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Kajabi vs LearnDash
Priced at four sizes on whatever each one charges by, the features checked against both pricing pages, and my own verdict on each.
Take Kajabi if you want running the whole business from one subscription and keeping every dollar of your sales. Take LearnDash if you want living inside the WordPress you already run, paying yearly or once rather than per student and keeping every dollar of your sales. Kajabi charges by contacts and LearnDash by students, so there is no single crossover. At a typical setup LearnDash is $215.75 a month cheaper ($33.25 at 500 students against $249 at 5,000 contacts).
What each one actually costs
The real monthly figure at four sizes with the add-ons each platform forces on you included, from the same engine the shortlist quiz uses. The cheaper of the two is marked on every row. Kajabi charges by contacts and LearnDash by students, so each column is priced at its own sizes, smallest to largest.
| Kajabi | LearnDash | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size 1 of 4 | $179 at 1,000 contacts | $33.25 at 100 students | $145.75 |
| Size 2 of 4 | $249 at 5,000 contacts | $33.25 at 500 students | $215.75 |
| Size 3 of 4 | $249 at 25,000 contacts | $33.25 at 2,000 students | $215.75 |
| Size 4 of 4 | $499 at 100,000 contacts | $33.25 at 10,000 students | $465.75 |
What is actually different
- Kajabi lists an affiliate programme, building the course with AI, a community, digital downloads, email marketing, live events and cohorts, a mobile app and a website builder where LearnDash does not, which is their own wording rather than something we verified.
- LearnDash does running on your own WordPress, and Kajabi does not. We checked both against their pricing pages.
What I found
Condensed from my own reviews. Every line links to the second I said it, so you can check any of it. Prices in the table above are from this week; the videos are older and the figures in them are not.
Kajabi
Kajabi packs a lot of features for course creators and coaches, but it is expensive, which is the only thing holding it back from a perfect score.
- The core course building feature is amazing and really easy to get going with the AI creation wizard. 3:45
- You can separate courses and communities, so you could have a standalone course or bundle them together. 4:20
- It packs a lot of features including landing pages, email marketing, funnels, automations and forms all in one place. 4:48
- There's a learning curve because of all the subcategories and sections you need to navigate. 2:42
- The price is the only reason I've not given it a 10 out of 10. 5:20
From my review, March 2025. Watch it
LearnDash
I have not used LearnDash, so there is no verdict from me on this one. Everything else on this page still applies.
Before you sign up to either
| Kajabi | LearnDash | |
|---|---|---|
| Free trial | 14 days | 2 days |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Contract | Monthly, or annual at 20% off | Yearly licence |
| Payment fee | None on top | None on top |
Reading further
The full price ladder, every plan and the add-ons charged on top are on each platform's own page. If neither of these two is quite it, each page also has the alternatives ranked against it.
People search for this comparison as: learndash vs kajabi.
Neither, or not sure?
A head to head only helps once you have picked the two. The shortlist asks 8 questions about what you sell and how many students you have, and gives you four picks priced at your own numbers, from all 19.
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