Comparisons › Course, funnel and membership platforms
Kajabi vs Thinkific vs Systeme.io: what a course business actually costs (2026 pricing)
You've got something to teach and people who'll pay. The platform decision is a two-year decision, because your list and your products will live inside it. Here's the real monthly cost of each, the fees on top, and the one that's right for where you are now.
Disclosure: We earn a commission if you subscribe through links marked "affiliate link" on this page. It doesn't change our ranking or verdicts; here's how we test.
Prices on this page were checked on the vendor pricing pages on 2026-09-12. Hands-on test notes and screenshots are being added product by product; until a section carries the tested tag it's marked documentation-based and describes the vendor's published plans and limits. We label drafts rather than fake tests.
Buy this if you're already selling
Kajabi — US$179 a month replaces your course host, email tool, funnel builder and community platform. Expensive on its own, cheap against the four tools it retires.
See plans (vendor site)Buy this if you haven't sold yet
Systeme.io — Free plan with a course, three funnels and unlimited email. Zero transaction fees. Prove the offer first, then decide whether Kajabi is worth it.
See plans (vendor site)Buy this if the course is the product
Thinkific — US$54 a month, unlimited courses, a proper student experience. Keep your existing email tool and website; plug this in for the teaching.
See plans (vendor site)Side by side
| Product | Plan you'd actually need | USD/month | AUD/month | Key limits | Trial | Transaction fees | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi documentation-based | Basic | US$179/mo | ≈A$271 | 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 1 website, 1 community, 2 admins (US$143/mo billed annually) | 30-day free trial | 2.9% + US$0.30 on Basic via Kajabi Payments; lower on Growth and Pro | Basic's 5 products and 2,500 contacts run out fast |
| Systeme.io documentation-based | Free | Free | Free | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course, 1 blog, unlimited emails | Free plan, no card | 0% transaction fees on every plan | Course player and templates are basic |
| Thinkific documentation-based | Basic | US$54/mo | ≈A$82 | unlimited courses, 1 community, 5 digital downloads, 10,000 students (US$40/mo annually) | 30-day free trial | 2.9% via Thinkific Payments | Email and funnels aren't really in the box |
USD prices from each vendor's pricing page, checked 2026-09-12; monthly billing shown, annual billing is cheaper on most. AUD is indicative at 0.66 USD per AUD. Australian businesses may be charged GST at checkout.
Kajabi documentation-based
Kajabi is the platform you buy when you've stopped wondering whether people will pay you. Courses, coaching, community, email, funnels, website and payments in one account. That's why it costs US$179 a month on Basic (US$143 billed annually), and why the people who pay it don't mind: they were spending that across a course host, an email tool, a funnel builder and a community app, and reconciling four invoices.
Do the sum before you sign. Basic caps you at five products and 2,500 contacts, and a creator with a real list hits the contact cap quickly, which is a jump to Growth at US$249. Kajabi Payments takes 2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic, on top of the subscription, with lower rates as you go up the tiers. Against Thinkific or Systeme.io on their own, Kajabi looks expensive. Against Thinkific plus an email tool plus a funnel builder plus a community platform, it usually isn't.
The trade you're making is lock-in. Your list, your site and your products live inside it, and moving out later is a project. That's a fine trade for a business you're building for years. It's the wrong trade if you're still testing the offer; use Systeme.io's free plan for that and come back.
Best for
- creators with revenue who want one bill and one login
- coaching businesses that mix courses, community and email
- anyone spending more than US$150 a month across separate tools
Not for
- a first course with no audience
- budgets under US$150 a month
- people who only need to host a course
Drawbacks
- Basic's 5 products and 2,500 contacts run out fast
- Transaction fees on top of the subscription
- Your list, site and products all live inside one vendor
Plans (USD, checked 2026-09-12)
- Basic: US$179/mo (≈A$271) — 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 1 website, 1 community, 2 admins (US$143/mo billed annually)
- Growth: US$249/mo (≈A$377) — 50 products, 25,000 contacts, 11 admins (US$199/mo annually)
- Pro: US$499/mo (≈A$756) — unlimited products, 100,000 contacts, 3 websites (US$399/mo annually)
Systeme.io documentation-based
If the honest answer to "will anyone buy this?" is "not sure yet", start here and spend nothing. The free plan has a course, three funnels, a blog and unlimited email to 2,000 contacts. No card, no countdown, and no transaction fees on any tier, ever. When you outgrow it, Startup is US$17 a month, and that's enough headroom for most solo creators for a long time.
What you don't get is polish. The course player, page templates and email editor all work and all look like the price. If your brand is premium, or your audience expects a slick student experience, that shows, and Kajabi's presentation is worth its cost. If the content is the product and the audience is small, nobody will notice or care.
It also does more than host a course: funnels, email and an affiliate program for your own products are in the box. That's why it sits between Thinkific and Kajabi on this page and not beside Thinkific.
Best for
- a first course or funnel, no budget
- email marketing included from day one
- anyone who refuses to pay transaction fees
Not for
- a premium-feeling student experience
- big communities
- complex automation
Drawbacks
- Course player and templates are basic
- Fewer integrations than Kajabi or Thinkific
- Three funnels on the free plan go quicker than you'd think
Plans (USD, checked 2026-09-12)
- Free: Free (Free) — 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course, 1 blog, unlimited emails
- Startup: US$17/mo (≈A$26) — 5,000 contacts, unlimited funnels, 5 courses
- Webinar: US$47/mo (≈A$71) — 10,000 contacts, unlimited everything, automated webinars
- Unlimited: US$97/mo (≈A$147) — unlimited contacts, all features
Thinkific documentation-based
Thinkific is the cleanest pure course platform on this page. Unlimited courses on every plan, a proper student experience with quizzes and completion tracking, and a Basic plan at US$54 a month (US$40 annually) with none of the product caps Kajabi puts on its entry tier. If you already have email and a website, it plugs in without asking you to move anything.
It's not an all-in-one and the bill tells you so. Funnels and email marketing are limited, so a creator who runs launches pairs it with another tool, and the combined cost starts creeping toward Kajabi's. Community exists but is light until Grow. Thinkific Payments takes 2.9% on Basic.
The shortest version: Thinkific hosts and sells the course. Kajabi runs the business. Systeme.io does a rough version of both for almost nothing.
Best for
- the course is the product
- you already have an email tool and a website
- structured curricula with quizzes and completion tracking
Not for
- funnels and launches (you'll add another tool)
- community-first membership businesses
- the tightest budgets, where Systeme.io's free plan wins
Drawbacks
- Email and funnels aren't really in the box
- Transaction fees on Basic
- Community is thin below Grow
Plans (USD, checked 2026-09-12)
- Basic: US$54/mo (≈A$82) — unlimited courses, 1 community, 5 digital downloads, 10,000 students (US$40/mo annually)
- Start: US$109/mo (≈A$165) — unlimited downloads, more video bandwidth (US$82/mo annually)
- Grow: US$219/mo (≈A$332) — 3 communities, 400 GB/mo video (US$164/mo annually)
Questions people ask
Which is cheapest to start a course on?
Systeme.io. The free plan includes a course, funnels and email with no card and no transaction fees. Thinkific Basic is the cheapest with a polished course player. Kajabi costs the most to start and does the most.
Do they charge transaction fees?
Kajabi and Thinkific take a percentage on their entry plans through their own payment processors (2.9% plus 30 cents on Kajabi Basic; 2.9% on Thinkific Basic), dropping on higher tiers. Systeme.io takes 0% on every plan; your payment processor's fees still apply.
Can I move my course later?
Content moves. Audiences and automations don't move cleanly. Videos and lessons export from all three; email lists, tags, funnel logic and community history are where the switching cost lives. Pick for the next two years.
Are these prices in Australian dollars?
No, all three bill in US dollars. The AUD column is a conversion at the rate under the table, refreshed daily. GST may be added at checkout for Australian buyers; supply your ABN if you're registered.
How were these tested?
Same two-lesson course and one-page funnel on each platform, through to checkout and payout settings. Sections still marked documentation-based describe the vendor's published plans and get replaced as each test finishes. Prices are re-checked on a schedule and the date is under the table.
How we tested and how we're paid
Same two-lesson course and one-page funnel on every platform, through to checkout and payout settings, on an account we pay for or trial ourselves. Screenshots are ours. Prices come straight from the vendor pricing pages; the check date is on the table. Links marked "affiliate link" pay us a commission.