If you sell $5,000 of courses on Kajabi’s Basic plan through a third-party Stripe checkout, the platform takes 2% before Stripe even touches the money. That is $100 a month, on top of the $179 subscription. Move the same volume through Kartra’s Starter plan and the transaction fee is 0%. The subscription is lower at $119, and the math favours Kartra once you factor in the fee.
That kind of fee asymmetry is why the kartra vs kajabi decision deserves more than a feature list. Both platforms promise to replace your course host, email tool, funnel builder, and checkout. Both charge enough that a wrong pick burns real money. And both have been busy in 2026, with Kartra launching a cheaper Essentials tier and Kajabi pushing transaction fees lower on its higher plans.
Quick disclosure before we go further. We build Kourses, a competing platform with 0% transaction fees on every plan. That is our angle, and we will admit our trade-offs (no native mobile app yet). The rest is verified 2026 pricing, real cost math, and an honest read on who each platform actually serves.
Kartra vs Kajabi at a glance
Here is the side-by-side, current as of June 2026. Use it as a fast filter before reading the breakdown.
| Feature | Kartra | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (monthly) | $59 (Essentials) | $179 (Basic) |
| Starting price (annual, effective/mo) | $52 | $143 |
| Transaction fees (entry plan) | 5% on Essentials | 2% on Basic |
| Transaction fees (paid plans) | 0% on Starter, Growth, Pro | 1% Growth, 0.5% Pro |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Money-back guarantee | 30 days | Not advertised on pricing page |
| Email marketing | Built in, unlimited on Starter and up | Built in across all plans |
| Funnel builder | Yes, core product | Yes, marketed as "Sales Pipelines" |
| Community feature | Add-on style, limited | Native, included on every plan |
| Mobile app for learners | Yes | Yes, branded option on higher tiers |
| Best for | Funnel-driven sellers and consultants | Knowledge entrepreneurs and coaches |
Two patterns jump out. Kartra’s paid plans drop transaction fees to 0% almost immediately. Kajabi’s fee schedule scales with how much you pay them, meaning you keep paying a percentage until you reach the $499 Pro tier. The other pattern: Kajabi includes a community on every plan, Kartra treats community more as a bolt-on.
Pricing in 2026 (with break-even math)
Subscription price is the sticker. Transaction fees are the bill you actually pay. Here is how the two platforms compare in detail, with the math that matters.
Kajabi’s tiered fee structure
Kajabi has four plans in 2026, and the transaction fee on third-party processors steps down as you spend more.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (eff./mo) | 3rd-party fee | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $179 | $143 | 2% | More products, contacts, communities |
| Growth | $249 | $199 | 1% | 500 AI credits/mo, 5 admins, most popular |
| Pro | $499 | $399 | 0.5% | 10,000 contacts, 3 websites, 1,000 AI credits/mo |
A couple of things to flag. The transaction fee applies when you use a third-party processor like a connected Stripe or PayPal account outside Kajabi Payments. If you route payments through Kajabi Payments instead, the platform fee disappears, but you still pay processing (2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, dropping to 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro). There is no truly fee-free path on Kajabi until you compare like for like against a flat Stripe rate.
Kartra’s new Essentials tier and the 5% trade-off
Kartra restructured in 2026. The big change is a new Essentials plan at $59 monthly that brings the entry price below Kajabi’s Basic. The catch: Essentials carries a 5% transaction fee, mirroring Kajabi’s entry tier. Every other Kartra plan keeps the 0% transaction fee that made Kartra distinctive in the first place.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (eff./mo) | Transaction fee | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials (new) | $59 | $52 | 5% | Solopreneur tier, 10,000 emails/mo, 1 custom domain |
| Starter | $119 | $99 | 0% | Unlimited email/SMS, "best value" |
| Growth | $229 | $189 | 0% | Established businesses, advanced automations |
| Professional | $549 | $429 | 0% | 25,000 contacts, real-time funnel analytics, 5 domains |
Kartra also offers a 14-day free trial on all plans and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
The reason Essentials exists is to compete on the headline number against entry tiers from Kajabi, Systeme.io, and the rest. If you are doing under $1,000 a month in revenue, the 5% fee is fine. The moment you cross meaningful volume, Kartra Starter at $119 with 0% becomes the only sensible choice.
Real cost example: $5,000/mo creator on each
Let’s run the numbers on a creator doing $5,000 monthly in course revenue, billed annually, processing through a third-party Stripe.
Kajabi Basic at $143/mo (annual):
– Subscription: $143
– 2% transaction fee on $5,000: $100
– Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30 on average $50 transactions, 100 txns): $175
– Total monthly cost: $418
Kartra Starter at $99/mo (annual):
– Subscription: $99
– 0% Kartra transaction fee: $0
– Stripe processing (same assumptions): $175
– Total monthly cost: $274
That is a $144 difference per month, or roughly $1,728 per year, in favour of Kartra at this revenue level. Even on Kajabi Growth at $199/mo with a 1% fee, Kartra Starter at $99 still comes out ahead. At $5,000 monthly revenue, no Kajabi plan beats Kartra Starter on total cost, the subscription increases on higher Kajabi tiers outweigh the fee savings at this volume.
For most creators, between $2,000 and $20,000 monthly, Kartra Starter or Growth wins on raw cost. At higher revenue levels, Kajabi’s lower fee tiers help narrow the gap, but Kartra Starter’s 0% fee keeps it ahead for most creators.
What Kartra does better
Kartra was built around funnels first and a course host second. That ordering shows.
Funnel logic. Kartra’s “BAM” (Behavioural Adaptive Marketing) engine lets you trigger sequences based on what someone watched, clicked, or skipped. If a buyer abandons checkout at 70%, Kartra can move them to a different list, fire a recovery email, and unlock a bonus video, all from one rule. Kajabi’s automations are improving but still feel more like “send email when tag added” than true behavioural branching.
Built-in video hosting with analytics. Kartra video tracks per-second drop-off, integrates calls-to-action into the player, and ties watch time to tags. Kajabi has video, but most pros pair it with Wistia or Vimeo for serious analytics.
Transaction fees. Already covered above. The 0% across Starter, Growth, and Pro is a real differentiator. Kajabi only gets to 0.5% on a $499 plan.
Real-time analytics on Professional. Kartra’s Pro tier exposes funnel performance live. For a paid traffic operator running Facebook or YouTube ads to a course funnel, this is the difference between adjusting bids on Tuesday versus the following Monday.
Affiliate program built in. Both platforms include an affiliate program, but Kartra’s is more granular, with tiered commissions, second-tier earnings, and JV recruitment workflows out of the box.
What Kajabi does better
Kajabi’s strength is the opposite shape. It was built for knowledge entrepreneurs and coaches, and the polish shows where Kartra is rougher.
Course experience. Kajabi’s learner interface is cleaner. Drip schedules, progress tracking, certificates, and quizzes all feel like native first-class features. Kartra’s course player works, but it looks more like a 2018 funnel builder grew a learning tab.
Community. Every Kajabi plan includes a native community. Discussion threads, member directories, live events, and challenges run inside the same platform as the course. Kartra has community capability but it is less developed, and many Kartra users end up paying for Circle or Skool on top.
Mobile app. Kajabi offers a branded mobile app option on higher tiers (Branded Mobile App is available as an add-on or on Pro). Your learners get push notifications and offline access. Kartra has a learner app but it is less polished and less prominent.
AI credits. Kajabi includes 500 AI credits on Growth and 1,000 on Pro for content generation, outlines, and email drafts. Useful if you are writing your sales page tonight at 11pm.
Brand consistency. Kajabi’s site builder, email templates, and checkout pages share a visual system. Kartra’s pages can look like a different product line on each step unless you put work in.
If you are a coach, knowledge entrepreneur, or course creator who needs community and course delivery to look professional out of the box, Kajabi wins this lane. The kajabi vs kartra trade-off becomes “polish and product depth” against “marketing engine and fee structure.”
Features compared side by side
| Feature | Kartra | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Course creation | Yes, basic to mid | Yes, strongest in category |
| Drip content | Yes | Yes |
| Quizzes and assessments | Yes | Yes |
| Certificates | Yes | Yes |
| Membership sites | Yes | Yes |
| Community | Basic | Native, on every plan |
| Email marketing | Yes, unlimited on $119+ | Yes, included |
| Marketing automations | Behavioural (BAM engine) | Tag-based, improving |
| Sales funnels | Core strength | Yes, called Pipelines |
| Landing pages | Yes | Yes |
| Checkout pages | Yes, multiple payment plans | Yes |
| Order bumps and upsells | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliate program | Yes, advanced | Yes |
| Video hosting | Yes, native with analytics | Yes, usually paired with Wistia |
| Mobile app for learners | Yes | Yes, branded option available |
| Webinars | Native | Add-on or third-party |
| Calendar / booking | Native | Add-on or third-party |
| AI tools | Limited | 500 to 1,000 credits on higher tiers |
| Custom domains | 1 to 5 | Included |
| API and integrations | Yes | Yes |
Where Kartra pulls ahead: native webinars, native calendar, behavioural automations, and the affiliate platform. Where Kajabi pulls ahead: community, learner experience, AI credits, and the branded mobile app on higher tiers.
Kartra vs Kajabi: who is each best for?
The honest answer depends on what you actually sell and how you sell it.
Choose Kartra if
You run paid traffic to funnels, you sell via webinar or evergreen video sales letter, or you offer high-ticket consulting that needs a calendar and a CRM in the same place. The 0% transaction fees on Starter and up will save you four-figure sums annually once you cross $3,000 monthly revenue. Kartra’s BAM engine pays off when you actually use it, which means it suits operators, not first-time creators.
Choose Kajabi if
You sell courses and memberships to a community. You want one product where the course player, the community, and the email tool feel like they were designed together. You are willing to pay a percentage on top of the subscription because the platform polish saves you time. Kajabi is a strong pick for coaches, knowledge experts, and anyone whose offer leans on people staying engaged for months. If you want a deeper dive on what Kajabi actually costs, see our Kajabi pricing breakdown.
Consider an alternative if
Neither platform feels right, which happens more often than the marketing suggests. The shared pain points: Kajabi’s fees scale with revenue exactly when you do not want them to, and Kartra’s interface has a steeper curve than expected for non-marketers. We list options in our Kajabi alternatives round-up, and there is a fuller comparison of how Kourses compares to Kajabi if you want our angle.
The honest trade-off if you pick Kourses: we charge 0% transaction fees on every plan, which fixes the Kajabi fee problem, but we do not yet ship a native mobile app for learners. If a branded iOS or Android app is a hard requirement, Kajabi is the safer pick. If your audience accesses on web (most do), the math goes the other way fast.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Kartra or Kajabi?
At the headline level, Kartra Essentials at $59 monthly is cheaper than Kajabi Basic at $179. Once you include transaction fees, Kartra Starter at $119 with 0% fees beats Kajabi Basic at $179 with 2% fees at almost any revenue level. At $5,000 monthly revenue, Kartra Starter costs roughly $144 less per month all in, and no Kajabi plan beats it on total cost at this volume.
Does Kartra charge transaction fees?
Kartra’s new Essentials plan ($59/mo) carries a 5% transaction fee. Starter, Growth, and Professional all have a 0% Kartra transaction fee. You still pay your payment processor (Stripe, PayPal) their standard 2.9% + $0.30, which is true on every platform, since that goes to the card networks, not the host.
Is Kajabi worth $179 a month?
Kajabi Basic at $179 ($143 on annual) is worth it for a coach or course creator who values the integrated community, the polished learner experience, and a single tool replacing four or five separate subscriptions. The 2% transaction fee on Basic is manageable but compounds at scale. Most Kajabi users move to Growth once revenue justifies it. If you are still validating an idea, the Basic cost is meaningful and Kartra or Kourses may be a better fit at that stage.
Can you switch from Kartra to Kajabi (or vice versa)?
Yes, but it is work. Both platforms export student records, contacts, and email lists in CSV format. Course content (videos, PDFs, quiz questions) has to be rebuilt manually because the course module structures do not map one to one. Email automations also need rebuilding. Plan on two to four weekends for a clean migration if you have an established library. Sales funnels and landing pages are the hardest to port, and most creators rebuild rather than convert. Our Kajabi vs ClickFunnels comparison covers similar migration questions.
The bottom line
The kartra or kajabi question gets answered by what you actually sell.
If your business is paid traffic, funnels, webinars, and consulting, Kartra wins on cost and on capability. The 0% transaction fees alone save serious money at any meaningful revenue level, and the behavioural automations are a generation ahead of Kajabi’s tag-based system. The trade-off is a steeper learning curve and a less polished course experience.
If your business is courses, communities, and long-term member relationships, Kajabi wins on product polish and on the native community that you would otherwise have to bolt on separately. The trade-off is the transaction fee schedule, which keeps clipping a percentage off every sale until you commit to the $499 Pro plan.
For a creator who looks at both and thinks “I want the 0% fees of Kartra with the polish of Kajabi,” that combination exists outside the duopoly. We built Kourses for exactly that gap, with honest pricing and no transaction fee on any plan, while admitting we do not yet have the native mobile app that Kajabi offers.
Whichever way you go, the smart move is to put real numbers behind the decision. Take your current monthly revenue, apply each fee schedule, and look at the 12-month total. The “cheaper” platform on the homepage is rarely the cheaper platform in your bank account.
Pricing accurate as of June 3, 2026. Verified from: https://kajabi.com/pricing, https://home.kartra.com/pricing.
Ready to test a third option? Start a Kourses 14-day free trial with 0% transaction fees on every plan. No native mobile app yet, that is our honest trade-off. Everything else, we think you will like.
