Kajabi vs Systeme.io 2026: Full Cost for a Course Creator

Systeme.io is the cheaper platform for selling courses at every size, and Kajabi is the one you pay for when you want the branded app, the bigger contact caps and dedicated support. A creator with 1,500 contacts and one course pays $0 on Systeme.io's free plan and $1,716 a year on Kajabi Basic billed annually; at 20,000 contacts the gap is $970.80 against $2,388. Prices read on both vendors' pricing pages on October 26, 2026.

Kajabi sells three plans, Basic, Growth and Pro, at $179, $249 and $499 a month, or $143, $199 and $399 a month billed annually, which the page labels as a 20% saving. Systeme.io sells Free, Startup, Webinar and Unlimited at $0, $17, $47 and $97 a month, with annual billing that gives two months free. Both say they take no revenue share, but Kajabi adds a processing fee when you use a payment provider other than its own. Every total below is our arithmetic on those printed prices.

Toolradar data: on Toolradar, the software directory we run, Systeme.io's $17 entry plan ranks 7th cheapest of the 25 online course platforms with a verified price, against a category median of $36 a month, and Kajabi is the joint third most-listed alternative among the 74 course platforms tracked, as of October 2026 (Systeme.io, Kajabi, course platform statistics). For each vendor on its own, see Kajabi pricing, Systeme.io pricing, the Kajabi review and the Systeme.io review on this site.

At a glance

The pattern holds through the whole comparison: Systeme.io caps counts and removes the caps as you pay more, while Kajabi starts at a price where most caps are already generous and charges for the platform's depth. The question for a course creator is which caps you will hit first.

What each plan costs and allows

Systeme.io's plans are built around the contact count, and its pricing FAQ says so: under 2,000 contacts use Free, up to 5,000 use Startup, up to 10,000 use Webinar, above that Unlimited. Every plan includes unlimited email sends, unlimited file storage, unlimited students, an affiliate program, sub-accounts and 24/7 email support, per Systeme.io's pricing page. The annual checkout pages print $14.17 a month for Startup and $80.90 a month for Unlimited.

Kajabi's plans are built around products and contacts, with funnels, landing pages and marketing emails unlimited on all three. Basic caps you at 5 products and 2,500 contacts, Growth lifts that to 50 products and 25,000 contacts, and Pro removes the product cap, raises contacts to 100,000 and adds the branded mobile app and API, per Kajabi's pricing page. When you outgrow a cap, Kajabi sells contacts in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month at any plan size, and AI credits at $15 a month for 500.

What a year costs for three course creators

The three setups below are the ones most buyers of these two platforms describe: a first launch, a growing list with affiliates, and an established business with a team. The totals use annual billing on both vendors, which is how both pages lead, and monthly billing is shown beside it.

At the first launch Kajabi costs $1,716 more than nothing, and at 4,000 contacts it costs $2,218 more a year. The second line is the one that catches people: Basic's 2,500-contact cap means a list that is still small by email standards already needs Growth, and the alternative, a 25,000-contact block on Basic, costs $125 a month more than the Basic plan itself. On Systeme.io the same list sits inside Startup, at $14.17 a month billed yearly.

The gap narrows in relative terms at the top, where Kajabi Growth and Systeme.io Unlimited are both one plan for a six-figure-contact business, but it stays at $1,417.20 a year. Only the branded app line has no Systeme.io answer, and Kajabi prices it inside Pro as a $199 a month value, so a creator who wants their course in the App Store is choosing Kajabi for a feature, not a price.

Payment fees: where the no-revenue-share claim differs

Both vendors say they do not take a cut of your sales. The difference is what happens at the card terminal. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on Basic, 2.8% on Growth and 2.7% on Pro for US accounts, and if you process through a third-party provider instead, Kajabi adds its own fee on top of that provider's charges: 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and 0.5% on Pro, with PayPal excluded. Systeme.io lists 0% transaction fees on every plan, including Free, and charges nothing beyond what Stripe or PayPal charge you directly.

On $50,000 of course sales a year processed through Stripe, which is our arithmetic on the rates above, Kajabi's third-party fee is $1,000 on Basic, $500 on Growth and $250 on Pro, before Stripe's own fee, and Systeme.io's is $0. A creator who already runs Stripe and does not want to move to Kajabi Payments should add that line to the subscription gap. Kajabi's page also notes that processing fees vary by country and that the extra fee does not apply where Kajabi Payments is not offered.

Email, automations and the newsletter question

Both platforms include email marketing with unlimited sends, which is rare at Systeme.io's prices and the reason its free plan can replace a paid email tool for a small list. Where they differ is automation depth and limits: Systeme.io's Free plan allows 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign, Startup 10 rules, and only Unlimited removes the cap, while Kajabi lists advanced automations and webhooks in its feature comparison without a rule count. A creator whose funnel needs a dozen branching sequences on day one will hit Systeme.io's lower tiers quickly and should price Webinar or Unlimited, which is still under Kajabi Basic.

For a list that is mostly a newsletter rather than a course funnel, a dedicated email tool may beat either; Kit vs Mailchimp and beehiiv vs Kit on this site cover that choice. Dupple's own newsletters are sent on beehiiv, not on either platform compared here.

Support, team and refunds

Kajabi's Pro plan includes dedicated support, and the pricing page describes Basic as the plan for a creator who has not sold anything yet, Growth for one with revenue and a list past a few thousand people, and Pro for anyone running more than one brand or wanting their own app. Systeme.io's pricing page promises 24/7 email support with an average response time under two hours on every plan, and its checkout pages add a free migration of your existing business.

On team size, Systeme.io allows unlimited assistant accounts and unlimited sub-accounts, each with the full limits of your plan, so an agency or a creator with several brands can run them under one Unlimited subscription. Kajabi counts admin users, 2 on Basic, 11 on Growth and 26 on Pro, and counts websites and communities too, so a second brand on Kajabi means Pro or a second subscription. Kajabi backs every plan with a 30-day money-back guarantee; Systeme.io lets you cancel at any time and keeps the plan until the next billing date, after which the account reverts to Free.

Who should pick which

Pick Systeme.io if you are launching your first course, your list is under 10,000 contacts, or you want to keep every dollar of a sale after Stripe. Free covers a real launch, Startup covers a growing list with affiliates, and Unlimited at $97 a month costs less than Kajabi's entry plan with no caps at all. The trade is a lighter page builder and tighter automation limits on the low tiers.

Pick Kajabi if you want a branded mobile app, a community and courses in one product with a team of ten or more, or dedicated support, and your revenue already covers a four-figure annual subscription. Budget Growth, not Basic, once your list passes 2,500 contacts, and use Kajabi Payments to avoid the third-party processing fee. If you are weighing the funnel-first competitor instead, ClickFunnels vs Systeme.io and ClickFunnels pricing cover that matchup, and ActiveCampaign vs Mailchimp prices the email automation you would pair with a standalone course tool.

How we compared

Prices were read on Kajabi's pricing page, Systeme.io's pricing page and its annual checkout pages for Startup and Unlimited on October 26, 2026. The three yearly totals and the payment-fee examples are our arithmetic on those printed prices; the annual Systeme.io totals multiply the per-month annual rate by twelve, and the Kajabi figures exclude processing fees and tax. The Toolradar figures come from its live course platform data that month. This page reports published prices and documented features only and carries no sponsored placement.

FAQ

Is Kajabi or Systeme.io cheaper for selling courses?

Systeme.io, at every size. Its free plan covers 2,000 contacts and one course, Startup is $17 a month, and Unlimited at $97 a month has no contact or product caps, while Kajabi starts at $179 a month on Basic, or $143 billed annually, with a 2,500-contact cap. A creator with 4,000 contacts pays $170 a year on Systeme.io Startup and $2,388 on Kajabi Growth, both billed annually.

How much does Kajabi cost per month in 2026?

Kajabi Basic is $179 a month, Growth $249 and Pro $499, or $143, $199 and $399 a month on annual billing. Basic includes 5 products and 2,500 contacts, Growth 50 products and 25,000 contacts, and Pro unlimited products, 100,000 contacts, three websites and a branded mobile app. Extra contacts cost $125 a month per block of 25,000.

Does Kajabi take a percentage of sales?

No revenue share, but there are processing fees. Kajabi Payments charges 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on Basic, 2.8% on Growth and 2.7% on Pro for US accounts. If you use a third-party processor other than PayPal, Kajabi adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan on top of that processor's fees. Systeme.io charges 0% on every plan.

What are Systeme.io's free plan limits?

The free plan includes 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course with up to 500 students, 1 blog, 1 affiliate program, 1 custom domain, 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign, with unlimited email sends and unlimited file storage. It never expires and needs no credit card. Startup raises most counts to 10 and the contact cap to 5,000.

Can I get a refund from Kajabi or Systeme.io?

Kajabi offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan and lets you upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time. Systeme.io has no refund window on its pricing page; cancelling keeps your paid plan until the next billing date, then the account reverts to the free plan with your data.

Does Systeme.io have a branded mobile app like Kajabi?

No. Kajabi includes a branded mobile app on its Pro plan, which the pricing page values at $199 a month. Systeme.io's pricing page lists no mobile app of its own, so students reach a Systeme.io course through the browser.

Cite this: MarketingShot, "Kajabi vs Systeme.io 2026: Full Cost for a Course Creator", November 2026.

Pricing your first course launch or moving platforms? MarketingShot's daily marketing and AI brief tracks the plan changes and fee moves that change the maths, free at marketingshot.com.

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