Podia Pricing 2026: An Honest Founder's Breakdown

By Stefan Ciancio on 2026-09-24

TL;DR: Podia offers four main pricing tiers in 2026: a Free plan with a 10% transaction fee, a Starter plan at $9/month ($4/month annually) with an 8% fee, a Mover plan at $39/month ($33/month annually) with a 5% fee, and a Shaker plan at $89/month ($75/month annually) with 0% transaction fees. Your choice depends entirely on your sales volume, as the transaction fees are the most significant cost factor for growing creators.

Quick answers

How much does Podia cost per month?

Podia's monthly pricing is $0 for the Free plan, $9 for Starter, $39 for Mover, and $89 for Shaker. Annual billing provides a discount, effectively making the plans $0, $4, $33, and $75 per month, respectively. The key difference lies in the transaction fees: 10% (Free), 8% (Starter), 5% (Mover), and 0% (Shaker), not including standard payment processor fees.

Does Podia have a free plan?

Yes, Podia has a robust free plan. It allows you to build a full website, run a community, sell one digital download, and one coaching product. However, it comes with a high 10% transaction fee on all sales, which can become costly as your revenue grows. It's a great starting point but not a long-term solution for a serious business.

What are Podia's transaction fees?

Podia's transaction fees vary by plan. The Free plan charges 10%, the Starter plan charges 8%, and the Mover plan charges 5%. The Shaker plan is the only one with 0% Podia transaction fees. It's important to remember that these fees are in addition to the standard credit card processing fees from Stripe or PayPal (typically around 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction).

Is Podia cheaper than Kajabi?

Yes, Podia is significantly cheaper than Kajabi on every comparable tier. Podia's most expensive plan (Shaker at $89/month) is less expensive than Kajabi's cheapest plan (Basic at $149/month). While Podia wins on price, Kajabi offers more advanced features like a full sales funnel builder and more robust marketing automation, which may justify the higher cost for established businesses. I compare them in more detail in my Podia vs Kajabi breakdown.

What is the best Podia plan for beginners?

For absolute beginners with no audience or product yet, the Free plan is the best choice. It lets you build your site and test an idea with zero financial risk. Once you start making consistent sales (e.g., over $100/month), upgrading to the Starter or Mover plan quickly becomes more cost-effective due to the lower transaction fees.

Can you host webinars on Podia?

Yes, but only on the Mover and Shaker plans. Podia's webinar feature is an integration that allows you to host a live event using YouTube Live or Zoom and sell access to it. It lacks the automation, evergreen functionality, and advanced marketing features of specialized platforms. For that, you need a dedicated tool like WebinarKit, which is built for conversion, not just streaming.

Is there a hidden cost with Podia?

The main 'hidden' cost isn't hidden, but it's often misunderstood: payment processing fees. Podia's transaction fees (10%, 8%, 5%, 0%) are separate from the mandatory fees charged by Stripe and PayPal for processing the actual credit card payments. This is standard across all platforms, but it's a crucial part of calculating your true profit margin on every sale.

What Are Podia's Pricing Tiers in 2026?

Podia's pricing is structured to scale with a creator's journey, from just starting out to running a mature digital business. Here is a direct breakdown of the four main plans available today.

I've run businesses on platforms with far more complicated pricing, and I appreciate Podia's relative transparency. The core trade-off is simple: you pay a lower monthly fee in exchange for a higher percentage of your sales, or you pay a higher monthly fee to keep more of your revenue. My first digital products were sold on platforms with high fees, and I learned quickly that you have to do the math. As your sales grow, a 10% fee becomes a massive drag on your business. Let's look at the numbers.

Feature	Free	Starter ($9/mo)	Mover ($39/mo)	Shaker ($89/mo)
Monthly Price (Annual)	$0	$4	$33	$75
Podia Transaction Fee	10%	8%	5%	0%
Full Website	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Community	Yes (Free plan only)	Add-on ($20/mo)	Included	Included
Online Courses	No	No	Unlimited	Unlimited
Digital Downloads	1	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Webinars	No	No	Yes	Yes
Email Subscribers	100	500	5,000	15,000
Custom Domain	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Affiliates	No	No	No	Yes

Are There Hidden Costs or Transaction Fees?

No, there are no truly hidden costs, but you must understand the two types of fees you'll pay on every single sale: Podia's platform fee and the payment processor's fee.

Let's be crystal clear. Podia's transaction fee is what they charge you for using their platform to facilitate the sale. This is the 10%, 8%, or 5% fee on the Free, Starter, and Mover plans. The Shaker plan has a 0% Podia fee. This is a common model for platforms that want to lower the barrier to entry. However, this is *not* the only fee. Every time a customer buys from you with a credit card, that payment has to be processed by a third party like Stripe or PayPal. These companies charge their own fees for their service. As of 2026, the standard online processing fee from Stripe in the US is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction. This fee applies regardless of which Podia plan you are on, even the 0% fee Shaker plan.

Here's an example: You sell a $100 course on the Mover plan.

Sale Price: $100
Podia's Mover Fee (5%): -$5.00
Stripe's Fee (2.9% + $0.30): -$2.90 - $0.30 = -$3.20
Your Payout: $100 - $5.00 - $3.20 = $91.80

On the Shaker plan, your payout for the same sale would be $100 - $3.20 = $96.80. That $5 difference adds up fast. I run all my businesses, from Processing Scoop to my software companies, on a principle of minimizing variable costs like transaction fees wherever possible. It gives you predictability in your financial modeling.

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How Does Podia's Free Plan Actually Work?

Podia's Free plan is a genuine free-to-start option, not just a time-limited trial, but it operates with significant constraints designed to encourage an upgrade.

It's one of the most generous free tiers in the creator platform space. You can build a complete website, host a free community, and publish your first products: one digital download (like an ebook or template) and one coaching service. This is huge for someone testing the waters. You can build an audience, validate a product idea, and even make your first sales without any upfront cost. I often advise new founders I meet at events like those we host at Epic Marketing Events to start this way. Validate first, invest second.

The catch is the 10% transaction fee. For every $100 you sell, Podia takes $10, plus the ~3% for Stripe/PayPal. This means you're giving up around 13% of your revenue. It's a fantastic deal when your sales are zero. But once you sell just $100 per month, you're paying Podia $10. The Starter plan costs $9/month and drops the fee to 8%. The math quickly favors upgrading. The Free plan is a launchpad, not a long-term home for a real business.

Which Podia Plan Offers the Best Value for Money?

For the majority of creators who are past the initial idea stage and are generating consistent revenue, the Mover plan at $39/month offers the best combination of features and cost-effectiveness.

Here's my reasoning. The Mover plan is the first tier that unlocks Podia's core promise: unlimited courses, unlimited digital downloads, and an integrated community. This is the all-in-one toolkit most creators are looking for. You're not artificially limited in what you can build and sell. Critically, the transaction fee drops to 5%. Let's run the numbers. The price jump from Starter ($9/mo, 8% fee) to Mover ($39/mo, 5% fee) is $30 per month. To make that $30 difference back from the 3% reduction in fees (8% - 5%), you need to be selling $1,000 per month ($1,000 * 3% = $30). If you're selling less than $1k/month, the Starter plan might be cheaper. But if you're selling more, Mover saves you money and unlocks courses. For anyone serious about this, hitting $1k/month in sales is a key early milestone, making Mover the logical target. It's the inflection point where you transition from a hobbyist to a business owner. For more on business tools for solopreneurs, check out my guide to the best CRMs for solopreneurs.

How Do Podia's Webinar Features Compare to a Dedicated Tool?

Podia’s webinar functionality is a basic integration for selling access to live streams, not a dedicated webinar marketing system.

I've built a significant portion of my career and business around webinars, even writing a best-selling book on the topic. I know what a high-converting webinar system requires, and I built it into my own software, WebinarKit. Podia's feature, available on the Mover and Shaker plans, lets you connect Zoom or YouTube Live. You can create a product page, take payments, and send reminders. It works for hosting a live class or Q&A for an existing audience.

However, it lacks the critical marketing automation that turns webinars into sales machines. With a dedicated tool like WebinarKit, you can run automated, evergreen webinars that feel live, 24/7. This is the key to scaling. My automated webinars for my products run constantly, generating sales while I focus on other parts of the business. WebinarKit also includes features like timed offer pop-ups, custom registration pages, detailed analytics on drop-off rates, and one-click replay pages. Podia's system is for broadcasting. A true webinar platform is for converting. If you're serious about using webinars to drive sales, you'll outgrow Podia's offering on day one. I have a whole webinar marketing playbook that goes deeper on this strategy.

Is Podia a Good Choice for Building a Community?

Podia offers a solid, integrated community feature that is excellent for creators who want to keep their content and conversations in one place, but it's not as powerful as dedicated platforms.

The best thing about Podia's community is its seamless integration with your products. You can offer a community as a standalone subscription, bundle it with a course, or have different topics and access levels based on what a customer has purchased. This is incredibly convenient. The interface is clean and straightforward, with posts, topics, and member profiles. For 80% of creators, this is more than enough to foster discussion and add value.

However, if your primary business IS community, you might find it lacking compared to more specialized tools. Platforms like Circle or Skool offer more advanced features like live stream spaces, intricate moderation tools, gamification (points, leaderboards), and more customizable layouts. I wrote a detailed post on the best Skool alternatives that covers this space. Podia's community is a strong 'feature', but for those building a community-first business, a dedicated platform offers a more robust and scalable 'product'. The trade-off is that you then have to manage integrations and another subscription. For most course creators, Podia's built-in solution is the pragmatic choice.

How Does Podia Pricing Compare to Kajabi?

Podia is consistently and significantly more affordable than Kajabi, making it a better entry point for new and budget-conscious creators.

This is one of the most common comparisons in the creator space. Let's put the numbers side-by-side. Podia's top-tier Shaker plan is $89/month (or $75/mo annually) with 0% transaction fees. Kajabi's *entry-level* Basic plan is $149/month ($119/mo annually) and limits you to 3 products and 3 funnels. To get unlimited products and more features on Kajabi, you need their Growth plan at $199/month. From a pure price perspective, it's not even a contest. You could be on Podia's best plan and still pay less than Kajabi's worst.

However, the price reflects a difference in capability. Kajabi is a more powerful, all-in-one marketing machine. It includes a visual sales funnel builder (pipelines), more advanced email automation, a full CRM, and more robust analytics. I see many founders in my portfolio start on a simpler platform and graduate to something more powerful as their needs and revenue grow. Podia excels at simplicity and affordability. Kajabi excels at power and control. If you need complex funnels and deep automation, the higher price for Kajabi (or one of its alternatives) might be a worthwhile investment. You can find my full analysis in this Podia vs Kajabi comparison.

What Are the Core Limitations of Podia's Platform?

Podia's primary limitations stem from its design philosophy of simplicity, which restricts advanced customization, sales funnels, and marketing automation.

While I admire the ease of use, as a founder, I've hit these walls myself on similar platforms. First, website and page customization is limited. You get clean, professional templates, but you can't freely drag-and-drop elements or inject a lot of custom code. Your site will look like a Podia site. Second, there is no native visual sales funnel builder. You can't easily create complex flows with one-click upsells, downsells, or order bumps in the way you can with tools like ClickFunnels or Kajabi. You can string pages together manually, but it's clunky. Third, the built-in email marketing is basic. It's fine for newsletters and simple broadcasts, but it lacks the sophisticated tagging, segmentation, and automation rules of a dedicated provider like ConvertKit. Check out my ConvertKit vs Beehiiv comparison for what real email automation looks like. These limitations are features, not bugs-they keep the platform simple. But for a scaling business, they become constraints that eventually force a move or a reliance on multiple third-party tools.

When Does it Make Sense to Move Off Podia?

It makes sense to move off Podia when the platform's simplicity starts costing you more in lost revenue opportunities than you save on subscription fees.

This is a critical calculation for any founder. Staying on a platform too long can stunt your growth. After talking with hundreds of creators and seeing my own students' journeys, I've identified a clear checklist for when it's time to graduate.

Your Math on the Shaker Plan Breaks: The Shaker plan at $89/month with 0% fees is a great deal. But if your business needs a level of automation or functionality that Podia doesn't offer, forcing you to subscribe to three other tools (e.g., a funnel builder for $97/mo, an advanced email provider for $50/mo), you might be better off paying $199/mo for an all-in-one like Kajabi that has it all built-in. Do the total cost analysis.
You Need True Sales Funnels: When you're ready to implement one-click upsells, order bumps, and conditional downsells to maximize average order value, Podia's simple checkout isn't enough. This is low-hanging fruit for revenue growth, and if your platform can't do it, it's time to leave.
Your Brand Requires Custom Design: If you've reached a point where brand identity is paramount and the template-based design of Podia feels restrictive, you'll need a platform with more design flexibility or a WordPress-based solution.
You Want to Build Proprietary Tools: The ultimate step in creator maturity is owning your own technology. When your business model relies on a unique calculator, a custom dashboard, or a specific software tool, you've outgrown any off-the-shelf creator platform. This is precisely why I built Maker AI, to empower creators to build their own AI-powered apps and micro-SaaS businesses without needing to code. It's the next logical step beyond selling courses.
Your Marketing Automation is Too Complex: If you find yourself saying "I wish I could automatically tag a user who watched 75% of a video and then send them a specific 3-day email sequence," you've outgrown Podia's email capabilities. That level of behavioral marketing requires a more robust system.

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FAQ

What payment gateways does Podia support?

Podia integrates directly with Stripe and PayPal. You can connect your own accounts from either or both providers to process payments from your customers. All revenue, minus Podia's platform fee and the processor's fee, is paid directly into your connected Stripe or PayPal account.

Can I use my own custom domain with Podia?

Yes, you can use a custom domain on all paid plans (Starter, Mover, and Shaker). The Free plan requires you to use a Podia subdomain (e.g., your-brand.podia.com). Using a custom domain is essential for brand building, so this is a key reason to upgrade to a paid plan early on.

Does Podia take a cut of affiliate sales?

Podia's standard transaction fees apply to sales generated by affiliates, just like any other sale. The affiliate feature is only available on the top-tier Shaker plan, which has a 0% Podia transaction fee. Therefore, you only pay the affiliate's commission and the standard payment processing fees.

Is there a limit on students or customers in Podia?

No, Podia does not limit the number of students, customers, or members you can have on any plan, including the free one. The limitations are based on the number and type of products you can sell, email subscriber counts, and features, not the size of your audience.

How does Podia's email pricing work?

Each Podia plan includes a generous number of email subscribers (e.g., 5,000 on Mover, 15,000 on Shaker). If you exceed your plan's limit, you will be charged an overage fee. The pricing is tiered, starting at $20/month for the next block of subscribers, making it competitive with many standalone email providers for smaller lists.

Can I migrate my content from another platform to Podia?

Yes, Podia offers a free migration service if you sign up for an annual Mover or Shaker plan. They will move your content and customers from your previous platform. This removes a major friction point for established creators who are considering a switch, a service I find quite valuable.

What happens if I downgrade my Podia plan?

If you downgrade to a lower tier, you will lose access to the features of your previous plan. For example, downgrading from Mover to Starter would mean you can no longer sell online courses. Your existing courses would be unpublished but not deleted, allowing you to re-access them if you upgrade again.

Does Podia offer any discounts?

Yes, Podia offers a significant discount if you pay annually instead of monthly. The annual subscription typically gives you two months free over the course of the year. They do not typically run other promotions or sales, so the annual plan is the best way to get a lower price.

FAQ