Kajabi vs Teachable (2026): Real Costs & Best Pick

Kajabi and Teachable are the two most recognizable names in online course platforms. Both raised prices in the past year. Both added new features. And both still advertise “0% transaction fees” with asterisks attached that most reviews quietly skip past.

If you’re comparing Kajabi vs Teachable in 2026, the right question isn’t “which one is better.” It’s “which one fits my stage of business and how much will I actually pay?” Sticker prices don’t tell the story. A $29/month (annual plan) with a 7.5% transaction fee can easily cost more than a $179/month (annual plan) with 0% fees, depending on your revenue.

This guide compares Kajabi and Teachable honestly. Real costs at real revenue levels. Feature-by-feature breakdowns. And a frank look at whether either platform is worth it in 2026, or whether a more modern alternative fits your business better.

Kajabi vs Teachable at a glance

Here’s the quick version for scanners. The detailed comparison follows.

TL; DR verdict: Teachable is cheaper on paper, but the Starter plan’s 7.5% transaction fee erases the savings once your revenue scales. Kajabi is more capable but priced for mature businesses and charges a 0.5–2% surcharge when using your own Stripe. Neither is the obvious winner, and for many creators, a newer 0% transaction fee platform solves the problem both platforms leave on the table.

Pricing comparison: the real numbers

Pricing is where most Kajabi vs Teachable comparisons fall short. Reviewers list the advertised monthly cost, note the transaction fee percentage, and move on. The real answer is what each platform costs at a specific revenue level, with all fees included.

Monthly and annual plan costs

Here are both platforms’ 2026 pricing side by side (annual billing shown first, with monthly billing in parentheses).

Kajabi plans (2026):
– Basic: $143/mo ($179 monthly), 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 2 admin users
– Growth: $199/mo ($249 monthly), 50 products, 25,000 contacts, 11 admin users
– Pro: $399/mo ($499 monthly), unlimited products, 100,000 contacts, 26 admin users

Teachable plans (2026):
– Starter: $29/mo ($39 monthly), 1 product, 100 students, 7.5% transaction fee
– Builder: $69/mo ($89 monthly), 5 products, 1,000 students, 0% transaction fee
– Growth: $139/mo ($179 monthly), 25 products, 0% transaction fee, unlimited students
– Custom: Contact sales, 100 products, advanced features

Annual billing saves roughly 20% on Kajabi and 22% on Teachable. Both dropped their free plans: Teachable in June 2025, Kajabi replaced its old tier with the Basic plan in January 2026.

Transaction fees: where it gets expensive

This is where the advertised prices stop telling the truth.

Kajabi transaction surcharges (when using your own Stripe account instead of Kajabi Payments):
– Basic: 2%
– Growth: 1%
– Pro: 0.5%

If you use Kajabi Payments, the surcharge disappears but you pay Kajabi’s processing rates (2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, dropping slightly on higher plans). Kajabi Payments also has hidden surcharges: 0.7% on subscription transactions and 1.5% on international cards.

Teachable transaction fees:
– Starter: 7.5% on top of payment processing
– Builder and above: 0% platform fee, payment processing only

Teachable’s 7.5% Starter fee is the biggest gotcha in either pricing structure. At $5,000 in monthly course sales, that’s $375/month going to Teachable before you even pay Stripe. Upgrading to Builder eliminates the fee but doubles your plan cost.

What each platform actually costs at different revenue levels

Here’s the same revenue level modelled across both platforms, using annual billing and your own Stripe account for Kajabi.

At $5,000/month in course revenue:
– Kajabi Basic: $143 plan + $100 surcharge (2%) = $243/month
– Teachable Starter: $29 plan + $375 surcharge (7.5%) = $404/month
– Teachable Builder: $69 plan + $0 platform fee = $69/month

At $10,000/month in course revenue:
– Kajabi Growth: $199 plan + $100 surcharge (1%) = $299/month
– Teachable Builder: $69 plan + $0 platform fee = $69/month

At $20,000/month in course revenue:
– Kajabi Growth: $199 plan + $200 surcharge (1%) = $399/month
– Teachable Growth: $139 plan + $0 platform fee = $139/month

On a pure cost basis, Teachable wins handily once you’re above the Starter plan. That said, the feature gap between the two platforms matters. Kajabi bundles marketing automation, email, funnels, and a community that Teachable either doesn’t match or charges extra for.

For context on Stripe’s standard processing rates, both platforms layer their own fees on top of the standard 2.9% + 30¢.

Course creation features

Both platforms let you build structured courses with video, text, quizzes, and downloadable resources. The differences are in polish, flexibility, and what each platform does at the edges.

Building and structuring courses

Kajabi and Teachable both offer drag-and-drop course builders with modules and lessons. Kajabi’s builder has more design flexibility and preset templates; Teachable’s is simpler and faster to learn. Neither is dramatically better for basic course creation.

Student experience and engagement

Teachable’s student experience is clean and focused. Kajabi’s is more visually polished but can feel cluttered, especially if you’ve enabled the community, funnels, and email tools. Both support video hosting, progress tracking, and mobile viewing.

Quizzes, certificates, and completion tracking

Kajabi handles quizzes and certificates natively on every plan. Teachable includes certificates from Builder upward but not on Starter. Both track completion, though Kajabi’s reporting is slightly deeper on higher plans.

Neither platform is the undisputed winner on course creation. The decision usually comes down to design preferences and which broader feature set you need beyond courses.

Marketing and sales tools

This is where Kajabi pulls ahead, at a cost.

Email marketing

Kajabi includes full email marketing on all plans with automations, broadcasts, and audience segmentation. Teachable offers basic email tools; most serious users pair it with ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, or a similar tool.

Sales funnels and landing pages

Kajabi’s Pipelines feature is a full funnel builder, comparable to ClickFunnels at a lighter weight. Teachable has landing pages but no equivalent funnel builder. If you rely on long opt-in to sales-page funnels, Kajabi saves you from stacking another tool.

Affiliate programs

Both include affiliate programs, but only on their higher tiers. Kajabi’s affiliate program is available from Growth; Teachable’s from Builder.

Checkout optimization

Here’s where both platforms disappoint. Neither Kajabi nor Teachable includes robust order bumps, one-click upsells, or abandoned cart recovery on their entry plans. Most creators who care about checkout optimization end up adding ThriveCart or a similar tool, stacking more cost onto an already expensive setup. A platform with a conversion-optimized checkout built in sidesteps the problem.

Website and design

Kajabi includes a full website builder with templates and drag-and-drop editing. Most Kajabi users build their entire site on the platform and point a custom domain at it.

Teachable offers branded course pages and a basic sales page builder, but not a full website. You’re expected to have a separate website (WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace) for the rest of your brand presence.

For creators who want one login and one bill, Kajabi’s integrated website is a real advantage. For creators who already have a website and just need course delivery, Teachable’s lighter footprint is the point.

Community and coaching

Both platforms added community features in recent years, with mixed results.

Community features

Kajabi’s community is usable but less feature-rich than purpose-built platforms like Circle or a creator-focused community tool. Teachable’s community is basic, lacking multiple spaces, direct messaging, or strong moderation.

Neither matches a dedicated community platform. If community is central to your business, you’ll likely end up paying extra for a separate tool or choosing a platform that takes community seriously from the ground up.

Coaching and 1:1 sessions

Kajabi supports coaching sessions through its Coaching Product type, with scheduling and payment flow built in. Teachable handles 1:1 sessions through third-party integrations rather than natively.

Neither platform is a dedicated coaching tool, but Kajabi’s native support is the better of the two if coaching is part of your offering.

Checkout and payments

This is the category most reviewers undersell, and it’s where both platforms show their age.

Payment processing

Both support Stripe and PayPal. Kajabi adds its own payment processor (Kajabi Payments) with reduced surcharges; Teachable offers Teachable: pay, a Stripe-powered processor with no surcharge but no real flexibility advantage.

Checkout experience

Kajabi’s checkout is clean and customizable. Teachable’s is functional but basic. Neither includes the full modern checkout toolkit: multiple order bumps, one-click upsells, trust badges, and flexible trial structures. That’s a real gap when checkout optimization is the single biggest revenue lever most creators have.

Flexible payment options

Both support one-time payments, subscriptions, and payment plans. Kajabi has slightly more flexibility in how you structure offers. Neither has strong trial-to-paid mechanics.

Who should choose Kajabi

Kajabi is the better choice if:

• You want one platform for courses, community, email, funnels, and a website
• You have multiple products or plan to scale into an ecosystem of courses
• Your revenue justifies the cost: $10,000+/month
• You don’t want to build a multi-tool stack and are willing to pay a premium for integration

Kajabi’s strength is integration. If you actually use the email, funnels, and community features, you’re replacing three or four other tools, and the price starts to look reasonable. If you don’t, you’re paying for features you never touch.

Who should choose Teachable

Teachable is the better choice if:

• You’re primarily a course creator and don’t need a funnel builder or native email
• Your revenue is under $10,000/month and you need a lower plan cost
• You already have an email platform and a website you like
• You want a proven, focused course platform without the complexity

Teachable’s strength is simplicity. It does courses well, gets out of the way, and integrates cleanly with tools you probably already use. The 7.5% Starter fee is the one thing to avoid and hurts the Teachable lower priced plan quickly; upgrading to Builder usually pays for itself quickly.

A better alternative to both: Kourses

Most Kajabi vs Teachable comparisons end with a verdict and a free trial link. The honest answer for many creators in 2026 is that neither platform fits well. Kajabi is expensive and bloated. Teachable is focused but limited and penalizes smaller creators with a 7.5% fee.

 Kourses was built to solve the problem both platforms leave open: a modern, creator-first platform that combines courses, community, and a genuinely conversion-optimized checkout, starting at $9/month with 0% transaction fees on every plan and your own Stripe account.

Here’s how the three compare at a practical level.

At $10,000/month in revenue, a Kourses Pro plan costs $49/month flat. A Kajabi Growth plan costs roughly $299/month all-in. That’s $3,000 per year in savings, before you factor in the stack of extra tools most Kajabi and Teachable users add to get modern checkout and community features.

For deeper individual comparisons, see Kourses vs Kajabi and Kourses vs Teachable.

Final thoughts on Kajabi vs Teachable in 2026

Both platforms are capable. Both have real customers earning real money. And both have structural cost issues that compound at scale: Kajabi’s surcharges punish Stripe users, Teachable’s 7.5% Starter fee punishes early-stage creators.

Three things to remember if you’re comparing Kajabi and Teachable:

1. The advertised price is not the real price on either platform. Always calculate the total cost at your expected revenue, including transaction fees and surcharges.
2. Kajabi is priced for mature businesses; Teachable is priced for focused course sellers. Match the platform to your actual stage, not to the brand you recognize.
3. There are better options for most creators. Modern platforms bundle courses, community, and checkout without the legacy pricing baggage.

If you want to see what a 0% transaction fee platform looks like with courses, community, and a checkout that actually converts, start a 14-day free trial of Kourses. Plans start at $9/month, setup takes five minutes, and you keep 100% of every sale.