OnPodium vs Carrd: A $19/Year Landing Page Cannot Replace a Podcast Platform
Carrd is a minimalist website builder that creates simple, responsive one-page sites. It is popular among indie creators and solopreneurs for its extremely low pricing: free for basic sites, and the Pro plan costs just $19/year (yes, per year) for custom domains, forms, and widgets. At that price, Carrd is practically free — and that is both its appeal and its limitation.
For podcasters, a single-page website is a link-in-bio page, not a podcast website. There are no episode pages, no blog, no audio player, no RSS integration, no email marketing, no selling capability. Carrd is a starting point — not a destination. OnPodium is a complete platform with a professional website, hosting, email, and monetization for $39/month.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | OnPodium | Carrd |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $39/mo (all-in-one) | Free–$19/yr (single page) |
| Pages | Unlimited multi-page site | Single page only |
| Episode pages | Auto-generated per episode | Not possible |
| Podcast hosting | Unlimited | Not available |
| Email marketing | Unlimited sends & subs | Form embed (no campaigns) |
| Monetization | Unlimited products, 0% fee | No selling features |
| Blog | Built-in | Not available |
| SEO | Full SEO capabilities | Basic meta tags only |
| Custom development | Included | Widget embeds only |
One Page Is Not Enough for a Podcast
Carrd creates a single scrollable page. That page can include sections with text, images, buttons, embedded widgets, and forms. For a personal link-in-bio or a simple "about me" page, this works. For a podcast, it does not scale.
A podcast with 50 episodes needs 50 individual episode pages — each with unique show notes, an embedded player, links to directories, and shareable URLs. A single Carrd page cannot display an episode archive that listeners can browse, search, or share. There is no blog for show notes, no page hierarchy for organizing content, and no way to create SEO-optimized individual episode URLs that search engines can index.
OnPodium auto-generates a dedicated page for every published episode. Each page has its own URL, show notes, player, and sharing options. Your podcast catalog becomes a browsable, searchable, SEO-indexed website — automatically.
Carrd + Tool Stack = OnPodium's Price (or More)
Carrd at $19/year is genuinely cheap. But a podcaster using Carrd still needs: podcast hosting from Buzzsprout ($12/mo) or RSS.com ($6/mo), email from MailerLite ($10/mo) or Kit ($29/mo), and selling capability from Gumroad (10% fee) or Patreon (5–12% fee).
The minimum stack: Carrd ($1.58/mo) + basic hosting ($6/mo) + basic email ($10/mo) = $17.58/month — and this gets you a single-page website, limited hosting, basic email, and no selling. A more realistic stack: $30–$60/month plus commissions on every sale.
OnPodium at $39/month replaces all of these with a multitude more capability: unlimited multi-page website with auto-episode pages, unlimited hosting, unlimited email, and zero-commission selling. The "cheapest" approach ends up close to (or exceeding) OnPodium's price while delivering far less.
When Carrd Makes Sense
Carrd is ideal for what it was designed for: quick landing pages, link-in-bio pages, waitlist signups, and simple personal sites. If you need a temporary page while you build your real website, or a simple link hub for social media bios, Carrd does that well at an unbeatable price.
It is not a podcast website. It is not a business platform. And it was never designed to be. Comparing Carrd to OnPodium is less of an either/or choice and more of an upgrade path: start with Carrd if you must, then move to OnPodium when you are ready to build a real podcast business. Compare other website builder options for a more feature-complete approach.
Ready to Graduate from a Landing Page?
OnPodium gives you a full website, hosting, email, and selling — everything a podcaster needs. $39/mo.
Start Free 14-Day TrialThe Bottom Line
Carrd is a $19/year single-page website builder — great for link pages, inadequate for podcast businesses. OnPodium is a complete podcast platform with a professional multi-page website, unlimited hosting, unlimited email, and zero-commission selling. When you are ready to move beyond a landing page, OnPodium is the destination. $39/month. Try it free for 14 days.