Kajabi Review 2024 - 8 things that won me over, what I don't like and how to compare with the other options out there.

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Last updated on 9th May 2024.

Do you feel overwhelmed when you're choosing your tech and tools?

I used to try very hard not to spend money on tools. Now I'm quite happy to invest in tools that are going to save me time and make my life easier. Sometimes using the free version of something is excellent and will do (especially for the first years of your business). However, sometimes it's a bit like trying to do something with one hand tied behind your back! I'm not saying splash out on every tool out there. Use them for free first (or make the most of the free trials) but don't deny yourself the full bells and whistles of a product. If it saves you time and solves a problem, then it's worth the investment.

My mantra is - the best tools, strategy and tech are the ones you action and use!

Kajabi is an all in one platform for your website, marketing and your course or membership. Before I used Kajabi, I was stitching my systems together with various plugins and tools. I had a WordPress website, and maybe one day I will go back to WordPress, but I found the learning curve too steep and wanted something I could update myself quickly without always having to always rely on expert help. I now update it myself and have support from a Kajabi expert.

I'm now six years in to using Kajabi. I wanted to share the things I considered when deciding to invest in Kajabi, what won me over, what I'm not so keen on, and the other options available:

1. You learn one tool - once you have mastered the basics, you can navigate your way around all the different parts of Kajabi relatively quickly. Like anything, there's an initial learning curve, but there are lots of tutorials and help online. I moved my WordPress website over myself and invested in help for someone to move my blog and check everything.
2. 24 hour live chat support (on the growth package) - the online support is great. Unlike a lot of tools out there, the support is pretty amazing with how-to videos and screenshots to help you work anything out.
3. It's an all in one tool: website (includes hosting), email marketing, page builder, create courses, memberships, take payments, automation, integrate Stripe and PayPal, video hosting (for your digital course, membership or digital product), opt-ins and other features depending on what price plan you choose.
4. It looks fabulous and has a great user experience! The reason why I picked Kajabi in the first place was that I'd used it so many times as a student and loved it.
5. It has excellent course templates so you have ready-made designs you can use so you can focus on creating the content.
6. Evergreen and live webinar funnels. You can set up webinar registrations very quickly and even set up an evergreen version of a webinar using the Kajabi legacy funnels ( you need to run the actual webinar through a 3rd party tool like Zoom first). You can set up the whole registration and funnel in Kajabi, including email reminders and links to sales pages and checkout.
7. Great Kajabi community - the official Kajabi community on Facebook is brilliant. The community helps each other out, share wins, support each other, plus it is monitored and supported by Kajabi staff.
8. You can quickly build funnels in Kajabi - they are amazing and take the tech headache out of setting up a funnel.

And this is only some of the tools and functions you get within Kajabi.

People think Kajabi is expensive, but it's worth doing your sums to work out what each of the different tools would cost before you rule it out. There are different pricing plans for Kajabi, and prices start at $69/month for the Kick starter plan. This plan is an amazing way to see if it's right for you before upgrading to other next tiers, which give you more product options. (Please note these prices are correct at the time of writing, 9th May 2024.)

It's hard to compare like for like, but here's what you should consider when comparing:

• Email marketing tools (remember you pay more the bigger your list and sometimes for functionality). Included in the basic package is a list of up to 10,000. Email marketing tools can end up costing you hundreds of dollars a month as your list grows.
• Hosting - ok you can get hosting relatively cheaply these days but it all adds up.
• Video hosting - Wistia video hosting is included with Kajabi and bear in mind Wistia pricing starts at $99 per month for a Pro license (what most course sellers will need).
• It consists of a website and page builder - the average costs of a website builder is around $10-$50/month.
• Also, if you decide to use Kajabi to host your evergreen webinar that could be a massive cost saving too.
• Podcast hosting costs around $15/month and you can host your podcast within Kajabi.
• Kajabi has its own checkout so make sure to factor in the cost of a checkout tool as well if you’re going to do a full analysis.

Kajabi has its own blog post with a comparison chart that you can follow (it compares Podia and Kajabi.)

The cost of tools can add up, so make sure you do your sums before you rule it out as too expensive. Investing in Kajabi was a big step for me six years ago, but I quickly realised it would save me time and money compared to using individual tools, plus also the time you will save getting up to speed on one platform. It's only expensive if you don't use it, right?

 Things I don't like about Kajabi.

• Email marketing is great, but - I'd like to see more sophisticated email automation, it is excellent, but I'd like it to be able to do what ActiveCampaign or Convertkit can do. However it will definitely do enough for you particularly if you are new to list building and email marketing.
• There are design limitations - it would be nice to have more freedom with fonts and design without having to get someone to custom code.

 How does it compare to other tools?

There are lots of other great course hosting tools out there, and when I was choosing which was the best one for my business, I Googled every course platform and read all the blog posts and watched YouTube videos on a lot of them, I have also analysed tools for clients to help them choose what's best for them, and they don't always go for Kajabi as it's not right for everyone.

If you Google Kajabi Vs Podia or Kajabi vs Teachable (and change which tools you are comparing), you will find so many great reviews and comparison blogs out there. I'd also recommend getting reviews and feedback from customers who have used the products as well.

It is worth doing your due diligence and research to find out what's the best tool for your business and budget. I've listed different prices below so you can compare prices and functionality.  Here’s a rundown of some of the different products out there and how they compare.

• Teachable. Prices start at $29/month. Teachable charges 5% transaction on the basic plan. Teachable does not come with landing pages or email marketing tools; you can, however, email your students through it. Teachable is great If you only need a software tool to build and deliver your online courses.
• Podia. Prices start at $39/month. I demoed this recently and thought it was great, and they appear to have big plans to keep adding functionality to it. The main differences between Podia vs Kajabi are the cost and features. Podia is more limited in offerings, whereas Kajabi is much more expensive with more features.
• Thinkific. There’s actually a free version and then prices start at $39/month. Thinkific is a very popular option and I know a lot of people who host courses on it and love it. The main difference between the two platforms is Kajabi is an all-in-one system that offers you the marketing tools to build an online course business. Whereas Thinkific is focused more on providing the core features, things that are considered "must-haves" for course creation and delivery.
• WordPress plugins. There are also plugins you can add to a WordPress website like Memberpress (prices start at $129/year) or Learndash (prices start at $159/year) so you can add courses and memberships to your WordPress website. The main difference between WordPress and Kajabi is the setup and design process. For Kajabi, you pay a monthly fee which is dependent on the plan you choose.
• Learnworlds. Prices start at $24/month. “Sell Professional, Social, Engaging Courses on One platform”. Learnworlds claims to have everything you need to create and sell an online course.  LearnWorlds is a learning platform for creating, managing and selling your online courses. ... On the other hand, Kajabi is an all-in-one marketing automation platform with added capabilities to sell digital products and courses.
• Kartra. Prices start at $99/month. It's an all-in-one business building platform specially focused on funnel building, email marketing, and product selling. Kajabi is also an all-in-one platform, but the main focus is on course selling.
• Teachery. Prices start at $49/month. Teachery requires no development skills, has nothing to install, and you can have your online course up and selling in a matter of minutes. There aren't many comparison blogs out there at the moment.
• Thrivecart - a really popular choice for course creators, a great checkout tool with fab functionality and you can also buy a version that includes Learn so you can host your digital products, membership and courses as well. Great also as it is a one off cost rather than an ongoing subscription cost.  Prices start at $495 for a lifetime plan.

Take your time researching these as once you have started using them and setting everything up, you are unlikely to want to move! 

These are some of the most popular options. There are more out there. You have to consider your budget, what functionality you need, and what support you get with each option. Many of these are a lot more than just a place to sell and host your course. 

 Kajabi allows you to host your website, email marketing, create lead magnets, memberships, communities, email automation and affiliate programmes (as do some of the others). It's a case of working out what you need and what support you'd like.  

 This affiliate link also gives you a 30-day free trial of Kajabi. If you have any questions, email me at [email protected].

Personally using Kajabi has been life-changing for my business, I've saved myself thousands and so much time. I've definitely accelerated my business by having one place to run it all from.