Don't Do It Yourself

Kajabi Review (2026): Is It Worth the Price? Honest Verdict

Kajabi Basic costs $143 a month billed annually. That is three to four times what Thinkific or Teachable charge, and the whole question is whether it replaces enough of your other software to cover the gap. For every plan, the payment fees, and what a full year actually costs, see our Kajabi pricing breakdown.

Here is the line. ConvertKit at $50 plus Leadpages at $49 comes to $99 a month, so Kajabi costs you $44 more than running both. Add ClickFunnels at $97 and your stack hits $196, and Kajabi saves you $53. Two tools and you are paying a premium for one login. Three and it pays for itself.

If you only need to deliver courses, you are overpaying here. Thinkific from $40 a month or Teachable from $29 will serve you better.

Note: Kajabi overhauled its pricing in January 2026, removing the entry-level Kickstarter plan and raising every tier for the first time in its history. Existing customers were not grandfathered, and the backlash in creator communities was real.

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Kajabi Real User Reviews Video

Kajabi Pricing (2026)

Three plans, no free tier. A free trial comes with every plan, and our link extends it to 30 days.

Basic Growth Pro
Monthly price $179/mo $249/mo $499/mo
Annual price $143/mo $199/mo $399/mo
Products 5 50 Unlimited
Contacts 2,500 25,000 100,000
Websites 1 1 3
Admin users 1 10 25
Transaction fees 0% (Kajabi Payments) 0% (Kajabi Payments) 0% (Kajabi Payments)
Affiliate tools No Yes Yes
Advanced automations No Yes Yes
Remove Kajabi branding No Yes Yes
Custom code editor No No Yes
Branded mobile app No No Yes

Growth is the plan I recommend. Basic looks cheaper until you notice what is missing: no affiliate tools, no advanced automations, and Kajabi branding stays on everything. Those three are most of why people buy Kajabi in the first place, and they all start at Growth. Pro is for agencies that need three websites, 25 admin seats, custom code, and a branded student app.

One cost that is easy to trigger by accident: paying through your own Stripe account instead of Kajabi Payments adds a surcharge of 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, and 0.5% on Pro, on top of Stripe's own fees. Use Kajabi Payments and there is nothing to pay.

Current Kajabi Promo: 30 Day Free Trial + Free Exclusive Bonus

Kajabi doesn't publish a trial length on its own site. Standard sign-ups have typically run 14 days, while our link gets you a full 30.

Sign up through our link and you'll also get our free AI Prompt Library for course creators.

We built it after using many of the prompts ourselves for our own course, so everything in it has been tested. It covers every stage from outline to launch and works with any AI tool.

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What will Kajabi actually cost you?

Get your real monthly and annual price, see how it stacks up against paying for separate tools, then find your plan.

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Check the tools you currently pay for. Edit any price to match what you actually pay. Kajabi rolls all of these into one plan.

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Stack prices are typical starting prices, not exact quotes. Affiliate link, no extra cost to you.

1. How big is your audience / contact list?

2. Will you run a community or membership?

3. Need advanced automation, multiple sites, API, or a branded app?

Pricing verified June 2026. Kajabi adjusts plans periodically, so confirm current rates on Kajabi before signing up.

Is Kajabi Worth the Money?

Run the numbers on your own stack before you decide. Here is what Kajabi absorbs and what those pieces cost separately.

Tool Included in Kajabi? 3rd Party Cost
Email marketing Yes $50 to $150/mo (ConvertKit, Mailchimp)
Sales funnel builder Yes $97 to $297/mo (ClickFunnels)
Landing page builder Yes $49 to $99/mo (Leadpages)
Website hosting Yes $10 to $30/mo
Marketing automation Yes (Growth plan+) $49 to $150/mo (ActiveCampaign)
Affiliate management Yes (Growth plan+) $49 to $100/mo (Rewardful, Tapfiliate)
Community platform Yes $49 to $199/mo (Circle, Mighty Networks)
Potential 3rd party total $353 to $1,025/mo

Count the rows you actually pay for today. If it is five or more, Kajabi is the cheaper option and you get one login instead of five. If it is one or two, you are buying software you will not open.

What Kajabi Does Well

The marketing tools are the actual product

Every course platform delivers courses. What separates Kajabi is everything wrapped around the course. Email marketing is built in with unlimited sends on all plans. The Pipeline Builder assembles landing pages, videos, and email sequences into an automated funnel that moves a lead toward a purchase. Automations fire on purchase behaviour, course completion, or inactivity, so you can chase the students who stopped watching without touching a spreadsheet.

On top of that you get a website builder with a theme library, a blog, podcast hosting, a newsletter tool for free or paid subscribers, built-in analytics, and a checkout that Kajabi redesigned and reports converts better. Payments run through Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Kajabi's own system, with payment plans and subscriptions for memberships.

Communities are built in, not bolted on

Kajabi Communities Banner

You can run forums and discussion groups inside the platform, sold as part of a course, as a standalone product, or as a paid membership add-on. Circles segment members into smaller groups, live rooms handle real-time Q&As, and challenges and check-ins keep people accountable. Access groups inside a community do not count against your product limit, so an unlimited number is fine even on Basic.

The AI tools go further than a course outline

Creator Studio will draft course outlines, lesson content, email sequences, and landing page copy. It also handles transcriptions and subtitles, and it will cut social clips, blog posts, and marketing copy out of a course you have already made. For anyone staring at a blank page, this removes the worst part of the job.

Deep brand customization, custom domains, completion certificates, and coaching tools for live sessions round out the rest. If you need help building something complex, see our guide to hiring a Kajabi designer or developer.

Where Kajabi Falls Short

  • The price, and no free plan. $179 a month is the floor, and the January 2026 restructure took away the cheaper Kickstarter tier without grandfathering anyone on it.
  • Basic is a trap for most buyers. Affiliates, advanced automations, and branding removal all need Growth at $249 a month, and those are the features people come to Kajabi for.
  • The Stripe surcharge. Bring your own Stripe and you pay 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, 0.5% on Pro. Easy to set up wrong and never notice.
  • The course marketplace is small and has no search for students, so it will not send you customers. Every sale comes from your own marketing.

Is Kajabi Legit?

Yes. It was founded in 2010 by Travis Rosser and Kenny Rueter, and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Over 33 million students have taken courses on it, and creators have earned more than $6 billion through the platform.

Kajabi review - Customers

Users include Amy Porterfield in online marketing, Brendon Burchard in personal development, and Billy Gene in social media marketing.

Kajabi Website Case Studies

1. Grant Cardone Training Center

Kajabi Grant Cordone Training Center Screencap

A large library of sales training videos, with landing pages and email marketing bringing in a steady flow of new clients.


2. Glossible by Sonia Roselli Beauty

Kajabi Glossible Screencap

Several small makeup artistry courses plus an ecommerce shop for a second revenue stream, with landing pages and email doing the converting.


3. Juice Guru Institute

Kajabi Juice Guru Institute Screencap

A polished landing page built from Kajabi templates, with the blogging tool pulling in organic search traffic.


4. Full Plate Living

Kajabi Full Plate Living Screencap

Nutrition programs sold entirely off SEO content, with no paid media, using analytics to find what converts.

Alternatives to Kajabi

If the consolidation case does not hold for you, these are the platforms to look at instead:

We rank all of them in our guide to the best online course platforms.

Try Kajabi Free

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Kajabi cost in 2026?

Basic is $179/month ($143 annually), Growth is $249/month ($199 annually), and Pro is $499/month ($399 annually). A free trial comes with every plan, and our link extends it to 30 days.

Did Kajabi raise prices?

Yes. In January 2026 Kajabi raised prices for the first time in nearly a decade and removed the Kickstarter entry plan. Existing customers were not grandfathered at old rates, which caused significant backlash in creator communities.

Is Kajabi free?

No. Kajabi offers a free trial, 30 days through our link, but has no permanent free plan. The cheapest paid option is $143/month billed annually.

Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?

Not when you use Kajabi Payments. If you use your own Stripe account instead, Kajabi adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, and 0.5% on Pro, on top of Stripe's standard fees.

Does Kajabi replace MailChimp?

Yes. Email marketing is built in, so you do not need a third-party provider. You can still integrate ConvertKit, Mailchimp, or ActiveCampaign if you would rather keep your existing setup.

What is a Kajabi pipeline?

Pipelines are marketing funnels. You connect landing pages, videos, and email sequences into an automated series that nurtures a lead toward a purchase.

Can I sell physical products on Kajabi?

Yes, though the platform is built primarily for digital products and courses.

Is Kajabi mobile friendly?

Yes. Courses are fully mobile responsive and every user gets Kajabi's free mobile app. Pro adds a branded app for your own students.

Is Kajabi an LMS?

Yes. Kajabi is a web-based learning management system supporting course creation, delivery, and student tracking in written and video formats.

What does Kajabi mean?

According to co-founder Travis Rosser, “Kajabi” comes from an Aboriginal word meaning “to take flight.”

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