I get this question at least once a week. “Melinda, everyone says I should be on Kajabi. Is it worth it?”

My honest answer: it depends on what kind of coach you are. And most coaches asking this question are NOT the kind of coach Kajabi was built for.

Let me explain.

What are Kajabi’s strengths for coaches?

I believe in being honest about what works, even when it’s a competitor. Kajabi’s marketing infrastructure is genuinely strong. Landing page builder, email sequencing, funnel tools — if you’re running a launch-based business (webinar → email sequence → course sale → upsell), Kajabi handles that workflow end to end.

The design is polished. The community product is real — threaded discussions, member profiles, pinned content. And on the Growth plan ($199/month annual), Kajabi now includes cohort course features.

Where does Kajabi fall short for coaching businesses?

But here’s where I need to be direct with you — and I say this from more than two decades of watching coaches choose technology.

Cohort features are gated. Kajabi does offer cohort courses, but only on the Growth plan ($199/month annual) and above. On the Basic plan ($143/month), you don’t get them. And the specifics of what Kajabi’s cohort support includes — course duplication, enrollment windows, simultaneous cohorts — aren’t as well-documented as dedicated learning platforms.

Discussion lives in a separate space. Kajabi’s community features are solid, but the discussions happen in a separate Community product — not threaded into each lesson. For coaching programs where reflection and accountability are tied to specific content, that separation creates friction. Students discuss in one place and learn in another.

No native Zoom integration. Zoom connection is available through Zapier, but it’s not the in-course integration where call links and recordings appear alongside the lesson content. This matters when you’re running weekly group coaching calls.

The pricing math. A coaching group of 15 people paying $500 each generates $7,500/launch. On Kajabi’s Basic plan ($143/month), you’re paying $1,716/year — 23% of one launch’s revenue going to your platform. To get cohort features, you need Growth at $199/month ($2,388/year).

The same program on Ruzuku ($83/month, zero transaction fees, cohort scheduling on all plans) costs $996/year. See the full Kajabi pricing analysis for 2026.

The complexity tax. In The Professional Coach, I write about the difference between operating as a hobbyist, an amateur, and a professional. One hallmark of the amateur stage is having powerful tools you never fully learn to use. Kajabi can do a lot — but that means there’s a lot to learn. I regularly hear from coaches who signed up, spent weeks trying to set up funnels, and still hadn’t launched their course.

Analysis paralysis kicked in. Then perfectionism took root. If you’ve experienced that, you’re not alone.

Kajabi’s Trustpilot reviews (3.5/5 across 2,300+ reviews) reflect this tension. The pattern: coaches expected simplicity and found a system that required significant setup time. Here are the best Kajabi alternatives for coaching businesses.

When is Kajabi worth the price for coaches?

• You sell primarily self-paced video courses (not live coaching programs)
• You have a large email list (5,000+) and run launch-based marketing
• You need landing pages, funnels, and email in one tool
• You’re on the Growth plan and using the cohort features
• Your revenue per launch justifies the $199-249/month

When is Kajabi NOT worth it?

• Your groups are 10-30 people (not thousands)
• You need cohort tools but can’t justify the Growth plan
• You want to launch quickly — “getting paid to create,” as I call it
• You’re paying for marketing features you don’t use

What’s a better alternative to Kajabi for coaches?

Most coaches think their options are: (a) an all-in-one like Kajabi, or (b) cobbling together five different tools with spitballs and duct tape. Neither is true.

The third option: use your coaching CRM (coaching business management tools) for business operations and a learning-focused course platform for program delivery.

This approach costs less than Kajabi’s Growth plan. Your clients get per-lesson discussion, cohort scheduling on every plan, and native Zoom integration — not a separate community feed.

Ruzuku’s data shows that cohort coaching programs with structured discussion achieve 64.2% completion (Ruzuku Course Success Index). For coaches, completion drives the outcomes that drive referrals.

I built The Coaches Console because I believe coaches deserve technology that works FOR them. The same principle applies to your course platform.

Try a course platform built for coaching — free and see the difference.

Melinda Cohan is the co-founder of The Coaches Console and author of The Confident Coach, The Professional Coach, and Sustainable Success. Since 2004, she’s helped 50,000+ coaches build businesses they love — without burning out. She believes business is a spiritual playground and that behind-the-scenes systems are what give coaches the confidence to shine. Hear her discuss the elements every coaching program needs on the Course Lab podcast.