The widespread use of the internet has flourished online coaching dramatically.
Whether you are a seasoned professional looking to explore new paths or want to communicate knowledge to a larger audience, launching an online course is the most logical approach.
The two most popular platforms in this regard are Podia and Thinkific.
These SaaS tools have all the necessary features to help you start an online course without technical knowledge.
This post explains the Podia vs.Thinkific comparison comprehensively.
And by the end, you’ll know which fits your fly.
Podia vs. Thinkific: The Basics
Before diving into the detailed comparison, it is essential to understand each platform.
The following section explains them.
Podia
Podia is an all-in-one online course creator founded in 2014.
It offers various features like memberships, digital downloads, and subscriptions.
The most competitive quality of Podia is the inclusion of affiliate marketing and course development options.
It is the perfect creator-friendly tool for developing an e-school.
Podia’s Distinctive Features
- User-friendly
- Secure
- No transaction charges
- Instant payouts for course creators
The Selling Point
Podia allows emailing and evaluation features missing in the Thinkific course builder.
Thinkific
The CEO of Thinkific founded the company in 2012 when he thought that weekend schooling was too restrictive.
The platform is easy to configure and has multiple course-building options and unique professional layouts.
You can create an online school by drag-and-drop.
Moreover, you get features like registering multiple instructions, pinning content, and setting up posts with expiry dates.
Here is a summary of the standing-out elements of Thinkific.
Salient Features
- Interactive course developing capabilities
- Creating polls, videos, quizzes
- Flexible lesson planning with drip scheduling
- Website builder available
- Third-party compatibility
- Free plan for prior assessment of the tool
Main Selling Point
Thinkific provides various features to interact with your users.
You can track your student’s progress and award good-performing certifications as well.
In comparison, Podia lacks these features.
Unlike most course builders, Thinkific allows you to develop different web pages (e.g., FAQ page, About me, or blog posts).
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Podia vs. Thinkific: The In-Depth Comparison
Now that you know the basics of both platforms, it’s time to get into their nitty-gritty details.
At the end of each section, the “takeaway” tells you which one of Podia and Thinkific is better for a particular feature.
Course Creation
Both platforms have a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, which doesn’t require any technical knowledge.
Podia is a one-stop-shop course-creating tool where you can do all tasks from course creation to developing memberships and subscriptions.
You can also easily add files, photos, and videos to your lessons.
There is a rich text editor where you can add bullet lists, headings, essential links, and all other teaching stuff.
Copy-pasting the URLs also adds the desired media to the course.
Thinkific offers sophisticated features and, at the same time, remains user-friendly.
The multimedia content creation allows you to easily add photos, videos, comments, and surveys to the course without using third-party software or services.
The Takeaway
The comparison highlights that Thinkific has exceptional course creation capabilities compared to Podia.
Its design aspects are easier to grasp and require no tech savvy.
Marketing Capabilities
Online course designers need the appropriate marketing tools as well.
Podia offers a complete marketing kit, making it worth the expense.
Through Podia, you can develop an intriguing digital storefront for course selling.
Moreover, designing multimedia like PDFs, webinars, videos, etc., allows accessible communication with a larger audience.
Thinkific works with well-known marketing tools like MailChimp, Active Campaign, and others so that you can manage your campaigns and course content from anywhere.
A comprehensive affiliate center is also available for promoting marketing initiatives, and the affiliate’s progress is trackable via the dashboard.
The Takeaway
Thinkific has various content management and marketing options, while Podia has email marketing features to send newsletters and drip content to your enrollees.
Podia has the necessary integrations like PayPal, Stripe, and Google Analytics.
Thinkific, on the other hand, has a broader range of compatibility.
Customization Capabilities
Course creation on Podia is pretty simple.
After signing up, click add new product button to create various items like quizzes, webinars, videos, etc.
With Thinkific’s customization options, you can create a unique online course.
Theme customizations, display layouts, multiple classroom combinations, drip scheduling, and completion certificates exist.
The Takeaway
As for the takeaway of this section of Podia vs. Thinkific, the latter is the clear winner.
The customization options of Podia are suitable for novices, but Thinkific is a professional’s go-to.
The multitasking and various creation features make it a better choice.
Metrics and Analytics
The chosen platform must have a clear metric representation.
Fortunately, both platforms offer these.
Podia helps you track and analyze your churn; those reports and data-driven analytics help you outperform your competition.
For precise statistics, tools like HotJar and Google Analytics are also present.
Thinkific represents the users’ data in a very understandable form.
A details tab shows the details of an order, student engagements, and enrollments.
The Takeaway
Podia performs adequately for its inexpensiveness.
However, Thinkific is more apt.
It includes an excellent data analytics tool that powerfully tracks your development.
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Student Retention Tools
Information retention in courses is a unique selling point.
Hence, you must opt for a platform that ensures it.
Podia allows the efficient creation of quizzes and class tasks.
You can also build a course-dedicated community.
Although completion certificates are not awarded, you can use drip content to keep the students interested and returning for more.
In comparison, Thinkific offers numerous tools to elevate the students’ experience.
Students have remote-accessible dashboards and good multimedia additive features.
With its language translation feature, you can deliver a course in 30 other languages.
Thinkific gives you several tools to help you pass your students the best experience possible.
The Takeaway
In this debate of Podia vs. Thinkific, Thinkific is the winner.
Its improved progress tracking systems and mobile responsiveness provide greater flexibility.
Advanced Tools
The basic drag-and-drop features are sufficient for course creation; however, some tech-savvy users need more control.
Podia doesn’t offer advanced customizations; therefore, it is perfect for beginners.
But you can touch on the code in its ‘Earthquaker’ plan.
Thinkific is far superior with its SSO and theme-importing capabilities.
The importing features are handy when you require theme modification on multiple websites.
In other words, you have complete control over the code, including HTML and CSS modifications.
The Takeaway
With its ability to be customized by developers and its web administration tools, Thinkific is the clear winner.
Data Security
Security is an uncompromisable aspect for both the learners and the instructors.
Podia offers strong data privacy and compliance policies.
The customer checkout information is erased, and the transactions are encrypted.
In comparison, Thinkific offers cloud-based data security.
They have automatic security checks and backups to prevent data loss.
The built-in SSL certificates ensure the content’s safety on cross-servers as well.
The Takeaway
Both platforms ensure excellent security, but Podia takes the crown.
Because the platform provides security, no transactions are conducted unless the payment details are secured.
Pricing
Even though the price is a significant factor in choosing a platform, it’s not the best idea to only look at the price.
Podia offers growth-stimulating solutions and resonates with all budgets. It has three plans.
The Mover plan costs $39 per month and comes with 24/7 support, no transaction fees, and the ability to make as much content as you want.
At the same time, the Shaker plan costs $89 per month and has a capacity of 15,000 subscribers.
The Earthquaker plan costs 199 dollars per month, with a maximum of 500,000 subscribers.
Unlike Podia, Thinkific offers a free plan.
This way, you can assess the platform without investing.
Thinkific’s basic plan has a few features, like custom domains, coupons, drip content, etc., but because basic techniques are so simple, they have to have limits.
The pro plan costs about $79 monthly and offers extended features.
While the Premier Plan has the most variety of features and costs $399 per month.
The Takeaway
Both platforms offer justifiable features in their pricing plans, but Thinkific takes the Podia vs. Thinkific cake due to its free plan.
Customer Support
Customer support is essential in all kinds of tools.
But when the business is your lifeline, it becomes imperative.
Podia prefers human-to-human interactions over AI-powered solutions.
Their live help is available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (ET).
The Takeaway
Podia has outstanding customer support.
You get quick and precise answers if you have any trouble.
But Thinkific’s resources are the best place if you are more self-digging.
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Final Thoughts
Choosing between these platforms is difficult because they are both excellent in their respective capacities.
However, each has its highs and lows.
The content creation capacities of both platforms are similar, and so are the integrations.
But the cons tag along as well.
For example, Thinkific doesn’t offer the necessary features of mass communication, while Podia does.
The above comparison of Podia vs. Thinkific is inclusive enough.
However, having a vision for your school is necessary to pick the best platform.
