Softwr

LMS · head to head

Podia vs Totara

Podia logo

Podia

LMS

Sell online courses, memberships, and digital downloads

From
$42/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Totara logo

Totara

LMS

Open source learning, performance and collaboration platform derived from Moodle and sold through partners

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; Totara you cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • They diverge on capability: Podia covers Course hosting, Totara covers Organisational hierarchies.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Podia and Totara actually diverge.

Attributes where Podia and Totara differ
AttributePodiaTotara
Starting price$42/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android, Linux
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 Totara

  • Organisational hierarchies
  • Compliance and certification
  • Totara Perform
  • Totara Engage
  • Self-hosting
  • Programs and learning plans

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 Totara
  • Coaching businesses managing memberships and community spacesnot Totara
  • Newsletter publishers monetising subscriber base with events and digital productsnot Totara

Totara

  • Health services and government bodies that must evidence mandatory training by job role across a large hierarchynot Podia
  • Organisations with data residency rules that require the platform to run on their own infrastructurenot Podia
  • Moodle users who need appraisal, competency and compliance features the academic product does not carrynot Podia
  • Buyers who want exit rights over the platform code rather than dependence on a single hosted vendornot 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

Totara

  • You cannot buy from the vendor. Every purchase runs through a partner who sets its own hosting, services and support pricing, so identical platforms are quoted at materially different totals and buyers must run a partner comparison as well as a product comparison.
  • Open source does not mean cheap. Subscription plus partner hosting plus implementation and version upgrade services commonly lands near commercial system cost, and the saving is in control and exit rights rather than in the invoice.
  • The administrative interface carries its Moodle lineage and is dense, so administrator training is a real project cost rather than an afterthought.
  • Major version upgrades are projects, especially where a partner has customised the deployment, and organisations that customise heavily find upgrades slower and dearer over time.
  • The learner facing experience is functional rather than engaging, and organisations wanting a consumer grade learning experience usually front it with something else.

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

Totara

On request
  • Totara subscription via partner$undefined/year
    • Sold only through distribution partners
    • Partner sets hosting, implementation and support pricing
    • Source available under the GPL, but subscription required for supported releases

Which should you pick?

Choose Podia if

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

Choose Totara if

  • You need organisational hierarchies.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want compliance and certification.
Totara review

Questions people ask

Is Podia or Totara better?
Neither clearly leads. Podia starts at $42/month and Totara at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Podia or Totara?
Podia starts at $42/month and Totara at On request.
Does Podia or Totara run on more platforms?
Podia runs on Web. Totara runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
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 Totara is typically brought in for.
What can Podia do that Totara cannot?
Podia covers Course hosting, Digital downloads, Memberships, Email marketing. Totara covers Organisational hierarchies, Compliance and certification, Totara Perform, Totara Engage.

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
Totara: Is Totara free because it is open source?

No. The source is available under the GPL, but supported releases require a subscription, and it is sold through partners who add hosting, implementation and support costs.

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
Totara: How is it different from Moodle?

Moodle is built around courses and academic delivery. Totara adds organisational hierarchies, role based automatic assignment, recurring certification and appraisal, which is what workplace compliance reporting needs.

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
Totara: Can we host it ourselves?

Yes. Self hosting is a genuine option and is one of the main reasons regulated and public sector buyers choose it over a hosted only competitor.

Share

Related pages

More on Podia

More on Totara

Keep looking

Other head to heads