Kartra is consistently rated as one of the top platforms for digital course creators and marketers. And it’s true—it does offer some really great features.
However, it also has some drawbacks, most notably its clunky user experience.
I’ve dug into the platform to weigh everything—good and bad.
Key Takeaways:
- Four plans are available, costing from $119/month
- There are zero add-on costs and no transaction fees
- Top features include the course builder, webinars, helpdesks, and workflows
Kartra Review: A Quick Overview
| Kartra | |
|---|---|
| SupplyGem score | 9.0 |
| SupplyGem ranking | 5th best platform |
| Trustpilot score | 3.6 |
| Plans cost | $119-$549/month |
| Current offer | 30-day free trial |
| Best for | Marketers and course creators who want a great webinar tool |
Who Is Kartra Designed For?
Kartra has two main focuses: digital marketing and digital product creation.
Therefore, if you operate in either of these spaces, the platform could be ideal for you.
In terms of digital products, it features a comprehensive course and membership site builder, live coaching and webinars, and a landing page builder for digital downloads.
It has very basic tools for physical products, so I don’t recommend it for this purpose.
Its vast marketing tools incorporate email and SMS, a sophisticated funnel builder, and even support desks.
I firmly believe the platform is designed for the more experienced user. Beginners will definitely struggle with its features.
Is Kartra Affordable or a Rip-Off?
Kartra is definitely not the cheapest platform around. However, its prices are similar to those of its main competitor, Kajabi.
| Plan | Monthly price | Monthly price paid annually | Total annual price | Discount for annual payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $119 | $99 | $1,188 | 16% |
| Growth | $229 | $189 | $2,268 | 17% |
| Professional | $549 | $429 | $5,148 | 21% |
| Enterprise | $999 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
It’s worth mentioning that Kartra periodically has promotional offers available.
As you can see from the screenshot, the offer when writing this article was a 25% discount off the Starter plan and 40% off the Growth plan (first year only).
So, if you’re not in a hurry, it can be well worth holding out for one of these deals to materialize.
Also, if you’re in the trial period and go to cancel, sometimes you get an offer displayed before you hit the confirm button. It’s always worth checking that out to see what they’re offering!
In short, I believe it’s fairly priced given the number of features you get, plus the deals make it particularly good value for your money.
(Mostly) Unlimited Features
What brings extra value is that many of Kartra’s features are unlimited (products, funnels, pages, etc).
Unlike Kajabi, for example, you don’t have to worry about upgrading to a more expensive plan if you want to create and sell dozens of products.
However, not everything is unlimited, so you have to be mindful of some areas.
For instance, you can send unlimited emails, but you have limits on the number of contacts you can add.
Also, if you want to use its webinar feature, you’ll have to pay for the Growth or Professional plan, and the number of attendees is limited on both.
Any Hidden Costs?
I’m pleased to report that Kartra does not impose additional transaction fees on sales you make. You’ll only pay what your chosen payment gateway charges (in most cases, Stripe or PayPal).
And I’ve searched high and low and not found any sneaky add-on costs, either.
The platform is even HIPAA compliant. In contrast, similar platforms charge a hefty fee for this.
So, this section gets a big thumbs up from me because I hate encountering hidden costs!
7 Kartra Tools I Would Use for My Business
1. Membership Site Builder
I find that many course builders follow a very similar template, which gives you hardly any wiggle room to build something that looks unique.
Kartra is a lot better in this respect. Its course-building tool works like a simplified page builder. So, you get page elements that you can drag and drop and then edit directly on the screen.
Then, you add in a bunch of promotional stuff, too, like products, featured posts, and even checkouts.
This gives you much more flexibility when creating a membership site with many different elements in one place. And you have more control over the overall design, which I really like.
To add to the flexibility, you can build full membership sites incorporating multiple courses and digital products. It’s also possible to set up a single-entry portal for everything a customer has purchased from you.
2. Webinars
You may or may not know that Kartra is also responsible for WebinarJam—one of the most popular standalone platforms for running webinars.
Naturally, it has utilized this technology within Kartra to bring you a great feature for running live sessions.
That means you can do more with it than you can with similar platforms. For example, you can run in-webinar polls, quizzes, and surveys and invite audience participation. There’s also a built-in whiteboard functionality.
And—the best part—you can even display offers on screen and prompt your attendees to make a purchase there and then.
I’m also a fan of the “instant live” capability. You can always have a live room available, ready for you to jump into a session whenever you need to.
The only caveat is that webinars are unavailable on the Starter plan, and attendees are limited (300 on Growth and 1,000 on Professional).
3. Booking and Scheduling
The fewer integrations I have to use, the better, I say.
It’s a pain using one platform to set up all my live events and then using another platform to schedule them.
Kartra’s built-in calendar app solves this problem and lets you set up calendars for specific purposes. For instance, it has calendars for consultants, gyms, live sessions, and recurrent meetings.
You get a lot of functionality, too. One thing I love is the ability to take payments for bookings upfront. This gets people to commit properly and drastically reduces the likelihood of no-shows.
The calendar page itself can be customized to your branding. And, of course, you can set your availability and even determine if people should book in advance.
Overall, it’s a super useful feature for anyone wanting to run scheduled events online.
4. Customer Support System
Another incredibly useful feature is the ability to set up a helpdesk and live chat widget to support your customers.
Giving customers an easy way to get hold of you is crucial for maintaining their business and keeping them happy. Ultimately, it does your bottom line a lot of favors!
The email ticketing service allows customers to email in, and you can answer directly within Kartra via the conversation feeds.
The billing support portal is encrypted, so you don’t have to worry about security issues. Plus, you can set reminders for tasks you must perform (like follow-ups) so you don’t forget anything.
Live chat provides a floating bubble that users can click to get the help they need. If you don’t want to provide live chat, you can set up a wiki full of step-by-step guides and other helpful resources.
5. Workflow Builder
I’m not going to lie; the workflow builder (or “sequences,” as Kartra likes to call it) takes some getting used to, but once you do, it’s pretty fun.
It’s also great for the folks out there who like to plan things out in a visual format. It uses lots of color and clear icons so you can properly see what’s going on. I especially like that you can arrange the icons in a way that makes sense to you.
Functionality-wise, you can add automation, emails, SMS messages, wait steps, branching, and so on. It’s pretty comprehensive and lets you create sophisticated workflows that remove the need for manual intervention.
6. SMS Marketing
While all marketing platforms offer email, very few include SMS. I don’t understand why not—it’s a brilliant feature!
Why? Because the open and response rates of SMS are way higher than they are for email. People actually read them, unlike email, which is usually just ignored (guilty as charged!).
It’s important to realize that Kartra itself is not a phone service provider. So, to use SMS marketing, you have to set up an account with Twilio and then integrate it with your Kartra account.
Once you’ve done this, you can set up SMS marketing campaigns and send them to your contacts.
Additionally, you can mix it up a bit and create a multi-channel campaign that incorporates both email and SMS.
7. Funnel Simulator
Okay, so this one is really cool! And it can potentially save you a huge chunk of change.
After creating a funnel, you can run it through the simulator to give you a prediction of how effective it’s likely to be.
All you do is plug in the numbers (visitor numbers, cost per click, etc.), and it’ll give you an overview of your potential ROI, cost per visitor or lead, and other indicators.
You can use this information to tweak and improve your funnel before you launch it and spend money on advertising.
Only drawback? You’ll need the Growth plan or higher to access it.
4 Things About Kartra That Frustrate Me
1. The Platform Is Buggy
Even though Kartra comes with some amazing features, it also provides a healthy dose of frustration.
One problem I frequently encounter is pages or pop-up windows failing to load. Usually, my only option is to exit the feature and re-enter it again. Even then, it doesn’t always work.
Get used to the three spinning cogs—you’ll see them all the time! Pages take forever to load.
This ongoing problem hasn’t been solved for at least two years. Yes, the developers update the platform, so don’t worry about that. However, they don’t seem to be concerned about ironing out these annoying kinks.
2. Tedious Navigation
I’ll admit that the Kartra’s navigation experience has improved recently, but it’s still tedious.
When setting things up, you are taken through a clunky progression process where every step has to be fulfilled before you move on.
Often, the progression button will be grayed out, preventing you from clicking it, and there will be no explanation about what you do to rectify it.
Also, you often can’t do something unless you go back and do something else first.
Be prepared to do a lot of clicking. Like, a lot.
The amount of progression steps, tabs, sub-folders, and so on is quite frankly ridiculous.
Once you get used to it, I guess you don’t notice it as much. But there are platforms out there with way better user interfaces (Kajabi, LearnWorlds, etc.).
3. Outdated Templates
I suppose it’s a matter of taste, but I don’t find Kartra’s page templates particularly inspiring.
On the plus side, it looks like new ones have been introduced, but don’t expect them to blow your mind.
Many of them are essentially the same template with a few minor tweaks added for variety.
If you want better templates, an in-platform marketplace offers creations from third-party providers. Have your wallet handy, though, because a decent template will set you back a few hundred.
4. No Pipeline Management Tools
I find it surprising that a sales and marketing platform doesn’t have a proper pipeline management tool.
Sure, you get analytics and such, but you can’t define pipeline steps through which to move your leads.
When you’re running multiple campaigns, I feel this is really important because it allows you to tell at a glance how healthy each pipeline is and which ones need extra nurturing.
Bottom Line: Should You Invest in Kartra?
Every platform has its flaws, and Kartra is no exception. However, if you’re willing to overlook them and bear with the clunky user experience, it’s actually a solid platform with some surprisingly ace features.
Like I said, it’s not especially beginner-friendly. So, if that sounds like you, I think a platform like Kajabi will suit you better.
Overall, I do think it gives you value for money, and importantly, it’s a platform that will let you scale without outgrowing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kartra Beginner Friendly?
Kartra is not particularly beginner-friendly. It has complex features, and the user experience is not especially intuitive. It’s a better option for experienced marketers and digital product creators who want a comprehensive platform to scale their business.
Can I Use Kartra to Sell Physical Products?
Yes, you can use Kartra to sell physical products. However, it lacks e-commerce tools that high-volume physical product sellers need. Overall, Kartra is adequate for low volumes of physical products or single items.
Can I Use Kartra for Free?
Kartra does not have a free plan and typically charges $1 for its 14-day trial. You can sometimes find extended free trials available—check this page to see if one is available.
