With so many course builders out there, it takes something different to stand out from the competition.
I was curious about Kartra’s offering and was keen to see how it stacked up. Here’s what I found—the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Key Takeaways:
- The course builder uses an easy drag-and-drop tool for high customization
- You can add in-course offers and create paid access levels
- Navigating the course configuration is frustrating and involves too many steps
Is the Kartra Course Builder Any Good? My Quick Verdict
Kartra is a bit of a double-edged sword situation.
On one hand, the capabilities of its course builder are excellent, with many customization options and the ability to add in-course offers and create diverse learning content.
On the other hand, the user experience is bad. It’s not intuitive, and you’ll find yourself clicking endlessly around the platform to get the job done.
If you can get past (and used to) the usability aspect, it’s actually a great tool. However, many will find the overall platform a frustrating experience.
5 Things I Liked about the Kartra Online Course Builder
It Works Like a Website Builder
This is my favorite aspect of Kartra’s course builder. It works exactly like a basic version of a drag-and-drop web page builder.
I say basic because you can’t play with the page layout or configurations as much as you can with a full page builder, but you can still customize the page a huge amount.
You get a long list of elements you can add, including text, videos, and images. You can even add progress bars, calendars, and a checkout form.
While I wish more templates were available (more on that later), Kartra still provides one of the most dynamic and customizable course page builders.
You Can Make Lesson Pages Flow
The whole course structure kinda works like a website. The student scrolls down each of your lesson pages to consume the content, allowing you to have a flowing lesson structure that works really well.
For example, you can easily add as many images as you want to create a visual story or step-by-step tutorial.
Also, if you have a lot of video content, you could break it up into smaller chunks and have the videos listed down the page interspersed with text, file downloads, or anything else you need to support them.
Since you have a lot of space to play with, it’s very adaptable, which I like.
I also think this hybrid of structured lesson content and website format makes for a great student experience because it’s a lot more interesting than a ton of lesson pages that all look the same.
Combines Courses with Membership Sites
One thing you’ll have to get used to is Kartra’s quite frankly confusing terminology. It uses the term “membership sites” to refer to single courses and “portals” to refer to what I would call a membership site (a single access point for a collection of courses).
I believe it does this because you can monetize access levels within a course, so it kinda acts like a mini membership site (see the section below for more info on that).
Once you wrap your head around that, you’ll find you have a lot of flexibility in monetizing your content. For example:
- If you have several related courses, you can bundle them into one portal and sell them together.
- You can sell a subscription to a portal and update the content regularly to keep customers engaged.
- You can include other content inside the portal, such as webinars and digital downloads.
Sell Products within the Course Content
This neat feature allows you to upsell and cross-sell from within your courses. Adding the checkout element allows you to sprinkle relevant offers throughout your lesson content without advertising via an external method.
It’s also worth mentioning that you can “lock” course modules behind a paywall. For example, you could offer the first lesson as a freebie and include the checkout element on the page, allowing students to purchase the rest of the course.
This means you can monetize your course content in a variety of ways, such as splitting it into different paid access levels or offering the whole lot for a single cost.
Add a Helpdesk for Customer Support
This is a great feature that I seldom find on similar platforms. You can add a helpdesk to your courses and membership portals.
A helpdesk can enhance the value of your offers by providing a live chat function and a wiki help site (which you can fill with articles and guides) and allowing your students to view and manage their billing info and transactions.
Typically, if you need help with a course, your only option is to email the course creator and hope they see and respond to your message (in my experience, this is hit-and-miss). However, with the helpdesk feature, you can provide top-notch support in a variety of ways.
The Kartra Course Builder Will Frustrate You: Here’s Why
Annoying Navigation
The navigation is probably my biggest irritation about using Kartra (and it’s the same for all its features). When configuring all your course settings, you can’t skip from one step to another without first trawling through all the other steps in between.
For example, if I want to skip from “Basic info” to “Basic automations,” I can’t do that without first clicking through all the other steps.
It’s so annoying and makes the whole configuration process clunky and unnecessarily inconvenient.
I get that Kartra is trying to ensure that you don’t forget to edit something before launching your course, but in doing so, it has created something that’s not user-friendly.
Upfront Element Configuration
I don’t know about you, but when I create a web page, I like to map it out first by adding and rearranging elements until I have a structure I like. Only then do I go in and configure each element.
You can’t do this in Kartra. When you try to add an element to your course page, it forces you to configure it beforehand. For example, when I tried to add a button element, it wanted me to configure the button text and link before I could drop it in place.
This is also frustrating because editing everything before I try it out takes up so much time—especially if I decide I don’t like it and want to remove it after all.
Lack of Templates
Kartra does not provide any templates for its course pages besides three basic layouts, which, bizarrely, you only discover when you go to save your lesson page.
Moreover, switching to a different layout can mess with your formatting and make your layout look bad, meaning you have to go back and adjust everything.
If you want to create something unique, you have to figure it out yourself and play with the layout until it works for your brand. While this isn’t a game changer for me, it would be nice to have some variety and the ability to pick from more than one layout or theme.
A few templates would be really helpful for beginners who are creating their first course and would save time for more experienced users.
Quizzes, Webinars, and Helpdesks Cost More
I’ve already talked about how the helpdesk feature can level up your products by providing additional value to your customers. Well, there’s a full-blown webinar feature too that you can use to diversify your content and marketing strategies.
Both are really great features. The catch? You have to pay at least $229 per month for the Growth plan to access them.
Even more disappointingly, you can’t add quizzes or surveys to your courses unless you subscribe to this plan, either. I mean, come on. These are basic features that should not come at a premium.
If I’m already paying over $100 per month for a course-building platform, I shouldn’t have to pay almost double that just to access a quiz feature.
Is There a Better Alternative for Creating Courses?
Look, if Kartra’s downsides don’t bother you, it’s still a great option, especially since its course page builder is so customizable.
However, if your chief concern is ease of use, I firmly believe Kajabi is the best platform out there because it offers an incredible user experience.
At the very least, Kajabi is much cheaper than Kartra, with plans ranging from $69 to $399 per month. Plus, all course features are included in all of its plans.
It offers most of Kartra’s features and also a community feature—something I’ve found incredibly valuable for increasing engagement among my audience.
The only limitation with Kajabi is that you can only create a certain number of courses (the number depends on your chosen plan). In contrast, Kartra lets you build and sell unlimited courses. So, that’s something to consider.
Ultimately, I recommend checking out both platforms to see which suits you best. Both offer a 30-day free trial, so you can give them a whirl risk-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Many Courses Can I Create in Kartra?
Kartra allows you to create unlimited courses on all its paid plans.
Does Kartra Allow Unlimited Students for Courses?
There are no limits to the number of students you can have for your Kartra courses.
Can I Use Kartra for Coaching Products?
Yes, you can use Kartra for coaching products. However, if you want to use the live stream webinar feature for your coaching sessions, you have to subscribe to the Growth plan, which costs $229 per month.
