Profit-first verdict
LearnWorlds wins course economics. Kajabi wins tool consolidation.
Choose LearnWorlds when the product is the learning experience and you already have a workable marketing stack. Choose Kajabi when one connected system for courses, email, funnels, automation, checkout, community, and audience management is worth at least $64 more per month than LearnWorlds Pro Trainer.
Published pricing
The plans that define the decision
| Platform and plan | Annual-plan equivalent | Platform charge to check | Best fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| LearnWorlds Starter | $24/month | $5 per paid enrollment | Low-volume validation of one paid course |
| LearnWorlds Pro Trainer | $79/month | No enrollment fee | Interactive courses, certificates, and memberships |
| Kajabi Basic | $143/month | 2% with affected third-party providers | One connected expert-business stack |
| Kajabi Growth | $199/month | 1% with affected third-party providers | More products, contacts, admins, and automation |
USD annual-plan equivalents checked August 12, 2026. Kajabi's listed third-party provider fees exclude PayPal and Kajabi Payments. Card processing, tax, refunds, currency conversion, and optional services are separate.
Three sales scenarios
LearnWorlds stays cheaper before marketing-tool replacements
These examples assume a $149 course and compare subscription plus documented platform charges. Normal payment processing is excluded because both platforms' rates vary by provider and region.
| Monthly sales | LearnWorlds lowest modeled plan | Kajabi Basic with preferred payments | Kajabi Basic with 2% provider fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 sales ($745 gross) | Starter: $49 | $143 | About $158 |
| 15 sales ($2,235 gross) | Pro Trainer: $79 | $143 | About $188 |
| 30 sales ($4,470 gross) | Pro Trainer: $79 | $143 | About $232 |
LearnWorlds Starter and Pro Trainer tie at 11 paid enrollments per month. Pro Trainer becomes cheaper from the twelfth enrollment.
What the premium buys
Kajabi is not just a more expensive course host
Kajabi Basic includes five products, 2,500 contacts, one website, one community, two admin users, unlimited landing pages, unlimited funnels, and unlimited marketing emails. That bundle can replace several subscriptions and reduce the time spent connecting tools.
The right comparison is therefore not always $79 versus $143. It can be LearnWorlds plus an email platform, funnel builder, automation service, and community tool versus one Kajabi subscription. Price the complete operating stack, not only the course host.
Learning experience
LearnWorlds gives educators more instructional control
LearnWorlds is stronger when
- Interactive video is part of the teaching method.
- Assessments, learning paths, and certificates matter.
- SCORM content or formal training workflows may be required.
- You want unlimited courses on Pro Trainer.
- You already have email and marketing tools you like.
Kajabi is stronger when
- Email, funnels, checkout, and automation need to share data.
- A community is part of the paid customer experience.
- You sell coaching, memberships, and digital products beside courses.
- You want fewer integrations and vendor accounts to manage.
- Marketing operations matter more than advanced LMS controls.
Limits that can force an upgrade
Count products, contacts, learners, and administrators before choosing
| Constraint | LearnWorlds implication | Kajabi implication |
|---|---|---|
| Course catalog | Pro Trainer includes unlimited courses and learning paths | Basic includes five products; Growth includes 50 |
| Audience capacity | Pro Trainer lists 2,000 active learners per month | Basic includes 2,500 contacts; Growth includes 25,000 |
| Team | Pro Trainer includes five admins | Basic includes two admins; Growth includes 11 |
| Multiple websites | One school site per subscription | Pro is the listed three-website plan |
Payment reality
Regional eligibility can decide before features do
LearnWorlds documents Stripe, PayPal, and Shopify as built-in payment routes. Stripe is required for subscription sales, and Shopify cannot be used alongside the other built-in gateways.
Kajabi Payments is available only to businesses registered in the regions Kajabi lists as supported. If it is unavailable, confirm the provider your account can use, the extra Kajabi provider fee, normal processing, payout country, and settlement currency. A working buyer checkout does not automatically guarantee a workable creator payout.
Decision checklist
Choose based on the bottleneck you actually have
Choose LearnWorlds if
- Your course experience is the main competitive advantage.
- You want the lowest practical fixed cost at growing volume.
- You need formal learning features more than marketing breadth.
- Your existing marketing stack already works.
Choose Kajabi if
- Your bottleneck is lead generation and customer follow-up.
- Integrated email, funnels, community, and automation replace real costs.
- You sell several types of expertise, not only courses.
- You value one support relationship and one operating dashboard.
Frequently asked
LearnWorlds vs Kajabi questions
Which is better for a first course?
LearnWorlds Starter is the lower-cost validation route when you expect fewer than 12 monthly paid enrollments. Kajabi Basic makes more sense at launch only when you will immediately use enough of its marketing stack to avoid separate subscriptions.
Does Kajabi's higher price include email marketing?
Yes. Kajabi's published plan comparison includes unlimited marketing emails, landing pages, and funnels across Basic, Growth, and Pro, subject to the plan's contact and feature limits.
Does LearnWorlds have better course features?
It has the stronger instructional toolkit for interactive video, assessments, learning paths, certificates, and SCORM. Kajabi favors a connected expert-business workflow over LMS depth.
Should I choose the platform with the lower monthly fee?
Not automatically. Add the cost of every external tool the lower- priced platform requires, then check payment eligibility and the time cost of maintaining integrations.
Official sources
Verify current pricing and payment eligibility
Pricing, feature, and payment claims were checked against official LearnWorlds and Kajabi pages on August 12, 2026.
Vendor links are currently direct and non-affiliate.