Podia Alternatives 2026: 6 Options, 4 Free
Podia alternatives: Systeme.io, Payhip, Moodle, Frappe Learning and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 22, 2026.
•3 min read•Online Courses & Creator Platforms
Verdict:Podia is a tidy all-in-one: courses, memberships, downloads and email on one bill. Its Mover plan is $42 a month billed annually ($49 monthly) with a 5% transaction fee, and there is no free plan, only a 14-day trial. If cost is the issue, Payhip is the easiest swap: a free plan with a 5% transaction fee and every feature, so you pay only when you sell. Systeme.io is the free pick when you also want funnels and email, with a 2,000-contact cap. Both give up Podia's calm, single-purpose interface. If you want to own the platform, Moodle (GPL-3.0) and Frappe Learning (AGPL-3.0) are free software, but you pay in hosting and setup time, and neither ships with a storefront as polished as Podia's. Thinkific and Teachable are the paid, course-first rivals: Teachable's Starter looks cheaper at $29 a month yearly but adds a 7.5% transaction fee, while Thinkific's Start plan is $82 a month billed annually. The trade-off is convenience against cost. Stay with Podia if you sell several product types and value having email included. Leave it when you earn little from courses and a free plan or self-hosted LMS would do the same job.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io | Free (2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, unlimited emails); paid from $17 per month, billed monthly (Startup) | Web browser | Courses plus funnels on a free plan | Docs only |
| Payhip | Free (Free Forever plan at $0 with a 5% transaction fee; all features, unlimited products on every plan; PayPal or Stripe fees apply); paid from $29 per month (Plus; 2% transaction fee; Pro is $99 with no fee) | Web browser | Selling courses and files with no monthly fee | Docs only |
| Moodle | Free (Software is free open source; you pay for hosting, or buy managed hosting elsewhere) | Web browser, Self-hosted (PHP) | Full control of courses on your own server | Docs only |
| Frappe Learning | Free (Free open-source software; you pay for your own hosting) | Self-hosted (easy-install script, Docker), Frappe Cloud (managed hosting) | Developers who want a self-hosted LMS | Docs only |
| Thinkific | Paid from $82 per month, billed annually (Start; $109 monthly) | Web browser | Course creators who want more structure | Docs only |
| Teachable | Paid from $29 per month, billed yearly (Starter; $39 monthly; 7.5% transaction fee) | Web browser | Low entry price while sales are small | Docs only |
| Kajabi | Paid from $143 per month, billed annually (Basic; $179 billed monthly) | Web browser | Course & Membership Platform | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You are starting out and want to pay only when you sell (Payhip is the pick)
- You want funnels and email on a free plan (Systeme.io is the pick)
- You want to host the courses yourself (Moodle is the pick)
- You want a course-first platform and can pay for it (Thinkific is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Podia features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Podia today: Paid from $42 per month, billed annually (Mover; $49 monthly; 5% transaction fee) (Podia pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Why people look for Podia alternatives
Podia has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. The Mover plan is $42 a month billed yearly ($49 monthly) and charges a 5% Podia transaction fee on top of Stripe or PayPal's 2.9% + 30 cents. It caps you at 50 products and 100 email subscribers and leaves out affiliate marketing, upsells, PayPal checkout and Zapier. Those start on Shaker at $84 a month billed yearly ($99 monthly), which allows 150 products and 500 subscribers.
Systeme.io
Compared with Podia: Free plan with 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels and unlimited emails. Podia bundles courses, memberships and email in one simple builder; Systeme has more funnel tools but a busier interface.
Price: Free (2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, unlimited emails); paid from $17 per month, billed monthly (Startup) (Systeme.io pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Courses plus funnels on a free plan.
Payhip
Compared with Podia: Free plan at $0 with a 5% transaction fee, unlimited products and all features. Podia has no free plan and its Mover tier is $42 a month billed annually, so Payhip wins on cost until sales are large.
Price: Free (Free Forever plan at $0 with a 5% transaction fee; all features, unlimited products on every plan; PayPal or Stripe fees apply); paid from $29 per month (Plus; 2% transaction fee; Pro is $99 with no fee) (Payhip pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Selling courses and files with no monthly fee.
Moodle
Compared with Podia: GPL-3.0 learning platform you host yourself. It gives full course tools but has no built-in storefront, so you add payment plugins and run the server, which Podia handles for you.
Price: Free (Software is free open source; you pay for hosting, or buy managed hosting elsewhere) (Moodle pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted (PHP). GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 7.6k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 21, 2026
Best for: Full control of courses on your own server.
Worth knowing: No built-in storefront; selling courses needs payment plugins. Price source is the repository README.
Frappe Learning
Compared with Podia: AGPL-3.0 open-source LMS, free to self-host through Docker or an install script. Less polished for selling than Podia and without email marketing built in, but no platform fee.
Price: Free (Free open-source software; you pay for your own hosting) (Frappe Learning pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Self-hosted (easy-install script, Docker), Frappe Cloud (managed hosting). AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 3.4k GitHub stars · latest release v2.67.1 (Oct 23, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Developers who want a self-hosted LMS.
Thinkific
Compared with Podia: Course-focused platform, Start plan $82 a month billed annually per its pricing page. Pricier than Podia's Mover, with no free plan, but deeper course and community features.
Price: Paid from $82 per month, billed annually (Start; $109 monthly) (Thinkific pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Course creators who want more structure.
Teachable
Compared with Podia: Starter at $29 a month billed yearly but a 7.5% transaction fee. Cheaper headline than Podia, though fees add up as you sell more.
Price: Paid from $29 per month, billed yearly (Starter; $39 monthly; 7.5% transaction fee) (Teachable pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Low entry price while sales are small.
Other popular options (paid)
Kajabi
Compared with Podia: Basic is $143 a month billed annually ($179 monthly) with 5 products, 2,500 contacts and 2 admin users. Pricier than Podia's $42 Mover plan, with far more contacts; no free plan.
Price: Paid from $143 per month, billed annually (Basic; $179 billed monthly) (Kajabi pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You are starting out and want to pay only when you sell: Payhip
- You want funnels and email on a free plan: Systeme.io
- You want to host the courses yourself: Moodle
- You want a course-first platform and can pay for it: Thinkific
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Systeme.io, Payhip, Moodle, Frappe Learning, Thinkific, Teachable: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Podia. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
More in Online Courses & Creator Platforms
All Online Courses & Creator Platforms alternatives →Sources
Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked 2026-10-22: Podia, Systeme.io, Payhip, Moodle, Frappe Learning, Thinkific, Teachable, Kajabi. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.