ThriveCart vs Kajabi: The Definitive 2025 Comparison
Writing about ThriveCart vs Kajabi was a challenge I enjoyed, I must say….
ThriveCart is like buying a professional-grade espresso machine. It does one thing well: brewing perfect shots (or, in this case, converting sales). Kajabi? That's like getting an entire café set up: espresso machine, grinder, pastry display, POS system, and seating area, all bundled together. (Polished off 5+ mugs of coffee while writing this, now you’d know where this came from ;P)
Anyway, the question isn't which is "better." It's whether the platform matches how you want to build your business.
This guide goes beyond the regular X vs. Y comparisons. Instead of listing features you’ve seen a hundred times, I’ve scanned through features, analyzed pricing tiers, and calculated the total cost of ownership.
Each differentiator was broken down into value delivered, creator impact, and long-term ROI, with a clear winner called out for each category. (I was in full-on game show host mode writing this).
And why should you trust us?
We’re the team behind FreshLearn, a modern unified platform for creating and selling courses used by thousands of creators. We’ve done the deep dives: not just to build our own platform, but to understand how real creators work, what frustrates them, and what actually scales. This is that depth, inside-scoop perspective.
Quick verdict: Who should use ThriveCart vs Kajabi?
At-a-glance comparison: Thrivecart vs Kajabi vs FreshLearn
The fundamental difference: Specialized cart vs. all-in-one platform
Here's what most reviews miss when comparing these platforms:
ThriveCart and Kajabi solve completely different problems. They're built on opposing philosophies about what creators actually need to succeed online.
ThriveCart converts browsers into buyers.
It's a specialized tool that obsesses over every pixel of your checkout experience. It wins on simplicity and selling power. Its lifetime pricing, high-converting checkout pages, and affiliate tools make it a favorite for creators who want to launch fast and keep overhead low. But it doesn’t come with course delivery or community tools out of the box, which means you'll need to integrate extra software.
Kajabi, on the other hand, offers an all-in-one experience, everything under one roof.
It includes a website, courses, email marketing, community features, and more.
But the tradeoff? It’s expensive. Monthly pricing scales quickly, and for creators who don’t use every feature, it can feel bloated.
We’ll break it down further.
What is ThriveCart? (The conversion specialist)
ThriveCart is a specialized cart platform built for conversion pros. It gives you full control over your checkout flow. You get modal carts, embedded carts, and even video carts, all optimized for minimal friction.
Beyond checkout, ThriveCart offers a sales funnel builder, powerful affiliate functionality, and even course creation through ThriveCart Learn. You can plug in one-click upsells, downsells, and bump offers to maximize every transaction. Behind the scenes, you get A/B testing, funnel analytics, and predictive insights to refine what works.
If your question is: “How do I get more revenue from the traffic I already have?”, ThriveCart is the answer.
You still need to handle the rest (email, community, site), but for sales? It’s the top-performing cart on the market. Period.
What is Kajabi? (The all-in-one business hub)
Kajabi is a complete ecosystem for creator-led businesses where you create courses, coaching programs, communities, and newsletters, all in one place. The platform includes a comprehensive course builder for educational content, coaching sessions, and podcasts. It handles your marketing with automation tools and a website builder.
The value here is convenience. No plugins, duct-taped tools, or coding expertise needed. Just log in and start building your product, sales funnel, and email campaigns in a unified dashboard.
For creators who want to launch fast, validate an idea, or juggle multiple income streams, Kajabi makes sense.
But here’s the tradeoff: You get simplicity, but lose some control, especially at the checkout, where customization and conversion tactics are more limited.
Feature deep dive: ThriveCart vs Kajabi
Both ThriveCart and Kajabi promise to help you sell, teach, and scale. But they take very different routes to get there.
I’ve tested both platforms inside-out and are breaking down what actually works for creators.
Course creation and student experience
When creators tell our sales team they're torn between ThriveCart and Kajabi, we always ask one question: "How important is your student's learning experience?"
Let’s talk about that here: the actual experience of building and delivering a course, how it feels for you and your students.
What it’s like on ThriveCart Learn?
ThriveCart adds sales funnels to increase conversions and revenue. Here, you can create dedicated sales pages for select products and show buyers related offers, upsells, and bump offers right when they're ready to purchase.
And their funnel flow is direct, too: show upsell → if accepted, show the next option; if declined, downsell.
ThriveCart seamlessly integrates with tools you already use: share data with autoresponders, connect to invoicing or fulfillment services. But there's a catch: ThriveCart has no built-in email marketing.
To run campaigns or drip emails, you’ll need to integrate ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, or similar tools. This can work, but it adds cost and complexity.
What it’s like on Kajabi
Kajabi handles your entire marketing stack without external integrations, unlike ThriveCart. Kajabi's pipelines are pre-made playbooks optimized to convert prospects. Each pipeline follows a blueprint for specific goals: lead generation, product launches, webinars, and more.
- Each pipeline includes landing pages and automated email sequences, ready to be customized.
- Set up multi-step automations triggered by customer behavior; no third-party tools required.
- You can send one-time email blasts or run drip campaigns that nurture leads 24/7.
The email builder lets you create messages with text, images, and videos, countdown timers, call-to-action buttons, and brand-specific colors and logos.
In short, Kajabi lets you build branded, end-to-end sales flows in a quick turnaround.
Winner: Kajabi
While ThriveCart excels at checkout, it relies entirely on third-party tools for email marketing. Kajabi includes everything: an email builder, automation, pipelines, and funnels, all in one platform.
ThriveCart users must connect (and pay for) services like ConvertKit or Klaviyo. Each integration adds complexity and monthly costs. Kajabi users can build their entire marketing system without leaving the platform.
For creators who want marketing automation without the tech stack, Kajabi delivers just that.
FreshLearn’s approach
You’ll get everything built-in with FreshLearn.
Yes, Kajabi includes built-in checkout and marketing tools, but they come at a premium.
FreshLearn matches Kajabi’s all-in-one convenience with built-in checkouts, email automation, and sales funnels but without the steep monthly fees or capped product limits. And here’s how comprehensive the marketing and sales features are.
- Lead magnets: Attract and convert leads with interactive quizzes, live workshop registrations, digital downloads, and customizable subscribe forms, all built-in and ready to deploy.
- Landing pages: Create polished, conversion-ready landing pages that align with your brand without coding or guesswork.
- Email builder: Design stunning emails using a drag-and-drop builder that ensures your message looks perfect across every device and inbox.
- Email campaigns: Easily send targeted, personalized email campaigns to grow and engage your audience. Schedule blasts or set up automations, all within the platform.
- Automation engine: Trigger emails and workflows based on user actions like signups, purchases, or content downloads, so your audience stays engaged without manual effort.
- Blogging CMS: Create and manage blog content to educate, engage, and convert readers. Distribute your posts through integrated email newsletters in just a few clicks.
- Testimonials: Collect, manage, and showcase testimonials to build trust and social proof across your sales pages and campaigns.
- Link in bio: Design a branded mini-webpage that features your most important links, ideal for social platforms and mobile traffic.
- AI page builder: Build complete sales pages in minutes with AI-generated copy and layouts tailored to your offering.
- SSL Certificate: Keep your site secure with a free SSL Certificate. So your content is secure, and your visitors see a trusted connection every time.
Affiliate program management
For many creators, affiliates drive the majority of their sales. From tracking referrals to paying commissions and sharing marketing assets, creators need tools that are flexible, low-maintenance, and built for growth.
What it’s like on ThriveCart
ThriveCart’s affiliate platform is best-in-class. Setup takes just minutes: define your commission rates, share a signup link, and you’re live.
You can launch an affiliate program in a few clicks, assign commissions to any product (including upsells and downsells), and have affiliates up and running fast.
Affiliates are automatically approved for funnel products, and their tracking is handled via smart, cookie-based URLs. You can choose between manual or automated payouts (a massive time-saver for growing businesses). You can also customize cookie durations and access granular controls over how and when affiliates earn commissions.
Even better, ThriveCart has a dedicated space for affiliate assets: images, swipe copy, promotional materials. Your affiliates get everything they need in one place.
What it’s like on Kajabi
Kajabi offers a basic affiliate dashboard that tracks clicks, form submissions, conversions, and conversion rates. But this feature is only available on the Growth and Pro plans.
Affiliates can access shareable links, but commission payments are manual. You’ll need to export reports and pay each affiliate yourself. That’s fine if you only have a few partners, but it gets time-consuming fast.
Kajabi also doesn’t offer a built-in space for affiliate assets such as banners, swipe copy, or promotional material. You’ll need to create your own workaround, like designing a separate page.
Winner: ThriveCart
Kajabi gets the job done, but ThriveCart wins with its robust automation, built-in affiliate asset hub, and flexible payout options.
And honestly, the comparison isn't even close. Kajabi's affiliate system is basic. The manual payment part alone is enough to make Kajabi impractical for serious affiliate programs. Why spend hours on tasks ThriveCart automates, right?
FreshLearn’s approach
Managing affiliates shouldn’t feel like you’re managing a second business. Between setting commissions, sharing assets, and tracking sales, it’s easy to get bogged down in admin. FreshLearn lets you
- Customize commission: Create your own affiliate program with custom commission rates. Apply them to specific products or your entire catalog.
- Bulk conversions: Convert your entire member base into affiliates with a single bulk action. Your best promoters are often your happiest customers. Why make them jump through hoops?
- Track conversion: Each affiliate gets a unique tracking link. You see conversions as they happen: which affiliates drive sales, when they drive them, and what products perform best.
In a nutshell, FreshLearn bridges the gap between Kajabi's oversimplification and ThriveCart's complexity. Our affiliate program integrates with your courses, marketing, and checkout.
The deciding factor: Pricing
When creators reach this section, they're usually doing math on napkins. So, I did an in-depth analysis, dissecting the pricing and its real value.
ThriveCart's lifetime deal: A one-time investment
ThriveCart comes with a lifetime account for a one-time payment of $495, with no recurring fees. This unlocks all core features and future updates at no extra cost.
What $495 gets you: The standard account covers everything most businesses need (unlimited products, customers, and carts). The simplicity is refreshing in a world of endless subscriptions.
The Pro upgrade ($295 extra): At $790 total, Pro adds the tools growing businesses need: affiliate management, business projections, sales tax handling, and JV contracts. Most creators don't need Pro initially, but appreciate having the upgrade path.
Here's what ThriveCart doesn't tell you loudly: There’s no free trial. You're making a $495 decision blind. But with their 14-day refund policy, the risk is manageable.
Kajabi's subscription: A recurring cost
Kajabi comes with a 14-day free trial, but their pricing starts at $89/month for Kickstarter and climbs to $399/month for Pro, where you're not just buying software but an ecosystem.
The hidden costs of growth: Starting the Kickstarter plan at $89/month ($71/month when billed annually) seems reasonable until you hit the limits. Only 250 contacts? One product? Most creators outgrow Kickstarter within months, prompting them to advance to higher tiers quickly.
The Basic plan at $149/month ($119/month billed annually) offers breathing room with 10,000 contacts and 3 products. But notice what's missing at this level—no affiliate program, no advanced automations. Kajabi reserves the best features for its Growth and Pro tiers.
The popular choice: Kajabi marks Growth at $199/month ($159/month billed annually) as "Most Popular" for a reason. It includes the features serious businesses actually need: affiliates, automations, and the removal of Kajabi branding.
They've carefully structured pricing to encourage serious businesses to opt for the $199+ plans.
At $399/month, the Pro plan feels like enterprise pricing. 100 products and 100,000 contacts sound impressive, but how many course creators genuinely need those limits?
The cost-effective alternative: FreshLearn
FreshLearn gives you the best of both worlds, built after watching creators struggle with this exact decision.
Creators wanted Kajabi's features without the Kajabi price tag.
Strategic pricing: Starting at $29/month, our Pro plan includes features that others charge $ 149 or more for. But here's the key difference: we include the essentials at every tier. No artificial limits to force upgrades.
Our No Brainer plan ($46/month) lives up to its name. For less than a third of Kajabi's Basic price, you get advanced features that actually move the needle. Zero transaction fees mean more money stays in your pocket.
Even our top-tier Enterprise plan, at $139/month, costs less than Kajabi's Basic plan. This is about fair pricing for advanced features. For yearly plan users, migration is free of charge.
Let’s calculate your Total cost of Ownership over 24 months
But pricing isn't just about what’s transparently available on the website. Consider migration costs, integration expenses for missing features, and transaction fees that compound over time.
The pricing decision ultimately comes down to your priorities:
- Choose ThriveCart if you want the lowest long-term cost and primarily need checkout optimization
- Choose Kajabi if you need every possible feature and can absorb $159-399 monthly fees
- Choose FreshLearn if you want a comprehensive course and business tools at a price you can afford
The final framework: How to choose in 3 questions
After all the feature lists and pricing tables, it can feel like every platform has trade-offs. That’s why we’ve created this 3-question framework to help you decide fast. Let’s find your perfect-fit platform.
Question 1: What is your business model?
Before looking at features or pricing, start with what you're actually selling.
- Selling one flagship course?
ThriveCart’s high-converting checkouts make it ideal if you’re selling one premium offer and want to maximize every sale. FreshLearn also supports this model and adds built-in delivery, so you don’t need to plug in a separate LMS.
- Selling multiple products or digital downloads?
Kajabi’s product organization and visual editor make it easy to manage multiple offerings under one brand. FreshLearn handles this too, with the added benefit of flexible pricing (free, one-time, recurring) across products.
- Running a membership or community?
Kajabi’s native community tools are apt here, offering a forum-style experience alongside content delivery. FreshLearn supports memberships with flexible access rules, gamification, and progress tracking. The platform is ideal if you want to build engagement directly into your learning journey.
Question 2: What’s your budget?
Your monthly overhead matters, but so does the total cost of ownership (setup time, third-party tools, scaling costs). Here’s how each tool stacks up when budget is a deciding factor:
- Bootstrapping or testing your idea?
FreshLearn offers a generous free plan with full course delivery features, making it ideal for those starting out or validating demand. You can launch a course or product without committing to a monthly subscription, and upgrade only when you need advanced automation or your own domain.
- Optimizing for ROI on a single offer?
ThriveCart’s one-time pricing is attractive, especially if you only need high-converting checkout pages. ThriveCart Learn gives you all the basics to build and deliver courses. With Learn+, you also get advanced features like bundles, prerequisite rules, and custom branding.
- Scaling a mature digital business?
Kajabi’s all-in-one convenience is valuable if you’re running multiple products, marketing funnels, and a membership, and you’re ready to pay $100–$200/month. For many creators, though, it’s overkill. FreshLearn gives you similar core features at a leaner monthly cost, and with zero transaction fees on any plan.
Conclusion: The best platform is the one that fits YOU
We've watched too many creators buy platforms based on feature lists, then struggle because the tool doesn't match their workflow. The most expensive platform isn't the one with the highest price tag, but the one that slows you down.
If you’re looking for the power of an all-in-one without the steep monthly bill or platform bloat, FreshLearn gives you a full-stack platform that’s powerful enough to scale, yet simple enough to launch fast.
It’s the practical choice for creators who want more than just a tool, without overpaying for features they may never use. Explore FreshLearn's features and start for free today.
If you want to migrate to FreshLearn from any other providers, we’re just around the corner
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Can you use ThriveCart and Kajabi together?
Yes, ThriveCart allows Kajabi integrations, but it’s also redundant. Kajabi already includes checkout, sales funnels, and upsells. Using ThriveCart on top of Kajabi means managing two systems that do similar things. Most creators pick one platform to simplify payments, integrations, and user experience.
2. Is ThriveCart Learn a good replacement for Kajabi's courses?
ThriveCart Learn covers the basics: you can host lessons, organize modules, track progress, and drip content. But it doesn’t match Kajabi’s depth, like detailed assessments, native community tools, podcast hosting, or automations. It’s solid if you just need course delivery alongside high-converting checkouts, but not a full ecosystem.
3. What are the best alternatives to ThriveCart and Kajabi?
If you want a modern platform that brings together marketing, course creation, and monetization, FreshLearn is a strong alternative. It offers powerful course tools, flexible pricing options, affiliate marketing, and native email capabilities, all without the cost of Kajabi or the add-on model of ThriveCart.
For more such alternatives and affordable options, read our comprehensive article on the best Kajabi alternatives.
4. Which platform is better for beginners?
It depends on your goals. ThriveCart is easier to set up if your focus is sales, especially for a single course or product. Kajabi has more features, but that also means a steeper learning curve and higher ongoing costs. FreshLearn offers a middle ground: powerful enough for scaling, yet simple enough for solo creators
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