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Thinkific vs. Podia: Which platform is right for you?
The right tool can help you build, sell, and scale an unforgettable learning experience worth paying for. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between Thinkific and Podia.

Savings: Thinkific vs Podia
Plans | Thinkific | Podia | Savings |
---|---|---|---|
Basic plan (Thinkific Basic/Podia Mover) | $36/mo (billed annually) $49/monthly | $33/mo (billed annually) $39/monthly | -8.3% |
Start Plan (Thinkific Start/Podia Shaker) | $74/mo (billed annually) $99/monthly | $75/mo (billed annually) $89/monthly | -1.33% |
Thinkific Grow | $149/month (billed annually) $199/monthly | Not available | – |
Enterprise Plan (Thinkific Plus) | Custom Pricing | Not available | – |
Top features
Choosing a digital learning platform can be overwhelming. To help you decide between Podia and Thinkific, we’ve broken down what’s included in each when it comes to top features, course creation, learning experience, sales and marketing, support, mobile app availability and features, and pricing.
Top features | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Starting price | Get started free | Free to create, Paid to publish. |
Create courses with any content type | ||
Community Spaces | ||
Email and chat support | Email and live chat only | |
Host live events (free or paid) | On Mover or Shaker plan | |
Offer digital downloads (free or paid) | ||
Student course reviews | – | |
Automated tax collection | ||
App integrations | ||
Publish courses | Only on paid plan | |
AI course outline generator | – | |
AI quiz generator | – | |
Marketing and sales funnels | ||
Link in bio mobile tool |
Course creation
Without an easy-to-use course builder, you won’t be able to create an engaging and memorable learning experience for your learners.
Podia offers the features necessary to build a standard course. Customers have all the basic functionality such as adding videos and creating quizzes, but anyone looking for deeper learning tools may want to check out Thinkific, which offers more features and customization options.
Thinkific offers a course builder designed for customers who have the students’ learning experience in mind. Thinkific includes tools that enhance the experience such as Live Lessons with Zoom, assignments, and a built-in presentation creator — all features that help boost engagement and make learning enjoyable for your audience.
Preparing course (and other educational) materials is made simple with Thinkific’s advanced AI technology. For example, customers can build course outlines and quizzes in a few clicks. Thinkific’s AI Course Outline Generator instantly creates a detailed course outline tailored to your audience’s needs and Thinkific’s AI Quiz Generator creates quizzes that keep learners engaged, test comprehension, and identify knowledge gaps.

Course creation | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Publish courses | Only on paid plan | |
No design or technical experience required | ||
Create courses with any content type | ||
Downloadable content and lessons | ||
Student surveys | – | |
AI course outline generator | ||
AI quiz generator | via theleap.co | – |
Embed third-party tools and content (ie. Storyline and Captivate) |
Learning experience
A great learning experience is vital to your success. It will help your students learn more effectively and make them want to share it with their friends — helping you grow your business.
Thinkific does more than just courses — they offer helpful digital learning experiences like digital downloads, 1-1 coaching sessions, and webinars. With digital downloads, learners can find value in quickly downloadable guides, templates, exclusive resources, and more. With coaching and webinars, learners can schedule coaching sessions and other forms of dedicated one-on-one time, attend workshops, and register for webinars.
Podia has all the basics you need to build an online course. You’re able to upload and incorporate most types of content, including text, images, video, audio files, MP3, links, PDF, PSD, quizzes, and more. Plus, you can offer drip courses to your students section-by-section to keep them engaged without feeling overwhelmed.
Since the experts at Thinkific know that when your students succeed, you succeed, the platform offers an unmatched suite of functionality that extends beyond what’s capable in platforms like Podia. From an easy-to-use student interface to interactive learning formats and progress tracking, Thinkific is dedicated to significantly increasing learner engagement and satisfaction.

Teaching and learning experience | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Memberships | – | |
Easy course navigation | ||
Multiple instructors | $20/month per user | |
Student progress tracking | For individual students, but no aggregate reporting | |
Student course reviews | – | |
Student engagement surveys | – | |
Optimized for all devices | – | |
Multiple payment options | ||
Third-party app integrations | ||
AI group discussion question generator | – |
Sales and marketing
Once you’ve published your course, Thinkific and Podia offer a number of different sales and marketing tools to help you actually drive revenue.
Both Thinkific and Podia let you pre-sell courses, deliver drip courses, offer payment plans, support coupons, and facilitate bundles and upsells.
In addition to Podia’s sales and marketing features, Thinkific supports sales and marketing funnels, email marketing, course previews, a wide variety of payment options, and much more. Additionally, Thinkific includes access to more than 90 powerful integrations so you have the best tools in the business for marketing and email automation, increasing sales, and enhancing the learning experience through gamification.

Sales features
Sales features | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Create free, paid, and time-limited courses | ||
Currencies | 135+ | 29 |
Customizable payment plans and offers | ||
Subscriptions | ||
Bundle multiple products | ||
Order bumps | ||
Coupons and promotions | ||
Abandon cart emails | – | |
Built-in payment processor | ||
Integration with e-commerce tools | ||
B2B selling options | ||
Sell digital downloads |
Marketing features
Marketing features | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Email sales flow | Priced as an add-on | |
Branding and customization across digital products and pages | – | |
AI marketing content creation (social posts, sales pages) | – | |
AI-generated landing pages | – |
Design customization features
Design customization | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Customization of courses and communities | ||
Customizable course landing pages |
Mobile app
Thinkific has two mobile app options for you to choose from: Thinkific Mobile and Branded Mobile. If you’re looking for a white-labeled app that spotlights your brand with your own App Store listing and logo, Branded Mobile ($199/month) has what you need.
Thinkific also offers Thinkific Mobile (included with Start plans and higher) which gives your audience access to your material in a more flexible, convenient way. While Branded Mobile reflects your own branding, Thinkific Mobile includes Thinkific branding.
In comparison, Podia doesn’t offer a dedicated mobile app. However, Podia is a mobile-friendly platform as both course creators and students can access Podia the same way they would on desktop — by using a browser. As a course creator, you can also preview what your site looks like on mobile with their “Site Editor” tool.

Mobile app | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Available on iOS | – | |
Available on Android | – | |
Support for communities | – | |
White-labeled app | – | |
In-app purchases | – | |
Price | Thinkific Mobile is included in Start plans and above $199/month for Branded Mobile | – |
Support
Both Thinkific and Podia offer excellent customer support for their users, but there are some differences to keep in mind when deciding on your LMS.
Podia offers chat support that’s available seven days a week, plus a creator community and on-demand articles and videos.
In addition to chat support, an active creator Facebook community, and a resource center, Thinkific also offers phone and 24/7 chatbot support. Whether you’re looking for a network of experts, a community of peers, or a responsive support team, Thinkific has you covered with best-in-class service. When your business grows, Thinkific offers more security and support options to ensure your continued success.

Support | Thinkific | Podia |
---|---|---|
Multiple support options | ||
Private instructor community | ||
Access to experts | ||
Dedicated customer support team |
Our customers have earned $3.7 billion with Thinkific
Talk to one of our team members to discover how Thinkific’s award-winning platform can help you drive revenue and retention.




