Kajabi Alternatives in 2026: Seven Platforms Compared by What You Actually Pay
Kajabi Basic is $179 a month for 2,500 contacts and 5 products. Seven alternatives with October 2026 pricing and a worked example at $1,000 a month.
By Classentra Editorial
Kajabi restructured its plans in early 2026, and if you landed here you probably saw why on the pricing page. Basic is now $179 a month ($143 if you pay for the year), and it caps you at 2,500 contacts and 5 products. Growth is $249 ($199 annual) for 25,000 contacts and 50 products. Pro is $499 ($399 annual). There is no free plan, only a trial.
That is a lot of money if what you wanted was a place to host a course and get paid. So here is the honest version of the comparison: what Kajabi is actually charging you for, seven places people go instead, and a worked example so the fees stop being abstract.
Every number below was read from the vendor's own pricing page on 16 October 2026. Prices move. Check before you sign.
What you are paying Kajabi for
Kajabi is a marketing platform that also hosts courses. The $179 buys the website builder, the email tool, the funnels, the pipelines, the landing pages and the checkout, all in one login. If you run a business where the funnel is the product and the course is the thing at the end of it, that bundle can be fair value, and switching away means rebuilding three tools somewhere else.
If the course is the product, you are paying for a funnel builder in order to get a video host. That is the group this post is for.
One more thing on fees. On Basic, Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + 30¢ per sale. If you bring your own processor instead, Kajabi adds 2% on top of what that processor charges (1% on Growth, 0.5% on Pro). So "0% platform fee" is only true on the higher plans and only through Kajabi's own checkout.
The seven alternatives
1. Teachable
Starter is $39 a month billed monthly ($29 annual) with a 7.5% transaction fee and 5 products. Builder is $89 ($69 annual) and Growth is $189 ($139 annual); both drop the platform fee to 0% when you use Teachable Payments, which still carries normal card processing. No free plan, a 7-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Teachable is the closest like-for-like swap: a course host with a checkout. The Starter fee is the catch. At any real volume, 7.5% costs more than the $50 jump to Builder. If you are already on Teachable and weighing a move, we wrote up what changes.
2. Thinkific
Basic is $54 a month ($40 annual), Start is $109 ($82 annual), Grow is $219 ($164 annual). Every plan allows unlimited published courses and up to 10,000 current students. Thinkific Payments charges a 2.9% processing fee; using Stripe or PayPal directly adds a gateway fee that varies by plan. There is a 30-day trial and no free plan.
Thinkific is the most course-shaped of the big three, with quizzes, assignments and certificates in the box. Communities are limited to one on Basic and Start. If your product is self-paced lessons with a certificate at the end, it is a sensible home.
3. Podia
Mover is $49 a month ($42 annual) with a 5% Podia fee and up to 100 email subscribers. Shaker is $99 ($84 annual) with no Podia fee and 500 subscribers. Earthquaker is $179 ($150 annual) with 1,000 subscribers. Stripe or PayPal processing applies on every plan.
Podia bundles the website, blog, email, courses, downloads, coaching and community on every tier, which makes it the nearest thing to a cheaper Kajabi. The email subscriber caps are the lever: they are low, and they are what pushes you up the ladder.
4. Skool
Hobby is $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee. Pro is $99 a month with a 2.9% fee. Both include unlimited members, courses and live calls on the calendar, and the fees are all-in (card processing is inside them). No free plan.
Skool is a community product with a course tab, not a course product with a community. The gamified feed is the engine; the classroom is a list of videos. We have a full pricing breakdown if you are weighing it seriously.
5. Circle
Professional is $89 a month, Business is $199, Scale is $419, all quoted on annual billing. Fees are 2% on Professional and 1% on Business and Scale, on top of Stripe's processing. Courses, events and live streams are included on every plan, with live rooms capped at 15 participants on Professional. 14-day trial, no card required.
Circle is the polished option for a paid community with some courses inside it. The price floor is the issue for a solo teacher: $89 on an annual commitment before you have sold anything. Here is our side-by-side with Circle.
6. Mighty Networks
Launch is $79 a month with a 2% fee, Scale is $179 with 1%, Growth is $354 with 0.5%. Streaming is metered: 20 hours and 100 viewers a month on Launch, 30 hours and 200 viewers on Scale. 14-day trial, and the "2 months free" applies to annual billing.
Mighty's pitch is the branded app and the community. The live streaming caps are worth reading twice if you teach live every week: 20 hours a month is five weekly sessions of four hours, and the counter resets.
7. Classentra
Free is $0 with two courses and 30 free roster spots (students who pay $30 or more through checkout never count against them). Educator is $39 a month with unlimited courses and students. Studio is $149. The transaction fee is all-in for US and Canadian Stripe accounts: 9% + 30¢ on Free, 6% + 30¢ on any paid plan, card processing included, paid straight into your own Stripe account. Elsewhere the percentage applies and Stripe bills card processing separately.
Classentra is built for teaching live: scheduled sessions on your own Zoom, Meet or Teams with the link generated for you, attendance captured per session, assignments, a gradebook and certificates. It is not a marketing platform. The email funnel you had in Kajabi lives in your email tool. Here is the direct comparison.
Side by side
| Platform | Cheapest paid plan | Fee on that plan | Free plan | Built for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | $179/mo ($143 annual) | 2.9% + 30¢ (Kajabi Payments) | No | Marketing funnels plus courses |
| Teachable | $39/mo ($29 annual) | 7.5% + processing | No | Self-paced courses |
| Thinkific | $54/mo ($40 annual) | 2.9% (Thinkific Payments) | No | Self-paced courses with quizzes and certificates |
| Podia | $49/mo ($42 annual) | 5% + processing | No | All-in-one site, email and courses |
| Skool | $9/mo | 10% all-in | No | Paid community with a course tab |
| Circle | $89/mo (annual billing) | 2% + processing | No | Paid community with courses and events |
| Mighty Networks | $79/mo | 2% + processing | No | Community with a branded app |
| Classentra | $39/mo | 6% + 30¢ all-in | Yes | Live classes, attendance and a gradebook |
"Processing" means your card processor's cut, typically 2.9% + 30¢ in the US through Stripe. "All-in" means that cut is already inside the number.
A worked example: $1,000 a month
Say you sell ten seats a month at $100 each. Here is what each platform takes, subscription plus fees, on its cheapest paid plan. Where the platform fee sits on top of Stripe, Stripe is counted at 2.9% + 30¢.
| Platform | Monthly cost at $1,000 in sales |
|---|---|
| Kajabi Basic | $179 + $29 + $3 = about $211 |
| Teachable Starter | $39 + $75 + $32 = about $146 |
| Teachable Builder | $89 + $32 = about $121 |
| Thinkific Basic | $54 + $29 = about $83 |
| Podia Mover | $49 + $50 + $32 = about $131 |
| Skool Hobby | $9 + $100 + $3 = about $112 |
| Skool Pro | $99 + $29 + $3 = about $131 |
| Circle Professional | $89 + $20 + $32 = about $141 |
| Mighty Networks Launch | $79 + $20 + $32 = about $131 |
| Classentra Educator | $39 + $60 + $3 = about $102 |
| Classentra Free | $0 + $90 + $3 = about $93 |
Two things jump out. First, the cheap-looking plans with a high percentage (Teachable Starter, Skool Hobby) stop being cheap the moment you sell anything. Second, Kajabi Basic costs roughly double everything else at this volume, and that gap is the marketing stack. If you are not using the funnels, you are paying $100 a month for them anyway.
The crossover matters too. Classentra's 6% is higher than a 2.9% processor rate, so at some point a $179 plan with lower fees wins on raw dollars. Against Kajabi Basic that point is around $4,500 a month in sales. Below it, the cheaper subscription wins. Above it, the lower fee does.
How to choose in three questions
- Is the funnel the product? If your revenue depends on email sequences, pipelines and landing pages you built in Kajabi, stay, or go to Podia and accept its subscriber caps. Everything else on this list expects you to bring an email tool.
- Is the course something people are supposed to finish? Then you need the teaching side: scheduled sessions, attendance, assignments, grades, a certificate. Thinkific covers the self-paced version. Classentra covers the live version.
- Is the community the product? Then Skool, Circle or Mighty, in that order of price, and in roughly the reverse order of polish.
Pick the question that describes your business and the list shrinks to two platforms. Run both trials in the same week and sell one real seat on each. The checkout and the payout are where the surprises live.
If you teach live and want the sessions, attendance, assignments and payments in one place without a $179 floor, that is what Classentra is for. Start free below, no card required.