Course Platform Fee Calculator
Kajabi, Teachable, and Thinkific all advertise a plan price - but platform transaction fees and payment-processor surcharges change the real number a lot. Enter your monthly revenue and average sale price to see what each platform actually costs you.
Example: a $5,000/mo course business
At $5,000/mo in revenue with an average sale of $197 (about 25 sales a month), the cheapest option is Systeme.io Startup at $180/month (4% of revenue) - versus $677/month (14% of revenue) on Kajabi Pro - the most expensive option at this revenue level, largely because of its percentage-based fee. Enter your own numbers above to see your real comparison.
Methodology
Total monthly cost = plan fee + (monthly revenue × the platform's fee percentage) + standard card processing (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, estimated from revenue divided by your average sale price). Kajabi and Thinkific's fee percentages reflect the surcharge that applies when using your own Stripe account rather than the platform's built-in processor - the scenario most likely to produce a real, uncapped surprise fee.
Data source: Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, and Systeme.io's published pricing pages. Last reviewed: September 2026. Always confirm current pricing directly with each provider before switching platforms.
See our full calculation methodology for the exact formula and every calculator's data sources.
Frequently asked questions
Do Kajabi and Thinkific really charge extra fees on top of the plan price?
Only if you route payments through your own Stripe account instead of the platform's built-in processor - both charge a surcharge that shrinks on higher tiers (Kajabi: 2%/1%/0.5%; Thinkific: 5%/2%/1%/0.5% by tier). Using their built-in payment processor instead avoids the surcharge, but ties your payouts to that platform.
Why does Teachable's cheapest plan sometimes end up the most expensive?
Teachable's $39/mo Starter plan carries a 7.5% transaction fee on every sale, which scales with revenue - at meaningful sales volume, that percentage can cost far more than the $50/mo difference to Builder, which has no platform transaction fee at all. The lowest sticker price isn't always the lowest real cost.
Does this include standard card processing fees?
Yes - every option includes a standard ~2.9% + $0.30 per-transaction processing cost on top of the platform's own fee, since that layer applies no matter which platform you use. This calculator's total is what you'd actually pay, not just the platform's advertised cut.
Why is Systeme.io shown as a single plan instead of multiple tiers?
Systeme.io's positioning is a single Startup plan with generous limits and no platform transaction fee, rather than the tiered plan-plus-percentage structure the other three platforms use - that flat simplicity is itself part of the comparison.
How current are these prices?
We check each platform's published pricing page when updating this tool, but providers change plans and fees without much notice - always confirm current pricing directly with the provider before switching platforms.
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