Kartra vs systeme.io
We give Kartra a 2.2 GPA and systeme.io a 2.8, out of 4.0. systeme.io grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Kartra
Marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and membership sites
systeme.io
All-in-one marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and community
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAKartraFair | 2.8GPAsysteme.ioGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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). | ANo plan takes a fee on sales. One course sells on the free plan, and Startup, with 5 courses, is $17 a month or about $14 billed yearly with 2 months free. So $2,000 of sales costs $0 on Free or about $14 a month on Startup, under 60% of this category's cheaper quarter ($29). |
| Free plan and trial | 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. | BA free plan with no card and no end date: 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 funnels and 1 course for 500 students. One person selling one course could live on it; 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign is where it pinches. |
| Features | 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. | CFunnels with upsells, email automations, courses, a community, an affiliate program, a store, bookings, a CRM and webinars. A lot. The course side is the gap: video, PDFs, drip and locking, with no quizzes or certificates in the listing. |
| Ease of use | 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. | CNo App Store rating on record. Templates help, but it's a funnel builder first, so you're building pages, emails and automations before the course sells. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | BWeb only, with Stripe, PayPal, Zoom, Google Meet, Sheets and Calendar, ActiveCampaign and Twilio, plus a public API. No phone or desktop apps listed. |
| Best for | funnel-heavy course launches | selling a first course without paying anything |
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: Kartra and systeme.io. How we grade
Price against what you get
Kartra starts at $52 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. systeme.io starts at $17 a month and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and systeme.io starts $35 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 6 score higher than Kartra for less, and none scores higher than systeme.io 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
- Kartra starts at $52 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly). systeme.io starts at $17 per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly.
- systeme.io has a free plan. Kartra does not, though it has a free trial.
- Kartra also covers forms, surveys and help desk.
- systeme.io also covers booking links, sales pipeline and community.
At a glance
| Kartra | systeme.io | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $52 per month for up to 500 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly) | $17 per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 funnels, 1 course with 500 students, 1 community, 1 blog, 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign. No card needed. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of any plan, shown as a limited-time offer; 30-day money-back guarantee | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Kartra Inc. | systeme.io |
| Price read from | kartra.com | systeme.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
systeme.io
- New creators who want funnels, email and a course without paying yet
- Sellers who want no transaction fee on any plan
- Agencies or owners of several brands, using unlimited sub-accounts
Worth knowing
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.
systeme.io
- The free plan stops at 2,000 contacts, 1 course with 500 students, 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign.
- Evergreen webinars start on the Webinar plan at $47 a month.
- No plan charges a transaction fee; Stripe, PayPal and other processors still charge their own.
Key features
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.
systeme.io
- Sales funnels
- A drag-and-drop funnel builder with templates, A/B tests, one-click upsells, order bumps, countdown timers and evergreen webinars.
- Email marketing and automations
- Unlimited email sends on every plan, with broadcasts, sequences, tags, segments and automation rules triggered by purchases or sign-ups.
- Online courses
- Video lessons, PDF downloads, drip schedules, module locking and student progress, sold through your funnels.
- Communities
- Free or paid members-only spaces with posts and comments, tied to courses and funnels: 1 on the free plan, 5 on Startup.
- Affiliate program
- Run your own affiliate program with custom commissions, referral tracking and payouts, on every plan including Free.
- Store, bookings and CRM
- Sell digital and physical products, take bookings with deposits through a built-in calendar, and track leads in CRM pipelines.
Plans
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.
systeme.io
Free$0
2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course for up to 500 students, 1 community, 1 website, 1 custom domain, 1 automation rule.
Startup$17
per month for up to 5,000 contacts, billed monthly
10 funnels, 5 courses with unlimited students, 5 communities, 5 websites, 10 automation rules, 10 email campaigns, 3 custom domains.
Webinar$47
per month for up to 10,000 contacts, billed monthly
Adds 10 evergreen webinars, 50 funnels, 20 courses and communities, 100 automation rules and 10 custom domains. The plan for 10,000 contacts.
Unlimited$97
per month for unlimited contacts, billed monthly
Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses, communities, automation rules and custom domains, plus early access to new features.
Ways to pay less
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.
systeme.io
- Annual discount
2 months free with annual billing
systeme.io's pricing page has a monthly and annual switch and says annual billing gives 2 months free on paid plans.
