Thinkific vs. Podia: Which platform is right for you?

Without an easy-to-use course builder, you won’t be able to create an engaging and memorable learning experience for your students. 

Podia offers the features necessary to build a standard course. Creators 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 creators 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, creators 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.

A great learning experience is vital to your success as a course creator. 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 and, 1-1 coaching sessions, and webinars. With Digital Downloads, students can find value in quickly-downloadable guides, templates, exclusive resources, and more. With Coaching & Webinars, students 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 student engagement and satisfaction. 

Thinkific does more than just courses — they offer helpful digital learning experiences like Digital Downloads and Live Events. With Digital Downloads, students can find value in quickly-downloadable guides, templates, exclusive resources, and more. With Live Events, students can schedule coaching sessions and other forms of dedicated one-on-one time, attend workshops, and register for webinars.  

Once you’ve published your course, Thinkific and Podia offer a number of different sales and marketing tools to help you actually make a profit. 

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, course previews, a wide variety of payment options, and much more. Plus, 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.

For example, Digital Downloads make it easy to maximize your earning potential, engage new audiences, and deliver more content to your existing audience. By offering digital products like eBooks, guides, templates, and more, businesses can open up a new stream of revenue and increase leads. 

Likewise, Coaching & Webinars make it easy to build a meaningful connection with your audience, and find and attract new customers — while boosting revenue by adding a price tag to these events. 

You don’t have to worry about list-building or creating sophisticated email flows with Thinkific, as Thinkific also offers an AI-powered email marketing feature. Creators can grow and manage email lists, launch personalized campaigns and roll out automated sequences that support their sales and marketing strategy.

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.

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.

Whether you choose Podia or Thinkific, a course platform is an investment. Not only do you want a tool that fits your budget now, but it should also satisfy your needs now and into the future.

Podia offers four pricing tiers that work well for solopreneurs. They offer low-cost entry-level plans for those just starting out, but lack enterprise-level plans for those seeking more advanced features or who want to scale further. 

Thinkific offers tiers for early-stage businesses all the way to enterprise. With add-on features like a Branded Mobile app ($199/mo) and more, you have the flexibility you need to create a package that works best for you and your business goals.