Guides / Course platforms

Kajabi vs Teachable: Which Course Platform Fits Your Business?

Published October 7, 2026

• course-platforms
• comparisons
• kajabi
• teachable

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. How we make money.

You’ve got the expertise, the outline, maybe even a waitlist. Now you need a home for your course or coaching program, and two names keep coming up: Kajabi and Teachable. Both let you sell online courses to U.S. students. They just come at the job from opposite directions.

Kajabi wants to be your whole business in one login: website, email, funnels, community, and checkout. Teachable is a course-first platform with a lower entry price and a simpler setup. This guide walks through how they compare, section by section, using each company’s official plan details. At the end, we also cover three alternatives many creators shortlist: Thinkific, Podia, and LearnWorlds.

Quick picks

• Best all-in-one for coaches and course creators ready to grow: Kajabi, $100–$200/month to start (higher tiers $200–$500/month)
• Best budget-friendly start for a first course: Teachable, Under $50/month to start ($50–$200/month for higher tiers)
• Alternative with unlimited courses and community: Thinkific, Under $60/month to start, with a longer free trial
• Alternative for a simple, low-cost all-in-one: Podia, Under $50/month to start
• Alternative for interactive, live-session learning: LearnWorlds, Under $30/month to start (per-sale fee on the entry plan)

Kajabi vs Teachable at a glance

Why these comparison columns matter

Course creators and coaches usually shortlist platforms on a handful of practical differences—not endless feature lists. The columns in the table above track those decisions:

• Entry price band shows what you pay before your first sale. An all-in-one that looks expensive can still win if it replaces email and a website; a cheap plan can lose if platform fees stack up once you start selling.
• Free plan (or free trial) tells you how much risk you take before committing. Neither Kajabi nor Teachable offers a free forever plan; both use trials and money-back windows instead.
• Platform transaction fee is separate from card processing. A low monthly price with a percentage on every sale can cost more than a higher plan with no platform cut once revenue grows.
• Email marketing matters if you launch with sequences, tags, and cart-close reminders. Built-in email reduces syncing; a lighter email tool means keeping (or paying for) a separate ESP.
• Website, landing pages, and funnels decide whether you need an external page builder for opt-ins and sales pages.
• Community is the difference between a self-paced course and a program with peer accountability.
• Coaching coverage shows whether one-on-one or group coaching products are first-class, not a workaround.
• Product limits cap how many courses, downloads, and coaching offers you can publish as you expand your catalog.
• Mobile apps affect how students consume lessons on the go—and whether you get a branded app or a shared student app.

Use the table to narrow to two platforms, then read the section-by-section notes for the trade-offs that don’t fit in a cell.

All-in-one vs course-first: the real difference

An all-in-one platform like Kajabi replaces several subscriptions at once. Your website, email list, sales funnels, community, and checkout all live together, so a new buyer can be tagged, emailed, and enrolled without any third-party connectors. The trade-off is a higher monthly price, even before you’ve made your first sale.

A course-first platform like Teachable focuses on building, hosting, and selling learning products. You get a clean course builder, checkout, and student apps at a lower price. Many creators pair it with a separate email tool or website they already use.

Section-by-section comparison

1. Pricing and fees

Teachable is the cheaper way to start. Its entry plan sits under $50/month, and the mid and top tiers land in the $50–$200/month range. The catch: the entry plan charges a platform transaction fee on every sale. Move up a tier and that fee drops to zero, though standard card processing fees still apply.

Kajabi starts in the $100–$200/month range and climbs to roughly $400–$500/month for the top plan on monthly billing. In return, Kajabi says it takes no revenue share on any plan. You pay standard card processing through Kajabi Payments, with a small extra fee if you choose a third-party payment provider instead.

Winner: Teachable for a low-cost start; Kajabi if you’d otherwise pay separately for email, website, and community tools.

2. Building courses and products

Both platforms cover the core course-building basics: video lessons organized into modules, plus AI tools to help you draft content faster. Teachable counts each published course, coaching offer, or digital download as one “product,” and every self-serve plan has a product cap. Memberships and bundles don’t count toward that cap.

Kajabi also caps products on its lower tiers and removes the limit on its top plan. Beyond courses, Kajabi lists coaching programs, memberships, digital downloads, newsletters, and podcasts as product types.

Winner: Tie for straightforward courses. Kajabi if you want podcasts or newsletters alongside your course.

3. Email marketing and automations

This is where Kajabi pulls ahead. Every Kajabi plan includes unlimited marketing emails, with your contact limit rising by tier. Automations, tags, and offers all live in one place, which makes launch sequences and post-purchase onboarding simpler to build.

Teachable includes built-in email marketing too, and it connects with outside email tools through its App Hub and Zapier.

Winner: Kajabi for an all-in-one launch setup.

4. Coaching, community, and engagement

Coaches often need more than video lessons. Kajabi includes coaching programs and a community feature on every plan, with additional communities on the top tier.

Teachable supports coaching products and offers course certificates on its top self-serve plan, but community is not a core feature.

Winner: Kajabi for group coaching and community-led programs.

5. Website, funnels, and checkout

Kajabi includes a website plus unlimited landing pages and funnels on every plan, so you can run opt-in pages, sales pages, and checkout flows without extra software.

Teachable gives you a school website, sales pages, upsells, and cart recovery. It also handles U.S. sales tax and international VAT/GST through its own payments, which is helpful if you sell globally.

Winner: Kajabi for funnels; Teachable for hands-off tax handling.

Kajabi: the all-in-one pick

Kajabi is built for experts who want one platform to run the whole business. Courses, coaching, community, email, website, funnels, and payments all share the same contact record. Higher tiers add more contacts, more admin seats, and a branded mobile app.

Keep in mind: The entry price is meaningfully higher than course-first platforms, and you pay it whether or not you’ve launched yet. Some advanced automation and branding features are reserved for higher tiers, so check the plan comparison before you commit.

Best for: Coaches and course creators with an audience (or a clear launch plan) who want to replace separate email, website, and community subscriptions.

Not ideal for: Creators launching a single low-priced course with no plan to run email, funnels, or community inside the same tool. If your budget is tight and you already like a separate ESP and website, Teachable or a lighter all-in-one will usually fit better.

Teachable: the budget-friendly course-first pick

Teachable keeps things focused: build a course, sell it, and deliver it on web and mobile apps. Its built-in payments handle sales tax, and the entry plan lets you start for under $50/month.

Keep in mind: The entry plan charges a platform fee on each sale, and every self-serve plan caps how many products you can publish. Community and advanced funnels usually mean adding other tools.

Best for: First-time course creators testing an idea, or creators who already have an email platform and website they like.

Not ideal for: Coaches whose offer depends on a built-in community, multi-step funnels, or unlimited products on a self-serve plan. If you need those under one roof, look at Kajabi, Thinkific, or Podia instead.

Teachable offers a free trial and a money-back window, so you can start building on Teachable and see how your first module feels before paying for a full year.

Alternatives worth a look

Thinkific

Thinkific sits between the two. Its entry plan is priced under $60/month and includes unlimited courses, one community, email automation, and a website builder. Live cohorts, coaching calls, memberships, and payment plans start on the next tier up. It also offers a longer free trial than Kajabi or Teachable, which gives you time to build a full course on Thinkific before deciding.

Keep in mind: Thinkific branding stays on until the higher tiers, and a branded mobile app is a paid add-on.

Best for: Creators who want unlimited courses and built-in community without jumping to Kajabi’s price range.

Not ideal for: Creators who need a branded mobile app without paying an add-on, or who want every coaching and live feature on the cheapest plan.

Podia

Podia is a simple all-in-one. Every plan includes courses, coaching, community, digital downloads, events, a website, and built-in checkout, starting under $50/month.

Keep in mind: The entry plan charges a platform transaction fee, and built-in email includes only a small number of subscribers per plan.

Best for: Solo creators who like Kajabi’s all-in-one idea but want a lighter tool and a lower bill.

Not ideal for: Creators with a large email list who need unlimited marketing emails out of the box, or teams that need advanced funnel and automation depth comparable to Kajabi.

LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds focuses on the learning experience. Every plan includes live one-on-one and group sessions, a built-in community, and an AI course builder. Higher tiers remove the per-enrollment fee and add certificates and SCORM uploads.

Keep in mind: The entry plan charges a fee per paid enrollment, and certificates require a higher tier.

Best for: Coaches and trainers who want live sessions, community, and certificates alongside their course.

Not ideal for: Creators who mainly need a simple storefront and newsletters, or who dislike connecting their own payment gateways and managing a denser LMS-style dashboard.

Caveats before you choose

⚠️ Plans, limits, and fees change often on course platforms. This comparison is based on each company’s official pricing pages and help docs, not hands-on testing. Card processing fees apply on every platform, and some features are limited during free trials. Confirm current pricing, transaction fees, and plan features on each vendor’s site before you buy.

Also watch product caps, contact or subscriber limits, and which features unlock only on mid or top tiers. Free trials can hide limits (imports, payment setup, or branding), so treat the trial as a build test—not a full production dry run. If you sell internationally, confirm how each platform handles tax collection versus remittance before you open cart.

How to choose between Kajabi and Teachable

1. Add up what you already pay for. If you’d otherwise pay for an email tool, website builder, and community app, compare that total against Kajabi’s entry plan.
2. Estimate your first-year sales. A platform transaction fee on a low-cost plan can cost more than upgrading once your revenue grows.
3. Count your products. List every course, coaching offer, and download you plan to sell in the next year, then check each plan’s cap.
4. Decide how important community is. If group interaction is central to your program, favor a platform with community built in.
5. Think about launches. If you plan email-driven launches with tags, sequences, and funnels, an all-in-one setup saves a lot of connecting.
6. Use the free trial with real content. Upload one module, build one sales page, and run a test checkout before you pick.
7. Separate “nice to have” from “can’t launch without.” Community, branded apps, and advanced automations are expensive to discover after you’ve migrated students.
8. Check admin seats and team access. If an assistant or VA will build pages with you, confirm how many seats the plan includes.
9. Match the payment model to your offer. Payment plans and subscriptions matter more for higher-ticket coaching than for a one-time mini-course.

FAQ

Is Kajabi worth the higher price than Teachable?

It can be if Kajabi replaces several tools you’d otherwise pay for, such as email marketing, a website builder, and a community platform. If you only need to host and sell one course, Teachable’s lower entry price may make more sense.

Does Teachable take a cut of my sales?

Only on its entry plan, which charges a platform transaction fee. Higher plans remove that fee. Standard payment processing fees apply on all plans.

Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?

Kajabi says it doesn’t take a revenue share on any plan. You still pay card processing fees, plus a small additional fee if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Kajabi Payments.

Which is better for coaches, Kajabi or Teachable?

Kajabi is usually the stronger fit for coaches who run group programs, because coaching, community, and email live in one place. Teachable works well for coaches who mainly sell self-paced courses or one-on-one coaching products.

What are good alternatives to Kajabi and Teachable?

Thinkific is a solid middle option with unlimited courses and a built-in community. Podia is a simpler, lower-cost all-in-one, and LearnWorlds suits programs built around live sessions and certificates.

Can I migrate from Teachable to Kajabi (or the other way) later?

Yes, but migrations take planning. Export your student list, content, and purchase history, then rebuild sales pages and automations on the new platform. Some vendors offer migration help; still budget time to retest checkout and access rules.

Do I need a separate website if I use Kajabi or Teachable?

Kajabi includes a website plus landing pages and funnels, so many creators run everything there. Teachable gives you a school site and sales pages; some creators still keep a separate marketing site or blog and link into Teachable for checkout.

Which platform is better for memberships?

Both support membership-style offers, but the better fit depends on what surrounds the membership. If members need community, email, and funnels in one place, Kajabi is usually stronger. If the membership is mostly gated course content and you already have email elsewhere, Teachable can work at a lower monthly cost.

How do free trials work on Kajabi vs Teachable?

Both offer a free trial window so you can build before paying. Features and limits during the trial can differ from a paid account (for example, imports or certain billing setups), so upload real content and run a test checkout before you decide.

Will I outgrow the entry plan quickly?

Often yes if you launch more than a few products, need community, or want to drop platform transaction fees. Price the mid tier for your expected catalog and list size—not only the cheapest plan that lets you publish one course.

The bottom line

If you want one platform to run your entire course or coaching business, Kajabi is the stronger choice. Email, funnels, community, and checkout all work together, and there’s no platform revenue share. If you’re launching your first course on a tight budget, or you already have an email tool and website, Teachable gets you selling for far less each month. And if you want something in between, put Thinkific, Podia, or LearnWorlds on your shortlist.

Start with the free trial of the platform that matches your stage, build one real module, and see which dashboard you’d be happy opening every day.