Last updated: February 2026

If you’re reading this, you probably just saw Kajabi’s new pricing and thought: “Wait, $179 a month for five products?”

You’re not alone. In January 2026, Kajabi rolled out its first price increase in a decade, bumping plans by an average of 23%. The Basic plan went from $149 to $179 per month. The Growth plan hit $249. And the Pro plan now costs $499 per month.

For established creators making six figures, that might be a rounding error. But for coaches just building their business? That’s $2,148 a year on the cheapest plan — and you’re still capped at five products and 2,500 contacts.

Here’s what makes it worse: if you use Stripe or PayPal instead of Kajabi’s own payment processor, they now charge you an additional platform fee on top of your subscription. That ranges from 0.5% to 5% depending on your plan.

So we wrote this guide. Not another generic “15 Kajabi alternatives” listicle (you’ve probably seen a dozen of those already). Instead, we’re going to show you exactly what a coaching business actually needs, what Kajabi gives you versus what it doesn’t, and why we built InformationSystems.io specifically to solve the problems coaches face.

What Kajabi Gets Right (Let’s Be Honest)

Before we make our case, let’s give credit where it’s due. Kajabi is a legitimate platform, and it didn’t build 100,000+ users by accident.

Kajabi’s course builder is polished and reliable. Their email marketing and funnel tools are genuinely powerful. The new January 2026 update brought cohort-based courses, improved automations, and a redesigned checkout that reportedly increased conversions for some users. And their unified mobile app now puts courses, coaching, community, and podcasts in one place.

If you’re an established creator making consistent revenue and you need advanced marketing automation, Kajabi earns its price for many people.

But here’s the thing: most coaches aren’t established creators running complex marketing funnels. Most coaches need something very different.

What Coaches Actually Need (And Where Kajabi Falls Short)

We’ve talked to hundreds of coaches about their tech setup. The pattern is always the same. A coach needs six things to run their business:

1. A professional website that makes them look credible
2. A way to sell and deliver online courses
3. Client booking and scheduling
4. Email marketing and follow-up automation
5. Payment processing with no surprise fees
6. Help figuring out what to do next (strategy, content ideas, offer creation)

Kajabi covers items 1 through 5, though with significant limitations at the Basic plan level. But item 6? Kajabi doesn’t even attempt it. You get Kajabi University (pre-recorded training videos), but no personalized guidance, no AI advisor, no strategic help tailored to your specific business.

And here’s where Kajabi’s pricing really stings for coaches specifically:

The 5-Product Limit Problem

On Kajabi’s Basic plan ($179/month), you get five products. That sounds reasonable until you realize that a “product” on Kajabi means any course, coaching program, community, digital download, newsletter, or podcast.

So if you create a free discovery call (1 product), a signature coaching program (2), a mini-course (3), a digital workbook (4), and a community (5) — you’ve hit your limit. Want to add a second course or a paid workshop? That’ll be $249 a month for the Growth plan.

The Third-Party Payment Penalty

Kajabi now charges an additional fee if you process payments through Stripe or PayPal in regions where Kajabi Payments is available. This ranges from 0.5% to 5% on top of your regular processing fees. If you’re making $5,000 a month in course sales, that’s an extra $25 to $250 going to Kajabi every month — on top of your subscription.

The Ownership Question

When you build on Kajabi, your content lives on Kajabi’s servers. If you ever want to leave, you can export some data, but rebuilding your site, your funnels, your email sequences, and your course structure on another platform takes weeks. You’re effectively locked in.

How InformationSystems.io Is Different (Not Just Cheaper)

We didn’t build InformationSystems.io to be a “cheap Kajabi clone.” We built it because we believe coaches deserve a platform designed for how coaching businesses actually work — not how course empires work. We didn’t build InformationSystems.io to be a “cheap Kajabi clone.” We built it because we believe coaches deserve a platform designed for how coaching businesses actually work — not how course empires work.

Here’s what that means in practice:

Everything Is Unlimited. Period.

For $97 per month, you get unlimited courses, unlimited contacts, unlimited automations, unlimited funnels, unlimited booking, unlimited blog posts, and unlimited customers. There’s no product cap. No contact ceiling. No reason to upgrade because you grew.

Zero Transaction Fees

We don’t take a cut of your sales. Connect your Stripe or PayPal account, and every dollar your clients pay goes to you (minus standard card processing). No platform fees. No penalties for using your preferred payment processor.

You Own Everything (Because It’s custom built on top of WordPress)

Your InformationSystems.io site runs on WordPress — the same technology that powers 43% of all websites on the internet. That means your content, your courses, your client data, and your entire site are yours. If you ever want to leave, you can export everything and take it with you. No lock-in. No data hostage situations.

AI Business Advisor Built In (This Is the Big One)

This is where we’re fundamentally different from every platform on the market, not just Kajabi.

Every InformationSystems.io account includes Coach Vito, an AI business advisor that understands the coaching business model. Coach Vito doesn’t just generate text. It helps you plan your offers, write sales copy in your brand voice, brainstorm content strategies, build email sequences, and advise on pricing and positioning.

Think of it as having a $5,000-a-month business consultant available 24/7 — included in your $97 subscription.

No other platform offers this. Kajabi has AI for generating course outlines and email copy. Thinkific has similar basic AI tools. But none of them provide strategic business guidance tailored to your specific coaching niche.

Launch in an Afternoon, Not a Month

When you sign up, you get a complete, professionally designed coaching website imported in one click. Not a blank canvas with a template selector. Not a drag-and-drop builder with 200 decisions to make. A ready-to-go authority website that you can customize with your brand, your photos, and your copy.

Your course builder, booking calendar, payment processing, email automation, and sales funnels are all pre-configured and waiting. Most coaches go from signup to a live, functional business website in under an hour.

The Real Price Comparison (Including What They Don’t Tell You)

Every Kajabi alternative article shows a basic price comparison. We’re going to go deeper and show you what you actually pay when you account for limits, add-ons, and transaction fees.

Feature	Kajabi Basic ($179/mo)	Kajabi Growth ($249/mo)	InformationSystems ($97/mo)
Products/Courses	5 products	50 products	∞ Unlimited
Contacts	2,500	25,000	∞ Unlimited
Funnels	Included (limited)	Included	∞ Unlimited
Transaction fees (3rd party)	Up to 5%	Up to 1.5%	0%
Email marketing	Unlimited sends	Unlimited sends	∞ Unlimited
Client booking	Add-on or workaround	Built-in	Built-in
AI tools	Course outlines, copy	Course outlines, copy, translations	Full AI business advisor
Website ownership	Kajabi-hosted (locked in)	Kajabi-hosted (locked in)	WordPress (you own it)
Social media posting	Not included	Not included	Built-in auto-posting
Annual cost	$2,148	$2,988	$1,164
Annual savings vs Kajabi	—	—	$984 – $1,824/year

That’s not a small difference. Over three years, a coach on InformationSystems.io saves between $2,952 and $5,472 compared to Kajabi. That’s money you can reinvest in marketing, professional development, or simply keep as profit.

But What About the Other Alternatives?

We know you’re probably comparing more than just Kajabi and us. Here’s a quick, honest breakdown of the other platforms you’ll see in every comparison article — and where they fall short for coaching businesses specifically:

Podia ($39–$89/mo)

Podia is genuinely good for simplicity and affordability. But it lacks a real website builder (your site options are very limited), has no AI tools, no built-in booking system, and charges a 5–10% transaction fee on lower plans. It’s designed for selling digital downloads, not running a coaching business.

Systeme.io (Free–$97/mo)

Systeme.io’s free tier is hard to beat on price. But the design options are extremely limited, there’s no AI assistance, no booking integration, and the sites look noticeably generic. If you’re a coach trying to build authority and trust, a Systeme.io site works against you.

Teachable ($39–$199/mo)

Teachable is a solid course platform, but it’s exactly that — a course platform. No real website builder, no booking system, no CRM, and limited email marketing. And Teachable also raised their prices significantly in mid-2025, reducing features on lower tiers while increasing costs. Some users reported increases of over 200%.

GoHighLevel ($97/mo)

GoHighLevel is powerful, but it’s built for marketing agencies, not coaches. The learning curve is steep, the interface is complex, and the course delivery features are basic. If you’re technical and want maximum control over your marketing, GHL can work. But most coaches find it overwhelming.

Thinkific ($36–$149/mo)

Strong course builder with good education-focused features. But it’s primarily a course platform — you’ll still need separate tools for your website, booking, and email automation. No AI business advisor. And the entry-level plan is limited to basic features.

Who Is InformationSystems.io Best For?

We’re not the right fit for everyone, and we’d rather be honest about that than oversell.

You’ll Love It If You’re:

• A coach or consultant who wants one platform for everything — website, courses, booking, email, payments, and AI guidance
• Tired of paying for 4–6 separate tools that don’t talk to each other
• Building your coaching business while still at a day job and need something that works without a learning curve
• Price-conscious and want unlimited features without per-product or per-contact limits
• Someone who values owning your content and data (WordPress gives you this)

It Might Not Be Right If You’re:

• An established creator who needs Kajabi’s advanced marketing automation and doesn’t mind the price
• Looking for a free plan (we don’t have one — but we offer a 14-day free trial)
• Primarily focused on community-building (Circle or Mighty Networks may serve you better)
• A marketing agency needing white-label CRM features (GoHighLevel is designed for that)

How to Switch from Kajabi (If You’re Ready)

If you’re currently on Kajabi and considering the move, here’s what the transition looks like:

7. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at InformationSystems.io (no credit card required)
8. Your professional coaching website is auto-imported in one click
9. Set up your Stripe or PayPal account for payments
10. Recreate your courses using our AI-powered course builder (Coach Vito can help structure them)
11. Import your email contacts into FluentCRM (our built-in email marketing system)
12. Point your custom domain to your new site
13. Cancel Kajabi when you’re confident everything works

Most coaches complete this process in a weekend. And because it’s a 14-day trial, you can run both platforms simultaneously to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

The Bottom Line

Kajabi is a good platform that just became a much more expensive one. If you’re making $10,000+ per month and deeply reliant on Kajabi’s specific marketing automation features, the price increase might be worth absorbing.

But if you’re a coach who needs a professional website, course delivery, client booking, email marketing, payment processing, and strategic AI guidance — all for less than what Kajabi charges for its most limited plan — InformationSystems.io was built for exactly your situation.

$97 per month. Unlimited everything. Zero transaction fees. AI business advisor included. You own your content. 

Start your 14-day free trial at InformationSystems.io

Frequently Asked Questions

Is InformationSystems.io really a Kajabi alternative?

Yes. InformationSystems.io includes everything Kajabi offers for coaches — website builder, course platform, email marketing, payment processing, and funnels — plus features Kajabi doesn’t have, like a built-in AI business advisor, appointment booking, and social media auto-posting. The main difference is pricing ($97/mo vs $179–$499/mo) and the fact that you own your site and data because it’s built on WordPress.

Can I migrate from Kajabi to InformationSystems.io?

Yes. You can export your content from Kajabi and rebuild on InformationSystems.io. Our AI course builder helps you recreate courses quickly, and our support team assists with migration. Most coaches complete the switch in a weekend while keeping both platforms running during the transition.

Is there a free plan?

We don’t offer a free plan, but we do offer a 14-day free trial with full access to all features. This gives you enough time to set up your site, explore the tools, and decide if it’s the right fit.

Do I need technical skills to use InformationSystems.io?

No. Despite running on WordPress, your site is fully managed — hosting, security, updates, and backups are all handled for you. You customize your site using a drag-and-drop editor (Elementor), and the AI assistant helps with content creation and business strategy.

What if I want to leave InformationSystems.io?

You can export your entire site, your content, your email lists, and your data at any time. There’s no lock-in, no exit penalty, and no data hostage situation.