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ToolGPA

Circle vs Kajabi

We give Circle a 2.8 GPA and Kajabi a 2.0, out of 4.0. Circle grades higher on value for money, the free plan and ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

Circle

Community platform with courses, events, payments and branded apps

Free trial · from $89/mo
Full detailscircle.so

Kajabi

All-in-one platform for selling courses, coaching and communities

Free trial · from $143/mo
Full detailskajabi.com

How we grade them

2.8GPACircleGood2.0GPAKajabiFair
Value for money
CGraded against its alternatives, community platforms. Professional is $89 a month billed yearly plus Circle's 2% of sales, $40 on $2,000: $129 a month. That's mid-pack, above Skool Pro ($82.50) and Mighty Networks ($119), below Heartbeat ($140).
DBasic is $143 a month billed yearly, and Kajabi takes no share of sales through Kajabi Payments, whose 2.9% + 30 cents is card processing. So $2,000 of sales a month costs $143, right where this category's dearest tenth starts. Use another processor and Basic adds 2%, another $40.
Free plan and trial
CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed, which is enough to set up spaces and invite a few people.
DNo free plan. The 14-day trial covers the whole platform, but it rolls into Growth at $249 a month unless you cancel, so it's the kind that bills you at the end.
Features
BSpaces with posts and chat, courses, events, live streams and rooms, paid memberships, a website builder, gamification and AI credits on every plan. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job; workflows and the API just start on Business.
BCourses with drip, assessments and cohorts, coaching, a community, unlimited emails, funnels and landing pages, upsells, affiliates, tax and paid newsletters. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job; Basic just stops at 5 products and 2,500 contacts.
Ease of use
A4.87 from about 86,000 App Store ratings, the strongest record in this category. Members open the app and they're in.
C4.34 from about 7,400 App Store ratings, mid-table for this category. And you're setting up a site, emails, funnels and a checkout before anything sells.
Platforms and integrations
BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Slack, HubSpot, Mailchimp and Teachable, plus an API and MCP on Business. No desktop app, which an A needs.
BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign and a public API. No desktop app, which an A needs. An app in your own name is on Pro, or $199 a month extra.
Best fora branded community with courses and eventsrunning a whole course business from one account

The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Circle and Kajabi. How we grade

Price against what you get

Circle starts at $89 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kajabi starts at $143 a month and scores 2.7.

Circle scores higher and starts $54 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Circle for less, and 3 score higher than Kajabi for less.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0Free$5$10$20$50$100$200$500More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessCircleKajabi

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

  • The best score at each price
  • Has a free plan
  • No free plan
The full chart of course and community platforms, and the best at every price

Where they differ

  • Circle starts at $89 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly). Kajabi starts at $143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly).
  • Circle also covers workflow automation.
  • Kajabi also covers marketing automation and paid newsletters.
In commonWebiOSAndroidPublic APIAI featuresEmail campaignsOnline coursesCommunity

At a glance

CircleKajabi
PricingFree trialFree trial
Starts at$89 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)$143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly)
Free planNoneNone
Free trial14-day free trial, no credit card required14-day free trial of the full platform; it rolls into the Growth monthly plan at $249 unless cancelled
Web
iOS
Android
Made byCircleKajabi
Price read fromcircle.sokajabi.com
CheckedOct 17, 2026Oct 17, 2026

Who each one suits

Circle

  • Creators and brands whose main product is a community
  • Communities that also sell courses and run live events
  • Teams that want automations and an API around their community

Kajabi

  • Coaches and educators who want site, email, checkout and courses in one account
  • Experts selling several kinds of product to the same audience
  • Businesses that want their own branded app in the app stores

Worth knowing

Circle

  • Circle takes 2% of each sale on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale and 0.5% on Circle Plus.
  • Email Hub costs extra on top of any plan except Circle Plus: $19 a month for up to 1,000 contacts, $99 at 10,000.
  • Workflows, the API and removing Circle branding need Business; AI agents and webhooks need Scale.
  • An app under your own name in the app stores is only in Circle Plus, which is priced through sales.

Kajabi

  • No revenue share, but Kajabi Payments charges 2.7% to 2.9% plus $0.30 a sale in the US; using another processor (not PayPal) adds 0.5% to 2%.
  • Basic stops at 5 products, 2,500 contacts and 2 admin users. Extra contacts cost $125 a month per block of 25,000.
  • There is no free plan. The branded mobile app is only in Pro unless bought for $199 a month.
  • Basic has no AI credits; Growth gets 500 and Pro 1,000, and 500 more cost $15 a month.

Key features

Circle

Spaces, discussions and chat
Members join topic spaces for posts and chat, with a member directory, rich profiles and gamification. Professional allows 20 spaces.
Courses
Courses live inside the community on every plan, and course migration from another platform is free on annual Business plans and above.
Events and live streams
Live events, live streams and live rooms: Professional covers 100 stream attendees, 15 room participants and 10 hours.
Payments and website
Paid memberships and products through Circle's checkout, a website builder and a custom domain on every plan.
Workflows, API and AI
Business adds workflows, APIs and an MCP server; Scale adds AI agents, AI moderation and webhooks. Extra AI credits cost $10 per 1,000.
Email Hub
An optional add-on for broadcasts, scheduled campaigns, sign-up forms, segments and marketing automations to contacts and members.

Kajabi

Courses and coaching
Courses with drip release, progress tracking, assessments and cohorts, plus coaching programs, memberships, podcasts and digital downloads.
Communities
Topic-based spaces with threaded posts, activity feeds and announcements, tied to product purchases. Basic and Growth include 1 community, Pro 3.
Email, funnels and landing pages
Unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels on every plan, with broadcasts, sequences and automations triggered by what students do.
Checkout and payments
One-time prices, subscriptions and payment plans, coupons, order bumps, upsells, affiliate programs and automated tax calculation.
Newsletters with paywalls
Publish a newsletter from the same account and charge for it with paid subscriptions, premium issues or paywalled posts.
Branded and Creator apps
A mobile app with your own branding, included on Pro or $199 a month on other plans. A separate Creator app shows sales and contacts on a phone.

Plans

Circle

  • Professional$89

    per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)

    Unlimited members, courses, events, website, payments, apps, 3 admins, 20 spaces, 2,500 AI credits. Circle takes 2% of each sale.

  • Business$199

    per month, billed annually ($219 billed monthly)

    20 workflows, APIs and MCP, custom profile fields, branded emails, no Circle branding, 5 admins, 30 spaces. 1% transaction fee.

  • Scale$419

    per month, billed monthly or annually

    AI agents and AI workflows, unlimited workflows, webhooks, custom SSO, 10 admins, 100 spaces, 5,000 AI credits. 1% transaction fee.

  • Circle PlusCustom

    Custom branded iOS and Android apps, unlimited admins and spaces, Email Hub with 10,000 contacts, a dedicated expert. 0.5% transaction fee.

Kajabi

  • Basic$143

    per month for up to 2,500 contacts, billed annually ($179 monthly)

    5 products, 1 website, 1 community, 2 admin users, no AI credits. Kajabi Payments at 2.9% + $0.30 a sale; other processors add a 2% fee.

  • Growth$199

    per month for up to 25,000 contacts, billed annually ($249 monthly)

    50 products, 1 website, 1 community, 11 admin users, 500 AI credits. Kajabi Payments at 2.8% + $0.30; other processors add a 1% fee.

  • Pro$399

    per month for up to 100,000 contacts, billed annually ($499 monthly)

    Unlimited products, 3 websites, 3 communities, 26 admin users, 1,000 AI credits and the branded mobile app. Other processors add a 0.5% fee.

Ways to pay less

Circle

  • Annual discount

    Lower monthly price with annual billing

    Circle's pricing lists Professional at $89 a month billed annually against $99 monthly, and Business at $199 against $219. Scale costs the same either way.

Kajabi

  • Annual discount

    Save 20% with annual billing

    Kajabi's pricing page lists 20% off for annual billing: Basic $143 a month instead of $179, Growth $199 instead of $249, Pro $399 instead of $499.

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