Teachable vs Podia Comparison: What’s Best for Creators and Customers?
The online courses industry has flourished during the COVID-19 restrictions. The possibility to learn anytime, in the comfort of your home or while you travel and relax, became so appealing that the courses platform’s income has skyrocketed. But what platforms are the best choice for creators who make a living by recording courses and customers who want high-quality products and affordable prices?
Today we are comparing the two popular online learning platforms Podia and Teachable. Both have loyal audiences and a decent range of courses, but subtle differences could become advantages for some people and dealbreakers for others.
Bottom line: what is better
Teachable and Podia seem to be very similar but there are a few significant differences. Teachable might be more suitable for the clients allowing them to have more ways to pay and get certificates after the courses. Podia may be preferable for clients who want a more personalized approach because it allows one-on-one sessions, webinars, and more additional downloadable materials.
From the creator’s perspective, Teachable allows more landing page customization options, tax control, and an open API. Podia has an embeddable “Buy” button for the other sites, is less overloaded with extra options, and is simpler and more intuitive. Podia also can be used more like a GoFundMe platform, providing downloadables, individual sessions, and non-courses experiences.
Podia vs Teachable comparison table
| Podia | Teachable | |
| Price | From free to $199 per month | From free to $299 per month |
| Downloads | Allowed | Not allowed |
| Payment | PayPal, Stripe | PayPal, Stripe, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more |
| Certificates | No | Yes |
| Webinars | Yes | No |
| Unlimited courses | Yes | No |
| Support and integration | Better | Good |
Differences between platforms
There are no substantial differences from the client’s side, but the creators’ side is where Teachable VS Podia competition intensifies.
The marketing features are a close call; the only significant Teachable advantage is a student referral program. Not all courses can benefit from it, but if your marketing campaign is built around telling friends about your course, it may help a lot.
Probably the best Teachable’s sides are payment and tax handling. It is especially important for US citizens, but the broader payment options range may attract many more students from different countries. Teachable also has an additional fraud protection layer embedded into the platform: Teachable Payments.
On the other hand, Podia offers more space for creativity. The authors can sell online courses, live webinars, downloads, and pretty much anything digital and educational. Teachable is limited to online courses only. Podia also has a bigger storage volume (5 GB compared to Teachable’s 2 GB).
The variety of Podia’s content has a consequence, though. While Teachable can guarantee that its content is strictly courses, this platform provides certificates for the learners. Podia, though, can’t provide any certificates because it allows creators to share any materials, not only courses.
The last one is debatable, but for many creators and learners, Podia seems much more intuitive regarding navigation and payments.
Similarities between Podia and Teachable
There are more similarities between Teachable and Podia than differences. Both platforms have decent support services, comparable marketing possibilities, and course-building tools. Podia and Teachable are scalable, supporting unlimited courses, students, and lessons number (though the cap depends on the plan).
The minor differences and interface preferences are the feature that can influence the Podia vs Teachable competition result. No wonder they are such close competitors.
Pros and cons
Highly customizable pages might be necessary for specific brand requirements;
Live chat support widget for instant students’ feedback;
Issuable certificates;
More course and payment types: one-off payments, bundles, subscriptions, etc.;
Affiliates program for the students;
Enhanced security;
More payment options for students;
Customizable tax control.
The free plan is more limited than Podia’s;
Limited only to courses, no other formats allowed;
Less storage space;
Less support service options;
No embeddable widgets and buttons;
Downloads are not allowed.
Low entry level: you don’t need to be highly tech-savvy to start;
More content types: courses, memberships, podcasts, webinars, downloadables of many types, etc.;
Flexible membership levels that start from the free one;
All-in-one package: you don’t need a pre-created site or domain to start;
Integratable elements that you can use at the already existing sites;
Email marketing software is included.
Email marketing service isn’t as good as some standalone options (even free ones);
No tax handling, limited payment options for customers;
No certificates issued for the students;
In-depth side-by-side comparison
Online course creation
Teachable allows faster course creation, while Podia promotes a more in-depth approach. Podia offers the possibility to create different kinds of courses, such as standalone courses, drip courses (scheduled content), course bundles, or pre-sell courses. There are even options for organizing cohort-based courses to keep all the students on the same page or course teasers to check your new ideas.
Teachable starts from the simpler variant and boasts a 10-minute course creation tutorial. The authors can make their courses more complicated later or connect them into bundles, though.
Online course structure
Both Podia’s and Teachable’s courses have a similar structure: they have parts that may contain different videos, quizzes, or other additional materials. Teachable also has a higher structure level that allows creating bundles from various courses. On the other hand, Podia allows other content presentation formats, such as one-on-one sessions, downloadables, webinars, and bundles of different products (e.g., course and course, course and downloadable, course and coach or exam session, etc.).
Video hosting
Teachable allows downloading videos to their hosting, but live streams should be embedded via YouTube, Vimeo, or other streaming service codes. You may also use these services to embed the finished videos from them, but it puts your content at risk of being watched and, possibly, downloaded for free.
Podia has more hosting storage space (5 GB instead of Teachable’s 3 GB) and also allows many embedding options via the iFramely feature.
Member/student progress
This part is pretty similar for both platforms: creators and students can track the progress, course authors can unlock the next chapters, provide quizzes, and so on. Both platforms also have different visually satisfying features (like green checkmarks or progress bars) that allow students to see their progress more clearly.
The significant difference is that Teachable can issue certificates to the students after the end of the course. The Podia’s users must create custom-made certificates to present to the successful graduates.
Assessing via testing, surveys, assignments
Surveys and tests are essential to most courses (especially those backed up with certificates), so both platforms provide tools to evaluate the students’ knowledge. You may embed quiz or test into your course, either interactive or self-check type.
Website builder and landing pages
The website builders of Podia and Teachable are pretty similar, featuring drag-and-drop builders, block structures, and intuitive templates to use. Podia’s editor is easier to use but provides fewer customization possibilities (which makes all of Podia’s pages similar). Teachable builder is much more customizable, allowing creators to follow their brand books to a T. But still, customizing your site beyond several predefined options may require some non-basic HTML and CSS knowledge or a savvy helper.
Funnels, automated marketing campaigns, email marketing
Both platforms provide coupons, discounts, upsells, and bundles. Recently the affiliate marketing feature became available in both, too. Podia also includes an internal email marketing service, but, unfortunately, it isn’t as good as many standalone services. So if you prefer sophisticated emails with visual adornments, it is a dubious advantage. Teachable allows free trials for the students, but you can circumvent this limitation in Podia by creating a free course from a trial video. The last Teachable advance is the student referral program.
Integrations
Here is the main defining difference between the platforms. Podia has an embeddable button allowing you to connect your courses landing page with pre-existing sites and advertise it anywhere. On the other hand, Teachable has the public API allowing you to integrate the platform with most email, CRM, analytics, and other managers. Podia only has a list of approved third-party applications.
Live events and live streams
Another significant difference that can make Podia or Teachable an ideal platform for you. Both of them allow embedding live streams from YouTube or Vimeo, but Podia is much more suitable for one-on-one coaching sessions or webinars, so if it is the staple of your course, Podia should be your first choice.
Analytics and reporting
The default Podia analytics tools are Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, and Pinterest Tag. The more expensive plans allow custom integration of different apps, but these three are the main options. Teachable provides a public API allowing you to integrate the program with a broader range of apps.
Both platforms have handy interfaces that collect all the analytics on a single screen and provide you with a clear understanding of your course success, attendance, and profitability.
