Podia vs. Thinkific. Which Platform Should You Choose?
Choosing the right platform to host your online course can be overwhelming, right? With so many options out there, how do you know which one fits your needs? In this guide, I will break down Thinkific and Podia, two popular platforms that creators love.
While Podia claims to be an all-in-one solution for everyone who appreciates simplicity, Thinkific focuses on course creation and customization.
To give you the real deal, I have tested Podia and Thinkific, analyzed real user reviews, and YouTuber experiences. Whether you are after simplicity or customization, this comparison will help you decide.
| Podia | Thinkific |
|---|---|
| Built-in email marketing tools to run campaigns | Offers AI-powered automation for emails |
| Blogging opportunity with unlimited posts | No blogging, yet hundreds of third-party integrations |
| Support for different lesson types (texts, files, quizzes, etc.) | AI features within the course builder |
Podia at a glance
Podia has been introduced to the market in 2014 as a course platform. Nowadays, Podia claims to be an all-in-one platform where you can build your website and sell courses, coaching, digital products, webinars, and communities. Podia is greatly known for its simple design and easy navigation. Yet, most users wish they had more customization opportunities, which the platform promised to deliver starting in 2024.
Why do people consider Podia?
- Offers built-in marketing tools, like CRM, email builders, integrations to social media
- Easy to set up your website and add products as reported by users
- Simple and minimalistic UI
Can Podia really meet your needs?
- No mobile app is available.
- Your website can never be completely white-label.
“The website builder is very basic. So, if you like simplicity, Podia can be worth the try. But if you want customization or advanced features, then it might not be the right pick for you”.
Mellisa Guller
Founder of Wit & Wire
Course building functionalities
The way you create courses in Podia is really simple. The platform has 5 main products you can start with, including courses, downloads, webinars, coaching sessions, and bundles. As for the courses, they consist of sections, and you can include multiple lessons in one section. You can have the following types of lessons:
- Files
- Embed
- Text
- Quiz
- Coaching
They act as separate lessons.
For example, if you need to have your course video and a PDF file as one lesson, you need to add a new lesson for the latter. What creators like, however, is that they can schedule the lessons with drip-content functionality.
Key marketing functionalities
Podia comes forward with basic marketing functionality, like
- applying discounts,
- doing upsells and
- designing your sales pages.
Yet, many agree that its strong suit is email marketing. It offers beautiful templates for emails and allows advanced segmentation and tracking. While it is great that everything is built-in, you can always use a dedicated email marketing tool for your campaigns, too.
Payment options and integrations
The only way you accept payments within Podia is via Stripe or PayPal. With that being said, PayPal is not available for their free plan. As you can see, the options you get paid are pretty limited. And if Stripe is not supported in your country, it is a true headache.
As for the integrations, Podia has native integrations as well as third-party snippets and embeds. They include social media platforms, popular email marketing, and analytics tools.
Read more: Podia Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More
Thinkific at a glance
While Thinkific is mostly good for selling pre-recorded courses, you can also offer coaching, memberships, and digital downloads. If you already have a WordPress website, you can easily integrate it with Thinkifc. The platform helps you with most administrative tasks, including calculating and remitting taxes for the US and Canada sales.
What makes Thinkific great?
- The course player and interface, from the student’s perspective, are modern and intuitive.
- Has an app store that helps you go beyond the Thinkific experience
- Offers funnels for lessons and sales
Does it live up to its hype?
- No opportunity to share blogs
- Limited customization opportunities, as reported by users
- Not all integrations are free
We asked some users what they did not like about the platform. Here is a direct quote:
“I am frustrated that I can not customize the Thinkific app more, and I think the platform is overpriced. I find Thinkific has things "tucked away" in hard-to-find places sometimes and that can be annoying”.
Lauren Wiremen, creator at Thinkifc
Course building functionalities
As you create courses on Thinkifc, you can go three ways.
- First, base your curriculum on the course outline generator.
- Next, you can add the lessons one by one, or
- use bulk upload to import your lesson content at once.
As for the lesson types you can include in the overall course, there are a number of options. So, you are able to create Videos, Quizzes, Multimedia, Text, Presentations, Assignments, and Live chapters.
Key marketing functionalities
Thinkific presents a number of opportunities to help creators make more sales.
Thinkific creators can implement the “Buy now, pay later” methods, use the abandon cart emails, place order bumps, and more.
Payment options and integrations
Thinkific offers more than 80+ apps and integrations so that you can extend beyond the functionalities of the platform. The most popular integrations include MailChimp, Shopify, Zapier, and Salesforce.
Besides the common payment options like Stripe and PayPal, Thinkific has introduced Thinkific Payments. They claim that their customers have 22% more transactions on average due to that method.
Read more: Thinkific Review 2025: Alternatives, Pricing, Pros, Cons & More
User reviews on Podia vs. Thinkific.
Nothing makes you see the real good and bad than user reviews who had already built their schools on Podia and Thinkific and used the platforms for years. To help you see the key differences and unique experiences of these platforms, I went through the reviews of people who used both.
For that, I considered some reputable review platforms like Trustpilot, Capterra, and G2. Everyone was on the same page regarding Podia’s simplicity, ease of use, and the fact that they can host their content right on the platform. Podia appears as a functionality-driven platform with a nice interface. Some of the reviewers switched to Podia because the platform:
- Has better design
- Accommodates functionality they previously used several tools for
- Offers reasonable pricing
Yet, they agreed Podia is limited in advanced functionalities like building pages, accessing the code, using embeds, etc.
One of the reasons the reviewers preferred Thinkific is the order bumps and upsell opportunities. It was also an easier solution for those who already had a website on WordPress.
With that being said, reviewers agree that Thinkific is pricier than most solutions, which happen to be all-in-one.
When to choose which? Podia, Thinkific, or…?
If we were to listen to the YouTubers, reviewers, and our take when testing these two platforms, this would be our conclusion.
- Go for Podia if you want an all-in-one platform for courses, memberships, and digital products without too much fuss. It is great if you need simple tools for marketing and sales, like email campaigns and upsells, all in one place.
- Choose Thinkific if your main focus is creating structured courses with more customization and having an online school that speaks your brand. It is perfect for detailed course setups and student tracking.
But what if you need both? What if you could have a solution that is easy to use, all-in-one, allows advanced course creation, and is 100% white-label?
In that case, I recommend getting started with Uteach. With Uteach, you can easily sell everything beyond courses.
Uteach knows you want to grow your business. And it has been built with your scaling in mind. That is why, at Uteach, we do not limit the number of products you create.
Podia vs Thinkific: Detailed comparison
Still cannot choose between Podia and Thinkific? Let’s have a side-by-side comparison on their functionality and options
Most Common Plan
These are the most popular Podia & Thinkific plans among their users! Let’s see which platform is more affordable in terms of pricing.
| $89 | $99 |
Usage & Limitations
Some platforms put limitations on their main features. Is this the case with Podia & Thinkific? Here is a rundown of what you can find.
| Unlimited Students | Unlimited Students |
| Unlimited Courses | Unlimited Courses |
| Unlimited Storage | Unlimited Storage |
Builder Opportunities
Whether your business is going to run on a Podia website or a Thinkific website, their website builders will decide for you. The website-building functionalities these platforms offer include the following:
| - | Student data integration |
| Code editor | Code editor (Starting from an expensive plan) |
| Add-ons | Add-ons |
If you need a fully white-label website and more control over the look and feel of your website, start with Uteach. Why? Because white-labeling on Podia is only removing the “Powered by Podia.” If you need advanced customization, you can access the code no matter what plan you are on. You will not have to upgrade your plan, unlike with Thinkific.
This option is the favorite of thousands of creators
Did you know that everything you cannot do with Podia and Thinkific, you can do with Uteach?
While Podia and Thinkific are among the popular options, Uteach continues to be the favorite option of thousands of creators when it comes to
- Having your branded mobile app on marketplaces and the Uteach native app where you can find your school (Podia does not give you that).
- Creating an online school that no one knows is done with Uteach (Removing “Powered by Podia” is not white-labeling, let’s be honest).
- Finding the best payment method for you, which is also your local (Thinkific does not give you that).
“I've tested other platforms and used at least five of them. And I can say that Uteach is by far my favorite. It comes with great templates that are highly customizable. Everything is laid out logically, and the white label is truly white-label. The advanced SEO capability is a major plus. I cannot say enough good things about the Uteach platform and how happy I am that I made the change”.
Angel Rodriguez
Creator at Uteach, founder of Alliance Training and Testing
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Happy customers everywhere
Angel Rodriguez CPP
Owner - Alliance Training & Testing
If you are looking for a great platform to launch your course then Uteach will meet all your needs. It comes with great templates that are highly customizable. Everything is laid out logically and the white-label is truly white-label. The advanced SEO capability is a major plus.I cannot say enough good things about the Uteach platform and how happy I am that I made the change.
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English Coach/Motivator
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Sales Funnel Creation Consultant, Digital Marketing Strategy Specialist
Uteach, is intuitive, and easy to use. I've been asking Uteach support a ton of detailed questions. I've got perfect, easy to understand / implement answers to all my questions.
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Coach
Uteach is absolutely insane. Everything about this tool is right down to the smallest detail. Whit labeling is all available and can be set up completely within a few minutes. I am an absolute FAN of Uteach.
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Coach
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After 15 years of coaching and mentoring people, we've tried a lot of similar apps and platforms, but this one is truly made for creators. Everything is intuitive, simple and beautiful at the same time.
