For a creator who already has a marketing stack and wants a lower subscription, Teachable is the better fit; Kajabi makes more sense when you will actively use its bundled email, funnel, and website tools. In the US, Teachable Starter is $29 per month equivalent with annual billing, compared with $143 for Kajabi Basic, but Teachable Starter also charges a 7.5% platform transaction fee.
The price gap is meaningful, but a subscription alone is not a total-cost comparison. Payment processing, annual prepayment, student or contact capacity, and the tools you can actually replace all affect the decision.
How the entry plans compare
Both entry plans list five products. Their published US prices differ sharply: Teachable Starter is $39 per month when billed monthly or $29 per month equivalent when billed annually. Kajabi Basic is $179 monthly or $143 per month equivalent with an annual payment of $1,716. The Teachable pricing page and Kajabi pricing page list plan prices and billing terms.
| Entry-plan detail | Teachable Starter | Kajabi Basic |
| Monthly billing | $39 per month | $179 per month |
| Annual billing | $29 per month equivalent, billed annually | $143 per month equivalent; $1,716 billed annually |
| Products | 5 | 5 |
| Audience measure | Unlimited paid gateway enrollments; 100 students added by other methods under the current usage policy | 2,500 contacts |
| Platform-level fee | 7.5% transaction fee | No platform revenue share |
On an annual-equivalent basis, Teachable Starter’s subscription is $114 less per month, or $1,368 less across 12 months, than Kajabi Basic. That is the subscription difference before transaction fees, payment processing, taxes, separate services, or add-ons. Teachable’s $29 figure also requires annual billing, rather than a $29 monthly payment.
The student limit is not a 100-purchaser cap
Teachable’s current usage policy includes paid enrollments through its Native or Custom Payment Gateways without student usage fees. Each school includes 100 students added by other methods, such as imports, manual enrollments, and free checkouts; the charge above that allowance is $0.50 per student per month. A student with both paid and externally added enrollments can still count toward that allowance. Schools created before September 3, 2026 may remain on legacy fees until their first renewal on or after April 30, 2027. Check the official usage-fee policy for the schedule that applies to your school.
Kajabi Basic includes 2,500 contacts. A contact count is not the same measure as enrolled students, so it cannot be compared directly with Teachable’s purchaser allowance. Check the type of audience you need to manage before using these limits to choose a plan.
Platform fees and payment processing are different costs
Teachable Starter’s 7.5% platform transaction fee adds up with sales volume. For 20 separate $100 sales, gross sales total $2,000 and the platform fee is $150, before payment processing, tax, and the subscription. This example isolates the platform fee; it is not a take-home earnings estimate. Teachable says standard payment-processing fees may also apply.
Teachable lists a 0% platform transaction fee on Builder and higher plans when using Teachable Payments. Its US monthly prices are $89 for Builder and $189 for Growth; with annual billing, the displayed monthly equivalents are $69 and $139. Processor fees may still apply, so the 0% platform fee does not mean payment processing is free. Teachable’s plan and fee terms give the relevant rates.
Kajabi says it takes no platform revenue share, but payment processing still costs money. Its listed US card rates are 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on Basic, 2.8% plus $0.30 on Growth, and 2.7% plus $0.30 on Pro. Kajabi also lists a separate third-party payment-provider fee of 2%, 1%, and 0.5% by plan. That fee excludes Kajabi Payments and PayPal, so do not add it to a Kajabi Payments transaction. Kajabi’s fee schedule describes the card rates and third-party fee conditions.
Kajabi’s other plan limits matter as you grow: Growth is $249 monthly or $199 per month equivalent billed annually, with 50 products and 25,000 contacts. Pro is $499 monthly or $399 per month equivalent billed annually, with unlimited products and 100,000 contacts. The corresponding annual payments are $2,388 and $4,788. Moving to a higher tier changes both capacity and subscription cost, not the underlying distinction between platform fees and payment-provider charges.
Kajabi bundles more marketing tools into its plans
Kajabi lists unlimited marketing emails, funnels, and landing pages across its three plans. Its plan page lists affiliate programs on Growth and Pro. Teachable lists built-in email marketing and an integrated affiliate program from Builder upward, while Starter includes other sales tools such as upsells and cart recovery. Kajabi’s plan matrix and Teachable’s feature matrix show which of these functions are listed by plan.
Kajabi’s bundle can make sense if you will use those tools and can replace services you already pay for. The feature list alone does not establish savings: compare the subscription increase with the cost of your current marketing tools and any work involved in changing platforms. If email and funnel tools are already covered by your stack, Teachable’s lower entry subscription may be easier to justify.
Course-building differences are worth checking against your format
In a comparison based on mid-tier testing, David Hartshorne’s Zapier review described Teachable as allowing mixed content types within a lecture and Kajabi as using a separate lesson for a quiz. These are reviewer observations, not a guarantee about every plan or a standardized measure of ease. If a lesson combines several formats, check the current editor against a representative lesson before committing.
Tax handling and earnings need separate consideration
Teachable lists US sales-tax, global VAT, and GST handling through Teachable Payments, subject to its service terms. That may be relevant if you sell across jurisdictions, but the listed feature is not a substitute for checking how the terms apply to your business and transactions.
Can you make money with Teachable? The platform provides paid plans and payment functionality for selling courses and other products, but its plan details cannot predict a creator’s revenue. Sales depend on the offer, audience, and operating costs; budget the platform fees without treating them as an earnings forecast.
Choose the platform that matches your business
Choose Teachable if...
- You want a lower entry subscription and already have the marketing tools you need.
- Most of your enrollments come through paid checkout, and the Starter 7.5% fee fits your sales economics or you plan to compare it with Builder.
- You need Teachable Payments’ listed tax-handling features and have checked the applicable service terms.
Choose Kajabi if...
- You expect to use its email marketing, funnels, and landing pages rather than pay for overlapping tools elsewhere.
- Your product and contact needs fit the limits of the plan you select, and the higher fixed subscription fits your budget.
- You have compared its plan-specific card-processing rate and any applicable third-party-provider fee with your payment setup.
Before choosing, map your expected products, audience type, sales volume, payment route, and existing marketing subscriptions to the plan you would actually buy. Teachable wins on the lower entry subscription; Kajabi earns its higher price only when its bundled business tools are useful enough to justify it.
