The Short Answer
Seven options, checked on their live sites in October 2026.
Kajabi Basic per month on monthly billing ($143 billed annually)
cheapest paid all-in-one we found (Systeme.io Startup)
coaches in our Capterra sample who switched from Kajabi; 8 cited price
- 01
Personify: answers students and clients between sessions, inside Kajabi or anywhere. - 02
Systeme.io: all-in-one: funnels, email, courses, community. - 03
Podia: courses, downloads, coaching and community. - 04
Paperbell: coaching practice: booking, payments, contracts. - 05
Teachable: online courses and coaching products. - 06
Simplero: courses, memberships, scheduling and email. - 07
Kartra: funnels, email and memberships.
Why Coaches Leave Kajabi
From 1,315 Capterra reviews we collected in October 2026, 630 of them from coaches.
It costs a lot for what a coach uses. Basic is $179 a month, Growth $249 and Pro $499 on monthly billing, or $143, $199 and $399 billed annually. Cost is the most common complaint in Kajabi's own reviews.
Switchers go to cheaper all-in-ones. Of the 13 coaches in our sample who said they left Kajabi, 5 went to Systeme.io, 3 to Paperbell and 3 to Podia. Price came up in 8 of their reasons.
It is the tool everyone compares against. Kajabi is named more than any other platform when coaches list the alternatives they considered.
Hosting is not the hard part. Most platforms host a course well. The questions students ask between lessons still land on you, whichever platform you pick.
Thinking of staying? Kajabi has added its own AI agents; we compare them in Kajabi Expert Agents vs an AI clone.
1. Personify
Best if what you really need is help for clients between sessions.
Our pick
Keep Kajabi or leave it. Either way, stop answering the same question twice.
Personify turns your coaching into a clone your clients and students can talk to at any hour. Train it on your course material, transcripts, videos and frameworks, and it answers in your words, in 100+ languages. Drop it into Kajabi with a short embed snippet, or put it in Teachable, Thinkific, Circle or any site if you move.
It moves with you. Switch platforms and your clone, its training and its answers come along.
Fewer repeat questions. The clone takes the questions you answer every week, so your time goes on the work only you can do.
A fraction of the price. Free tier, then Pro at $39 a month, or $29 a month billed annually.
Live in minutes. A working clone takes about 10 minutes. Then improve it in the right order.
- Who it fits
- Coaches and course creators whose students and clients ask the same questions every week.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Free tier. Pro $39/month, or $29/month billed annually.
- Honest drawback
- It does not host courses or take payments, so it replaces the support side of Kajabi, not the whole platform. Voice cloning is Done-For-You only.
2. Systeme.io
The cheapest all-in-one, and where most switchers go.
Systeme.io covers the same ground as Kajabi: sales funnels, email marketing, courses, communities, booking and affiliates, with unlimited emails on every plan. It was the most common destination for the coaches in our sample who left Kajabi, 5 of 13.
- Who it fits
- Coaches who want funnels, email, courses and a community in one place on a tight budget.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Free plan (2,000 contacts, 1 course). Startup $17/month, Webinar $47, Unlimited $97. 0% transaction fees.
- Honest drawback
- Design and customisation is the top complaint in its Capterra reviews (16 of the 100 we read).
3. Podia
Simple course, coaching and community hosting.
Podia bundles courses, digital downloads, coaching, events, a community and a website. The entry plan charges a 5% fee on sales; the plans above it do not. The 14-day trial needs no card.
- Who it fits
- Coaches selling a few courses, downloads or coaching products who want something simpler than Kajabi.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Billed yearly: Mover $42/month (5% fees), Shaker $84 (no fees), Earthquaker $150.
- Honest drawback
- Customisation is the most common complaint in its Capterra reviews (23 of the 100 we read).
4. Paperbell
Best for coaches who sell 1:1 packages, not courses.
Paperbell handles booking, packages and payments, contracts, forms, a client portal and a simple coaching website, with unlimited clients. More on it in our best coaching software comparison.
- Who it fits
- Solo coaches whose business is sessions and packages rather than a course library.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- $97/month, or $970/year. One plan, all features.
- Honest drawback
- It is built for 1:1 coaching, so course-heavy businesses will find less to work with than in Kajabi.
5. Teachable
A course platform with a low entry price.
Teachable hosts courses and coaching products and handles checkout. From Builder up there are no Teachable transaction fees with Teachable Payments. The trial is 7 days.
- Who it fits
- Coaches whose main product is an online course.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Starter $39/month ($29 billed annually, 7.5% fees). Builder $89 ($69). Growth $189 ($139).
- Honest drawback
- The Starter plan adds a 7.5% transaction fee, and design is the top complaint in its reviews (21 of 100).
6. Simplero
Courses, memberships and scheduling in one.
Simplero combines courses, memberships, communities, scheduling and email, with AI credits included on each plan. The 14-day trial unlocks every feature.
- Who it fits
- Coaches who run memberships and want scheduling built in.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Starter $70/month ($59 billed annually), Scale $179 ($149), Skyrocket $299 ($249).
- Honest drawback
- Contact limits are low on the lower tiers (500 on Starter, 1,000 on Scale).
7. Kartra
Funnels and email first, courses second.
Kartra centres on funnels, email and SMS, with memberships and courses alongside. Above Essentials there are no transaction fees. The trial is 14 days.
- Who it fits
- Coaches who sell mainly through funnels and email sequences.
- Price (Oct 2026)
- Essentials $59/month ($52 billed annually, 5% fees), Starter $119 ($99), Growth $229 ($189).
- Honest drawback
- Essentials allows 500 contacts, 1 product and 1 course, and charges a 5% fee.
Side By Side
Every figure was read on that company's live site in October 2026.
| Tool | Main job | Entry price | Start free |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Personify | Answers students and clients between sessions, inside Kajabi or anywhere | $39/mo, or $29/mo billed annually | Free tier |
| 2. Systeme.io | All-in-one: funnels, email, courses, community | $17/mo (Startup) | Free plan |
| 3. Podia | Courses, downloads, coaching and community | $42/mo billed yearly (Mover) | 14-day trial, no card |
| 4. Paperbell | Coaching practice: booking, payments, contracts | $97/mo, or $970/yr | Trial |
| 5. Teachable | Online courses and coaching products | $39/mo, or $29/mo billed annually | 7-day trial |
| 6. Simplero | Courses, memberships, scheduling and email | $70/mo, or $59/mo billed annually | 14-day trial |
| 7. Kartra | Funnels, email and memberships | $59/mo, or $52/mo billed annually | 14-day trial |
| Kajabi (for reference) | All-in-one course and coaching platform | $179/mo, or $143/mo billed annually | Trial, no free plan |
Prices change, so check each pricing page before you commit. Review counts come from Capterra reviews we collected in October 2026. We left Thinkific off this list because its pricing page only showed us euro prices.
How To Choose
Three questions decide most of it.
Is the problem the bill, or the workload? If it is the bill, move to a cheaper all-in-one. If it is the questions, add a clone and keep what works.
Do you sell courses or sessions? Course businesses suit Systeme.io, Podia or Teachable. 1:1 businesses suit Paperbell.
What will moving cost you? Count the time to rebuild pages, emails and student access, not just the monthly price.
Need more clients first? A platform will not fill your calendar. Start with how to get coaching clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Kajabi alternative for coaches?+
If what you need is help for clients between sessions, Personify is our pick: it answers from your own material, works inside Kajabi or without it, and has a free tier. If you want to replace Kajabi as your whole platform, Systeme.io is the cheapest all-in-one we checked, with a free plan and paid plans from $17 a month. Paperbell suits coaches who sell 1:1 packages rather than courses.
How much does Kajabi cost in 2026?+
In October 2026, Kajabi listed Basic at $179 a month, Growth at $249 and Pro at $499 on monthly billing, or $143, $199 and $399 a month billed annually. There is no free plan.
Is there a free Kajabi alternative?+
Yes. Systeme.io has a free plan with 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels and 1 course, and Personify has a free tier with no credit card needed. Podia, Teachable, Simplero and Kartra offer trials instead.
What is the cheapest Kajabi alternative?+
Of the paid plans we checked in October 2026, Systeme.io Startup at $17 a month was the lowest, then Personify Pro and Teachable Starter at $29 a month billed annually. Teachable Starter adds a 7.5% transaction fee.
Can I keep Kajabi and add an AI clone?+
Yes. Personify embeds in Kajabi with a short code snippet, so your clone answers students inside the course they already use. Many coaches keep Kajabi for hosting and payments and add the clone for the questions that pile up between sessions.
Why do coaches leave Kajabi?+
Price, mostly. In the 1,315 Capterra reviews we collected in October 2026, 13 coaches on other platforms said they had switched from Kajabi, and price came up in 8 of their reasons. In Kajabi's own reviews, cost is the most common complaint.
Wherever you host, answer once
Train a clone on your own material and put it inside Kajabi, or whichever platform you move to.
Free tier available. No credit card needed.