Kajabi vs Podia: Which One Fits a Coaching Business?

Kajabi vs Podia comes down to how much marketing you want built in and what you're willing to pay for it. Podia costs less to start, with its Mover plan at $49 a month and coaching, courses, a community and a website on every plan, while Kajabi Basic is $179 a month and bundles more of the selling side: unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels (checked October 2026).

That's the short version. This post looks at both from a coach's side of the desk: what each plan includes, how each handles a coaching call, a course and a community, and what each still leaves you to set up.

Most pages comparing these two come from Kajabi, Podia or a competing vendor, and they tend to focus on digital downloads. Every price and feature here comes from Kajabi's and Podia's official pricing pages and help centers, and I've said so where something needs checking on your side.

The Short Answer for Coaches

Here's how I'd call it, based on how you sell.

• If you're starting out with a small list, Podia is the gentler bill. Mover is $49 a month, or $42 a month billed annually, and you get coaching, courses, a community, a website and email on it.
• If email and funnels are how you sell, Kajabi gives you more room. Every Kajabi plan lists unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels, and Basic includes 2,500 contacts.
• If you want no platform fee on sales, look at Podia Shaker or any Kajabi plan. Podia's Mover plan charges a 5% transaction fee, and Shaker and Earthquaker don't.
• If your coaching runs on live calls, check the booking side. Kajabi has a built-in scheduler for coaching products, while Podia sells the session and hands the booking to a calendar tool you connect.

If you're also weighing a pure course platform, my Kajabi vs Teachable comparison covers that pair.

What Kajabi Gives a Coach

Kajabi is a course and marketing platform for people who sell what they know. In one account you get products (courses, coaching, memberships, downloads and podcasts), a website on your domain, landing pages, funnels, marketing emails, checkout and a community.

What it does well:

• Marketing built in. Every plan lists unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels, so the email sequence that sells your program sits next to the program itself (checked October 2026).
• Coaching as a product. Kajabi's Coaching product handles 1:1 and group programs. Its help center says you can book sessions with the Kajabi Scheduler and meet on built-in live video, or connect Calendly, Zoom or Google Meet.
• A community with access groups. Basic and Growth include 1 community and Pro includes 3. Inside a community you can sell access to as many private groups as you like.
• A bigger list on the entry plan. Basic includes 2,500 contacts. Growth includes 25,000 and Pro 100,000, and Kajabi sells more contacts in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month.

What to watch:

• The price. Basic is $179 a month, or $143 a month billed annually. Growth is $249, or $199 billed annually, and Pro is $499, or $399 billed annually (checked October 2026).
• The limits on Basic. Basic includes 5 products, 1 website and 2 admin users. Growth lifts that to 50 products and 11 admin users. A branded mobile app under your name is on Pro.
• Your payment setup. Kajabi says it takes no revenue share. Kajabi Payments card rates for US businesses are 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, 2.8% + $0.30 on Growth and 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro. With a third-party payment provider instead, Kajabi adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan, and the page excludes PayPal from that fee (checked October 2026).

What Podia Gives a Coach

Podia comes at it from a simpler angle. Its pricing page lists the same core set on every plan: community, online courses, digital downloads, coaching, events, a website and blog, your custom domain, landing pages and a built-in checkout. The plans mostly differ in limits, fees and a few selling tools.

What it does well:

• A lower price to start. Mover is $49 a month, or $42 a month billed annually ($504 a year). Shaker is $99, or $84 billed annually, and Earthquaker is $179, or $150 billed annually (checked October 2026).
• Coaching on every plan. Podia's help center shows a Coaching session product. Clients pay through Podia, then book a time on a calendar you embed from Calendly, SavvyCal, Acuity or YouCanBookMe.
• A community with real structure. Podia's community page lists topic-based spaces, group chats, member-to-member messages, direct messages from you and paid membership tiers. Mover includes 25 spaces and Shaker 100.
• Email that knows who bought. Podia Email covers broadcasts and automated campaigns. Its help center lists campaign triggers such as a purchase, a tag, a plan sign-up, an event registration or a finished lesson.

What to watch:

• The 5% fee on Mover. Podia's FAQ says Mover has a 5% transaction fee, and Shaker and Earthquaker have none. Stripe or PayPal also charges a processing fee, 2.9% + 30¢ as standard (checked October 2026).
• Small email limits. Mover includes 100 email subscribers, Shaker 500 and Earthquaker 1,000. You can add more subscribers, and Podia's help center says sending pauses if you go over your plan's limit.
• Selling tools sit higher up. Upsells, affiliate marketing, PayPal and Zapier are listed on the Shaker and Earthquaker cards, not Mover.
• No funnel builder on the card. Podia lists landing pages and email campaigns, but funnels aren't named on the pricing page the way they are on Kajabi's.

Prices and Fees Side by Side, Checked October 2026

Here are the plans most coaches would compare. All prices are USD, before tax, from Kajabi's and Podia's official pricing pages (checked October 2026).

A few things the table doesn't show.

Both platforms show annual pricing as a monthly figure billed once a year. Kajabi Basic billed annually comes to $1,716 a year, and Podia Mover to $504 a year. Kajabi Pro, at $499 a month or $399 billed annually, adds 3 websites, 3 communities and the branded app. Podia Earthquaker, at $179 a month or $150 billed annually, lifts products and spaces to unlimited and includes 1,000 email subscribers.

The fee column needs care. Podia's 5% on Mover is Podia's share, on top of the Stripe or PayPal fee. Kajabi's card rates are what Kajabi Payments charges US businesses, and Kajabi links to a separate fee list for other countries. If you use a third-party payment provider on Kajabi, the extra 2%, 1% or 0.5% applies by plan.

Coaching, Courses and Community on Each

Here's how each handles the three things coaches sell most.

Coaching calls. On Podia, a coaching session is a product. The client pays in Podia's checkout, then picks a time on your embedded calendar, and Podia's help center says confirmation and reminder emails come from that scheduling tool. On Kajabi, coaching is a product too, with sessions booked through the Kajabi Scheduler or a calendar tool you connect, and it sits next to your courses and community in the client's library.

Your clients never see your plan. They see how easy it is to book the call and find the next lesson.

Courses. Podia's site lists video lessons, drip lessons, quizzes and progress tracking, with 500 videos on Mover and 1,000 on Shaker. Kajabi lists courses alongside coaching, memberships, downloads and podcasts as products, with 5 products on Basic and 50 on Growth. If you run one signature program and a few small offers, either can hold it. If you plan a library of programs, check the product count on each plan.

Community. Both put a community on every plan. Podia organizes it into spaces, with group chats, messages between members and paid tiers. Kajabi gives you 1 community on Basic and Growth, and inside it you can sell as many private access groups as you like. Either way, you can bundle community access with a course or a coaching package.

What You Will Still Add On With Each One

Here's the part most comparisons skip. Neither of these is the whole coaching business, and each leaves different gaps.

With Podia, most coaches still add:

• A scheduling tool. Podia sells the session, and the booking runs on Calendly, SavvyCal, Acuity or YouCanBookMe. That's another account and another bill for most coaches.
• More email room. With 100 subscribers on Mover and 500 on Shaker, a coach with an existing list will likely pay for extra subscribers or a higher plan.
• Funnel tools, maybe. If your launches depend on multi-step funnels, check whether Podia's landing pages and campaigns cover them before you add a separate tool.

With Kajabi, most coaches still add:

• Video calls, maybe. Kajabi lists built-in live video for coaching, so check it covers your group calls before you keep a separate video tool.
• Room for more programs. Five products on Basic fills up fast once you add a mini course, a call package and a membership.
• Time to set it up. Kajabi's building blocks don't arrange themselves. Plan for real hours on the website, the funnels and the emails.

That's a pile of add-ons on either side, and none of them is a bad choice by itself. The quiet cost is that you become the glue between them: the person copying a new client from one list to another and checking that every login still works.

For my business, I build on ESTAGE, and this site runs on it. ESTAGE is a business hub, a digital headquarters where the website, community, courses and CRM sit together in one place under your brand, with Gen as its AI builder. I'm an ESTAGE Founding Ambassador and earn a commission if you sign up through my links. ESTAGE is in its invitation phase, and it won't suit everyone. If you'd like the plain-language version, here's what ESTAGE is.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Podia cheaper than Kajabi?

On the plan price, yes. Podia Mover is $49 a month, or $42 a month billed annually, while Kajabi Basic is $179 a month, or $143 a month billed annually (checked October 2026). The fair comparison includes fees and limits too: Mover adds a 5% transaction fee and includes 100 email subscribers, while Kajabi Basic has no platform fee and includes 2,500 contacts.

Is Kajabi better than Podia for coaches?

It depends on how you sell. Kajabi suits a coach who sells through email sequences and funnels and wants coaching scheduling inside the platform. Podia suits a coach who wants courses, coaching, a community and a website at a lower monthly price and is happy to connect a calendar tool. Neither is better across the board.

Does Podia charge transaction fees?

On the Mover plan, yes. Podia's FAQ lists a 5% transaction fee on Mover and no Podia fees on Shaker or Earthquaker. On every plan, Stripe or PayPal charges a processing fee, which Podia lists as 2.9% + 30¢ as standard, varying by location (checked October 2026).

Can Podia do coaching and a community?

Yes. Every Podia plan includes coaching and a community. A coaching session is a product that clients pay for in Podia and then book through your connected calendar. The community has spaces, group chats, member messages and paid tiers, and you can bundle it with a course or coaching package.

Does Podia have email marketing?

Yes. Podia Email includes broadcasts and automated campaigns triggered by things like a purchase, a tag or a finished lesson. The limit is the subscriber count: 100 on Mover, 500 on Shaker and 1,000 on Earthquaker, with more available to add (checked October 2026).

Can I move from Kajabi to Podia?

Yes, but plan it as a rebuild. Podia's pricing page says it helps migrate course content, downloads, customer emails and free community and membership subscribers, up to 50 products on Mover and 150 on Shaker and Earthquaker. Paying members usually need to sign up again on the new checkout. My guides on what you can export from Kajabi and moving from Kajabi without losing members walk through it, and my shortlist of Kajabi alternatives covers more of the field.

Join The Community

Picking a platform for your coaching is easier when you can talk it through with coaches who've weighed the same trade-offs. That's what the HubSteady Community is for: comparing setups, checking the real costs, and working out how to stop being the glue between your tools. Bring your shortlist and your questions.

If that sounds useful, Join The Community.