Building online courses or running a coaching business? Kajabi might be one of the first platforms you’re thinking about using. Its features include courses, landing pages, marketing tools, and membership options. But it’s also expensive, and not everyone needs an all-in-one platform with everything bundled together.
By 2026, creators will be much savvier about where their money goes. Many coaches prefer tools that are simpler, cheaper, more flexible, or better at specific key parts of their workflow. Maybe you want stronger checkout options. Maybe you want better marketing automation. Or maybe you’re just tired of paying for features you don’t use.
It’s also important to remember that creating high-quality courses takes time. One study found that 43% of course creators spend between one and three months developing a course before launch. And for many successful creators, online courses aren’t just a passion project; they’re a top revenue source. In fact, the global elearning market, valued at USD 366.43 billion in 2024, is expected to grow at a 20.4% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate).
Here are some top platforms to consider in 2026, what each offers, and why you might choose it over Kajabi.
Key takeaways:
- The right platform depends on your business model, whether it’s membership sites, course bundles, or subscription-based services.
- Features like marketing automation, integrations, and analytics are as important as the course creation tools themselves.
- Some platforms work better with tools like ThriveCart to handle payments, checkouts, and sales funnels.
Take control of your funnels, upsells, and payments ‒ see how ThriveCart works for you.
1) ThriveCart (Best Kajabi alternative for selling & checkouts)
If your priority is selling (meaning payments, conversions, subscriptions, and customer onboarding), ThriveCart is the strongest Kajabi alternative available in 2026. It began as a high-converting payment solution and has since added numerous features, including its learning management system (ThriveCart Learn+), which adds full course hosting and membership management tools.
ThriveCart’s best features:
- Sales funnels
- High-converting checkout pages
- Upsells, downsells, and order bumps
- Payment plans, subscriptions, and trials
- Student Aautomation
- Affiliate management
- Reporting & analytics
- And with ThriveCart Learn+, full course creation and hosting
Pricing:
Basic lifetime license, one-time payment of $495.
Creators appreciate that the interface is clean and the features stay focused on selling. You won’t see extra clutter or unnecessary dashboards. And since ThriveCart is built around payments, its flexibility exceeds Kajabi’s, especially when you want more control over pricing and recurring revenue.
Perfect for:
Coaches, course creators, and businesses that prefer strong sales tools and clean course delivery. ThriveCart is a more specialized payment tool than Kajabi – its analytics, upsells, student access automation, and subscription controls make it a better fit if your revenue depends on maximizing conversions.
Bottom line: If checkout conversions matter to you, ThriveCart is your strongest Kajabi alternative.
👀➡️Want more on ThriveCart vs Kajabi? Take a deeper dive here.
2) Teachable (Best for simple course hosting)
Teachable is one of the longest-running platforms used for hosting and delivering online courses. It focuses on helping creators publish lessons and accept payments without adding unnecessary complexity.
Best features:
- LMS for hosting lessons and modules
- Drip scheduling
- Basic community tools
- Global payment support
- Built-in coaching product type
- Offers both free and paid plans
Pricing:
Starter at $39 per month, Builder at $89 per month, Growth at $189 per month, and the Advanced plan at $399 per month.
Unlike Kajabi, which bundles multiple tools together, Teachable keeps its scope narrow. It’s built primarily for people who want to create online courses without learning how to use a website builder or managing too many advanced features.
Perfect for:
Beginners, educators, and coaches who are seeking a straightforward, task-focused platform.
3) Thinkific (Best for online courses that require customization)
Thinkific provides more customization options than Teachable, especially in terms of course design and student experience. It allows for greater control over layout, visuals, and course flow.
Best features:
- Customizable course player
- Drag-and-drop site and course builder
- Strong multimedia support
- Communities and memberships
- Live learning sessions
- Detailed student reporting
- Mobile app access
Pricing:
Basic at $49 per month, Grow at $199 per month, and Thinkific Plus (custom option).
Thinkific prioritizes the student side of the platform. While Kajabi includes stronger advanced marketing features, Thinkific is better than Kajabi at flexible course delivery and design control.
Perfect for:
Creators who want a customizable LMS but don’t need built-in funnels or email automation.
4) Podia (Best Kajabi alternative for budget users)
Podia is a beginner-friendly platform that simplifies the process of selling courses, digital downloads, memberships, and subscriptions sites, and webinars. It’s designed to reduce setup steps so new creators can launch quickly.
Best features:
- Beginner-friendly course creation
- Low-cost basic plan
- Built-in community area
- Email and other simple marketing tools (such as email campaigns, upsells, and basic simple automation)
- Product bundling
Pricing:
Mover plan at $39 per month (with 5% transaction fees), and Shaker plan at $89 per month (with no transaction fees)
Podia isn’t as robust as Kajabi or ThriveCart, but it offers an uncomplicated, low-cost option for small businesses and hobby educators.
Perfect for:
New creators, small coaching businesses, and users who want a straightforward system without too many additional features.
5) Systeme.io (Best all-in-one budget alternative)
Systeme.io follows a similar all-in-one format to Kajabi but at a significantly lower price point. It includes funnels, automations, and unlimited course hosting in its plans.
Best features:
- Funnels and pages
- Marketing automation
- Unlimited courses and students
- Membership sites
- Email campaigns
- Affiliate management
Pricing (billed annually):
Startup at $170, Webinar at $470, and Unlimited at $970.
It doesn’t have the depth of Kajabi or the checkout power of ThriveCart, but it’s a practical choice for users who want multiple tools in an online course platform.
Perfect for:
Budget-conscious creators who want a website builder, email tools, and course hosting without paying for premium software.
6) WordPress + Plugins (Best for full ownership & control)
For creators who want long-term control and customization, WordPress remains a flexible option for course hosting. You choose your LMS, your checkout tools, your page builder, and the overall structure of your tech stack.
Best features
- LearnDash or TutorLMS for course creation
- WooCommerce for payment processing
- ThriveCart or Stripe for checkout
- Elementor or Divi for page building
Pricing (billed annually):
Personal at $200 per month, Premium at $416 per month, and Business at $1,166 per month.
WordPress requires more setup and ongoing maintenance, plus there are potential security concerns, but you’re not locked into a single system. You can adjust your tools, design, and workflow as your business grows.
Perfect for:
Creators who want total flexibility and don’t mind managing plugins, security concerns, or hosting.
7) Skool (Best for community-based courses & coaching)
Skool focuses almost entirely on community and engagement rather than page building or marketing tools. Courses live inside the same intuitive interface as group discussions, events, and messaging.
Best features:
- Community + classroom in one
- Simple course hosting
- Leaderboards
- Events calendar
- Direct messaging
- Branded mobile app
Pricing:
$99 per month. Skool doesn’t include email marketing or funnels, so most creators pair it with a separate tool like ThriveCart.
Perfect for:
Coaches, cohort-based programs, and creators who rely heavily on community engagement.
Which Kajabi alternative should you choose?
Here’s a quick overview:
Need | Best Option |
Strong checkout + selling tools | ThriveCart |
Basic course hosting | Teachable |
Custom course experience | Thinkific |
Cheap all-in-one | Systeme.io |
Community-driven learning | Skool |
Total ownership & flexibility | WordPress |
Easy beginner-friendly setup | Podia |
If you’re a coach or course creator who cares about selling, converting, and seamless automation, ThriveCart stands out as the top Kajabi alternative in 2026.
And you only pay once, so no monthly Kajabi bill to worry about.
Start selling your courses today and see how ThriveCart can boost your revenue instantly.
Why course creators are choosing ThriveCart
ThriveCart’s advanced features that course creators love:
Sales funnel builder
Build funnels with upsells, downsells, order bumps, and A/B testing. It’s simple, clean, and built for increasing conversions ‒ not clutter.
Checkout system
This is where ThriveCart shines. You get:
- One-page checkouts (by default; other checkout options are available)
- Embeddable cart
- Custom fields
- Cart abandonment automation
- Real-time tax calculations
Kajabi’s checkout is fine, but ThriveCart conversions are higher because the cart is optimized and laser-focused on selling.
Automation
You can trigger events based on:
- Purchases
- Refunds
- Subscription cancellations
- Course progress (with ThriveCart Learn+)
Advanced marketing automation features help with onboarding, tagging, and managing upsells.
Payment methods
Accept credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), subscriptions, and trials. You can manage everything from one place.
Subscriptions & recurring billing
Set up:
- Membership sites
- Recurring coaching payments
- Retainer packages
- Payment plans
Built-in dunning (failed payment recovery) reduces churn.
ThriveCart Learn+ LMS
You can create online courses with:
- Drip lessons
- Student progress tracking
- Bundled courses
- Student analytics
- Private communities (optional layout)
Analytics, tracking & reporting
Track:
- Revenue
- Funnel performance
- Upsell acceptance
- Affiliate sales
- Lifetime customer value
You also get built-in tracking scripts, UTM tagging, and integrations with your advanced analytics tools ‒ so you can leverage ThriveCart’s analytics to drive business revenue.
Account management & support
Support is known for being quick and helpful, especially for billing and technical setup. You can also manage multiple sub-accounts with team access.
Integrations
Native integrations include:
- Stripe
- PayPal
- ConvertKit
- ActiveCampaign
- AWeber
- Teachable
- Wishlist Member
- Zapier (including integration with Kajabi)
Kajabi Integration via Zapier
Since Kajabi no longer offers a public API, integrating it with platforms like ThriveCart requires using Zapier as a “middleman”. This setup allows you to automate course access based on actions in ThriveCart:
Common triggers:
- Product purchase → Grant access to a Kajabi offer
- Refund → Revoke access (single-payment products)
- Recurring payment cancelled → Revoke access (subscription-based courses)
Setup steps:
- Create a trigger in Zapier – for purchases, refunds, or subscription cancellations.
- Select Kajabi as the action – choose events like “Grant access to an Offer.”
- Map customer data – use ThriveCart order info to populate email and external user ID.
- Test the integration – ensure new users are added; existing users may show an error, which can be skipped.
Tip: Use the customer’s email as the external user ID in Kajabi to manage multiple courses or offers and prevent issues with existing accounts.
This integration allows you to combine ThriveCart’s checkout power and automation with Kajabi’s course management, making it ideal for creators who want specialized tools without sacrificing automation.
Bundles: Pro+ / Ultimate / Learn+
Depending on your plan, you get:
- Pro+: Advanced funnel features, subscription saver
- Ultimate: More automation, priority support, enhanced reporting (includes Learn+)
- Learn+: Advanced LMS tools, bulk enrollments, additional layouts
Final thoughts
Kajabi is still a respected platform, but it’s no longer the only option. The creator space in 2026 is more flexible and tool-agnostic. You don’t need an expensive, bloated platform with too many features. You need a system that supports your specific workflow ‒ whether that’s selling, teaching, automating, or building a community.
If selling and revenue optimization matter most, ThriveCart is your strongest choice. Choose the platform that fits your business needs ‒ and your budget.
Get started with ThriveCart and maximize every sale.