Best Alternatives to Kajabi in 2028

Let me be upfront: Kajabi is a genuinely excellent platform. It does a lot, it does most of it well, and if you're running a high-revenue digital product business that's ready to consolidate tools, it can be worth every dollar.

But Kajabi starts at around $70/month and climbs steeply from there. And for most people — especially those in the earlier stages of building an online business — that price tag buys a lot of features they won't use for a long time.

Here's my honest take on the best alternatives to Kajabi in 2028.

What Kajabi Actually Gives You

Kajabi bundles course hosting, email marketing, landing page builders, a website builder, community features, pipeline funnels, and analytics into one platform. It's the "one tool to rule them all" approach for online educators.

The appeal is obvious: fewer integrations to manage, one support team to call, one dashboard to check.

The downside: you pay for all of it whether you use it or not. And the learning curve is real — Kajabi has a lot of settings, and getting everything configured takes meaningful time.

#1: MadeThis — Best Alternative for Simplicity at Lower Cost

I use MadeThis, so I'll own that bias. But here's the honest comparison:

MadeThis handles digital product selling — courses, ebooks, templates, downloads — with a clean interface at a much lower price point than Kajabi. You get a real storefront, payment processing, file delivery, and affiliate support without paying $70–$200/month.

What MadeThis doesn't have: a built-in email marketing suite, a full website builder, or community features. If those are critical for your business right now, that matters. But for many creators, those are things they can get elsewhere (ConvertKit for email, Notion for community building, Substack for newsletters) at less total cost than Kajabi.

I went deep on this comparison in the MadeThis vs Kajabi post. If you're seriously deciding between the two, read that before you sign up for either.

#2: Podia — The Middle Option

Podia sits between MadeThis and Kajabi in both price and features. It includes courses, digital downloads, memberships, and webinars. It doesn't have Kajabi's full email suite or funnel builder, but it's more full-featured than basic selling platforms.

Pricing is mid-tier — around $39–$89/month depending on the plan. For a creator who needs course hosting plus memberships but doesn't want Kajabi's complexity or cost, Podia is a reasonable middle ground.

#3: Thinkific — Best for Pure Course Creators

If your primary product is a structured, video-based course and you want the best course-creation tools without the email and community overhead, Thinkific is a strong option. The interface is clean, the course builder is excellent, and the pricing is more transparent than Kajabi's.

Thinkific Plus is their enterprise-level offering for large teams, but the standard plans serve most creators well.

#4: Systeme.io — The Budget Option

Systeme.io offers a surprisingly full stack at the lowest price point in this category — free up to a point, then $27/month for most features. It includes funnels, email, courses, and affiliate management.

The trade-off: the platform feels a bit generic and the product presentation isn't as polished as MadeThis or Kajabi. But for creators who genuinely need funnels and email in one place and can't justify Kajabi's price, Systeme.io is worth a look.

I compared it directly in MadeThis vs Systeme.io if you want to dig in.

#5: Stan Store — For Social Creators

Stan Store is popular with TikTok and Instagram creators. It's simpler and more mobile-friendly than Kajabi, and the setup takes minutes. But it's not a full platform — more of a social storefront. If SEO and email-driven traffic is part of your strategy, Stan Store's limitations show quickly.

How to Choose

Here's the honest question to ask yourself: Do you need all of Kajabi, or do you need the parts of Kajabi you've been sold on?

Most people I talk to left Kajabi because they were paying for email automation and community features they never set up. They just needed a clean way to sell products.

If that's you, MadeThis covers that need at a fraction of the cost.

If you genuinely need funnels, email sequences, and community in one place at serious scale, Kajabi is probably worth it. But you should be making money before you pay for the infrastructure to scale it.

Check out the MadeThis pricing page and start free. Upgrade when you need it, not before.

Start at MadeThis.com — you'll be set up and selling before Kajabi's onboarding wizard is done.