Kajabi vs Teachable: marketing suite or lean course host?

Kajabi restructured its plans in January 2026. Basic is $179 a month with five products and 2,500 contacts, Growth is $249 and Pro is $499. The legacy $89 Kickstarter plan is no longer sold. Kajabi Payments charges 2.7% to 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, and using a third-party payment processor adds a fee of 0.5% to 5% depending on tier.

Teachable is billed annually and has no free plan. Starter is $29 a month with a 7.5% transaction fee. Builder is $69, Growth is $139 and Advanced is $309, and those three charge no transaction fee. Stripe processing of 2.9% plus $0.30 always applies.

At $1,000 a month in sales, Kajabi Basic costs $179 plus processing. Teachable Starter costs $29 plus $75 in transaction fees, or $104, and Teachable Builder costs $69, both plus processing. Kajabi costs about $110 more a month than Teachable Builder here. Math example, not a customer outcome.

At $5,000 a month, Kajabi Basic is still $179 plus processing, and Teachable Builder is still $69 plus processing. Neither takes a platform percentage when you use its default payments, so the gap stays at $110 a month, or about $1,320 a year. Math example, not a customer outcome.

At $20,000 a month, a Kajabi creator with more than five products or 2,500 contacts is likely on Growth at $249. A Teachable creator might be on Builder at $69 or Growth at $139. The gap is $110 to $180 a month, which is under 1% of revenue. At this size the platform bill is not the decision; the cost of your other tools is. Math example, not a customer outcome.

This is the calculation that decides the comparison. Kajabi includes email campaigns, automations, landing pages, funnels and a website builder. To get the same jobs done around Teachable, most creators add an email platform such as Kit or Mailchimp, often a scheduling tool such as Calendly for calls, and sometimes an automation tool such as Zapier to connect everything.

Do it on paper this week. List each marketing job you actually run: newsletter, launch sequences, opt-in pages, a sales funnel, call booking. Write down the tool you would use for each and its current price at your list size. If that total is more than about $110 a month, Kajabi's bundle is the cheaper route at entry level. If you would only add one email tool, Teachable plus that tool usually wins.

Remember the hidden cost too. Every extra tool is another login, another integration that can break, and another place where a buyer's data lives. Some creators happily pay Kajabi's premium just to stop managing that.

Both host and sell courses well. Kajabi's course builder is polished and covers lessons, modules and drip, with assessment and progress tooling that is solid but lighter than a dedicated LMS. Teachable covers lessons, quizzes, sales pages and checkout. Check Teachable's current plan pages for which tier includes certificates and coaching products, because those details move between plans.

Neither is the deepest option if you run graded, certified programs. Creators who need question banks, assignments and verifiable certificates usually look at a dedicated LMS.

Kajabi's community module has improved, but community is one feature in a marketing suite and it is lighter than dedicated community platforms. Teachable is lighter still. Neither is a natural home for regular live events with RSVPs or for gamification that keeps members coming back each day. If those matter, budget for a second platform or choose one built around community.

Kajabi pushes you toward Kajabi Payments: a third-party processor costs an extra 0.5% to 5% depending on tier. Teachable runs on Stripe on every plan. The more of your business Kajabi runs, the more work it is to leave, because pages, emails and funnels all have to be rebuilt somewhere else. That is the flip side of consolidation. A lean course host is easier to leave because it does less.

Pick Kajabi if you are consolidating a marketing stack, you run launches and funnels, and the tools you would otherwise buy cost more than the price gap. Pick Teachable if you already have an email tool, your product is courses, and you want the lowest bill. Start Teachable on Builder rather than Starter if you expect more than about $533 a month in sales, because that is where Starter's 7.5% overtakes the $40 difference.

Kajabi's entry plan is shaped by caps: five products and 2,500 contacts on Basic. A growing email list is often what pushes creators to Growth, so map your list size against the cap before you pick. Teachable's paid plans are shaped by features rather than contacts, and once you are off Starter you pay no transaction fee at any revenue level.

That gives each platform a different growth curve. Kajabi gets more expensive as your audience grows, even if revenue does not. Teachable stays flat as revenue grows, but your separate email tool will likely charge more as your list grows. Compare both curves at your list size a year from now, not today.

HiveLearn is for the creator whose missing piece is community, not marketing. It does not try to be an email and funnel suite like Kajabi. It puts courses, community, events and payments in one place: an LMS with six quiz question types graded on the server, question banks, assignments, drip lessons and verifiable certificates; a community with discussions and direct messages; events with RSVPs, paid tickets and QR check-in; and points, levels and leaderboards. It also has broadcast email to members and an AI course builder that drafts a course from a PDF or video for you to review.

Starter is $0 a month with a 6% revenue share, so there is no monthly fee until you monetize. Growth is $39 with 4%, rev share capped at $2,000/month; Pro is $99 with 2%, capped at $3,000/month. Growth, Pro and Scale have a 14-day free trial, no credit card, and Stripe processing applies on top. If your business runs on funnels and email automation, Kajabi or Teachable plus a marketing tool is a better fit.