Podia is an all-in-one creator platform that lets users build a website, sell courses and digital products, and host communities. Podia gives creators everything they need to grow at every stage of their creator journey.

Podia ranks well across friendliness factors, with a free plan, ways to remove transaction fees, and multiple currencies and integrations. It loses points because of the initial price of its paid plans and the inability to migrate subscription payments.

Thinkific is an online course platform that lets creators offer courses and community to unlimited students.

Thinkific earns points for its free plan and removal of transaction fees. It loses points for the high starting price of its paid plans, the inability to migrate subscription payments, and the lack of migration services.

Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder that lets users create HTML5 websites and mobile sites. They offer ecommerce features on more expensive plans.

Wix earns points for its free plan and low cost of its paid plans. It loses points for artificially limiting the number of products a creator can sell by plan tier and limited support documentation.

Teachable is a platform dedicated to selling online courses and coaching. Creators can sell ebooks and services as course add-ons and set up workshops and conferences.

Teachable earns points for its free plans, support documentation, and creator education resources. It loses points for the inability to migrate subscription payments, high starting price of its paid plans, and the inclusion of transaction fees on paid plans.

LearnWorlds is an online course platform aimed at professional trainers and educators with unlimited courses and SCORM compliance features.

LearnWorlds earns points for support documentation, clarity of support availability, and multiple channels of support. It loses points for the lack of a free plan, the cost of its paid plans, the artificial limitations for creators on paid plans, and the existence of transaction fees on paid plans.

SamCart is a shopping cart software and one-page funnel system that lets users sell their digital products online.

SamCart earns points for its ability to migrate customers into its platform. It loses points for the lack of a free plan and credit card-gated free trial.

Slack is an instant messaging program. Used by startups and large corporations alike, Slack mainly functions as workplace chat software but can be repurposed for online communities. 

Slack earns points by being free and making it easy to migrate lists to and from the platform. It loses points by not taking payments and having unclear support hours.

Squarespace lets users design and build a website or blog without knowing how to code. Users can also sell digital and physical products on the platform on more expensive plans.

Squarespace earns points for its low initial cost, integrations, and language support. It loses points due to the lack of a free plan and transaction fees on its Business plan.

ClickFunnels is a landing page and sales funnel builder that helps businesses market, sell, and deliver their products online.

Clickfunnels earns points for integrations and language support. It loses points for the very high price of its paid plans and credit card-gated free trial.

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for creators to sell online courses, digital downloads, communities, coaching, and podcasts.

Kajabi earns points for support documentation and creator education resources. It loses points because of the very high price of its plans, the lack of a free plan, and artificial limitations on the number of products it allows creators to sell.

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS) that lets users build websites and publish content online. Creators can add additional functionality by installing plug-ins.

Wordpress earns points for its free plans, integrations, and language support. It loses points for its lack of available support. 

Linktree is a link-in-bio tool that allows creators to share links, social media profiles, embedded music, and video content on a central landing page.

Linktree earns points for its free plans and low cost of its paid plans. It loses points by having limited support channels, unclear support hours, and limited language support outside of English.

Koji is a link in bio tool that allows creators to customize their social media landing pages. It also gives access to more functionality through their app store.

Koji earns points for being free and having live chat support. It loses points for not having a self-cancellation flow and only accepting US Dollars.

Patreon is a website where content creators can monetize their audience through recurring subscriptions. Followers pay a monthly fee to support creators and may get access to bonus content behind a paywall.

Patreon earns points for being free, allowing multiple methods of taking payments, and having creator education resources. It loses points for the inability to remove transaction fees, limited support documentation, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience.

ThriveCart is a shopping cart software that lets users add pop-up or embeddable carts to their existing websites. Users can also sell online courses through ThriveCart Learn.

ThriveCart earns points for ability to take payments and integrate with other platforms. It loses points for its high price. Note that ThriveCart is the only product on this list that is a one-time payment instead of a subscription.

Gumroad is a platform that lets creators sell digital products. Creators can sell unlimited files, but transaction fees are fixed at 10% per sale (plus additional credit card fees).

Gumroad earns points for being free and allowing migration of customer lists. It loses points due to the inability to remove transaction fees, limited support, and unclear support availability.

Mighty Networks is a membership platform where creators can create free and paid communities with unlimited members. Users can also sell online courses on more expensive plans.

Mighty Networks earns points for creator education resources, taking payments, and the ability to migrate lists. It loses points for the lack of a free plan, the high starting price of its paid plan, lack of language support, and inability to remove transaction fees. 

Discord is an instant messaging platform that lets users communicate via voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media, and files in private chats or as part of communities called "servers".

Discord earns points by being free, having creator education documentation, and having language support. It loses points due to limited support and an inability to migrate lists into and out of the platform.

Ko-fi is a creator donation platform that lets creators receive tips and donations from their audience. Creators can also create a shop to sell digital products, memberships, and other fan requests.

Ko-Fi earns points for being free, with the ability to remove transaction fees on paid plans. It loses points for lack of language support, unclear support availability, and limited support documentation.

YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform. Creators can monetize their channels through the YouTube partner program.

YouTube earns points for being free and having creator education resources. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

YouTube Live is an online streaming platform for YouTube creators to offer live content to their audiences.

YouTube Live earns points for being free. It loses points for not being able to export customer data or remove transaction fees on subscriptions.

Twitch is an online streaming platform primarily for gaming and music content creators. Creators earn money through a revenue-sharing model and keep between 50-70% of their earnings.

Twitch earns points for being free and having support for many languages. It loses points for not being able to export customer data or remove transaction fees on subscriptions.

Udemy is an online learning marketplace where creators can sell their courses to a wider audience. Courses are listed alongside other creators' content, and Udemy pays out using a revenue-sharing model.

Udemy earns points for being free and having creator education resources. It loses points by promoting other work to a creator’s audience, transaction fees, limited support, and inability to migrate lists.

Facebook Gaming is a streaming service dedicated to gaming creators on Facebook. Viewers can buy “stars” to donate to creators.

Facebook Gaming earns points for having creator education resources and language options. It loses points for not being able to export customer lists or remove transaction fees on donations.

Circle is a dedicated community platform that lets users monetize their audience, create subscription tiers, engage members in discussions, and create private online events.

Circle earns points for its support documentation and creator education resources. It loses points for the lack of a free plan, the high starting price of its paid plan, limited support resources, lack of language support, artificially limiting what creators can do on plans, and inability to remove transaction fees.

Beacons is a link in bio tool that allows creators to display social links and content to their followers on social media platforms.

Beacons earns points for having a free plan and low-priced paid plans. It loses points for having limited support options and only being available in English.

Instagram is a photo- and video-sharing social media platform. Users can connect with influencers, brands, friends, family, and more.

Instagram earns points for being free. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

Skillshare is an online learning marketplace where educators can upload video courses for Skillshare members. Creators are paid based on how many minutes of watch time their courses get.

Skillshare earns points for being free. It loses points by promoting other work to a creator’s audience, lacking creator education resources, transaction fees, limited support, and inability to migrate lists.

Facebook Groups are discussion spaces on the social platform for friends, acquaintances, or people with similar interests.

Facebook Groups earns points by being free. It loses points by promoting other content to a creator’s audience, lacking support, and making it difficult to migrate audiences into and out of the platform. 

TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app that allows users to create and share videos on any topic. Creators can monetize their videos through the creator fund, which pays out based on views.

TikTok earns points for being free. It loses points due to the inability to migrate lists, unclear support availability, limited support, and promotion of other content to a creator’s audience in a feed.

Buy Me a Coffee is a creator donation platform that lets fans make one-time or recurring donations to creators they appreciate. Creators can also offer exclusive content to supporters.

Buy Me a Coffee earns points for being free. It loses points for lack of language support, unclear support availability, limited support documentation, limited creator education, and the inability to remove transaction fees.

Substack allows creators to launch paid newsletters to subscribers. Creators can set their own pricing for newsletter subscriptions.

Substack earns points for being free, allowing the migration of lists into and out of its platform, and creator education resources. It loses points for the inability to remove transaction fees, lack of integrations,  limited support, and unclear support availability.

Medium is an online publishing platform where writers can publish as an individual contributor or as part of a larger publication. Creators can monetize their writing through the Medium Partner Program.

Medium earns points for being free. It loses points for presenting creator’s content in a feed with other content, limited support, and unclear support availability.