Kajabi alternative
Course Catalyst vs Kajabi: a practical comparison
Kajabi is a big, established platform, and it is priced like one. Course Catalyst does the core job (courses, email, checkout, community) for a fraction of the monthly price. Here is the honest side-by-side.
Side by side
Course Catalyst vs Kajabi
Kajabi is an established all-in-one platform for courses, coaching, communities and marketing.
| Topic | Kajabi | Course Catalyst |
|---|---|---|
| Plans and price | Basic $179/month, Growth $249/month, Pro $499/month. Billed yearly that works out to $143, $199 and $399 per month. | Lite $27/month ($270/year). Pro $97/month ($970/year). 14-day free trial. |
| Fees on your sales | Kajabi Payments (US): 2.9%, 2.8% or 2.7% plus $0.30 per sale depending on plan. Using a third-party processor adds a Kajabi fee of 2%, 1% or 0.5% (PayPal and Kajabi Payments excluded). | Lite 10% platform fee on sales. Pro 0%. Stripe processing fees are separate. |
| Courses, products and contacts | Products: 5, 50 or unlimited. Contacts: 2,500, 25,000 or 100,000 (extra contacts are $125/month per 25,000). | Unlimited courses, products, contacts, landing pages and funnels on both plans. Video storage: 50 GB on Lite, unlimited on Pro. |
| Email marketing | Unlimited marketing emails on every plan. | Broadcasts and email sequences built in. 5,000 marketing emails per month on Lite, 150,000 on Pro. |
| Community | 1 community on Basic and Growth, 3 on Pro. | Community channels and threads on both plans. |
Kajabi details come from Kajabi's pricing page, read October 30, 2026. Prices and limits change, so confirm on their site before you decide. Annual prices shown per month are as they state them.
When Kajabi is the better choice
- You want unlimited marketing emails and a very large contact list included in one price.
- You want a long-established platform with a big customer base and the budget for it.
- You want built-in AI credits (500 on Growth, 1,000 on Pro) in the same subscription.
When Course Catalyst is the better choice
- You want to pay $27 or $97 a month instead of $179 or more.
- You do not want product or contact caps. Ours are unlimited on both plans.
- You want to run your site from Claude through the API and MCP.
Before you decide
Do the fee math on your own numbers
Monthly price is only part of it. On Course Catalyst, Pro costs $70 more per month than Lite and drops the platform fee from 10% to 0%. That pays for itself once you sell about $700 a month. Below that, Lite is cheaper. Kajabi's entry plan is $179/month, so the gap is large for anyone selling under a few thousand dollars a month.
Run the same test in both
Build one short course, a sales page and a welcome email in each product, then buy it yourself. Ten minutes in each tells you more than any feature list, including this one.
Moving over
We help import from Kajabi and Kit. Email caleb@calebcurry.com with what you want to move. We will review your courses, pages, contacts and emails with you and agree on the scope before starting. This is hands-on help, not a promise that every setting or subscription transfers automatically.
See the actual course player
Our public docs run on Course Catalyst. This is the published docs course, captured from the product.
What Course Catalyst costs
Lite: $27/month
Or $270/year, billed annually. 10% platform fee on sales. Payment processing fees are separate.
Everything you need to launch and sell your first course.
Pro: $97/month
Or $970/year, billed annually. 0% platform fee on sales. Payment processing fees are separate.
For creators who sell and email at scale.
Questions before you choose
Is Course Catalyst a good Kajabi alternative?
It is if you want courses, a site builder, checkout, email and community in one place with simple pricing and no limit on courses or contacts. It is not the right fit for everyone, so read the section on when Kajabi is the better choice.
Does Kajabi have contact or product limits?
Yes. Per Kajabi's public pricing page on October 30, 2026, Basic allows 5 products and 2,500 contacts, Growth allows 50 products and 25,000 contacts, and Pro allows unlimited products and 100,000 contacts. Course Catalyst has no product or contact limit on either plan.
How much does Kajabi cost compared to Course Catalyst?
Kajabi's prices are in the table above, taken from their public pricing page on October 30, 2026. Course Catalyst is $27/month on Lite and $97/month on Pro, with a 10% platform fee on Lite and none on Pro. Prices change, so confirm on their site.
Can you help me migrate?
We help import from Kajabi and Kit. Email caleb@calebcurry.com with what you want to move. We will review your courses, pages, contacts and emails with you and agree on the scope before starting. This is hands-on help, not a promise that every setting or subscription transfers automatically.