10 Best Kajabi Alternatives to Try in 2026

As of September 2025, Kajabi has increased its pricing. The Basic and Growth plans went up by $50 per month, while the Pro plan saw a steep $100 monthly jump.

Unsurprisingly, this sudden hike has sparked frustration among many Kajabi users, with some even launching a petition to reverse the increase. Kajabi has provided existing users with a four-month notice to adjust, but many are now actively searching for viable alternatives.

In this article, we’ll explore the top 10 Kajabi alternatives that offer similar features with a more intuitive, user-friendly experience but with more affordable pricing options.

What’s Wrong with Kajabi? An Analysis of 234 Negative Reviews

If you’re evaluating Kajabi as your course platform, the Trustpilot reviews from actual paying users tell a very different story than the marketing does. For relevancy, we only analyzed reviews from 2025.

Here’s what keeps coming up.

1. The Trial and Billing Setup Has Caught a Lot of People Off Guard

Kajabi runs a $99 for 3 months promotional trial. When that trial ends, if you haven’t manually selected a different plan, the platform auto-enrolls you into the Pro plan at $399/month. No reminder email. No warning. 

This has happened to enough people in 2025 that the pattern is hard to dismiss. One user decided the platform wasn’t right for them after one day of use and still got charged $498. 

Another was personally assured by a support agent that switching plans during a free trial would not trigger a charge. They were billed the moment they upgraded.

When users push back and request a refund, the standard response is that charges are non-refundable per the Terms and Conditions. 

Multiple users have since disputed the charges with their banks or filed complaints with their state attorney general’s office. Kajabi currently holds an F rating with the Better Business Bureau, something several 2025 reviewers flagged on their own.

2. Getting Out Is Harder Than It Should Be

If you ever decide Kajabi isn’t the right fit, cancellation is where things get genuinely frustrating. The cancellation button doesn’t always work. One user spent two months emailing to cancel and kept getting charged while waiting for a response. 

Another completed every cancellation step, received a confirmation, and was charged again the following day.

Some users are told they need to reactivate a paid plan just to cancel it, which means paying again before they can leave.

The parked plan (Kajabi’s version of pausing your account) has its own problem. You pay a monthly fee, but you’re fully locked out of your dashboard, your course content, and your student data. You’re paying to sit on the sidelines with no access to anything you built.

3. Support Has Become Difficult to Rely On

The support complaints in 2025 are consistent across users at every plan level and tenure. You’re routed through an AI bot that isn’t disclosed as AI, and that bot frequently gives incorrect guidance. 

One course creator had to use ChatGPT to resolve their issue because the Kajabi bot kept pointing them in the wrong direction. Phone support is gated behind the higher-tier plans.

When you do reach a human agent, they often start from scratch with no reference to prior conversations. Tickets get escalated and then go silent. 

One user waited over two days after a promised follow-up call with no contact. Another spent nearly an hour in chat just trying to book an onboarding call, which is supposed to be part of Kajabi’s standard setup process.

A few 2025 reviewers also noticed a specific pattern: Kajabi replies publicly to negative reviews, inviting the user to email a specific contact. When those users followed up, they received no response.

4. Pricing Went Up, Contact Limits Went Down

In 2025, Kajabi raised subscription prices by roughly 20 to 25% while also reducing the contact limits included in each plan tier. Long-term customers on annual plans were told there would be no special pricing or discounts to account for the increase. One five-year customer on the top-tier plan saw their annual bill go up by $960.

On top of that, Kajabi runs promotional pricing for new sign-ups that existing customers are explicitly excluded from. When long-term users asked if they could access the same deals, they were told the promotions are only available for newly created accounts.

5. Kajabi Payments Can Hold Your Revenue

If you process payments through Kajabi’s native payment system, you need to be aware of what happens when a verification hold gets triggered. Multiple 2025 reviewers describe funds sitting in their Kajabi account for weeks with no support response and no clear escalation path.

One user had $20,000 on hold with no way to reach a human to resolve it. Another had a wire transfer fail and waited close to two weeks for any follow-up from the payments team. 

A third discovered that Kajabi had retained control over their connected Stripe account even after support claimed the issue was resolved, a fact Stripe itself confirmed.

6. Platform Bugs Have Disrupted Active Businesses

One course creator spent months building a website on a Kajabi template, launched it, and watched it go offline for eight days with no backup available and no clear resolution timeline from support. 

Another ran a live meetup where every single student was locked out due to a broken password reset system.

A creator with a branded app has been waiting three weeks for a fix after all Android users lost the ability to access videos, and is losing paying subscribers in the meantime. 

Other reported issues include contacts stuck in infinite loading screens, CSV import failures, and course features quietly breaking after platform updates.

Several long-term users specifically called out the platform’s shift toward AI-powered features as part of the problem. When those features create errors, the support staff doesn’t appear to have the technical knowledge to diagnose or fix them.

7. Some Accounts Get Terminated Without Explanation

A number of 2025 reviews describe accounts being shut down without any warning, reason given, or path to appeal. One business migrated from six years on another platform, transferred all their courses, and enrolled hundreds of students, only to have their Kajabi account terminated shortly after, with no communication.

Another account was suspended for alleged spam violations on emails that literally linked to Kajabi products. The account owner spent days reaching out through every support channel they could find, including LinkedIn and Reddit, and received no response before their support ticket was automatically closed.

In both cases, student enrollments and content were inaccessible. There was no human to speak with and no process to follow.

Who Should Look for a Kajabi Alternative?

You should seriously consider alternatives if you:

• Are on a tight budget: entry-level plans are expensive, and Kajabi raised prices by up to 25% in 2025 with no added features for existing plan tiers
• Run a membership or community business: the parked plan locks you out of your own content and student data while still charging you monthly
• Process high transaction volumes: Kajabi Payments has a documented pattern of placing holds on funds with no clear resolution timeline
• Need responsive support: there is no phone support below the top-tier plan, and the AI chat bot frequently gives incorrect guidance
• Are building at scale: marketing forms are hard-capped at 50 fields across your entire site with no option to increase it
• Want control over your payment setup: Kajabi has been reported to retain control over connected Stripe accounts even after users attempt to disconnect
• Are just starting out: the trial auto-enrolls you into the most expensive plan at $399/month when it ends, with no refund policy if you miss the cancellation window
• Value long-term pricing stability: loyal customers are excluded from promotional pricing offered to new sign-ups and have no leverage during price increases

Best Kajabi Alternatives at a Glance

Tool	Best For	Starting Price
Thinkific	Scaling course creators who want unlimited courses and students without paying for a marketing suite they don’t need	Starts from $49/month
Teachable	Course creators selling internationally who want US sales tax, global VAT, and GST handled automatically	Starts from $29/month
Podia	Multi-product creators who want to sell courses, downloads, coaching, and webinars under one plan without hitting product limits	Starts from $39/month
LearnWorlds	Educators and trainers who want interactive, professional-grade course delivery with SCORM support	Starts from $29/month
Klasio	Course creators who want predictable billing with no auto-renewal traps, 0% commission, and a student mobile app included from the free plan	Free + Starts from $49/month
Systeme.io	Bootstrapped beginners who need funnels, email marketing, and course hosting before they can justify paying for any of it	Free + Starts from $27/month
ThriveCart	Revenue-focused creators who want to eliminate monthly platform fees entirely and maximize checkout conversions	One-time from $495

Now, let’s get to know more about the best Kajabi alternatives.

Thinkific – Best for Scaling Course Creators

Thinkific is one of the most established course platforms in the space, and for creators leaving Kajabi, the contrast in pricing alone is hard to ignore. 

Plans start at $49/month compared to Kajabi’s $89/month. Every plan includes unlimited courses and unlimited students with no caps as your audience grows. 

On the course delivery side, you get a drag-and-drop builder, a custom domain, full content ownership, and more. You also get TCommerce, Thinkific’s integrated payments suite that handles sales tax, transaction reporting, and one-click payment control. 

Higher tiers add live lessons, assignments, membership plans, payment plans, bulk enrollments, and API access for connecting your existing tools. 

For larger operations, Thinkific Plus includes CRM integrations with Salesforce and HubSpot, SSO, advanced analytics, and priority support via email, phone, and chat. SCORM is also available at that tier if you’re running structured compliance or certification programs. 

Where it falls short: Thinkific’s marketing and automation tools are basic. If built-in funnels, advanced email automation, or a website builder that doubles as a sales tool are non-negotiable for you, you’ll need external tools to fill those gaps. Transaction fees also apply if you process payments outside of Thinkific Payments.

Read More: Best Thinkific Alternatives

Teachable — Best for International Course Creators

Teachable has been around long enough to have figured out one of the biggest headaches for course creators selling globally, which is managing tax compliance across different countries.

Every paid Teachable plan includes automatic handling of US sales tax, global VAT, and GST. So, you’re not piecing together third-party tools or manually tracking tax obligations across countries.

On the course side, you get a drag-and-drop builder, built-in AI tools to draft content, create sales pages, and transcribe and translate video subtitles. Memberships are also available across all paid plans, with multiple pricing tiers and exclusive content options built in without needing third-party tools. 

Higher tiers add affiliate marketing tools, abandoned cart emails, course certificates, and auto-graded quizzes. 

The Builder plan and above come with 0% base transaction fees, so you keep more of what you earn as your volume grows. The Starter plan carries a 7.5% transaction fee, which is worth factoring in if you’re planning to sell at any real volume from day one. 

Where it falls short: product limits are tiered by plan. You can sell up to one course on Starter, five on Builder, and 25 on Growth. If you have a large course catalog or plan to build one quickly, you’ll hit those walls sooner than you expect. 

Read More: Best Teachable Alternatives

Podia — Best for Multi-Product Course Creators

Podia is built for creators who sell more than just courses. Under one subscription, you get a full website, blog, unlimited landing pages, and the ability to sell courses, digital downloads, coaching, and webinars. 

Unlike Kajabi, which charges you more as your product catalog grows, Podia includes unlimited courses and products on both paid plans with no student caps. Email marketing is also built in, with automations, newsletters, segmentation, and tagging all included without needing a separate tool.

Podia runs payments through Stripe or PayPal, so you’re working with processors you already know rather than a proprietary system that can hold your funds. Affiliate marketing is available on the Shaker plan at $89/month, which also removes Podia’s transaction fee entirely.

One thing worth noting if you’re migrating: Podia’s team will manually move your products, courses, email automations, and email list over for free on all paid plans. If you’ve spent months building your course catalog on Kajabi, that’s a meaningful offer.

Where it falls short: Podia’s course builder is functional but not as polished as some dedicated LMS platforms. If interactive content, certificates, or advanced student assessments are central to your courses, you may find the toolset limiting.

Read More: Best Podia Alternatives

LearnWorlds — Best for Interactive Course Creators

If the quality of the learning experience is central to what you sell, LearnWorlds is worth a close look. 

Most course platforms let you upload videos and add a quiz at the end of a module. LearnWorlds goes further: its interactive video editor lets you embed clickable questions, buttons, titles, and branching interactions directly inside the video itself. 

LearnWorlds’s plans start at $29/month, though that tier carries a $5 flat fee per course enrollment. The Pro Trainer plan at $99/month removes that fee entirely and adds subscriptions, memberships, affiliate management, live sessions, certificates, and SCORM support. If you’re building certification programs or selling compliance-adjacent content, having SCORM at that price point is notable. 

On Kajabi, structured learning features at this level come wrapped in a much higher price tag with far less flexibility on the course delivery side.

The Learning Center plan at $299/month unlocks AI-generated subtitles, interactive videos with AI, unlimited SCORMs, API access, SSO, and advanced analytics with scheduled reports. That’s a realistic option for creators running training academies or B2B programs who need enterprise-level reporting without enterprise-level pricing.

Where it falls short: LearnWorlds is built for course delivery, and its marketing tools reflect that. You get landing pages, funnels, and mass email on the Pro plan, but if you want deep automation or a full website experience comparable to what Kajabi offers, you’ll still need to supplement with external tools.

Read More: Best LearnWorlds Alternatives

Klasio — Best for Mobile-First Course Creators

Klasio is a newer platform that has been building a following among creators who want a clean, modern LMS without the pricing anxiety that comes with Kajabi. Monthly plans start at $49/month with 0% commission, and there’s a free plan that lets you test the platform with one course and up to 50 students before paying anything.

What separates Klasio from most platforms at this price point is that the student mobile app is included on every paid plan at no extra cost. Your students can access courses on Android and iOS out of the box. Kajabi charges significantly more just to get near that feature, and several competitors treat it as a premium add-on.

Every paid plan also includes quizzes, assignments, course certificates, gamification, leaderboards, and bulk student import. That last one matters if you’re migrating from Kajabi with an existing student roster, you’re not manually re-enrolling anyone. 

Live sessions run through Zoom and Google Meet integrations, and payments are processed through Stripe and PayPal with no proprietary payment system involved.

For creators who want to eliminate monthly fees entirely, Klasio offers lifetime plans starting at $399, though those carry a small commission on sales. The monthly plans carry no commission at all.

Where it falls short: Klasio is still a growing platform. If your course business depends on deep third-party automation or a mature integration ecosystem, you may find the toolset limiting while the platform catches up.

Read More: Klasio vs Kajabi

Systeme.io — Best for Budget Course Creators

Systeme.io starts where most platforms stop: its free plan includes a course, a sales funnel, email marketing, an affiliate program, unlimited students, and 0% transaction fees. No credit card required, and it never expires. 

For creators who are still building their audience and can’t justify paying Kajabi’s entry-level price before they’ve made a single sale, that’s a meaningful starting point.

Paid plans start at $27/month and scale based primarily on your contact count rather than the features you can access. That’s a meaningful structural difference from how Kajabi prices things. 

Every plan, including the free one, includes unlimited email sends, unlimited file storage, unlimited students, and 0% transaction fees. Funnels, automations, blogs, coupon codes, order bumps, and an affiliate program are also included across the board. 

Payments run through Stripe, PayPal, Razorpay, Flutterwave, and several other processors, depending on your region.

The Unlimited plan at $97/month adds unlimited contacts, sub-accounts, evergreen webinars, and a free migration service from your current platform.

Where it falls short: Systeme.io is a marketing and funnel tool first, and the course delivery experience reflects that. If your students expect a polished, feature-rich learning environment with interactive content, advanced quizzes, or certificates, you’ll find the course builder functional but basic compared to dedicated LMS platforms.

ThriveCart — Best for Revenue-Focused Course Creators

ThriveCart takes a fundamentally different approach to pricing than every other platform on this list. You pay $495 once and own it. No monthly fees, no contact limits, no annual price increases, and no risk of waking up to a billing surprise the way Kajabi users have described.

That single payment gets you a checkout platform built specifically to convert, plus ThriveCart Learn, a built-in LMS where you can create unlimited courses with unlimited students, drip content, gated access, and modules tied directly to your checkout. 

Order bumps, one-click upsells, A/B testing, and coupon management are all included from day one. The affiliate management system is also built in, with custom commission structures, automated payouts, and referral tracking handled inside the same dashboard.

If you need more from the LMS side, Learn+ is available as a separate one-time upgrade and adds course bundles, custom domains, student tagging, behavior-based automations, and CSV student import. 

The Pro+ upgrade adds advanced subscription management, deeper reporting, and dunning tools for recovering failed payments.

Where it falls short: ThriveCart is a checkout and sales platform first. The course delivery experience through Learn is solid but not as polished as dedicated LMS platforms like LearnWorlds. 

You’ll also still need a separate email marketing tool, since ThriveCart integrates with platforms like ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, and ConvertKit rather than replacing them. If you’re still building your audience and haven’t validated your course yet, a $495 upfront investment requires more certainty than a $29/month subscription does.

Final Verdict: Which Kajabi Alternative is the Best for You?

We hope this breakdown has given you a clearer picture of what is actually available in 2026. As you have seen, most platforms force a trade-off.

A robust marketing suite with a bloated price tag, or an affordable course platform that leaves you stitching together external tools. Billing surprises, support black holes, and features locked behind expensive tiers are not unique to Kajabi. They are patterns that show up across the legacy platforms in this space.

Klasio was built with a different set of priorities. The Starter plan at $49 per month already includes a custom domain, branding removal, a student mobile app, an AI assistant, gamification, certificates, quizzes, assignments, a blog, a lead manager, and native Zoom and Google Meet integrations. These are the exact features Kajabi reviewers repeatedly described as being buried inside plans that cost three to eight times more. On Klasio, they sit at the entry tier.

On billing, the structure is predictable by design. The free plan requires no credit card, so there is no auto-charge waiting at the end of a trial period. Monthly plans carry 0% commission on your sales. And if you want to exit the recurring billing model entirely, Lifetime Deals start at $399 as a one-time payment with updates and support included.

On payments, Klasio never touches your money. You connect your own Stripe, PayPal, or Razorpay account, and payments go directly there, with no proprietary processor layer in between. If the Kajabi Payments fund-hold situation is what pushed you to look for alternatives, this is the most direct answer to that problem.

For creators moving over from Kajabi, Klasio offers free migration help so you are not rebuilding your courses page by page. And if you want to evaluate the platform before committing, the free plan gives you one course, 50 students, and quiz and assignment features, which is enough to run a real pilot cohort before you pay anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kajabi worth it?

Yes, Kajabi is worth it, although not perfect. It’s an all‑in‑one platform combining course hosting, website building, email marketing, sales funnels, memberships, mobile apps, analytics, and CRM in one seamless suite. It is ideal if you want to avoid tech fragmentation and pay for multiple subscriptions. 

Does Kajabi take a percentage of sales?

No, Kajabo does not take a percentage of sales. However, you’ll pay standard payment processor fees per transaction.

Do I own my content on Kajabi?

Yes, you fully retain ownership of your digital products and content hosted on Kajabi. It’s your platform and your IP.

How much does Kajabi cost a month?

Plans start at $89/month (Kickstarter), $149/month (Basic), then $199/month (Growth) and $399/month (Pro), with a ~20% discount if paid annually.

Does Kajabi have a CRM?

Yes, Kajabi includes a built‑in CRM that manages contacts, automations, analytics, and customer journeys as part of its core features.