Systeme.io vs Kajabi for Coaches: Which Is Better in 2026?

Systeme.io vs Kajabi for coaches comes down to price versus polish. One tool gives you a free plan and a complete funnel, email, and course setup for $17 a month. The other costs at least $143 a month and adds a more polished student experience, built-in communities, and a much larger set of limits. This comparison uses each company’s own pricing page, checked on September 28, 2026, so the numbers below are current.

Quick verdict

If you are launching your first program or earning under about $10,000 a month, start with Systeme.io. On annual billing, its $17 Startup plan costs $170 a year, against $1,716 a year for Kajabi Basic. If you already have a proven offer, a list of a few thousand people, and want communities, coaching tools, and a premium student experience in one place, Kajabi is worth the jump. Do not pay for Kajabi before the revenue justifies it.

Who Systeme.io is best for

Coaches launching a first paid program who want to test the offer before spending real money.
Coaches who want funnels, email marketing, courses, and an affiliate program on one flat subscription.
Solopreneurs with under 5,000 contacts who cannot yet justify Kajabi’s starting price.
Anyone who wants to start on a free plan that never expires and needs no credit card.
Coaches who care more about conversion tools than a highly polished course player.

Who Kajabi is best for

Coaches with an established client base who want a premium course and membership experience.
Coaches who run group programs and want a community inside the same platform as their courses.
Coaches whose revenue makes $143 to $499 a month a small line in the budget.
Teams that need several admin users: Kajabi includes 2 on Basic, 11 on Growth, and 26 on Pro.
Coaches who want AI tools inside the platform. Kajabi includes AI credits on Growth and Pro.

Systeme.io vs Kajabi: feature comparison

Feature	Systeme.io	Kajabi
Free plan	Yes, never expires, 2,000 contacts	No free plan. Free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee
Cheapest paid plan, monthly billing	Startup: $17/month	Basic: $179/month
Cheapest paid plan, annual billing	$170/year	$143/month, or $1,716/year
Contacts on the cheapest paid plan	5,000	2,500
Sales funnels	Free: 3. Startup and up: unlimited	Unlimited on every plan
Courses	Free: 1. Startup: 5. Higher plans: unlimited	Products: 5 on Basic, 50 on Growth, unlimited on Pro
Email sends	Unlimited on every plan	Unlimited marketing emails on every plan
Communities	Listed as a feature, check plan limits	1 on Basic and Growth, 3 on Pro
Platform transaction fees	0% on every plan	No revenue share. Card processing fees apply
Admin users	Assistant accounts available	2 on Basic, 11 on Growth, 26 on Pro
AI credits	Not listed on the pricing page	0 on Basic, 500 on Growth, 1,000 on Pro

Pricing breakdown

Systeme.io prices mostly by contact count. Every plan includes unlimited emails, unlimited file storage, unlimited students, no transaction fees, and your own affiliate program.

Free: $0, up to 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 blog, 1 course, 1 affiliate program, and 1 custom domain.
Startup: $17 a month, up to 5,000 contacts, unlimited funnels, and 5 courses.
Webinar: $47 a month, up to 10,000 contacts, unlimited everything, plus automated webinars.
Unlimited: $97 a month, unlimited contacts, and a free migration service.

Paying yearly gives you 2 months free on Systeme.io, so Startup is $170 a year.

Kajabi prices by plan tier, with a discount for annual billing.

Plan	Monthly billing	Annual billing	Products	Contacts	Admin users
Basic	$179/month	$143/month	5	2,500	2
Growth	$249/month	$199/month	50	25,000	11
Pro	$499/month	$399/month	Unlimited	100,000	26

Kajabi sells extra contacts in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month. Kajabi Basic does not include AI credits, and a branded mobile app is part of the Pro plan.

What a year actually costs

Here is the full 12-month cost of the plan most coaches would compare, before payment processing fees.

Plan	Billed monthly (12 months)	Billed annually
Systeme.io Startup	$204	$170
Kajabi Basic	$2,148	$1,716
Kajabi Growth	$2,988	$2,388
Kajabi Pro	$5,988	$4,788

On annual billing, Kajabi Basic costs $1,546 more per year than Systeme.io Startup. That gap buys you a more polished product and a stronger community toolset, but it is a real cost for a coach who has not yet sold a first cohort.

Payments and fees

Neither platform takes a cut of your revenue. That said, they do not handle fees the same way. Systeme.io charges 0% platform transaction fees on every plan, and you accept payments through Stripe or PayPal with those processors’ own fees.

Kajabi does not take a revenue share either, but it charges card processing fees. Kajabi Payments costs 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction on Basic, 2.8% on Growth, and 2.7% on Pro (US rates). If you use a third-party payment provider instead of Kajabi Payments, Kajabi adds a fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, and 0.5% on Pro. PayPal is excluded from that extra fee. Fees vary by country, so check yours before you commit.

Courses, coaching, and community

Both tools host online courses. Kajabi is stronger at presentation: its pricing page lists courses, communities, memberships, coaching, newsletters, podcasts, and a newer feature called Backstage, aimed at premium personalized coaching. Kajabi notes that Backstage limits and pricing are still to be determined, so do not build a plan around it yet.

Systeme.io covers the same ground with less design polish. Its feature list includes online courses, communities, and a booking calendar, and it includes unlimited students on every plan. For a coach who sells a course plus a few calls a month, that is usually enough. For a coach who runs a cohort with weekly live sessions and a busy community, Kajabi’s tools fit better.

Email, automation, and funnels

Email is where the two platforms look most alike. Both include unlimited email sends on every plan, and both let you build funnels and landing pages without a separate tool. The difference is limits. Systeme.io’s free plan caps you at 3 funnels and 1 course, and it lifts those caps on Startup. Kajabi has no free plan, but it does not cap funnels on any plan.

If your coaching business depends on a sales funnel with a lead magnet, an email sequence, and a checkout, Systeme.io covers it at a fraction of the price. Kajabi becomes the better choice once your contact list, your team, and your product count grow past what Systeme.io’s plans are built for.

Systeme.io pros and cons

Pros

A free plan that never expires, with 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, and 1 course.
Funnels, email, courses, and an affiliate program on one flat price.
0% platform transaction fees and unlimited students on every plan.
Free migration on the Unlimited plan.

Cons

The free plan limits you to 3 funnels and 1 course.
Design options are more limited than Kajabi’s.
Community and coaching tools are lighter than Kajabi’s.

Kajabi pros and cons

Pros

A more polished all-in-one product with communities, coaching, memberships, and podcasts.
Unlimited funnels, landing pages, and marketing emails on every plan.
No revenue share, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
More admin users and AI credits on higher plans.

Cons

No free plan. The cheapest option is $143 a month on annual billing.
The Basic plan caps you at 5 products and 2,500 contacts.
Card processing fees of 2.7% to 2.9% plus $0.30, and an extra 0.5% to 2% on third-party providers.
A branded mobile app is included only on the Pro plan.

How to choose in three questions

Have you sold this offer before? If not, the free or $17 plan protects your cash while you find out whether the offer sells. If yes, and you have paying clients, a higher monthly bill is easier to justify.
Do you need a community inside your course platform? If members must talk to each other every week, Kajabi’s community tools are built for that. If you mostly sell a course plus a few calls, Systeme.io is enough.
How big is your list? Under 2,000 contacts fits Systeme.io’s free plan. Between 2,000 and 5,000 fits its $17 plan. Past 2,500 contacts on Kajabi Basic, you either add contacts at $125 a month per 25,000 or move up to Growth.

A realistic starting setup on the free plan

A coach launching a first program can build the whole thing on Systeme.io’s free plan: one landing page that captures emails, one welcome email sequence, one sales funnel with a checkout, and one course for the paid program. That uses 1 of your 3 funnels and your 1 course. When you need a second course or more than 3 funnels, the Startup plan at $17 a month is the next step.

Switching later

You are not locked in either way, but moving costs time. Systeme.io offers a free migration service, which it lists as a perk of its Unlimited plan, so it can help you move in from another platform. Before you commit to either one, export your contact list as a CSV file and keep a backup of your course videos and files. That single habit makes any future move much cheaper.

Final recommendation

Pick Systeme.io if you are launching your first program, earning under about $10,000 a month, or want to test an offer without a monthly bill. The free plan can carry your first cohort, and the $17 Startup plan covers a complete funnel and email setup.

Pick Kajabi when you have a proven offer, recurring students, and want communities, coaching, and a premium student experience in one platform. Start on Basic at $143 a month on annual billing, and move to Growth at $199 a month only when you need more products, contacts, or admin users. Do not make that move before the revenue justifies it.

FAQ

Can I run a coaching program on Systeme.io’s free plan?

Yes. The free plan includes 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 blog, and 1 course, with unlimited emails and file storage. That is enough to launch and sell a first coaching offer before you pay anything.

Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?

Kajabi takes no revenue share, but it charges card processing fees. Kajabi Payments costs 2.9% plus $0.30 on Basic (US rates). A third-party payment provider adds a further fee of 2% on Basic. Check the fees for your country.

Does Kajabi have a free plan?

No. Kajabi offers a free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, but there is no permanent free plan. Systeme.io does have one.

Which platform is easier to switch away from later?

Systeme.io is the easier place to start, because you are not locked into a large monthly bill. Whichever you pick, keep a regular export of your contact list, so you can move it to another email tool if you need to.

Keep reading

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I genuinely believe in for solopreneurs.