6 Best Kajabi Alternatives (2024): Cheaper and Better Options

Last updated: January 23, 2024

Kajabi is a popular platform for creating and selling online courses and membership sites, but it may not be the best fit for everyone. Whether you’re looking for more affordable options or more advanced features, there are plenty of alternatives available. 

In this article, we’ll discuss 6 Kajabi alternatives that you should consider for your online business. These platforms offer comparable functionalities, but with more affordable pricing plans and other advanced features that aren’t available on Kajabi. Whether you’re a course creator, an online business owner, or an entrepreneur looking to start your own online business, these Kajabi alternatives are certainly worth considering. 

Here are the top 6 Kajabi alternatives that you should consider:

• Payhip
• Teachable
• LearnWorlds
• Thinkific
• Podia
• Mighty Networks

What is Kajabi?

Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for creating, marketing, and selling online courses, as well as digital products such as podcasts, coaching services, and memberships. It provides a range of features including course creation tools, website hosting, payment processing, email marketing automation, and analytics.

How Much Does Kajabi Charge?

Kajabi offers a 14-day free trial for users to test out the platform before committing to any paid plans. Once your free trial is over, you can subscribe to one of these paid plans:

• Basic Plan: This plan costs $149 per month. Amongst other limitations, you can have 3 products, 3 sales funnels, and some limits with the number of contacts and customers.
• Growth Plan: This plan costs $199 per month and includes all the features of the Basic plan with up to 15 products, as well as the ability to remove Kajabi branding, affiliate program, and advanced automations.
• Pro Plan: This plan costs $399 per month and includes all the features of the Growth plan with up to 100 products, as well as code editor functionality.

Note that you will be asked to input your payment information before starting your free trial on Kajabi, so be sure to set a reminder to cancel your free trial if you’re not planning to continue using it.

These prices are subject to change, so it’s a good idea to check the Kajabi website for the most up-to-date pricing information.

Advantages of Using Kajabi

Kajabi has a number of advantages that make it an attractive option for creators. It offers comprehensive tools for creating and selling online courses, including funnel creations. 

The platform also provides website hosting and payment processing services, as well as email marketing automation and analytics tools. 

Kajabi offers a variety of customization options to help businesses create a unique and professional online presence. This includes customizable landing pages, email templates, and the ability to add custom CSS and JavaScript if you’re a little bit more tech-savvy. Additionally, Kajabi offers a certain extent of scalability, allowing businesses to upgrade their plans as their needs grow.

Disadvantages of Using Kajabi: Why You Should Look for Kajabi Alternatives

No platform is perfect for every creator, and this includes Kajabi. Here are a few reasons why you might want to look for a Kajabi alternative:

• Kajabi is relatively expensive. Kajabi does not offer a free plan, and with its pricing plans starting at $149 per month and going up to $399 per month, Kajabi’s pricing might not be suitable for creators who are just starting out. Other platforms like Payhip, for example, offer many of the features that Kajabi has to offer at $0/month forever-free plan.
• Lack of scalability. Kajabi’s pricing plans place limits on the number of products, number of customers, and other limitations that may impact the scalability of your online business. The lowest plan a $149/month only allows you to sell 3 different products. And even the highest plan at $399/month only allows you to sell a maximum of 100 products. Kajabi simply isn’t suitable for creators who plan to sell a large number of digital products.
• Limited product types. With Kajabi, you can sell 4 types of products including online courses, podcasts, community, and coaching services. But you won’t be able to sell digital downloads (e.g. ebooks) or physical products which may sometimes come in handy when you sell out of your own website. There is a workaround for you to be able to sell ebooks, but you’ll need to learn how to create “ghost offers” that are outside of the normal product listing creation process. If you’re mainly selling digital downloads, Kajabi might not be the right platform for you.
• No live previews of website sections. While Kajabi’s website builder is relatively customizable, the various website sections do not have a live preview unless you click into each one. So you might have to do a lot of clicking around to see which website sections are right for your website. The good news is Kajabi provides 11 website templates that can help you with your website creation process.
• Steep learning curve. Kajabi offers a wide range of features and tools, which can make it more complex to use than some other platforms. This can make it more time-consuming to learn how to use all of the features, and it may take longer to set up and launch a course or product using Kajabi compared to other platforms. If you’ve tried Kajabi, you might be familiar with their “offers”, which can be quite confusing to understand as a beginner as you are setting your product pricing outside of the product listing creation process. This also makes it hard to keep track of product prices if you have a lot of products with various pricing. If you prefer the traditional, uploading a product and then setting up the pricing for that particular individual product method, then you might like platforms like Payhip.

6 Best Kajabi Alternatives That are Cheaper and Better in 2024

There are a number of alternatives to Kajabi that you should consider for your online business. 

1. Payhip

Payhip is an all-in-one eCommerce platform where you can easily sell any digital products from online courses, memberships, coaching services, digital downloads, and even physical products as well. The platform comes with all the features that you need to build and manage every aspect of your online business. 

Payhip offers far more opportunities for generating additional income streams compared to Kajabi, as it does not impose a limit on how many products you can upload.

One of the main differences between Payhip and Kajabi is the fact that you can sell MORE product types including digital downloads (e.g. ebooks) as well as physical products. 

Payhip is the best Kajabi alternative overall in terms of value and affordability.

PRICING:

Payhip is one of the most affordable platforms for creators, offering a forever-free plan that is perfect for businesses that are just starting out.

You can choose between 3 different pricing plans:

• Forever Free plan: No monthly fees + 5% fees per sale. If you’re just starting out, we recommend starting on this most popular plan. This gives you access to all the features that Payhip has to offer
• Once your revenue grows, you can switch to Payhip’s Plus plan: $29 per month fees + 2% fees per sale
• or the Pro plan: $99 per month fees (no percentage fees per sale)

Payhip is the most affordable alternative to Kajabi. With Payhip, you’ll only have to pay between $0-$99 monthly, as opposed to $149-$399 monthly with Kajabi.

You can create unlimited number of courses (or any other digital products for that matter) and have a beautiful website for free! 

In contrast to other services, Payhip only charges 5% when a sale is made, so businesses don’t have to worry about paying monthly subscriptions. You also have the option to move to the $99/month plan (with 0% fee) once your business grows. This provides tons of flexibility and opportunities to minimize your costs as a creator.

All of the pricing plans on Payhip offer the exact same access to all of their features. These plans are solely meant for users to manage their costs as their businesses grow – major win!

PROS 👍:

• Very generous free plan: Payhip’s forever-free plan gives you unlimited access to the entire platform’s features
• Unlimited product listings, unlimited customers, and unlimited revenue
• Free fully-hosted domain (you can also connect a custom domain)
• Simple drag and drop website and landing page builder with extensive customizability
• Instant payouts through Paypal and Stripe
• Automatic collection and remittance of UK & EU VAT
• Robust course creation tools including various lesson types, drip content, course completion certificates, multiple pricing options, and more
• Built-in eCommerce tools so you can sell a range of product types such as online courses, digital downloads, coaching, subscriptions or memberships, and physical products
• Product bundling feature. You can bundle a digital download product (e.g. ebook, printables, etc) with an online course in a single product listing
• Payhip is well-known for having a beginner-friendly and intuitive user interface. Payhip also provides a lot of guided video tutorials to ensure your success in setting up your online business
• Advanced marketing features such as referral system, affiliate program, upselling, cross-selling, coupon codes, email marketing, and more are all available on the free plan

CONS 👎:

• No multi-account functionalities. You’ll have one website or storefront per email

2. Teachable

Teachable is a popular Kajabi alternative for an online course creation platform that is designed to help creators create, launch and market their courses quickly and easily. Amongst other features, Teachable provides tools for course creators to upload video and written content, create quizzes, and manage students and their progress. It also includes features for marketing and promoting courses, as well as the ability to integrate with other tools and platforms, such as email marketing software and payment processors.

PRICING:

• Free: $0/month + with additional fees of $1 + 10% fee per sale
• Basic: $59/month + 5% fee per sale
• Pro: $159/month

PROS 👍:

• You can have unlimited students for your courses, in contrast to Kajabi, which places a limit on the number of customers
• Unlimited online course products
• Teachable provides more affordable pricing options starting with a free plan and going up to $159/month. However, it’s worth noting that Kajabi offers more advanced features such as marketing automation and sales funnels
• Teachable features are more geared toward online courses. You’ll be able to enjoy features such as drip content, student comments, course completion certificates, and more. The downside is that Teachable’s features are either non-existent or lacking for the purpose of selling any other types of products such as memberships or community

CONS 👎:

• While Teachable does provide a forever-free plan, the plan only comes with extremely limited features and high transaction fees at $1 + 10% per sale
• Powerful marketing tools such as affiliate marketing is only available on the highest Pro Plan at $159/month
• Similar to Kajabi, Teachable only provides features for creators to sell a limited number of product types including courses, coaching, and digital downloads. If you’re looking to expand your income streams, we recommend checking other platforms like Payhip which are able to provide features to sell courses, coaching services, as well as additional product types such as digital downloads, memberships, and physical products

3. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is an online course platform designed to help creators build and sell engaging online courses. Similar to Kajabi, LearnWorlds’ platform also offers a variety of features such as course creation tools, website hosting, payment processing, automated email campaigns and analytics. 

PRICING:

• Starter Plan: $29/month + $5 fee per sale
• Pro Trainer Plan: $99/month
• Learning Center Plan: $299/month

LearnWorlds provides a 30-day money back guarantee so you can request for a refund if things do not work out, no questions asked.

PROS 👍:

• Unlimited courses and sales pages
• LearnWorlds’ features are more geared toward online courses. You’ll be able to enjoy features such as assessments, course completion certificates, automatic video transcription, live classes with Zoom, and more
• Customization options: LearnWorlds offers over 400 ready-made page templates. Compared to Kajabi which only provides 11 ready-made templates, LearnWorlds certainly provides a lot more options for new creators who are looking to create their sales pages with a unique look and feel for their online presence
• What makes LearnWorlds a formidable Kajabi alternative is the fact that you have the ability to create a mobile version of your “online school” or online course business. This allows you to provide an engaging experience for your students from their mobile devices

CONS 👎:

• While LearnWorlds is great for selling courses, you might be limited in terms of your ability to sell other types of digital products such as digital downloads (e.g. ebooks), memberships, coaching services, or physical products. This will hinder your ability to establish new sources of revenue for your business
• While LearnWorlds does have a cheaper pricing plan at $29/month, it comes with a lot of limitations and a hefty $5 fee per course sale. LearnWorlds might not be the most affordable Kajabi alternative out there, but you might find their course creation tools to be more robust than Kajabi

4. Thinkific

Another popular alternative to Kajabi to consider for selling online courses is Thinkific. Thinkific is an online course platform designed to help creators build, sell, and deliver their own online courses. 

PRICING:

You have a choice between 4 paid plans:

• Free plan: $0/month
• Basic: $49/month
• Start: $99/month
• Grow: $199/month

PROS 👍:

• Unlimited students for online courses
• Thinkific offers a free plan, but it is worth noting that the free plan is limited to just creating 1 course amongst other limitations. This can be more cost-effective than the monthly subscription fees charged by Kajabi, especially for businesses that don’t need all of the advanced features offered by Kajabi
• Course creators can create a variety of content types for their courses including quizzes, videos, surveys, webinars, and more. It also provides robust course creation tools such as assignments, live lessons, and more
• Custom CSS and HTML are available on Thinkific’s $99/month Start plan. With Kajabi, this functionality is only available on the $399/month Pro plan

CONS 👎:

• While you are able to build decent landing pages for your courses, Thinkific is extensively more limited with its customizability in comparison to other platforms on this list
• Option to remove Thinkific branding is only available on the highest plan at $199/month
• Creators can only offer payment plans, subscriptions, memberships, and product bundles on the Start plan ($99/month) and above. In comparison, platforms like Payhip offers all of the above features for free
• Given the limited features that Thinkific offers, you may need to integrate with other platforms via API access or Zapier. However, this option is only available on Thinkific’s highest pricing plan at $199/month
• While Thinkific is a great option for selling courses, you might be limited in terms of your ability to sell other types of digital products such as downloadables (e.g. ebooks), memberships, coaching services, or physical products. This might hinder your ability to establish new sources of revenue for your business

5. Podia

Established in 2014, Podia is an all-in-one platform for creating and selling digital content such as courses, memberships, and digital downloads. 

PRICING:

• Free: 8% fees
• Mover: $39/month
• Shaker: $89/month
• Earthquaker: $199/month

PROS 👍:

• Compared to Kajabi, you have more options for selling various product types including digital downloads
• Generally speaking, Podia has a more affordable pricing structure than Kajabi, with a single fee of $39 per month for the Mover plan, and a $79 per month fee for the Shaker plan. This can be more cost-effective than the monthly subscription fees charged by Kajabi, especially for businesses that don’t need all of the advanced automation features offered by Kajabi

CONS 👎:

• While Podia does offer a free plan, it comes with 8% transaction fees and a lot of other limitations including the fact that you’ll only be able to sell 1 digital download (you’ll most likely need to switch to Podia’s paid plans to be a fully-functioning business)
• Powerful marketing tools like affiliate marketing is only available on the Shaker ($75/month) or the Earthquaker ($166/month) plans
• While Podia supports multiple admins within the same account, you will need to pay an additional $20/month for additional team seats
• You can’t turn off the Podia branding unless you pay the Shaker ($75/month) or the Earthquaker ($166/month) plans

6. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks is another popular alternative to Kajabi and is more well-known for its community features. You can also sell online courses as well as coaching services. Mighty Networks was created in 2017 to encourage social innovation and community building.

PRICING:

• The community plan: $39/month + 3% fee
• The business plan: $119/month + 2% fee
• Mighty Pro: You’ll need to get a custom quote

PROS 👍:

• Mighty Networks is popular for its community feature, which seems to be more robust than Kajabi as the interface resembles a social media platform
• Related to the above, you’re able to create an environment that resembles a private social network

CONS 👎:

• While Might Networks’ subscription fees are lower than Kajabi’s, Mighty Networks charges an additional percentage of transaction fees on all of their paid plans
• While Mighty Networks is a great option for building a community, you might be limited in terms of your ability to sell other types of digital products such as downloadables (e.g. ebooks), coaching services, online courses, or physical products. This will hinder your ability to establish new sources of revenue for your business
• Might Networks’ course creation features aren’t as robust as other online course platforms as it doesn’t provide features such as assessments or quizzes, as well as certificates of completion
• Does not provide native video hosting services. You will need to link to third-party platforms like Vimeo or YouTube in order to upload videos on the platform. This isn’t ideal for the security aspects of your content

Final Thoughts – Finding the Best Kajabi Alternatives for Your Business

Selecting the right platform for your online business can be a daunting task. Kajabi is a popular option that many creators use to launch their businesses but it may not have the features you need as a creator. Fortunately, there are a number of more affordable alternatives to Kajabi that you can consider when choosing the right platform for your business. 

If you’re looking for an all-in-one eCommerce platform for selling digital products without breaking the bank, then Payhip is your best option.

Join over 130,000 creators who have successfully created their online businesses with Payhip. Sign up for a free account on Payhip to start your dream online business within less than 5 minutes.