Podia Review
Written by Casey Botticello
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If you don’t already have Podia, try it for free! Podia makes it ridiculously simple to create and sell your own course or membership site.
CASEY BOTTICELLO
Founder, Blogging Guide
On the hunt for an online platform where you can sell your courses or start a subscription/membership business? In recent years, Podia has attracted much attention for these and other services.
The platform has well over 20,000 users and counting, with many reviews giving it a thumbs up. But is Podia really a great option when compared to similar platforms currently in existence?
The answer varies depending on who you ask, but one thing is for sure, there are some cool things about Podia. Before getting into the nitty-gritty of using Podia, let’s get the basics out of the way.
What is Podia?
Simply put, Podia is a website where content creators can host and sell digital products, including courses, memberships, and downloadable materials. It is based in New York and was founded by Spencer Fry in 2014. People offering courses can upload their pre-packaged content or use Podia’s convenient course builder. In addition, the website provides a number of easy-to-use tools and features to help members get set up quickly, optimize their storefront, and start selling.
Using Podia
The Podia website does simplify the process for content creators to get started with setting up an online storefront. For starters, it has a clean, user-friendly, and straightforward interface that has been praised by many people who use or have checked out the platform. With mostly drag and drop actions required to design and launch, everything is pretty much taken care of for you. This simplicity makes Podia easy for almost anyone to launch their own web shop, requiring little or no technical knowledge. As such, newbie freelancers and beginners will have minimal problems, if any, when using Podia.
That’s not to say that Podia does not have any flaws. On the contrary, some users who shared their experiences with Podia online have pointed out a few shortcomings of the platform, even while highlighting some of its positives. With that said, let’s talk about some of the pros and cons of the platform.
Podia Pros and Cons
There are many good reasons why you might want to set up an online business on Podia, but the platform is not without its drawbacks.
The Pros include:
Easy to set up and navigate.
Simple pricing system.
No technical skills required.
No transaction fees whatsoever.
Clean, modern, user-friendly interface for both storefront and backend.
Ability to host different types of content with a single membership.
Responsive and helpful customer support.
Ability to customize the look and feel of your storefront to align with your brand.
Ability to set up recurring subscription on content of your choice.
Built in email marketing tools at no extra cost.
Public membership posts allow you to blog.
Integrated messaging feature allows you to easy stay in touch with your customers.
The Cons include:
Some users believe the membership fees are a bit high.
Limited course optimization options when compared to Podia’s competitors.
Course builder does not support cloud import.
There is no course marketplace.
Podia’s business model of allowing users to set up a storefront for courses and other content is not new. Content creators have a ton of other alternatives to choose from, including WordPress, Thinkific, Udemy, Teachable, Learn Dash, and many more. Still, Podia has been able to carve out a successful following since launch, so it must be doing something different. The main selling points of Podia appear to be pricing.
Podia Pricing
One of the cons mentioned above is that Podia’s pricing may appear to be a bit high to some users. Whether the prices are high or not is up for debate, but the simplicity of the pricing system is one of the features that many Podia users love.
There are just two separate plans: the Mover at $39 per month and the Shaker at $79 monthly. Both plans are transparent, so users know exactly what they are getting. Furthermore, there are no other costs associated with using Podia.
For context, below are the perks that come with each pricing plan:
- The Mover – priced at $39 monthly (users get two free months when billed annually)
- Online courses
- Digital downloads
- Email marketing
- Unlimited access
- No transaction fees
- Access to customer support 24/7.
- The Shaker – priced at $79 monthly (users get two free months when billed annually). In addition to all the perks of the Mover, the Shaker offers:
- Memberships
- Embedded checkout
- Free migration
- Third-party code
- Affiliate marketing support
Podia Ease of Use
Another thing that sets Podia apart from many of its competitors is the emphasis placed on ease of use. With some platforms such as WordPress, users need to add a number of plugins and apps to their storefronts in order to facilitate billing, checkout, sending emails and newsletters, hosting the content, providing customer support, etc. Other platforms require users to have some amount of technical skills, including coding, graphic design, and SEO, in order to set up their digital storefronts.
Podia is designed to make it as easy as possible to start selling your courses and other content. All you need to do is create your content, upload it onto Podia, and you can start selling right away. What’s more, the possibility of hosting a variety of content in one place means Podia provides a single solution that aids with organization while replacing the need to join or create multiple services.
Another feature that exemplifies the easy-to-use nature of Podia is its drag and drop builder. Users can easily set up their storefront using mouse clicks instead of having to turn to HTML or other computer language
Podia Customer Support
The level of customer support offered by Podia is praised by many of its reviewers for being thorough, responsive, and helpful. Although there is no phone support available. 24/7 live chat does a reasonably good job of quickly solving most problems faced by Podia’s users. In addition, you are sent an email with a transcript of the chat interaction, in case you need to refer back to the conversation.
Conclusion
Is Podia the right platform for your online course/membership business? Answering this question comes down to what is more important to you. Podia does a few things well, including simplifying their pricing, making it extremely easy to get set up and start selling, and providing highly responsive 24/7 chat support.
On the other hand, the platform is missing some core features that you would expect to find in a course building site, including more functional learning tools and the ability to set up your own course community. In addition, you are limited in the area of creative freedom when it comes on to designing your storefront exactly how you want it. With that said, your decision to use Podia should come down to comparing it with its competitors and making a decision based on the features that are most important to you.
