Kajabi charges $149/month minimum — and that’s just the starting price before you hit the product limits, contact caps, and the realization that global tax compliance isn’t included. For creators and SaaS founders selling internationally, that’s a painful combination.
Don’t get me wrong: Kajabi is a polished platform. But if you’re hitting the ceiling on its Basic plan (3 products, 3 funnels, 1,000 active customers) or wincing at the $1,788 annual bill, there are better options in 2026. Cheaper ones. Some with actual global tax handling built in.
I’ve compared 8 Kajabi alternatives on what actually matters: price, transaction fees, product limits, tax compliance, and whether you’ll regret switching six months in.
Why Creators Are Looking for Kajabi Alternatives in 2026
Kajabi has been raising prices quietly for years. The platform that once felt like a deal at $119/month now starts at $149/month (monthly billing) or $143/month (annual). The Growth plan hits $249/month. The Pro plan is $499/month — that’s $5,988 per year just for a course platform.
But the price alone isn’t the whole story. Here’s what actually frustrates creators:
- Product limits on the Basic plan. Three products. That’s it. Want to sell a fourth course? Upgrade to Growth at $249/month.
- Contact limits. Basic caps you at 1,000 active customers. Growth goes to 10,000. For a growing creator, you’re paying for headroom you may not need yet.
- No global tax handling out of the box. Kajabi has a “Sales Tax” add-on at $0.15 per transaction — but it doesn’t file on your behalf or act as a Merchant of Record. If you sell to EU customers, you’re still responsible for VAT registration in each country.
- Locked ecosystem. Migrating off Kajabi is painful. Your course content, member data, and funnels don’t export cleanly.
None of this makes Kajabi bad — it makes it wrong for certain creators. If you’re a growing indie maker, a global seller, or just don’t need email marketing baked into your course platform, you’re probably overpaying.
The 8 Best Kajabi Alternatives in 2026
1. Teachable — Best for Straightforward Course Creators
Teachable has been the go-to Kajabi alternative for years, and in 2026 it’s still a strong choice for creators who want a clean, proven platform without the enterprise pricing.
Pricing: Free plan (5% transaction fee) → Basic $29/month → Pro $99/month → Pro+ $249/month → Business $399/month (all annual billing).
The free plan is actually usable — you can launch your first course and start selling with just the 5% cut. Once you’re making consistent revenue, the jump to $29/month pays for itself quickly.
What you get: Course hosting, quiz builder, student management, basic email notifications, and payment processing via Teachable Payments (Stripe-powered). The UI is clean and beginner-friendly — most creators are up and selling within a day.
What you don’t get: Built-in email marketing (you’ll need ConvertKit or Mailchimp), community features, or landing page builder on lower plans. It’s a focused course platform, not an all-in-one.
The tax situation: Teachable collects and remits sales tax in the US for you. For international VAT, you’re on your own unless you pair it with a tax tool.
Best for: Course creators who want simplicity, a proven platform, and don’t need email marketing built in.
2. Thinkific — Best Free Tier for New Creators
Thinkific’s free plan is the most generous in the space: unlimited students, 1 free course, no transaction fees. If you’re testing whether your course idea will sell, start here.
Pricing: Free → Basic $49/month → Start $99/month → Grow $199/month (annual billing). No transaction fees on any paid plan.
The course builder is solid — drag-and-drop, supports video, PDF, quizzes, and live lessons. You get a website builder too, which Teachable lacks on lower plans.
Where it falls short: The free plan is genuinely limited (1 course). The email marketing tools are basic. And like Teachable, you’re managing international VAT yourself.
Best for: Creators validating their first course idea, or those wanting the lowest-risk starting point.
3. Podia — Best All-in-One for Solopreneurs
Podia bundles courses, digital downloads, coaching, memberships, and email marketing into one platform. If you’re a solo creator who doesn’t want to manage five different tools, Podia’s simplicity is appealing.
Pricing: Mover $33/month (5% transaction fee) → Shaker $89/month (0% fee) → Earthquaker $199/month (annual billing).
The interface is notably clean — probably the simplest of any platform on this list. Building a product and getting to checkout takes minutes, not hours.
The tradeoff: Podia is less customizable than Kajabi, and the email marketing features are basic compared to dedicated tools. But for a creator who wants everything in one place and isn’t doing complex funnels, it works well.
Best for: Solopreneurs selling a mix of courses, downloads, and coaching who want one monthly invoice.
4. Systeme.io — Best Free All-in-One Alternative
Systeme.io is the wildcard here. Its free plan includes everything Kajabi charges $149/month for: courses, funnels, email marketing, affiliate programs, and automation. Up to 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, and unlimited emails — all free.
Pricing: Free (forever) → Startup $27/month → Webinar $47/month → Unlimited $97/month.
The Unlimited plan at $97/month gives you everything Kajabi Pro offers at $499/month. That’s not a typo — it’s a 5x cost difference for comparable feature coverage.
The catch: The UI feels less polished than Kajabi. Some creators find the funnel builder clunky. Customer support is slower. But for the price? Most creators work around it.
Best for: Budget-conscious creators who want the full funnel-building stack without the Kajabi price tag.
5. Circle.so — Best for Community-First Creators
If your business is built around a community — paid membership, cohort courses, mastermind group — Circle is the best-in-class option in 2026.
Pricing: Professional $89/month → Business $199/month → Enterprise custom (annual billing, plus 1-4% transaction fees on lower tiers).
Circle handles live events, discussion spaces, member directories, courses, and paywalled content in one interface. The mobile apps are excellent. If you run a community with a course attached (rather than a course with a community attached), Circle makes more sense than Kajabi.
The limitation: It’s not a great standalone course platform for creators who don’t need community features. And it doesn’t handle international tax.
Best for: Creators building paid communities, membership sites, or cohort-based courses.
6. ThriveCart — Best One-Time Payment Option
ThriveCart does something no other platform on this list does: it still sells a lifetime deal for $495. Pay once, use forever. No monthly fees.
It’s primarily a checkout and cart tool, but the ThriveCart Learn add-on (included with the Pro lifetime plan) gives you a solid course platform. The checkout pages convert extremely well — tested and optimized over years.
Pricing: $495 one-time (Standard) or $690 one-time (Pro, includes affiliate center and more).
Best for: Creators who are cost-conscious long-term, already have an email platform, and want high-converting checkout pages. Not for those needing a full website builder.
7. Kartra — Best Kajabi Alternative with Full Automation
Kartra is the closest feature-for-feature Kajabi competitor. It includes courses, pages, funnels, email, membership, video hosting, and calendar booking — all in one.
Pricing: Starter $119/month → Growth $229/month → Professional $549/month (monthly billing). No transaction fees on any plan.
It’s marginally cheaper than Kajabi at the entry level, and the automation builder is arguably more powerful. The downside: the UI is dated and has a steeper learning curve.
Best for: Digital marketers and agencies who need deep automation and don’t mind a learning curve.
8. Fungies.io — Best for Global SaaS & Digital Product Sellers
Fungies takes a different angle from every other platform on this list. It’s not a course platform — it’s a Merchant of Record (MoR) payment infrastructure. That distinction matters enormously for creators and SaaS founders selling internationally.
Pricing: 5.9% + $0.50 per transaction. No monthly fee. No setup cost. Pay only when you sell.
As the MoR, Fungies handles VAT/GST collection and remittance in 40+ countries automatically. You don’t need to register for VAT in Germany, Australia, or Canada. You don’t need a tax tool add-on. Fungies takes on the legal liability as the seller of record — the same model Paddle, FastSpring, and Lemon Squeezy use.
You get an embeddable checkout that works on any website or app, subscription billing, a built-in storefront, and affiliate management. For indie SaaS founders and digital product sellers who sell globally, this is a fundamentally different (and simpler) solution than Kajabi.
What it’s NOT: Fungies doesn’t have a course platform, email marketing, or community features. It’s payment infrastructure for digital products and SaaS — not an LMS.
Best for: Indie SaaS founders, digital product sellers, and app developers who want MoR-grade tax compliance without the complexity of Paddle or FastSpring.
Kajabi vs Alternatives: Full Comparison Table
| Platform | Starting Price | Transaction Fees | Free Plan | Global Tax Handling | Course Hosting | Email Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | $149/mo | 0% | No (30-day trial) | Add-on ($0.15/tx) | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Teachable | Free / $29/mo | 5% (free), 0% (paid) | ✅ Yes | US only | ✅ Yes | Basic |
| Thinkific | Free / $49/mo | 0% | ✅ Yes (1 course) | US only | ✅ Yes | Basic |
| Podia | $33/mo | 5% (Mover), 0% (Shaker) | No (14-day trial) | Limited | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Systeme.io | Free / $27/mo | 0% | ✅ Yes (2,000 contacts) | No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Circle.so | $89/mo | 1-4% (lower tiers) | No (14-day trial) | No | ✅ Yes | No |
| ThriveCart | $495 lifetime | 0% | No | No | Yes (Learn add-on) | No |
| Kartra | $119/mo | 0% | No (30-day trial) | No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Fungies.io | 5.9% + $0.50/sale | 5.9% + $0.50 | ✅ Yes (pay per sale) | ✅ Full MoR (40+ countries) | No | No |
The Global Tax Problem Nobody Talks About
Here’s the thing most Kajabi alternative reviews gloss over: if you’re selling to customers outside the US, every platform on this list except Fungies has the same gap.
When a customer in Germany buys your course on Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, or Systeme.io, you — the creator — are legally responsible for collecting and remitting 19% German VAT. Same for France (20%), UK (20%), Australia GST (10%), Canada GST/HST (varies by province).
Most course creators don’t think about this until their revenue is high enough for tax authorities to notice. And by then, it’s a back-tax problem.
The two approaches creators use to solve this:
- Use a tax tool like Quaderno or Taxjar — adds $50-$100/month and you still have registration and filing obligations in each country once you hit thresholds.
- Use a Merchant of Record platform — Paddle, FastSpring, Gumroad (limited), Fungies, or Lemon Squeezy (now Stripe-owned). The MoR is the legal seller. Their tax ID is on the receipt. Your liability is zero.
For SaaS founders and digital product sellers doing significant international volume, this is the deciding factor. Not the course builder UI. The tax liability.
Comparing Kajabi Alternatives by Use Case
| If you are… | Best platform | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A new creator testing your first course | Thinkific (free) or Teachable (free) | Zero upfront cost, no transaction fees on Thinkific |
| A budget-conscious creator wanting full features | Systeme.io | Free plan includes funnels, email, courses — Kajabi at 1/5 the price |
| A community-driven creator (mastermind, cohorts) | Circle.so | Best-in-class community + live events features |
| A creator who hates monthly subscriptions | ThriveCart | $495 once, no recurring fees ever |
| A solo creator wanting everything in one app | Podia | Courses + downloads + email + coaching, simple interface |
| An indie SaaS founder selling a digital product globally | Fungies.io | MoR handles tax in 40+ countries, no monthly fee |
| A marketer who needs deep automation | Kartra | Powerful automation, comparable feature set to Kajabi |
How Much Can You Save by Switching from Kajabi?
Let’s run the numbers. If you’re on Kajabi Basic at $149/month:
- Switch to Teachable Basic: Save $120/month = $1,440/year
- Switch to Thinkific Start: Save $50/month = $600/year
- Switch to Systeme.io (free plan): Save $149/month = $1,788/year
- Switch to Podia Shaker: Save $60/month = $720/year
- Switch to ThriveCart (amortized over 3 years): $495 ÷ 36 = ~$14/month. Save $135/month vs Kajabi.
At $149/month, Kajabi costs more per year than the ThriveCart lifetime deal after just under 4 months. That’s a strong argument for one-time payment tools if you’re primarily selling digital products with a standard checkout flow.
Migration Checklist: Leaving Kajabi
Switching platforms isn’t painless, but it’s manageable with a plan:
- Export your student list — Download the CSV of enrolled students before canceling. You’ll need to manually re-enroll or email them depending on your new platform.
- Export course content — Kajabi doesn’t export course structure cleanly. Screenshot your module/lesson layout before moving. Export video files separately.
- Notify active students — Give 30 days’ notice. Include login instructions for the new platform.
- Redirect your domain — If you’re using a custom domain on Kajabi, update DNS to your new platform before canceling.
- Cancel at the right time — Cancel Kajabi after your next billing date, not before. Migrations always take longer than expected.
Key Takeaways
- Kajabi’s $149/month Basic plan is hard to justify when free or near-free alternatives offer comparable course features.
- Systeme.io’s free plan is the closest feature-match to Kajabi at 0% of the price — ideal for budget-conscious creators building funnels.
- Teachable and Thinkific are the safest switches for pure course creators — proven platforms, clean UIs, generous free tiers.
- Global tax compliance is the hidden cost most alternatives don’t solve. If you sell internationally at scale, factor in a Merchant of Record or a tax tool.
- Fungies.io is the right call for digital product and SaaS businesses that prioritize tax compliance over LMS features — no monthly fee, full MoR coverage in 40+ countries.
FAQ
What is the cheapest alternative to Kajabi in 2026?
Systeme.io offers the most Kajabi-comparable features for free — including courses, funnels, and email marketing. Thinkific and Teachable both have free plans for basic course hosting. If you want zero-fee digital product selling with no monthly cost, Fungies.io charges only 5.9% + $0.50 per sale with no subscription.
Does Kajabi handle VAT for international sales?
Kajabi has a Sales Tax add-on at $0.15 per transaction for US sales tax. For international VAT (EU, UK, Australia, etc.), Kajabi does not act as a Merchant of Record — you remain legally responsible for registration, collection, and remittance in each country where you exceed local thresholds.
Can I migrate my courses from Kajabi to another platform?
Yes, but expect manual work. Kajabi doesn’t have a one-click export to competing platforms. You’ll need to export your student CSV, download your video content, and rebuild your course structure. Most creators estimate 1-2 weeks of migration time for a course library with active students.
Which Kajabi alternative is best for selling globally?
If global tax compliance is a priority, use a Merchant of Record platform: Fungies.io (no monthly fee, 5.9% per sale), Paddle (pay-as-you-go or flat fee plans), or FastSpring (best for established software companies). These platforms take on the legal tax liability so you don’t need to register for VAT in each country.
Conclusion
Kajabi built a great product. But “great product” and “right for you” aren’t the same thing — especially when you’re paying $1,788/year minimum for features you’re only using 30% of.
For most creators, the answer is simpler than they expect: Teachable or Thinkific for courses, Systeme.io if you need funnels and email too. For digital product and SaaS businesses selling globally, the conversation shifts entirely to Merchant of Record platforms — because tax liability isn’t a feature you can bolt on later.
Ready to sell digital products globally without the tax headache? Get started with Fungies.io free — no monthly fee, MoR coverage in 40+ countries from day one.
References
- Kajabi Pricing 2026 — learningrevolution.net
- Teachable Pricing Plans 2026 — ecommerce-platforms.com
- Thinkific Pricing 2026 — schoolmaker.com
- Podia Pricing 2026 — learningrevolution.net
- Systeme.io Free Plan — systeme.io
- Circle Pricing 2026 — circle.so
- ThriveCart Lifetime Deal — thrivecart.com
- Kajabi Alternatives Overview — shinepages.com
- Merchant of Record Explained — fungies.io
