In this Podia review, we will find out why you should use this platform to host your online course.
Podia is an excellent platform for selling digital content, including online courses, coaching, webinars, and community access.
It offers a wide range of features at an affordable cost for creating and selling online courses.
In this article, we will discuss the platform’s features, pros, cons, and pricing in detail.
So, let’s get started.
What is Podia?
Podia provides all the necessary tools for selling digital products such as online courses, digital downloads, and webinars.
Additionally, it can also be used as a membership site where students pay a recurring fee for ongoing access to your digital products.
Podia offers various marketing features, including email campaigns and the ability to create a custom website with a custom domain to host all your content.
It also includes support for affiliate marketing.
One of the standout features of Podia is its simplicity and ease of use, allowing for quick setup of courses and storefronts even for those with limited technical knowledge.
The platform’s design is also elegant and polished.
Pros & Cons Of Podia
| Pros | Cons |
| Can sell a variety of digital products | No mobile app is available |
| Well-suited for beginners due to its ease of use | Basic reporting tools |
| Built-in email marketing and messaging system for communication with students and customers | Course builder does not have a cloud import feature |
| Affordable pricing with no transaction fees except on the free plan | Customization options may be limited for some users |
| Offers unlimited courses, products, and bandwidth | |
| Includes a membership site feature for recurring income |
Features Of Podia
In this section, we will dive deeper into the features discussed earlier and explore how they can be used to sell online courses, memberships, and subscriptions.
1. Online Courses
Podia features a user-friendly interface, making it easy for anyone to start using the platform quickly. From the main dashboard, users can add products to their online store.
The platform allows for unlimited hosting of videos and files, eliminating the need to worry about exceeding limits or additional costs for third-party hosting.
Users can easily upload existing course videos to the platform, and Podia even offers assistance with migrating videos hosted on other sites.
The platform also allows for the creation of drip campaigns, where lessons are unlocked section by section, enabling students to progress through a course together and preventing anyone from advancing too far ahead.
2. Sales Pages
Podia’s Site Editor allows for customization of the sales page, allowing you to add your company logo and colors to align with your branding.
You can also include all necessary text, images, and videos.
The Site Editor is user-friendly and requires no coding experience, making it easy to drag and drop elements and customize the page to your liking.
This feature makes it simple to add sections such as FAQs, testimonials, bio, or any other necessary information to convert visitors into paying customers.
3. Digital Downloads
As mentioned earlier, Podia can be used for more than just selling online courses.
The platform is well-suited for small businesses that sell digital products such as ebooks, templates, music, podcasts, or other downloadable content.
The same marketing tools that are available for promoting courses can be used to promote these digital products. Additionally, you can create a sales funnel to encourage customers to purchase digital products in addition to a course or as a bundle.
Adding digital downloads is also a straightforward process, requiring no technical knowledge. Simply select the files from your computer and upload them to Podia.
4. Memberships
As a course creator, building and growing a community is important. Fortunately, Podia includes a built-in membership management system.
You can create a membership program with unlimited members and levels, with different perks, prices, and content for each level. You can even offer a free trial to give leads a taste of what they can expect as a member.
The platform also allows members to communicate with one another through the comments system, and members can also like posts similar to Facebook.
Users can choose between paying monthly or yearly and membership can be connected to Facebook, Slack, or Palapa, limiting access to only paying members.
Additionally, Podia’s Site Builder feature can be used to customize your site.
5. Webinars
Podia allows you to enhance your online business by offering webinars and charging on a one-on-one or group basis.
The platform has integrations with Zoom and YouTube Live, eliminating the need to use less popular third-party tools.
If your marketing strategy includes offering webinars for free, Podia allows you to do so.
You can create a schedule and sell webinars in advance and even monetize replays long after the initial airing.
6. Marketing
Podia’s marketing features allow you to connect with your target audience. Email marketing enables you to send broadcast emails to your list of leads or segments, and campaigns can be automated to keep users engaged throughout the sales funnel.
Additionally, a messaging feature allows for interaction with customers while they are logged in and for them to leave questions, feedback, and requests when you’re offline.
Podia also supports affiliate marketing, which is easy to set up. You have control over the commissions earned by affiliates and can choose to make it public or by invite only. The platform handles payouts, making it a hassle-free process once it’s running.
7. Payments
Payments can be set up using Stripe or PayPal, allowing you to set the price per payment and the number of monthly payments a customer is required to make.
One of the advantages of Podia is that it does not deduct any transaction fees, which is not the case with some of its competitors.
The only fees incurred are the processing fees from Stripe and PayPal.
Another bonus feature is that users do not need to create an account before making a payment, which increases the chances of acquiring users by removing a potential obstacle. Instead, users only need to provide a few details in a pop-up window.
Pricing Plans Of Podia
Podia has 3 different pricing options:
Podia offers three pricing plans: Mover, Shaker, and Earthquaker.
The Mover plan is priced at $39 per month and includes features such as creating and selling courses and other digital products, sending emails to a list of up to 5,000 people, designing a website, and more.
The Shaker plan costs $89 per month, and in addition to the features in the Mover plan, it offers the ability to run an affiliate program, sell coaching, email a larger list of people, and more. I personally use this plan, but it may be possible to use the cheaper Mover plan.
The Earthquaker plan is an enterprise option that costs $199 per month, it primarily offers more employee logins and higher levels of customer support such as priority phone support.
If the above pricing options look high then you can read my Teachable Review article to find out why the free plan can be the best option for you to get started.
Final Thoughts On Podia Review
It is difficult for me to determine if Podia is the right platform for your specific goals without more information.
What I can say is that Podia is a versatile and affordable tool that I personally prefer over other options. The platform offers many useful features and is committed to ongoing improvement.
In conclusion, this review aims to provide you with the information and analysis needed to make an informed decision about whether or not to use Podia.
It’s important to note that with any platform, including Podia, you do not need to be tech-savvy to create and sell online courses.
While it may be challenging to match the production value of large companies such as Masterclass, platforms like Podia offer the opportunity to create and sell video-based courses at an affordable cost.
Keep in mind that there are many options available, and it’s important to explore them. Good luck on your entrepreneurial journey.
