So, you’ve got what it takes to make a name for yourself in educational entrepreneurship. Have you found the right platform to help you do this?
LMS or course management services allow you to create and share valuable content with students and customers. You can also make significant profits by selling these courses. There are many online LMS platforms available today, with some of the most impressive features you will find. It can be difficult to decide which one is right for you with all the options available.
Since I began selling courses, I have had many struggles finding the right place to learn my entrepreneurial skills. After becoming more confident, I moved from one platform to another until I found Kajabi. Although I might have found the right one for me, that doesn’t mean I can’t give sound advice to help you on your journey.
I’ll be sharing with you brief rundowns on Kajabi as well as its other alternative LMS services. We will examine their unique assets, the pros and cons, how they compare, and my opinion about who gets to use them.
For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review from Legit Marketing Reviews’ YouTube channel. Do check out our article below, however, because it has a comprehensive overview of Kajabi.
Kajabi: A Brief Overview Kajabi Vs Beside Me
Some of you may have recognized the name “Kajabi” in passing. But for most of you who are not well aware, it is a popular online course management service that’s best known for its all-in-one nature – essentially, you have nearly every solution imaginable to help you create and sell course content within your reach.
Are you a course builder? It’s there. You need a reliable website builder. It’s there. A wide range of pre-made templates and themes? Certainly. A range of excellent sales and marketing tools, including fully functional sales funnel blueprints? Yes! No matter what you need to manage and sell your content, Kajabi has the tool to help you with that.
Kajabi presenting itself as a one-stop service is enough to resonate with developing and established edupreneurs quite well. It has received many glowing reviews, although there are some valid points of criticism. Trustpilot gave Kajabi an exceptional 4.6 rating.
Kajabi’s Top Features
Kajabi is primarily known for its simple yet intuitive interface, generous range of customization, and flexible editing capabilities. The course builder gives you all the tools you need to create a seamless educational experience for your students and you. Meanwhile, its website editor and free hosting allow you to have a fully personalized space where you could share what you have with anyone.
Kajabi offers so much more than this. Its built-in suites of marketing tools work as well as any third-party provider combined. It is notable that LMS platforms have sales pipelines included. Other LMS platforms require you to connect with a separate service that offers this feature. On the other, Kajabi’s learning and support resources are as reliable as you could expect.
Kajabi: The pros and cons
Kajabi follows a unique business model that’s not often used by other LMS platforms and is all-in-one in nature, and with it, there are plenty of perks. One of these is the minimization of needing to integrate with third-party apps, as nearly all the course management and marketing tools are found in-house. Another lies in revenue – Kajabi takes none of its shares, meaning you get to keep 100% of your profit from selling content.
It’s important to note the many benefits of Kajabi’s business model. However, it is equally important to not overlook its drawbacks. The pricing alone is obvious as plans start at a whopping hundred dollars more than other services. It doesn’t help that there is no free plan. Plus, many of its users don’t appreciate the lack of other essential course management tools within the platform, particularly certifications. However, the cons, fortunately, don’t greatly outweigh the pros, and, despite the few inconveniences, Kajabi is still worth trying. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
Pricing plans begin with: Kajabi Basic, as low as $119/month
Does it have a free plan? No, but it offers a 14-day free trial
Kajabi is a great choice because you don’t need third-party integrations or platforms, it offers very affordable but very valuable plans, reliable user communities, and amazing customer support.
Kajabi is more suitable for Established professionals, newbies with enough financial resources to afford Kajabi’s features, experienced edupreneurs
Kajabi vs. Thinkific
Thinkific joins Kajabi and other top online LMS platforms. It allows you to concentrate on the task at hand. You can explore a variety of course-building tools, and use it to your advantage to produce content for your students. The Thinkific App Store allows you to connect with thousands of third-party platforms and offers a wide range of industry-level tools.
> > Click Here to Check Out Kajabi < <
Thinkific has been my tool for creating and selling course content since before Kajabi. Although my needs might have outstripped the capabilities of Thinkific, I was able to appreciate how it allowed me to manage my courses throughout my tenure. Thinkific offers both a free and a premium plan, making it a viable Kajabi option for anyone with limited resources, especially financial.
The Similarities
Thinkific positions itself as an all-in-one place with intuitive course management tools for a better learning experience. It is similar to Kajabi and offers a course builder, customizable website editor and a range of business tools. You can also create a community for your students.
Both platforms excel in the area of course options. No matter which you prefer, you have the chance to create stable online courses and/or membership pages. Even better, you can create assessments in them that are rich with variety. My subscribers have had no difficulty using the Thinkific interface, just like Kajabi.
The Differences
Thinkific provides a range of industry-level features at an affordable price, even though it borrows the Kajabi 0% transaction fee model. If you can compare the cost of its premium entry-level plan to the other, you’ll see the difference right away. The former does not offer a free plan, but it offers a functional, though limited, one.
Apart from the value pricing, other bonuses from Thinkific have to be its miles-more-accurate reporting and analytics as well as how it takes care of security measures within the service.
The Pros and Cons of Thinkific
Thinkific’s ease-of-use is something I love about it. The lack of depth in some features is another thing that I did not like. Although I like its built-in credential system, it is not my favorite feature. However, the lack of advanced business tools or theme options for websites is a major downer. However, all of this has been compensated for by a greater range of integrations.
Pricing plans begin with: Thinkific Start, as low as $74/month
Does it have a free plan? Yes
Reasons to choose Thinkific: Valuable premium starter plan that allows for smooth career development, better analytics and reporting capabilities, super convenient user interface
Thinkific is more suitable for Newbie edupreneurs with limited skills, those who wish to sell courses without any complex marketing jargon
Kajabi vs. Teachable
Teachable, another popular service, shares the same premise of Thinkific in that you can create a fully integrated learning experience. It also takes care of all the technical stuff. It’s established by course creators for fellow course creators, so it makes sense that the focus at hand here is concentrated on course management.
Teachable has been lauded by beginners and bona fide creators alike. Beginners, particularly, stand by it due to the insanely cheap price range and extreme ease of use. Pros, meanwhile, come back to it because of its set of comprehensive course management tools, robust content analytics, and well-versed editing and customization capabilities. Teachable, like Thinkific, offers a fully functioning built-in certification tool, something Kajabi, unfortunately, does not have.
The Similarities
Teachable’s course-building feature offerings have what I can describe as the same caliber as Kajabi’s version. Both ways you would be happy with the ease with which you can create memberships, courses, and other products with seamless versatility. Although you could technically use these with either of the two, it is clear that Teachable has the advantage. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
A key factor in the process of course creation is accessibility, so it’s a given that your students must be able to explore your content conveniently at any time and any place, even without the presence of a laptop/computer. This is addressed by both Teachable and Kajabi with mobile apps that can be downloaded on any device powered by Android or iOS.
The Differences
Teachable may excel in its course creation and management capabilities, but not much so in other aspects. For example, its native marketing suite doesn’t carry the same weight as Kajabi. It’s evident that Kajabi gives its version the same attention and care as its course-building tools. Both platforms are excellent in terms of reporting and analysis. Teachable, however, is more detailed.
> > Click Here to Check Out Kajabi < <
Teachable’s general interface looks simpler and less complicated. Although you won’t need to put in a ton of coding effort – especially if you’re unfamiliar with the process itself – it gives you the space to maximize beyond its limits through its Power Editor.
The Pros and Cons of Teachable
Teachable remains affordable and is a popular choice for both newbies as well as experienced pros. I strongly considered hopping on the train when I started my course business. Its signature course management features are robust and easy to use, as well. As for the cons, it falls short in its customization offerings and marketing tools, although it’s evident what the platform truly focuses on.
Pricing plans start with Teachable Basic starting at $29/month
Does it have a free plan? Yes
Reasons to choose Teachable: Extremely beginner-friendly user interface, extensive course management and analytics, simple interface that also allows for advanced-level adjustments
Teachable is better suited for absolute beginner entrepreneurs, established business professionals, and budget-conscious power users
Kajabi vs. ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels, a leading online service for entrepreneurs and businesses around the globe, is highly recommended. Although this sounds great, ClickFunnels operates in a different way than Kajabi or the other LMS platforms we have covered. It offers the usual course management, marketing and analytics tools but focuses heavily on the marketing aspect. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
ClickFunnels can be described as a digital marketing platform. It allows users to spread their content/products across the internet and expects to make a profit. It has a wide variety of competitive business features that can be used for any purpose. It’s pretty versatile, too – not only can you use it to promote your courses, but also your physical products if you have them! ClickFunnels is best recognized for its rich library of sales funnel templates, split testing, and intuitive landing page builder.
The Similarities
ClickFunnels shares a common feature with Kajabi: the sales funnel feature. Each platform offers a variety of templates that are strategically designed to promote a healthy flow of profit and optimize for specific goals. Although both versions leave an impression, ClickFunnels offers more, as their primary strategy is to build sales pipelines.
The general interface of ClickFunnels is as easy to navigate as Kajabi. Both services can’t be beaten as well when it comes to marketing and sales – the checkout and payment tools, in particular, are as instinctive as you could expect. Plus, their customer service is equally top-notch!
The Differences
A landing page is just as important in digital marketing as creating automated e-mails or crafting well-designed pipelines. Kajabi and ClickFunnels both have page-building abilities, but Kajabi only allows you to create a fully functioning website. ClickFunnels, however, limits you to a handful of page options, including the landing page.
It is a sure way to increase your leads by hiring affiliates from your member base. Both services offer simple, yet powerful tools that will allow you to do this. With ClickFunnels, you get to use this function if you have either a physical or digital product. With Kajabi, meanwhile, you’re essentially only limited to your digital content, including your courses.
ClickFunnels: The Pros and Cons
Although I don’t know much about sales and marketing jargon, some of my colleagues can confirm that ClickFunnels is a great tool for delivering the intended results. ClickFunnels is guaranteed to give entrepreneurs a better conversion rate turnout, and the funnel-building and landing page creation tools are equally outstanding. Otherwise, it does not excel at all in terms of course-building – it’s clear as day that this aspect doesn’t matter as much for its developers.
> > Click Here to Check Out Kajabi < <
Pricing plans begin with: ClickFunnels Basic, as low as $127/month
Does it have a free plan? No, but it offers a 14-day free trial
ClickFunnels is a strategic focus on digital marketing. This guarantees a higher sales turnout. ClickFunnels also allows for flexible integration with other apps, such as LMS platforms.
ClickFunnels works best for Edupreneurs who have large budgets and individuals who wish to sell digital courses as well as physical products. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
Kajabi vs. Kartra
Kartra is another popular option for market-savvy edupreneurs, as it specializes best in product selling, marketing campaigns, and other fail-proof schemes. This one is very interesting. It functions in a similar way to Kajabi, allowing you to create courses and memberships right away. However, it also works similarly to ClickFunnels with other aspects such as page building and marketing tools. You can sell physical and digital products.
With an eye for increased engagement, Kartra helps you leave your subscribers begging for more through its archive of pre-made full sales campaigns or pipelines, a uniquely convenient scheduling system, and additional website widget options. You can also share your campaigns with fellow Kartra users, and even acquire a 360-degree view of where your leads are heading.
The Similarities
Both Kartra and Kajabi excel when it comes to offering a hefty load of industry-grade business features. You’d be able to succeed no matter where you are because both have optimized templates. On the other, you’d get to enjoy an excellent array of marketing tools, notably the automations.
Nearly the same thing can be said about their page-building capabilities. Although you may have more options to explore with Kartra, both platforms take the cake in terms of performance and flexibility. Here’s my opinion: While there are many similarities between Kartra and Kajabi, ClickFunnels has some characteristics that are similar to each other.
The Differences
ClickFunnels may be losing to Kartra, which has a good number of course management tools. However, if you pit it against Kajabi’s version, you may find that Kartra can’t keep it up as well as it could. Despite this, Kartra does exceedingly well in its marketing, lead generation, and customer retention capabilities.
If you take a look at the widget options in its website builder, you may find stuff like countdowns, pop-ups, and anything that can easily convince potential customers. I guess that’s what happens when you run a platform that prioritizes one thing a bit more than the rest – there may be cons, but there will certainly always be pros. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
The Pros and Cons of Kartra
Kartra’s robust offering of features, from page creation to business, is impressive. The set of plans are also very valuable as you can get the most out its core tools regardless of where you go. Although Kartra is a great tool for business, it’s not as good at course building. It can also be difficult to navigate, especially for beginners.
Pricing plans start at: Kartra Starter as low as $79/month
Is there a free plan? It doesn’t, and it also doesn’t offer any free trials.
Kartra is a top-quality business tool that doesn’t always need code, enhanced customer retention options and powerful video hosting.
Kartra is more suitable for Individuals who want to sell both digital and physical products, entrepreneurs with a keen eye for better marketing
Kajabi vs. Podia
A fan favorite and an underrated one, Podia is an LMS platform best known for its very affordable price range, extremely easy-to-explore user interface, and a list of valuable yet functional course and business features. It is similar to Kajabi but a lighter and more accessible version. Many course creators consider Podia and the Teachable a great place to start their careers.
This is something I can attest to as Podia helped me to get into the field. Without Podia, I wouldn’t have learned about course-building and wouldn’t use Kajabi or other high-end services. Podia is a leader in communication. It allows users to easily message their customers without any hassle. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
The Similarities
Podia is poised to be a kind of LMS that’s all-in-one in nature, much like Kajabi and, to some extent, Thinkific. While the other two are renowned for their premium-level advanced tools, Podia adjusts its version to be more budget-friendly and easy to use. You’ll find tons of functionality no matter where your eyes go.
Podia offers a variety of flexible and dynamic functions that cover nearly every aspect of course management. These include the course builder, player, page themes, sales funnels, and even sales funnels.
The Differences
The idea of a budget-friendly all-in-one platform may sound promising; however, since Podia is structured to be this way, you and I can guess now that it’s always bound to have limits. Compare its features to Kajabi’s, and you’ll notice one is less high-end than the other.
Podia may have the right platform to help beginners grow, but not enough to further develop them into experts – it’s for this reason that I had to switch to Thinkific once I felt it was the right time. Podia may certainly not be as advanced as Kajabi, but it sure is straightforward and functional for its price. Its interface is so easy to use that it’s loved by both beginners and professionals.
The Pros and Cons of Podia
You can create unlimited courses with Podia. This is great for power users or if you are a beginner. All premium plans include transaction fees, and you don’t have to pay any transaction fees. Podia does offer a free plan, but there are lots of limitations that may be getting in your way. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
> > Click Here to Check Out Kajabi < <
Pricing plans begin with: Podia Mover, as low as $33/month
Is there a free plan? Yes
Reasons to choose Podia: Flexible and convenient ease of use, creator-friendly course management features, great affiliate marketing and drip campaign tools
Podia is more suitable for DIY entrepreneurs, absolute newbies, those looking for a test drive in course management
Kajabi vs. Mighty Networks
Originally a social media network, Mighty Networks has built a huge following, further developing into a well-rounded platform that doesn’t just give you access to the typical LMS tools but also a great range of communications features to help keep your students engaged with your content.
It places a strong emphasis upon forging connections and building community. You can also use its marketing and course-building functions. And you can share what you have made through your customizable social media feed, which you can personalize. You can also use your feed to share updates, let your members sound off in the comments, and even inform them you’re holding a live stream if you want. Mighty Networks is a similar to Facebook, I would say.
The Similarities
Like Kajabi’s Mighty, Mighty offers enough tools to allow you to create memberships and courses in-house. Both have decent video hosting and live-streaming, which means, if you’re into teaching through the video format, you could film and upload them to any either platform scot-free.
Both services offer mobile apps that you, or your students, can download to interact with your content anywhere and anytime. This is a great advantage because they are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Accessibility is high assured. Mighty has recently added an affiliate program, but since it’s new, it might take many years to be as robust as Kajabi’s. Kajabi Vs Beside Me
The Differences
Kajabi and Mighty are different in that they specialize in something else. Kajabi focuses more on community building, while Kajabi focuses on courses and a variety of other things. And, as you can expect, it’s clear that Mighty’s course-building capabilities are… not at their best. They are functional but not as advanced and sophisticated as Kajabi’s.
Kajabi‘s communication tools are good enough but not as dynamic as Mighty. I get that Kajabi is going all-in as a one-stop platform, but, compared to Mighty’s social feed, messaging, and comments capabilities, it can’t keep up as much as it could – I can even vouch for this as a Kajabi user myself!
The Pros and Cons of Mighty Networks
It is obvious that Mighty Networks excels in community-building. The platform has been recognized as an ideal place for networking. It can be used for course content as well as for many other products. It’s been established that Mighty’s ability to create course content is very limited. Plus, to add salt to the wound, you can only get this feature if you’re subscribed to a higher business plan.
Pricing plans begin with: The Community Plan, as low as $33/month
Does it offer a free plan? No, but it offers a 14-day free trial
Reasons to choose Mighty Networks: Highly-optimized social feed for you and your members, a better-functioning mobile app, minimal course-building and marketing tools
Mighty Networks is better suited for Edupreneurs, who believe communication is the core of course management, and professionals who want to integrate it with other services.
Conclusion Kajabi Vs Beside Me
As we reach the end of this comprehensive list of reviews, I hope that this one helped you in any way in forming your final decision. Picking the most suitable LMS platform can be somewhat of a rough task but with enough credible resources and opinions from other users, it may be less cumbersome.
Kajabi is a service I recommend. If you are considering Kajabi as a service, it can be assumed that you have the professional skills to want to give it a try if you plan on becoming an edupreneur. You will also likely have the finances to pay for it. With the grand array of features and a hefty price tag, you can sense that Kajabi’s offerings may be worth the investment, despite the reservations – and you may be right about this one.
If you don’t feel confident with your current resources – whether it’s monetary funds or professional skills – and you feel that Kajabi may be too difficult for you, you might not be ready. If that’s the case, I’m always glad to let you try out any of my other suggestions.
If you’re into connecting with your members yet don’t mind about the barebones course tools, Mighty Networks may be your best bet. It’s possible to choose between Teachable and Podia if you have a tight budget. What are the best marketing and sales tools? You can choose between ClickFunnels and Katra. Are there affordable alternatives to Kajabi? Look no further than Thinkific and Podia.
No matter what you choose, what matters most is that you have a platform to mold you into a better edupreneur. Again, I am glad that I was able to help you select the right LMS for your course business career.