Kajabi vs Kartra
We give Kajabi a 2.0 GPA and Kartra a 2.2, out of 4.0. Kajabi grades higher on features. Kartra grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use and platforms.
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
Kartra
Marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and membership sites
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAKajabiFair | 2.2GPAKartraFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CEssentials is $52 a month billed yearly, but it takes 5% of sales, $100 on $2,000, and allows 1 product. Starter at $99 takes no fee, so $99 a month is the real figure: above this category's dearer quarter ($59), short of its dearest tenth ($143). |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | CNo free plan. A 14-day trial of any plan is shown as a limited-time offer, and the listing doesn't say it needs a card; after that there's a 30-day money-back guarantee. |
| Features | 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. | CPages, funnels, checkouts, courses and membership sites with video hosting, email and SMS, forms, calendars and AI copy. The gap is community: there's no discussion space for students anywhere in the listing. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's a big suite with funnels and sequences to set up, and passing your contact limit moves you up a plan mid-cycle. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb, with Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, Braintree, Zapier, Twilio, Zoom and Google Calendar. API access is only on Professional at $429 a month, and no apps are listed. |
| Best for | running a whole course business from one account | funnel-heavy course launches |
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: Kajabi and Kartra. How we grade
Price against what you get
Kajabi starts at $143 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Kartra starts at $52 a month and scores 2.3.
Kajabi scores higher, and starts $91 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 3 score higher than Kajabi for less, and 6 score higher than Kartra 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
- Kajabi starts at $143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly). Kartra starts at $52 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly).
- Only Kajabi lists iOS and Android apps.
- Kajabi also covers paid newsletters and community.
- Kartra also covers forms, surveys and help desk.
At a glance
| Kajabi | Kartra | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $143 per month, billed annually ($179 billed monthly) | $52 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the full platform; it rolls into the Growth monthly plan at $249 unless cancelled | 14-day free trial of any plan, shown as a limited-time offer; 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Kajabi | Kartra Inc. |
| Price read from | kajabi.com | kartra.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Kartra
- Marketers who want funnels, email and course hosting in one account
- Course sellers who also need a help desk and an affiliate program
- Businesses that sell several products through funnels
Worth knowing
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.
Kartra
- Essentials takes 5% of every sale and allows only 1 product, 1 course and 5 pages; higher plans take no fee.
- Passing a plan's contact limit moves the account up a tier automatically, with a mid-cycle charge.
- Automations, affiliates and the help desk start on Growth; API access is only on Professional.
- There are no add-ons for extra domains, languages or team members; more of any means a bigger plan.
Key features
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.
Kartra
- Pages, funnels and checkouts
- A drag-and-drop page and website builder, a funnel mapper, pre-built campaigns, and checkouts that take card and PayPal payments.
- Courses and membership sites
- Host courses and membership sites with Kartra's own video hosting. Essentials allows 1, Starter and above are unlimited.
- Email and SMS
- Broadcasts and automated sequences by email and text, unlimited from Starter. Automations that tag leads by behavior start on Growth.
- Forms, surveys and calendars
- A form builder on every plan, appointment calendars that sync with Google Calendar, Zoom and Google Meet, and surveys and quizzes on Growth.
- Affiliates and help desk
- Growth adds an affiliate program for partners and a customer support portal; Professional adds live chat to the help desk.
- Kartra AI
- Writes copy for pages, emails and texts: 30 uses on Essentials, 100 on Starter and 200 on Growth.
Plans
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.
Kartra
Essentials$52
per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly)
10,000 emails and texts a month, 5 pages, 1 product, 1 membership or course, 30 Kartra AI uses, 1 domain. Kartra takes 5% of each sale.
Starter$99
per month for up to 2,500 contacts, billed annually ($119 monthly)
Unlimited email and SMS, pages, products, memberships and courses, video hosting, calendars, webinars, 5 team members. No transaction fee.
Growth$189
per month for up to 12,500 contacts, billed annually ($229 monthly)
The tier for 10,000 contacts. Adds automations, affiliates, surveys and quizzes, a help desk, funnel simulation, 10 team members, 3 domains.
Professional$429
per month for up to 25,000 contacts, billed annually ($549 monthly)
Everything in Growth, plus real-time funnel analytics, help desk live chat, API access and 5 custom domains.
Ways to pay less
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.
Kartra
- Annual discount
Save up to 22% with yearly billing
Kartra's pricing page lists yearly billing at up to 22% off: Essentials $52 a month instead of $59, Starter $99 instead of $119, Growth $189 instead of $229.
