systeme.io vs Kajabi: course prices, limits and fees

systeme.io vs Kajabi for a course creator

For a first-time course creator, systeme.io has the lower entry price: Startup is $17 a month, billed monthly, against $179 a month, billed monthly, for Kajabi Basic, as read on October 6, 2026. Kajabi's pricing page lists no free plan, while the systeme.io Free plan, which its pricing page says never expires and does not require a credit card, holds 1 course and 2,000 contacts.

Prices on the same billing basis

Monthly billing is the like-for-like comparison: Startup at $17 a month against Basic at $179 a month, and Webinar at $47 a month against Growth at $249 a month, all billed monthly. Kajabi prints its annual prices as a per-month rate, while systeme.io prints a yearly amount, so this page sets only monthly prices side by side.

Every Kajabi price here comes from Kajabi's own pricing page, because the systeme.io compare page quotes Kajabi prices that differ from it.

Courses, products and contacts

The systeme.io plans count courses: 1 on Free, 5 on Startup, 20 on Webinar and Unlimited on the Unlimited plan. Students are unlimited on the three paid plans and 500 on Free, per the plan card. Contacts are 2,000 on Free, 5,000 on Startup and 10,000 on Webinar.

Kajabi counts products instead: Basic has 5 products, 2,500 contacts, 1 website, 1 community and 2 admin users, and Growth has 50 products and 25,000 contacts.

Payment fees on course sales

A transaction fee is the platform's own cut of a sale, and card processing is what Stripe or PayPal charge. On systeme.io the transaction fee is 0% on every plan, and card processing is extra. Kajabi says it takes no revenue share, and its Kajabi Payments card rate is 2.9% plus $0.30 on Basic, shown for US entities only.

Refunds differ: Kajabi gives a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan, while the systeme.io terms say subscription plans are not refundable. The Free plan has one more limit for a course seller: the terms cap free accounts at $10,000 in lifetime sales, after which new sales stop until you upgrade.

Moving a Kajabi course to systeme.io

The systeme.io migration page names Kajabi among the platforms its team moves by hand. Free migration is included with the Unlimited plan on monthly billing ($97 a month) or any annual plan, so Startup or Webinar billed monthly does not qualify, and the help center puts the average move at 17 days in a manual queue. You do not need to cancel Kajabi first, and you get a time estimate before work begins.

Who should pick Kajabi and who should pick systeme.io

Pick systeme.io when a first-time course creator wants to start on a free plan: 1 course at $0, then Startup at $17 a month, billed monthly, for 5 courses and 5,000 contacts. Pick Kajabi for a course business that wants a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan; its Growth plan, $249 a month billed monthly, holds 50 products.

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