Kajabi vs Kartra: The Honest Review (2025)
Quick Verdict (TL;DR):
- 🏆 Overall Winner: Kajabi (Best All-in-One)
- 💰 Best Alternative: Kartra (Great value)
If you want to sell knowledge online, you need a platform. But you don't just need a place to host videos. You need email marketing, landing pages, checkout forms, and analytics.
Kajabi and Kartra are the two titans of the "all-in-one" space. They promise to replace 10 different subscriptions with one.
But they have very different DNA. Kajabi was built for course creators. Kartra was built for marketers.
The Philosophy
Kajabi is the "Apple" of the industry. It is beautiful, polished, and expensive. It focuses on delivering a premium student experience. If your brand image is "luxury" or "high-end," Kajabi fits perfectly.
Kartra is the "Android" (or maybe the "Linux"). It is powerful, customizable, and a bit clunky. It focuses on the funnel—the upsells, downsells, and complex automations. If you are a hardcore direct response marketer, Kartra is your playground.
Round 1: Course Hosting
Kajabi wins here. Its course player is stunning right out of the box. It has a mobile app that students love. You can create community hubs, coaching programs, and podcasts easily.
Kartra hosts videos and membership sites, but the design feels dated. It looks like a website from 2015 unless you know how to code custom CSS. It gets the job done, but it doesn't "wow" the user.
Round 2: Email & Funnels
Kartra destroys Kajabi here. Its funnel builder is world-class. You can share funnels with other users, build complex "if/then" automations, and track every click. It even has a built-in helpdesk and calendar tool.
Kajabi has email marketing, but it's basic. It's fine for newsletters, but if you want advanced segmentation or behavioral tagging, you might find it limiting.
Round 3: Pricing
| Feature | Kajabi (Basic) | Kartra (Starter) |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $149/month | $99/month |
| Products | 3 Products | 20 Products |
| Contacts | 10,000 | 2,500 |
| Funnels | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Detailed Pros & Cons
Kajabi Pros
- Polished Design: Templates are stunning and professional out-of-the-box; difficult to make an ugly site.
- Student App: Dedicated mobile app offers a Netflix-style experience for your course students.
- Community: Robust built-in community (Circles) allows you to ditch Facebook Groups entirely.
- Frictionless: Payment processing (Stripe/PayPal) and checkout flows are completely seamless.
Kajabi Cons
- Cost: Premium pricing ($149/mo start) is a high barrier for beginners.
- Email Limitations: Email builder is good for broadcasts but lacks the complex logic of ActiveCampaign.
- No Physical Products: Strictly for digital goods; no inventory management or shipping options.
Kartra Pros
- Funnel Power: "BAM" (Behavioral Adaptive Marketing) allows for insanely complex if/then automations.
- Agency Features: Sell your own funnels and campaigns to other Kartra users via the marketplace.
- Video Hosting: Includes enterprise-grade video hosting with CTA overlays and tags (saves you ~$99/mo on Wistia).
- Helpdesk: Built-in customer support ticketing system integrates directly with user profiles.
Kartra Cons
- Sluggish UI: The backend interface can be slow, laggy, and frustrating to navigate.
- Dated Design: Page templates and checkout forms feel like they are from 2015 compared to Kajabi.
- Learning Curve: The sheer number of features results in a steep learning curve for new users.
User Experience & Interface Deep Dive
This is the biggest differentiator.
Kajabi is a joy to use. The dashboard is clean. The builders are intuitive. It feels like modern SaaS. You can build a landing page in 10 minutes that looks like you paid a designer $5,000.
Kartra is... painful. It is slow. Clicking a button often results in a 2-second loading spinner. The menus are dense. However, once you get used to it, you realize the power it holds. It gives you granular control over everything, which power users love.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate website?
No, both platforms can host your entire website, blog, and landing pages.
Can I migrate my content?
Yes, but it's a manual process. There is no "one-click import" from other platforms.
Do they take transaction fees?
No, neither platform charges transaction fees (unlike Teachable). You only pay Stripe/PayPal fees.
Is video hosting included?
Yes, both include unlimited video hosting (via Wistia for Kajabi, proprietary for Kartra).
Which is better for coaching?
Kajabi has a dedicated "Coaching" product type that manages sessions and notes, making it better for coaches.
Need to host a webinar? Check out our Webinar Platform Review .
The Final Verdict
Choose Kajabi if:
Choose Kajabi if you are a premium course creator or coach who demands a polished, Apple-like student experience and beautiful website templates.
Choose Kartra if:
Choose Kartra if you are a data-driven marketer who needs complex, behavior-based automation funnels, advanced affiliate management, and a complete agency toolkit.