Kajabi vs Thinkific for Personal Trainers (2026)

TL;DR

	Thinkific	Kajabi
Best for	Most trainers: start and grow affordably	Established businesses: consolidate and scale
Starting price	$54/mo ($40 annual)	$179/mo ($143 annual)
Transaction fees	None on paid plans	None
Course builder	More flexible, faster to build	Template-based, polished
Marketing & email	You add your own tools	Built-in automations & funnels
Mobile app	Grow plan only ($219/mo)	Every plan
Our verdict	Wins for most	Wins when you’re doing $3K+/mo

Verdict: Thinkific wins for most personal trainers. Build during the 30-day trial, then pay $54/month — a third of Kajabi’s entry price. Kajabi wins when you’re already earning serious revenue and tired of juggling five different tools; then the all-in-one price starts to save you money.

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Why This Comparison Matters

Kajabi and Thinkific show up in every “best LMS for coaches” list. They’re not interchangeable.

Thinkific is built for starting and growing without burning cash. A 30-day free trial (the free plan was retired in 2026), a $54/month entry price, and no transaction fees. You add email and funnels when you’re ready. It’s the platform we used to build a full 4-week program in under an hour in our best LMS for fitness coaches testing.

Kajabi is built for consolidating. One login. Courses, email, funnels, website, community, and (on some plans) podcast hosting. You pay more up front. In return you stop paying for Mailchimp, your funnel tool, and your site builder separately.

We tested both side by side: same 4-week program, same Stripe setup, same test students. What actually differed, and where the crossover point is for your business, is below.

How We Tested Both Platforms

We didn’t just compare feature lists. For each platform, we ran the same hands-on evaluation:

1. Created an account (30-day trials on both) and timed the onboarding flow
2. Built an identical 4-week fitness program with 16 video lessons, written workout instructions, and a weekly drip schedule
3. Configured Stripe payments for both a one-time purchase ($197) and a monthly subscription ($39/mo)
4. Enrolled 3 test students and evaluated the client-facing experience on desktop, tablet, and phone
5. Set up marketing tools: on Kajabi, we built a welcome email sequence and a simple pipeline. On Thinkific, we connected ConvertKit and built an equivalent flow
6. Timed everything: from account creation to “first student enrolled and paying”

The result: Thinkific got us to a live, selling program faster (47 minutes to first published lesson). Kajabi required more setup time upfront (about half a day for the full stack) but delivered a more complete marketing ecosystem once configured. Both platforms handled the actual course delivery well; the difference is in everything around the course.

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Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Course Builder

Winner: Thinkific

We built the same 4-week program on both. Thinkific took 47 minutes: drag sections, drop videos, set drip by week, done. No templates to fight. You get full control over order, content types (video, PDF, quiz, assignment), and how lessons release.

Kajabi’s builder is template-driven. It’s fast for a simple sequence, but for a 12-week program with multiple tracks (e.g. beginner vs advanced) or a hybrid with a workout library + live coaching, you hit limits. Less drag-and-drop, more “choose a template and fill it in.”

For drip-style fitness programs, Thinkific’s builder is the one we’d pick every time. See how it stacks up in our Thinkific vs Teachable comparison too.

Marketing & Email

Winner: Kajabi

Kajabi includes a real email marketing suite: automations, segments, tags, broadcasts, A/B tests. We set up a welcome sequence and a simple behavioral trigger in about 20 minutes. No second tool needed.

Thinkific can send basic student notifications (e.g. “you’re enrolled”). It does not do sequences, segments, or automations. You’ll use Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or similar. That’s another $0-$50+/month and the hassle of connecting two systems.

If email is core to how you fill programs and reduce churn, Kajabi wins by a wide margin.

Sales Funnels

Winner: Kajabi

Kajabi’s Pipelines are real multi-step funnels: opt-in, nurture emails, sales page, checkout, upsell. Templates are aimed at coaches and creators. You can run a launch or a simple lead magnet to offer path without leaving the platform.

Thinkific gives you sales pages and checkout. No pipeline builder. For serious funnels you’d add something like ClickFunnels, Unbounce, or a landing-page tool; again, extra cost and complexity.

Community Features

Winner: Tie (with a nudge to Thinkific on value)

Both have built-in community: discussions, groups, challenges. Thinkific includes it on paid plans (Basic and up) at $54/month. Kajabi includes it on all plans, but the cheapest plan is Basic at $179/month ($143/month billed annually).

Functionally they’re close. For a fitness membership, either is enough. Thinkific gets a slight edge because you get community at a lower total price on Basic.

For personal trainers specifically, community is where your clients post form-check videos, celebrate PRs, and hold each other accountable between sessions. Both platforms handle this; the difference is what you pay to get it.

Mobile App

Winner: Kajabi

Kajabi includes a branded mobile app on every plan. Your clients get an app with your name and logo on their phone. We tested it; it feels like a real product, not a web wrapper.

Thinkific’s branded app is only on the Grow plan ($219/month). On Basic or Start, students use the mobile browser. It works, but it’s not an app. If “we have an app” matters to you (and for many personal trainers it does because clients access workouts from the gym), Kajabi wins here.

Analytics

Winner: Thinkific (clarity) / Kajabi (breadth)

Thinkific’s analytics are straightforward: enrollments, revenue, completion rates, quiz results. We found what we needed in under a minute. Great for answering “how is this program performing?”

Kajabi surfaces more: funnels, email open rates, pipeline conversion, subscription metrics. Better if you care about full-funnel analytics. The tradeoff is more screens and concepts to learn.

For a trainer focused on course and membership performance, Thinkific’s simplicity wins. For full marketing analytics across the entire customer journey, Kajabi.

Support

Winner: Tie

Both offer knowledge bases, email support, and (on higher tiers) chat or priority support. We didn’t see a meaningful difference in response quality. Kajabi’s community ecosystem (courses, Facebook groups) is larger, so you’ll find more third-party help. Thinkific’s docs are clear and sufficient to get going.

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12-Month Cost Comparison

Pricing below uses list prices (most plans are cheaper billed yearly). Check each site for current promotions.

Scenario A: Coach just starting (first program, no audience yet)

	Thinkific	Kajabi
Plan	Basic	Basic
Monthly	$54 ($40 billed annually)	$179 ($143 billed annually)
12 months	$480-648	$1,716-2,148

Reality: Thinkific retired its free plan in 2026, so you can no longer validate at $0 forever — but the 30-day trial is long enough to build and launch a first program before paying, and Basic keeps year one under $650. Kajabi Basic runs $1,716+ per year and also offers a 30-day trial. For year one with one program, Thinkific wins on cost by a lot.

Scenario B: Coach doing ~$3K/month (one or two programs, wants email + site)

Thinkific stack (typical):

Tool	Monthly	12 months
Thinkific Basic	$54	$648
ConvertKit (or similar)	~$29	~$348
Carrd / simple site	~$9-19	~$108-228
Landing/funnel tool (optional)	~$27-50	~$324-600
Total (mid-range)	~$119-152	~$1,428-1,824

Kajabi:

Tool	Monthly	12 months
Kajabi Basic	$179 ($143 annual)	$1,716-2,148
Total	$143-179	$1,716-2,148

Reality: At $3K/month, many coaches already pay for email + site + maybe a funnel tool. If your stack is in the $120-150/month range, Kajabi Basic billed annually ($143/month) is in the same ballpark and you get one platform. The crossover is right around here: if you’re already spending ~$150/month on separate tools, Kajabi can be cheaper and simpler.

Scenario C: Coach doing ~$8K/month (multiple products, automations, app)

Thinkific stack:

Tool	Monthly	12 months
Thinkific Grow (app, API)	$219 ($164 annual)	$1,968-2,628
Email + site + funnel (estimate)	~$80-120	~$960-1,440
Total	~$299-339	~$3,588-4,068

Kajabi:

Tool	Monthly	12 months
Kajabi Growth	$249 ($199 annual)	$2,388-2,988
Total	$199-249	$2,388-2,988

Reality: At this stage, Kajabi is usually cheaper than a Thinkific Grow + full marketing stack. You also get everything in one place. The crossover clearly favors Kajabi once you need the app + serious email/funnels.

Where the crossover is: Roughly when you’re spending $150+/month on tools (email, site, funnels) or when you want the branded app without paying Thinkific Grow ($219/month). Then Kajabi’s all-in-one price often wins.

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Thinkific: Strengths & Limitations

Strengths:

• Low entry cost: 30-day free trial, then $54/month ($40/month billed annually)
• No transaction fees on any paid plan (your $197 program earns you $197)
• Course builder that’s faster and more flexible for multi-week drip programs
• Community features included on Basic ($54/mo)
• Transparent, predictable pricing: see Thinkific pricing for fitness coaches for the full breakdown
• Easy to launch: from signup to first published lesson in under an hour

Limitations:

• No real email marketing: you need ConvertKit, Mailchimp, or similar ($0-50+/mo)
• No pipeline-style sales funnels: pair with a landing page tool for advanced flows
• No free plan anymore (retired in 2026; the 30-day trial replaces it)
• Branded mobile app only on Grow plan ($219/mo)
• You’ll manage 2-3 separate tools once you start scaling your marketing

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Kajabi: Strengths & Limitations

Strengths:

• True all-in-one: courses, email, sales pipelines, website, community under one login
• Email automations that genuinely rival dedicated tools (sequences, tags, segments, A/B tests)
• Sales pipelines turn cold leads into paying clients on autopilot
• Branded mobile app included on every plan
• Templates look premium with minimal customization
• Replaces $150+/month in separate subscriptions once you’re at scale

Limitations:

• No free plan: highest entry price of any platform we tested ($179/month minimum, $143 billed annually)
• Course builder is less flexible for complex drip programs with multiple tracks
• More features means a steeper learning curve: plan a full day to set up properly
• Overkill if you only have one program and no audience yet
• You’re locked into one ecosystem: if Kajabi’s email tool doesn’t fit your needs, you can’t easily swap it out

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Who Should Choose What

Choose Thinkific if:

1. You’re launching your first online program and want to build it during the 30-day trial, then pay just $54/month.
2. Budget matters: you need a low monthly cost and zero transaction fees eating into margins.
3. You want the most flexible course builder for 8-12 week programs, drip schedules, and mixed content types.
4. You prefer best-of-breed tools (e.g. Thinkific + ConvertKit + simple site) and don’t mind managing 2-3 accounts.

Choose Kajabi if:

1. You’re already at $3K+/month and spending $150+ on separate tools; consolidation actually saves money.
2. Email sequences and funnels are central to how you fill programs, and you want them in the same dashboard as your courses.
3. You want a branded app without paying $219/month for Thinkific Grow.
4. You value one login, one bill, one support team and are willing to pay a premium for that operational simplicity.

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Our Final Recommendation

For most personal trainers: start with Thinkific.

Validate that people will pay for your program during the 30-day free trial, then launch on Basic at $54/month ($40 billed annually). Add ConvertKit and a simple site when you’re ready to market seriously. You keep full control and minimal fixed cost.

Revisit Kajabi when: You’re making $3K+/month and your combined spend on LMS + email + site + funnels is around $150/month or more. At that point, run the numbers: Kajabi Basic or Growth often costs the same or less and gives you one system.

Migration from Thinkific to Kajabi is doable in 1-2 days of focused work: re-upload content, move students, reconnect your domain. It’s not painless, but it’s a one-time effort. So switching later is a real option, not a theoretical one.

Don’t wait for the “perfect” platform. Pick one, launch, get your first paying clients. You can always move when the math and workload justify it. For a deeper view of how Thinkific fits among all options, see our best LMS for fitness coaches guide. For plan-by-plan cost breakdowns, Thinkific pricing for fitness coaches has the details, and if fees and margins are what will decide it for you, we’ve also broken down which platform is best for selling fitness programs.

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Frequently Asked Questions