In Kajabi vs Skool, Skool Pro suits sellers whose product is the community, at $990 a year. Kajabi Basic suits sellers who want courses, email marketing, landing pages and a website on 1 bill, at $1,716 a year. Their fees match, so the $726 a year between them is what Kajabi’s extra tools cost.
Both charge 2.9% + 30¢ per payment: Kajabi through Kajabi Payments for US sellers, Skool on payments under $900. Skool’s $90-a-year Hobby plan takes 10% + 30¢, so it costs more than Pro above about $1,056 a month in sales. Skool’s help docs add 2 costs its pricing card skips: 3.9% + 30¢ above $900, and a 30% Growth Boost cut on members Skool finds.
You have a course, a few people who already turn up to your live calls, and 2 platforms that both promise to hold all of it. You also have a budget that does not stretch to both.
Skool’s pricing page opens on a $9 plan. Kajabi’s opens on a list of everything 1 bill covers. Neither works out what you would pay at your own sales level.
Below, I cut all 5 plans on the 2 pricing pages down to 2, with the number where each cut happens. Then come the 4 things that decide between the last 2, and what leaving each platform costs you.
Key Takeaways
- Same card rate, $726 a year apart. Skool Pro and Kajabi Basic both take 2.9% + 30¢ on payments under $900, so plan price decides it.
- The cheap plan gets expensive. Skool Hobby’s 10% fee makes it dearer than Skool Pro once you sell more than about $1,056 a month.
- Growth and Pro are for bigger businesses. Kajabi Basic includes 2,500 contacts and 5 products, and Pro adds a branded app.
- Growth Boost keeps 30%. Skool’s payments FAQ says it is on by default. It keeps 30% of recurring charges from members Skool finds.
- Big payments cost more on Skool. Skool Pro charges 3.9% + 30¢ above $900, so Kajabi Basic catches up at $6,050 a month of those.
Start here: the 5 Kajabi vs Skool plans on the pricing pages
Kajabi’s pricing page sells 3 plans and Skool’s sells 2, so a solo seller weighing Kajabi vs Skool is choosing between 5. Kajabi also sells a smaller Kickstarter plan through a direct signup link instead of its pricing page, so it is not counted here, and our Kajabi pricing guide covers its limits. 2 of the comparisons on Google’s first page still quote it at $55 or $69.
If you are setting up your first paid course or group, the Online Selling Mistakes Challenge covers 5 mistakes solo sellers make when selling online, over 5 days by email.
Billed yearly, the 5 plans run from $90 to $4,788 a year, and each one also charges a fee on every payment, from 2.7% + 30¢ on Kajabi Pro to 10% + 30¢ on Skool Hobby.
| Plan | Yearly billing | Monthly | Per payment | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skool Hobby | $90 ($7.50 a month) | $9 | 10% + 30¢ | No custom URL, affiliates or Zapier |
| Skool Pro | $990 ($82.50 a month) | $99 | 2.9% + 30¢, or 3.9% + 30¢ above $900 | No email sequences or landing pages |
| Kajabi Basic | $1,716 ($143 a month) | $179 | 2.9% + 30¢ | 5 products, 2,500 contacts, Kajabi branding |
| Kajabi Growth | $2,388 ($199 a month) | $249 | 2.8% + 30¢ | 50 products, 25,000 contacts |
| Kajabi Pro | $4,788 ($399 a month) | $499 | 2.7% + 30¢ | 100,000 contacts, 3 websites |
Skool’s yearly toggle shows Pro at $82 a month next to “2 months free”. 10 months of $99 is $990 a year, or $82.50 a month, so the page rounds down. Skool’s fees already include card processing, because Skool bills your members through its own merchant account.
Kajabi’s rates are what Kajabi Payments charges US sellers, according to the compare table on Kajabi’s pricing page. Connect your own Stripe account instead and Kajabi adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth or 0.5% on Pro, on top of Stripe’s own card fee. PayPal sales carry no extra Kajabi fee.
CartMango, the checkout I run, is not in this field. CartMango takes payments and runs order bumps, but it hosts no course and no community yet, so it cannot do the job either platform does.
What the pricing pages leave out
Skool’s pricing card shows “2.9% transaction fee” on Pro. Its payments FAQ adds the 30¢ and a second rate: 3.9% + 30¢ on any payment above $900.
Of the 6 written comparisons on Google’s first page for this search, 1 mentions that $900 step and none mentions Growth Boost, the 30% cut covered further down.
Cut 1: Kajabi Growth and Pro, until you pass 2,500 contacts or 5 products
Kajabi Growth costs $56 a month more than Basic billed yearly, and Pro costs $256 more. Their lower card rates only cover that at $56,000 and $128,000 a month in sales, so on fees alone neither earns its price for a seller still building.
Growth earns its keep in other ways. It lifts the caps to 50 products and 25,000 contacts, removes Kajabi’s branding, and adds your own affiliate program, live cohort courses and 11 admin seats. Once your list passes 2,500, Growth is also the cheaper route: Basic plus 1 extra block of 25,000 contacts costs $268 a month, $69 more than Growth at $199.
Pro is built for a business that wants its own app in the App Store, 3 websites or 100,000 contacts. To compare all 5 plans on money alone, say your group charges $49 a month.
At $49 a month per member, Skool Pro is the cheapest of the 5 plans from 50 members up, and Kajabi Pro costs the most at all 3 sizes below.
| Members at $49 | Skool Hobby | Skool Pro | Kajabi Basic | Kajabi Growth | Kajabi Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ($980 a month) | $111.50 | $116.92 | $177.42 | $232.44 | $431.46 |
| 50 ($2,450 a month) | $267.50 | $168.55 | $229.05 | $282.60 | $480.15 |
| 100 ($4,900 a month) | $527.50 | $254.60 | $315.10 | $366.20 | $561.30 |
Each cell is the plan’s price billed yearly plus its fee on every payment, for members you brought in yourself. The Kajabi columns assume Kajabi Payments, and even the 100-member row sits far below Basic’s 2,500-contact cap. For a solo seller under 2,500 contacts and 5 products, Growth and Pro both go, and that leaves 3: Skool Hobby, Skool Pro and Kajabi Basic.
Cut 2: Skool Hobby, once sales pass about $1,056 a month
Skool Hobby costs $75 a month less than Pro billed yearly, but its 10% fee is 7.1 points higher, so Pro becomes the cheaper plan at about $1,056 a month in sales. Pay month to month and the crossover moves to about $1,268. Skool’s own example puts it in dollars and cents: a $9 membership pays you $8.40 on Pro and $7.80 on Hobby.
In the table above, Hobby is still $5.42 cheaper at 20 members paying $49. At 50 members it costs $98.95 more.
Hobby also leaves out 3 things you may want as the group grows. Your group keeps the temporary URL it started with, because claiming a cleaner skool.com address is a Pro feature (the first change is free, later ones cost $100 each). Member affiliates are Pro only too, and so is the Zapier plugin, which lets another app invite people into your group.
Hobby still has a job. If you are testing whether anyone will pay at all, it is the cheapest of the 5 up to 21 members at $49. Past that point it goes, and that leaves 2: Skool Pro and Kajabi Basic.
What is left: Skool Pro or Kajabi Basic, and what moves the gap
Kajabi Basic costs $726 a year more than Skool Pro on plan price alone, or $80 a month more month to month.
The 2 plans left charge the same 2.9% + 30¢ on payments under $900, so the choice comes down to $726 a year against the email marketing, pages and website that Skool does not include.
| Plan | Cut it cleared | Billed yearly | Still does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skool Pro | Cheaper than Hobby above $1,056 a month | $990 ($82.50 a month) | Email sequences, landing pages, a website |
| Kajabi Basic | Cheaper than Growth and Pro below $56,000 a month | $1,716 ($143 a month) | More than 5 products or 2,500 contacts |
Kajabi includes the email marketing and pages Skool leaves out
Every Kajabi plan includes unlimited marketing emails, landing pages, funnels and a website on your own domain. Skool’s pricing page lists no email sequences, landing pages, funnels or website. If you would pay for an email tool and a page builder next to Skool, add their price to Skool’s side first, and the $726 can disappear.
The Online Course Guy, one of the top results for this search, splits the job between both. Its owner moved from Kajabi to Skool, reported “a much lower member churn rate”, and kept Kajabi for the website, sales funnels and checkout. That means paying 2 bills, so it makes sense once the community is earning enough to carry both.
Skool is built for groups where the community is the product
Skool puts the feed, the classroom, a calendar for live calls and a points leaderboard in 1 place, and strangers find groups through its Discovery directory. Kajabi Basic includes a private community with multiple groups, but Kajabi’s plan table lists no public directory that sends strangers your way.
When I joined a coaching program a while back, the coach added a community to help his students implement the lessons. I told my email list at the time that a community is like a potluck dinner, where everyone brings something to the table. Members asked questions, other members chimed in to help, and people shared what they did, wins and losses both.
That back-and-forth is what Skool is built around. If your buyers mostly want lessons and a way to pay, Kajabi’s tools matter more.
Payments above $900 cost 3.9% on Skool
Skool Pro charges 3.9% + 30¢ on any single payment above $900, against 2.9% + 30¢ on Kajabi Basic. Sell a $997 program and that extra point costs you $9.97 a sale, so Kajabi Basic catches up once those big payments reach $6,050 a month.
Growth Boost keeps 30% of members Skool finds
Skool’s payments FAQ says Growth Boost is on by default and keeps 30% of every recurring charge from each member Skool brings you, for as long as that member stays subscribed. It finds them by showing your group in Skool’s search results and in off-site ads.
A $49 member you found yourself leaves you $47.28 on Pro, against $32.58 for a member Skool found.
5 of those Skool-found members cost you $73.50 a month, more than the $60.50 a month that separates Skool Pro and Kajabi Basic on yearly billing. It is a finder’s fee on members you might never have met, though, so it can be worth paying. The payments FAQ puts the off switch under Settings, then Discovery. Skool’s Discovery FAQ describes switching it on rather than off, so check which way yours is set.
Which of the 2 to pick
Pick Skool Pro if people pay for the group itself and you already have an email tool, or do not need one. Pick Kajabi Basic if you sell courses and want email marketing, landing pages and a website on 1 bill, with fewer than 2,500 contacts and 5 products.
Our Skool pricing breakdown runs the same math at more price points, and the Kajabi pricing guide covers Kajabi’s add-ons and fees.
Price the exit before you pick
Leaving costs you something on both platforms, so price it before you build. A Kajabi user in an r/smallbusiness thread on this exact choice explained why they never moved: “I stayed with Kajabi because the switching cost (i.e. having to ask all my members to cancel accounts and start new one) is too high.”
Cancel Kajabi and your site goes inactive at the end of the billing period, and customers lose access to the products they bought. Kajabi’s cancellation guide adds that your customers’ active subscriptions keep charging until you cancel each one yourself. Our Kajabi review lists what you can export before you go.
Skool’s subscriptions run on Skool’s merchant account rather than yours, since you cannot connect your own Stripe account. I found no Skool help doc that moves live subscriptions to another tool, so plan on your members signing up again wherever you go. Our Skool review covers what refunds, disputes and leaving cost a group owner.
CartMango takes subscription payments through the seller’s own Stripe or PayPal account, but CartMango hosts no course or community yet.
FAQ
What are the downsides of Kajabi?
Price comes first: Kajabi Basic costs $143 a month billed yearly ($1,716), or $179 month to month, before a single sale. Basic also caps you at 5 products and 2,500 contacts, adds 2% per sale if you use your own Stripe account, and takes your site offline if you cancel. Our Kajabi review sorts 94 recent Trustpilot reviews by complaint.
What are the cons of Skool?
Skool’s pricing page lists no email sequences, landing pages or website builder, so a seller who wants those adds other tools. Hobby takes 10% + 30¢ per payment, Pro takes 3.9% + 30¢ above $900, and Growth Boost, on by default per Skool’s payments FAQ, keeps 30% of recurring charges from members Skool finds. Our Skool review adds what Hobby lacks: a custom group URL, affiliates and Zapier.
How much is Kajabi per month?
Kajabi costs $179, $249 or $499 a month for Basic, Growth and Pro, or $143, $199 and $399 a month billed yearly ($1,716, $2,388 and $4,788 a year). Every plan comes with a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Our Kajabi pricing guide covers the contact add-ons and fees.
Is there anything better than Kajabi?
For a seller whose product is the community, Skool Pro does that job for $726 a year less on plan price. Our Kajabi vs Circle comparison prices another community platform against it, and Kajabi alternatives prices 8 options once they start selling.
Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?
Kajabi takes no revenue share. Kajabi Payments charges US sellers 2.9%, 2.8% or 2.7% + 30¢ per payment on Basic, Growth and Pro, which covers card processing. Use any other processor except PayPal and Kajabi adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% per sale on top.
Can you use Kajabi and Skool together?
Yes, and one of the top results for this search does exactly that, with Kajabi for the website, funnels and checkout and Skool for the community. Skool Pro’s Zapier plugin can invite a member to your group when something happens in another app. Skool’s Discovery ranking counts payments taken off Skool as a penalty, so a group sold through an outside checkout ranks lower there.
Before you pay for either platform
If what you sell today is 1 product or a paid membership, with no course or community to host yet, the Kajabi vs Skool bill can wait. CartMango, the checkout I run, takes payments for digital products and memberships with order bumps, and runs subscriptions through your own Stripe or PayPal account, so your subscribers keep paying you even if you move away from CartMango.
CartMango is free right now, from $10 a year once paid plans start in November. CartMango’s course hosting and community are not live yet, and are planned for the $30 a year plan.
About the Author
👋 I’m Welly, founder of CartMango (the site you’re on), a checkout platform for digital product sellers. We’ve previously processed $179M+. I also run BirdSend (email marketing tool, 3.1B+ emails sent). On the side I show other non-techie digital sellers how I use AI workflows to automate 50%+ of my operations. Find me on LinkedIn.
Related Reading
- Skool vs Circle: the same Skool math run against Circle, with 4 crossover points
- Kajabi vs Circle: Kajabi priced against a community-first platform
- Skool pricing: the Skool side of Kajabi vs Skool in full, with the 3.9% rate and Growth Boost
- Kajabi pricing: every plan, the outside-processor fee and the contact add-ons
- Community platform for creators: what Skool, Circle, Mighty Networks and others really cost