Podia takes 5% of every sale on Mover.
Simplero takes nothing.
Podia keeps it simple — but the simplicity comes with a 5% transaction fee on the Mover plan ($33/mo annual), no native automations beyond email, no real CRM, and no affiliate management until you upgrade to Shaker ($75/mo annual). Simplero replaces Podia plus the tools you'll need around it — with 0% transaction fees on every plan.
The fee math.
5% adds up faster than you think.
At $3,000/month in revenue:
At $10,000/month in revenue:
Sources: podia.com/pricing. Mover $33/mo annual + 5% fee · Shaker $75/mo annual + 0% fee. Email is free for 100 subscribers, then billed separately. Stripe processing (~2.9% + 30¢) charged on top of any Podia fee.
What Podia doesn't do.
5% transaction fee on the entry plan.
Mover ($33/mo annual) charges 5% on every course, coaching session, download, and membership renewal. The only way out is upgrading to Shaker ($75/mo annual). Past about $840/mo in revenue, the 5% fee on Mover already costs more than the difference to Shaker. Simplero is 0% on every plan, every processor, every sale.
No real CRM, no real automations.
Podia has tagging and segmentation in its email tool, plus basic email automation. But there's no real CRM (no pipelines, no deals, no notes, no full contact view), no behavior-based automations, no help desk, no A/B testing. For anything beyond a welcome sequence, you'll Zapier your way out — and Zapier actions are Shaker-only.
Affiliate marketing locked behind Shaker.
Podia's affiliate program is only available on the Shaker plan ($75/mo annual). PayPal too. So is Zapier-as-action. If you're on Mover and want to run an affiliate launch, you'll either upgrade or duct-tape a third-party tool. Simplero's native affiliate management is on Scale ($149/mo) — with full tracking, payouts, and tiers.
Podia + email overage + affiliate tool + CRM + Zapier = $130–$200/mo and 4 logins.
Simplero replaces all of them. One platform. $59/month, 0% fees.
In their own words.
Verbatim from Trustpilot and independent reviews. Real users, real names, real frustrations.
“I regret ever signing up. The platform is buggy, the support is dismissive, and when I tried to cancel they kept charging me for two more months.”
Mickey Zelansky · Trustpilot · Jan 2026 · 1★
“I lost my entire course because of a glitch on their end. Support said it was ‘my responsibility to back up.’”
ArtistDE · Trustpilot · Jan 2026 · 1★
“They eliminated the free plan in October 2024 and forced everyone onto paid tiers. No grandfathering. Just an email.”
Course creator · Ruzuku review · 2026
“No quizzes. No graded assignments. No drip content. No native Zoom. It’s a selling tool, not a teaching tool.”
Greg Namrow (via Ruzuku) · 2026
“The Mover plan looks cheap until you do the math. 5% on every sale plus the monthly fee added up to more than I was paying on Teachable.”
Olga Sinenko · Trustpilot · Dec 2025 · 1★
“The email tool is basic. The automations are almost non-existent. If you want to actually run a business, you’ll need three other tools alongside it.”
Leila Aitbel · Trustpilot · Oct 2025 · 1★
Side by side.
Whole platform vs whole platform.
Podia keeps things simple by leaving most of it out. Here’s what you actually get.
| Podia Mover $33/mo |
Podia Shaker $75/mo |
Simplero $59–$249/mo |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Transaction fees | 5% on every sale | 0% | 0% on every plan |
| Unlimited products / courses | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quizzes & graded assignments | — | — | ✓ |
| Drip / scheduled content | — | — | ✓ |
| Native Zoom integration | — | — | ✓ |
| Email marketing included | Basic, capped by subscriber count | Basic, capped by subscriber count | Full email + segmentation |
| Marketing automations | Limited | Limited | Full visual automation builder |
| CRM | — | — | ✓ |
| Sales funnels & pipelines | — | — | ✓ |
| Affiliate management | — | ✓ | ✓ (every plan) |
| Community | Basic | Basic | Full community + courses + email in one |
| Live chat support | — | ✓ | ✓ (every plan) |
| A/B testing | — | — | ✓ |
| Helpdesk & ticketing | — | — | ✓ |
| Multi-site / multi-language | — | — | ✓ |
| Track record | Founded 2014 | Founded 2014 | 17 years · $912M+ in customer revenue |
| Ownership | VC-backed | VC-backed | Bootstrapped · founder still answers email |
Podia eliminated its Free plan in October 2024. Email subscriber limits scale with paid add-ons; check podia.com/pricing for current numbers.
The difference that doesn’t
fit in a feature matrix.
Simple is not the same as complete.
Podia’s pitch is simplicity. That’s real — setup is fast, the UI is clean. But “simple” here means most things aren’t there. No quizzes, no drip, no Zoom, no real automation, no CRM, no funnels, no A/B, no helpdesk. You’ll add three to five tools to make it work.
5% on every sale, on the cheap plan, forever.
Podia Mover is $33/mo — and a 5% transaction fee on every sale. The fee disappears on Shaker ($75/mo). Simplero charges 0% on every plan, every processor, every sale. Always has.
Bootstrapped, 17 years, still here.
Podia is VC-backed, founded 2014. Simplero is bootstrapped, founded 2009, with $912M+ generated through it by customers. We haven’t raised prices in years. We haven’t been acquired. The founder still answers email.
What Simplero customers actually say.
Same business. Different platform. Different experience.
“I thoroughly evaluated Simplero against several other platforms. I put a spreadsheet together with 20 different features. Simplero won on the scores. The support team is fast, courteous, and they know what they’re talking about. I’ve been part of MailChimp and Acuity — once they sold out, the innovation stopped. Simplero is led by a founding team that really cares.”
George Kao · Conscious Marketing teacher · 4 years on Simplero
“Simplero replaced four tools for me. Email, courses, scheduling, and checkout — all in one, all talking to each other, no Zapier glue holding it together.”
Kira Sutherland · Naturopath · Australia
“I moved off a popular course platform after a billing mess took two weeks to sort out. Simplero support replied in under an hour. Different planet.”
Bunny Young · Coach · Better Business, Better Life
“You get a real human, fast, every time. No chatbot gates. No ‘we’ll get back to you in 48 hours.’ It’s the way support used to be.”
Verified user · Trustpilot · 5★
Three flat tiers.
Pick one, get everything.
Annual pricing. 0% transaction fees on every plan. We haven’t raised prices in years.
Starter
- All features included
- Email + automations
- Courses + community
- Affiliate management
- 0% transaction fees
Scale
- Everything in Starter
- Multi-site
- A/B testing
- Helpdesk & ticketing
- 0% transaction fees
Skyrocket
- Everything in Scale
- AI transcripts
- Priority support
- Advanced analytics
- 0% transaction fees
Need more than 5,000 contacts? Add them in blocks — $15/mo per 2,500 above 10K. We don’t bill for unsubscribed or bounced contacts. See full pricing →
Keep what you earn.
Keep your tools in one place.
14-day free trial. No credit card. We’ll help you migrate from Podia. Most people are running in a week.
Founded 2009 · Bootstrapped · 17 years in business · Proud of it.
Make it simplero™
