For years, Podia was the go-to platform for new creators. Its free, commission-based plan made it incredibly easy to dip your toes into the world of online courses without any upfront investment.
That’s why their decision to remove the free plan has left many creators wondering where to turn next. But don’t worry, the creator economy is filled with incredible tools.
If you’re searching for a new platform that offers the same ease of use, affordability, and powerful features you loved about Podia, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive into the best Podia alternatives for 2025 and find the perfect fit for your next chapter.
Alternatives to Podia: Quick Comparison
| Platform | Best Advantage Over Teachable | Pricing Starts From |
| Klasio | Free plan with zero commission and with no feature limit | Free |
| Thinkific | AI landing page builder, strong community features | $49/month |
| LearnWorlds | Interactive course builder, Comprehensive AI assistant | $29/month |
| Systeme.io | Strong marketing features, including email campaigns and a funnel builder | Free |
| LifterLMS | Full control of the website, free to start, no commission | Free |
| Udemy | Free to start, exposure to millions of potential students | Free |
| Sellfy | Designed for selling a wider variety of digital products | $22/month |
Now, let’s get to know more about the better alternatives to Podia in detail.
01. Klasio
For creators searching for a powerful and truly free alternative to Podia, Klasio stands out as the top contender in 2025. It’s a strong choice for creators who want to start for free, because Klasio has a free plan that lets you sell your courses without any commission.
With the free plan, you get access to almost every feature of Klasio right away. You can create courses, hold live sessions, sell digital products, use their AI assistant to plan your courses, and more.
A big plus is the free mobile app for both Android and iOS, so your students can easily take your courses on their phones. This is something other platforms often charge for.
If you decide you need more, Klasio’s paid plans are also affordable compared to Podia. With Klasio, you can start for only $29/month with no commission. Klasio also offers a special lifetime deal where you can pay just once to use the platform forever, which can save you money over time.
Key advantages over Podia
- Offers a free-forever plan that allows creators to sell courses with 0% transaction fees.
- Provides a dedicated mobile app for both Android and iOS students at no extra cost.
- Offers one-time payment lifetime deals.
- Assists creators with free migration services to move their content and students from other platforms.
- Even on its free tier, Klasio includes features like an AI assistant for course creation and live class hosting.
02. Thinkific
For creators exploring a paid alternative to Podia, Thinkific is a leading platform, especially for those who want to build in-depth and professional online courses. Thinkific is designed to give you complete control over your course content and brand, essentially allowing you to build your own online school.
Thinkific stands out with its powerful course-building features. You can create rich, multimedia lessons with video, text, quizzes, and assignments to create a comprehensive learning experience for your students. Also, Thinkific offers a powerful AI landing page builder that allows you to create personalized course websites in minutes.
As for pricing, Thinkific is very similar to Podia, except for the commission. Thinkific starts at $36/month if paid annually or $49 if paid monthly.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Offers more robust features for building in-depth courses, including detailed quizzes, assignments, and the ability to create a more structured learning path.
- Provides a powerful site builder with more themes and customization options, including an AI landing page builder.
- Thinkific does not charge any transaction fees on sales made through its paid plans, meaning creators keep 100% of their course revenue.
- Offers more detailed student progress reports, engagement analytics, and tools for managing student groups and individual learning journeys.
03. Learnworlds
LearnWorlds stands out as an alternative to Podia for its focus on interactive online courses. With its course builder, you can place quizzes right inside your videos, and it supports SCORM and HTML5 packages. So you can bring in ready-made e‑learning materials without extra work.
LearnWorlds also offers a powerful AI to help you create and upload your courses every step of the way.
On the design side, LearnWorlds gives you plenty of control over your school’s look and feel. Its site Bbilder lets you pick color schemes and fonts, tweak page layouts, and insert custom sections wherever you need them.
Managing learners is straightforward, too. LearnWorlds offers AI-powered analytics that give you detailed reports on each student’s progress and show you how they interact with your videos.
As for pricing, LearnWorlds starts from $29/month, and instead of a percentage, they take a flat $5 commission, which is good for you.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Offers an advanced interactive video editor. You can add quizzes, buttons, and text overlays directly into videos.
- Provides full SCORM and HTML5 package support. This allows for importing complex, pre-designed e-learning modules.
- Features a highly customizable site builder. You control themes, layouts, and individual page elements for unique branding.
- Delivers in-depth student analytics and progress tracking. Monitor video engagement, quiz scores, and overall course completion.
- Includes built-in social learning tools. Create student communities, forums, and group activities for enhanced interaction.
04. Systeme.io
Systeme.io is the alternative to Podia’s strong email marketing feature. Its free plan includes essential features such as funnel creation, email campaigns, and course delivery, which can be useful for those just getting started.
For users who need more, the paid plans begin at $27 per month, with lower rates available through annual billing. Compared to other platforms, this pricing often includes broader access to marketing automation and sales tools.
While Podia focuses more on selling digital products with some marketing features, Systeme.io places a stronger emphasis on automated funnels and email workflows. This approach can help creators follow up with leads, manage contacts, and improve sales without extra software.
For those looking to build an online course while also developing a full marketing system around it, Systeme.io offers a more connected setup that supports both tasks in one environment.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Offers a more extensive suite of marketing automation tools, including advanced sales funnels, email campaigns, and workflow automation.
- Provides a genuinely free plan that includes essential features like sales funnels, email marketing, and course hosting, allowing creators to start and grow their business without upfront costs.
- Includes built-in tools for managing your own affiliate program.
- Designed as an all-in-one platform for various online business needs, offering features like blogging, website building, and evergreen webinars.
- Provides more comprehensive marketing and sales features at lower price points as your business scales.
05. LifterLMS
If you prefer a self-hosted LMS over SaaS, then LifterLMS is a flexible WordPress plugin that offers a solid alternative to Podia. As a self-managed LMS, you host your entire online academy on your own site.
With LifterLMS, you retain full control over your content, data, and branding. This is what a SaaS platform like Podia cannot match.
LifterLMS includes a drag‑and‑drop course builder you can use to assemble lessons, quizzes, and assignments. It supports a range of payment models such as one‑time fees, subscriptions, and bundled courses.
You’ll also find tools for managing student enrollments, tracking progress, and issuing certificates or badges to mark achievements. All of these features are accessible from your WordPress dashboard, so you won’t have to switch between separate systems.
LifterLMS is available through annual subscription bundles, which combine core functionality with various add‑ons and support. Pricing begins around $299 per year for the Earth Bundle.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Allows for extensive customization through themes, plugins, and custom code, enabling a truly unique and tailored online learning platform.
- Supports a wide array of monetization strategies, including one-time payments, recurring subscriptions, course bundles, and private coaching.
- Includes built-in features like achievement badges, certificates, private coaching areas, and social learning tools.
- More cost-effective solution in the long run, as it eliminates recurring platform fees.
06. Udemy
When it comes to selling courses, Udemy offers a different path than Podia. Rather than building an independent online school, you publish your course in a marketplace that already attracts millions of learners. This setup allows you to tap into Udemy’s user base instead of starting your own marketing from zero.
To launch a course, you follow Udemy’s quality requirements and use its course creation tools to upload video lectures, supporting materials, and quizzes. Once your content is live, Udemy takes care of hosting, payment processing, and customer inquiries.
If you handle your own marketing, you’ll retain 97% of your course revenue; if you opt into Udemy’s promotional efforts, you’ll receive 37% of the earnings.
Instructors can also review basic analytics, such as completion rates and student feedback, to see how their courses perform and make updates where needed. Because Udemy handles most of the technical and administrative work, you can devote your time to developing lessons and responding to learners.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Provides immediate access to millions of active learners worldwide, reducing the need for instructors to build their own audience from scratch.
- Actively promotes courses through its platform, email campaigns, and partnerships.
- Create and publish courses without any subscription fees.
- Manages all aspects of course hosting, video streaming, payment processing, and customer support.
07. Sellfy
Rather than focusing on full‑scale course building, Sellfy offers an easy way to sell digital goods, subscriptions, and print‑on‑demand items.
You can launch a clean, branded storefront or embed purchase buttons into your existing website in just a few clicks, all without touching a line of code. Its interface guides you through uploading files, setting prices, and arranging products, so you can move from idea to live store in minutes.
Sellfy also provides basic marketing tools, such as email campaigns, discount codes, and upsell prompts to help you reach customers and boost orders. It supports one‑time sales, recurring subscriptions, and print‑on‑demand order fulfillment, making it flexible enough to sell e‑books, music tracks, videos, and design templates. You can even offer custom‑printed merchandise alongside your digital products.
The platform handles secure file delivery, order tracking, and payment processing, and offers simple analytics so you can see which products sell best and where visitors are coming from.
Sellfy is also more budget-friendly than Podia, starting only at $22/month.
Key Advantages Over Podia
- Designed for selling a wider variety of digital products beyond just courses, including e-books, music, videos, and design assets.
- Offers integrated print-on-demand services, allowing creators to easily sell physical merchandise directly from their store.
- Pricing plans are generally more budget-friendly, especially for creators just starting out or those with lower sales volumes.
Switch from Podia to Klasio at No Cost
Based on our discussion, Klasio stands out as the best free alternative to Podia, especially for solo creators who need extensive support.
If you require assistance with migration or marketing, you can connect directly with Klasio’s founders at no charge. Klasio offers personalized one-on-one onboarding, tailored guidance, and an engaged community.
Unlike most platforms, Klasio makes sure that you’re not just using the platform but truly growing with it.
FAQs
Does Podia have AI?
No, Podia does not include any built‑in AI capabilities. However, they do offer a Zapier integration for AI-powered automation.
Is Podia good for SEO?
Yes, Podia includes basic SEO tools, such as custom page titles, meta descriptions, clean URLs, and alt text. However, it doesn’t offer a built‑in blog or advanced SEO features.
Is Podia an LMS?
Yes, Podia is an LMS that functions by providing course creation, lesson modules, quizzes, and student progress tracking. It also has features for selling digital products and memberships.
Does Podia have analytics?
Podia offers built‑in analytics for tracking course sales, student progress, and email campaign performance, along with a set of pre‑built audience segmentation filters.
Is Podia mobile-friendly?
Yes, Podia is mobile-friendly. Podia’s sites and storefronts are fully mobile‑responsive, so your pages, courses, and checkout will adapt smoothly to smartphones and tablets. However, Podia does not provide a dedicated mobile app for instructors or students.
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