Podia vs Kajabi: Real Costs, Limits and Which One Fits You
Podia's cheapest plan costs $49 a month. Kajabi's cheapest costs $179 a month. That's a $130 gap every single month, so why do so many course creators still pick the expensive one? And why do others leave Kajabi for Podia and never look back?
The short answer: Podia is the simpler, cheaper all-in-one for creators selling lots of small products to a modest audience, while Kajabi is the more powerful marketing machine for creators who need big email lists, automations and room to scale. The right choice depends far more on your list size and sales volume than on the sticker price.
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Below, we compare Podia vs Kajabi with prices and limits taken straight from each company's official pricing page in November 2026, plus a few honest "it depends" scenarios so you can find your answer quickly.
Key Takeaways
- Podia costs $49/month (Mover, 5% Podia transaction fee), $99/month (Shaker, no Podia fee) or $179/month (Earthquaker), with roughly 15% off on annual billing.
- Kajabi costs $179/month (Basic), $249/month (Growth) or $499/month (Pro), or $143, $199 and $399 a month billed annually.
- Podia gives you more products for less money (50 on Mover vs 5 on Kajabi Basic). Kajabi gives you a far bigger email list (2,500 contacts on Basic vs up to 100 email subscribers on Podia Mover).
- Both offer a 14-day free trial. Neither has a permanently free plan.
- Choose Podia if you're starting out, selling many low-priced products, or watching every dollar. Choose Kajabi if email marketing, funnels and automations are how you'll grow.
What Is the Difference Between Kajabi and Podia?
Both platforms are "all-in-one" tools for selling online courses, digital downloads, coaching and community memberships from your own website. You don't need WordPress, a separate email tool or a separate checkout with either one. That's where the similarity ends.
Podia is built for simplicity and value. Every plan includes a website and blog, landing pages, online courses, digital downloads, coaching, community, live and in-person events, a built-in checkout and email and chat support, according to Podia's pricing page. The plans mostly differ in how many products, videos and email subscribers you get, and whether Podia takes a cut of your sales.
Kajabi is built for marketing depth. Every plan includes a website, courses, coaching, community, email marketing and Kajabi's AI assistant (which Kajabi calls Cofounder). Higher plans add advanced automations, an affiliate program, live cohort courses, more products, bigger contact limits and, on Pro, your own branded mobile app, per Kajabi's pricing page.
Put simply: Podia asks "how can we give you everything you need for as little as possible?" Kajabi asks "how can we give you every tool you'll need to grow a seven-figure business?" If you've read our Kartra vs. Kajabi comparison, you'll recognise the pattern: Kajabi trades a higher price for a deeper, more polished toolkit.
Video: 7 BEST Online Course Platforms in 2025 | Kajabi vs. Thinkific vs. Podia vs. Teachable by Danie Jay (YouTube). Kajoojoo isn't affiliated with this channel.
Podia vs Kajabi Pricing (November 2026)
Here are the current plans side by side. Monthly prices are what you pay month to month; the annual figure is the effective monthly price when you pay for a year up front.
| Plan | Monthly | Billed annually | Platform transaction fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Podia Mover | $49/mo | $42/mo ($504/yr) | 5% |
| Podia Shaker | $99/mo | $84/mo ($1,008/yr) | None |
| Podia Earthquaker | $179/mo | $150/mo ($1,800/yr) | None |
| Kajabi Basic | $179/mo | $143/mo ($1,716/yr) | None with Kajabi Payments |
| Kajabi Growth | $249/mo | $199/mo ($2,388/yr) | None with Kajabi Payments |
| Kajabi Pro | $499/mo | $399/mo ($4,788/yr) | None with Kajabi Payments |
A few things the table can't show:
- Payment processing is extra on both. Podia uses Stripe or PayPal, which charge a standard 2.9% + 30¢ per sale. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, 2.8% + 30¢ on Growth and 2.7% + 30¢ on Pro for US cards. If you use an outside processor with Kajabi instead, Kajabi adds a 2%, 1% or 0.5% fee depending on your plan.
- Podia's Mover plan takes 5% of every sale on top of processing. That's the single biggest hidden cost in this comparison, and we'll do the math in a moment.
- Refund policies differ. Kajabi advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan. Podia's pricing FAQ says you need to message them within 72 hours of your most recent payment for a refund, and it doesn't do partial refunds on annual plans.
Older YouTube "Kajabi vs Podia" videos often quote Podia at $33 or $39 and Kajabi at $149. Those prices are out of date, so always check the live pages before you decide. For a deeper look at every Kajabi plan, see our Kajabi pricing breakdown.
Want to see Kajabi's current plans for yourself? See Kajabi's current plans and start a free trial.
Which Is Better, Kajabi or Podia, Once You Count Transaction Fees?
Sticker price only tells half the story. Here's a hypothetical example: you sell $3,000 a month of courses and downloads. We'll ignore card-processing fees because they're roughly the same on both platforms at the entry level (2.9% + 30¢).
| Plan | Subscription | Platform fee on $3,000 | Monthly total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Podia Mover | $49 | $150 (5%) | $199 |
| Podia Shaker | $99 | $0 | $99 |
| Kajabi Basic | $179 | $0 | $179 |
| Kajabi Growth | $249 | $0 | $249 |
Two lessons jump out:
- Podia Mover stops being the cheapest option once you sell more than $1,000 a month. At exactly $1,000, Mover costs $49 + $50 = $99, the same as Shaker. Above that, Shaker wins.
- Podia Shaker is still roughly $80 a month cheaper than Kajabi Basic at this sales level. Kajabi has to earn that difference with features you'll actually use.
So in pure dollars, Podia usually wins. The real question is whether Kajabi's extra features would make you more than the difference. That's what the next sections are about.
Products, Courses and Content Limits
This is where Podia looks strongest on paper.
| Limit | Podia Mover | Podia Shaker | Kajabi Basic | Kajabi Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Products you can sell | 50 | 150 | 5 | 50 |
| Videos | 500 | 1,000 | Not limited on pricing page | Not limited on pricing page |
| Community | 25 spaces | 100 spaces | 1 community | 1 community |
| Team / admin users | Not listed | 1 assistant | 2 | 11 |
If you sell lots of small things (templates, mini-courses, printables, one-off workshops), Kajabi Basic's 5-product limit will pinch fast. Podia lets you sell 50 products for $49 a month. That's a genuine advantage, and it's the point Podia leans on hardest in its own Podia vs Kajabi page (which is, of course, Podia's marketing).
If you sell a few bigger offers (a flagship course, a membership and a coaching program), five products on Kajabi Basic is usually enough. Many successful creators run their whole business on three or four core offers.
Cohort-style courses are another difference: Podia's comparison page says cohorts are included on all Podia plans, while Kajabi lists live cohort courses starting on the Growth plan.
Email Marketing: Kajabi's Biggest Advantage
Here's the limit that changes the math for a lot of people.
- Podia Mover includes up to 100 email subscribers.
- Podia Shaker includes up to 500.
- Podia Earthquaker includes up to 1,000.
- Kajabi Basic includes 2,500 contacts, Growth 25,000 and Pro 100,000.
If email is how you sell (and for most course creators it is), Podia's included subscriber counts are small. A free lead magnet can put 500 people on your list in a few weeks. Podia's pricing page lists these as the subscribers included on each plan, so check the page for what extra subscribers cost before you commit; we couldn't confirm the add-on pricing from the plan table alone.
Kajabi also goes deeper on automation. The Growth plan adds advanced automations, an affiliate program and comment-to-DM features, and every plan includes Kajabi's Cofounder AI and MCP access. If you plan to build funnels, nurture sequences and launches, Kajabi's toolkit is built for exactly that. Our Kajabi vs Skool comparison goes into how Kajabi's marketing side compares to community-first tools.
Rule of thumb: if you expect your list to grow past a few hundred people in your first year, price out Podia with the extra subscribers you'll need before comparing it to Kajabi.
Websites, Community and Coaching
Website and landing pages
Both include a website, blog, custom domain and landing pages. Podia says you get "1,900+ embeds" for adding outside content. Kajabi includes one website on Basic and Growth and three on Pro, and the Pro plan lets you edit the code behind your site. Kajabi's themes and page builder are generally more design-flexible; Podia's are simpler, which some creators actually prefer.
Community
Podia includes community on every plan, with 25 spaces on Mover, 100 on Shaker and unlimited on Earthquaker. Kajabi includes one community on Basic and Growth and three on Pro. Both work well for course students and memberships. Neither is as gamified as a dedicated community tool like Skool.
Coaching and events
Both support selling coaching. Podia lists coaching plus live and in-person events on all plans. Kajabi includes coaching products on every plan.
Mobile app
Your customers can use the Kajabi app on every Kajabi plan, and Kajabi Pro adds your own branded app listed in the App Store under your name. Podia's pricing page doesn't list a branded mobile app.
Podia vs Kajabi: Pros and Cons
| Podia | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pros | Much lower entry price; 50+ products on the cheapest plan; 14-day free trial; simple, beginner-friendly; free migration help | Large contact limits; advanced automations and funnels; affiliate program; Cofounder AI included; branded app on Pro; 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Cons | 5% fee on Mover; small included email subscriber counts; fewer advanced marketing tools; strict refund window | Expensive; only 5 products on Basic; cohort courses and advanced automations need Growth; overkill for a tiny catalogue |
Podia vs Teachable vs Kajabi (and Other Alternatives)
If you're searching "podia vs teachable vs kajabi" or comparing Kajabi vs Teachable vs Thinkific vs Podia vs Gumroad for selling courses, here's a quick way to think about the field:
- Kajabi: the premium all-in-one, strongest at marketing and scale.
- Podia: the budget-friendly all-in-one, strongest at simplicity and product count.
- Course-first platforms like Teachable and Thinkific: focused on the course experience; you may still need outside tools for your website or email. See our Kajabi vs. Thinkific comparison.
- Community-first tools like Skool, Circle or Mighty Networks: best when the community is the product.
Prices on these platforms change often, so verify on each official pricing page. For a broader roundup, read our guide to the top alternatives to Kajabi and when you should switch.
Who Should Choose Podia?
- You're just starting and want to test an idea for under $50 a month.
- You sell many small digital products (templates, printables, mini-courses).
- Your email list is small and you don't plan heavy email marketing yet.
- You want a simple dashboard and don't need advanced funnels or automations.
- You're selling more than $1,000 a month but want to keep costs low: Shaker is the sweet spot.
Who Should Choose Kajabi?
- Email marketing and launches are your main growth engine.
- You expect a list of thousands of contacts.
- You sell a few high-ticket offers (a flagship course, coaching, a membership) rather than dozens of small ones.
- You want automations, an affiliate program and funnels in the same place as your products.
- You want a branded mobile app down the road (Pro plan).
Not sure yet? Kajabi's 14-day free trial is the cheapest way to find out whether its marketing tools would pay for themselves. Start your Kajabi free trial and build one funnel before the trial ends; if it doesn't feel worth the price, Podia is a solid fallback.
Can You Switch From Podia to Kajabi Later?
Yes. Neither platform locks you in. Your course videos, files and customer list can be moved, though it takes some work: you'll re-upload content, rebuild pages and re-create any email sequences. Podia advertises free migration help on its plans. Many creators start on a lower-cost platform and move to Kajabi once their list and revenue justify the jump, while others move the other way to cut costs. Planning your product structure cleanly from day one makes either move easier.
Final Verdict: Podia vs Kajabi
If money is tight and your business is mostly selling products to a small audience, Podia is the better value, especially the Shaker plan once you pass $1,000 a month in sales. It's simple, generous with products and refreshingly cheap.
If you're serious about building an email list, running launches and automating your marketing, Kajabi is the better business platform. Its contact limits alone (2,500 on Basic vs 100 on Podia Mover) make it the more practical choice for list-driven creators, and the automations, affiliate program and AI tools give you room to grow without bolting on other software.
Our honest advice: write down your expected list size and monthly sales for the next 12 months, run the numbers with the tables above, then try the platform that wins. Ready to test Kajabi? See Kajabi's current plans and start your 14-day free trial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Podia cheaper than Kajabi?
Yes on sticker price. As of November 2026 Podia starts at $49/month (Mover) versus $179/month for Kajabi Basic. But Podia Mover adds a 5% transaction fee, and its plans include far fewer email subscribers, so compare total cost at your expected sales and list size.
Does Podia charge transaction fees?
Podia's Mover plan charges a 5% transaction fee. Shaker and Earthquaker have no Podia transaction fee. On every plan, Stripe or PayPal charge their standard processing fee (2.9% + 30¢ per Podia's pricing FAQ).
Does Kajabi take a cut of my sales?
No platform revenue share when you use Kajabi Payments; you pay card processing (2.9% + 30¢ on Basic for US cards). If you use an outside processor, Kajabi charges 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and 0.5% on Pro.
How long are the Kajabi and Podia free trials?
Both offer 14-day free trials as of November 2026. Podia's pricing page says you don't need to enter a credit card to start. Kajabi also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
How many products can I sell on Kajabi Basic vs Podia Mover?
Kajabi Basic allows 5 products. Podia Mover allows 50, Shaker 150 and Earthquaker unlimited. Kajabi Growth raises the limit to 50 and Pro to unlimited.
Which is better for email marketing, Kajabi or Podia?
Kajabi. Its Basic plan includes 2,500 contacts (25,000 on Growth) plus automations, while Podia's plans include up to 100, 500 or 1,000 email subscribers depending on the plan.
Does Podia have a free plan?
No. As of November 2026 Podia lists three paid plans (Mover, Shaker and Earthquaker) and a 14-day free trial, but no permanently free plan. Kajabi doesn't have a free plan either.
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Disclosure: Kajoojoo is independent and not affiliated with Kajabi. Some links are affiliate links; we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Details and prices were checked at the time of writing and can change.
