How to Choose a Course Platform (Without Regretting It Later)
$179 a month. That’s Kajabi’s entry plan, before you’ve sold a single course.
That number alone should tell you something: the “which platform” decision isn’t really about features. It’s about matching what you’re building right now to what you’re paying right now, without guessing wrong on either side. Get it wrong and you’re either bleeding money on tools you don’t need, or you’re migrating a year of content because you outgrew the cheap plan. Both are avoidable if you ask the right questions before you enter your card number.
The short answer
- If you’re launching your first course and don’t know if it’ll sell -> pick the cheapest entry plan with a real trial (Teachable at $39/month or Podia at $49/month), because you shouldn’t pay for capacity you haven’t proven you need.
- If you expect real volume of students fast and hate percentage fees -> pick Thinkific’s Basic at $54/month, because it charges a 0% platform fee on Thinkific Payments right from the entry tier, unlike Teachable’s Starter which lets in unlimited students but takes 7.5% of every sale.
- If you’re already running an email list, a community, and a course, and you’re tired of stitching three tools together -> look hard at Kajabi’s Basic at $179/month, but only if you’ll actually use the extra pieces.
- If you want to keep it simple, and won’t touch upsells, affiliates, or Zapier -> Podia’s Mover at $49/month works, but read its feature exclusions first.
- If you’re not sure you’ll finish building the course at all -> don’t pay for anything yet; use whichever trial is longest and build before you commit.
What actually separates these plans
Start with the money, because that’s where most regret comes from. Teachable’s Starter runs $39/month ($29/month billed yearly) but carries a 7.5% platform fee on top of standard payment processing — that’s real money if you’re selling any volume. Thinkific’s Basic is pricier upfront at $54/month ($40/month yearly), but its Thinkific Payments option charges 0% platform fee, just the 2.9% processing. Podia’s Mover sits at $49/month with a 5% platform fee, and its plan page quietly excludes affiliate marketing, upsells, PayPal, and Zapier — worth knowing before you build a sales page around a feature you don’t have.
Kajabi doesn’t have a “cheap” plan. Basic is $179/month ($143/month yearly), and its case has to be made on what’s bundled, not on the entry price. If you’re paying separately for an email platform, a landing page tool, and a course host, Kajabi’s pitch is that one $179 bill replaces all three. Whether that math works for you is exactly the question our Kajabi review tries to answer, because “all-in-one” is Kajabi’s word for itself, not a guarantee it’s the cheapest way to get those three things.
Student and contact limits matter more than they look at first glance. Kajabi’s Basic caps you at 2,500 contacts and 5 products, fine for a focused offer, tight if you’re building a list aggressively. Teachable’s Starter allows unlimited students enrolled through Teachable checkout, no cap at all, though that 7.5% platform fee rides along with every one of them. Podia’s Mover includes 100 email subscribers before you likely need to look at higher tiers, and that’s a number that surprises people who assumed “unlimited” was the default assumption for all software now.
Decision criteria that actually matter
Entry price versus what you’ll actually pay monthly. Yearly billing changes the number on every one of these: Teachable drops from $39 to $29/month, Thinkific from $54 to $40/month, Kajabi from $179 to $143/month, Podia from $49 to $42/month. Annual billing is cheaper everywhere here, the catch is you’re locked in, and Podia’s refund policy explicitly rules out partial refunds on annual plans.
Platform fees on top of the subscription. This is the number that changes everything once you’re actually selling. Teachable’s Starter takes 7.5% off every sale unless you upgrade off it; Podia’s Mover takes 5%; Thinkific and Kajabi charge 0% platform fee on their own payment systems from the entry tier up. If you’re projecting steady sales, a 0%-fee plan that costs more upfront can still work out cheaper than a “cheap” plan taking a cut of every transaction, the fee tables in Teachable vs Thinkific and Podia vs Teachable lay out exactly where that line falls.
Free trial versus real risk. None of these four have a genuinely free-forever plan anymore. Podia’s trial is 14 days, no card required. Teachable gives you 7 days plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Thinkific offers 30 days free on all plans. Kajabi has a trial too, though its length isn’t stated on the pricing page, worth confirming directly before you assume it matches the others.
What’s missing at the entry tier. Podia’s Mover explicitly excludes affiliate marketing, upsells, PayPal, Zapier integration, and assistant seats, features some creators assume come standard. Kajabi’s Basic limits you to 1 website and 2 admin users, which matters the moment you bring on a business partner or a VA. Read the limit column on the plan you’re eyeing, not just the price.
Decision table: what to pick based on who you are
| You are… | Pick this direction | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First-time creator, unproven idea | Teachable Starter or Podia Mover | Lowest monthly commitment; you’re testing demand, not scaling yet |
| Expecting high student volume soon | Thinkific Basic | 0% platform fee on Thinkific Payments from the entry tier; Teachable Starter allows unlimited students too but takes 7.5% of every sale |
| Running email marketing + community + course separately | Kajabi Basic | Built to replace multiple subscriptions, if you’ll use all the pieces |
| Selling steadily and fee percentage is eating margin | Thinkific or Kajabi (0% platform fee tiers) over Teachable Starter or Podia Mover | Percentage fees compound with volume; flat 0% plans stop that bleed |
| Need affiliates, upsells, or Zapier from day one | Not Podia Mover | Those are explicitly excluded on the entry plan |
| Undecided, want zero financial commitment first | Thinkific (30-day trial) or Podia (14-day, no card) | Longest or lowest-risk trial before any money moves |
Common mistakes people make here
Picking the cheapest sticker price and ignoring the transaction fee. Teachable’s Starter looks like the budget option at $39/month, but the 7.5% platform fee means your actual cost scales with every sale you make. If you sell consistently, that fee can outpace the difference between Starter and a 0%-fee plan on another platform fast. Run the fee percentage against your expected sales pattern before assuming “cheap plan” means “cheap platform.”
Buying Kajabi’s bundle before you need the bundle. Kajabi’s case is strongest when you’re actually replacing three separate tools with one $179/month bill. If you only need a place to host and sell one course, you’re paying for a community feature, a website builder, and contact management you won’t touch. The Kajabi vs Podia and Kajabi vs Teachable comparisons both dig into where that extra cost is justified and where it isn’t.
Committing to annual billing before finishing the trial. The yearly rate looks tempting on every one of these platforms because it’s meaningfully cheaper per month. But Podia’s refund policy specifically rules out partial refunds on annual plans, and switching platforms mid-year elsewhere is its own headache. Use the trial fully, build an actual lesson, test the checkout, before locking into twelve months.
Assuming “unlimited students” means no limits anywhere. Thinkific’s Basic caps at 10,000 students, which sounds enormous until you’re running a membership site with rolling cohorts and forget it’s a hard ceiling, not a marketing phrase. Kajabi’s Basic caps at 2,500 contacts, though you can extend that by buying additional contact blocks rather than jumping tiers outright. Podia’s Mover includes 100 subscribers, also an expandable number rather than a hard wall, but check what that add-on costs before you assume it’s cheap. Check the actual limit, not the plan’s vibe.
When switching later is worse than choosing carefully now
Migrating a course platform means moving video files, rebuilding checkout pages, re-importing student data, and hoping your email automations survive the trip. It’s not impossible, but it eats weeks you’d rather spend making content. That’s the actual argument for spending an extra hour now reading the comparisons, Podia vs Thinkific is a good next stop if you’re stuck between those two, instead of trusting a “starter” label to mean what it sounds like.
FAQ
Do any of these platforms have a free-forever plan? No. Podia used to, but it’s been discontinued. All four now run on paid plans with trials of varying length, so budget for a subscription from day one even if you’re just testing.
Is the cheapest plan always the cheapest choice? Not once you factor in platform fees. Teachable Starter and Podia Mover both charge a percentage on top of the subscription (7.5% and 5% respectively), so a pricier plan with 0% platform fee can end up costing less if you’re selling steadily.
Does annual billing actually save money, or is it a trap? It saves money on every platform listed here, the monthly-equivalent rate drops on all four when billed yearly. The trade-off is commitment: Podia’s annual plans don’t get partial refunds, so don’t prepay a year until you’ve used the trial properly.
What happens if I outgrow my contact or student limit? It depends which limit you’re hitting. On Kajabi, you can buy an additional block of 25,000 contacts for $125/month on any plan instead of upgrading tiers outright. Podia lets you buy more subscribers beyond the included amount, though the price for that isn’t published, so ask support before assuming it’s cheap. Teachable students enrolled through Teachable checkout are unlimited on every plan, so that one’s a non-issue. Thinkific caps at 10,000 students on Basic, Start, and Grow; past that, you need the Plus plan, which is quote-only.
Is Kajabi worth the jump from $39-54 plans to $179? Only if you’re actually consolidating tools you’re already paying for separately, email software, landing pages, community hosting. If you just need to host and sell a course, that price difference is hard to justify, and the Kajabi review goes deeper into who it’s actually built for.
Should I pick based on features I might need in a year? Pick based on what you need in the next three months, with an honest look at whether upgrading later is easy. Every platform here lets you move up a tier without switching platforms entirely, that’s a much smaller problem than choosing the wrong platform altogether.
How we got these numbers. Prices and fees come straight from the official pricing pages of Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, checked in September 2026. Where a value wasn’t published, the table shows “—”. Prices in this space change often — confirm on the provider’s site before you buy.