The term “LMS” is a term frequently thrown at platforms that have course creation tools.
However, this is often incorrect and creates a lot of confusion over what an LMS actually is.
I’m here to clear up the argument over whether Kajabi is or isn’t an LMS.
Key Takeaways:
- Kajabi is for monetizing content; an LMS is for managing content
- Kajabi is not SCORM compliant and incompatible with LMS platforms
- The platform does not support formal, regulatory, or compliance training
Is Kajabi an LMS? The Quick Answer
No, Kajabi is not a learning management system (LMS). While it does share some characteristics of an LMS, its primary purpose is to monetize digital content.
Is Kajabi an LMS? The In-Depth Answer
Let’s go into more detail about why we can’t consider Kajabi an LMS.
As I said, Kajabi is designed to help you create and sell digital products within the learning niche. So, you can use it to build courses, communities, coaching products, etc. Then, you can use the marketing tools on the platform to promote it and gain sales.
TalentLMS is one of the top LMS platforms.
In contrast, an LMS is not designed to monetize content. Its primary purpose is to deliver training and manage, track, and assess learning in a structured manner.
These platforms are typically used by educational establishments, corporate organizations, and other large businesses that want a convenient way to distribute content and assess and manage students.
In a nutshell:
- Kajabi is used to create and build a business and generate revenue.
- An LMS is used by existing businesses to manage learning content.
6 Key LMS Features That Kajabi Lacks
1. SCORM Compliance
All LMS platforms are SCORM (shareable content object reference model) compliant. Without getting too technical, SCORM is a set of standards for e-learning content that enables compatibility with other SCORM-compliant systems.
For example:
- Platform A is SCORM-compliant and has been used by a large organization for the past ten years to store and manage its training content.
- Platform B is a newer platform, and the organization would like to switch to it.
- Because Platform B is also SCORM-compliant, the organization can easily shift its content from Platform A to Platform B without any issues.
Kajabi is not SCORM-compliant, which means it is incompatible with other LMS systems. Content cannot be imported or exported between platforms.
2. Advanced Learning Assessment Tools
Kajabi does provide basic assessment tools, such as the ability to create quizzes with graded questions. But, it doesn’t get any more advanced than that.
Often, organizations require employees to undergo mandatory certified training, like health and safety or regulatory compliance, for instance.
These standardized training courses require specific evaluation and assessment tools that just aren’t present in Kajabi.
3. Adaptive Learning Paths
Adaptive learning refers to adjusting the learning experience based on the student’s performance and abilities. Intuitive LMS systems automatically adjust the learning content to suit the student’s level.
This means each individual receives a personalized learning experience that’s neither too easy nor too challenging.
In contrast, Kajabi can only facilitate static learning paths. If you did want to provide an adaptive experience, you would have to do this manually. While it would be doable for a handful of students, it’s simply too impractical to orchestrate for large numbers of individuals.
4. Proper Content Organization
Usually, a large business will have a huge amount of training content and student files to deal with. Without a proper organization and management system, everything quickly becomes chaotic and impossible to deal with.
Kajabi does allow you to organize the content for each course, but when you start creating a lot of content, you’ll find the organizational tools limited.
Besides, Kajabi isn’t even designed to accommodate huge amounts of content. Its plan limits range from 1 to 15 products for individual businesses, while the Pro plan allows up to 100 products, which can be distributed across three businesses.
5. Advanced User Management
Kajabi has user management tools such as customizable user permissions, but it lacks the details required by an LMS system. These include learner segmentation, personalized and dynamic dashboards, user hierarchies, and more.
It’s also not possible to support muti-tenancy in Kajabi. This is where different client organizations or departments can use the same platform but remain isolated in terms of access to courses, users, and data. This is beneficial for organizations that have multiple divisions but want to keep data separate and secure.
7 LMS Features You Will Find on Kajabi
Despite the differences, Kajabi does share a few similarities with an LMS platform. However, you must keep in mind that the shared features are typically less advanced than what you’d find on an LMS.
1. Course Creation Tools
Course creation is one of Kajabi’s key features, and it lets you build detailed courses packed full of modules, lessons, quizzes, and more. You can also drip or lock content, which lets you somewhat control the learning path.
Kajabi’s courses can also be supported by live coaching sessions and an online community that provides spaces to chat and share ideas.
However, even these features have their limitations in terms of what you’d need for LMS purposes:
- It’s not the right platform for creating formal or regulatory courses that require examinations and certification.
- A large organization that needs a lot of learning content will quickly get restricted by Kajabi’s plan limits.
2. Learner Tracking and Analytics
Kajabi has learner-tracking tools that give you good insights into student behavior. For example, you can look at how much of a course a student completed, their grades, and if they gave up at a certain point.
You can also look at groups of learners to determine the averages for those individuals.
These analytics are just fine for what you can use Kajabi for, but, again, they lack the depth you’ll find on an LMS.
3. Asynchronous Learning
This refers to the ability to consume learning content at your own pace. We all learn differently, with some taking longer than others to complete a course.
Kajabi lets its users access learning content at their own speed and convenience. Any live content you include can be recorded by Kajabi and uploaded as a replay for those who missed it.
This lets everyone access the same content but without feeling rushed or bored by the pace.
4. Mobile Learning
To support asynchronous learning and allow students to access content from anywhere, Kajabi has a mobile app.
Actually, it has three mobile apps—one for students, one for creators, and one for communities.
This is ideal for supporting individuals who frequently travel or commute—which is often the case for employees of a large organization.
5. Gamification
Gamification is the training buzzword of the decade and is now incorporated into just about every LMS or learning content creation platform. These are highly useful tools that encourage motivation and healthy competition among learners.
Kajabi includes basic gamified elements such as achievement badges, certificates, and leaderboards. Most of these you will find in the community feature where you can create challenges and events.
6. Basic Assessment Tools
I won’t go into detail here because we covered this earlier. Yes, Kajabi lets you create graded quiz questions, which are handy for assessing the learner’s understanding at the end of a lesson or module.
While useful, the feature is basic and unsuitable for formal learning.
7. Communication Tools
Finally, Kajabi has plenty of ways for students to engage with facilitators and maintain communication:
Users can send unlimited emails to students.
The community feature can be used to run chat groups, conversation feeds, and direct (private) messaging.
Kajabi Live allows real-time, “face-to-face” communication.
Students can drop comments in course lessons that facilitators can respond to.
Bottom Line: Should You Use Kajabi as an LMS?
I strongly feel that any organization attempting to use Kajabi as an LMS will quickly find itself frustrated with the platform’s limitations. So, with a resounding “no,” you should definitely not use Kajabi as an LMS.
However, if you are an entrepreneur, tutor, or coach and want a platform to create, market, and sell your learning content, Kajabi is one of the best platforms around for that purpose.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Kajabi Integrate with LMS Platforms?
Not really. While you could use Zapier to transfer limited user data from one platform to the other, you would not be able to transfer any course content or information because Kajabi is not SCORM-compliant.
