Podia vs Teachable: Which One Actually Saves You Money?

Podia killed its free plan. Neither platform has one now.

Both now ask you to trust a 30-day trial (Podia, no card required) or a 7-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee (Teachable) before you’ve seen a single dollar come in. For most solo creators just starting out, Podia wins on cost and simplicity. Teachable wins the moment you’re running a bigger catalog with a team behind it — but its cheapest plan hides a fee that stings more than Podia’s.

Prices verified August 2026.

Which one actually costs less?

At the entry level, Teachable’s Starter plan looks cheaper on the sticker: $39/month versus Podia’s Mover at $49/month. But look at what each entry plan takes off the top. Podia’s Mover charges a 5% platform fee on top of payment processing; Teachable’s Starter charges 7.5%. At low sales volume, the lower subscription price wins and Teachable Starter is genuinely cheaper; it’s only once sales grow that the 7.5% fee starts costing more than the extra $10/month you’d pay for Podia.

Both platforms also charge standard card processing no matter which plan you’re on — Stripe or PayPal fees for Podia, and a published range (2.9%+30c for US cards, more for international and PayPal) for Teachable. Neither one waives that. It’s the platform fee stacked on top that separates a cheap plan from an expensive one as revenue climbs.

The fee disappears entirely once you move up. Podia’s Shaker plan ($99/month, or $84/month billed annually) drops the platform fee to 0% and unlocks affiliate marketing, upsells, PayPal, and Zapier. Teachable’s Builder ($89/month, or $69/month annually) does the same, using teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway. If you’re serious about volume, you’re comparing $99 against $89 with fees off the table on both, much closer than the entry tiers suggest.

The surprising catch: Teachable’s limits vanish at $10k

Here’s the one thing that could change your whole plan choice: Teachable’s pricing-page FAQ states that active-student and imported-student limits are removed entirely once a school has sold $10,000 in a year directly on Teachable. That means the Starter plan’s cap of 100 active students isn’t necessarily permanent, hit that revenue mark, and the ceiling lifts without upgrading. Podia doesn’t publish an equivalent mechanism, so its subscriber and product caps (100 subscribers, 50 products on Mover) stay fixed until you pay for the next tier.

That’s a real point in Teachable’s favor if you expect to cross $10k in your first year, but it’s easy to miss on the pricing page.

Annual billing: the catch on both sides

Teachable’s annual billing is 22% cheaper than monthly, but it’s charged a year upfront, $120/yr saved on Starter, $240 on Builder, $600 on Growth. Podia’s annual pricing also drops the monthly-equivalent rate (Mover falls to $42/month, Shaker to $84/month, Earthquaker to $150/month), and Podia explicitly states no partial refunds on annual plans. Read that twice before you commit for a year: if you outgrow or dislike the platform in month four, you’re not getting month five through twelve back.

If you want the fuller math on annual versus monthly across a third platform, the Teachable vs Thinkific cost breakdown covers that trade-off from a different angle.

Who should NOT choose Podia

Skip Podia if you need affiliate marketing, upsells, PayPal, or Zapier on a tight budget, none of that exists on Mover, and you’d need to jump to Shaker at $99/month to get it. Skip it too if you’re planning to sell to more than 1,000 email subscribers or need more than one assistant seat; even Earthquaker, the top plan, caps subscribers at 1,000. And if you’re on Mover specifically, note that Podia’s assistant seats only start at Shaker (1 assistant) and go unlimited at Earthquaker — there’s no multi-admin support on the entry tier. For a longer look at where Podia’s tools fall short even at the top tier, see the Podia review.

Who should NOT choose Teachable

Skip Teachable’s Starter plan if you’re already selling in real volume, that 7.5% platform fee is the highest entry-level fee of the two platforms, and it compounds against you exactly when business is going well; at low sales volume, though, Starter’s lower monthly price still makes it the cheaper option overall. Skip Teachable altogether if you want an all-in-one site builder with blog and landing pages baked in at the entry tier the way Podia includes them on every plan; Teachable’s course-first structure doesn’t emphasize that. And if $15 chargeback fees or an optional 2-2.8% BackOffice fee make you nervous, read Teachable’s fee table closely before signing up, those are real charges, not hypothetical.

Three readers, two decisions

A first-time creator with one course and a small list under 100 subscribers, still figuring out if sales will be steady: Teachable’s Starter is the cheaper monthly commitment while volume is low, but keep an eye on that 7.5% fee once sales pick up. A teacher running a monthly membership with a growing list of 400+ subscribers who wants affiliates and no per-sale cut: Podia’s Shaker plan, at $99/month with 0% platform fee, beats Teachable’s Builder mainly because Podia bundles the website and email tools you’d otherwise need to add elsewhere. A coaching business with five products, a support team, and expected revenue over $10,000 in year one: Teachable’s Starter or Builder, because that stated $10k threshold removes student caps that would otherwise force an early upgrade, something Podia doesn’t offer.

If you’re weighing a third contender in this space, the Kajabi vs Teachable budget comparison and the dedicated Teachable review are worth reading before you lock in annual billing on either platform.

Switch cost: what hurts if you move later

Podia includes migration help on every plan, up to 50 products on Mover, up to 150 on Shaker and Earthquaker, which softens the pain of moving your course library over. Teachable only lists Migration Assistance on its Custom tier, so on Starter, Builder, or Growth, budget more of your own time if you’re moving a catalog in. On both platforms, expect to lose historical reviews and rebuild payment processor connections; that part is never free, whichever way you’re headed.

FAQ

Is there a free plan on either platform? No, neither platform currently offers a free tier. Podia offers a 30-day trial with no card required; Teachable offers a 7-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans.

Which platform is cheaper if I’m selling under $10,000 a year? At low sales volume, Teachable’s Starter, at $39/month, is the cheaper option, since the lower subscription price outweighs its 7.5% platform fee before you’re selling much. As your sales grow, Podia’s Mover, at $49/month with a 5% fee, starts to close the gap and can end up cheaper, since 5% costs less than 7.5% on the same revenue.

Does Teachable’s $10,000 threshold apply automatically? Per Teachable’s pricing-page FAQ, active-student and imported-student limits lift once a school hits $10,000 in sales directly on the platform in a year. It’s not something you request, it’s tied to revenue processed through Teachable itself, so confirm the current wording before counting on it.

Can I avoid transaction fees entirely on either platform? Yes, but only by paying for a mid-tier plan. Podia removes its platform fee at Shaker ($99/month) and above; Teachable removes it at Builder ($89/month) and above when using teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway. Card processing fees still apply regardless of plan on both.

What happens if I cancel an annual plan early? On Podia, there are no partial refunds on annual plans, so canceling early doesn’t get you money back for unused months. Teachable doesn’t state an annual-cancellation policy on its pricing page beyond the general 30-day money-back guarantee, so check the current terms before paying a year upfront.

Which one is better for affiliate marketing? Neither offers it on the cheapest tier. Podia adds affiliate marketing starting at Shaker ($99/month); Teachable adds an affiliate program starting at Builder ($89/month). If affiliates are core to your launch plan, budget for the mid-tier on whichever platform you pick.

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How we got these numbers. Prices and fees come straight from the official pricing pages of Podia, Teachable, checked in August 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.