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The best Kajabi alternative in 2026
Kajabi is the polished pick for course businesses that are already making money - and Kajabi Basic is $179/mo, or $143/mo billed annually, for 5 products and 2,500 contacts. That bill is why most people start this search: a creator in month one is paying more for the platform than the course earns. The three alternatives below cover the same job - courses, payments and the marketing around them - starting at $0/mo, and every number is read from the vendors' own pricing pages.
Prices last re-checked 2026-10-05. Numbers are read from each vendor's own pricing page; any exception is flagged under "What to watch".
Which one should you pick?
- Pick Systeme.io if you need the best Kajabi alternative for course creators on a small budget. Visit Systeme.io
- Pick GoHighLevel if you need the best Kajabi alternative that keeps the CRM and the courses on one bill. Visit GoHighLevel
- Pick ClickFunnels if you need the best Kajabi alternative for funnel-first sellers. Visit ClickFunnels
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The short answer
Short answer: Best Kajabi alternative for course creators on a small budget: Systeme.io Systeme.io is the budget pick - Systeme.io Free is $0/mo for 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course and unlimited emails, so a real course can sell from day one.
| Tool | Entry price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course, unlimited emails. Never expires, no credit |
| Startup | $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually | 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 5 courses |
| Webinar | $47/mo, or $39/mo billed annually | 10,000 contacts, 50 funnels, 20 courses, evergreen webinars |
| Unlimited | $97/mo, or $80/mo billed annually | Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses, and automation rules |
Prices checked 2026-10-05.
Best Kajabi alternative for course creators on a small budget: Systeme.io
Systeme.io is the budget pick - Systeme.io Free is $0/mo for 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course and unlimited emails, so a real course can sell from day one. The first paid step is Systeme.io Startup at $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually, for 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels and 5 courses. The trade-off: it is a funnel-and-course platform with email built in, and the course builder and community tools are basic next to Kajabi's, with simpler design options.
See Systeme.io pricingBest Kajabi alternative that keeps the CRM and the courses on one bill: GoHighLevel
GoHighLevel is the one-bill pick - GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users, and the courses, memberships and communities are bundled into every plan rather than sold separately. The trade-off: it is built for agencies and client work, so a solo course creator carries more machinery than Kajabi ever asked for.
See GoHighLevel pricingBest Kajabi alternative for funnel-first sellers: ClickFunnels
ClickFunnels is the funnel pick - ClickFunnels Launch is $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually, for 10K contacts, 50K emails a month, 3 courses and 5 custom domains, with the biggest funnel template ecosystem on this page. The trade-off: at $97/mo it ties GoHighLevel Starter as the dearest way to start here, and the contact and send caps are the real cost - Scale at $197/mo, or $164/mo billed annually, is where the caps start to open.
See ClickFunnels pricingThe prices, plan by plan
Systeme.io
Systeme.io is free up to 2,000 contacts, then $17/mo Startup, $47/mo Webinar and $97/mo Unlimited on monthly billing. Annual billing gives you two months free. Every plan includes unlimited email sends, unlimited sub-accounts, and 0% transaction fees. The free plan never expires and does not require a credit card.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/mo (no annual discount published) | 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course, unlimited emails. Never expires, no credit card. |
| Startup | $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually | 5,000 contacts, 10 funnels, 5 courses |
| Webinar | $47/mo, or $39/mo billed annually | 10,000 contacts, 50 funnels, 20 courses, evergreen webinars |
| Unlimited | $97/mo, or $80/mo billed annually | Unlimited contacts, funnels, courses, and automation rules |
What to watch: Monthly rates $17, $47, and $97 were read on systeme.io/pricing on 2026-10-13, in the page's own FAQ. That FAQ prints Webinar as 50 funnels and 20 courses, Unlimited as unlimited courses and automation rules, and every plan as unlimited email sends, unlimited sub-accounts, and 0% transaction fees. The free plan never expires and does not require a credit card. The same FAQ lists extra free-plan caps of 1 blog, 1 affiliate program, 1 custom domain, 1 automation rule, 1 email campaign, and 500 students. The pricing page prints Annual billing and 2 months free. The page HTML does not print the annual dollar amounts. Those dollars stay the 2026-10-05 reading from systeme.io's own affiliate page.
Source: https://systeme.io/pricing, read 2026-10-05.
See Systeme.io pricingGoHighLevel
GoHighLevel is $97/mo Starter, $297/mo Unlimited and $497/mo Agency Pro, or $970 / $2,970 / $4,970 billed yearly. Every plan includes unlimited contacts and unlimited users. The cards say 14 days free. Billing starts on its own unless you cancel, and phone, text, email, and AI fees can apply during the trial.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $97/mo | 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts, unlimited users, all core features |
| Unlimited | $297/mo | Unlimited sub-accounts, rebill phone & email at no markup, basic API |
| Agency Pro | $497/mo | SaaS mode, automated sub-account creation, rebill with markup, advanced API |
| Enterprise | custom quote | Custom quote |
What to watch: Every plan price, annual total and add-on price on this page was read from gohighlevel.com/pricing itself. GoHighLevel does not publish a free plan. On 2026-10-11 the plan cards said 14 days free, and the page's own disclaimer said billing starts automatically unless you cancel, and phone, text, email, and AI usage fees can apply during the trial. Add-ons are extra. Some are billed per sub-account, some are a flat monthly fee, and WordPress hosting is per site. The same page also lists the certification program at $97 a month, online listings at $30 a month per sub-account, the premium prospecting tool at $29 a month per sub-account, and WordPress hosting from $10 a month per site. On 2026-10-12 the Unlimited card carried GoHighLevel's own Most Popular badge. This page does not treat that badge as a count of customers.
Source: https://www.gohighlevel.com/pricing, read 2026-10-19.
See GoHighLevel pricingClickFunnels
ClickFunnels 2.0 is $97/mo Launch, $197/mo Scale and $297/mo Optimize, or $81 / $164 / $248 per month billed annually. Dominate is $5,997/year, annual only. Each plan button says Start Free Trial. The page description says that trial is 14 days. The FAQ markup says that 14-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee is 44 days. The FAQ you can read on the page only mentions the 30-day money-back and does not say how long the trial is.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually | 1 workspace, 2 team members, 10K contacts, 50K emails/mo, 3 courses, 5 custom domains, 1,000,000 AI words/mo |
| Scale | $197/mo, or $164/mo billed annually | 5 workspaces, 5 team members, 75K contacts, 300K emails/mo, 6 courses, unlimited domains, 2,000,000 AI words/mo, 5 calendars |
| Optimize | $297/mo, or $248/mo billed annually | 10 workspaces, 10 team members, 150K contacts, 750K emails/mo, 10 courses, 5,000,000 AI words/mo, 10 calendars |
| Dominate | custom quote | 20 workspaces, 20 team members, 400K contacts, 1.2M emails/mo, 20 courses, 10,000,000 AI words/mo, 20 calendars, VIP support. Annual only. |
What to watch: Every plan price, annual rate and contact/email limit on this page was read from clickfunnels.com/pricing itself. Dominate is annual-only and is not sold month to month. On 2026-10-11 the same cards still showed those prices, and every plan card labeled Unlimited Funnels as Limited Time. The feature table still listed Funnels as Unlimited. The contact and email caps were not marked temporary. On that same read, every plan button said Start Free Trial. The page description said the trial is 14 days. The FAQ markup said that 14-day trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee is 44 days. The FAQ you can read on the page only mentions the 30-day money-back and does not say how long the trial is. On that same read, the Scale card carried ClickFunnels' own Most Popular badge. This page does not treat that badge as a count of customers. On 2026-10-11, one Start Free Trial button on the Launch card opened clickfunnels.com/launch-annual-step-1-7dt, titled Step 1 Create Account. The heading was Start Your Free Trial Today, and the form said Create Your Account: Step 1 of 2. That screen showed Full Name and Email Address, and a Continue button. It did not show a card number, expiry, or CVC field. Step 2 was not opened, so this page does not say whether a card comes later, and it does not say the other plans open the same screen. On 2026-10-12 the comparison table listed AI Tools (Words) as 1,000,000 on Launch, 2,000,000 on Scale, 5,000,000 on Optimize, and 10,000,000 on Dominate, and the plan cards printed those same caps as 1M, 2M, 5M, and 10M words. That table listed Calendars as a dash on Launch, then 5 on Scale, 10 on Optimize, and 20 on Dominate. Dominate's card lists 20 courses.
Source: https://www.clickfunnels.com/pricing, read 2026-10-19.
See ClickFunnels pricingQuestions people ask
What is the cheapest option here?
Systeme.io is the cheapest option here to start - Systeme.io Free is $0/mo for 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course and unlimited emails. GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, and ClickFunnels Launch is $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually.
Do any of these have a free plan?
One does - Systeme.io Free at $0/mo for 2,000 contacts and unlimited emails. GoHighLevel and ClickFunnels are paid only: GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo, and ClickFunnels Launch is $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually.
What will the first paid month cost?
Systeme.io Startup is $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually, for 5,000 contacts and 10 funnels - the cheapest first paid step here. GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, and ClickFunnels Launch is $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually, for 10K contacts.
Which one is closest to Kajabi as an all-in-one?
GoHighLevel is the closest all-in-one - GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo for 3 sub-accounts, unlimited contacts and unlimited users, with courses and memberships bundled into every plan. Systeme.io covers funnels, email and courses from $0/mo on the Free plan, which is most of what a course creator actually uses.
Which one gives a course creator the most room to grow for free?
Systeme.io Free is $0/mo for 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels and 1 course - the only free plan here. Neither GoHighLevel nor ClickFunnels has one: GoHighLevel Starter is $97/mo, and ClickFunnels Launch is $97/mo, or $81/mo billed annually.
When does a course creator outgrow the free plan?
When the contact count passes the ceiling - Systeme.io Free holds 2,000 contacts and 1 course, and the paid step up is Systeme.io Startup at $17/mo, or $14/mo billed annually, for 5,000 contacts and 10 funnels. The all-in-one step up is GoHighLevel Starter at $97/mo with unlimited contacts.
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