Head to head
Teachable vs Kajabi
Teachable starts at $39 a month against Kajabi's $179, but Teachable's entry plan takes 7.5% of every sale. That fee reverses the price advantage at around $1,867 a month in sales. Teachable Builder at $89 removes the fee. Kajabi is the more complete platform with unlimited email and funnels; Teachable is course-only.
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The short version
- Teachable Starter’s 7.5% transaction fee is the single most important number here.
- The crossover is $1,867 or $2,545 a month, depending on which processor the Kajabi user picks.
- Teachable Builder at $89 removes the fee and is the honest comparison to make.
- Kajabi does marketing too. Teachable is a course platform and little else.
The headline numbers
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Products | Active students | Transaction fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $39 | $29 | 5 | 100 | 7.5% |
| Builder | $89 | $69 | 10 | 1,000 | 0% |
| Growth | $189 | $139 | 50 | 5,000 | 0% |
| Plan | Monthly | Annual, per month | Products | Contacts | Own Stripe fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $179 | $143 | 5 | 2,500 | 2% |
| Growth | $249 | $199 | 50 | 25,000 | 1% |
| Pro | $499 | $399 | Unlimited | 100,000 | 0.5% |
The 7.5% problem
Teachable Starter looks like the obvious budget choice at $39 against $179. The 7.5% transaction fee is what makes that misleading, and it is not a small fee. It sits on top of card processing, which Teachable states runs 2.9% to 4.99% depending on the card and country. So a $100 course sale on Starter can lose more than 12% before you see it.
The crossover is straightforward arithmetic with one fork in it. Kajabi Basic costs $140 a month more than Teachable Starter, and at 7.5% you pay $140 in fees on about $1,867 of sales. That is the crossover if the Kajabi seller uses Kajabi Payments and pays no platform fee.
If they bring their own Stripe instead, Kajabi takes 2% as well, so both sides are charging a percentage and the crossover moves out to about $2,545 a month. Which figure applies to you depends on a processor choice most comparisons never mention, and it is the reason published answers to this question vary so widely.
| Monthly sales | Teachable Starter | Teachable Builder | Kajabi Basic, own Stripe |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $77 | $89 | $189 |
| $1,000 | $114 | $89 | $199 |
| $2,000 | $189 | $89 | $219 |
| $5,000 | $414 | $89 | $279 |
| $10,000 | $789 | $89 | $379 |
| $25,000 | $1,914 | $89 | $679 |
Where Teachable wins
Price, once you are on Builder. $89 against $179 for a platform that does the core job competently is a real saving, and if all you need is to host and sell a course, you are not using most of what Kajabi charges for.
Simplicity is the other one, and it is underrated. Teachable is a course platform. It does not ask you to think about funnels, email automation, pipelines or communities. For someone whose business is one course and a mailing list they run elsewhere, that focus is a feature rather than a limitation.
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Free plan | None |
| Free trial | 7 days |
| Refund | 30 day money-back guarantee |
| Transaction fee on Starter | 7.5% of every sale, on top of the plan and the card fee |
| Payment processing | 2.9% to 4.99% depending on card and country |
| Annual saving | About 22% against monthly |
Where Kajabi wins
Scope, mainly. Kajabi includes unlimited marketing email sends, unlimited funnels and unlimited landing pages on every tier. Teachable is not trying to be your email platform, so if you go that route you will be adding a separate subscription for it, which closes a good part of the price gap.
The student experience is the other. Both are decent, but Kajabi's course player, communities and mobile experience are the most polished in this category, and that matters at premium price points.
The full tier breakdown including the transaction fee is on Kajabi pricing.
Kajabi's weakness is not features, it is support. It scores 3.4 on Trustpilot across 2,337 reviews, and support is named in 101 of the 168 low-star reviews we counted for the Kajabi review. Weigh that against the extra $90 a month.
Both of these charge for course hosting as the product. If a course is a smaller part of a bigger operation, an all-in-one platform may already include it: GoHighLevel bundles courses on every plan and takes no transaction fee on sales.
Both platforms meter differently from how their pricing pages suggest. Kajabi counts products rather than students, which we work through on courses on Kajabi.
The decision
The verdict
Neither of these is the cheapest way to sell a course, and it would be dishonest to write a comparison that pretends otherwise. Systeme.io runs unlimited students on a free plan and takes 0% of sales at every tier. It is less polished than Kajabi and less focused than Teachable, but on this particular axis it is not close.
- Choose Teachable Builder if
- You want a course platform and nothing else, at half the price
- Choose Kajabi if
- You need marketing email and funnels too, and the polish matters
- Avoid
- Teachable Starter, unless your sales stay under about $1,867 a month
- Consider instead
- Systeme.io, which does both jobs from free with no transaction fee
The option neither of these mentions
Unlimited students, 0% transaction fee, permanently free up to 2,000 contacts. Worth twenty minutes before committing $89 or $179 a month.
Start free on Systeme.ioAffiliate link to Systeme.io. We have no affiliate relationship with Teachable or Kajabi, so this page earns us nothing if you choose either. No card required.
If funnels matter as much as the course
Neither Teachable nor Kajabi is built funnel-first. ClickFunnels is, at $97 a month with no transaction fees at any tier.
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 Teachable cheaper than Kajabi?
On sticker price yes, $39 or $89 against $179. But Teachable’s $39 Starter plan takes 7.5% of every sale, so it overtakes Kajabi Basic at about $1,867 a month in sales if the Kajabi user is on Kajabi Payments, or about $2,545 if they bring their own Stripe and pay Kajabi’s 2%. Teachable Builder at $89 has no fee and is genuinely cheaper.
Does Teachable take a percentage of sales?
On the Starter plan, 7.5% of every sale, on top of card processing of 2.9% to 4.99%. Builder and Growth charge 0% platform fee. This single line decides most Teachable versus Kajabi comparisons.
Is Kajabi better than Teachable?
It is more complete. Kajabi includes unlimited marketing email, funnels and landing pages that Teachable does not really offer, and its course experience is more polished. Teachable is simpler and cheaper if a course is all you need.
Which is better for a first course?
Neither, on cost. Systeme.io hosts unlimited students free and takes no cut, so it is the lower-risk place to find out whether the course sells. Move to Kajabi or Teachable once the revenue justifies the polish or the focus.
Do Teachable and Kajabi both offer refunds?
Yes, both publish a 30 day money-back guarantee. Teachable also gives a 7 day free trial. Kajabi’s trial length is published inconsistently, a month on its pricing page against 14 days in its help centre. Kajabi’s terms describe its refund as full and no-questions-asked within 30 days of first charge.
Can I move a course from Teachable to Kajabi?
Content can be moved manually and Kajabi offers migration help on higher tiers, but student progress, page designs and payment connections do not transfer. Plan on rebuilding the structure and keeping the old platform live until the new one works.
Last reviewed September 3, 2026