Kajabi and ClickFunnels are both at the top of their game. With quality features and smooth user experiences, choosing which to use is hard.
In the end, it comes down to your priorities and what your business focuses on most.
Key Takeaways:
- Kajabi costs from $89/month, while ClickFunnels is $97/month
- Kajabi is best for selling learning content and for complete beginners
- ClickFunnels specializes in sales and marketing tools and is better for diversifying
Kajabi vs. ClickFunnels: A Quick Overview
| Feature | Kajabi Logo | ClickFunnels |
|---|---|---|
| SupplyGem Platform Ranking | No. 2 | No. 3 |
| SupplyGem Score | 9.5 | 9.4 |
| Trustpilot Score | 4.1 | 4.1 |
| Costs From | $89/month | $97/month |
| Free Trial | Get a 30-day free trial (any plan) | Get a Startup plan 30-day free trial |
| Money-Back Guarantee | 30 days | 30 days |
| Platform Pros | – Simple, easy to use – Suitable for beginners – High-quality course builder and community features – Inbuilt livestream tool – Apps included for remote learning | – Created for marketers by marketers – Loads of features for a great price – Good for physical and digital products – Excellent CRM and funnel-building tools |
| Platform Cons | – Pricey with feature limits – Lacks high customization – For digital products only | – Some add-on costs – Less beginner-friendly – Templates aren’t great |
| Best For | Learning content creators | Sales and marketing professionals |
Kajabi and ClickFunnels Are Both Awesome Platforms: Here’s Why
Kajabi has long been at the top of its game for course-building platforms, and it’s easy to see why. No, it isn’t cheap, but it delivers smooth-running, intuitive tools and high-quality features.
ClickFunnels has also been around for a while, but recently it’s had a glow-up with a new interface, an expanded feature set, streamlined pricing plans, and an enjoyable user experience.
Both platforms appear to offer similar features: a course builder, funnels, a website builder, etc.
So, one must be way better than the other, right?
Not really. The question boils down to what you want from a platform because each is excellent in its own right.
Are your needs focused on marketing (ClickFunnels)? Or, are you a learning content guru (Kajabi)?
Kajabi vs. ClickFunnels: Affordability
Since ClickFunnels revamped its pricing, I’ve got to say that it’s now one of the most affordable platforms out there, especially considering the number of features you get.
For $97 per month, you get unlimited access to the platform. The only limits are the number of workspaces and team members you can have.
Additional costs are involved if you use ClickFunnels SMTP for emailing, video hosting, or integration runs, but you’re not forced to use these.
With plans starting from $89 per month, Kajabi has always been expensive and probably always will be (although it does have occasional deals). The main issue is the feature limits, which are quite low. For instance, the Kickstarter plan only allows one product and one community.
That said, it does have à la carte pricing where you can pay to increase individual feature limits. However, it generally ends up being cheaper to just upgrade your plan.
I do like that emails are included in the price, though.
Here’s a quick side-by-side cost comparison for both platforms:
| Plan | Monthly cost | Monthly cost paid annually | Total annual cost | Discount for paying annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClickFunnels Startup | $97 | $81 | $972 | 16% |
| ClickFunnels Pro | $297 | $248 | $2,976 | 16% |
| Kajabi KickStarter | $89 | $71 | $852 | 20% |
| Kajabi Basic | $149 | $119 | $1,428 | 20% |
| Kajabi Growth | $199 | $159 | $1,908 | 20% |
| Kajabi Pro | $399 | $319 | $3,828 | 20% |
6 Reasons ClickFunnels Is Best for Marketing
1. Created by a Marketing Guru
If you’ve ever dabbled in online marketing before, you will have no doubt heard of Russell Brunson.
He’s one of the top figures in this sphere and embodies everything to do with marketing. You’ll either love him or hate him. Either way, he knows his stuff.
ClickFunnels is his baby, and he’s poured all his extensive knowledge into creating it.
This is why the main focus of ClickFunnels is, well, funnels.
What I’m trying to say here is that ClickFunnels comes from a place of expertise. It wasn’t just some random programmer who thought, “Hey, I’m gonna build a marketing platform.” It was created by an individual with a genuine passion for the industry.
And, you know what? This expertise shows because it contains everything an online marketer would need.
2. Awesome Funnel-Builder
Given the background of the platform’s founder, as you’d expect, the funnel builder is top-notch. There’s a whole bunch of prebuilt options, and the automation is pretty smart, too.
Even if you’re a funnel newbie, I think you’ll do just fine since the workflow screen is pretty easy to follow.
The only thing I’m not particularly keen on is the templates. For me, they’re a bit “ten years ago” and look somewhat samey. Given that the entire platform has been updated, I find it surprising that the templates are still sporting this outdated look.
Thankfully, they’re fully customizable so you can zhuzh them up into your style.
Anyway, for me, it’s all about the journey and flow of a funnel, and in this area, ClickFunnels has it spot on.
3. Detailed Survey Builder to Understand Audience
Now this is a cool feature. Yes, survey builders are commonplace on marketing platforms, but rarely are they as fun or detailed to use.
ClickFunnels’ version is incredibly useful and versatile because it allows you to drill down into audience specifics.
How? Well, it does it through workflows and branching. Like a flowchart, you can create complex surveys and quizzes where the following question is determined by the answer given to the previous question.
Then, you can build automation into it and segment your audience based on their responses.
If you’ve been struggling to get into the nitty-gritty of audience targeting, I think this is really going to help you.
Kajabi does have a survey builder, but it’s super basic in comparison. You can’t do nearly as much with it.
4. Proper Pipeline Feature
Finally! ClickFunnels now features a proper pipeline and opportunities tool.
Why does any marketing platform exist without one?
I don’t know, but believe me, it’s more common than you think. Kajabi doesn’t have this feature, that’s for sure.
I’m a visual person, so seeing where my leads are and what they are doing is essential.
Anyway, you can now create (unlimited) custom pipelines with stages matched to your campaigns and then move them through the stages automatically depending on their actions.
I think this is useful because you can instantly see which leads will need a bit of a nudge and some nurturing.
5. Good for Physical and Digital Products
Okay, ClickFunnels is definitely not Shopify, so if you plan to sell in huge quantities, get Shopify.
However, if you want a modest-sized shop or aim to sell physical products alongside your digital ones, I believe that ClickFunnels is now up to scratch.
It’s got an entire “shop” app with tools specifically for setting up physical product listings. So, you’ve got an inventory counter, SKU numbers, collections, variants, and other things that physical product listings need.
The only thing it’s missing is inbuilt shipping. However, it does integrate with Shipstation and Shippo, so that’s a workaround.
Like I said, it’s not a full-blown e-commerce platform, so don’t expect that. But if your needs are not too complex, it’s fine.
Kajabi, on the other hand, is not built for physical products, and you will find it a massive headache to use for that purpose.
6. Full Range of Client and Customer Management Tools
Along with ClickFunnels’ revamp came a host of new CRM tools.
Besides the pipelines tool, you now have a unified message center where you can read and respond to your customers and leads in one place. This makes it much easier to see if you’ve missed something or forgotten to reply.
It incorporates email, live chat, social media messaging, SMS, Telegram, and WhatsApp. Though it’s important to note that ClickFunnels itself does not offer SMS messaging, you can simply connect the platform to your existing third-party services.
Additionally, there’s now a full calendar and scheduling app. This is perfect if you run discovery calls, coaching programs, or even live webinars.
You get to choose the type of event you want to run, and ClickFunnels will set up a calendar for that purpose. You can even take payments upfront, which is essential for reducing no-shows and last-minute cancellations.
6 Reasons Kajabi Is Best for Online Educators
1. It’s Less Technical
When comparing both platforms, it’s safe to say that Kajabi is the least technical of the two.
It has fewer features, but that’s not to say it’s a bad thing. On the contrary, not everyone wants a platform filled with so many tools that you can’t possibly learn them all.
Kajabi keeps it straightforward. Its focus is on building and selling learning products, and everything on the platform is centered around that.
Most educators are interested in teaching their audience. They’re not interested in spending hours figuring out how to integrate third-party tools or troubleshoot complicated automations.
2. Build Full Membership Sites
ClickFunnels lets you build a decent course, but it’s not set up for creating proper membership sites. Plus, I feel like the sales and marketing aspects of the platform filter into the learning content, which may not be ideal.
Kajabi’s membership sites are dedicated to the learner and provide a clean, uncluttered space to access learning content.
Whether it’s a collection of courses, a community, coaching, or a mix of all three, you can tailor the learning content specifically to your audience’s needs.
You’ve got more structured learning options, too. For instance, you can set up assessments, quizzes, and even exams if you need to.
3. Top-Notch Community Feature
The community feature in Kajabi is brilliant. I think it’s one of the best things about the platform because you can do so much with it.
Yes, you can chat and engage and do all that. But the standout features are the challenges you can set up and run (complete with leaderboards), the polls, and my personal favorite—the instant live room.
Monetization is easy. Either charge for access, connect it to your course, or display offers within the community itself.
Overall, I think it’s a really powerful tool, and if you plan to create courses, you should also set up a community. Your engagement rates will thank you for it.
4. Sell Coaching and Podcasts
ClickFunnels is really only set up to sell courses, and that’s about it when it comes to learning products. Yes, there’s a community app, but it pales in comparison to Kajabi.
The coaching feature is cool because it includes Kajabi’s inbuilt scheduler and livestream tool, so everything is neatly in one place. Then, if the customer purchases coaching and courses, they are all available on one of the aforementioned membership sites.
Then, there are podcasts. While it doesn’t facilitate the actual recording of them, you can upload the podcast files and sell them. And, the platform will distribute your episodes to the desired podcast platforms.
There are also specific tools for monetizing digital downloads and newsletters, so there are a multitude of ways you can sell your knowledge.
5. Inbuilt Livestream Tool
Let’s talk more about the livestream tool because I think it’s really important.
Many platforms claim to offer coaching or webinar features, but when you look closer, you find you’ve got to integrate with Zoom or add your own external link.
None of that applies to Kajabi, so you don’t have to deal with dodgy integrations or anything like that.
The livestream tool itself has HD capabilities (which you can toggle on or off), and it’ll automatically record your sessions so you can upload them for rewatching.
There are breakout rooms for activities and all the other features you’d expect, like a speaker spotlight, chat window, screenshare, and audience controls.
This tool doesn’t cost extra, either, by the way. It’s fully included within your Kajabi subscription price.
6. It Has an App (Several, Actually)
Having an app is standard these days, and learners need to be able to learn wherever they are.
Kajabi has you covered with not one but three apps:
- One for you, the creator, to manage course admin and content from your phone
- One for the student so they can access and consume learning content on the go
- The third is specifically for communities so members can access and engage whenever they like
The only thing is that these apps are pretty generic and feature the Kajabi branding.
There is the ability to build a fully customized and branded app, but this will cost you a decent chunk of money (in addition to your subscription).
Weirdly, ClickFunnels does not have an app. Well, there is one, but it’s just for affiliates.
Kajabi vs. ClickFunnels: Bottom Line
Look, both are great platforms in their own right, so the one you choose comes down to your priorities and which feature set aligns with your requirements.
If you want a marketing-focused option with “jack-of-all-trades” features, you’ll be happy with ClickFunnels. If your business is centered around learning content, you need Kajabi.
If you’re unsure, try out both platforms—each with a 30-day free trial—and see which fits you best.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Use Kajabi or ClickFunnels for Free?
Both ClickFunnels and Kajabi can be used for free during the 30-day trial period. Once the trial expires, you must cancel or pay for a subscription. Neither platform has a free plan.
Can I Use ClickFunnels with Kajabi?
You can use the Classic version (original version) of ClickFunnels with Kajabi. It allows you to connect your ClickFunnels products with Kajabi’s membership areas. However, there is no Kajabi integration available with the updated version of ClickFunnels.
Is Kajabi or ClickFunnels Best for Beginners?
Kajabi is more beginner-friendly than ClickFunnels thanks to its simpler interface and smaller feature set. However, ClickFunnels is still suitable for beginners—it just has a higher learning curve.
Is Kajabi or ClickFunnels Best for Established Businesses?
Both Kajabi and ClickFunnels are great for established businesses. It just depends on the business’s main focus. If it’s a marketing company, ClickFunnels is the best fit. For learning content creators, Kajabi is best.
