ColibriOS

Podia alternatives: the one with no cap on your list, a real calendar, and the books built in.

Courses, memberships, downloads, a website and email, without a cap on subscribers or products, and then what a storefront leaves out: booking from your own calendar with intake and waivers, retreats and workshops with capacity and deposits, and bookkeeping that keeps itself. One flat price, no fee on a sale.

If any of this sounds familiar

  • Email subscribers are capped at 100, 500 or 1,000, so the list you are building is the thing that forces the next plan.
  • Coaching books through a separate scheduling tool, so the calendar, the intake and the client record live somewhere else.
  • Workshops run as a video link; a room with a capacity, a deposit and a door list is not what it is built for.
  • Sales come with a receipt, but the books still happen in another product at tax time.

ColibriOS and Podia, side by side

Podia is a storefront for creators selling courses, digital downloads, webinars, coaching and community memberships, with a website and email included and plans metered by email subscribers.

FeatureColibriOSPodia
1:1 booking and scheduling
Yes. Booking with intake forms, waivers and paymentsServe
Partly. Coaching products book through Calendly, Squarespace Scheduling, YouCanBookMe or SavvyCal integrations; a built-in calendar is not listed
Source, checked August 2026
Classes, workshops and events
Yes. Classes, workshops, retreats and events with ticketing and check-inGather
Partly. Live workshops, webinars and in-person meetups through Zoom, Google Meet or YouTube Live; tickets with capacity and check-in are not listed
Source, checked August 2026
Capacity and waitlists
Yes. Capacity, automatic waitlists and door check-inGather
Not stated. Not listed on their pricing or features pages
Source, checked August 2026
Memberships and class packs
Yes. Recurring memberships, class packs and member pricingGather
Yes. Paid membership tiers that gate community spaces and content
Source, checked August 2026
Online courses
Yes. Courses with enrollment, student payments and portalsServe
Yes. Courses with video, drip, quizzes and certificates; 50 or 150 products on Mover and Shaker, unlimited on Earthquaker
Source, checked August 2026
Website on your own domain
Yes. Editable website on your own custom domainServe
Yes. Website builder, blog and landing pages on your own domain on every plan
Source, checked August 2026
CRM and email marketing
Yes. Full CRM, email campaigns, funnels and textingServe
Partly. Broadcasts, campaigns and automations, with email subscribers capped at 100, 500 or 1,000 by plan; texting and a lead pipeline are not listed
Source, checked August 2026
Bookkeeping and tax-ready books
Yes. Income tracked as it happens, expenses categorized, tax-ready year-end reportServe
No. Automatic receipts and direct payouts; bookkeeping is not listed
Source, checked August 2026
Bank connection, transactions imported
Yes. Live bank feed through Plaid, statements imported on every planGather
Not stated. A bank feed or bank import is not listed on their pricing or feature pages
Source, checked August 2026
Published pricing
Yes. $116, $297 and $597 a month, on the pricing page
Yes. All three plans are priced monthly and annually on the page
Source, checked August 2026
Contract required
No. Month to month
No. Monthly or annual; upgrade, downgrade or switch billing at any time
Source, checked August 2026
Cancel yourself, online
Yes. Settings, then Billing
Not stated. Cancellation is not described on the pricing page
Source, checked August 2026

Podia details checked August 2026 on Podia's own pages. Their plans change; if you see something out of date, tell us at hello@colibrios.com. A tier badge on the ColibriOS column shows the lowest plan that includes the feature; every tier contains the one before it.

ColibriOS pricing

  • Serve$116 a month, or two months free billed annually
  • Gather$297 a month, or two months free billed annually
  • Lead$597 a month, or two months free billed annually

Published on the pricing page. 30-day free trial, no credit card, month to month, cancel yourself in Settings.

Podia pricing

  • Mover$42 a month, or $504 a year
    5% transaction fee, 100 email subscribers, 50 products, 500 videos, 25 community spaces
  • Shaker$84 a month, or $1,008 a year
    No transaction fee, 500 email subscribers, 150 products, 1,000 videos, affiliates, upsells, PayPal, 1 assistant
  • Earthquaker$150 a month, or $1,800 a year
    No transaction fee, 1,000 email subscribers, unlimited products, videos, spaces and assistants

Three published plans from $42 to $150 a month, a 5% transaction fee on Mover and none above it, email subscribers capped at 100, 500 or 1,000 by plan with unlimited customers, a 30-day free trial with no card, no free plan, and plans you can switch at any time.

Source: Podia's pricing page, checked August 2026

When Podia is the better choice

A comparison that says we win every row is not one you should trust. Here is where Podia genuinely does more.

Cheaper to start selling a course or a download

Mover is $42 a month with a website, courses, downloads, community and email included. For a first product to a list under 100 people, that is far less than Serve, even with the 5% fee.

Source, checked August 2026

Sales tax handled at checkout

Podia's built-in checkout supports sales tax in 230 countries and 20 or more currencies. ColibriOS pays through your own Stripe or PayPal, and tax on digital sales is yours to configure there.

Source, checked August 2026

Switch plans any time, with migration help

Upgrade, downgrade or change billing at any time, plus migration assistance and a 30-day trial with no card. ColibriOS has the same trial and month-to-month billing, but you move your content yourself.

Source, checked August 2026

Everything a storefront sells, without the meter

Courses with lessons, quizzes, drip release and certificates. Digital downloads delivered on purchase. Memberships and class packs that renew themselves, with member-only community spaces. A website on your own domain with a blog, landing pages and sign-up forms wired into the contact list. Contacts, subscribers, emails and products are not counted on any plan.

A calendar that is actually yours

Discovery calls and 1:1 sessions book from your real availability, read from Google or Outlook, with buffers, intake forms and waivers answered before the first session. Packages track sessions used and can be paid over time. The person who bought the course and the person who booked the call are one record, with every payment and every email on it.

Workshops and retreats as rooms, not links

Registrations with capacity, waitlists, deposits and balances, intake questions, attendee portals and door check-in from your phone. A multi-day retreat with rooms and a rooming list is a first-class thing. Online workshops still get a video link; in-person ones get everything else.

The books, built in

Every course sale, session and ticket is income the day it lands. Connect your bank and expenses are categorized the way an accountant thinks. Profit by offer and a tax-ready year-end report are pages you open. Podia sends receipts; ColibriOS keeps the books, on every plan.

Our promisePublished pricing· No demo gate· Month-to-month· Export your data anytime

Questions, answered

Is my email list capped?

No. Contacts and subscribers are unlimited on every plan and sends are not metered. Newsletters and sequences go out from your own sending domain with opens and clicks reported. Podia lists email subscriber caps of 100, 500 and 1,000 by plan.

Which plan do I need?

Serve, at $116 a month, covers courses, downloads, the website, email and text campaigns, 1:1 booking with intake, the CRM and the books. Gather, at $297, adds workshops and retreats with capacity, waitlists and deposits, recurring memberships and member-only community spaces.

Is ColibriOS cheaper than Podia?

Not at the entry: Podia Mover is $42 a month. ColibriOS is the cheaper option once the list passes 100 subscribers, once you pay for a scheduler alongside Podia, or once you pay for bookkeeping software, because all three are included. Podia Earthquaker at $150 is above Serve at $116 and still caps the list at 1,000.

Does it take a fee on sales?

No, on any plan. Payment runs through your own Stripe or PayPal at the processor's standard rate. Podia lists a 5% fee on its Mover plan and none above it.

Can I sell downloads and courses together?

Yes. Digital products, courses, session packages, programs and memberships all sit in one catalogue on your site, and a course can be sold as an add-on to another product at a special price.

Does it do coaching with a calendar?

Yes, built in, on every plan: booking pages read your Google or Outlook availability, take intake forms and waivers, and charge for the session or a package at booking. Podia's coaching connects to Calendly, Squarespace Scheduling, YouCanBookMe or SavvyCal.

Does it replace QuickBooks?

For most solo practices, yes. Income lands in the books as payments happen, bank transactions are categorized, mileage is tracked at the IRS rate, and the year-end report is what your accountant asks for. Colibri helps you organize your income and expenses. It is not a tax preparer, accountant, or a substitute for professional tax advice.

How do I move over from Podia?

Export your customers and subscribers as a CSV and import them with tags and consent. Upload course lessons and downloads into the builder, import a published page and edit it in place, connect your Stripe or PayPal, and point your domain when the site is ready. Nothing has to move in one day.

See it for yourself

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