Kajabi vs Teachable: what each really costs at your revenue
Plans side by side
| Feature | Teachable Starter | Teachable Builder | Teachable Growth | Kajabi Basic | Kajabi Growth | Kajabi Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $39 ($29 billed annually) | $89 ($69 billed annually) | $189 ($139 billed annually) | $179 ($143 billed annually) | $249 ($199 billed annually) | $499 ($399 billed annually) |
| Platform fee on sales | 7.5% of the transaction value | None with Teachable Payments | None with Teachable Payments | None with Kajabi Payments; 2% with a third-party processor | None with Kajabi Payments; 1% with a third-party processor | None with Kajabi Payments; 0.5% with a third-party processor |
| Card processing (US cards) | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 | 2.8% + $0.30 | 2.7% + $0.30 |
| Products | 5 | 10 | 50 | 5 | 50 | Unlimited |
| Admin users | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 26 |
| Students or contacts | Unlimited students | Unlimited students | Unlimited students | 2,500 contacts | 25,000 contacts | 100,000 contacts |
Teachable lists a 3.49% + $0.49 rate for PayPal and 3.9% + $0.30 for international cards, plus 0.95% for non-USD conversion. Kajabi Payments adds 1.5% on international cards.
Where the cheapest plans cross over
A plan with a higher monthly price but a lower percentage fee starts to win once your sales are big enough. These are the points where that happens, worked out from the prices in the table:
- Teachable Starter to Builder: about $667 a month. Starter's 7.5% fee outgrows Builder's extra $50 a month.
- Teachable Starter to Kajabi Basic: about $1,867 a month with Kajabi Payments, or $2,545 with your own processor. This is the comparison people usually mean, but it skips Builder, which beats both from about $667 up.
The crossover does not depend on your average sale price, because the fixed $0.30 per sale is the same on both sides. It does move if you pay annually, since that lowers the plan fee but not the percentages.
What the sticker price leaves out
- Teachable's Starter fee is on the total. The 7.5% applies to the product price including taxes, so it is slightly more than 7.5% of your revenue where tax is collected.
- Kajabi's fee depends on how you get paid. The same plan costs about 2% of revenue more on Basic if you use your own processor.
- Recurring and international sales cost more. Kajabi Payments adds 0.7% on subscriptions and payment plans and 1.5% on international cards, and Teachable lists higher rates for international cards and PayPal.
- Limits sit behind the tiers. Kajabi Basic caps you at 5 products and 2,500 contacts; Teachable Starter and Builder cap you at 5 and 10 products. Teachable certificates and branding removal start on Growth.
Which should you choose?
- Just starting, under about $667 a month: Teachable Starter has the lowest fixed cost, though the 7.5% fee grows quickly.
- Selling a few courses with an email list elsewhere: Teachable Builder is the cheapest paid plan here at any volume above that.
- Wanting email, funnels and courses in one place: Kajabi bundles them, which is what its higher price pays for. Compare that bundle against the separate tools you would otherwise pay for with our Online Business Cost Calculator.
What we could not confirm
We left these out of the comparison rather than guess: Teachable's email and funnel limits, Kajabi's per-plan affiliate program, custom-domain and white-label gating, free-trial length on standard plans, and the length of Teachable's trial, which the site states inconsistently. Kajabi does list a 30-day money-back guarantee on all plans.
Want a flat fee instead?
Systeme.io charges no transaction fee on any plan, and its free plan has no expiry. See how it compares on cost and limits in our Systeme.io vs Kajabi comparison, or try it directly.
We earn a commission if you sign up to Systeme.io through our link, at no extra cost to you. It doesn't change the numbers above. See our affiliate disclosure.
Check the providers yourself
Plans change, so confirm the current price on each provider's own site before you decide. These are plain links: we do not earn a commission if you use them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kajabi or Teachable cheaper?
On fees alone, Teachable is cheaper at every revenue level we modelled. Its Starter plan ($39 a month plus a 7.5% fee) is the cheapest below roughly $667 a month of sales, and its Builder plan ($89 a month, no platform fee) is cheapest above that. Kajabi's cheapest plan is $179 a month. What the extra money buys is a different question, covered in the plan table above.
Does Teachable charge transaction fees?
It depends on the plan. Starter charges 7.5% of the total transaction value, which is the product price including taxes. Builder, Growth and the higher plans charge no platform transaction fee when you use Teachable Payments. Card processing is separate on every plan: Teachable lists 2.9% + $0.30 for US cards.
Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?
Not as a platform when you use Kajabi Payments. Kajabi says it doesn't take a revenue share, and its own payments charge 2.9%, 2.8% or 2.7% plus $0.30 on the Basic, Growth and Pro plans. If you connect your own payment processor instead, Kajabi adds a third-party fee of 2%, 1% or 0.5% on top of what your processor charges. Kajabi Payments also adds 0.7% on subscriptions and payment plans, and 1.5% on international cards.
Should I use Kajabi Payments or my own Stripe account?
The calculator above lets you switch between the two. With Kajabi Payments there is no platform fee but you use Kajabi's card rate; with your own processor you pay the processor's rate plus Kajabi's third-party fee. Other things can matter more than the percentage, such as payout speed, your existing Stripe setup, and which payment methods you want to offer, so check the details on Kajabi's help pages before you decide.
Are these prices monthly or annual?
The calculator uses month-to-month prices. Both platforms discount annual billing, and the table above shows the per-month equivalent. Annual billing lowers the plan fee but not the percentages, so it moves the crossover points slightly in favour of the higher-priced plans.
What about Thinkific and Systeme.io?
Both are in our Course Platform Fee Calculator, which compares all four platforms across every plan. For a flat-fee alternative, see our Systeme.io vs Kajabi comparison.
How we calculated this
Monthly cost is the plan price, plus the platform fee on your revenue, plus card processing (a percentage of revenue plus $0.30 per sale, estimated from revenue divided by your average sale price). Prices are month-to-month, in US dollars, for US cards, and exclude sales tax. See our full methodology.
Prices last checked: October 2026. Plans and fees change without much notice, so confirm current pricing with each provider before you switch. Our sources: