The Short Version
Skool
Community is the product
- $99/mo Pro (+ 2.9% transaction fee)
- Built-in gamification: points, levels, leaderboards
- Forum-style community feed
- Course hosting included
- Calendar events
- AutoDM welcome messages
- Flat pricing regardless of member count
- No email marketing or funnels
- No landing pages or website builder
- No affiliate management
Kajabi
Full online business platform
- $143/mo Basic (annual) to $199/mo Growth
- 0% platform fee on all plans
- Email marketing, sequences, broadcasts
- Sales funnels and landing pages
- Website builder included
- Affiliate management (Growth+)
- Certifications and assessments
- Community spaces on all plans
- Community is secondary to courses
- Contact limits per plan
Pricing: What You Actually Pay
Skool's transaction fees change the math significantly at higher revenue.
| Plan | Monthly fee | Platform transaction fee | Contact / member limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skool Hobby | $9/mo | 10% + $0.30 per transaction | Unlimited members |
| Skool Pro | $99/mo | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | Unlimited members |
| Kajabi Basic (annual) | $143/mo | 0% platform fee | 10,000 contacts, 1 community |
| Kajabi Growth (annual) | $199/mo | 0% platform fee | 25,000 contacts, 1 community |
| Kajabi Pro (annual) | $319/mo | 0% platform fee | 100,000 contacts, 3 communities |
Note: All plans still pay standard payment processing (Stripe/Kajabi Payments: 2.9% + $0.30). Skool's fee is on top of that.
Real total cost at $5,000/month revenue
Break-even point: Skool Pro and Kajabi Basic cost roughly the same at around $1,500/month in revenue ($99 + 2.9% x $1,500 = $142.50). Below that, Skool is cheaper. Above that, Kajabi Basic costs less. At $10,000/month, Skool Pro costs $389 vs Kajabi's flat $143.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Skool | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Forum-style feed, native app | Community spaces (secondary) |
| Gamification | Points, levels, leaderboards, gems | Basic badges added in 2026 |
| Course hosting | Built-in, unlimited | Built-in, full-featured |
| Email marketing | Not included | Full sequences, broadcasts, automation |
| Sales funnels | Not included | Built-in Pipelines |
| Landing pages | Not included | Included on all plans |
| Website builder | Not included | Included |
| Certifications | Not included | Included |
| Affiliate management | Not included | Growth+ only |
| Podcast hosting | Not included | Included |
| Calendar events | Built-in | Not included |
| Member DMs | Native + AutoDM | Basic messaging |
| Platform transaction fee | 2.9% on Pro, 10% on Hobby | 0% on all plans |
| Member count pricing | Flat fee, unlimited members | Contact limits per plan |
| Mobile app | iOS + Android | iOS + Android |
How to Choose
Pick Skool if...
- Community engagement is the core of your product, not just a bonus
- You want gamification driving member activity (points, levels, leaderboard)
- You're under $3,000/month revenue and want lower platform costs
- You already have an email marketing tool and don't need it bundled
- Your audience is on Skool's discovery feed and you want organic reach
- You're running a coaching program where connection between members matters
Pick Kajabi if...
- You're running a full course business and need marketing tools built in
- You want email sequences, funnels, and landing pages without third-party tools
- You're doing $5,000+/month and the 0% transaction fee changes the math
- You sell multiple products (courses, memberships, coaching, digital downloads)
- You need certifications or assessments for your students
- You want an affiliate program to grow sales
The honest overlap: Both platforms can host a community and sell courses. The real question is whether you need Kajabi's marketing machine or Skool's engagement focus. If you're spending significant time managing email sequences, landing pages, and funnels, Kajabi earns its price. If you're spending significant time getting members active and retaining them, Skool is the better fit.
Running Skool but Missing Kajabi's Automation?
The most common reason people look at Kajabi isn't the courses — it's the automation. Email sequences. Behavior-based follow-ups. Member lifecycle tracking. Skool doesn't do any of that natively.
StickyHive plugs that gap without making you switch platforms. You keep Skool's community, gamification, and simplicity. You get the automation layer on top.
Multi-step DM sequences
Day 1, Day 3, Day 7, Day 30 follow-ups. Automated based on when each member joined, not sent manually.
Behavior-based triggers
Trial ending? Member went inactive? Completed a course module? Each event can trigger its own automated sequence.
Churn prevention
Detect members who are about to leave before they cancel. Automated re-engagement before the card declines.
Post scheduling
Queue weeks of community posts in advance. Set a content rhythm and stop manually posting every day.
CRM sync
Export members to HubSpot or GoHighLevel. Sync tags, lifecycle stages, and revenue data automatically.
Member analytics
Track engagement trends, retention cohorts, and who's at risk of churning. Data Kajabi shows for email, applied to your Skool members.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Skool cheaper than Kajabi?
At low revenue, yes. Skool Pro is $99/month. Kajabi Basic is $143/month billed annually. But Skool charges 2.9% transaction fees on top of Stripe's normal processing. The break-even is around $1,500/month in revenue — below that Skool is cheaper, above that Kajabi Basic costs less per dollar of revenue.
Does Kajabi have community features like Skool?
Yes, but they're different. Kajabi includes community spaces on all plans and added basic gamification (points, badges, leaderboards) in 2026. Skool's gamification is more developed and more central to the product. Skool also has native calendar events and a feed design built for discussion. Kajabi's community is functional but feels like a feature added to a course platform, not the platform's main purpose.
Does Skool have email marketing?
No. Skool sends member notifications but has no broadcast emails, sequences, or funnel tools. Most Skool owners pair it with an external ESP. Kajabi has full email marketing built in — sequences, broadcasts, automations, and segmentation all included.
Can you migrate from Kajabi to Skool?
There's no automated migration tool. Course content has to be rebuilt in Skool's course builder. Members need to be re-invited. Community content from Kajabi doesn't transfer. Most people who switch re-upload course videos and manually import their member list via CSV.
Which is better for coaches: Skool or Kajabi?
Depends on how you coach. Group coaching with a strong community at the center: Skool usually wins. Coaching with detailed client pipelines, email follow-ups, and multiple products: Kajabi handles that natively. A lot of coaches use both — Kajabi for marketing and selling, Skool for the community they're selling into.