Kajabi is the platform coaches hear about most when they decide they need an all-in-one tool. It handles courses, a website builder, email marketing, memberships, and a checkout system — and it does all of it reasonably well. For a coach whose primary business is built around digital products and course launches, it makes sense.
The problem for most coaching practices: Kajabi starts at $149/month, and the plan where all the meaningful features work properly is $399/month. It was built for content creators monetising audiences, not for coaches who run live sessions with clients. The booking experience is basic. There's no real cancellation policy, no credit system for missed appointments, no session package tracking. And the aesthetic — polished, promotional, influencer-coded — doesn't always suit practitioners who want to look professional rather than promotional.
Here are five alternatives worth comparing, with honest assessments of what each does well and where it falls short.
Why coaches look for Kajabi alternatives
The most common reasons coaches evaluate alternatives fall into three categories.
Cost. At $149–$399/month, Kajabi is priced for a business generating significant revenue from digital products. A coach earning $3–5K/month from sessions is paying a large share of their profit margin for features they're not using — email marketing, website builder, affiliate programs, pipeline funnels. The price-to-value calculation only makes sense if you're using most of the platform.
It wasn't built for session-based practices. Kajabi's booking features are rudimentary. You can create a "coaching" product that lets clients buy sessions, but there's no cancellation policy enforcement, no credit system for late cancellations, no package tracking, and no client history. Coaches who run their practice around sessions — not just courses — hit these gaps quickly.
Complexity. Kajabi is a powerful tool that requires real setup time. Pipelines, automations, sequences, membership sites — the platform rewards investment but punishes practitioners who want to get a professional practice live in an afternoon.
Teachable — best pure course platform
Teachable is one of the most popular course platforms and for good reason: the course builder is clean, video hosting is included, and the student experience is well-designed. At $39–$119/month, it's significantly cheaper than Kajabi at similar course capability levels.
Where it falls short for coaching practices: Teachable does one thing — courses. There's no booking system, no 1:1 session management, no cancellation policy, no client records. Coaches using Teachable for courses still need Calendly for booking, a separate payment system for sessions, and something else for their public presence. The result is the fragmented stack that most coaches are trying to escape. We cover this problem in detail in our post on running your coaching business from one link.
Best for: Coaches whose entire business is courses and digital products with no live session component. If you're running a purely content-based business, Teachable at $39/month is hard to beat.
Thinkific — clean UX, similar limitations
Thinkific is Teachable's closest competitor and a genuine alternative at a similar price point ($36–$149/month). The course builder is clean, there are no transaction fees on any plan, and the student experience is well-regarded. For straightforward online courses, it's a solid choice.
The gaps are nearly identical to Teachable: no booking, no session management, no cancellation policy. Coaches end up with the same fragmented stack — Thinkific for courses, Calendly for booking, something else for digital products. The question of what to actually look for in coaching software is worth answering before choosing between these two — they solve the same narrow problem and leave the same gaps.
Best for: Coaches who prefer Thinkific's UX or pricing and are building a course-only business.
Podia — simpler and cheaper all-in-one
Podia positions itself as a simpler, more affordable alternative to Kajabi. At $33–$89/month, it covers courses, digital downloads, memberships, and a basic coaching product (essentially a booking page). It's easier to set up than Kajabi and less expensive.
The coaching product in Podia is limited: you can offer a coaching package as a purchase, but there's no sophisticated booking management, no cancellation enforcement, no credit system. It's best understood as a digital products platform with a basic coaching add-on — not purpose-built practice management software.
Best for: Coaches who want a simpler, more affordable alternative to Kajabi for courses and digital products, with basic coaching package selling on top. Not suited to practices built around live sessions.
Stan.store — built for creators, not practitioners
Stan.store is a link-in-bio tool with creator monetisation features: digital products, courses, bookings, and a simple one-page storefront. It's cheaper than Kajabi ($29–$99/month) and faster to set up. For content creators selling to an audience they've built on social media, it works well.
For coaches running a private practice, the gaps are significant. There's no cancellation policy enforcement, no credit system for missed sessions, no client history, and no real practice management infrastructure. It was designed for influencer monetisation — selling to followers — not for managing ongoing client relationships. The professional aesthetic also skews toward creator/influencer rather than the credentialed practitioner look.
Best for: Coaches who are primarily content creators building an audience, where sessions are a secondary offer sold to followers rather than the core of the business.
Merkora — built for practitioners with sessions
Merkora was built specifically for the use case Kajabi and course platforms weren't designed for: a coach in private practice who runs sessions as their primary work, wants courses and digital products alongside them, and needs real practice management infrastructure — cancellation policies, session packages, client history, credit systems — not just a course builder with a booking bolt-on.
On a single professional page at yourname.merkora.app, clients can book 1:1 sessions (with cancellation policy enforced automatically), purchase session packages, enroll in courses, download digital products, and register for live group programs. Everything lives in one place. The client has one account. You have one dashboard.
Where it's still growing: as a newer platform, the depth of email marketing automation and community features is less developed than Kajabi's. If sophisticated email sequences and large membership communities are central to your business model, that's a real consideration.
Best for: Coaches in private practice who run sessions as their primary offer, want courses and digital products alongside them, and need the full practice management stack — not just a course platform with basic booking added on.
Which alternative is right for you
The honest answer depends on what your business actually is:
- Courses are your primary business, sessions are secondary → Teachable or Thinkific. Much cheaper than Kajabi for the same course capability.
- You want a simpler, cheaper Kajabi for a content business → Podia is worth looking at.
- You're primarily a creator selling to a social audience → Stan.store is built for that.
- Sessions are your primary work, and you want courses alongside them→ Merkora was built for this.
Most coaches switching away from Kajabi are doing so because they're paying for a content creator platform but running a session-based practice. The right alternative isn't a cheaper version of Kajabi — it's coaching software built around the actual model of your business.
Merkora was built specifically for coaches and therapists in private practice. If you're evaluating alternatives to Kajabi and sessions are central to what you do, it's worth a look.