Thinkific
$54at 500 students
$195 a month cheaper$54 at 250 students
A straight course platform with communities bolted on, where the price does not move with students.
- We record the same features for both
Home › Online courses and communities › Kajabi › Alternatives
Kajabi alternatives
The 9 closest of 18, each with its real monthly cost at 5,000 contacts and what it does that Kajabi does not. See all 19.
Thinkific does everything we verified about Kajabi for $195 a month less at 500 students against Kajabi at 5,000 contacts, $54 against $249. It is a price cut rather than an upgrade: on the two features checked against the vendors’ own pricing pages the two are level. The trade: Kajabi is built for running the whole business from one subscription and Thinkific is not, so this is a swap with a cost.
Why people look for an alternative
We have no recorded weakness for it, so this page is a price and feature comparison rather than a list of complaints.
It runs $249 a month at 5,000 contacts with the add-ons it forces on you included. 18 of the 18 alternatives on this site cost less than that.
What I flagged when I reviewed it, March 2025:
The closest thing to Kajabi
Ranked by how much of what we record for Kajabi each platform also does. Thinkific is the nearest, and it is $195 a month cheaper at 500 students (Kajabi at 5,000 contacts; they charge by different things). On every feature this site records, the two are level.
Cheaper, with nothing we record missing
Everything this site records for Kajabi is also recorded for these, and they cost less at 5,000 contacts, each priced on what it charges by. That is not the same as saying they are better: the last column is what Kajabi is built for that they are not, and for someone who needs that, the saving is not a saving.
| Platform | At 5,000 contacts | You save | What Kajabi does that it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thinkific | $54 | $195 | running the whole business from one subscription |
The rest, in order of how close they are
Prices are the real monthly cost at 5,000 contacts, or the equivalent size on whatever each one charges by, with the add-ons each platform forces on you included, from the same engine the shortlist quiz uses.
LearnWorlds
$29at 500 students
$220 a month cheaper$29 at 250 students
Course design that goes deep: interactive video, assessments, learning paths, a branded app, for someone whose course IS the product.
- Does not list digital downloads
Heights Platform
$49at 500 students
$200 a month cheaper$49 at 250 students
Growing from a first challenge to a large student base on one platform, with AI drafting the course and no cut of sales.
- Does not list live events and cohorts
Teachable
$89at 10 products
$160 a month cheaper$89 at 5 products
Selling a handful of courses without wanting the platform to run your whole business.
- Does not list building the course with AI and a community
Podia
$84at 10 products
$165 a month cheaper$84 at 5 products
Courses, downloads and a community on one simple bill, for a creator who wants the least admin.
- Does not list building the course with AI, live events and cohorts and a mobile app
Xperiencify
$99at 500 students
$150 a month cheaper$99 at 250 students
Courses built around gamification: points, streaks and triggers to get students to actually finish.
- Does not list building the course with AI, digital downloads and live events and cohorts
Circle
$129at 500 members
$120 a month cheaper$129 at 250 members
A community that feels like a product, with courses, events and a branded app around it.
- Does not list certificates, digital downloads and quizzes and assessments
Kartra
$229at 5,000 contacts
$20 a month cheaper$119 at 2,500 contacts
Memberships and courses with the email, checkout and affiliate programme around them, priced by contacts.
- Does not list building the course with AI, digital downloads and a mobile app
Teachery
$39.17at 500 students
$209.83 a month cheaper$39.17 at 250 students
Paying once and owning it: one flat price, or a lifetime licence, with nothing metered.
- Does not list building the course with AI, a community, live events and cohorts and a mobile app
What Kajabi is still the best answer for
Running the whole business from one place: courses, the email list, the website, the checkout and the community, and paying for that convenience.
On this site it is the pick for running the whole business from one subscription and keeping every dollar of your sales. If that is you, read the savings above and then ignore them.
How to read the feature lines
Two features were checked against each vendor's own pricing page: a free plan and running on your own WordPress. Those are the ones written above as does and does not. The other twelve are read out of each vendor's own pricing page, so an absence there means we did not find it listed, not that the product lacks it, and those lines say lists and does not list instead. How all of this gets checked.
Or let it pick for you
This page compares everything to Kajabi. 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, which is a better question than “what is like the one I already have”.
Build your shortlist