Softwr

LMS · head to head

Podia vs Thought Industries

Podia logo

Podia

LMS

Sell online courses, memberships, and digital downloads

From
$42/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thought Industries logo

Thought Industries

LMS

External learning platform for companies that sell training to customers and partners as a product

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Podia mover tier charges 5% transaction fees on all sales; higher tiers offer fee-free processing; Thought Industries the annual floor is an enterprise number, so organisations with modest training revenue pay more in platform fees than a revenue share would have cost them.
  • They diverge on capability: Podia covers Course hosting, Thought Industries covers Commerce engine.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Podia and Thought Industries actually diverge.

Attributes where Podia and Thought Industries differ
AttributePodiaThought Industries
Starting price$42/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2014Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Podia

  • Course hosting
  • Digital downloads
  • Memberships
  • Email marketing
  • Webinars
  • Community
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Custom website

Only in Thought Industries

  • Commerce engine
  • Licence and seat management
  • Multi-tenant panorama delivery
  • Certification programmes
  • Learning path personalisation
  • Analytics on revenue and consumption

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Podia

  • Content creators selling digital courses with email marketing integrationnot Thought Industries
  • Coaching businesses managing memberships and community spacesnot Thought Industries
  • Newsletter publishers monetising subscriber base with events and digital productsnot Thought Industries

Thought Industries

  • A software company whose customer certification programme has grown past what a creator platform can administernot Podia
  • Professional bodies selling continuing education with certification renewal cyclesnot Podia
  • Manufacturers training distributor and dealer networks who each need their own branded environmentnot Podia
  • Any training business where a percentage of revenue model has become more expensive than a flat platform feenot Podia

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Podia

  • Mover tier charges 5% transaction fees on all sales; higher tiers offer fee-free processing
  • Mover plan capped at 50 products maximum; Shaker at 150 products; only Earthquaker offers unlimited
  • Video storage limited by plan: 500 videos (Mover), 1,000 (Shaker), unlimited (Earthquaker)
  • Email subscriber limits tiered: 100 (Mover), 500 (Shaker), 1,000 (Earthquaker); overage model not stated
  • Annual billing required for all plans with 72-hour refund window; partial refunds excluded

Thought Industries

  • The annual floor is an enterprise number, so organisations with modest training revenue pay more in platform fees than a revenue share would have cost them.
  • Implementation is measured in months and needs an internal owner, so the platform sits unused and paid for during a slow rollout.
  • It is designed for external audiences, so using it for internal employee compliance training means paying for commerce and multi-tenancy capability that internal training does not need.
  • Configuration depth for commerce and tenancy means the administrator role is a real job, and organisations that assign it as a fraction of someone else's role underuse the system.
  • Content authoring is not the strength, so most customers pair it with a separate authoring tool and manage two vendors and two content workflows.

Pricing, plan by plan

Podia

$42/month
  • Mover$42/month
    • Up to 100 email subscribers
    • 5% transaction fees
    • 50 products
  • Shaker$84/month
    • Up to 500 email subscribers
    • No Podia fees
    • 150 products
  • Earthquaker$150/month
    • Up to 1,000 email subscribers
    • No Podia fees
    • Unlimited products

Thought Industries

On request
  • Thought Industries$undefined/year
    • Annual platform fee, quoted
    • No percentage taken of course revenue
    • Implementation and success services quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Podia if

  • You need course hosting.
  • You also want digital downloads.
Podia review

Choose Thought Industries if

  • You need commerce engine.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want licence and seat management.
Thought Industries review

Questions people ask

Is Podia or Thought Industries better?
Neither clearly leads. Podia starts at $42/month and Thought Industries at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Podia or Thought Industries?
Podia starts at $42/month and Thought Industries at On request.
Does Podia or Thought Industries run on more platforms?
Podia runs on Web. Thought Industries runs on Web, iOS, Android.
What is Podia best used for?
Podia is most often used for content creators selling digital courses with email marketing integration, coaching businesses managing memberships and community spaces, newsletter publishers monetising subscriber base with events and digital products. Of those, content creators selling digital courses with email marketing integration and coaching businesses managing memberships and community spaces are not what Thought Industries is typically brought in for.
What can Podia do that Thought Industries cannot?
Podia covers Course hosting, Digital downloads, Memberships, Email marketing. Thought Industries covers Commerce engine, Licence and seat management, Multi-tenant panorama delivery, Certification programmes.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Podia: How much does Podia cost?

Podia offers three plans: Mover at $42/month, Shaker at $84/month, and Earthquaker at $150/month. All plans include a 30-day free trial and can be billed monthly or annually with cost savings on annual billing.

Source
Thought Industries: Does Thought Industries take a percentage of course sales?

No. It charges an annual platform fee. That is more expensive than a revenue share at low volume and considerably cheaper once training revenue grows.

Podia: Does Podia charge transaction fees?

Yes, the Mover plan charges 5% Podia transaction fees. Higher tiers (Shaker and Earthquaker) include no Podia fees. However, all plans are subject to payment processor fees of 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction.

Source
Thought Industries: Can one platform serve several corporate customers separately?

Yes. Multi-tenant delivery gives each business customer its own branded environment and administrator while content stays centrally managed.

Podia: Is there a free trial for Podia?

Yes, Podia offers a 30-day free trial. No credit card is required to start the trial, allowing you to explore all features before deciding on a plan.

Source
Thought Industries: Is it suitable for internal employee training?

It can do it, but you would be paying for commerce and tenancy features that internal compliance training does not use. A corporate learning platform is usually the better fit.

Share

Related pages

More on Podia

More on Thought Industries

Keep looking

Other head to heads