Best Kajabi Alternatives: Cheaper Course Platforms Compared

If you have made it here, you have probably set a course platform's monthly bill against what your course earns and not liked the answer. This page is for creators who know which parts of their platform they use, and will pay only for those.

The best Kajabi alternative depends on which part of Kajabi you use. For courses, Teachable's Builder plan ($89 a month, no transaction fee) or Thinkific. For a paid community, Skool at $99 a month. For an all-in-one on a small budget, Systeme.io, which has a free plan, paid plans from $17 a month and no transaction fee. Kajabi Basic costs $179 a month, or $143 billed yearly.

What follows compares published features and prices from each company's own pages. Each product's prices sit under its section with the month they were checked and a link to the source. If you are still choosing what to sell, our course creation guide covers picking a topic and testing demand first.

What does Kajabi cost, and what do you get?

• Basic: $179 a month, or $143 a month billed yearly ($1,716), 5 products, 2,500 contacts
• Growth: $249 a month, or $199 billed yearly ($2,388), 50 products, 25,000 contacts
• Pro: $499 a month, or $399 billed yearly ($4,788), unlimited products, 100,000 contacts
• Kajabi Payments (US): 2.9% + 30 cents on Basic, 2.8% on Growth, 2.7% on Pro
• Outside processor other than PayPal: 2% extra on Basic, 1% on Growth, 0.5% on Pro
• 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee

Prices as of November 2026, from Kajabi's pricing page.

Kajabi's case is the bundle. Every plan includes a website on your own domain, unlimited landing pages and funnels, unlimited marketing emails, a community, checkout and a customer app. Kajabi takes no revenue share beyond its card processing rate. If you use most of that, one bill is simpler than four tools.

People leave for two reasons. The first is the floor: $143 a month is a lot to carry before a course has sold, and Basic caps you at 5 products and 2,500 contacts. The second is paying for parts they never open. A creator who sells one course and emails from another tool is paying for funnels, a website and a community they do not use.

Kajabi alternatives compared

To put the plans side by side, take one creator selling 40 copies of a $50 course a month ($2,000 in revenue). The last column adds the monthly plan, the platform's own transaction fee and card processing. We assumed 2.9% + 30 cents of card processing on every platform ($70 on 40 sales), which is Kajabi's own Basic rate and Stripe's standard US rate. Skool's fee already includes processing.

All figures are our arithmetic from the published rates. At this size every alternative on the list costs less than Kajabi Basic billed monthly, and the gap widens if you were on Growth.

1. Teachable: courses, with the fee gone from Builder up

Teachable is a course platform first: lessons, quizzes, drip schedules, certificates on the Growth plan, and iOS and Android apps for students. It handles US sales tax, VAT and GST for you through Teachable Payments.

• Starter: $39 a month, or $29 a month billed yearly, 5 products, 7.5% transaction fee
• Builder: $89 a month, or $69 billed yearly, 10 products, 0% transaction fee
• Growth: $189 a month, or $139 billed yearly, 50 products, 0% transaction fee
• The 0% applies with Teachable Payments; standard payment processing fees may still apply
• 7-day free trial and a 30-day guarantee

Prices as of November 2026, from Teachable's pricing page.

Who it suits: creators whose business is courses and who want the checkout and the tax side handled. Builder at $89 a month covers 10 products with no transaction fee, which is half Kajabi Basic's monthly price.

Who should skip it: anyone whose main product is a community, and anyone on a tight budget who would be tempted by Starter. Starter's 7.5% fee costs more than Builder's extra $50 a month once you sell about $667 a month. Our Teachable alternatives page covers the platforms people move to from Teachable.

2. Thinkific: the closest course-only match

Thinkific is another course-first platform. A branded mobile app is a $199-a-month add-on, included on select Plus plans.

• Start: $109 a month, or $82 a month billed yearly
• Grow: $219 a month, or $164 a month billed yearly
• Expand: $499 a month, or $374 a month billed yearly
• Thinkific Payments: 2.9%; using Stripe or PayPal adds a third-party gateway fee by plan
• No free plan; a 30-day free trial instead

Prices as of November 2026, from Thinkific's pricing page.

Who it suits: course creators who want room to grow inside one platform, and who would rather pay a flat plan than a percentage. Start billed yearly ($82 a month) is $61 a month less than Kajabi Basic billed yearly.

Who should skip it: anyone who wants a free plan to test an idea first. Thinkific's pricing page says there is no free plan, only a 30-day trial.

3. Podia: Kajabi's bundle at a lower price

Podia covers most of what Kajabi bundles: courses, downloads, coaching, events, a community, a website with a blog, and email. Its plans are cheaper and simpler.

• Mover: $49 a month, or $42 a month billed yearly ($504), with a 5% transaction fee
• Shaker: $99 a month, or $84 a month billed yearly ($1,008), no Podia transaction fee
• Earthquaker: $179 a month, or $150 a month billed yearly ($1,800), no Podia transaction fee
• Stripe or PayPal charge their own processing fee on every plan
• 14-day free trial, no card needed; no free plan

Prices as of November 2026, from Podia's pricing page.

Who it suits: solo creators who sell a mix of courses, downloads and coaching from one site. Shaker at $99 a month ($84 billed yearly) removes the transaction fee and costs $80 a month less than Kajabi Basic billed monthly.

Who should skip it: creators who need Kajabi's funnel depth or a branded app. Podia's pricing page lists landing pages and a built-in checkout, so check that covers the funnels you run on Kajabi. Mover's 5% fee costs more than upgrading to Shaker once revenue passes $1,000 a month.

4. Systeme.io: the cheapest all-in-one

Systeme.io puts funnels, email marketing, courses, a blog, a community and a link-in-bio page in one account, and charges no transaction fee on any plan.

• Free: $0, never expires, 2,000 contacts and 1 course
• Startup: $17 a month, 5,000 contacts and 5 courses
• Webinar: $47 a month, 10,000 contacts and 20 courses
• Unlimited: $97 a month, unlimited contacts and courses
• 0% transaction fee on every plan; Stripe or PayPal processing applies; yearly billing gives 2 months free

Prices as of November 2026, from Systeme.io's pricing page.

Who it suits: beginners who want Kajabi's funnel-and-email model without the bill. The free plan allows one course and 2,000 contacts, enough to find out whether anyone buys. Startup at $17 a month is the cheapest paid plan here.

Who should skip it: creators who care most about how the course looks and feels to students. Systeme.io is built around funnels and email. If quizzes, certificates and student apps matter to you, compare its course features plan by plan with the course-first platforms above.

5. Skool: for a community that is the product

Skool is a community with courses and live calls inside it. Payments run through Skool's own merchant account, so its transaction fee is the whole card charge, and it handles VAT and sales tax as merchant of record. Plan prices are on Skool's pricing page.

• Hobby: $9 a month, 10% + 30 cents per transaction
• Pro: $99 a month, 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction up to $899, 3.9% + 30 cents above that
• The transaction fee is the whole card charge: payments run on Skool's own merchant account
• Skool is merchant of record for EU VAT and sales tax
• Growth Boost, on by default: when Skool brings you a paying member, it deducts $3 of a $10 price plus fees

Prices as of November 2026, from Skool's pricing page.

Who it suits: creators whose members pay monthly for access to a group, calls and course material. At $2,000 a month in revenue, Pro comes to $169 including processing. Our Skool vs Kajabi comparison prices the two at 50, 200 and 1,000 members.

Who should skip it: anyone who needs a website, landing pages or email sequences. Skool's pricing page lists none of them. Check the Growth Boost setting too: it is on by default, and when Skool's discovery page brings you a member it keeps $3 of a $10 price, plus fees, for as long as that member pays. Switch it off in settings if you would rather not pay for those members.

6. Mighty Networks: community with apps

Mighty Networks builds a community with courses, events and live streams, on the web and in iOS and Android apps, with unlimited members on every plan.

• Launch: $79 a month, 2% transaction fee
• Scale: $179 a month, 1% transaction fee
• Growth: $354 a month, 0.5% transaction fee
• Unlimited members on every plan; branded apps on the custom-priced Mighty Pro

Prices as of November 2026, from Mighty Networks's pricing page.

Who it suits: creators running a larger community with several hosts and moderators who want members on a phone app. Launch includes 3 hosts and 10 moderators.

Who should skip it: creators with a small group. At $2,000 a month in revenue, Launch's $79 plus its 2% fee comes to $189 with processing, more than Skool Pro, and the fee keeps scaling with revenue until you move up a plan.

How to choose

List what you use Kajabi for today, then match it.

• Courses only: Teachable Builder or Thinkific. Both handle the course experience in more depth than an all-in-one.
• Courses, downloads and coaching from one site: Podia Shaker.
• Funnels and email first, courses second, small budget: Systeme.io. Start on the free plan.
• A paid community: Skool if it is one group, Mighty Networks if you need several hosts and a mobile app.
• All of it, at volume, with a branded app: stay on Kajabi. Growth and Pro add an affiliate program, advanced automations and, on Pro, your own app.

Moving platforms costs time, so check two things before you commit: whether the new platform will import your students and contacts, and whether existing subscriptions can move or members must sign up again. Several of the platforms above advertise migration help on their pricing pages.

When Kajabi is still worth it

Kajabi wins when you use the bundle. A creator running a website, funnels, email to 10,000 contacts, a course library and a community would otherwise pay for three or four tools, and the separate bills plus the time spent connecting them can come to more than Kajabi Growth. If your list from the section above has four or more items, price Kajabi Growth billed yearly ($199 a month) against the combination before you leave.