Profit-first verdict
Basic is the sensible default. Growth is a capacity and workflow upgrade—not an automatic bargain.
Start with Basic only if five products, 2,500 contacts, one website, one community, and two admins are enough. Upgrade when a documented limit or missing workflow justifies the $56 annual-plan monthly gap; compare a capacity add-on first. Do not justify Kajabi from course hosting alone; justify the full replacement stack.
Published plan prices
Kajabi costs $1,716 to $4,788 per year on annual billing
| Plan | Annual-plan equivalent | Month to month | Annual cash outlay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $143/month | $179/month | $1,716 |
| Growth | $199/month | $249/month | $2,388 |
| Pro | $399/month | $499/month | $4,788 |
Current-plan USD prices rechecked October 4, 2026. Annual equivalents require the full annual commitment. Taxes, payment processing, currency conversion, optional apps, and implementation labor are separate.
Limits that force upgrades
Count the objects your business will actually create
| Capacity | Basic | Growth | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Products | 5 | 50 | Unlimited |
| Contacts | 2,500 | 25,000 | 100,000 |
| Websites | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Communities | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Admin users | 2 | 11 | 26 |
| Cohort-Based Courses | Not listed | Included | Included |
A product is not the same as an offer. Each course, coaching program, podcast, and newsletter uses one product slot. All Downloads together use one slot, and Community does not use a product slot. For example, three courses, two Downloads, and one community use four product slots, not six. Community and contact limits still apply separately. Native Cohort Courses require Growth or Pro; a capacity add-on does not establish access to a missing feature.
Capacity without a full upgrade
Compare an available add-on with the $56 upgrade
Kajabi's account guide lists these capacity increases. It says the option appears at 80% usage, follows the subscription's billing cadence, and depends on the actual plan. These are help-guide increments, not included allowances or a universal account quote.
| Extra capacity | Monthly equivalent | If billed annually |
|---|---|---|
| 10 products | $50 | $600 |
| 5,000 contacts | $25 | $300 |
| 1 admin user | $5 | $60 |
Unresolved contact increment: the public pricing FAQ quotes 25,000 additional contacts for $125/month at any size; the account help guide lists 5,000 for $25/month and an 80%-usage availability condition. Both work out to $5 per 1,000 contacts, but that does not establish the smallest purchasable increment or account eligibility. Do not budget a $25 minimum unless your actual account quote confirms it. This source conflict was observed October 4, not resolved through an account change.
Example: Basic plus one $50 product increment is $193 per month on an annual-equivalent basis, compared with Growth at $199. That $6 gap is narrow: compare Growth's other limits, features and payment-rate differences before choosing. An added admin alone is $5, not an automatic $56 upgrade. Confirm availability before budgeting; none of these costs is added to our cross-platform calculator.
Payment-provider fee
An affected third-party provider can change Kajabi's effective cost
| Monthly gross through affected provider | Basic: 2% | Growth: 1% | Pro: 0.5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000 | $40 + $143 = $183 | $20 + $199 = $219 | $10 + $399 = $409 |
| $5,000 | $100 + $143 = $243 | $50 + $199 = $249 | $25 + $399 = $424 |
| $10,000 | $200 + $143 = $343 | $100 + $199 = $299 | $50 + $399 = $449 |
| $25,000 | $500 + $143 = $643 | $250 + $199 = $449 | $125 + $399 = $524 |
These examples exclude normal processing. Kajabi states the listed third-party provider fee excludes Kajabi Payments and PayPal and does not apply where Kajabi Payments is unavailable. The migration notice also exempts accounts that retain their legacy plan. Verify the rule for the account, business country, provider, and transaction type.
Native payment costs
Kajabi Payments is not free payment processing
The pricing page lists US current-plan domestic-card rates of 2.9%, 2.8%, and 2.7% plus $0.30 for Basic, Growth, and Pro. The US fee schedule adds 0.7% for every subscription or payment-plan transaction, including the first. International cards add 1.5%; currency conversion adds 1% when performed.
| Current plan | $100 one-time payment | $100 recurring payment |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $3.20 | $3.90 |
| Growth | $3.10 | $3.80 |
| Pro | $3.00 | $3.70 |
These examples exclude the platform subscription and other charges. The US schedule also lists $0.15 per transaction on tax-enabled Offers, 0.4% for invoicing and 0.5% for a first manually entered-card purchase; saved-card purchases differ. Original processing charges are retained after refunds. Other methods and countries use different schedules; optional instant payouts and disputes have their own costs.
Growth's 0.1-percentage-point domestic-card saving alone would cover its $56 annual-equivalent premium at $56,000 monthly card gross, assuming the same transaction count and extras. This is not the $5,600 third-party-provider threshold. Verify eligibility and the account's actual rates; neither example is a guaranteed payout quote or included in our shared processor default.
Australian card pricing
Separate the October change from the April schedule
Kajabi's Australian transition article applies to Australia-registered Kajabi Payments accounts, not every seller with Australian buyers. Domestic means an Australian-issued card. Its table lists these rates, each plus A$0.30 per transaction:
| Plan named in the transition | Domestic from Oct 1, 2026 | International before Apr 1, 2027 | International scheduled Apr 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic & Legacy | 1.65% | 3.50% | 2.80% |
| Growth | 1.55% | 3.40% | 2.70% |
| Pro | 1.45% | 3.30% | 2.60% |
Source mismatch remains: the main Australian fee table still displays 1.70% + A$0.30 with an October reduction note, while the transition table lists 1.65% for Basic & Legacy from October 1. These are published descriptions, not a verified account quote. Compare the actual plan and transaction fee breakdown before budgeting a specific rate.
The transition says October's lower card-processing component is offset by a higher international component, leaving the international total unchanged until April. Do not apply the domestic reduction twice or treat the scheduled April rate as today's rate. Recurring, conversion and other applicable charges remain separate.
Do Australian buyers give every seller these rates?
No. The transition is scoped to the payment account's Australian registration. The buyer's card origin then determines domestic or international treatment.
Did the total international rate fall in October?
The transition says it did not: the two fee components move in opposite directions. The lower total is scheduled for April 1, 2027.
Checked October 5, 2026. A manual comparison of existing transaction records is enough to identify the billed components; no processor switch or new software is required. This scoped check preserves the US examples above and the September 2 full-audit date.
Cash and existing customers
A lower fee is not a confirmed payout or billing migration
Kajabi's public payment documentation was reviewed October 5, 2026 for these specific boundaries. The seller's registered business country matters, not just the buyer's location. Kajabi lists the US, Canada, Australia, UAE, UK and selected European countries; a supported region does not establish your account's approval.
| Question | Documented boundary | Record to review |
|---|---|---|
| Will the sale settle in its currency? | The Europe guide supports seven bank-account currencies. The first currency-specific bank account sets the default; unmatched currencies convert to that default. | Business region, sale currency, matching payout currency and conversion charge. This European configuration is not a worldwide bank-account promise. |
| When is the cash available? | The payout guide starts new accounts on monthly payouts with a T+7 transaction delay. A daily schedule is not immediate settlement; timing and restrictions vary. | Transaction eligibility date, payout status and bank arrival separately. Business days exclude weekends/holidays; the bank may add 1–2 business days. Do not budget a guaranteed arrival date. |
| Did existing subscriptions move? | Changing an Offer's provider leaves existing recurring payments on the original route. The separate Stripe migration skips paused, past-due, temporary-discount and unsupported-method records; PayPal subscriptions cannot migrate through it. | Original/new record IDs, next charge date, remaining installments and skipped status. Do not infer completion from a checkout setting or count every renewal as native-provider gross. |
Use the regional setup guide, payout timing and the specific Stripe migration limits to check the relevant workflow. Migration also has tax and automation limits; it is not a full LMS transfer.
Cancellation is separate: Kajabi says customer subscriptions and payment plans can keep charging after the platform account is canceled, while platform services end at the billing-cycle boundary. Limited payment-management access is not continued course hosting. See the account-cancellation policy and our Kajabi billing-exit check.
Review existing records first; no test purchase, migration, cancellation or bank change is required to use this checklist. A manual inventory can be sufficient. This is not account verification, financial advice or a completed pricing audit; the September 2 full-audit date remains unchanged.
Two break-even tests
Growth does not become cheaper at the same point for every business
Provider-fee math only
On annual billing, Growth costs $56 more per month and saves one percentage point on an affected provider. The subscription-plus-provider-fee lines cross at $5,600 in monthly affected-provider gross. Regular month-to-month plans differ by $70, so that threshold is $7,000. Above the applicable threshold, Growth is cheaper on this narrow model, excluding normal processing.
Operations math
Compare product-slot counting and available paid capacity first. Upgrade for missing features such as native cohorts, several constraints at once, or workflows that justify the actual billing-specific premium. An isolated extra admin or contact increment need not require Growth.
Replacement-stack test
Give Kajabi credit only for tools you will actually cancel
| Function | Kajabi can cover | Evidence to collect |
|---|---|---|
| Website and landing pages | Site, blog, pages, forms, custom domain | Rebuild one production page and measure design or SEO compromises |
| Email and automation | Broadcasts, sequences, segmentation, triggers | Recreate onboarding, launch, abandoned-checkout, and renewal flows |
| Products | Courses, community, coaching, podcasts, newsletters, downloads | Build the exact product ladder and buyer library |
| Commerce | Offers, checkout, coupons, subscriptions, upsells | Test gateways, tax, refunds, failed payments, attribution, and payouts |
| Community | Access groups, discussions, events, custom pages | Test member notifications, moderation, mobile return habit, and analytics |
For coaching, check the scheduling and video qualifications before counting an outside tool as cancelled. Native feature names alone do not prove replacement savings.
Decision rules
Choose the lowest plan that survives the next 12 months
Choose Basic when
- Five products and 2,500 contacts leave room to grow.
- Two admins can operate the business.
- You do not need native cohort courses.
- The integrated stack replaces enough real cost to justify $143.
Choose Growth when
- A full upgrade works better than available capacity increments.
- Cohort-Based Courses are part of the offer.
- Additional automation changes the operating workflow.
- Affected-provider volume or saved outside tools cover the billing-specific gap.
Choose Pro when
- Three websites or communities are genuinely required.
- Unlimited products and a larger team are operational needs.
- The additional $200 over Growth is cheaper than separate business units.
- You have verified the plan in a production-like trial.
Choose another platform when
- You need only course hosting and basic checkout.
- Your existing email and website stack already works well.
- Kajabi Payments and the available payout route do not fit.
- Learning depth matters more than marketing consolidation.
Legacy is a separate quote
A current plan table does not establish a legacy renewal
Kajabi's 2025 announcement scheduled existing-plan price changes for the first billing date on or after January 13, 2026, with named exceptions. The current account guide says legacy pricing and limits can differ. These statements do not establish one account's invoice: check its exact plan, renewal quote, capacity and processor terms. Do not apply this current-plan table automatically.
Leaving a legacy plan is permanent, and its provider-fee exemption differs from current-plan examples. A higher subscription price does not prove that an account gained current-plan features or discounted processing. This scoped October 4 verification leaves the full cross-platform audit unfinished.
Frequently asked
Kajabi cost questions
Does Kajabi have a free plan?
Kajabi's public pricing page promotes a trial, not a permanent free operating plan. Confirm the current trial terms and renewal date before entering payment details.
Does Kajabi include payment processing?
Kajabi supports payment routes, but normal payment-processing charges remain separate. Kajabi also publishes additional provider fees for affected third-party providers; those are not the same as card processing.
Does a daily Kajabi payout mean next-day cash?
No. The payout schedule and transaction delay are separate, with additional bank timing and possible restrictions. Check the cash-availability record before treating a sale as usable bank funds.
Does changing checkout migrate existing subscriptions?
No. Existing recurring payments remain on the original processor unless a separate eligible migration completes. Review skipped records and the billing-migration boundaries; a provider selection is not a completion receipt.
Does canceling Kajabi stop customer payments?
No. Kajabi's cancellation policy says active customer subscriptions and payment plans continue until individually canceled. Platform cancellation, customer billing and learner access are separate decisions; review the billing-exit checklist.
Can Kajabi replace an email platform?
It can for many creator businesses, but rebuild the actual segments, sequences, triggers, deliverability workflow, forms, consent records, and reporting before cancelling the existing provider.
Is annual billing always cheaper?
The displayed annual-plan equivalent is lower, but annual billing creates a larger cash commitment and switching cost. Compare the dollar saving with the risk of paying for unused months.
Official sources
Verify current Kajabi pricing and payment rules
Kajabi links are currently direct and non-affiliate.