Kajabi vs. Thinkific – Comparing Platforms Side by Side

Overview of Kajabi

Kajabi is one of the top online course platforms for creators and learners. Not only does it help you create a fully working course, but it helps you sell it as well.

One thing that stands out with Kajabi is its easy-to-use interface. Creators of all levels of expertise find no difficulty when designing their online course.

You can customize course elements and upload supporting content easily on the Kajabi platform. There are built-in layout templates that you can use as well.

And once you’ve finalized your online courses, you can instantly put them up for sale on Kajabi. Plus, the platform has added sales and marketing features to expand your audience.

As for students, the learning experience on Kajabi is very enjoyable due to the diverse selection of courses and subjects.

Kajabi has a free trial and three paid plans for you to choose from once it ends.

Standout Features of Kajabi

Course Creation

There’s a reason why Kajabi has continued to be a top choice by course creators everywhere. The platform gives you the tools to design a course, enrich it with content, and then market it all in one place.

For each online course, you can add subcategories and subsections to organize the lessons. Supplemental content like videos, images, and PDFs can also be uploaded to enrich them.

To improve engagement, creators can also host live webinars and upload interactive videos for their lessons. And they can do so by integrating a video streaming app like Zoom or a file-sharing software like DropBox. They can also just upload directly from their computers.

If you’re a novice course creator that needs help to get started, Kajabi has Product Blueprints that you can base your layout on. A Product Blueprint is a pre-made template that you can use for your official site.

All you have to do is select your preferred Product Blueprint and then input your information in the blank sections. You’ll then be ready to customize our course and market it.

Course creation on Kajabi also allows you to optimize the courses with SEO. That way, your digital products will rank higher on search engines and ultimately entice more users to purchase them.

Quiz and Drip Options

Concerning course content, Kajabi lets you add assessments at the end of every course. It’s a good way to gauge whether or not your students understood the lessons well.

Different quiz types can be used to assess the students. Some of the most commonly used quizzes are multiple-choice, essay, and identification types.

Kajabi also allows you to make the required answer to be a specific type of file. For example, the student can submit a paper via PDF or Word file.

And once the students are done accomplishing the quizzes, Kajabi can automatically check them for you. The automatic grading tool will speed up the process of you compiling their grades.

Aside from assessment features, Kajabi also has a Drip Content feature. This allows creators to set a pace for releasing new content to students.

They can plan how many days after signing up a learner can access a new lesson. They can also set more specific conditions like locking a certain lesson unless the student has finished the previous one.

Email Marketing

Kajabi’s sales and marketing features are commendable for their functionality. They deliver significant results even for those who are just starting.

First, the platform has email marketing tools that you can use to send out bulk emails. Creators can send updates to students about new lessons and quiz results.

They can also use the emailing feature to promote their online courses to new users. The emails can include previews of new content, as well as any special freebies that come with enrolling in a new course.

Kajabi also has a tool that can analyze which step of the registration process a new user is. That way, it can send an email on what their next steps should be.

An example of how this works is if a user failed to complete his sign-up form, Kajabi will automatically send an email reminder for them to finish it.

Other times, users forget to verify their accounts so Kajabi would also send an email telling them to finish the verification.

In turn, the users can also reply to the emails sent by creators. Enrolled students, in particular, can reply to the announcements made by their instructors.

Students can ask questions and clarifications about their current lessons via email. The instructor can also respond and they can go back and forth.

Affiliate Marketing

Another marketing tool available on Kajabi is affiliate marketing. Course creators can run an affiliate program for their online courses.

The affiliates will receive standard commission rates for every user they influence to subscribe to your course. Kajabi also has its dashboard where affiliates can view their progress.

An affiliate dashboard will show their current commission rates, conversion rates, and overall earnings. The creator will also be able to monitor these on his own dashboard.

With affiliate marketing, Kajabi online course creators can reach audiences that they normally wouldn’t be able to. And this will inevitably bring in more income.

Analytics

Being able to track your progress is important for managing an online business. That’s why it’s good that when you’re subscribed to Kajabi, you can view your account analytics.

Course creators will be able to check the real-time progress of their current students on Kajabi. On the dashboard, they can view which students are enrolled in specific courses.

Kajabi also keeps tabs on total views, click rates, and conversion rates for any content that you upload. That way, you can see which types of content and products increase engagement from the users.

And as mentioned earlier, when you run an affiliate program on your account, you can view real-time reports on your affiliates.

App Integrations

Kajabi offers third-party app integrations if you want to enhance its features.

Though the platform already has competent email tools, you can also choose to integrate other email apps. Many creators on Kajabi like to use Aweber, MailChimp, and ActiveCampaign for their email campaigns because they offer more advanced settings.

And the same goes for analytics. Though Kajabi has built-in analytics tools, you can still opt to outsource an app for more advanced options.

Applications like ClickFunnels, Google Analytics, and Zapier seem to be the most commonly integrated ones in Kajabi.

Other apps that you can integrate to Kajabi are file-sharing software like Google Drive and DropBox. You can also sync design software to customize and create course certificates for your students.

Online Discussion Board

Interaction between users is something that Kajabi highly encourages. When you’re subscribed, you can access its online discussion board.

Students can post any questions they have about their lessons there and then their instructors can instantly reply. Other students can also join in on the conversation.

The online discussion section on Kajabi aims to enrich the students’ learning experiences. It’s a good avenue for healthy discussions with other users.

Customer Support

Kajabi isn’t called the best all-in-one platform for nothing. Aside from being a good tool for creating and selling online courses, it also supports its users well.

The customer support team is available to answer queries via live chat and email 24/7. The live chat, in particular, is great for any urgent issues you have with your account since the team has quick solutions available.

If your query isn’t too pressing, then you can also opt to just send a message via email. The Kajabi team will get in touch with you as soon as it can.

For novice course creators, Kajabi has an Assistant feature on the platform. You can easily click on it to access instant guides on how to use the page builder and other options.

One interesting thing about the Kajabi Assistant is that it can even recommend specific video tutorials or guide articles to help you out with a particular issue.

Kajabi Pricing

The Kajabi platform has three pricing schemes that you can choose from based on your course creation needs, budget, and expertise.

But before you get to subscribe to a paid plan, there’s a 14-day free trial upon signing up. With it, you can access all of Kajabi’s basic features.

You can create a fully working course and also market it immediately. But just take note that some advanced features will still remain locked since it’s just a free trial.

There’s also another kind of free trial called the 28-Day Kajabi Hero Challenge. It has free tools that are perfect for more experienced creators.

You can just choose which free trial to get based on your preference.

Make sure that you remember to cancel your subscription before your free trial expires though. Since you have to input your credit card before accessing Kajabi, it’ll automatically get billed for a premium plan if you fail to cancel early.

Kajabi Basic Plan

The Kajabi Basic Plan costs $149 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $119 per month or $1,428 per year.

What’s unique about the Kajabi Basic plan is that it lets creators design 3 digital products and 3 sales pipelines. They can also add 1,000 active members and 10,000 contacts.

Creators will be able to assign 1 admin user and own 1 website with this plan as well. Plus, they can add as much content to their courses because they’re entitled to unlimited bandwidth.

Another thing that you can do as a Basic Plan user is get to create unlimited landing pages and send out unlimited marketing emails.

Kajabi also doesn’t ask for transaction fees on any of its plans so you won’t have to worry about hidden charges.

You should get the Basic Plan if you’re a first-time course creator on a budget. Even though it’s the most affordable plan on Kajabi, it doesn’t shy away from useful features.

Kajabi Growth Plan

The Kajabi Growth Plan costs $199 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $159 per month or $1,908 per year.

When you’re subscribed to this plan, you receive all the same features you’d get from the Basic Plan. But what makes it pricier are a few added benefits.

Course creators can make 15 digital products and 15 sales pipelines. They also get to add 10,000 active users and 25,000 contacts to their account.

Growth Plan subscribers can have up to 10 admin users. They can also access email and affiliate marketing tools to promote their digital products.

You should get the Growth Plan if you already have a growing business. Since the price is mid-tier, it’s slightly higher than the Basic Plan but is still affordable.

Kajabi Pro Plan

The Kajabi Pro Plan costs $399 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $319 per month or $3,828 per year.

Subscribers of the Kajabi Pro Plan get to use the same features as Basic and Growth Plan users get. And to justify the steeper price tag, they also receive added benefits.

With Kajabi Pro, you can design a total of 100 products and 100 sales pipelines. 20,000 active members and 100,000 contacts can be added to your account as well.

As for websites, you can own a maximum of 3. You can have up to 25 total admin users for them too.

And as for email tools, this plan lets you send 2,000,000 marketing emails in total. It also permits you to run an affiliate program for better marketing.

You should get the Pro Plan if you’re planning to enroll and teach big classes. Since the options are catered for large-scale teams, the high price is surely justified.

Overview of Thinkific

Thinkific always tends to come up when Kajabi is mentioned. The reason is because of its competent course creation features.

When you’re subscribed to Thinkific, you get to create an online course in just a few simple steps. You can add different sections and modules to each of your courses.

The customization options on Thinkific also allow you to use built-in templates for your main website. The creator just has to use the user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.

File uploading is also very easy on Thinkific. You can add a variety of file types to support the course content you publish.

After you finish creating your course, you can instantly put it up for sale through Thinkific. And to enhance your reach, the platform lets you send out bulk emails to different audiences to promote it.

Thinkific offers four pricing plans for course creators to choose from. The prices depend on your budget and needs.

Standout Features of Thinkific

Clean Interface

Creating a course on Thinkific is simple because of its clean-looking interface. It has a drag-and-drop editor that makes adding and arranging elements easy as well.

You can quickly organize how the sections of your courses and modules will look like on Thinkific. And for further customization, there are pre-made templates for you to use on the site.

Thinkific also lets you do further design enhancement via HTML and CSS codes. You can access the site editor to personalize your site’s branding and then alter the codes.

Other things that you can customize on your page are the fonts, color schemes, and layouts. You can choose what type of structure will work best with your digital courses.

Thinkific’s interface also makes uploading files a breeze. You can add various file types to support your modules by using the uploader.

Plus, creators find it very easy to add assessments to their courses. Thinkific lets you choose between different quiz types to give to your students.

Subscription Management

When paying for your Thinkific subscription, you can use third-party payment processors. The most commonly used ones on the platform are Stripe and PayPal.

You can offer your students different payment options for their online courses as well. Students will be able to select between two pricing schemes: a one-time payment or an installment plan.

As a course creator, you’ll also have access to all of your total earnings in real-time. For every user that subscribes to your class and sends payment, you can instantly view your revenue.

Plus, Thinkific doesn’t follow a specific payout schedule so you can access your funds quicker than rival platforms.

Creators can also create bundles to entice the students to try new a new online course. They can include discount coupons and other short modules to the bundle as incentives.

Marketing Features

As for marketing your online course, Thinkific has a whole slew of options for you to take.

Once you’ve finalized the content and look of your course, you can market it immediately through Thinkific. Just choose the Market and Sell option on your dashboard to get started.

From there, you can decide how your sign-up, checkout, and landing pages will look like. The better they look, the higher your conversion rates will be so you can take your time on that step.

You can create search and result filters on your site so that users will find it easier to search for what they want to enroll in.

Thinkific also offers a sales widget to every course creator. You can partner with other websites and embed that into them to promote your products.

Other marketing tools include the option to do affiliate marketing. Creators can have affiliates to promote their online courses to more audiences.

And once you’ve started the affiliate program, you can easily monitor its progress. Thinkific lets you view commission rates, conversion rates, and overall revenue on your dashboard.

If the marketing options still aren’t enough for your needs, you can also integrate a third-party application into your account.

Most users like to sync email tools like MailChimp and Aweber to do bulk emailing and messaging.

Student Management

As expected of any learning management system, Thinkific has student management tools. They mainly exist to improve the student’s user experience on the platform.

Your students can easily reach out and ask for clarification in the Thinkific discussion section. From there, you can reply to the queries directly.

If you upload or create new content, you can also set push notifications to be sent to your learners. No need to worry about them missing important announcements or deadlines.

Student progress can be kept track of on Thinkific as well. Creators can monitor the students’ grades, contact details, and other important information through the dashboard.

Customer Support

Thinkific users who encounter issues can easily reach out to customer support for help. There is an option to place a ticket to the Thinkific team if you need anything resolved.

If you’re subscribed to the higher-tiered plans, responses to your are prioritized as well.

The Thinkific website also has its own database of guide articles that you can go through. If you need general information about how to navigate the site and resolve common issues, then try looking at the articles first.

Thinkific Pricing

Thinkific Free

This Thinkific plan is pretty straightforward. It’s free when you sign up and it remains that way until you decide to stop using the platform. It also has no added transaction fees, if that’s what you’re skeptical about.

Creators who are just starting or that are on a tight budget should opt for this plan. You get all of Thinkific’s useful features for free and without an expiration date!

When you’re subscribed to this, you can design 3 courses and enrich them with supplemental content like videos, images, or files. You can also add quizzes at the end of every online course.

There is no limit to the number of students you can enroll in your courses as well. Plus, as a creator, you can automate the student sign-up process to make registration faster.

Every course creator can view their students’ overall progress when using Thinkific Free. There’s even an option to send out evaluation forms so that you can ask students what you can improve on.

Other analytics that you can monitor are conversion and click rates for your content. Each account can also have 1 authorized site admin.

To enhance the marketability of your courses, you can optimize them for SEO too. It’ll be quicker for interested users to find your course on search engines.

Finally, you can integrate other applications into your account if you need to.

Thinkific Basic

The Thinkific Basic Plan costs $49 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $39 per month or $468 per year.

When you’re using this plan, you get access to all the same features that you’d get with the Free Plan, except for a few added tools.

Thinkific Basic lets course creators design an unlimited number of courses. They can also turn on drip content settings to set a pace for content release to the students.

Sending coupons and special freebies are also possible when you’re using the Basic Plan. They’re great ways to entice your students to stay subscribed to your course.

Another thing you can do is to create a custom domain for your official site. You can use it to make your online business more memorable to potential users and students.

Thinkific Pro

The Thinkific Pro Plan costs $99 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $79 per month or $948 per year.

Thinkific’s mid-tier plan offers all the exact same benefits as the two lower-priced plans but with added options.

Subscribers of this plan can have 2 site admins, 5 course admin accounts, and unlimited courses. Speaking of courses, there’s a special option that also lets you make hidden courses. They’ll only be available to approved users.

More advanced customization tools are also available with Thinkific Pro. You can alter the HTML and CSS codes of your page to make it look more unique.

Specific pricing schemes for the students can also be set with this plan. More customizable quiz templates and assessment features can also be used.

Growth Package

When you exceed 100 students while on the Pro Plan, you’ll have the option to avail of the Thinkific Growth Package. It entails course creation features that are geared for larger teams and classes.

These include the integration of more third-party applications, user labeling, and sending of bulk emails.

Thinkific Premier

The Thinkific Premier Plan costs $499 per month. If you choose to get annual billing, it costs $399 per month or $4,788 per year.

You’ll be entailed to all the same features from the other plans when you’re subscribed to Thinkific Premier. The only difference is that the tools are catered for more students and courses.

As a course creator, you can have 5 site admins and 50 course admin accounts. And to accommodate your large team, Thinkific will provide a Single Sign-On feature to speed up the login time of your users.

Upon choosing and paying for this plan, you’re also entitled to a 30-minute onboarding call, online training session, and preparedness review.

And Thinkific Premier will also give you the option to avail of the Growth Package at a discounted price.

Kajabi vs. Thinkific

Now that you’ve gone through all of the standout features of Kajabi and Thinkific, it’s time to finally pit them against each other. Keep reading to find out how both platforms fare in this Kajabi vs. Thinkific review.

Similarities

Both Kajabi and Thinkific are great platforms for users who want to create online courses. They’re known to be very tight rivals because they’re very similar in terms of features offered.

They can be considered all-in-one platforms for creating and selling an online course. Kajabi and Thinkific both have simple interfaces that allow you to set up the courses in just a few clicks.

Users of Kajabi and Thinkific can also access ready-made templates to design their sites. They can even customize quizzes to add at the end of every lesson they upload for the students.

And both of the platforms even allow instructors to send certificates of accomplishment to their students. Other e-learning options they can do is to host interactive video tutorials and webinars.

On Kajabi and Thinkific, instructors can also set their content to be released in a drip method. They can set the pace at which new modules and lessons are made accessible to the students.

Like Kajabi, Thinkific offers email and affiliate marketing tools as well. They’re great tools for reaching out to newer audiences to subscribe to your online course.

Thinkific also has SEO-optimization tools like Kajabi does. You can increase your search engine rankings to gain more subscribers with both Kajabi and Thinkific.

Kajabi offers analytics and progress reports as well, which is similar to Thinkific. You can easily keep track of your students’ progress, as well as your own on the course platform.

Finally, users of Kajabi and Thinkific can integrate third-party applications into their accounts.

Differences

As for the main differences between the two platforms, we noticed that there is a handful. For one, Thinkific doesn’t have a sales funnel builder as Kajabi does.

When you’re building courses on Kajabi, the sales funnel speeds everything up because it details the next steps you should take. It’s something that Thinkific can take note of.

There is also no option to do a live chat or email conversation with the customer support team of Thinkific. Kajabi does so it’s much easier to get technical issues resolved.

All that Thinkific offers is an option to place a ticket to the support team via the website. While this is also helpful, it’s not as efficient as Kajabi’s process.

But if we’re pitting Kajabi vs. Thinkific in terms of affordability, then Thinkific comes off as the better choice. The Free Plan on Thinkific never expires while all that Kajabi has is a free trial.

If the price is important to you, then Thinkific’s Free Plan will definitely prove to be beneficial to you in the long run.

And in terms of overall pricing for both course platforms, Thinkific is much cheaper.

The lowest-priced paid plan you can subscribe to on Thinkific costs only $49 per month. Compare that to Kajabi’s $149 per month for the most basic plan and you’ll want to just get a Thinkific subscription.

You can also create a custom domain for your website when you’re subscribed to Thinkific. You can’t do the same when you’re on Kajabi.

And when putting Kajabi vs. Thinkific in terms of the number of courses you can create, Thinkific is a more appealing choice. When you’re subscribed you can create unlimited courses on the online course platform.

Conclusion

Now that we’ve reached the end of this Kajabi vs. Thinkific review, we hope that it’s become more apparent to you which of the two platforms would suit your needs better.

Given the similarities and differences of the platforms, we do have our own verdict though.

In a battle between Thinkific vs. Kajabi, if your concern is premium course creation tools and benefits, then you should opt for Kajabi.

But if you’re comparing Thinkific vs. Kajabi in terms of affordability and value for money, then Thinkific is the better platform.

As you can see, we don’t have one definite winner between the platforms. This is since each one of the platforms has its own strengths and benefits.

The verdict will really depend on your needs and overall budget. But what we can assure you is that whichever one of the platforms you choose, you’ll still be satisfied.

Either way, each one of the platforms does not skimp on the essential features needed to set up fully working courses. They’re both highly competent online course platforms that deserve a try.

And anyway, both platforms have free plans that you can check out before availing of any of the paid plans. You can take your time and figure out which one will suit you better.

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