If you are planning to launch and grow a digital product business in 2025, two names you’ve probably come across are Podia and Thinkific. Both platforms have earned solid reputations in the online course industry, but they’re built for different types of creators with different needs.
Podia is marketed as a beginner-friendly, all-in-one platform for creators. It offers tools to sell courses, digital products, coaching, communities, and even email campaigns, all from one dashboard.
Thinkific is tailored more for educators and businesses that want a structured, professional-grade learning management system (LMS). It puts heavy emphasis on curriculum building, assessments, and student learning outcomes.
In this detailed comparison, we will explore Podia vs Thinkific across all the key categories: features, pricing, course creation, marketing, student experience, and more. By the end, you’ll be better equipped to decide which one fits your business goals.
Comparison Table
Podia Overview
Podia is known for being simple, easy to use, and affordable. It is perfect for creators who don’t want to spend hours learning new software or connecting 10 different tools. From one dashboard, you can sell courses, digital downloads, memberships, and coaching sessions. You can also run a community space, host webinars, and send newsletters.
Podia is designed to grow with you. It doesn’t overwhelm you at the start, but it’s flexible enough to support creators earning six figures and beyond.
Thinkific Overview
Thinkific is more of a traditional online course platform with LMS-style structure. It is ideal for those who want a serious educational setup with modules, prerequisites, assessments, certificates, and analytics.
Thinkific allows for more control over student progress but if you want to build a full brand or sell other types of products, you might find it lacking.
Course Creation & Curriculum Design
Both platforms offer solid course creation tools, but they serve different types of users.
Podia allows you to easily upload videos, PDFs, quizzes, and more. You can drip content, bundle courses, and run evergreen or cohort-based programs. Setup is fast and doesn’t require technical skills.
Thinkific, however, provides more advanced options for professional courses. You get course prerequisites, video hosting, completion certificates, lesson locking, and exam-style quizzes. This makes it better suited for educators or coaches who want to guide student learning step-by-step.
Unlike Podia, Thinkific offers SCORM and xAPI support which are necessary for some enterprise users.
Winner: Thinkific
If curriculum structure, assessments, and learner success are important to you, Thinkific is better.
Digital Products & Monetization
Podia allows you to sell much more than just courses. You can sell coaching services, digital downloads (ebooks, templates, checklists), webinars, memberships and communities.
Thinkific is mostly focused on course sales but you can also use it to sell digital downloads, memberships, coaching, webinars and more. While you can bundle offers and upsell products, you don’t get the same variety of product types as Podia.
Winner: Podia
For creators with a variety of product types, Podia gives more room to monetize everything in one place.
Community & Student Engagement
Podia includes community tools that you can use to create free or paid spaces, organize topics into sections, and allow discussions. It is great for building engagement and nurturing a loyal audience.
Thinkific offers community tools via its Thinkific Communities add-on feature, but it is a separate environment from the courses. It is useful but doesn’t feel as engaging as Podia's approach.
Winner: Podia
For creators focused on building a tribe or membership hub, Podia’s all-in-one community provides a better experience.
Marketing & Sales Tools
Podia includes email marketing across all paid plans. You can send newsletters, set up automated sequences, and tag users based on their behavior, all without third-party tools. However, it does not have advanced sales tools like funnel builders and the like.
Thinkific also has built-in email marketing that is simple but works. Users can also send abandoned cart emails to boost conversion rates. Other sales features it offers include: buy now, pay later, order bumps and group orders.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms offer basic marketing and sales tools.
Website & Customization
Both Podia and Thinkific let you create a website and landing pages, but they take different approaches.
Podia offers customizable page templates, sales pages, and storefront design. You can choose your brand colors, add images, and edit sections without touching code.
Thinkific has a drag-and-drop page builder with more layout flexibility. You can customize individual course pages and even use custom themes if you’re on a higher pricing plan.
Winner: Tie
Podia is simpler and faster, while Thinkific gives more design freedom for advanced users.
Mobile App Experience
Podia does not currently offer a mobile app for creators or students. Users have to rely on mobile browsers.
Thinkific has a mobile app that allows students to access content on the go and provides a branded experience.
Winner: Thinkific
If your learners expect a mobile app, Thinkific is a better choice.
Pricing
Podia
- Mover Plan: $39/month (5% transaction fees)
- Shaker Plan: $89/month (Zero transaction fees)
Thinkific Pricing (2025):
- Basic Plan: $49/month
- Start Plan: $99/month
- Grow: $199/month
- Thinkific Plus: Custom pricing
Thinkfic does not charge transaction fees on any plan.
Winner: Podia
Podia has a flatter pricing structure that does not become too expensive as you grow and includes more features even on the lowest plan.
Customer Support
Podia provides email and live chat support for all paid plans as well as a help center with comprehensive help resources. Their support team is known for being fast, friendly, and helpful.
Thinkific offers email and chat support across all plans, with phone support only available on higher plans. The help center and knowledge base are also well-developed.
Winner: Tie
Both platforms provide accessible and timely support.
Pros & Cons
Podia Pros
- All-in-one platform (courses, community, email, webinars)
- Affordable pricing
- Easy to use, even for non-techies
- Great customer support
Podia Cons
- No mobile app
- Course analytics are basic
- Not ideal for advanced curriculum control
Thinkific Pros
- Strong course features
- Built-in quizzes, prerequisites, certificates
- Mobile app available
- Better for professional training or academic use
- SCORM support
Thinkific Cons
- Higher cost for full features
- More complex to use
User Reviews & Ratings
- Podia: 4.6/5 on Capterra
Loved for its simplicity, support, and all-in-one approach. - Thinkific: 4.4/5 on Capterra
Praised for course quality and scalability, but noted for needing external tools.
Which Platform Offers More Value?
The answer depends on your priorities.
If you are a coach, freelancer, or content creator who wants a simple, affordable way to sell digital products and build community, Podia gives you everything in one place, without needing to pay for other tools.
If you are selling professional training or need advanced student management tools and a mobile app, Thinkific might be worth the extra setup and cost.
Who Should Use Podia?
- Creators who want a simple, all-in-one tool
- Beginners on a budget
- People selling coaching, downloads, and memberships
- Community-driven businesses
Who Should Use Thinkific?
- Educators building structured learning experiences
- Organizations offering certifications or exams
- Businesses that need detailed course analytics
- Creators with mobile-first audiences
Conclusion
Both Podia and Thinkific are powerful platforms, but they serve different types of creators. Choose Podia if you want to get started quickly, sell more than just courses, and run everything from one clean dashboard.
Choose Thinkific if you’re building a serious educational product and want advanced control over your students' experience. Still unsure? Try their free trial and explore their dashboards to see which one fits your needs best.
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