Head to head
Systeme.io vs Kajabi
Kajabi starts at $179 a month and Systeme.io starts free, with a top tier of $97. Kajabi has the better course player, communities and a published 30 day refund. Systeme.io takes no cut of your sales where Kajabi charges up to 2% on your own Stripe, and it lets you prove an offer before paying anything. Kajabi scores 3.4 on Trustpilot, Systeme.io 4.9.
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The author has not used this product. Everything here comes from six public sources: the maker's own site, its pricing and refund terms, its changelog, its support forum, counted complaints across recent public reviews, and a like-for-like comparison against the nearest alternatives. We never claim experience we do not have.
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Independent comparison. We are an affiliate of some platforms named here. We do not speak for Systeme.io or Kajabi, and nothing on this page is an official statement by any of them. Figures come from each maker's own published pages on the date shown, and we correct them when they change.
The short version
- Systeme.io’s most expensive plan costs half of Kajabi’s cheapest.
- Kajabi is the better course platform. That is real and it is what you pay for.
- Kajabi takes 0.5% to 2% of sales on your own Stripe. Systeme.io takes nothing.
- Kajabi publishes a 30 day refund. Systeme.io publishes no refund policy at all.
The price gap
| Systeme.io | Price | Kajabi | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | No free plan | — |
| Startup | $17 | Basic | $179 |
| Webinar | $47 | Growth | $249 |
| Unlimited | $97 | Pro | $499 |
There is no arrangement of these plans that makes Kajabi the cheaper option. Even comparing Systeme.io's top tier against Kajabi's entry tier, Systeme.io is $82 a month less, and that is before the transaction fee.
On Kajabi Basic, using your own Stripe costs 2% of every sale. Sell $10,000 in a month and that is $200 on top of the $179 subscription. Systeme.io charges 0% at every tier including free. Over a year at that volume the gap is roughly $4,300.
Where Kajabi wins
It would be easy to stop at the price table and call it. That would be a bad review, because Kajabi is better at the thing it is for.
The course experience is the main one. The player, progress tracking, the mobile experience, communities and the general finish of what a student sees are all meaningfully ahead of Systeme.io, which treats courses as one module among eight. If you are charging $2,000 for a programme, the platform looking cheap is a real problem and Kajabi solves it.
The second is the refund policy, and it matters more here than it sounds. Kajabi's terms promise a full no-questions refund within 30 days of your first charge. Systeme.io publishes nothing, and refusal to refund is the single most repeated complaint across its low-star reviews. Kajabi gives you a way out that Systeme.io does not.
The third is unlimited contacts headroom at the top: Kajabi Pro handles 100,000 contacts. Systeme.io says unlimited on its own top tier, so this only matters if you are comparing mid-tiers.
Where Systeme.io wins
Price, obviously, but the more useful framing is risk. Systeme.io lets you build the whole thing, take real payments and email an unlimited list without spending anything. You find out whether the offer works before you have committed a cent, and if it does not work you have lost time rather than money.
Kajabi's trial is generous by comparison with most software, though its own pages disagree on whether it runs 14 days or 30, which we set out on the Kajabi free trial page. Either way it is 30 days with a card on file and a $179 charge waiting at the end. Those are different propositions for someone who has not yet sold anything.
Systeme.io also does more outside courses. Sales funnels, a blog, a booking calendar, an affiliate program you can run yourself, evergreen webinars and a physical products store are all included at every tier. Kajabi covers funnels and email well but is not trying to be a general business platform.
| Systeme.io | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free, then $17 | $179 |
| Top tier | $97 | $499 |
| Free plan | Yes, permanent | No, 30 day trial |
| Transaction fee | 0% | 0.5% to 2% on own Stripe |
| Refund policy | None published | 30 days, no questions |
| Course experience | Adequate | Best in category |
| Communities | Basic | Well built |
| Email sends | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Funnels and landing pages | Capped below top tier | Unlimited on all |
| Blog, calendar, webinars, store | Included | Partial |
Settle it for nothing
Build the course on Systeme.io's free plan first. If students find it thin, you will know exactly what Kajabi's $179 is buying, which beats guessing from a table.
Start free on Systeme.ioAffiliate link to Systeme.io. We have no affiliate relationship with Kajabi, so this page earns us nothing if you pick Kajabi. No card required for the free plan.
What owners of each say
| Platform | Score | Reviews | Most common low-star complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io | 4.9 / 5 | 8,426 | Refund refused, or a billing dispute, 23 of 88 |
| Kajabi | 3.4 / 5 | 2,337 | Support slow or unhelpful, 101 of 168 |
The scores differ sharply, but read the complaint columns rather than the numbers. Each platform's weakness is the other's strength. Systeme.io's biggest problem is refunds, and Kajabi publishes a refund policy. Kajabi's biggest problem is support, at 60% of its low-star reviews, and Systeme.io's support is the thing its happy reviewers praise most.
The tier-by-tier breakdown of what Kajabi actually charges, including the transaction fee on your own Stripe, is on Kajabi pricing.
One caveat on the headline scores. Trustpilot notes that Systeme.io has not been soliciting reviews recently, which makes its 4.9 more credible than a solicited one would be. The full counts are on the Systeme.io review and the Kajabi review.
If you are leaning towards leaving Kajabi rather than choosing between these two, the wider set of options is on Kajabi alternatives, and the trial terms are messier than they look, set out on the Kajabi free trial page.
The decision
The verdict
These two are not really competing for the same buyer, which is why the price gap is this wide. Kajabi is priced for a business that already works. Systeme.io is priced for one that might. Starting on the cheaper one and upgrading when the numbers justify it costs you almost nothing, and starting on the expensive one and discovering the offer does not sell costs you $179 a month to find out.
- Choose Systeme.io if
- The offer is unproven, budget matters, or you want more than courses
- Choose Kajabi if
- You sell premium courses and the student experience is the product
- The tiebreaker
- Build the course free on Systeme.io. You will know within a month
- The trap
- Paying $179 a month for polish before anyone has bought anything
The third option neither of these covers
If the funnel rather than the course is what makes the money, ClickFunnels beats both at that job and sits between them on price at $97 a month.
Start the ClickFunnels trialAffiliate link. We earn a commission if you subscribe, at no extra cost to you. 14 day trial, then $97 a month with a 30 day money-back guarantee.
Common questions
Is Systeme.io cheaper than Kajabi?
Substantially. Systeme.io starts free and tops out at $97 a month. Kajabi starts at $179 and tops out at $499. Systeme.io also charges no transaction fee, where Kajabi takes 0.5% to 2% if you use your own payment processor.
Is Kajabi better than Systeme.io for courses?
Yes. The course player, progress tracking, mobile experience and communities are all more polished. If students are paying premium prices and will judge you on the experience, that difference is worth paying for.
Can I move from Kajabi to Systeme.io?
Course content can be moved manually, but student progress, funnel pages, automation logic and payment connections all have to be rebuilt. Systeme.io advertises a free migration on annual plans, though slow migrations are a repeated complaint in its reviews.
Does Kajabi or Systeme.io have better support?
Systeme.io, clearly, on the public evidence. Support is Kajabi’s most common complaint at 101 of 168 low-star reviews, while fast helpful support is the thing Systeme.io’s positive reviewers mention most often.
Which has a free trial?
Kajabi gives a trial with a card on file, though its pricing page advertises a month while its help centre states 14 days with no extensions, plus a 30 day refund window from first charge. Systeme.io has no trial because it has a permanent free plan needing no card, which is a better arrangement for anyone still testing an idea.
Which should I choose for a first online course?
Systeme.io, on cost and risk. Build and sell the course on the free plan, and move to Kajabi later if the student experience becomes the thing holding you back. That upgrade is easy to justify once money is coming in.
Last reviewed September 3, 2026