Course platforms compared: Teachable vs Thinkific vs Kajabi vs Podia in 2026

If you're selling a course in 2026, the four platforms most creators end up weighing against each other are Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, and Podia. They look superficially similar — host video lessons, sell access, take payments — but the fee models, feature breadth, and price points are different enough that the right pick changes by use case.

This is the comparison most course creators reach for, with the trade-offs that actually matter.

The four at a glance

Teachable: $39–$199/month. 0% transaction fee on Pro and above; 5% on Basic. Strong creator-coaching positioning, decent integrations, mature product.

Thinkific: $36–$149/month with a Free plan that supports a single course. 0% transaction fee on all paid plans. More builder-flexible than Teachable, with cleaner course-building UX.

Kajabi: $89–$399/month. 0% transaction fee on all plans. The "all-in-one" play — courses, email, website, sales funnels, automations all in one tool. Highest sticker price, fewest external integrations needed.

Podia: $33–$75/month. Mover plan has a 5% transaction fee; Shaker has 0%. Includes email marketing, downloads, memberships, and webinars in one package.

Fee model — the real comparison

All four charge a monthly subscription. None take a percentage of revenue (beyond Stripe's standard 2.9% + $0.30) on their paid tiers. So the fee question reduces to: how much do you pay monthly to keep all your sales revenue?

For a course creator doing $2,000/month in sales: - Podia Shaker at $75/mo costs you $75 - Teachable Pro at $59/mo costs you $59 - Thinkific Start at $36/mo costs you $36 - Kajabi Kickstarter at $89/mo costs you $89

So at low volumes, Thinkific is the cheapest. At higher volumes, the monthly cost is irrelevant — you're picking on features.

The Teachable and Podia "Basic"/"Mover" plans charge a 5% transaction fee. That's a tax on early-stage creators — once you're doing more than ~$500/month in sales, you save money by upgrading to the 0%-fee tier.

Feature breadth — what you get past the course

Teachable: Course hosting + coaching products + digital downloads. Email marketing is light — you'll likely pair with ConvertKit or similar.

Thinkific: Course hosting + communities (on higher tiers) + memberships. Email marketing is light. App marketplace for extending functionality.

Kajabi: Course hosting + websites + email marketing + sales funnels + landing pages + memberships + podcasting. The sticker shock of Kajabi prices makes more sense once you realize you're replacing 4–5 separate tools.

Podia: Course hosting + email marketing + memberships + webinars + downloads. Less depth in any individual area than Kajabi, but everything's bundled at half the price.

Course-building experience

This is where Thinkific and Teachable diverge. Thinkific's course builder is the cleanest of the four — drag-drop lessons, conditional reveals, quizzes, and assignments are all polished. Teachable's builder is mature but feels older. Kajabi's is decent but secondary to its email/funnel positioning. Podia's is functional but lighter on advanced features (like quizzes and certificates) than the specialists.

If your course depends heavily on instructional design — quizzes, branching paths, certificates — Thinkific is the safe pick.

Built-in audience vs. bring your own

None of these have meaningful built-in discovery. All four expect you to bring your own audience via email list, social, or paid ads. If you need a marketplace that drives students, you're looking at Udemy or Skool instead.

Recommendation by profile

First-time course creator validating an idea: Thinkific Free plan. One course, no upfront cost, upgrade when you've validated.

Established course creator focused on the course itself, not the marketing stack: Thinkific or Teachable. Pair with a separate email tool (Kit, Beehiiv, MailerLite).

Creator running a full info-product business with email lists, funnels, and multiple products: Kajabi. The price stings until you tally what you'd otherwise spend on separate tools.

Creator selling a mix of courses, memberships, downloads, and webinars without wanting four tools: Podia. The all-in-one for under $100/month.

Creator with a community that wants an integrated course + community experience: Skool, not these four. Different category.

Creator who wants the lowest possible fees and is technically capable: Direct Stripe + Bunny Stream + a static-site front-end. Not for everyone, but for $5K+/month creators it's worth the math.

VAT, currencies, and EU considerations

None of these four act as Merchant of Record by default — VAT compliance is your problem if you sell into the EU. If VAT is a deal-breaker, Gumroad handles MoR responsibilities globally and might be a better fit for course-creators selling across EU borders, especially at smaller scale.

What the matcher quiz weights here

If you take the matcher quiz and your answers point toward courses, the algorithm weights: - Fee sensitivity — pushes toward Thinkific, Podia Shaker - Bundling needs — pushes toward Kajabi - Community importance — pushes away from these four toward Skool - EU location — pushes toward Gumroad for VAT handling

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Data last verified: 2026-04-18. All four platforms revise pricing at least annually; check the live pricing page on each before committing.