Thinkific vs Teachable vs Kajabi: Best Online Education Platform for Coaches & Tutors
As a life coach, business coach, tutor, or online instructor, the platform you use to deliver your expertise directly impacts your profit and client satisfaction. Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi are top contenders, but their pricing models and features vary greatly. Choosing wisely can save or cost you thousands of dollars annually as your coaching practice or online education business grows.
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The Quick Answer
Choose Thinkific if you want zero transaction fees and a clean program delivery system for your coaching modules or online lessons, without Kajabi's higher monthly cost. Choose Teachable if you want the fastest setup for your first mini-course or group coaching series, even if you pay small transaction fees at the start. Choose Kajabi if you want an all-in-one platform for your entire coaching business — self-paced programs, email sequences for client onboarding, private community, and sales funnels for high-ticket offers. Be ready for the higher investment.
Side-by-Side Breakdown
Thinkific: costs $0-$199/month. It has 0% transaction fees on all plans, meaning if you sell a $500 coaching program to 10 clients, you keep the full $5000. It offers a strong builder for structured online courses or group coaching modules. You'll need separate tools for email, like ConvertKit, for client communication and newsletters.
Teachable: costs $0-$299/month. The free plan has a 5% transaction fee; paid plans have 0%. If you sell a $97 mini-course, the free plan takes $4.85 per sale. It offers an excellent sales page builder to market your signature coaching program or workshop. It also provides good dashboards for tracking client enrollments and engagement in your lessons.
Kajabi: costs $69-$399/month. It has 0% transaction fees. This is your complete business hub: host your online courses, run email marketing for client follow-ups, build sales funnels for your high-ticket coaching packages, create private client communities, and even host your main website and podcast for thought leadership.
When to Choose Thinkific
You're launching your first signature coaching program or self-paced course and want to keep costs low and predictable. No transaction fees means you keep all revenue from your $99-to-$1997 programs. You already use a separate email tool like MailerLite or ActiveCampaign for client leads and newsletters. You want a sleek, professional learning environment for your clients, whether it's for skills training or personal development modules. You plan to add more coaching tiers or online workshops as your business grows.
When to Choose Teachable
You need the quickest way to get your first paid masterclass or tutoring session series online. Teachable's setup for uploading videos and PDFs for your lessons is extremely user-friendly. You need to create compelling sales pages for your coaching packages or online workshops without hiring a web designer. You are okay with the free plan's 5% transaction fee initially, planning to upgrade once your $150-session or $500-program gains traction, turning that 5% fee into a 0% fee on paid plans.
When to Choose Kajabi
You are building a comprehensive coaching empire, not just a standalone online course. You need to manage your entire client journey: from lead generation through custom landing pages, automated email sequences for client onboarding, delivering your high-value programs, and fostering a private community for your mastermind clients. All this without juggling separate tools for your website, email marketing, and payment processing. You're already generating consistent monthly revenue (e.g., $5,000-$10,000+) from your coaching and digital products, making the $149-$399/month investment worthwhile by replacing 3-5 other software subscriptions.
The Verdict
For coaches or tutors launching their first basic online program or self-paced lessons, Thinkific's free plan with no transaction fees offers the safest start. For those needing to quickly launch a professional-looking paid workshop or mini-course with strong sales pages, Teachable is ideal. For established coaches or educators ready to scale into a full-fledged knowledge business with automated client journeys, Kajabi's all-in-one system justifies its cost. But, do not commit to Kajabi's higher price tag until you've proven your coaching programs or online education products consistently sell.
How to Get Started
Thinkific: Sign up for Thinkific's free plan. Create your first coaching module or online lesson series. Connect your Stripe account to accept payments. You can start enrolling clients before needing to upgrade.
Teachable: Use the free plan to build your initial online workshop or tutoring content. Once you start getting client enrollments, upgrade to a paid plan (like Basic for $59/month) to remove the transaction fees and keep more of your earnings.
Kajabi: Begin with a 14-day free trial. Explore a 'pipeline' template to build your sales funnel for a high-ticket coaching offer. Connect your existing email list to start marketing your premium programs right away.
RECOMMENDED TOOLS
Thinkific
Launch your first course free — 0% transaction fees
Kajabi
All-in-one creator platform
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I migrate courses between platforms?
Video content can be re-uploaded, but student enrollment records, progress data, and completion certificates do not transfer cleanly. Migrating 100+ students is a manual process. Choose carefully before you have a large student base.
Does Kajabi replace ConvertKit?
Kajabi's email is capable for most creators, but ConvertKit has stronger automation tagging, deliverability, and creator-specific features. Some creators use both — Kajabi for courses, ConvertKit for email — though that adds cost.
What transaction fees does Teachable charge?
On the free plan, Teachable takes 10% plus payment processor fees. On the Basic plan ($59/month) the fee drops to 5%. On Professional ($159/month) and above, there are no transaction fees.