7 Kajabi Alternatives (2026), Ranked by Fees and Fit

Kajabi puts funnels, email marketing, a website, courses and a community on one bill, starting at $179 a month. If you use all of those tools, that's a fair price. If you sell one course to a small email list, most of that $179 pays for tools you never open.

So creators go looking for an alternative. Some want a smaller bill, some need room for more courses, and some sell a community first and a course second. We priced each option for a U.S. creator making $5,000 a month in sales, and noted which parts of Kajabi it replaces.

Why people look for a Kajabi alternative

A higher fixed bill

Cost comes up most. Most existing subscribers moved to Kajabi's higher prices at their first renewal on or after January 13, 2026. Founder and Beta Invite plans from before January 12 were exempt.

Basic now costs $179 a month with 2,500 contacts. Kajabi's billing guide sells extra contacts in blocks of 5,000 for $25 a month, so one block takes Basic to $204 before payment processing. That's a lot while you're still testing your first course.

In an r/smallbusiness thread, the original poster (since deleted) said "the pricing is really steep for a small creator." TT said much the same in a Trustpilot review published May 22, 2026: "for my business, the cost felt high" was part of why they cancelled. Two reviews aren't a trend, but they show how a good platform gets hard to pay for when sales are low.

Paying for tools you already have

Every Kajabi plan has unlimited emails, funnels, landing pages and a website. If you already pay for an email tool, part of your Kajabi bill covers work done elsewhere.

Renata Z., a naturopathic doctor, left a three-star Capterra review in January 2026. Her complaint: "I felt the cost was so high," mostly because she didn't use many of the included features.

The same Reddit thread has the counterargument: u/Worth-Professional7 argued that Kajabi only looks expensive until you price the email, funnel and checkout tools that replace it. So list the Kajabi tools you used last month and price replacements for those alone.

A scattered student experience

On November 30, 2025, Trustpilot reviewer Beki Adam described confusion between Kajabi's course and community apps and wrote, "I am getting ready to leave." Kajabi replied the next day that its current mobile app puts both behind one login.

That's one creator at one point in time. If students talk between lessons, try the student journey on a phone first.

Community as the main product

Basic and Growth include one community each, and Pro includes three. That's enough for one course, but tight if you run several cohorts, paid tiers or client groups.

Joshua P., who owns a marketing business, gave Kajabi five stars on Capterra in November 2024 and still wrote that "more options to communicate with the community would've been appreciated." That's a wish from a happy customer, two years ago. If the community is what people pay for, count the spaces you need before comparing plans.

How we compared them

We checked each platform's own pricing and help pages in October and November 2026 and compared five things:

• Total cost: plan, platform fees and card processing at $5,000 a month.
• Email and funnels: built in, a paid add-on, or your own tool.
• Course limits: courses or products on the entry plan.
• Community: built in or not, and how central.
• Migration: help moving courses, students and payments.

The math assumes 50 one-time sales of $100 on U.S. cards and monthly billing (Circle Professional is shown as the monthly share of its annual price). It includes payment-service fees and leaves out sales tax, optional add-ons and international-card charges.

The alternatives

1. Heartbeat

Kajabi is built around marketing: funnels, email and a website, with a community as one product among several. Heartbeat is built around the community. Members talk in channels, meet at live events and take courses together, with memberships and checkout in the same place. It fits when the community is what people pay for, like a membership, a group program or a cohort course.

Every plan includes unlimited channels, courses, events and documents, so each cohort or tier gets its own space, and a course can run evergreen or as a cohort. Members use the Heartbeat app, and the Scale plan adds your own branded app in the App Store and Google Play. There's a 14-day free trial with no card required. More in Heartbeat vs Kajabi.

Start your free trialSee pricing

2. Systeme.io

Best for: a cheaper Kajabi alternative that still has email and funnels.

Systeme.io covers funnels, email, courses and communities, with a free plan that doesn't expire and no platform fee. The $17 Startup plan includes 5,000 contacts, twice Kajabi Basic, and comes to about $177 at $5,000 in sales, the lowest total here.

The free plan allows 1 course, 3 funnels and 2,000 contacts, Startup covers 5 courses, and there's no branded app yet.

3. Teachable

Best for: selling courses, with student apps included.

Builder costs $89 a month, with a 0% base transaction fee on Teachable Pay and the shared Teachable student app. At $5,000 it comes to about $249 with the optional BackOffice service off.

Builder caps you at 10 products and 1 admin, and its email and funnel tools are lighter than Kajabi's. More in Kajabi vs Teachable.

4. Podia

Best for: selling courses, downloads and coaching from one simple store.

Shaker costs $99 a month, allows 150 products, takes no platform fee, and includes a website and a community. At $5,000 a month it comes to about $259.

Email is small: 500 subscribers on Shaker and 1,000 on Earthquaker, against 2,500 contacts on Kajabi Basic. There's no member app either.

5. Skool

Best for: creators whose community is the product.

Skool puts community, courses, a calendar and live calls in one plain layout, with unlimited members on both plans. Pro costs $99 a month, and its 2.9% plus 30¢ fee already covers card processing, so $5,000 in sales costs about $259. Sales over $900 carry a higher rate.

Hobby costs more than it looks: $9 a month plus 10% and 30¢ a sale is about $524 at $5,000, more than Kajabi Basic. Skool doesn't list an email tool, website builder or funnels, and you can't change the layout much. There's more in Skool vs Kajabi.

6. Thinkific

Best for: course-first businesses that already have an email tool.

Thinkific no longer lists a Basic plan. Start costs $109 a month and includes unlimited courses and digital downloads, certificates, bundles, one community and two admins. On Thinkific Payments that's about $269 at $5,000, or $294 if its tax service assesses your sales and adds a 0.5% fee.

The branded app is a $199-a-month add-on, and at this sales level Start costs more than Teachable Builder or Podia Shaker.

7. Circle

Best for: community-led businesses that want events and courses together.

Circle combines community spaces, events, courses and paywalls. Professional costs $89 a month, billed annually. Our scenario comes to a $369 monthly equivalent: $89 for the subscription, $100 in Circle transaction fees, $20 for Stripe Invoicing and $160 for card processing.

Email costs extra ($99 a month for 10,000 contacts), and a branded app needs the custom Circle Plus plan.

Comparison table

What each one costs at $5,000 a month

Card processing is 2.9% plus 30¢ a sale unless the row says otherwise.

Kajabi Basic comes to about $339, and four alternatives come in at $259 or less.

Features side by side

Which one to pick, by reason

If the bill is the problem: Systeme.io, then Teachable Builder or Podia Shaker.

If you're paying for tools you don't use: Teachable or Thinkific. Both are course-first, so you keep your email tool.

If the student experience feels scattered: Podia or Teachable, but test a purchase and a lesson on your phone first.

If your community is the product: Heartbeat, Skool or Circle.

How to move off Kajabi

Kajabi says it can't give you a full backup of a course, so save everything yourself before you cancel.

1. Export your contacts. Kajabi emails you a link to a CSV, and the link expires after 3 days (Kajabi help).

1. Export your sales and subscription records, then download your videos and files.

1. Work out recurring payments with both platforms. Kajabi says customer subscriptions "continue to bill unless they are manually canceled" (Kajabi help). Agree on the switchover date before you move anyone.

1. Rebuild and test on the new platform, and ask about migration help.

1. Tell students where to log in, then cancel. Your Kajabi site goes offline at the end of your billing period, and Kajabi may delete customer data 90 days later (Kajabi help).

Check what the new platform can bring across: student progress, community posts, automations, recurring payments and redirects.

Frequently asked questions