Thinkific vs Teachable vs Kajabi: Best Online Platform for Consultants and Coaches
The online platform you pick for your consulting or coaching programs affects your profits, your clients' experience, and your monthly costs. Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi each handle fees and features differently. The wrong choice could cost your consulting business thousands per year as you scale.
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The Quick Answer
Choose Thinkific if you want zero transaction fees for your consulting modules or coaching programs and a clean, branded client learning experience without the high cost of Kajabi. Choose Teachable if you need to quickly launch a single coaching framework or a core client resource and are fine with transaction fees until your first few sales. Choose Kajabi if you're building a complete consulting ecosystem — including packaged programs, email sequences, client community, and sales funnels — and are ready to invest in an all-in-one solution.
Side-by-Side Breakdown
Thinkific: Costs range from free to $199/month. You pay 0% transaction fees on all plans, which means more profit on your $497 coaching module or $1,497 certification program. It has a robust builder for structuring your expertise, but lacks built-in email marketing, so you'll need another tool for client outreach. Teachable: Prices are $0 to $299/month. The free plan has a 5% transaction fee, which is a significant cut from a $997 consulting package. Paid plans remove this fee. It offers an excellent sales page builder for promoting your coaching offers and strong analytics to track program performance. Kajabi: Plans are $69 to $399/month, with 0% transaction fees. This platform bundles everything: email sequences for lead nurturing, sales funnels for client acquisition, a dedicated client community area, and even a full website. It’s a complete system for managing your consulting practice.
When to Choose Thinkific
Choose Thinkific if you are launching your first structured consulting module, coaching program, or client onboarding resource. You want to keep costs predictable and avoid transaction fees on your service offerings. You already use a separate email system like ConvertKit or Mailchimp for client communication and lead nurturing. You need a clean, professional platform for delivering your expertise that builds trust with clients. You plan to expand your offerings to include multiple coaching packages or consulting frameworks over time.
When to Choose Teachable
Choose Teachable if you need the quickest way to package and sell a single coaching framework, workshop, or a repeatable consulting process. Teachable’s setup is very user-friendly for getting your expertise online fast. You are running targeted promotions for a specific consulting service and need a polished sales page without hiring a designer. You are okay paying a transaction fee on your initial sales while you test a new program's viability, planning to upgrade to a paid plan once sales pick up to save more on your profit.
When to Choose Kajabi
Choose Kajabi if you are building a full-scale consulting practice or coaching firm, not just selling a one-off program. You require an integrated system for managing your client journey: from lead generation with landing pages, through nurturing with email sequences, to delivering your packaged expertise, and fostering a client community. You are generating consistent consulting revenue, perhaps $5,000 to $10,000 or more monthly, making the $149-399/month cost worthwhile. This eliminates the need for separate subscriptions like a CRM, email marketing tool, and website builder, simplifying your tech stack.
The Verdict
For first-time consultants packaging their knowledge or coaches launching their initial program, Thinkific's free plan with 0% transaction fees offers the lowest financial risk. For consultants or coaches needing the fastest setup to get a specific framework or workshop online with a professional sales page, Teachable is efficient. For established consulting practices building a comprehensive client acquisition and delivery ecosystem, Kajabi's all-in-one platform is an investment that can pay for itself by streamlining operations. Do not commit to Kajabi's higher fees until you have confirmed your packaged consulting services or coaching programs consistently generate sales.
How to Get Started
Thinkific: Sign up for the free plan. Package your first consulting module or coaching program, then connect a payment processor like Stripe or PayPal. You can start selling your expertise before needing to upgrade your plan. Teachable: Use the free plan to build out your core coaching framework or client resource. Once you make your first few sales, upgrade to the Basic plan (around $59/month) to remove the transaction fees and keep more of your revenue. Kajabi: Start with their 14-day free trial. Use a pipeline template to set up your client acquisition funnel, including landing pages and email sequences, then integrate your existing client email list.
RECOMMENDED TOOLS
Thinkific
Launch your first course free — 0% transaction fees
Kajabi
All-in-one creator platform
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Can I migrate courses between platforms?
Video content can be re-uploaded, but student enrollment records, progress data, and completion certificates do not transfer cleanly. Migrating 100+ students is a manual process. Choose carefully before you have a large student base.
Does Kajabi replace ConvertKit?
Kajabi's email is capable for most creators, but ConvertKit has stronger automation tagging, deliverability, and creator-specific features. Some creators use both — Kajabi for courses, ConvertKit for email — though that adds cost.
What transaction fees does Teachable charge?
On the free plan, Teachable takes 10% plus payment processor fees. On the Basic plan ($59/month) the fee drops to 5%. On Professional ($159/month) and above, there are no transaction fees.