Kartra vs Podia (2026): Which Fits a Coaching Business?
Kartra vs Podia comes down to one question: do you want a marketing machine or a simple shop? Kartra is a funnel, email and membership suite with contact-based pricing that starts at $59 a month and climbs fast as your list grows. Podia is a lighter storefront for courses, downloads, webinars, coaching sessions and a community, starting at $49 a month, with small email allowances and unlimited customers. Neither one is built around the coaching relationship itself: neither tracks a client's habits, check-ins or a per-client plan. This guide compares both on price, fees, features and what your clients actually see, then covers a third option for coaches whose business is the work between sessions.
We make Coachful, so read our recommendation with that in mind. Every Kartra and Podia figure below comes from the vendors' own pricing pages as listed in October 2026, and we say where a point comes from an older vendor profile or from public reviewers rather than a current page.
What is the short answer to Kartra vs Podia?
Pick Kartra if your business runs on funnels, email sequences and automated launches and you have the budget for its mid-tier plans. Pick Podia if you want to sell a few courses, downloads and paid calls from a clean storefront with very little setup. Pick neither if most of your income comes from coaching clients over weeks or months.
- You run launches, webinars and multi-step email campaigns: Kartra. Its Starter plan adds unlimited email and SMS, calendars and video hosting, and Growth adds automations, affiliates and a helpdesk.
- You sell a handful of digital products and want to start this week: Podia. The Mover plan covers courses, downloads, coaching products, webinars, a community and a website.
- You have a large list but few products: neither is cheap. Kartra prices by contacts; Podia's email allowances top out at 1,000 subscribers on its highest plan before you buy extra.
- You coach clients through programs with habits, check-ins and regular sessions: a coaching platform such as Coachful, which handles booking, payments, contracts, programs, courses, a community and a website under one login.
If you already know you are leaning one way, our deeper pieces help: the Kartra review and the Podia review cover each tool on its own.
How do Kartra and Podia compare side by side?
Kartra wins on marketing depth and Podia wins on simplicity, but both leave the coaching delivery itself to you. The table below ranks the three options on what matters most for a coaching practice.
Ranking criteria: one login for the whole client journey, delivery between sessions, total stack cost, and setup effort (including the free white-glove build Coachful offers).
| Tool | Best for | Entry price | Platform fee on sales | Client habits and check-ins | Native scheduling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | Coaches who deliver programs and want one system for booking, payments, delivery and marketing | Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients | 0% platform fee; Stripe or Razorpay processing only | Yes: habits, morning and evening check-ins, goals, streaks | Yes, with two-way Google, Apple and Outlook sync |
| Kartra | Funnel-led marketers with growing email lists | $59/month ($52 billed annually) | 5% on Essentials; 0% on Starter and Growth | No | Calendars from the Starter plan |
| Podia | Creators selling a few courses, downloads and calls | $49/month ($42 billed annually) | 5% on Mover; 0% on Shaker and Earthquaker | No | Sells coaching sessions; no native video calls (older profile) |
Kartra presents itself as an all-in-one marketing suite: pages, funnels, email and SMS, memberships, calendars and a helpdesk. Its pricing is built around how many contacts you store, so the bill follows the size of your list rather than the number of clients you coach.
Podia presents itself as a single storefront for courses, downloads, webinars, coaching and community. Every plan includes unlimited customers, which keeps the model simple, but each plan includes only a small number of email subscribers.
How much do Kartra and Podia cost?
Kartra costs $59 to $549 a month and Podia costs $49 to $179 a month, as listed in October 2026. Both cut the price for annual billing, both take a 5% platform fee on their entry plans, and both drop that fee to 0% on the next plan up.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Main limits | Platform fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients | Flat monthly plans that cancel in one click (Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; Studio: $199/month with unlimited clients) | Lower plans cap the number of clients; Pro is unlimited (Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients); team plans add coach seats | 0% |
| Kartra Essentials | $59 | $52 | 500 contacts, 5 pages, 1 product, 1 membership, 10,000 emails a month, 1 domain, 30 AI uses | 5% |
| Kartra Starter | $119 | $99 | 2,500 contacts, unlimited pages, products and memberships, unlimited email and SMS, 5 team members, 100 AI uses | 0% |
| Kartra Growth | $229 | $189 | 12,500 contacts, 3 domains, 10 team members, 250 AI uses | 0% |
| Kartra Professional | $549 | $429 | 25,000 contacts, 5 domains | Not stated on the current page |
| Podia Mover | $49 | $42 ($504 a year) | 50 products, 500 videos, 25 community spaces, 100 email subscribers | 5% |
| Podia Shaker | $99 | $84 ($1,008 a year) | 150 products, 1,000 videos, 100 spaces, 500 email subscribers, 1 assistant | 0% |
| Podia Earthquaker | $179 | $150 ($1,800 a year) | Unlimited products, videos, spaces and assistants; 1,000 email subscribers | 0% |
Processing fees from Stripe or PayPal sit on top of every one of these plans. Podia lists the standard card rate as 2.9% plus 30 cents. For a fuller breakdown of each vendor, see Kartra pricing and Podia pricing.
The hidden costs in Kartra's pricing
Kartra's page states that if you exceed your plan's lead limit, your account is upgraded automatically, with a reconciliation fee charged mid-cycle. It also states that there are no add-ons for buying extra capacity. In practice, a free lead magnet that brings in 600 sign-ups can move an Essentials account to Starter without a decision on your part. The 5% fee on Essentials also matters: on $3,000 of monthly sales (an illustrative figure), that is $150 a month to Kartra before processing, more than the price gap between Essentials and Starter.
The hidden costs in Podia's pricing
Podia's limits sit on email, not customers. Mover includes 100 email subscribers, Shaker 500 and Earthquaker 1,000. Podia sells extra subscribers as an add-on (the price is not shown on the pricing page) and says it never upgrades you automatically. PayPal checkout and Zapier start at Shaker, so a coach whose clients prefer PayPal cannot stay on Mover.
What would an example coach pay?
Take an illustrative coach with 1,000 people on the email list, 30 active clients, one signature program, one course and a monthly group call. Here is roughly what each option costs as listed in October 2026, before processing fees.
| Option | Plan needed | Monthly cost | What is still missing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | A plan covering 30 clients | Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients | Nothing for this setup: booking, video, contracts, programs, course, community, email and website are included in your Coachful membership |
| Kartra | Starter (Essentials caps contacts at 500) | $119 ($99 billed annually) | Client habits, check-ins and per-client plans; likely a separate video call tool |
| Podia | Earthquaker (Shaker includes 500 email subscribers) | $179 ($150 billed annually) | Client habits, check-ins, per-client plans and native video calls; a separate scheduler if you want calendar rules beyond Podia's coaching product |
The point of the example is the shape, not the exact figure. Kartra's cost tracks your list size; Podia's tracks your email subscribers; a coaching platform's tracks your clients. Count which number in your business grows fastest, and price against that.
How do Kartra and Podia compare feature by feature?
Kartra offers more marketing tools at every level; Podia offers fewer tools that are easier to set up. Here is how they line up in the areas coaches use most.
Funnels, pages and websites
Kartra is a funnel builder first. Every plan includes forms, a funnel mapper, analytics, checkouts and 100 pre-built campaigns, and Growth adds funnel simulation, with real-time funnel analytics on Professional. Essentials limits you to 5 pages, which is tight for a sales page, a thank-you page, an opt-in and a checkout. Podia gives you a website and product pages that look clean with little effort, but it is not a multi-step funnel tool. If your sales process is "post on social, send to a sales page, take payment", Podia is enough. If it is "free guide, five-day email sequence, webinar, replay, offer", Kartra fits better.
Email marketing
Kartra Essentials includes 10,000 emails a month, and Starter and above include unlimited email and SMS. Automations arrive on Growth. Podia includes email on every plan but caps subscribers at 100, 500 or 1,000. For a coach building a newsletter audience, Kartra's model is far more generous per dollar once you reach Starter; Podia's model works when your list is small and mostly made of buyers.
Courses and memberships
Podia was built for selling courses and downloads, and its plans allow 50, 150 or unlimited products. Kartra allows 1 membership on Essentials and unlimited memberships from Starter, with video hosting added on Starter. Both work for a self-paced course. Neither is designed for a program where each client follows their own weekly goals and daily tasks.
Scheduling and sessions
Kartra includes calendars from the Starter plan. Podia sells coaching as a product type, and its older vendor profile notes no native video calls, so you would bring your own video link. Neither documents the depth of booking rules (buffers, minimum notice, intake questions, session credits) that dedicated coaching or scheduling software provides.
Payments and checkout
Kartra supports Stripe, PayPal and other processors for your sales, according to its older profile. Podia uses Stripe on every plan and adds PayPal from Shaker. Podia's Shaker plan also adds upsells and affiliate marketing; Kartra adds affiliates on Growth.
Community
Podia includes community spaces on every plan (25 on Mover, 100 on Shaker, unlimited on Earthquaker). Kartra's suite centers on memberships and a helpdesk rather than a social feed. If a group feed is central to your offer, Podia is the closer fit of the two; our Circle vs Podia and Mighty Networks vs Podia comparisons go deeper on community tools.
Team and AI
Kartra includes 5 team members on Starter and 10 on Growth, and lists AI allowances of 30, 100 and 250 uses by plan. Podia includes 1 assistant on Shaker and unlimited assistants on Earthquaker. Neither vendor's pricing page describes an AI that works from your client records.
Data export and portability
Kartra exports contacts to CSV with fields, lists and tags, but per its older profile, pages and funnels export only as Kartra elements and memberships must be rebuilt elsewhere. Podia exports contacts to CSV, customers per product (active enrollments only) and sales records, also per its older profile. Plan for a rebuild either way if you ever leave.
| Tool | Funnels | Courses | Habits and check-ins | Agreements with e-signature | Client mobile app | PayPal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coachful | Booking, application, lead-magnet and checkout funnels with pixels and UTM tracking | Broadcasts and sequences with triggers, delays, branching and A/B splits | Modules, lessons, drip, completion tracking | Yes | Yes, sent before the first call | Yes, under the Coachful listing with your branding | No |
| Kartra | Yes, with funnel mapper; simulation on Growth | Unlimited from Starter; automations on Growth | Memberships: 1 on Essentials, unlimited from Starter | No | Not documented on the pricing page | No (older profile) | Yes (older profile) |
| Podia | Limited; storefront and product pages | Capped at 100 / 500 / 1,000 subscribers | Yes, core product | No | Not documented on the pricing page | No (older profile) | From Shaker |
What do clients experience on Kartra and Podia?
On both platforms, a client experiences you as a buyer: they land on a page, pay, and get access to content. That works well for a course. It works less well for coaching, where the client needs to know what to do this week, when the next session is, and whether you have seen their progress.
With Kartra, a client typically moves through an opt-in page, an email sequence, a checkout and a membership area. With Podia, they move through a storefront, a checkout and a product or community page. On both, the session itself usually happens in a separate video tool, reminders and agreements may come from other tools, and progress between sessions lives in email, a spreadsheet or the client's memory. Neither vendor offers a client mobile app according to their older profiles, so clients use the web.
Public reviewers echo that split. On Trustpilot, as seen in October 2026, Podia scored 4.1 from 153 reviews and Kartra 3.2 from 129 reviews. Ratings like these mix support, billing and feature comments, so read recent reviews for the issues that matter to you rather than treating the score as a verdict.
Which coaches should pick Kartra, and which should pick Podia?
Kartra suits coaches who are marketers first; Podia suits coaches who sell content first. Here is how that plays out for common coaching models.
- Business or sales coaches running webinar funnels: Kartra, if you will use its funnels and automations on Starter or Growth. See also Kajabi vs Kartra and GoHighLevel vs Kartra for other funnel-led options.
- Coaches selling one course plus occasional paid calls: Podia. Mover covers it, though the 5% fee argues for Shaker once sales grow.
- Coaches with a big audience and few products: compare carefully. Kartra's contact pricing and Podia's subscriber caps both punish a large free list.
- Life, health, fitness and mindset coaches running 8 to 12 week programs: neither. These coaches need habits, check-ins and per-client plans that neither tool offers.
- Coaches working toward an ICF credential: neither tracks coaching hours; a coaching platform with ICF hour tracking saves the spreadsheet.
- Small coaching teams: Kartra has more team seats; a coaching platform adds per-coach availability and round-robin booking.
If you are already on one of these tools and want to see what else is out there, our Kartra alternatives and Podia alternatives roundups rank the options for coaches. You can also compare Podia vs Teachable if courses are the bigger part of your business.
Is there a third option that beats both Kartra and Podia?
For coaches whose income comes from clients rather than product sales, yes: Coachful covers the marketing side of Kartra and the storefront side of Podia, then adds the coaching delivery neither one has. For pure info-product businesses with no 1:1 or program work, it does not beat them, and we say so below.
What Coachful is and who it is for
Coachful is a coaching platform. One subscription covers booking, payments, contracts, program delivery with habits and check-ins, courses, a community, a website with funnels and email, and an AI assistant, with one login for the coach and one branded app for the client. It is built for coaches who deliver programs, not just sessions; solo coaches growing into a small team; and coaches replacing four to six tools. The company is based in Tallinn, Estonia, and holds a Trustpilot score of 4.5 from 21 reviews.
Where Coachful replaces Kartra's marketing
The section-based website builder includes a blog, custom domain, SEO settings, 30 designed homepage templates and an Import website option. Funnels cover booking, application, lead-magnet and checkout flows with pixels and UTM tracking, plus a link-in-bio page that sells. Email covers lists, broadcasts and multi-step sequences with triggers, delays, branching and A/B splits. A social planner helps with post ideas and captions, then schedules posts to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Threads and YouTube from one calendar, and Instagram automations can send a booking link or lead magnet by DM when someone comments a keyword.
Where Coachful replaces Podia's storefront
Courses come with modules, lessons, drip and completion tracking, alongside downloads, videos, books, AI tools, events and bundles. The community includes a feed, group chat, direct messages and video events, and cohort groups are created automatically when someone enrolls in a program. Group calls and webinars are included too. Everything is delivered into the client's branded home and app rather than a separate login. If courses are a large part of your offer, see our page on the online course platform for coaches.
What Coachful adds that neither has
This is the part Kartra and Podia leave to spreadsheets and reminder emails:
- Programs that run between sessions: multi-week programs with weekly goals, daily tasks, habits, morning and evening check-ins, goals with progress bars and streaks.
- Booking built for coaching: availability rules, buffers, minimum notice, time-zone detection, two-way Google, Apple/iCloud and Outlook sync, built-in video or auto-created Zoom, Meet or Teams links, intake questions, paid sessions and session credits.
- Agreements: coaching agreements with e-signature sent before the first call and stored on the client record. More on coaching contracts.
- A client record that shows who needs you: goals, check-ins, habits, notes, intake answers, tags, payments and sessions, with a status of thriving, active, quiet or at risk.
- Michelle, the built-in AI assistant: works from your live practice data to build programs, draft emails, summarize recorded sessions and brief you before each session. Questions and planning are included in the membership; confirmed builds and changes use AI credits.
- ICF credential tracking: counts coaching hours and distinct clients against ACC, PCC and MCC thresholds and exports an ICF client coaching log.
Here is a short walkthrough of how programs are set up and delivered:
How Coachful handles payments and fees
Payments run through your own Stripe Connect or Razorpay account: one-time payments, subscriptions, payment plans, order bumps, coupons, refunds, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and Stripe Tax, with an invoice per transaction plus manual invoices. Since August 2026 Coachful charges a 0% platform fee, so you pay only Stripe or Razorpay processing. Compare that with the 5% Kartra and Podia take on their entry plans. Current plans: Lite: $29/month for up to 5 clients; Solo: $49/month for up to 20 clients; Pro: $99/month with unlimited clients; Studio: $199/month with unlimited clients.
Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service
Why Coachful stands out: a free white-glove service. On every plan, you can ask the Coachful team to build things for you inside your own account. From Create, choose "We'll build it for you", describe what you need (a website, funnel, sales page, program, course outline, email sequence, form, lead quiz, webinar page or automation), and attach up to 8 reference links and up to 10 files such as logos, photos, brand guides and copy. The team usually delivers within about 24 hours. Nothing is invented: no fake credentials, testimonials or prices, and gaps are left for you to fill. It does not include recording videos, logo design, ad management or ongoing marketing.
Recent anonymized examples: a somatic coach leaving Kajabi had the homepage and About page rebuilt and the contact form connected; a business mentor for beauty professionals got a 12-week mentorship sales page, a free start-up guide funnel and rewritten follow-up emails; a leadership coach with a Squarespace renewal days away got one clean homepage with a repeated "talk with me" button. Read more about the free white-glove service.
When Coachful does not beat Kartra or Podia
Being honest about the gaps:
- Pick Kartra over Coachful if you run a large, sales-team-driven funnel business, need a multi-stage deal board, or rely on Salesforce or HubSpot. Coachful has neither.
- Pick Podia over Coachful if you sell only digital products with no coaching clients, or your buyers need PayPal checkout. Coachful does not support PayPal.
- Pick either over Coachful if you want a course marketplace, third-party plugins, or a general website for a non-coaching business.
- Look elsewhere entirely if you need HIPAA compliance, clinical records or insurance billing. Coachful is not HIPAA-certified and does not sign a BAA. Health coaches should keep coaching separate from treatment and refer clients to a medical professional when symptoms, medication or diagnosis questions come up.
Other limits worth knowing: the client app ships under the Coachful listing with your branding rather than under your own App Store account; there is no Garmin, Fitbit, Whoop or Oura sync; there is no permanent free plan; and the affiliate program tracks links, clicks, conversions and revenue, but payouts are recorded manually rather than sent by Coachful.
How to start
Start a free trial, then request a free white-glove build for your website, funnel or first program. During onboarding, your clients, programs and content are imported for you. If you are coming from Kartra specifically, our guide to running coaching programs without Kartra walks through planning the client journey. You can also browse the full coaching software overview or other comparisons on the compare page, including Kajabi vs Podia.
How do you switch from Kartra or Podia without losing clients?
Export your contacts first, keep the old account live until the new one is tested, and rebuild pages rather than trying to copy them. Both vendors export contacts to CSV; neither exports pages or memberships in a form another platform can import.
- Export contacts and customers. From Kartra, export contacts with fields, lists and tags. From Podia, export contacts, customers per product (active enrollments only, per its older profile) and sales records.
- List every live product and recurring payment. Subscriptions and payment plans are the hardest part of a move. Note each client's billing date so nobody is charged twice or skipped.
- Rebuild your key pages. Start with the homepage, the main sales page and the booking page. On Coachful, the free white-glove build can do this from your old pages as references.
- Move course content. Download your videos and files, then upload them into the new course structure.
- Tell clients what changes. One short email with the new login, the date of the switch and who to contact if something looks wrong.
- Cancel only after a full billing cycle works. Keep the old account until payments, emails and access all work on the new platform.
Which is better for coaches overall?
Between the two, Podia is the better fit for most coaches who mainly sell content, because it is simpler, cheaper at the entry level and rated higher by public reviewers. Kartra is the better fit for coaches whose growth depends on funnels and email at scale and who are ready to pay for Starter or Growth. For coaches whose business is the client relationship, a coaching platform that covers booking, payments, programs and marketing in one place is the stronger choice, which is why we built Coachful.
Frequently asked questions about Kartra vs Podia
Is Kartra or Podia cheaper?
Podia is cheaper at every comparable level as listed in October 2026: $49 versus $59 a month on the entry plans, and $179 versus $229 for Podia Earthquaker and Kartra Growth. The real cost depends on your list size, since Kartra prices by contacts and Podia by email subscribers. Both charge a 5% fee on their entry plans.
Do Kartra and Podia charge transaction fees?
Both take a 5% platform fee on their entry plans (Kartra Essentials and Podia Mover). Kartra Starter and Growth and Podia Shaker and Earthquaker charge 0%. Stripe or PayPal processing fees apply on top in every case.
What happens if I go over my Kartra contact limit?
Kartra's pricing page states that exceeding your lead limit upgrades your account automatically, with a reconciliation fee charged mid-cycle. It also states there are no add-ons for extra capacity. Podia, by contrast, sells extra email subscribers as an add-on and says it never upgrades you automatically.
Do Kartra and Podia offer free trials?
Both offer 14-day free trials. Podia's trial gives full access with no credit card or plan selection required. Kartra's trial is available on any plan, its page does not state whether a card is required, and it offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Can I run coaching programs with habits and check-ins on Kartra or Podia?
Not natively. Neither platform offers client habits, daily check-ins or per-client coaching plans. You can deliver program content as a membership or course, but progress tracking between sessions would need another tool.
Which is better for selling online courses?
Podia is the simpler choice for courses and downloads, with 50 products on its entry plan. Kartra allows only 1 membership on Essentials but unlimited memberships from Starter, with stronger funnels to sell them. If you also coach clients, a platform that delivers courses inside the same client app as your sessions saves a second login.
What is Coachful's free white-glove service?
It is a build service included on every Coachful plan. You describe what you need, such as a website, funnel, program or email sequence, attach up to 8 links and 10 files, and the team builds it inside your account, usually within about 24 hours. It does not cover video recording, logo design, ads or ongoing marketing.
Is Coachful a good alternative to Kartra and Podia?
For coaches who deliver programs and sessions, yes, because it adds booking, agreements, habits, check-ins and client records to the funnels, email, courses and community the other two offer. For pure digital product sellers, or anyone who needs PayPal, Podia or Kartra may fit better. Coachful charges a 0% platform fee and includes a free white-glove build.
Can I move my clients from Kartra or Podia to Coachful?
Yes. Export your contacts and customers from your current platform, and during Coachful onboarding your clients, programs and content are imported for you. Keep your old account active until a full billing cycle works on the new platform.
Is Kartra, Podia or Coachful HIPAA compliant?
Coachful is not HIPAA-certified and does not sign a BAA, so it is not for clinical records or insurance billing. Kartra's and Podia's pricing pages do not describe HIPAA compliance. If you work with protected health information, keep clinical records in a dedicated clinical system.
