place
Host and sell courses, with payments included
At a glance
- Teachable starts cheaper, at $39.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Podia takes 5% of what you earn against Teachable's 7.5%.
Side by side
Podia | Teachable | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $42 | From $39 |
| Pricing model | Free trial, then paid | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial (they differ) | 30 days | 7 days |
| API | Not stated |
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
Teachable
Host and sell courses, with payments included
Teachable handles hosting, checkout, drip content and student progress, and it has done so for long enough to be predictable. Coaching sessions and digital downloads sell from the same account. The cheapest plan charges a percentage of every sale on top of its monthly fee, which is the one number to check before committing.
Why people weigh these two
- Teachable instead of Podia
- Podia's own pitch admits its course tools are thinner than Teachable's, so a creator whose whole business is the course itself is better served there.
- Podia instead of Teachable
- Podia bundles courses, downloads and email into one account, from $42, close in shape to Teachable but built for a creator selling more than just courses.
Which one should you pick
Pick Podia if the course is one product among several, downloads, coaching and memberships sold from the same storefront with email included. Mover is $42 a month billed yearly, but budget for Shaker at $84 once monthly sales pass about $850, since the 5 percent fee overtakes that jump by then.
Pick Teachable if the course is the entire business and you want features built specifically for that: drip content, student progress tracking, a documented API. Starter is $39 a month, but by Teachable's own account, do not stay there out of thrift: past roughly $700 a month in sales, Builder at $89 with no fee is the genuinely cheaper plan despite costing more upfront.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper, Podia or Teachable?
- It depends on sales volume, since both charge a fee on their cheapest tier that a pricier fee-free tier removes. Podia's crossover lands around $850 a month in sales, Teachable's around $700, so compare your own volume against each rather than the sticker prices.
- Which has deeper course features, Podia or Teachable?
- Teachable, by Podia's own admission: its listing says anybody whose course is the whole business will find Podia's course features thinner than Teachable's.
- Do both charge a percentage fee on the cheapest plan?
- Yes: Podia's Mover plan takes 5 percent, and Teachable's Starter plan takes 7.5 percent, both on top of the monthly price. Both remove the fee entirely on their second tier, Shaker on Podia and Builder on Teachable.
- Does Teachable still have a free plan?
- No, the free plan Teachable used to offer is gone, so Starter at $39 a month plus 7.5 percent is the entry point now. Podia has never offered a free plan, only a 30-day trial.
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.