If you're a creator looking to sell online courses, digital downloads, or memberships, Podia and Gumroad are likely at the top of your list.
They both promise quick setup and beginner-friendly tools. But once you start selling seriously, the limitations become hard to ignore.
Podia offers an all-in-one setup, but customization is limited, and core features are locked behind higher-tier plans. Gumroad is great for one-off sales but offers little flexibility if you want to grow beyond digital file drops.
As your audience grows and your product line expands, these limitations start to feel less like minor trade-offs and more like roadblocks.
In this Podia vs Gumroad comparison, we’ll take a closer look at how the two measure up in real-world use. We’ll also introduce you to a stronger alternative that's built for creators who are ready to grow without juggling tools or losing revenue to transaction fees.
What Is Podia?
Podia is a platform that allows creators to sell digital products, build a membership website, send marketing emails, and manage sales from a single dashboard.
It supports various product types, such as online courses, downloads, coaching services, and memberships. Podia also includes tools for building a basic website, customizing sales pages, and sending emails with segmentation and automation.
What Is Gumroad?
Gumroad is a platform designed for creators who want to sell digital products to their audience without needing a full website or complex setup. It supports a wide variety of products, such as eBooks, templates, audio files, videos, software, and design assets.
Sellers can also offer subscriptions, pre-orders, and pay-what-you-want pricing. Gumroad provides a simple checkout process and lets creators accept payments globally using methods like credit cards and PayPal.
Since there’s no monthly fee, Gumroad charges a percentage per sale, which can be helpful when starting but may become expensive as sales grow.
CustomerHub: A Better Alternative for Simplicity and Scale
While Podia and Gumroad each have their strengths, many creators feel stuck between two choices: one that’s too simple and one that feels like too much work.
CustomerHub is a platform that gives you a way to sell digital products, memberships, and online courses without needing to piece together different tools or worry about complicated setups.
It combines ease of use with the right amount of built-in features so you can sell and grow without being overwhelmed.
You don’t need any technical skills to get started. With guided setup steps, content prerequisites, and progress tracking, it helps you create structured learning paths that keep your users on track.
What Makes CustomerHub Stand Out?
- No coding is needed, so you get your product online and start selling in minutes
- Guided content delivery for modules and tracking user progress
- Plug-and-play approach for selling courses, memberships, and subscriptions
- Built-in community tools for updates, group chats, and engagement
- Connect to 7,000+ apps via Zapier, including CRMs, email platforms, and more
- Full control over billing to manage recurring payments, renewals, and one-time sales with ease
- Works on every device so students can access your content from mobile, tablet, or desktop
- Unlimited chat support and Done-for-You (DFY) setup help, so you’re never stuck
- Simple content organization without complex settings or confusing menus
CustomerHub is built for speed. It gives you what you need to sell and deliver your content without adding features you’ll never use. That makes it a great fit for people who want to move fast and start generating income right away.
Podia vs. Gumroad Feature Comparison
Now that we’ve looked at what each platform offers, it’s time to break down the differences between Podia and Gumroad. Both tools help you sell digital products, but they do it in very different ways.
Let’s compare them across the most important features creators care about.
Product Types and Selling Options
Different creators need different tools. While some only sell PDFs or art files, others run full coaching programs or online courses. Understanding the range of products you can offer is the first step in deciding which platform works best.
Podia
Podia is built to support a wide range of digital offerings. You can create structured online courses with multiple lessons or modules, host video content for course lessons, and even issue completion certificates for courses.
It accommodates coaching services and webinars that integrate with live video tools so you can sell access to live workshops or seminars. It even allows product bundling and gated content like drip-delivered course sections or timed release of modules.
What Podia does not focus on is physical goods, as it’s primarily for digital content. While you could technically list a physical product, there’s no built-in shipping or inventory management.
Gumroad
Gumroad also supports various product types but with a simpler presentation. You can sell digital products of almost any kind on Gumroad, such as PDFs, videos, audio files, software, or design assets.
Its membership feature allows creators to charge monthly or yearly for ongoing content (many creators use this as a lightweight alternative to Patreon or similar platforms).
However, unlike Podia, Gumroad does not have a specialized online course builder interface. You can sell a course on Gumroad, but typically it would be delivered as a PDF or video file or via a series of posts/emails to the buyer.
In other words, Gumroad doesn’t provide a course player with customized layouts or quizzes. It’s more akin to selling a bundle of files or a subscription that gives access to content.
Website and Branding Tools
Your online store should reflect your brand. That’s why the ability to customize product pages, landing pages, and overall site design plays a big role in the platform you choose.
Podia
One of Podia’s advantages is its built-in website and branding capabilities. You can create a full website for your brand that includes customizable pages, sales pages for your products, and more. It provides professional-looking templates and a visual editor to match the look and feel of your brand.
Creators can use a custom domain with Podia, which helps maintain a branded experience for customers. The platform also lets you remove Podia’s branding from your site and emails, giving a white-label feel even on the basic paid plan.
Gumroad
Gumroad’s approach to web presence is much more limited. Instead of a full website builder, Gumroad gives each user a profile page on its platform (for example, gumroad.com/username).
This page automatically lists all products you have for sale and can feature a cover image or your logo, plus a short bio or introduction.
However, the overall design and layout of the profile page are standard across Gumroad. You can’t extensively customize the layout beyond choosing which products to feature or the order of listings.
Checkout and Payments
A smooth and flexible checkout process is key to keeping conversions high. Features like coupon codes, multiple payment methods, and upsell options can influence buying decisions and improve revenue.
Podia
With Podia, you connect your own payment accounts to handle transactions. When a customer buys from your Podia site, the money goes directly to your Stripe/PayPal, minus any processing fees. Podia itself will charge its platform fee separately if applicable (on the lower tier).
The checkout experience on Podia is integrated into your site’s branding. Customers stay on your domain and can pay securely.
Podia does not take a cut of each sale on the Shaker plan, but adds a 5% transaction fee to your sales on the Mover Plan. This fee is on top of the normal Stripe/PayPal processing fees.
Gumroad
Gumroad handles the entire payment processing for you. When a customer buys your product on Gumroad, the payment goes to Gumroad, and then your earnings are paid out to you on a weekly or monthly schedule.
For payouts, Gumroad accumulates your sales and then pays you, usually via direct deposit to your bank or via PayPal for creators in supported countries, after a waiting period.
There is typically a short delay in accounting for refunds or fraud checks. Many creators get paid every Friday for the sales made a week or two prior. This is different from Podia’s immediate payouts.
Gumroad’s fee structure for payments also deducts 10% of each sale plus a small flat fee (currently $0.50) from each transaction as it's cut. If the sale came through Gumroad’s Discover marketplace, the fee would be higher (30% flat, which actually includes the processing fee).
Email Marketing
Staying in touch with your audience helps drive repeat sales. A platform that includes built-in email tools can save time, reduce costs, and make it easier to engage with your customers.
Podia
Podia has an email system that lets you collect subscribers through opt-in forms on your Podia site. It sends emails to them without needing a third-party email service.
You can send one-off email newsletters or set up automated email campaigns, like a drip sequence that goes out to a new customer over a series of days. Podia provides email templates and a simple editor for composing messages, plus features like the ability to segment your audience.
One caveat is that Podia’s email feature is free up to a point. All users get up to 100 email subscribers included for free. If your list grows larger, Podia charges an extra fee based on the number of subscribers.
Gumroad
Gumroad’s email capabilities are relatively limited. Gumroad is not a full email marketing platform, but it does allow creators to communicate with their audience in a couple of ways.
Anyone who purchases a product from you on Gumroad is added to your customer list, and you can send updates to all buyers of a specific product or to all your followers.
Many creators using Gumroad will use a separate dedicated email marketing service to build a larger subscriber base or for more sophisticated campaigns.
Gumroad’s emails are good for basic customer updates and announcements. They do have the advantage of automatically reaching all customers without you having to set anything up.
Community and Engagement Tools
Some creators want more than just one-time sales. They want to build a community. A space for discussion, feedback, and updates can increase loyalty and long-term customer value.
Podia
Podia has made community-building a part of its platform, recognizing that creators often want to engage their audience beyond just selling to them. It offers a Community feature (included in both Mover and Shaker plans) where creators can host a members-only community space.
Besides the community forum, Podia supports engagement through features like messaging. It has a live chat widget that you can use to directly message visitors or customers on your Podia site.
For course engagement, Podia recently added things like course completion certificates and supports commenting under each lesson or post. What Podia does not have (as of current features) are built-in quizzes or graded assignments in courses, which some other dedicated course platforms offer.
Gumroad
Gumroad is much more barebones in terms of community features. Your customers don’t have a forum or group chat feature on Gumroad.
Each transaction is fairly one-directional, from creator to customer. The closest Gumroad comes to a community tool is the ability to send updates and the fact that customers have a library.
In the Gumroad library, they can see posts from creators they follow or subscribe to, somewhat like a feed. Gumroad’s update posts do allow for comments from customers, but this is typically used for feedback on that update or support questions rather than sustained community discussions.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate tools can help grow your audience without extra ad spend. Being able to set up and manage affiliates directly from your platform makes it easier to expand reach.
Podia
Podia includes an affiliate marketing system in its top-tier (Shaker) plan. This lets you turn your customers or fans into affiliates who can promote your products for a commission.
Through Podia’s affiliate dashboard, you can generate unique referral links for your affiliates and track the sales they bring in. Affiliates can log into a special portal to see their referrals and earnings. You, as the creator, can set the commission percentage and approve or invite affiliates.
On the Mover (lower) plan, affiliate functionality is not included, so you’d need to upgrade to use it. There are no extra transaction fees on affiliate sales beyond whatever you choose to pay the affiliate.
Gumroad
Any Gumroad creator can add affiliates to their products. The way it works is that you invite someone by email to be an affiliate and specify which product(s) they can promote and what cut they should get.
Gumroad then provides that affiliate with a special link. When customers buy through that link, Gumroad tracks the sale and attributes the commission to the affiliate.
Gumroad will then pay out the affiliate’s share directly (since Gumroad processes the payments, they can split the payout).
What’s interesting is that Gumroad also has a global affiliate marketplace via Gumroad Discover: people can sign up to be affiliates for products listed on the Discover section without needing the creator’s direct invitation.
Integrations and Extensions
No platform works in isolation. The ability to connect your sales platform with other tools can make or break your workflow.
Podia
Podia positions itself as an all-in-one, but it still recognizes that creators might want to use external tools in their workflow. It offers integration capabilities mainly through Zapier, a popular automation service.
You can set up Zapier triggers for events like a new sale, a new sign-up, or a new member, etc., which can then send that data to another app. The Shaker plan also supports Zapier's actions to create or update data inside the platform.
Besides Zapier, Podia has direct integration for certain tools: you can embed Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, and other tracking codes directly for analytics and ad tracking.
Gumroad
Gumroad is simpler in terms of integration options, but it isn’t completely siloed. Gumroad provides an API and integrates with Zapier.
Gumroad creators can connect to other apps through Zapier. When a product is sold on Gumroad, a Zap can add that customer to a Google Sheet or subscribe them to a ConvertKit mailing list.
If you have a website or blog, you can embed Gumroad buy buttons or overlay. This is a form of integration that many creators use to keep their own website while using Gumroad purely for the payment popup.
Pricing Breakdown
When comparing Podia vs Gumroad, pricing is one of the biggest differences. Podia charges a monthly fee, while Gumroad takes a percentage of each sale.
It’s important to look at not just the starting cost but what you’re paying as your business grows.
Podia Pricing
Podia offers several plans, with the paid plans being offered at a flat monthly rate. Many users feel Podia’s pricing is reasonable for the value it provides.
- Mover Plan ($39/month): 5% transaction fee and lets you sell unlimited products with a custom domain and access to email marketing tools.
- Shaker Plan ($89/month): No transaction fees and adds support for affiliate marketing, Zapier actions, and PayPal integrations.
Users explicitly appreciate that Podia doesn’t “tax” their success when on a paid tier, unlike other marketplaces that always take a cut. Also, unlimited products/courses on paid plans mean you’re not nickel-and-dimed for growing your content library.
However, a few complaints have arisen regarding Podia’s pricing structure and upsell. First, on the free and lowest-paid tier, Podia does charge a 5% transaction fee. Some users on those plans grumble about losing a cut of their sales.
The solution is to upgrade to a higher plan, but that’s a budget decision each creator must make. Second, a few features are locked behind the highest tiers. Affiliate marketing or the use of Zapier actions on your site is available only on the Shaker plan.
Gumroad Pricing
Gumroad uses a transaction fee model with no monthly fee. Instead, it takes a flat percentage of each sale. The platform's fee was around 10% + $0.50 of the transaction.
On top of that, creators pay the credit card processing (2.9% + $0.30) PayPal fees. So, in total, a Gumroad seller loses roughly 12–13% per sale to fees. This pricing model drew intense feedback in reviews.
Several Gumroad users mention this as what they like best, as you can have an online store with no monthly fee. Also, this platform's model includes all features for everyone, and even a free user can use memberships, which some platforms reserve for higher tiers.
Gumroad ends up more expensive than competitors if you’re making steady sales. Creators who started on Gumroad often start seeking alternatives as soon as their revenue grows beyond a threshold.
CustomerHub Has Better Pricing!
One major advantage of CustomerHub is that it does not take a cut of your revenue at all. This addresses creators’ frustrations with Podia’s transaction fees on lower tiers and Gumroad’s 10% fee.
CustomerHub is subscription-based with zero commissions, so you keep 100% of what you earn. You can grow your business without the platform silently taxing your success.
CustomerHub has a single transparent pricing tier: $79 per month for the full feature set. That places it right between Podia’s two main plans in terms of cost. It includes unlimited courses, members, and content hosting, and charges no transaction fees on your sales.
If you compare, CustomerHub could be slightly cheaper than Podia’s Shaker ($89) while offering similar or even broader capabilities in some areas.
CustomerHub is a smart pick for people who want to launch fast, skip setup headaches, and avoid paying extra every time they make a sale. Start your free 14-day trial today!
What Makes CustomerHub Better Than Podia and Gumroad?
When you outgrow the limitations of platforms like Podia or Gumroad, you often look for a tool that doesn’t just “check boxes” but actually supports growth.
CustomerHub is built from the ground up for coaches, consultants, and digital product sellers who want to launch fast and scale.
Here's why CustomerHub is the better choice, feature by feature.
Plug-and-Play Simplicity
CustomerHub is built with simplicity in mind. You can drag, drop, and publish your content with ease. There’s no need for coding, plugins, or piecing together different tools.
By contrast, Podia is easy to use but offers limited flexibility. You can build pages and publish products, but customization options are locked down unless you’re on a higher-tier plan. Gumroad, while simple, strips out so much functionality that it’s hard to call it a “platform” beyond its checkout page.
Monetization Tools
CustomerHub gives you a powerful toolkit to sell your knowledge without needing five separate apps to manage it all.
You can offer memberships, online courses, digital downloads, and coaching packages, all from one central location. You can create tiered products, bundle content, schedule drip delivery, and track how your members interact with your material.
You also get built-in engagement tools like progress tracking and gated content, which help drive retention and completion. This is helpful for coaches and educators who want to build real learning experiences, not just sell files.
Sales Pages That Convert
Your sales page can be the deciding factor between someone just browsing and someone becoming your next customer. CustomerHub gives you ready-to-use, high-converting pages that make your offer stand out.
These pages are designed with performance in mind with clean layouts, strategic calls to action, and direct integration with Stripe and other major payment platforms.
If you want your pages to do more than “exist” and convert visitors into buyers, CustomerHub gives you a clear edge.
Seamless Integration With Your Tech Stack
No modern business runs on one platform alone. That’s why CustomerHub is built to connect with over 7,000 apps using direct integrations and Zapier.
Whether you use HubSpot, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, or Google Sheets, you can link your workflows and automate repetitive tasks.
It also plays nicely with Stripe, PayPal, and all major CRMs, so you're never locked into a specific stack. This gives you the freedom to run your business your way without workarounds.
Tracking Progress and Engagement
Without a way to measure learner progress, it’s impossible to know whether your training is effective or where it’s falling short.
CustomerHub includes built-in activity tracking that shows who’s completing lessons, which modules are keeping learners engaged, and where drop-offs happen.
If you notice a lot of users are stuck on a particular module, you can refine that content for clarity. If engagement drops midway through the course, you might introduce more interactive elements to recapture attention.
This kind of insight takes the guesswork out of course design. You’re not just creating content but also continuously improving it based on real user behavior.
Affiliate Marketing Built In
CustomerHub makes it simple to grow your income through affiliate marketing without needing any extra tools or complicated setups. Whether you're a content creator recommending platforms you trust or a service provider offering implementation for clients, there’s a program designed for you.
The affiliate program is ideal for marketers, creators, and advertisers who want to earn by sharing CustomerHub. You’ll get access to an affiliate dashboard and tracking links, with no minimum requirements to join. You’ll earn 15% recurring commissions on every referral.
The Certified Partner Program offers additional perks for agencies, consultants, and service providers who want to go deeper. To unlock these added benefits, you need to complete a short certification course.
You’ll earn 20% recurring commissions and receive a certified partner badge, a listing in our directory, a free sandbox account for demos, and opportunities for co-marketing and service referrals.
Personalized Onboarding and Hands-On Support
What truly sets CustomerHub apart is the level of support offered. When you sign up, you’re not left to figure things out alone. You get DFY setup services, unlimited live chat support, and a full knowledge base that’s valuable for your business.
Real people are available to help with onboarding, integrations, and strategy questions so you can stay focused on your business instead of technical hiccups.
Podia’s support is helpful but mostly self-serve and available only during limited hours. Gumroad offers almost no direct support, and most users rely on outdated help docs or public forums. If fast, human help matters to you, CustomerHub delivers every time.
Take Control of Your Sales—Start With CustomerHub!
If you’ve outgrown the limits of Podia and Gumroad, CustomerHub is the solution you’ve been waiting for. It’s built for creators who want to build smarter and keep more of what they earn.
With CustomerHub, you can sell online courses, digital downloads, and memberships, all from a single, easy-to-use dashboard. Plus, you get native affiliate tools, full customization, and easy connections to over 7,000 apps without juggling plugins or paying for extras.
Best of all, you keep more of your revenue. CustomerHub charges zero transaction fees, so you can keep more money in your pocket for every single sale.
If you're ready to stop compromising and start scaling, switch to a platform that’s built for creators.
Start your free 14-day trial with CustomerHub today and get the control, freedom, and support you’ve been looking for.
FAQs About Podia vs Gumroad
What is better than Podia?
CustomerHub is a stronger choice if you want more flexibility. It lets you sell online courses, memberships, and digital products, all with zero transaction fees. You get more design control, better support, and tools to grow your online business.
What is better than Gumroad?
Gumroad is good for simple sales, but CustomerHub gives you more. You can create courses, offer bundles, and run memberships from one dashboard. Plus, there are no per-sale fees, and it’s built for creators who want to scale.
Do people actually make money on Gumroad?
Yes, many creators use it to sell digital downloads like PDFs, music, and art. But if you're building a full ecommerce platform, Gumroad’s limited tools and 10% fee can get in the way.
Can you sell physical products on Podia?
Podia is mainly designed for digital products like online courses, coaching programs, and memberships. If you want to include physical bonuses alongside your courses (like a workbook or guide), you’ll need to handle fulfillment separately.
