Kajabi vs Teachable: Which One Actually Fits Your Budget?

Teachable wins on budget. Kajabi wins on ceiling.

If you’re a first-timer worried about the monthly hit to your card, Teachable’s entry plan is a fraction of Kajabi’s cheapest tier, and that gap doesn’t close as you grow. Kajabi starts making sense only once you need the extra machinery it bundles in — marketing automation, a real CRM, multiple websites — and you’re confident you’ll use it. Most people reading this aren’t there yet.

Prices verified August 2026.

What does each one actually cost to start?

Teachable’s Starter plan runs $39/month, or $29/month if you pay yearly. Kajabi’s cheapest plan, Basic, is $179/month monthly or $143/month on the annual plan, before you’ve sold a single course. That’s not a rounding difference; it’s the gap between “let me try this” and “I’m committing.”

Neither platform has a free tier. Kajabi gives you a 14-day free trial. Teachable gives you 7 days free plus a 30-day money-back guarantee on paid plans, which is the more forgiving safety net if you sign up, get busy, and forget to actually build anything in week one.

Which one’s transaction fees actually hurt more?

This is where the sticker price stops telling the whole story. Teachable’s Starter plan charges a 7.5% platform fee on top of payment processing, brutal if you’re selling any real volume on the entry tier. But that fee drops to 0% on Builder ($89/month monthly, $69/month yearly) and every plan above it, as long as you use teachable:pay or the Monthly Payment Gateway.

Kajabi never charges a platform fee through Kajabi Payments, on any plan. Instead it adjusts your payment processing rate by tier, 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, down to 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro, and adds a surcharge if you insist on using a third-party payment provider instead (2% on Basic, down to 0.5% on Pro; PayPal and Kajabi Payments dodge that surcharge entirely). So Kajabi’s fee structure rewards staying inside its own payment system, while Teachable’s rewards moving up a tier.

Here’s the detail most people miss entirely: Teachable removes its active-student and imported-student caps altogether once your school hits $10,000 in sales in a year, according to the pricing-page FAQ. That’s a real ceiling-lift buried in fine print, not a marketing headline, the kind of thing you’d only find by reading the FAQ instead of the plan cards.

Annual billing: how much are you actually saving?

Both platforms push you toward annual billing, and both make monthly billing look like the “tourist tax.” Kajabi’s annual pricing works out to roughly 20% cheaper than paying monthly, saving $432/yr on Basic, $600 on Growth, and $1,200 on Pro. Teachable’s annual discount is close behind at around 22% cheaper, saving $120/yr on Starter, $240 on Builder, and $600 on Growth, but it’s billed a year upfront, so you’re handing over the full year in one charge, not just getting a lower monthly rate.

If you’re not sure you’ll stick with the platform past month three, monthly billing on Teachable’s Starter plan is the least risky way to test the waters. Committing a full year upfront to Kajabi Basic before you’ve validated demand is a bigger bet than most first-time creators should make.

Three readers, three answers

A coach with 200 students and one course. Teachable’s Builder plan ($89/month monthly, $69/month yearly) covers 1,000 active students with no platform fee, plus real-time support and an affiliate program. Kajabi’s Basic plan technically fits on contacts (2,500) but costs twice as much for features this reader won’t touch yet.

A creator selling a $19/month membership with a growing list. This is closer to Kajabi’s home turf, its 25,000-contact Growth plan and built-in marketing tools are built for recurring relationships, not just one-time course sales. It’s still worth checking whether Teachable’s Growth plan’s Teachable-branding removal and API access cover the same need at a much lower base price.

A business doing over $30k a year already. Teachable’s Custom plan is aimed exactly at this bracket, though the price isn’t published, you’ll need to talk to sales, so budget time for that conversation, not just a card swipe. Kajabi’s Pro plan, at $499/month monthly or $399/month yearly, is the direct alternative with unlimited products and 100,000 contacts.

Who should NOT choose Teachable

Skip Teachable’s Starter plan if you’re already selling in real volume, that 7.5% platform fee will cost you more than the jump to Builder would. Skip Teachable entirely if you need built-in email marketing and a CRM under one roof; that’s genuinely Kajabi’s strength, and Teachable will leave you bolting on separate tools. If you want a deeper look at where Teachable’s own limits bite, the Teachable review covers that ground.

Who should NOT choose Kajabi

Skip Kajabi if $179/month before your first sale makes you flinch, that reaction is correct, not cowardice. Skip it too if you only need to host and sell courses without the marketing suite; you’ll be paying for automation and CRM tools that sit unused. The Kajabi review goes deeper on exactly which features justify that price and which don’t.

The switch cost, if you get it wrong

Moving off either platform later means exporting your student list, rebuilding your course pages, and losing whatever reviews or community history lived on the old site. Kajabi’s community and website features make migrating out feel heavier, simply because more of your operation lives inside it. Teachable’s structure is comparatively easier to unwind, since it’s closer to a pure course-hosting tool.

I’d lean Teachable for most first-time creators, largely because the entry cost lets you fail cheaply if the course doesn’t sell. But if you already know you’ll need Kajabi’s marketing and CRM layer, paying for it now is cheaper than migrating into it in a year. For a third angle on this same budget question with a different competitor, Thinkific vs Kajabi and Teachable vs Thinkific are worth a read before you commit your card.

FAQ

Does Teachable’s 7.5% fee apply to every sale on Starter? Yes, on top of standard payment processing, which is why Starter gets expensive fast once sales pick up. If you’re selling more than a handful of courses a month, run the math on Builder’s $89/month before you assume Starter is the cheap option.

Is Kajabi’s payment surcharge avoidable? Yes, use Kajabi Payments or PayPal and the third-party surcharge (2% down to 0.5% depending on tier) doesn’t apply. Bring your own Stripe-only setup instead and you’ll pay that surcharge on every transaction, permanently.

Can I start on Teachable’s cheapest plan and upgrade later without losing anything? Generally yes, since upgrades happen within the same account, but check current admin-user and import limits before you commit. Starter allows only 1 admin user and 5 imported students, which is tight if you’re migrating an existing list.

Which one is cheaper if I barely make any sales in year one? Teachable, without much competition. Kajabi’s fixed monthly cost keeps running whether you sell one course or none, while Teachable’s lower base price cushions a slow start.

Do either of these have a genuinely free plan? No. Kajabi offers a 14-day trial; Teachable offers a 7-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Neither is a free tier you can run a business on indefinitely.

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How we got these numbers. Prices and fees come straight from the official pricing pages of Kajabi, Teachable, checked in August 2026. Where a value wasn’t published, the table shows “—”. Prices in this space change often — confirm on the provider’s site before you buy.