Today we are going to review Kartra vs. Kajabi.
Ever find yourself caught between Kartra and Kajabi?
Both are all-in-one online selling platforms.
But here’s the thing – they cater to very different audiences.
I have used both of these tools for the last three years, closely watching the evolution of these tools, especially in terms of marketing automation.
Let’s get started with the Kartra vs. Kajabi review.
| Features | Kartra | Kajabi |
| Transaction fee 💸 | 0% | 0% |
| Pricing starts at 💰 | $119/mo | $149/mo |
| Has a built-in community? 👨👩👧👧 | No | Yes (with gamification) |
| Mobile app 📱 | No | Has both iOS and Android apps |
| Is it truly white-labeled? | Yes (geared towards agencies) | No |
Quick decision
👍 What do I like about Kartra over Kajabi?
- Pre-built campaign assets: Ready-to-use templates for pages, funnels, and automations that save time in setup.
- Behavioral Adaptive Marketing (BAM): Dynamically changes landing page content based on user behavior for a personalized experience.
- Split testing capabilities: Test up to 4 variations of pages and emails, including both subject lines and content.
- Flexible checkout options: Includes hosted checkouts, pop-ups, and embed functionality for versatile selling.
- Agency features: Manage multiple client accounts from a single dashboard in higher plans.
👍 What do I like about Kajabi over Kartra?
- Advanced course features: Offers sophisticated LMS features, including student analytics, retention graphs, and coaching portals.
- Feature-rich community platform: Includes gamification, accountability, and meetup functionality.
- Modern interface: Clean, intuitive design with faster loading times and better organization.
- Mobile apps: Available for both iOS and Android platforms.
- Live-streaming: Native live streaming capabilities for webinars and coaching sessions.
- Rapid feature updates: Consistently introduces innovative features to enhance platform capabilities.Changes made:
Similarities
Both of these platforms share several key features after Kartra’s 7.0 update:
- They both have powerful automation engines with advanced behavioral triggers and conditions
- Their landing page builders are feature-rich, though Kajabi’s is more modern and faster
- Both platforms offer comprehensive email marketing with broadcasts and sequences, though Kartra’s split-testing capabilities are more advanced
Upfront bottomline ⚡️
In conclusion, both Kajabi and Kartra offer unique strengths.
Kartra is for you if you want robust automation that’s affordable.
Kajabi is for course creators and coaches who prioritize student experience.
Kajabi is for community builders who want engaged members.
But here’s the bottomline:
Kajabi remains a more established platform.
It offers advanced LMS features, a powerful website builder, and impressive gamified community features. Their modern UI and swift page loading performance really set them apart.
On the other hand, Kartra has made significant improvements with its 7.0 update, introducing a cleaner interface and better organization.
While it may not match Kajabi’s course features, it excels in marketing automation, especially with its Behavioral Adaptive Marketing (BAM) and comprehensive split testing capabilities.
It’s particularly suited for marketers and businesses focused on funnel building and automation. Think of it as a more robust ClickFunnels alternative with additional features like built-in helpdesk and calendar booking.
🥇 I typically recommend Kajabi for most users. Because of its depth of features, centeredness, superior user experience, and premium feel. It has a lot to offer.
Overview
Kartra and Kajabi are both all-in-one digital selling platforms that come with various features like email marketing, automation, course creation, and the ability to create membership sites, among others.
However they started out differently.
Kartra was established in 2018 by Mike Filsaime and Andy Jenkins. They created this platform with a sole focus on building landing pages, sales funnels, and managing your online businesses, along with a membership building feature.
On the other hand, Kajabi is an older platform, founded in 2010 by Kenny Rueter, with a sole focus on selling online courses.
Later, he expanded to include memberships, communities, podcasts, and other features.
Kajabi’s popularity shot up in May 2021 when it raised $550 million in funding with a $2 billion valuation.
On the other hand, Kartra capitalized on the trending subscription membership creation market (back at that time). 📈
However, it’s important to note that the development speed of Kartra has significantly slowed down in comparison to Kajabi, which is rolling out many features.
User interface
Now, let me review what the interface of each of these tools feels like.
When it comes to Kartra, the user interface is pretty decent, but it’s not a joy to use.
Its tools are accessible in its right sidebar.
Kartra conventionally had a pretty bad rap for its clunky user interface.
But now after the recent update, the navigation is much more streamlined and organized.
But.
Here’s the thing
👉 Pages load slowly, often taking 5-8 seconds to proceed when configuring products or memberships, I suppose underlying codebase is clunky 🤔 (I’m saying this seeing the source code of websites built on Kartra)!
On the other hand, Kajabi’s interface is very neat and minimal.
It does not cause cognitive overload when first trying out the platform.
You can access all its features within three clicks.
Also, Kajabi is very easy to use and is swift.
It feels that the product interface and organizational structure were designed with scalability in mind.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi’s interface is very neat, minimal, and easy to get started. While Kartra has improved with its recent update, Kajabi’s clean, minimal design and swift performance make it significantly more user-friendly.
Online courses and memberships 📚
Content uploading and delivery
You can create and sell your courses and membership sites with both Kartra and Kajabi.
However, unlike Kajabi, Kartra doesn’t have any LMS features.
But you can still sell your courses by utilizing its membership feature.
You should upload all your videos in the video section.
And then when creating memberships, under “Content”, you need to load the “Builder” and then you can create your membership content using various building blocks.
Inside each of the membership pages, you need to create a post and then create membership content using the building blocks.
And then, use the membership feature to grant access to specific videos based on membership levels.
On the other hand, Kajabi has a dedicated course builder.
You can structure your lesson content using modules and submodules.
Your lesson can be a video lesson, audio lesson, or an assessment.
For every lesson, you can even upload your own downloads to include checklists, worksheets, or templates that people can download.
Added to this, Kajabi comes with some unique course creation features like:
- Assessments (includes multiple-choice questions and file uploads)
- Drip scheduling
- Certificates
- Etc.
🥇 Winner: Kajabi as it has a dedicated full-fledged course builder vs. Kartra, which is more of a membership site builder.
Frontend student experience
When you create your membership site in Kartra, you have various modules that you can drag and drop to the front-end interface.
It looks like a classic membership website.
And Kajabi:
There’s enough flexibility.
And also when it comes to lesson content you can see the interface is really polished and intuitive.
Students can go with full-screen mode (for maximum focus), control the video speed and quality, engage in discussions, etc.
The appearance of the course page on Kajabi varies depending on the theme you choose.
📊 When it comes to course analytics, Kajabi comes with per student course engagement reports and also video retention graphs. On the other hand, Kartra has some video-centric metrics like views, watch time, etc.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi is the clear winner for course creation and delivery. Its dedicated LMS features make it significantly more suitable for course creators compared to Kartra’s basic membership functionality.
Community
Kartra doesn’t come with a community feature,apart from the membership’s functionality.
You need to again make use ofspecialist community toolslikeCircle.soorMighty Networksto take your community engagement to the next level.
On the other hand, Kajabi has a community feature which was superpowered ever since their acquisition of Vibely.
Now, Kajabi’s Community feature is really comprehensive and easily matches up with even specialist platforms like Circle.so or Mighty Networks.
When you create a Community in Kajabi, your community members can access three different tabs called Feed, Challenges, and Meetups.
These features are really crafted to facilitate community engagement, accountability, and also networking with other community members.
It also comes with additional features like:
- Newsfeed, chats, and DMs
- Live video calls
- Accountability tools and progress tracking
- Challenges
- Resources
- Events and RSVPs
- Admins
- Member directory and leaderboard
- Etc
Also, they have gamification functionality, allowing you to assign various points and badges based on the behaviors of community members.
These gamification features integrate really well with Kajabi’s automation engine, so you can assign points for different tasks that people do inside your community.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi is the clear winner for community features. While Kartra lacks any built-in community functionality, Kajabi offers a comprehensive, gamified community platform with mobile apps, challenges, and engagement tools that rival specialized community platforms.
Design and customization
First, about Kartra.
Kartra doesn’t offer any themes to design your site. But it offers conversion-friendly page templates to design your site pages.
It has a dedicated drag-and-drop page builder to design your landing pages, opt-ins, upsell/downsell pages, checkout pages, and much more.
You can make the pages responsive for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
Also it gives you several templates to design various sections like hero sections, features, call to action, opt-in forms, pop-ups, testimonials, etc.
These block templates look very professional and save you a lot of time in designing them from scratch.
You can also add popups to the pages to increase conversions and collect more leads. There are two types of popups available; landing popups and exit popups.
You can choose to display the pop-ups either on every visit or on only the first visit.
Now, about Kajabi:
Kajabi offers a variety of (10+) themes for designing your website. It has a dedicated theme store where you can browse and choose from these themes.
It also provides a drag-and-drop website builder, allowing you to easily design pages for your site, store, sales/landing pages, funnel pages, blog pages, and more.
Kajabi’s page building functionality feels more refined and clutter-free. And although it’s quite limited compared to other specialist page builders like Elementor, But it’s enough for most people.
🏆 Winner: Both are a tie. Kajabi offers a cleaner interface and is fast loading, whereas Kartra comes with a lot of features but is quite cluttered and slow.
Email marketing and automation
Kartra has an email marketing tool called KartraMail that lets you create both broadcasts and sequences.
When creating a sequence, you first need to set a trigger.
This could be:
- An opt-in form submission
- A specific tag being added
- A list update
- A page visit (using Kartra’s site tracking)
Once triggered, you can perform various actions:
- Send emails or SMS
- Add/remove tags
- Subscribe/unsubscribe from lists
- Split users based on conditions
- Add wait times between actions
Unlike tools like ConvertKit, Kartra doesn’t have a single “Sequences” block where you create all emails at once. Instead, you add email blocks one by one on the canvas, which can get messy with longer sequences.
To solve this, Kartra offers a Subsequence feature. Instead of cramming all emails into one sequence, you can trigger smaller subsequences at specific points. This keeps your canvas organized and allows for more targeted email flows based on user behavior.
👉 When it comes to testing, Kartra supports split testing of both subject lines and email content. You can test up to 4 variations to optimize your email performance.
Now about Kajabi:
Kajabi’s email marketing is a powerful built-in feature that supports both broadcasts and sequences.
The platform comes with professionally designed email templates (but most of the times you use simple text template) and an intuitive drag-and-drop email composer that makes creating engaging emails a breeze.
What sets Kajabi’s email marketing apart is its deep integration with the automation engine. You can set up sophisticated workflows where email interactions trigger specific actions. For example:
- When someone opens a specific email, you can automatically grant them access to a bonus offer
- If someone clicks a link in your email sequence, you can register them for an upcoming event
- Based on email engagement, you can add or remove tags to segment your audience better
The email marketing feature seamlessly integrates with Kajabi’s funnel builder, allowing you to create comprehensive marketing campaigns. This integration eliminates the need for external email marketing tools like ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars monthly.
🏆 Winner: Kartra takes a slight edge in email marketing due to its advanced split testing capabilities, organized subsequence feature, and comprehensive automation options. While both platforms offer robust email tools, Kartra’s testing features give it the winning advantage for serious email marketers.
Sales funnels/campaigns 📶
Kartra calls its funnels as Campaigns, while Kajabi calls them as Funnels.
You can either create campaigns from scratch or use their pre-built ones, called Done For You campaigns, designed by top marketers.
These campaigns are deeply integrated with other Kartra tools like pages, memberships, videos, and emails. You can assemble all these assets into a campaign and load up the campaign builder.
👉 One standout feature in the new update is the improved visual workflow builder that makes it easier to see how different elements connect and interact with each other.
With Kartra’s recent update, their funnel building capabilities have significantly improved.
Here’s what’s new:
The funnel builder now offers a more intuitive visual interface with two powerful modes:
- Builder Mode: Where you visually construct your funnel by adding traffic sources, pages, and automation actions. The interface is cleaner and more organized than before.
- Simulation Mode: A standout feature that lets you analyze and simulate your funnel’s performance before going live.
The traffic component is particularly impressive.
You can now track and analyze different traffic sources separately to see which ones convert better.
For instance, if you’re driving traffic from both SEO and social media, Kartra helps you identify which source brings in more qualified leads.
One of the coolest features is the simulation analytics – it’s like having a crystal ball for your funnel! You can predict performance and spot potential bottlenecks before they become real problems.
Now, let’s discuss Kajabi:
You can use pre-made funnel blueprints to offer freebies, run Zoom webinars, launch products, and run coaching campaigns.
Also, they have a really intuitive funnel builder allowing you to set up funnel steps one at a time and also set triggers and actions for automations.
In the above example, I have shown a simple product launch funnel.
🏆 Kartra edges out as the winner in funnel building due to its advanced simulation analytics, traffic source tracking, and A/B testing capabilities. While Kajabi offers a cleaner interface and pre-made blueprints, Kartra’s robust testing and analysis features make it the superior choice for data-driven marketers.
Checkout pages
Kartra has both single and multi-step checkouts.
It provides plenty of checkout templates as well. You can also add alert bars (for scarcity marketing) and guarantee badges to increase conversions.
👉 The best thing about Kartra is it supports multiple checkout options including hosted, overlay pop-up, and embed functionality.
Also it supports – “Order bumps”.
And once the checkout is done, you can automate various actions like adding the customer to a list or tagging them without needing to use Zapier or other apps.
Now Kajabi:
But as you can see, you can customize the checkout as you wish using the page builder. You can add testimonials on the checkout pages to increase the conversions.
Also, Kajabi also supports bump offers and upsell functionalities.
In the recent update, Kajabi has announced the ability to add up to 10 upsells, which is a big upside.
🏆 Winner: Kartra wins in checkout functionality with its diverse templates, multiple checkout options (hosted, pop-up, embed), and seamless post-purchase automation. While Kajabi offers solid customization and upsell features, Kartra’s versatility makes it the superior choice for optimizing checkout conversions.
Payment processing
Kartra provides native integrations with Stripe, PayPal, Braintree, and Authorize.net.
That’s it.
On the other hand.
Kajabi supports Stripe and PayPal.
Along with these, depending on your locality, Kajabi also supports other payment processors like 2Checkout, BitPay, Authorize.net, and much more.
Also, Kajabi has recently introduced Kajabi Payments, which is a hosted payment solution that allows you to reduce tax compliance burdens and enable instant payout functionalities. But the downside is that it’s only available in the US, not globally.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi wins in payment processing with its wider range of payment gateways and the innovative Kajabi Payments solution for US users. While Kartra offers solid basic integrations, Kajabi’s versatility and compliance features give it the edge.
Affiliate marketing
Both Kartra and Kajabi have a built-in affiliate management system.
In Kartra, you can either set the commissions globally or set it product by product.
Also on Kartra, you can set multiple commission tiers, tag affiliates automatically, require a questionnaire, and include mandatory terms & conditions.
These features are not available on Kajabi.
In Kajabi, you can’t set the commission globally, it’s only set on per-product basis.
Overall, Kartra supports multiple commission tiers and offers more powerful affiliate features. You can add tags and lists for easier affiliate management.
🏆 Winner: Kartra is the clear winner in affiliate marketing capabilities. Its multi-tier commission structure, automated tagging, and comprehensive affiliate management tools make it superior to Kajabi’s more basic affiliate features.
Integrations
Kartra integrates well with most of the popular payment gateways, email marketing platforms, SMS gateways, membership platforms, etc.
However, Kartra’s integrations are quite limited and require technical know-how to set them up.
Also, there are also a lot of complaints regarding data inconsistency.
On the other hand, Kajabi also integrates well with the most popular platforms like Typeform, Survey Monkey, MailChimp, Drip, ConvertKit, Cloudflare, Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, etc.
Kajabi supports Zapier and Webhooks integration as well.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi wins in integrations with its extensive native connections and simpler setup process. While both platforms offer essential integrations, Kajabi’s user-friendly implementation and reliable data consistency make it the superior choice for seamless third-party connections.
Mobile app 📲
Kartra doesn’t come with mobile apps
However. Kajabi supports both iOS and Android apps.
With mobile apps in Kajabi, students can access their courses and communities, and complete assessments.
The best part is that you can send push notifications to keep users engaged.
With the Kajabi iOS app:
- Consume the courses.
- Take the assessments.
- Access the communities.
- You can send custom push notifications.
- It supports in-app purchases, increasing the conversions.
🏆 Winner: Kajabi is the clear winner in mobile accessibility. With its feature-rich iOS and Android apps supporting course consumption, assessments, communities, and push notifications, Kajabi offers superior on-the-go learning experience, while Kartra lacks any mobile app functionality.
Pricing 💰
Kartra is a premium platform with a starting price of $119/mo. This Starter plan supports only up to 2,500 Leads, but unlimited pages and memberships.
If you purchase annual plans, you can avail 22% discount.
Let’s see the pricing structure of Kajabi.
Kajabi is more expensive compared to Kartra. Its lowest pricing starts at $149 per month, and it only supports 3 products and 3 funnels. It’s almost like a decoy plan luring you to get the more expensive growth plan
Additionally, their “Basic” plan does not include advanced automation and affiliate program features.
To access these features, you need to choose the Growth plan at $199 per month.
Most people usually opt for the mid-tier growth plan for both products, as their basic plans have limitations on the number of contacts or products you can create.
🏆 Winner: Kartra wins in pricing with its more flexible Starter plan at $119/month offering unlimited products. While both platforms push users toward Growth plans, Kartra provides better value compared to Kajabi’s restrictive Basic plan at $149/month with just 3 products.
Support 👋
Both Kartra and Kajabi offer comprehensive support resources.
Kartra provides knowledge base articles, a YouTube channel, support tickets, and chat support.
Kajabi offers knowledge base articles, videos, webinars, priority support (higher plans), a Facebook group, and Kajabi University. Both platforms provide quick responses, but Kajabi’s lowest plan lacks priority support.
FAQs on Kartra vs Kajabi ❓
- What is the difference between Kajabi and Kartra? Kajabi is specifically designed for creating courses, while Kartra is a comprehensive marketing platform used for selling digital or physical products, membership, etc.
- What is the difference between ClickFunnels and Kajabi? ClickFunnels is a prominent platform for building sales funnels, aimed at boosting sales through complex funnels. In contrast, Kajabi is intended for creating and selling courses.
- Does Kartra support blogging? No, Kartra does not include a built-in blogging feature. However, Kajabi does provide this feature.
- Can I create funnels in Kajabi? Yes, Kajabi includes its own funnels known as “pipelines”. It offers several pipeline blueprints to help you get started.
Conclusion 🏆
Both Kajabi and Kartra are excellent tools for marketing-centric creators.
However, Kajabi is a more polished platform and also comes with more course creation and gamification-centric community features.
One thing to note is that while Kartra offers many marketing tools, it’s UX and speed requires improvement, although they did a recent UI overhaul.
If budget is a significant concern for you, then Kartra may be the right choice. Because even in its Starting plan at $99/month it doesn’t come with any restrictions on the number of products you can create.
However, if you prioritize a refined user experience, you might prefer Kajabi. But even at $149 per month you can create only up to 3 products and 3 funnels.
