Best Kajabi Alternatives (2026): 9 Options for Courses, Coaching and Community

The best Kajabi alternatives are Teachable, Thinkific and LearnWorlds for course-first businesses, Podia and Payhip for a cheaper all-round store, Circle and Mighty Networks for community-led programs, and a WordPress site with a membership plugin if you want to own the platform. Kajabi starts at $143/month billed yearly as of October 2026, so most people who switch want a lower bill or fewer plan caps.

Ultimate Membership Pro is made by WPIndeed, the publisher of this blog.

Kajabi alternatives are platforms that replace some or all of Kajabi’s toolkit: courses, coaching, community, email marketing, funnels, a website and a mobile app. Some copy the whole bundle at a lower price. Others do one job well and expect you to add the rest.

• Kajabi charges a plan fee and says it takes no revenue share. Card processing applies, plus 2% to 0.5% by plan if you connect Stripe directly (as of October 2026).
• Teachable Builder (with Teachable Payments), Podia Shaker, Payhip Pro, LearnWorlds Pro Trainer and Systeme.io take no platform fee on sales. Circle and Mighty Networks charge one on every plan.
• WordPress with Ultimate Membership Pro and Ultimate Learning Pro gives you your own site and gateway. You add an email tool and run the hosting.
• Entry prices can mislead. At $3,000 in monthly sales, Payhip Plus costs $89 a month in platform fees, Kajabi Basic $143 and Teachable Starter $254, before card processing (worked example below).

Why do creators look for Kajabi alternatives?

Most creators look for Kajabi alternatives because of cost, plan caps and paying for tools they don’t use.

• Price. As of October 2026, Basic costs $179/month or $143/month billed yearly, Growth $249 or $199, and Pro $499 or $399.
• Plan caps. Basic allows 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 1 website and 1 community. Extra contacts come in blocks of 25,000 for $125/month.
• Payment fees. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 per card payment on Basic for U.S. accounts. Connecting your own Stripe account instead adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth or 0.5% on Pro; PayPal is excluded.
• Unused tools and add-ons. Funnels, landing pages and marketing emails are unlimited on every plan, AI credits start on Growth (500 a month), and the branded mobile app is included only on Pro, where Kajabi lists it as a $199/month value. If you mainly sell one course, you pay for tools you don’t use.

Kajabi alternatives at a glance

This table compares nine Kajabi alternatives, with Kajabi in the first row as the baseline. Prices and fees were checked on each vendor’s site as of October 2026, and card processing applies to every option.

Option	Pricing model	Platform fee on sales	Best for
Kajabi (baseline)	From $143/month billed yearly	No revenue share; 2% on Basic with your own Stripe	Courses, email, funnels and an app in one bill
Ultimate Membership Pro + Ultimate Learning Pro	Annual plugin plans plus your own hosting	Your payment processor’s fees	Courses and Memberships on a site you own
Teachable	From $29/month billed yearly	7.5% on Starter; 0% from Builder with Teachable Payments	Course-first creators on a budget
Thinkific	From $82/month billed yearly	None with Thinkific Payments; extra fee with Stripe or PayPal	Many courses and structured learning
Podia	From $42/month billed yearly	5% on Mover; none from Shaker	Courses, downloads and coaching in one store
Systeme.io	Free plan; paid from $17/month	0% on every plan	Tight budgets that need funnels and email
LearnWorlds	From $24/month billed yearly	$5 per paid enrollment on Starter; none from Pro Trainer	Course academies with a built-in community
Circle	From $89/month billed yearly	2% down to 0.5% by plan	Community-led courses and cohorts
Mighty Networks	From $79/month billed yearly	2% down to 0.5% by plan	Community memberships with events
Payhip	Free plan; paid from $29/month	5% Free, 2% Plus, none on Pro	The cheapest start for courses and downloads

What are the best Kajabi alternatives?

The best Kajabi alternatives depend on what earns your revenue. Most fall into three groups: course platforms, community platforms and a WordPress membership site you run yourself. Systeme.io and Payhip sit at the budget end of the course group.

1. Ultimate Membership Pro and Ultimate Learning Pro on WordPress

Ultimate Membership Pro is a WordPress membership plugin. You sell course access as a Membership, take payments through gateways such as Stripe and PayPal, and keep every page on your own domain, with unlimited members on every plan.

For lessons, quizzes and certificates you add Ultimate Learning Pro, a separate WPIndeed course plugin sold on its own. Its site lists timed quizzes, certificates, progress stats, points, badges and multiple instructors per course. In the online course setup, you link each course to a Membership, and the course and its curriculum are restricted together.

Students can pay monthly or yearly, in installments, or once for permanent access, with an optional trial. Drip content opens each lesson page days, weeks or months after a student joins, or on a date, and the Drip Content Notifications add-on emails students when a lesson opens.

Best for: creators who want courses, Memberships and member data on their own WordPress site, with no member caps.

Limitation: it is two plugins plus tools you pick yourself. There is no email campaign tool, funnel builder, forum or mobile app built in, and you run hosting, updates and backups.

Ultimate Membership Pro is sold as annual plans (Pro, Full Package and Agency), listed on the pricing page. Pro covers Memberships, drip content, recurring billing through 10 gateways and the Member Portal. Full Package adds PayFast, Paystack and Razorpay, group memberships and the ConvertKit integration. Payment processor fees still apply.

2. Teachable

Teachable is a hosted course platform that also sells coaching, digital downloads and memberships. There is no free plan. Starter costs $29/month billed yearly with a 7.5% transaction fee and 5 products; Builder costs $69/month billed yearly, with 0% through Teachable Payments and 10 products.

Memberships and bundles don’t count toward the product cap. Students get iOS and Android apps, and community starts on Builder.

Best for: course creators who want a lower entry price and a focused course builder.

Limitation: product caps apply on every plan, and Starter’s 7.5% fee gets expensive as sales grow.

3. Thinkific

Thinkific is a hosted course platform with unlimited published courses, digital downloads and coaching products on every plan. There is no free plan, only a 30-day trial. Start costs $82/month billed yearly with 1 community, and Grow costs $164/month with 3 communities and bulk email.

Processing through Stripe or PayPal directly adds a third-party gateway fee that varies by plan, which Thinkific Payments avoids. A branded mobile app is a $199/month add-on.

Best for: course businesses that need many courses and structured learning.

Limitation: the entry plan sits closer to Kajabi’s price than most options, and the branded app costs extra.

4. Podia

Podia is an all-in-one creator store for courses, downloads, coaching, community, webinars, a website and email. Mover costs $42/month billed yearly with a 5% transaction fee and 50 products. Shaker costs $84/month billed yearly with no Podia fee, 150 products and affiliate marketing.

Best for: solo creators who sell a mix of courses, downloads and coaching from one simple dashboard.

Limitation: included email subscribers are small (100 on Mover, 500 on Shaker), and the pricing page lists no mobile app.

5. Systeme.io

Systeme.io bundles courses, a community builder, email marketing, sales funnels, a website and blog, webinars and an affiliate program. Its free plan never expires and includes 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels and 1 course. Paid plans cost $17, $47 and $97 per month, and every plan has 0% transaction fees.

Best for: the lowest-cost way to keep funnels, email and courses in one tool.

Limitation: lower plans cap courses (1 on Free, 5 on Startup, 20 on Webinar) and contacts, and the pricing page lists no mobile app.

6. LearnWorlds

LearnWorlds is a hosted course platform with unlimited paid courses, video hosting, a website on your own domain and a built-in community on every plan. As of October 2026, Starter costs $24/month billed yearly plus $5 per paid enrollment, and Pro Trainer costs $79/month billed yearly with no enrollment fees.

Plans cap active learners per month: 1,000 on Starter and 2,000 on Pro Trainer. Mass email credits start on Pro Trainer, and a branded mobile app is a paid add-on from that plan up.

Best for: course businesses that want lessons and a learner community on one platform.

Limitation: the $5 enrollment fee on Starter adds up on low-priced courses, and the active-learner caps push growing schools to higher plans.

7. Circle

Circle is a community platform with courses, live events and payments in one place. Professional costs $89/month billed yearly with a 2% transaction fee, Business $199 with 1%, Scale $419 with 1%, and Circle Plus has custom pricing with 0.5%. Members use Circle’s iOS, Android and desktop apps; custom branded apps come only with Circle Plus.

Best for: community-led programs and cohorts where discussion matters as much as lessons.

Limitation: every plan has a transaction fee, and email marketing (Email Hub) is a $99/month add-on below Circle Plus.

8. Mighty Networks

Mighty Networks combines community, courses and online or in-person events. As of October 2026, Launch costs $950/year (about $79/month) or $95 month to month, with a 2% transaction fee. Scale costs $179/month billed yearly with 1%, and Growth $354/month billed yearly with 0.5%. Members use the Mighty app on iOS and Android, and branded apps need Mighty Pro.

Best for: community memberships where members meet, post and attend events.

Limitation: a transaction fee applies on every plan, and branded apps need custom Mighty Pro pricing.

9. Payhip

Payhip is a creator store for digital downloads, online courses, coaching, memberships and physical products, with email marketing and a store builder. Every plan has the same features and differs only by fee: Free Forever charges 5% per sale, Plus costs $29/month with 2%, and Pro costs $99/month with no transaction fee.

Best for: the cheapest start, especially if you sell courses next to downloads.

Limitation: the free and Plus plans take a share of every sale, and the pricing page lists no community features.

How do Kajabi alternatives compare on features?

Every option here sells courses. The gaps show up in community, email and apps, based on each vendor’s pricing and feature pages as of October 2026.

Option	Community	Email marketing	Website	Mobile app
Kajabi	1 on Basic	Unlimited marketing emails	Yes	Kajabi apps; branded app on Pro only
WordPress with both WPIndeed plugins	Member directory; add a forum plugin locked by Membership	45+ notifications; campaigns via your email tool	Your WordPress site	No
Teachable	Builder and up	Listed on all plans	Site builder	iOS and Android student apps
Thinkific	1 on Start, 3 on Grow	Automations; bulk email from Grow	Yes	Branded app add-on
Podia	Yes	Yes, small subscriber allowance	Yes	Not listed
Systeme.io	Yes	Unlimited emailing	Website and blog	Not listed
LearnWorlds	Built in on every plan	Mass email from Pro Trainer	Yes, on your own domain	Branded app add-on
Circle	Core product	Email Hub add-on	Community site	Circle apps; branded on Circle Plus
Mighty Networks	Core product	Via integrations such as Kit	Community site	Mighty app; branded on Mighty Pro
Payhip	Not listed	Yes	Store builder	Not listed

What are the cheapest Kajabi alternatives?

Payhip and Systeme.io are the cheapest Kajabi alternatives to start with, since both have free plans. Payhip’s free plan takes 5% of each sale, while Systeme.io’s has no sales fee and allows 1 course. As sales grow, a flat plan with no platform fee usually costs less.

This worked example shows monthly platform cost at three sales levels, using yearly-billed prices and fees as of October 2026. It leaves out card processing, which you pay everywhere: Kajabi Payments lists 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, the same as Stripe’s standard U.S. card rate on its pricing page.

Monthly sales (example)	Kajabi Basic	Teachable Starter ($29 + 7.5%)	Podia Mover ($42 + 5%)	Payhip Plus ($29 + 2%)	Circle Professional ($89 + 2%)
$1,000	$143	$104	$92	$49	$109
$3,000	$143	$254	$192	$89	$149
$10,000	$143	$779	$542	$229	$289

The no-fee tier of the same platform wins early. Teachable Builder ($69, with Teachable Payments) beats Starter above about $530 in monthly sales, Podia Shaker ($84) beats Mover above about $840, and Payhip Pro ($99) beats Plus above $3,500.

A WordPress site has fixed yearly costs instead of a share of sales. To weigh it against hosted Kajabi alternatives on equal terms, add up:

• Hosting, a domain and a theme.
• An Ultimate Membership Pro plan: Pro or Full Package, depending on the gateways and add-ons you need (see the plan notes in the first profile).
• Ultimate Learning Pro, sold separately, if you need quizzes, certificates and progress tracking.
• An email marketing tool for campaigns, plus card processing from Stripe or PayPal.

Set that total against a year of Kajabi Basic, which is $1,716 billed yearly as of October 2026.

Kajabi vs a WordPress membership site: what do you give up?

Moving from Kajabi to WordPress means giving up the all-in-one bundle: built-in email campaigns, funnels, a native app and hosted maintenance. In return, you get your own site and database, your choice of payment gateway and no caps on members or Memberships.

• Email marketing. Ultimate Membership Pro sends 45+ email notifications, such as payment completed and expiry warnings. Opt-in integrations add members to Mailchimp, AWeber, GetResponse or ActiveCampaign, and your email marketing tool sends campaigns.
• Mobile app. There is no native app. Students use your site and account page in a mobile browser.
• Funnels. There is no funnel builder. You build sales pages with a page builder such as Elementor or Divi.
• Community. There is no forum, chat or activity feed. You get a members-only directory, a BuddyPress tab that shows each member’s account page in their profile, and Membership rules that lock the pages of the forum plugin you choose.
• Maintenance. You handle hosting, updates, backups and security.

What you gain is control. Pro includes 10 payment gateways (13 in Full Package), and recurring subscriptions support coupons, trials, installments and prorated upgrades. In the Member Portal, students renew, cancel and print invoices, and with Stripe Connect they update their card.

Which Kajabi alternative should you choose?

Start from what earns most of your revenue, then trial two or three of these platforms side by side.

Best Kajabi alternative for courses

Teachable and Thinkific are built around the course itself. Pick Teachable for a lower entry price, Thinkific for many courses on one plan, or LearnWorlds if you want a learner community inside the course platform. On WordPress, Ultimate Learning Pro adds quizzes and certificates, and Ultimate Membership Pro sells access.

Kajabi alternative for coaching

Podia, Teachable and Thinkific all sell coaching products. On WordPress, the coaching setup bills clients monthly or for 2 to 52 payments and gives each client a private page. It doesn’t book sessions or host calls, so you link your booking tool from the client area.

Kajabi alternatives for community-led programs

Circle and Mighty Networks are the strongest picks when members come for each other as much as for the lessons. Both charge a transaction fee on every plan, so include it in the yearly cost.

Skool is a simpler option built around one community with courses and live calls. As of October 2026, Hobby costs $9/month with a 10% transaction fee and Pro costs $99/month with 2.9%. It suits a single focused group better than a catalog of courses.

A cheaper Kajabi alternative on a tight budget

Start on Payhip’s or Systeme.io’s free plan, then move to a no-fee tier once sales cover it. Systeme.io is the closer match if you rely on Kajabi’s funnels and email.

When Kajabi is still the better fit

Stay on Kajabi if you use most of the bundle: email campaigns, funnels, community, podcasts and the app. Rebuilding that stack from separate tools can cost more than one Kajabi plan, and each extra tool adds another login and bill.

How do you move from Kajabi without losing students?

Whatever you switch to, export your contacts and course files first, rebuild the courses, then plan how paying students move. Keep Kajabi running until every subscription has a clear next step.

1. Export. In Kajabi, open Contacts, select everyone and choose Export under Bulk Actions. Kajabi emails you a CSV of contacts and customers; the link expires after 3 days. Download videos and lesson files too.
2. Rebuild. Recreate courses, access levels, drip schedules, checkout pages, email automations and funnels in the new tools.
3. Talk to support. If you move to WordPress, the Ultimate Membership Pro support team helps you migrate from Kajabi with its own tools. Before you set a date, ask them how your active recurring subscriptions will be handled for your payment gateway.
4. Import members. Import contacts into your email tool and students into the new platform with the access dates they’ve paid for, then email students the new login link.
5. Test and close. Move a few students first and test a sign-up, a lesson, a renewal and a cancellation. Cancel Kajabi only after every paying student has moved or their access has ended.

What happens to paying subscribers?

Kajabi Payments runs on Stripe’s processing engine, but the billing relationship sits inside Kajabi. Its help center describes moving subscriptions into Kajabi Payments, not out, so ask Kajabi support what payment data you can take before you set a date.

Subscriptions on your own connected Stripe account live in that account. Kajabi warns that customers on a detached processor lose the Billing Info section, so you cancel or update their cards by hand.

The standard CSV member import covers accounts and access: each row takes a Membership with start and expiry dates. On its own, the import doesn’t create orders or gateway subscriptions, which is why the support conversation in step 3 comes first for recurring billing: the answer depends on where those subscriptions run today.

Frequently asked questions