Comparisons
Podia vs LearnDash: hosted simplicity or WordPress ownership
vs
Podia bundles a website builder, custom domain and email marketing with your course storefront, hosted, from $42 per month, with a 5% transaction fee on the entry Mover plan. LearnDash is a WordPress plugin, a flat $259 a year license with no transaction fee, but no bundled email tool and no hosting included. Choose Podia for an all-in-one hosted setup; choose LearnDash if you already run WordPress and want to own the stack and keep the full sale price.
Our pick for an all-in-one hosted tool
Site, email marketing and products bundled in from Mover, hosted and supported.
See pricing →Choose LearnDash if
You already run WordPress and want a flat yearly license with no transaction fee.
See pricing →Side by side
Podia bills monthly, hosted, with a transaction fee on Mover only. LearnDash bills once a year for the license, with hosting and email tools separate.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | Admins | Fees | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mover | $42/mo | $42/mo | 5% transaction fee | website builder and custom domain included; unlimited customers | |
| Shaker | $84/mo | $84/mo | No platform fee | affiliate marketing; upsells; PayPal | |
| Earthquaker | $150/mo | $150/mo | No platform fee | unlimited products and videos; unlimited assistants; affiliate marketing |
| License | Price per year | Sites | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $259 | 1 | course and quiz builders; memberships and subscriptions; Stripe and PayPal; certificate builder |
| Pro | $399 | 1 | AI course outline and quiz builder; advanced reporting; enrollment tracking; custom report cards |
| Elite | $599 | 1 | group course management; sell seats; instructor role; multi-instructor management |
The decision lines
Fees. Podia Mover ($42 per month) takes a 5% transaction fee; Shaker and Earthquaker drop the fee to 0%. LearnDash publishes no transaction fee at any license.
Bundled tools. Podia includes a website builder, custom domain and email marketing from Mover, replacing separate site and email tools for a simple setup. LearnDash is course delivery only; your WordPress theme, page builder and email service are separate purchases.
Total cost. Podia Mover runs $504 a year (no annual discount shown at check time). LearnDash Essentials is $259 a year for the license alone, before hosting.
B2B and group selling. Neither publishes a strong B2B story on the entry tier: Podia has no published group-selling workflow at all, while LearnDash opens group course management and seat selling on the Elite license at $599 a year.
Scale limits. Podia caps email subscribers per plan (100 on Mover, 500 on Shaker, 1,000 on Earthquaker). LearnDash does not cap courses or learners on any license.
Which one for your situation
- You want one hosted tool for site, email and courses: Podia. Included from Mover at $42 per month.
- You already run WordPress and want to keep the full sale price: LearnDash. No transaction fee on any license.
- You sell B2B seats to companies: LearnDash Elite at $599 a year is the documented option; Podia publishes no group-selling workflow.
- Your list will grow past a few thousand subscribers: price Podia's subscriber caps against your list size, or keep email in a dedicated tool alongside LearnDash.
What neither publishes
Confirm these before you rely on them:
- Podia SCORM, SSO and white label; none are documented, so treat them as absent for B2B or compliance use cases.
- LearnDash SCORM and SSO depend on third-party WordPress plugins you add and evaluate yourself, not on the license.
Take the next step
What the two products actually look like
Frequently asked questions
Does Podia charge a transaction fee?
Which is cheaper, Podia or LearnDash?
Can I sell B2B seats on Podia?
Does Podia replace my WordPress site?
Keep deciding
Podia: plans, fees, limits, and who should shortlist it
Podia plans priced by email subscribers and products, the 5% Mover fee, and no published B2B, SCORM or SSO. What to shortlist it for and what to confirm.
LearnDash: licenses, ownership, limits, and who should shortlist it
LearnDash license tiers, full ownership on WordPress, group selling on Elite, and the self-hosting reality: updates, backups and support are yours.
Hosted LMS vs WordPress LMS: ownership and total cost
SaaS subscription versus a LearnDash license plus hosting, updates and backups. The yearly cost, the responsibility split, and who owns your data.
Teachable vs Podia: what each one caps, and what it costs
Teachable caps products but stores lots of video; Podia caps email subscribers and includes a domain on every plan. Fees: 7.5% vs 5% at entry.