Kajabi vs. Thinkific: Online Course Creation Comparison

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We get it. Finding the best all-in-one online course platform can be difficult, and you probably have a lot of questions. But one of the most common questions potential users have is, what’s the difference between Kajabi and Thinkific?

Both have unique features, functions, and pricing. We’ll break it all down for you in this Thinkific vs. Kajabi comparison, so you can make the right choice for your business.

Kajabi vs. Thinkific: The biggest difference you need to know about

When comparing Kajabi vs. Thinkific, the biggest difference is that Kajabi is an all-in-one platform for creating and marketing digital products. Thinkific simply does not have the same sales and marketing functionalities as Kajabi.

Let’s take a closer look at Thinkific. This platform comes with a course builder tool and offers you the ability to host your videos on the platform immediately.

Unlike Kajabi, Thinkific is focused more on educators and new business owners, rather than coaches and entrepreneurs. Basically, this platform is designed to do one thing very well: create online courses.

Thinkific is easy to use. The course-building tool is intuitive and platform use doesn’t require much tech experience. The platform is also updated on a regular basis (unlike some others we won't mention). That means you’ll always receive the most up-to-date software features, which is always a plus!

Thinkific’s course creation tools are great. But that’s where the platform’s most robust capabilities start and end.

While Thinkific is fairly inexpensive and even offers a free plan, it lacks critical tools to grow your business. With limited marketing capabilities, you’ll end up paying for various third-party integrations every month.  

With Thinkific you cannot:

• Create a blog. You need to use the Custom Pages feature as a workaround if you want to create something like a traditional blog.
• Use email marketing. Want to set up an autoresponder or send messages to potential customers? You’ll need an additional service like Infusionsoft, AWeber, MailChimp, or Constant Contact. All come at a cost.
• ‍Build out sales funnels that connect different touchpoints and tools within the platform. You need to download and pay for additional software (e.g. email marketing, webinar).

Bottom Line: While Thinkific might seem inexpensive at first, you’ll need additional marketing software to grow your business. Your monthly add-ons could end up costing four to five times what the plan alone costs. Plus, you still have to deal with the hassle of integrating multiple systems.

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Thinkific vs. Kajabi: Which is better when you need to grow your business?

Are you ready to take your business to the next level and implement more powerful marketing and sales tools? Then take a look at the features Kajabi and Thinkific have to help scale your online biz.

‍Website building

‍Both Kajabi and Thinkific offer web page-building tools and templates that make it easy to get a site up and running.

Kajabi automatically preloads everyone’s account with the Premiere template, but users can choose from a number of other modern templates. Once you’ve selected a template, you can use the website builder to further customize your site so it’s in line with your brand. 

Kajabi’s website-building capabilities make it easy to grow your business from Day 1. With Kajabi you can: 

• Start building your email list(s) from scratch with customized landing pages.
• Continually grow your list(s) with customized forms that convert visitors from leads to subscribers to paying customers.

Thinkific’s website builder only offers three templates with three or four styles, so you have 12 templates and style combos to choose from. You’re also limited in what marketing elements you can implement on your site since you need to download and integrate separate software.

Bottom Line: Thinkific’s website builder is simple and straightforward, making it an okay option if you need something quick and already have an email marketing program installed. Kajabi is a great Thinkific alternative if you want more power to customize your site and want all your marketing tools under one roof.

Course creation

When it comes to Kajabi vs. Thinkific, both have intuitive and easy-to-use course builders. While Thinkific has a good amount of course template options, Kajabi outshines with superior features and course delivery.

Kajabi also has a mobile app, which allows you to connect with customers in your community no matter where you are. Unfortunately, Thinkific does not have a mobile app at this time.

If you’re interested in creating an online course but have never done so in the past, Kajabi also offers templates for:

• Mini-courses: A short and inexpensive course that’s useful for teaching quick overviews. Limited to one module per mini-course.
• Online courses: These courses are more in-depth and longer in duration. They come with five categories built into the template so you are set up with a course structure that’s organized from the start.
• Evergreen training: This template allows you to disperse the contents of your course over time to your customers. Evergreen training helps increase student engagement because they’re not getting all of the course content at once.

Bottom Line: When comparing Kajabi vs. Thinkific’s course creation capabilities, the race is tight: both platforms are excellent choices. However, Kajabi’s mobile app and template puts them just a nose ahead of Thinkific.‍

Email marketing

It’s no secret. Kajabi offers a world-class email marketing system that’s second to none. With Kajabi you can grow your business exponentially with:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) feature
• Templated email campaigns
• Automatic subject line validation
• Email automation (perfect for drip campaigns)
• Intuitive visual editor for customizing & previewing emails

Thinkific does not currently offer an email marketing feature. However, it does integrate with services like AWeber, Infusionsoft, MailChimp, and Constant Contact. All of which requires an additional monthly subscription fee.

‍Bottom Line: Kajabi has email marketing and CRM built-in. Thinkific does not. If you want to market and sell your courses without paying for a bunch of additional software, Kajabi is the Thinkific alternative you need. ‍

Integrations

Kajabi already has all the functions you need to create, market, and sell your online course. But it still offers native integrations with services like MailChimp, Drip, and ConvertKit.

Thinkific doesn’t offer nearly as much marketing functionality as Kajabi. But it makes up for it by integrating with almost every marketing tool known to man. From Infusionsoft to ClickFunnels, you can patchwork a marketing suite with various integrations.

‍Bottom Line: Both Kajabi and Thinkific support many different integrations for sales, marketing, and more. 

Support

If you’re looking for hands-on, around-the-clock support, Kajabi is for you. Kajabi offers 24-hour technical and customer support through chat. Thinkific only offers support through email and phone.

Kajabi also provides value with a ton of advice on creating, marketing, and selling your course through Kajabi University. You have access to all the free tutorials you need to start creating and selling digital products.

Thinkific also has a training site for new users, but some of the tutorials can cost as much as $299!

Both platforms have help forums that can help answer general and frequently asked questions.

‍Bottom Line: In terms of Kajabi vs. Thinkific customer support, Kajabi is the clear leader. With real-time support and access to free tutorials, users are set up for success from the start.

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Kajabi vs. Thinkific: the final word

As you compare Kajabi vs. Thinkific, it’s obvious that while they are both technically all-in-one online course platforms, the biggest difference is in their marketing capabilities.

Kajabi has everything you need to create, market, and sell your course in one system.

In order to truly market and grow your business on Thinkific, you’ll need a plethora of integrations. And each integration comes at an additional monthly cost. Still, you won’t be able to replicate Kajabi’s native marketing capabilities, which are included in your monthly membership.

If you’re just focused on creating an online course and can afford to worry about marketing it later, then Thinkific is a great choice. But if you're serious about building and growing a real course creation business, Kajabi is the upgrade you need.

Everything you need to run your business and provide engaged education is automated and easy to use because you made the switch to Kajabi. You now have an all-in-one solution, which will free you up to focus on what’s really important: growing your business!

If you’re ready to make the switch today, we’re here to help!

Still researching? Check out our other competitor comparisons: 

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‍Kajabi vs. Teachable
Kajabi vs. Podia
Kajabi vs. Patreon
Kajabi vs. Wordpress
Kajabi vs. Clickfunnels
Kajabi vs. Ontraport
Kajabi vs. ConvertKit
‍Kajabi vs. Systeme
‍Kajabi vs. LearnWorlds
‍Kajabi vs. Samcart