Hotmart vs Kajabi (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Hotmart grades higher than Kajabi: 2.6 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Hotmart grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Kajabi grades higher on platforms. They get the same grade on features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kajabi
All-in-one platform for selling courses, coaching and communities
Which one is for you
Pick Hotmart if
- Fits if you want to sell a first course without paying a monthly fee
- Works for creators who want an affiliate programme built in
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you sell a lot, as the 9.9% plus R$1 fee is taken from every sale
- Watch out: the fee is quoted in Brazilian reais, so check the fees page for your currency
- Watch out: withdrawing earnings costs a fee, in reais a minimum of R$2.00 plus R$1.99
- Watch out: payout timing depends on the sale currency and the buyer's payment method
Pick Kajabi if
- Fits if you want site, email, checkout and courses on one bill and one login
- Works for coaches who sell courses, coaching and a newsletter to the same people
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you're just starting, as Basic is $143 a month even billed yearly
- Tight if you plan lots of offers, since Basic stops at 5 products and 2,500 contacts
- Skip it if you want your own branded app without paying $199 a month or moving to Pro
- Watch out: the trial rolls into Growth at $249 a month unless you cancel
- Watch out: other processors add 0.5% to 2% a sale, and extra contacts cost $125 a month per 25,000
How we grade them
| 2.6GPAHotmartGood | 2.0GPAKajabiFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BNo monthly or annual fee, but 9.9% plus R$1 comes off every approved sale up to five figures of revenue. A seller with steady income pays more than a flat plan would charge. | 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 | BA free account with no limit on products, and a platform fee only when something sells. One person can run on it. | 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 | BMembers area, checkout, affiliate programme, events and webinars, funnels, email automation and analytics. Nothing named in the listing is missing for selling a course. | 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 | CNo store rating on record. You build the product, the members area and the checkout yourself. | 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 | CWeb only on the listing, with no integrations on record. | 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 for | selling a course or digital product with no monthly fee | running 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: Hotmart and Kajabi. How we grade
Price against what you get
Hotmart has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kajabi starts at $143 a month and scores 2.7.
Kajabi scores higher, and starts $143 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Hotmart for less, and 3 score higher than Kajabi for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
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
Where they differ
- Hotmart also covers affiliate tracking, digital downloads and webinars.
- Kajabi also covers email campaigns and paid newsletters.
At a glance
| Hotmart | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | No monthly or annual fee and no limit on products. Hotmart charges a fee on each approved sale; the home page gives 9.9% + R$1 for revenue up to five figures. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 14-day free trial of the full platform; it rolls into the Growth monthly plan at $249 unless cancelled |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Launch Pad Technology, Services and Payments Ltd. | Kajabi |
| Price read from | hotmart.com | kajabi.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Hotmart
- The fee is quoted in Brazilian reais (9.9% + R$1 per sale) for revenue up to five figures; check the fees page for your currency.
- Withdrawing earnings costs a fee; in Brazilian reais the minimum is R$2.00 plus R$1.99.
- Payout timing depends on the sale currency and the buyer's payment method.
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
Hotmart
- Members area
- A customizable area for courses and other content, where you can also promote your other products to buyers.
- Checkout and payments
- Its own payment system with local payment methods and a checkout builder with order bumps, localized to the buyer's language and currency.
- Affiliate program
- Affiliates can promote your products, and Hotmart automates their payouts.
- Events and webinars
- Host webinars or online events and sell with one-click buying during them.
- Funnels and email automation
- Upsells and downsells, plus automated emails for abandoned carts and sales recovery.
- Co-creation and analytics
- Add partners to a product and split profits automatically, with sales reports and tracking pixels.
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
Hotmart
Free account$0
No subscription. The fee is 9.9% + R$1 per approved sale for revenue up to five figures, and it falls as earnings rise. The page states the rate in Brazilian reais.
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
Hotmart
No public discounts listed.
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.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Hotmart or Kajabi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Hotmart is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $143 a month for Kajabi. Hotmart is free, and Kajabi starts at $143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly).
Which has a free plan, Hotmart or Kajabi?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Hotmart has a free plan. Kajabi does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Hotmart and Kajabi run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Kajabi lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.