Maven vs Podia
We give Maven a 2.2 GPA and Podia a 2.4, out of 4.0. Maven grades higher on the free plan. Podia grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Podia
Website, store, courses, community and email for creators in one place
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAMavenFair | 2.4GPAPodiaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DNo subscription, but Maven keeps 10% of each sale, so $2,000 of sales a month costs $200, past where this category's dearest tenth starts ($143). The fee shrinks when sales do, and it pays for a listing on Maven's marketplace and its Student Growth Program. | CMover is $42 a month billed yearly but adds a 5% fee, $100 on $2,000 of sales: $142. Shaker at $84 takes no fee, so $84 a month is what you'd pay, inside this category's usual range but above its dearer quarter ($59). Shaker includes 500 email subscribers. |
| Free plan and trial | BNothing to pay to start: no subscription, and you can publish and sell, with free Lightning Lessons to build a list. Selling isn't free, though: the 10% is graded under value, and paid offerings start at $200. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial of every feature with no card needed, and once you pay, refunds only within 72 hours of the latest payment. |
| Features | CCohort courses, workshops, self-paced cohorts, free Lightning Lessons, automated emails, a cohort community and Zoom scheduling with recordings. It does the live-cohort job fully, but that's a narrower job, with prices from $200 and refunds set by Maven. | BCourses with quizzes and certificates, downloads, coaching, events, a community with chat, a website and blog, checkout with tax for 230 jurisdictions, email automations and an MCP connection. No gap in the job; PayPal, Zapier and affiliates just need Shaker. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. Maven handles the page, checkout and emails, but a live cohort takes a lot of running, and courses are reviewed before they're listed. | CNo App Store rating on record. Everything's in one place, which helps, but you still build a site, a store and your emails before selling. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Stripe, Zoom, Zapier, Klarna and webhooks for wiring it to other tools. No phone or desktop apps listed. | BWeb only, with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Zoom, Calendly, Kit, Mailchimp and Discord, plus MCP for Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. No phone or desktop apps listed. |
| Best for | live cohort courses taught by working experts | creators selling a mix of courses and downloads |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Maven and Podia. How we grade
Price against what you get
Maven has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Podia starts at $42 a month and scores 2.7.
Podia scores higher, and starts $42 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Maven for less, and 1 scores higher than Podia for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Maven is free. Podia starts at $42 per month for up to 100 subscribers, billed annually ($49 monthly).
- Maven has a free plan. Podia does not, though it has a free trial.
- Maven also covers surveys.
- Podia also covers marketing automation.
At a glance
| Maven | Podia | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $42 per month for up to 100 subscribers, billed annually ($49 monthly) |
| Free plan | No fee to teach. Maven keeps 10% of what each student pays as a platform fee, and Stripe's processing fees come out as well. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of every feature, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Maven Learning, Inc. | Podia Labs, Inc. |
| Price read from | help.maven.com | podia.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Maven
- Working professionals teaching live courses alongside a day job
- Experts without a large audience who want marketplace traffic
- Courses that companies reimburse, with team and invoice purchases
Podia
- Creators who want site, store, community and email in one bill
- Small lists, since email is priced by subscriber count
- Sellers of a mix of courses, downloads and coaching
Worth knowing
Maven
- Maven keeps 10% of every sale, and Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30 for US cards) come out too; refunds return Maven's fee but not Stripe's.
- Paid offerings must be priced at $200 or more, and courses are reviewed before they are listed on the marketplace.
- Experts are enrolled in the Student Growth Program by default, which can discount a course by up to 30%; opting out is by email.
- Maven, not the expert, decides refunds: students get a full refund up to the course's halfway point.
Podia
- Mover adds a 5% Podia fee to each sale; Stripe or PayPal also charge their own fee of about 2.9% plus 30 cents.
- Plans include only 100, 500 or 1,000 email subscribers; 10,000 adds $56 a month billed annually ($70 monthly) on any plan.
- PayPal, Zapier, affiliate marketing, upsells and assistant seats need Shaker or Earthquaker.
- Refunds are given only within 72 hours of the latest payment; there is no free plan.
Key features
Maven
- Cohort courses and workshops
- Sell multi-week live courses, one-day workshops, self-paced cohorts, resources and coaching from one expert profile and landing page builder.
- Free Lightning Lessons
- Short free live sessions that collect sign-ups and feed them into the email list for a paid course or workshop.
- Built-in email campaigns
- Pre-written automated emails go to waitlisted, applying and dropped-off students, and announcements email the whole cohort.
- Cohort community
- Each course comes with channels for announcements, discussion, intros and questions, plus project submissions and course content in one place.
- Zoom and calendar scheduling
- Connect a Zoom account to create meeting links for every session, auto-record them and publish recordings to students.
- Marketplace listing and promotion
- Reviewed courses appear on Maven's discovery site, and the Student Growth Program runs sales, referrals, affiliates and ads for a share of revenue.
Podia
- Courses, downloads and coaching
- Courses with drip lessons, quizzes, certificates and unlimited students, plus digital downloads, bookable coaching, and live or in-person events.
- Community
- Topic spaces, group chat, member-to-member messages, badges and paid membership tiers. Everyone who signs up or buys joins the community.
- Website, blog and checkout
- Pages, a blog and your own domain, with a one-page checkout, payment plans, coupons, subscriptions and tax handled for 230 jurisdictions.
- Email marketing
- Broadcasts to the whole list or a segment, welcome sequences and automations, and blog posts sent to subscribers as newsletters.
- Podia Agent and MCP
- A built-in AI assistant that works inside your account, and an MCP connection for Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. Both are on every plan.
Plans
Maven
Teach on Maven$0
No subscription. Maven keeps a 10% platform fee on each sale and pays the rest to your Stripe account; paid offerings start at $200.
Podia
Mover$42
per month for up to 100 subscribers, billed annually ($49 monthly)
50 products, 500 videos, 25 community spaces. Podia takes a 5% transaction fee. $98 a month at 10,000 subscribers, billed annually.
Shaker$84
per month for up to 500 subscribers, billed annually ($99 monthly)
150 products, 1,000 videos, 100 spaces, no transaction fee, 1 assistant, affiliates, upsells, PayPal and Zapier. $140 a month at 10,000 subscribers.
Earthquaker$150
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed annually ($179 monthly)
Unlimited products, videos, spaces and assistants, no transaction fee. $206 a month at 10,000 subscribers, billed annually.
Ways to pay less
Maven
No public discounts listed.
Podia
- Annual discount
Lower monthly price with yearly billing
Billed yearly, Mover is $42 a month instead of $49, Shaker $84 instead of $99 and Earthquaker $150 instead of $179.
