Kajabi vs. Kartra – A 100% Unbiased Comparison For 2022

Having the right tool is crucial to business success. For this reason, I’ve taken the liberty to test two of the leading eCommerce platforms that are essential in building a competitive online business – Kajabi and Kartra.

In this Kajabi vs. Kartra comparison, I’ll help you decide which platform is right for your budget, product/service type, customer base, and business size.

What are the similarities and differences between Kajabi and Kartra? Who it is best for? And, which of them are the best to invest in? These are only a few of the questions that I will answer in this post.

Let’s dive right into it.

1. Kajabi vs. Kartra At A Glance

Before diving into the specifics, let’s take a look at the current standing of Kajabi and Kartra on the market through a quick glance at their highlighted features and most valuable pricing options.

4.8	4.7
Best Overall. Purpose-built for eLearning services and knowledge-based content sharing. Starts at $149/month.	Best for accessibility. Wide-ranging and versatile platform for digital product and service selling. Starts at $99/month.
Try Kajabi	Try Kartra

2. Who Is Kajabi Best For?

Kajabi is the best eCommerce platform for entrepreneurs with a knowledge-based business. Its sophisticated interface allows you to design a strong learning management system that is perfect for building gated content, online courses, membership sites, and more.

Kajabi is equipped with a fully-integrated, drag-and-drop website builder, customizable and mobile responsive themes, and handy editing tools. This makes it ideal to use for novice entrepreneurs and anyone who doesn’t have the time for complex configurations or the budget to hire skilled developers.

It is also suitable for entrepreneurs who are currently juggling multiple platforms or software services – web hosting, marketing, business management, helpdesk support, and so on. Kajabi allows you to manage all these in one secure and simple dashboard. 

3. Who Is Kartra Best For?

Kartra is the all-in-one solution for entrepreneurs who sell digital products and services.

It is also suitable for anyone that sells a large volume of products, aims to generate up to 50,000 leads, and wants to manage multiple custom domains.

4. A Close Look At The Features Of Kajabi and Kartra

In this section of my Kajabi vs. Kartra comparison, I listed down the unique and strong features of these eCommerce platforms.

Features
Affiliate Programs
Video Hosting
Customizable Themes
Membership Portals
Assessment Creation
Blogging Platform
Calendar Integration
Advanced Marketing Features
Get Started	Try Kajabi	Try Kartra

5. Key Features Of Kajabi

Kajabi is proud to provide you with an all-in-one online business platform dedicated to knowledge-based products and services. If you are an expert in your field, here are the top features you can enjoy when you subscribe to Kajabi:

#1 Kajabi Assistant

Last January, Kajabi introduced their new in-app search function called Kajabi Assistant.

This new feature is programmed primarily to answer all of your Kajabi-related questions. Simply type the keywords you wish to search in the search bar then press enter key.

But wait… Kajabi Assistant has more to offer and a few of them are the following:

• Help you navigate your admin dashboard and the entirety of the Kajabi platform 
• Ability to jump from one section to another without leaving your dashboard 
• Contact help support or sign up for Kajabi experts’ live Q&A webinar 

#2 Website Builder

Connect all the business essentials to your website become simpler with Kajabi’s new website builder.

This website builder remains user-friendly. Therefore, even if you don’t have web design or coding skills, you can create your dream business website in less than one weekend. 

A few of the upgraded and added features available on this new website builder are the following:

• Offer an extensive selection of stunning website templates  
• Customize the blog sidebar positioning when being viewed on desktop (left or right side of the blog post listing) and mobile device (top or bottom of your blog homepage)  
• Ability to add opt-in block and call-to-action block on your blog post design  
• Add a member directory and announcement page on your website  

Kajabi also features a page editor, and this too is updated. Now you can build every page of your website with a link list block, card block, and social icon block. They also increase the uploading limit of recent images and videos – to 100 (originally 24).

#3 Hassle-free Payment Setup

Kajabi understands the risk of manually moving the payment. That’s why they created a secure integration on two of the most trusted online payment gateways – PayPal and Stripe.

You can connect these payment providers by going to your dashboard and then selecting settings.

You can also easily add any of these payment providers to your one-time payment offerings.

What if PayPal and Stripe are not available in your country, are there other available online payment gateways you can use? Yes, Kajabi offers more third-party payment gateways but you are required to contact the support team to learn how to properly connect them to your website.

#4 Analytic System

Whether you are boosting your website’s performance or looking for effective ways how to improve your product sale, Kajabi Analytics can help you by providing accurate and real-time insights.

To prevent guesswork, all the gathered data are properly organized and completed with labels where it states the purpose of that specific insight.

You can access your Kajabi Analytics on your dashboard and inside the platform, you can immediately see the gathered data for all-time net revenue, net revenue for the past 30 days, number of purchases (over the past 30 days), and recent activity.

Other reports you can view on Kajabi analytics are the following:

• Affiliates – Track and view all the commissions made to your affiliate programs. 
• Opt-ins – Monitor all the forms and landing page submissions. 
• Page Views – Get the exact number of visitor views per web and landing page to determine which one attracts the most visitors. 
• Product Progress – Programmed to perform in-depth monitoring for the progress your members are making in each product. 
• Subscription Metrics – Kajabi analyzes all the recurring revenue, revenue per user, and subscription churn rate.

#5 Email Marketing System

Some emails are not worth opening. Kajabi changes this trend by helping you create simple and noteworthy email campaigns.

The email marketing feature includes an intuitive visual editor that includes stunning templates.

It has an automatic subject line validation, a special function that is programmed to detect potential spam triggers. Ease your mind that you will create a spellbinding subject line and content before hitting the send button.

Aside from email campaigns, you can also create various transactional emails and other customer service-related content. All these can be sent on a one-time blast or through automation. 

What I love about Kajabi’s products is it doesn’t require time-consuming and complex integrations. Everything is seamlessly built to its user interface. But, of course, if you need additional plug-ins Kajabi can assist you to simplify the process.

Burkhard Berger

6. Key Features Of Kartra

Kartra is a cloud-based platform that allows you to build and host your eCommerce website, create your email marketing campaigns, and manage your entire business operation – all in one place. 

Here are a few of their incredible features:

#1 Done-For-You Campaigns

One of the best features of Kartra is its done-for-you campaigns. This is a feature that allows you to replicate successful marketing campaigns made by the world’s top online marketers. 

Since these marketing campaigns are pre-made and available in your Kartra account, it is easier to make them live. You can also make the necessary adjustment to ensure they will fit your business style or needs.

If this is not enough, you can import the marketing campaigns made by other Kartra members. Simply click the “import” button to make it available in your Kartra account.

#2 Visual Sequence Builder

Kartra’s visual sequence builder is built with a simple drag, drop, and connect function. It is also easy to understand because every function you add will be connected with arrows.

You can use this feature for automating transactional emails, filling out opt-in forms, purchase follow-ups, invitations, and more. To start, you need to establish your starting point and then set all the necessary courses of action.

You can add a “yes and no” rule if you wish to provide your customers with a different path for every option they choose.

Kartra’s visual sequence builder has a set it, forget it experiences where it allows you to run these sequences you’ve saved on autopilot.

#3 One-Click Transaction

Kartra offers stunning and highly-optimized checkout pages that are sure to provide a smooth shopping experience to the customers. To further enhance the convenience it provides, Kartra provides a one-click transaction. 

This feature is programmed to remember the customer’s previous transaction details (billing). Therefore, when the customers come back and make a purchase, it will automatically pre-fill the checkout page. All the customers need to do is hit the “confirm” button.

#4 Payment Methods

Running online coaching and consulting businesses are the newest way to earn money. This is a lot more convenient and possible for those looking to get started with it because of Kartra.

To receive the money safely, you need to integrate with a trusted online payment provider. In Kartra, there are four available online payment gateways – Authorize.net, Braintree, PayPal, and Stripe.

Adding it is simple. Go to your dashboard and select “My Integrations” on the sidebar, all the available payment gateways will be displayed. The green checkmark on top of every integration means that you already set them.

For the chosen payment gateways, click the three-dotted icon and select the add or edit option.

#5 Kartra Calendar and Integrations

If your online business offers a booking system, Kartra’s calendar feature is the best companion to have.

This feature is built to simplify the booking process for you and your customers. Set it up properly and the customers are permitted to book their own appointments.

Conflicts are conveniently eliminated as well because this feature will automatically block the dates once it reaches the allowed number of reservations.

Kartra calendar works best for entrepreneurs that handle hundreds of appointments daily. If these feature functions are not enough, you can always sync in Google calendar to your Kartra calendar.

Burkhard Berger

Before you can sync the Google calendar to your Kartra calendar, you must first properly integrate it. Do this by going to your My Integration section (located at your dashboard’s sidebar) and choosing calendar on the drop-down menu.

Click the three-dotted icon of the desired calendar integration and select “new integrations”. A dialog box will pop up and ask you to connect the Google Calendar.

Upon setting up, you can now go back to your My Calendars section and select the “Yes, sync with an external calendar” option. Access the drop-down menu to find out the available Google calendar integrated into your account. Save upon selection.

7. Kajabi vs. Kartra – Pros And Cons

In the first table, I’ll break down the pros and cons of Kajabi to help you understand its capabilities.

Kajabi:

Pros	Cons
Create an exclusive community for your course buyers	Only offers two online payment gateways – PayPal and Stripe
Designed with a blogging platform packed with SEO features	Sell a maximum of 100 products only
Unlimited web hosting offered	The code editor is available on the highest plan
Assessment features included with no necessary integrations required
The trial period is completely free

Kartra has a reasonable number of pros and cons. Read the below table and weigh in if they are crucial to your business success:

Kartra:

Pros	Cons
Offers four different payment gateways – Authorize.net, Braintree, PayPal, and Stripe	Its technical documentation is very limited and can be difficult to navigate
Plug-and-play campaigns are available in your dashboard	Charge $1 for the 14-day trial period
Built with a drag-drop-and-connect sequence builder
The calendar feature allows customers to book their own appointments
Upsell or downsell a product using its advanced marketing features

8. Where Do I Get The Most For My Money?

Marketing and selling your digital products and services online indeed become simpler with Kajabi and Kartra. But in this section, let’s find out which online platform offers its powerful tools and features at an affordable price.

Kajabi Pricing Plans

Kajabi offers three pricing plans that are billed monthly or annually. If you love to save more, the annually-billed plans are ideal to get as they include a 20% discount.

Purchase any plans and expect to enjoy a secure web host and free access to Kajabi University, webinars, assessments (quizzes and surveys), and events. They also offer a 0% transaction fee, ready-to-use templates, and 1 customer success activation call.

• Basic ($149/mo.): Get this starter plan if you only intend to market and sell 3 products. This plan allows you to build 1 website, 3 pipelines, unlimited landing pages, and marketing emails; and add 10,000 contacts (handle 1,000 active members) and 1 admin user. 

Basic automation and chat support are also included. 

• Growth (S199/mo.): This pricing plan is more suitable for entrepreneurs that have 15 top-selling digital products to offer. This plan allows you to build 1 website, 15 pipelines, unlimited landing pages, and marketing emails; and add 25,000 contacts (handle 10,000 active members) and 10 admin users. 

Advanced automation, 24/7 chat support, eligibility for affiliate programs, and removing Kajabi branding are also included in this plan. 

• Pro ($399/mo.): Market and sell up to 100 products in this pricing plan. All Growth features are included with a few upgrades – build 3 websites and 100 pipelines, and add 100,000 contacts (handle 20,000 active members) and 25 admin users. 

In addition, a code editor is available for use. 

Kajabi’s team understands the challenges in achieving your business success. For this reason, they offer brand-new resources, services, and one-on-one guidance at an affordable price of $99 per month. 

Avail of this Kajabi Access pricing plan and you will enjoy the following perks:

• Six one-on-one sessions with a Kajabi Customer Success Manager 
• Exclusive Kajabi Access membership which doubles all the features and tools your current, or desired, plan has. 
• Eligible to use custom code editor no matter what pricing plan you subscribed in 
• Lastly, get early access to their new releases, Beta launches, and more 

The Kajabi Access pricing plan is available for new and existing users.

Kartra Pricing Plans

Kartra offers four pricing plans where each gives a 14-day free trial for only $1. 

As standard, all pricing plans include secure checkout forms, drag-and-drop page builder, and membership portal builder, build automated or live mail marketing campaigns (email/SMS), organize schedules, and access Kartra marketplaces.

• Starter ($99/mo.): This pricing plan provides you with 1 custom domain, and 1 additional member, and connects you to 1 helpdesk. Other features include allowing you to host 100 web pages and 50 videos, sell 20 products, build 2 membership sites, send 15,000 emails per month, and get up to 2,500 leads.  

This plan is also designed with 50 GB bandwidth usage. 

• Silver ($199/mo.): The feature in this pricing plan is similar to the Starter plan. Their only difference is the quantity. The Silver plan can get you up to 12,500 leads, provide you with 3 custom domains, and everything else is unlimited. 

You are also eligible to use Kartra Agency, a platform where you can manage all your clients’ full accounts. 

• Gold ($299/mo.): This is the pricing plan to get for businesses who wanted more. It is fully equipped with the Silver plan with unlimited features and access to Kartra Agency. Plus, 25,000 leads and provides you with 5 custom domains. 
• Platinum ($499/mo.): Here’s the ultimate plan for online businesses with a larger list of digital products or services. It provides you with a limit of 50,000 leads and 10 custom domains. The rest of the features are unlimited.

Kartra also offers an exclusive enterprise-level account. Unlike the set pricing plans above, this account type requires contacting its customer support for a custom pricing rate.

9. Conclusion – Which Is Better: Kajabi or Kartra?

Kajabi is the wiser investment for small businesses that offer coaching programs, consulting services, membership sites, and online training courses. With their all-in-one platform, you are saved from managing multiple software and apps just to have a smooth business operation.

Kartra, on the other hand, is primarily built as a marketing platform with the added function of the building and hosting your website and content. Its affordability becomes more suitable for entrepreneurs that are new to online selling.

Just like with Kajabi, Kartra can host eLearning services and membership websites but it is not limited to that. It can also market and sell other digital products such as subscriptions, coupons, eBooks, and more.

Both Kajabi and Kartra offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. They also don’t have contractual obligations. Therefore, you can easily cancel your subscription at any time. 

10. Kajabi vs. Kartra – FAQ

Didn’t get the answer you needed? I’ve put together four of the frequently asked questions for Kajabi and Kartra to help. 

Are there standard pages available on Kajabi’s website builder?

Yes, the new website builder includes standard website pages and they are all added to your navigation menu. If you already have this on your existing website, you can edit (title, Path/URL, visibility settings, and more) the standard website pages on your navigation menu by clicking their respective pen icon.

Are you obliged to use Kartra’s web hosting services when you subscribed to its plan?

No, Kartra gives you the privilege to use any domain you own or other third-party web hosts. It also provides you with several hosting options – from generating pure HTML code to easily uploading on any host server to giving a one-line JavaScript code for easy publishing on WordPress.

How can your newly signed-up members appear in your Kajabi Member Directory?

Every new member must opt-in to your Member Directory for them to appear. They can do this by logging into their member account, clicking settings (located at the top right corner), and scrolling down until they reach the “Social Profile” section. Upon filling up the form and ticking the checkbox (agreement clause), click save.

Can Kartra integrate with SMS gateways?

Yes, Kartra can smoothly integrate with three of the leading communication platforms – Twilio, Plivo and Nexmo. Once it is properly set up, you can immediately send a test SMS text to verify if the two applications are working well together.