Thinkific vs Podia: Plans, Prices and Transaction Fees
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This article compares the published plans, prices and fees of two course platforms, Thinkific and Podia. All figures come from each vendor’s pricing page, checked on 2026-10-29. Prices change, so confirm on the vendor’s page before you buy.
One caution up front: the two pages show different currencies. Thinkific’s pricing page showed euros when fetched, and Podia’s pricing page shows dollars. We do not convert between them, so the numbers below are not directly comparable.
Plan prices at a glance
| Thinkific | Podia | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry plan | Start: €79/month billed annually, or €107/month billed monthly | Mover: $42/month billed annually ($504/yr), or $49/month monthly |
| Middle plan | Grow: €159/month billed annually | Shaker: $84/month billed annually ($1,008/yr), or $99/month monthly |
| Top plan | Expand: €366/month billed annually | Earthquaker: price not stated here |
| Free trial | 30 days; no free plan | 14 days, full access, no card needed |
Some gaps matter. Podia’s monthly figures are not shown in the visible pricing text, so treat them with some caution. For Thinkific, we do not give monthly prices for Grow and Expand. Thinkific Plus is not listed, and the vendor’s page does not state a price for it here.
Transaction fees and payment processing
This is where the two differ most clearly.
Podia charges a transaction fee on its entry plan only: Mover carries a 5% fee, while Shaker and Earthquaker have no Podia transaction fee. That does not make selling free. Payment processing is separate: Stripe or PayPal charge 2.9% + 30¢, which may vary by location, and the vendor’s page says these fees are charged by the processor rather than Podia.
Thinkific does not state a transaction fee percentage per plan on its pricing page. What it does state is a 2.9% rate when you use Thinkific Payments. If you use a third-party gateway, an additional gateway fee applies and varies by plan, but the amounts are not stated. Before choosing, check the exact fee for your plan with Thinkific directly.
So on the entry tier, Podia’s 5% is a known extra cost, while Thinkific’s equivalent is simply not published on the vendor’s page.
Features we could compare
- Video: Thinkific’s Start plan lists 200 GB/mo of video hosting (Grow 400 GB/mo, Expand 1000 GB/mo). Podia limits by video count instead: Mover 500 videos, Shaker 1,000 videos, Earthquaker unlimited. These are different units, so they cannot be ranked against each other.
- Drip content: Thinkific includes it on all plans. Podia’s pricing page does not state this.
- Live lessons: Thinkific includes Zoom meetings and webinars on all plans, with unlimited Zoom sessions on Start. Podia reports that events (live and in-person) are included on all plans, but states no specific limits.
- Refunds: Podia accepts refund requests within 72 hours of the most recent payment and does not give partial refunds on annual plans. Thinkific’s refund terms are not stated on its pricing page.
Pros and cons
Thinkific
- Pros: longer trial (30 days); drip content and Zoom sessions across all plans; clear video allowances in GB.
- Cons: no free plan; per-plan gateway fees not stated; prices shown in euros only on the vendor’s page; the top published plan is €366/month billed annually.
Podia
- Pros: shorter but card-free trial; no transaction fee on Shaker and Earthquaker (payment processor fees still apply, as above).
- Cons: 5% transaction fee on Mover; no partial refunds on annual plans; video limits are counts, and storage in GB is not stated.
Who it suits, and who should look elsewhere
Thinkific may suit sellers who want drip schedules and Zoom sessions included from the first plan and who prefer to test for 30 days. It is a weaker fit if you need every fee spelled out in advance, since the gateway fees and per-plan transaction details are not published on the vendor’s page.
Podia may suit sellers who want a card-free trial and who expect enough sales that moving off Mover to avoid its 5% fee is worth considering. We have not calculated a break-even point, and you should do so with your own numbers. It may not suit you if you rely on drip content, because the vendor’s page does not state it, or if you want flexibility on annual refunds.
If neither fits, other platforms exist, but they are not covered here.
What we could not verify
- Thinkific’s transaction fee percentage per plan, refund terms, USD pricing and Plus pricing.
- Thinkific’s per-file size limits.
- How Podia handles taxes, as the vendor’s page does not state it in its visible text.
- Podia’s drip content support.
- Podia’s live-class limits, and its video storage in GB, file size and bandwidth limits.
Neither product is the right pick for everyone. Check the current terms on each vendor’s page, and use the trials to test your own course format before committing to an annual plan.