Kajabi
Kajabi is the all-in-one creator operating system: courses, coaching, podcasts, community, email marketing, landing pages and a website in one subscription. It bills by product and contact volume, and its January 2026 restructure removed the cheap Kickstarter entry — Basic is now the floor at $143/mo annual.
Verified against: kajabi.comkajabi.com as of 2026-09-19
Quick verdict: Kajabi earns 4.2/5 in our research-based assessment — the cluster's top rating, earned on depth rather than price. One subscription consolidates the course host, email, website and community that a working creator would otherwise buy separately, and 0% fees via Kajabi Payments keep the math honest. The cost is real: $143/mo annual after the 2026-01 restructure removed the Kickstarter floor, and the automation suite carries a genuine learning curve. Pick Kajabi when the stack it replaces runs $150+/mo and you actually use funnels; pick Thinkific or Podia when the bill must stay under $50. (Research sweep, no paid workspace tested.)
- Our rating: 4.2/5
- Strongest dimension: Functionality (5/5, research only)
- Weakest dimension: Usability (3/5, research only)
- Pricing: 14-day free trial · $143/mo (annual, Basic)
- Verification: Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-19. Sources: kajabi.com, kajabi.com
Kajabi pricing details
- 14-day free trial
- paid plans from $143/mo (annual, Basic)
- basic $179/mo · Growth $249/mo · Pro $499/mo (monthly)
- basic $143/mo · Growth $199/mo · Pro $399/mo (annual)
Kajabi bills by tier, not by seat: Basic 5 products / 2,500 contacts, Growth 50 products / 25,000, Pro unlimited products / 100,000. Using Kajabi Payments carries 0% platform fees; routing through your own Stripe adds a 2% (Basic) / 1% (Growth) / 0.5% (Pro) surcharge. The priciest entry in this cluster — the 2026-01 restructure dropped the $55 Kickstarter and lifted every tier.
In our index: No free plan; 14-day trial; Basic $179/mo monthly ($143 annual, 5 products / 2,500 contacts) · Growth $249/mo monthly ($199 annual) · Pro $499/mo monthly ($399 annual); 0% via Kajabi Payments
How Kajabi scores across our 6 index dimensions
- Functionality: 5/5 (research only)
- Usability: 3/5 (research only)
- Stability: 5/5 (research only)
- Collaboration: 4/5 (research only)
- Localization: 3/5 (research only)
- Value: 3/5 (research only)
Score rationale: The deepest all-in-one in the cluster — email, website, funnels, community and courses in one seat (core 5/5), with 0% fees when you run Kajabi Payments. The cost is the entry price: $143/mo annual is 3-4x the cheaper course-first rivals, and the learning curve is real (ease 3/5). The right answer for established creator businesses that would otherwise pay $150-250/mo across five separate tools.
What Kajabi does well
- True all-in-one: courses, podcasts, coaching, community, email (unlimited sends), landing pages and website in one login
- 0% platform fees when paying through Kajabi Payments; replaces a $150-250/mo tool stack
- Growth tier adds affiliates, advanced automations and white-labeling
- 30-day trial on all plans
Where Kajabi falls short
- Priciest entry in the cluster: $143/mo annual ($179 monthly) — 3-4x the course-first rivals
- Steep learning curve: marketing automation on top of course hosting (ease 3/5)
- Own-Stripe routing adds a 2%/1%/0.5% surcharge by tier on top of Stripe's fee
How Kajabi compares to other Online Courses tools
Our index tracks 5 Online Courses tools. Kajabi sits at 4.2/5, with basic $143/mo · growth $199/mo · pro $399/mo (annual). Here are the 4 closest alternatives we hold pricing and scoring evidence for.
- Thinkific — 4.1/5 · 30-day free trial · $40/mo (annual, Basic)
Thinkific is a hosted course platform that builds, markets and sells courses, communities and digital downloads without a developer. It bills by tier and is the cluster's standout on fees: 0% platform transaction fees on Start, Grow and Plus tiers, with a 5% surcharge on Basic — and the only cluster member whose free option is a 30-day full-featured trial. - Podia — 4.0/5 · Free plan · $39/mo (monthly, Mover)
Podia is an all-in-one creator commerce platform for courses, downloads, memberships and coaching, aimed squarely at solo sellers. It bills by tier and is the cluster's only standing free plan (1 product, 8% fee); paid tiers are flat-priced with unlimited products and 0% fees on Shaker and up. - Teachable — 3.9/5 · 7-day free trial · $39/mo (monthly, Starter)
Teachable is a course-first platform for selling self-paced courses, coaching and digital products with native iOS and Android student apps. It bills by product count, not by seat, and its entry tier carries a 7.5% transaction fee that drops to 0% at the Builder tier. - LearnDash — 3.8/5 · 48-hour live demo (no card) · $259/yr (Essentials, about $21.58/mo)
LearnDash is the WordPress LMS plugin: a one-time annual license you install on your own site, with unlimited courses and learners on every tier. It bills by license (Essentials / Pro / Elite per year), takes no cut of your sales, and is the only cluster member priced annually-only.
Frequently asked questions about Kajabi
How much does Kajabi cost?
14-day free trial; paid plans from $143/mo (annual, Basic); basic $179/mo · Growth $249/mo · Pro $499/mo (monthly); basic $143/mo · Growth $199/mo · Pro $399/mo (annual). Billing detail: Kajabi bills by tier, not by seat: Basic 5 products / 2,500 contacts, Growth 50 products / 25,000, Pro unlimited products / 100,000. Using Kajabi Payments carries 0% platform fees; routing through your own Stripe adds a 2% (Basic) / 1% (Growth) / 0.5% (Pro) surcharge. The priciest entry in this cluster — the 2026-01 restructure dropped the $55 Kickstarter and lifted every tier. Figures verified 2026-09-19.
Does Kajabi have a free plan?
No free plan is listed for Kajabi, but a trial is offered (14-day free trial). Paid plans start at $143/mo (annual, Basic).
What is Kajabi rated in our index?
Kajabi sits at 4.2/5 in our index, strongest on functionality (5/5, research only) and weakest on usability (3/5, research only). Kajabi earns 4.2/5 in our research-based assessment — the cluster's top rating, earned on depth rather than price. One subscription consolidates the course host, email, website and community that a working creator would otherwise buy separately, and 0% fees via Kajabi Payments keep the math honest. The cost is real: $143/mo annual after the 2026-01 restructure removed the Kickstarter floor, and the automation suite carries a genuine learning curve. Pick Kajabi when the stack it replaces runs $150+/mo and you actually use funnels; pick Thinkific or Podia when the bill must stay under $50. (Research sweep, no paid workspace tested.)
What are the drawbacks of Kajabi?
Priciest entry in the cluster: $143/mo annual ($179 monthly) — 3-4x the course-first rivals Steep learning curve: marketing automation on top of course hosting (ease 3/5) Own-Stripe routing adds a 2%/1%/0.5% surcharge by tier on top of Stripe's fee.
What does Kajabi do well?
True all-in-one: courses, podcasts, coaching, community, email (unlimited sends), landing pages and website in one login 0% platform fees when paying through Kajabi Payments; replaces a $150-250/mo tool stack Growth tier adds affiliates, advanced automations and white-labeling 30-day trial on all plans.
How was Kajabi verified?
Research-only pass over official sources, last checked 2026-09-19. Sources: kajabi.com, kajabi.com.
What are the alternatives to Kajabi?
We track Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific, LearnDash, Podia as the closest alternatives in our Online Courses index, and 4 head-to-head comparisons against Kajabi are available.