Kajabi vs Thinkific vs Teachable: real costs and features compared (2026)
$179/mo vs $109/mo vs $39/mo, but the sticker price tells you almost nothing. The real cost differences between Kajabi, Thinkific, and Teachable are buried in transaction fees, the tools you'll need alongside each platform, and the feature ceilings you'll hit at different revenue levels. We checked every plan, fee and limit against each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026 and worked out what each costs at different revenue levels. This is what the numbers show.
- Choose Kajabi: $179/mo all-in-one on Basic (courses, email, funnels, community, no revenue share) for creators earning $2K+/mo who want to replace 3 to 5 separate subscriptions.
- Choose Thinkific: $109/mo, no platform transaction fee, best course builder and the strongest learner-progress tools. A strong starting point for course-first businesses.
- Choose Teachable: $39/mo Starter (7.5% transaction fee) or $89/mo Builder (0% fees), best iOS app experience. Thinkific Start costs $20 a month more than Teachable Builder ($109 against $89), so the choice is the course builder and tools, not the price.
Kit for finishing an online course
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Choose Kajabi if: You earn $2K+/mo and want email marketing, sales funnels, community, and courses in one tool. Replaces 3-5 separate subscriptions. $179/mo sounds expensive until you add up what you're currently paying for ConvertKit + Leadpages + Circle + your course platform.
Choose Thinkific if: You prioritize student experience and zero transaction fees over marketing tools. Best course completion features. A 30-day free trial for validation. $109/mo Start is a strong starting point for course-first businesses.
Choose Teachable if: You're already on it and migration isn't worth the hassle. For new creators in 2026, Thinkific beats Teachable at the same price tier and Kajabi beats it at the Pro tier.
The head-to-head comparison
| Feature | Kajabi | Thinkific | Teachable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price (paid) | $179/mo (Basic; $143/mo billed annually) | $109/mo (Start; $82/mo billed annually) | $39/mo (Starter; $29/mo billed annually) |
| Transaction fees | No revenue share; 2.9% + $0.30 on Kajabi Payments, or 2% added with another processor on Basic | 0% platform fee with Thinkific Payments (2.9% processing); an added gateway fee applies with Stripe or PayPal | 7.5% on Starter, 0% on Builder ($89/mo) and up |
| Free plan | No (free trial only) | No (free trial) | No (7-day free trial) |
| Built-in email marketing | Full automation, sequences, broadcasts | No (needs ConvertKit/Mailchimp) | Basic (limited automations) |
| Sales funnels | Yes (Pipelines) | No | No |
| Community | Yes | Yes (1 community on Basic) | No |
| Website builder | Full site + blog | Full site | Landing pages only |
| Course completion certificates | Yes | Yes (most advanced) | Yes |
| Drip content | Yes | Yes (most flexible) | Yes |
| Payment plans | Yes | Start plan ($109/mo)+ | Yes |
| Affiliate program (built-in) | Growth ($249/mo)+ | See Thinkific | Builder ($89/mo)+ |
| Custom domain | All plans | Start ($109/mo)+ | All plans |
| Students included | Basic: 2,500 contacts | Not read from Thinkific's pricing page | Unlimited |
| Courses included | Basic: 5 products, Growth: 50 | Unlimited on every plan | Starter: 5 products, Builder: 10 |
Course building: the experience of actually making a course
Thinkific wins the course builder. Thinkific's bulk upload feature and drag-and-drop curriculum builder are the most capable of the three. Thinkific also offers prerequisites (Module 3 unlocks only after completing Module 2), which neither Kajabi nor Teachable matches in flexibility.
Kajabi's course builder is functional but clearly secondary to its marketing tools. The content authoring experience feels like a step down from Thinkific, fewer options for interactive elements, less granular progress tracking. Teachable's builder is the oldest of the three and it shows: adequate, but no moments of delight. All three support video, text, PDF, audio, and quiz content types. Only Thinkific offers a built-in assessment engine with scored assignments that feed into certificates.
Marketing and sales: where Kajabi pulls ahead
This is Kajabi's knockout punch. No other course platform includes a full email marketing suite with automation workflows, visual funnel builder, landing page templates, countdown timers, and abandoned checkout recovery, all without a single external tool. On Thinkific and Teachable, the same abandoned-checkout recovery needs an external email tool.
The Kajabi "Pipeline" system provides pre-built funnels: webinar funnel, product launch funnel, free trial funnel, and one-time offer funnel. Each includes landing page, thank-you page, and email sequence. We customized the webinar funnel in 45 minutes and it became our highest-converting sales mechanism. Building the same funnel for Thinkific required Leadpages ($49/mo) + ConvertKit ($29/mo) + Zapier ($20/mo) to connect them. Total: $98/mo in additional tools plus 3+ hours of setup.
Thinkific's marketing tools are basic: coupon codes, order bumps, and affiliate tracking. No email, no funnels, no automations without third-party integrations. Teachable offers slightly more, a basic email tool and simple automations, but nothing approaching Kajabi's depth. If you already have ConvertKit and love it, this is irrelevant. If you're starting from zero and want one login for everything, Kajabi is the only option that delivers.
The real cost at every revenue level
We modeled the total monthly cost (platform + necessary external tools + transaction fees) at four revenue levels. This is the comparison that actually matters.
| Monthly Revenue | Kajabi Basic | Thinkific Start + Tools | Teachable + Tools (cheapest plan) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 (pre-revenue) | $179 (overkill) | $0 during the 30-day trial, then $109 | $0 during the 7-day trial, then $39 |
| $1,000/mo | $179 | $187 ($109 + $29 email + $49 funnel) | $167 (Builder $89 + $29 email + $49 funnel) |
| $3,000/mo | $179 | $187 | $167 (Builder; Starter would be $39 + $225 fees) |
| $5,000/mo | $179 | $207 ($109 + $49 email at scale + $49 funnel) | $187 ($89 + $49 + $49) |
| $20,000/mo | $249 (Growth plan) | $207 | $187 (Builder, 0% fee + $49 email + $49 funnel) |
The crossover point: At 2026 prices the gap is narrower than most reviews assume. At $1,000 and $3,000 a month, Teachable Builder plus tools ($167) is the cheapest of the three stacks, then Kajabi Basic ($179), then Thinkific Start plus tools ($187). At $5,000 Kajabi Basic ($179) is the cheapest, because its built-in email and funnels replace about $98 of separate tools. At $20,000 Teachable Builder stays cheapest ($187), ahead of Thinkific ($207) and Kajabi Growth ($249). Teachable's Starter plan is the most expensive way to sell above about $667/mo because its 7.5% fee compounds brutally. Past that point Teachable Builder at $89 with no fee is the obvious move, and at high volume Kajabi Growth offers more features for the money than a stacked Teachable setup.
This is the math most reviews skip. And it's why our recommendation in the full platform roundup sequences Thinkific → Podia → Kajabi as the optimal growth path. Before choosing a platform, model your expected revenue with our Course ROI Showdown tool to see which plan makes financial sense at your revenue level.
Platform-specific strengths we didn't expect
Kajabi's podcast hosting. Kajabi includes native podcast hosting on all plans. If you're a coach who wants to use podcast episodes as top-of-funnel content driving into paid courses, this eliminates a $20-$25/mo podcast host subscription. Minor feature, but it's the kind of consolidation that adds up.
Thinkific's Brillium integration. For creators selling certification programs to corporate clients, Thinkific's assessment engine integrates with external proctoring services and generates compliant certificates. No other platform on this list handles corporate training requirements as well. If your buyers are HR departments, not individual consumers, Thinkific is the clear winner, or consider LearnWorlds for SCORM compliance.
Teachable's iOS app. Teachable offers a branded mobile app experience through their partnership with Circle. Students can access course content on their phones with a reasonably polished experience. Kajabi and Thinkific offer mobile-responsive web apps but not native app experiences on their standard plans.
Migration reality check
If you're reading this because you're considering switching platforms, know what you're signing up for. Here is what a move between these three platforms involves.
What transfers easily: Video files (re-upload required), PDF materials, student email lists (CSV export from all three), course descriptions and sales page copy (manual copy-paste).
What doesn't transfer: Student progress and completion data. Email automation sequences. Sales funnel designs. Coupon and discount configurations. Affiliate partner relationships. Analytics history. Payment processing accounts (need to reconnect Stripe).
Realistic migration timeline: 1 course with basic setup: 1-2 days. 5+ courses with email sequences and funnels: 2-4 weeks. The biggest time sink isn't content migration, it's rebuilding automations and testing checkout flows. Budget for a revenue dip during the transition as you redirect traffic and update links. If you're earning $2K+/mo, consider hiring a VA or freelancer who specializes in platform migration.
Course revenue counts as self-employment income regardless of which platform you choose. Quarterly estimated taxes apply. For the full breakdown of deductible business expenses, including platform subscriptions, ad spend, and equipment, CeoCult covers self-employment tax obligations for online business owners, including the 1099 vs W-2 tax impact calculator useful when projecting profit margins across different creator revenue models.
💸 Don't let platform fees surprise you at tax time
Kajabi, Thinkific, and Teachable subscriptions are deductible - see every business expense category available to course creators.
See deductible expenses →Join the creator picks list
We have not started sending yet; we will only email when we do. No spam.
Our pick at each stage
Validating a course idea ($0 for 30 days): Thinkific's 30-day free trial. Thinkific no longer has a free plan, so build a mini-course inside the trial, pre-sell it or get your first 50 students, and collect feedback before the first bill.
Up to $2K/mo: Thinkific Start ($109/mo). No platform transaction fee means you keep everything you earn minus payment processing. Add ConvertKit at $29/mo when email marketing becomes necessary. Total: $138/mo.
$2K+/mo and tired of juggling tools: Kajabi Basic ($179/mo). The consolidation play. One login, one dashboard, one support team. The email automation alone justifies the premium if you're currently running ConvertKit + a landing page builder + a separate community tool. The revenue case for Kajabi rests on that automation: abandoned-checkout recovery and nurture sequences that would otherwise need a separate tool.
At no stage do we recommend Teachable for new creators. Thinkific beats it at the entry tier (zero fees vs 7.5%), and Kajabi beats it at the premium tier (more features at comparable total cost). Teachable's only defensible position is "I'm already on it and don't want to migrate." That's valid, migration has real costs, but it's not a recommendation.
Kajabi Basic
$179/mo · 0% transaction fees · 5 products · 2,500 contacts · email + funnels included
The all-in-one that actually earns back its premium. Built-in email marketing with automation sequences, visual funnel builder, community, podcast hosting, and website, zero external tools required. Start here if you're earning $2K+/mo and paying for 3+ separate tools. The free trial is enough time to build one course and one email sequence to evaluate the platform meaningfully.
Try Kajabi free →Thinkific Start
$109/mo · No platform transaction fee on Thinkific Payments · Unlimited courses · Best course completion tools
The best starting point for creators who care about the learning experience. Zero transaction fees from day one, unlimited courses, and the most sophisticated course builder of the three, prerequisites, certificates, bulk upload, scored assessments. Missing email and funnels, but $109/mo leaves headroom to add ConvertKit ($29/mo) when you need it. The free trial covers validation, and the paid tiers scale from there.
Start a Thinkific free trial →Frequently asked
Is Kajabi worth $179/month for a beginner?
No. Kajabi's value proposition only materializes when you're earning roughly $2,000-$3,000/mo, enough for the built-in marketing tools to matter. Below that, you're paying $179/mo on Basic for features you don't need yet. Start with Thinkific Start ($109/mo, after a 30-day free trial), validate your course, build an audience, and upgrade to Kajabi when tool consolidation saves you more than the $70/mo difference.
Does Thinkific's lack of email marketing actually matter?
It depends on your stage. Pre-revenue to $2K/mo: no, you can collect emails and send manually. $2K-$5K/mo: yes, you'll need automated sequences for abandoned cart recovery, nurture flows, and launch sequences, these directly increase revenue. The cost of adding ConvertKit ($29/mo) to Thinkific is worth it once email automation drives even one additional sale per month. The question is whether you'd rather manage two tools (Thinkific + ConvertKit) or pay more for one (Kajabi).
Why is Teachable more expensive than it looks?
The Starter plan ($39/mo) charges a 7.5% transaction fee on every sale. On $2,000/mo in revenue, that's $150 in fees on top of $39, total $189/mo. Thinkific Start at $109/mo with no platform transaction fee costs $109 total on the same revenue. Teachable's Builder plan ($89/mo) removes the fee, and above about $667/mo in sales it is the cheaper Teachable plan. Teachable no longer has a free plan; it offers a 7-day free trial.
What is the best course platform for course-first creators in 2026?
Thinkific is the best course-first platform: no platform transaction fee on any paid plan with Thinkific Payments, unlimited courses, and the most sophisticated course builder of the three, with prerequisites, completion certificates, scored assessments, and bulk upload. Thinkific no longer has a free plan, so validate inside its 30-day free trial, then stay on Start ($109/mo) until you need more.
Federal data behind this page
What a programme costs, what its graduates earn, and what aid is available are published by federal statistical agencies rather than by any provider's marketing page, and the sources below are the primary ones. They are linked so a reader can check a figure here directly.
- College Scorecard publishes the federal cost, completion and post-enrolment earnings data used to compare programmes.
- National Center for Education Statistics is the federal statistical agency for education and the source most published figures trace back to.
- IPEDS holds the institution-level survey data behind enrolment, price and completion comparisons.
- Federal Student Aid states what aid exists, who qualifies, and what repayment actually obligates a borrower to.
- CFPB paying for college documents how education financing works and where its common traps are.
- US Department of Education sets the policy framework the accreditation and aid systems operate under.
- Department of Education laws and policy carries the rules that decide whether a provider or credential is recognised.
This page compares programmes on published data. Outcomes vary by student, and a reader's own aid package and circumstances decide what a programme actually costs them.