Why I’m Leaving Podia
I’ve been trying to find the best online course platform ever since I started selling online courses in 2019. What I learned is what might be the best course platform for me might not be the best one for you. It all depends on your goals, your budget, & your current tech stack. I’m going to walk you through some online course creation platforms that I’ve personally tried, and why I didn’t end up using them.
Why I Left Thinkific
My issue with Thinkific is that potential customers have to create an account BEFORE completing a purchase. I know that when it comes to the buying process, I want to make it as easy as possible. Any added friction is going to cause people to drop off before they buy. So I left.
Why I Left Sendowl
Then I tried Sendowl, which is not really a course platform. I used it to sell & deliver my “How to Find Tutoring Clients Online” masterclass. Sendowl made it possible to deliver the content directly to my customer’s inbox, then they would have to download the video. Since I knew I wanted to sell mini-courses, not just digital files, it didn't seem like the ideal solution.
Why I Choose to Use Podia
At the time, I already knew a few friends using Podia. Some things I liked - I love the aesthetic. The design is beautiful, and it's user friendly. At the time, customers would make the purchase BEFORE needing to create an account, which is the main reason I switched to Podia.
Changes to Podia's Checkout Process
Then around August 2022, Podia made a change to their checkout process. (I remember it because I was mad, lol.) Now customers would need to create an account prior to purchase. I was not thrilled about this, so that's when I became really serious about making a switch.
Looking for Podia Alternatives - Testing out Teachery
Some options I considered - I tried Teachery. One of my mentors, Michelle Rohr, uses Teachery, so it seemed appealing. But one of the issues I had was that it was not a well-known platform. So finding help when I needed it was harder to come by. Not only that, but since they had "teacher" as part of their name, it made Google searches even more difficult, because it thought that "Teachery" was just a spelling error. So that was a no for me.
Why I Bought ThriveCart
While Michelle was using Teachery for students to access their courses, her actual checkout pages were in ThriveCart. At the time, I knew a lot of people using ThriveCart that were happy with it, so I decided to buy it.
How Much ThriveCart Costs
It cost me $690 USD to buy ThriveCart. The base price is $495 USD, but then you have to pay an additional fee if you want the option to have affiliates in the future. At that time, I wasn't earning as much revenue in my business, but I was desperate, so I went for it.
ThriveCart vs Podia
I quickly learned that while I love the checkout pages that you can create in ThriveCart, I do not love the backend experience. Although more customisable, it is not as easy to use as something like Podia. Honestly, it feels a bit clunky and outdated on the backend. I also had concerns about the ThriveCart Lifetime Deal, and how that would impact the platform itself. I know consistent cash flow is important to running a profitable business, so I was concerned about the sustainability of a platform like ThriveCart.
Regardless, I did decide to use a Thrivecart checkout page to participate in a big "Christmas Party" bundle. So basically, I gave away one of my mini-course for free in exchange for email subscribers. That was about 1k new subscribers from that bundle, but that actually got a bit messy because then I had an email list of people who were more interested in getting free courses than necessarily becoming a part of my community. So I wouldn't participate in a big bundle like that again!
Changes to ThriveCart
A couple months after I bought ThriveCart, they received a big $35M investment, & got a new CEO.¹ Josh Bartlett, ThriveCart's founder, still remained part of the team, but played a different role.
While that sounds like a good thing, everything went downhill at that time. I was in the ThriveCart User Support Group, and so many people were having issues accessing customer service. There were huge delays in customer support due to these changes in the company. People were MAD, because their businesses depended on ThriveCart!
Sticking to Podia in 2023
Seeing all the issues people were having with ThriveCart, plus my own discomfort using the backend, I decided to take a break from using it, and settled back on Podia for the time being. Meanwhile, my sales were gradually decreasing, but so was my interest in online tutoring (which was my niche at the time) so it was not a surprise.
Kajabi Releases A Kickstarter Plan
In 2024, Kajabi released a new plan that was under $100/mo. I was so excited about it that I wanted to test it for myself. After starting the free trial, I quickly realized that the Kickstarter plan would not be sufficient. The Kickstarter plan only includes 1 product. So that means you can only sell one thing! So for example, say you wanted to sell a $200 course that includes a private community. You would not be able to host the community in Kajabi, because a course + community would be considered 2 products!
Switching to Kajabi's Basic Plan
So basically, Kajabi got my attention with their Kickstarter plan, but I'm unclear how many people would actually benefit from using this plan, since it only includes 1 product.
Kajabi’s Pricing Plans
(As of January 2025)
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
I switched to the Kajabi Basic Plan, which is $149/month. Whenever you are researching new tools, make sure you are looking at the monthly billing option vs annual billing. Sometimes, they will present the annual one-time fee and break it down to show the monthly costs, but you are still billed for the entire year upfront. I find this to be a bit confusing.
I made an entire video about my attempt to use Kajabi for my business. Basically, my thought process was, I always try to keep my expenses at 30% or less of my total revenue. So If I'm paying $150/month to use Kajabi, then I would expect to generate $500/month in revenue, or $1500/quarter. In the video, I set a challenge for myself to earn $300/mo for the 3 months of using Kajabi.
Ultimately, I decided it was too much pressure on myself to earn all this additional revenue just to justify the costs of using Kajabi. Especially considering the fact that I wasn't planning to use all the tools included with Kajabi. I already host my website on Squarespace and send email newsletters via Kit*. A big selling point of Kajabi is having everything you need in one spot, so I'd basically be paying for a lot of stuff I wasn't using.
Making the Announcement to Close My Podia Shop
In October 2024, I made the announcement that I was going to close my shop and offered a big closing sale. Existing customers would still retain access to their courses through July 2025, but I didn't want to continue selling via a platform I was going to stop using soon.
Since then, I did make one final attempt to make Podia work for me. The "final straw" was recognizing that the buy buttons were way too small on the sales page. When I looked at the help center, I discovered that I can't adjust the size of the buttons! That just confirmed for me that Podia prioritizes ease of use & aesthetics over actual sales. Here's a screenshot of my most recent sales page so you can see how small the "buy now" buttons are.
See the itty bitty buy now buttons?
Podia’s help center stating button sizing is not adjustable
Why Choosing the Right Course Creation Platform is So Important
After making this discovery about the button sizing, I realized I could finally stop blaming myself for my lack of sales. I have tried so many things over the years to increase my sales on Podia after they made changes to their checkout in 2022. I had to accept that this wasn't working for me!
So what's next for me when it comes to selling digital products & courses? Honestly, I'm not really sure. I haven't found a good solution for my needs. The only thing that comes close is ThriveCart, mainly because I love their one-page checkout pages and I know they're designed for conversions. They also added ThriveCart Learn a few years back, which means you can also host your courses in ThriveCart! But as I mentioned before, I still feel uncomfy with the backend of ThriveCart, and their "one-time fee" business model is questionable for me.
I'll keep this article updated on my next steps!
What's your best path to making money from home?
About the Author
I’m a married mom of two and a former classroom teacher. Despite facing significant health challenges, I’ve earned over $75K from home all while keeping my well-being and family as my top priorities. I’m here to help you do the same with blogging, email newsletters, and YouTube!
DISCLOSURE: *This blog post contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Thank you for your support! See the full affiliate disclosure here.
