GoHighLevel vs Kajabi in 2026: which is better for creators?
GoHighLevel vs Kajabi compared on price, usage fees, courses, email, texting, CRM, and setup. Real prices checked September 2026, plus a simpler third option.
Kajabi is the better pick for most course creators: courses, a website, unlimited email, and a community in one polished product, from $179 a month. GoHighLevel is the better pick if your business runs on leads, texting, calls, and pipelines, or if you run an agency: it does far more, starts at $97 a month, and bills email, texts, and AI by use. Neither takes a cut of sales. If you only need a store, courses, coaching, and booking, Eden does that for $29 a month plus 5%.
Full disclosure: we make Eden, which we cover as a third option at the end. HighLevel's numbers come from its pricing page and help center pricing guide. Kajabi's come from its pricing page and help center. All were checked in September 2026. Card processing (about 2.9% + 30¢ per US sale) applies on both.
GoHighLevel vs Kajabi at a glance
| GoHighLevel | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Starter $97, Unlimited $297, Agency Pro $497 a month | Basic $179, Growth $249, Pro $499 a month |
| Paid yearly | $81, $248, $414 a month | $143, $199, $399 a month |
| Usage fees | Email, texts, calls, phone numbers, AI billed by use | None for email |
| Platform fee | 0% | 0% with Kajabi Payments |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee |
| Contacts | Unlimited | 2,500 on Basic, 25,000 on Growth, 100,000 on Pro |
| Courses | Courses and memberships on every plan | 5 products on Basic, 50 on Growth, unlimited on Pro |
| Community | Yes | 1 on Basic and Growth, 3 on Pro |
| Email marketing | Yes, $0.675 per 1,000 emails | Unlimited on every plan |
| Texting and calls | Built in, billed per use | Limited, US only |
| CRM and pipelines | Full CRM with pipelines and deals | Contacts, tags, and segments |
| Website and funnels | Yes, with custom domains | Yes, with a custom domain |
| Built for | Agencies and local businesses | Course creators and coaches |
The short read: Kajabi is a course business in a box, made to look good with little setup. GoHighLevel is a sales and marketing machine made for agencies, with courses as one part of many.
Price and fees
On sticker price, HighLevel is cheaper: Starter is $82 a month less than Kajabi Basic. But the two bill differently.
- Kajabi includes unlimited marketing email on every plan and takes no cut through Kajabi Payments (2.9% + 30¢ on Basic, less on higher plans). The limit is contacts: Basic stops at 2,500, and more costs extra. If you use a payment provider other than Kajabi Payments, Kajabi adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth, or 0.5% on Pro.
- HighLevel has unlimited contacts, but email costs $0.675 per 1,000, texts about $0.01 each with carrier fees, phone numbers $1.15 a month, and the AI Employee $50 to $97 a month. A creator emailing 5,000 people weekly adds about $13.50 a month in email alone.
For a creator with a list over 2,500 who doesn't text, the two end up closer than the sticker suggests. For a creator who texts leads every day, HighLevel's usage adds up, but Kajabi can't do most of that anyway. The full breakdown is in GoHighLevel pricing.
Courses and the buyer experience
Kajabi wins here. Its course player, branded mobile app, and community are made for students, and the templates look good with little work. Cohort courses arrive on Growth.
HighLevel's courses and communities work, and they're included on every plan without product caps. But they're one tab in a much bigger tool, and making them look polished takes more setup.
Marketing, CRM, and follow-up
HighLevel wins here, by a lot. It has a real CRM with pipelines, two-way texting, calling, a shared inbox across email, SMS, and social DMs, review requests, and a visual workflow builder for follow-ups. If you sell high-ticket coaching through calls and need to chase leads, this is what HighLevel is for.
Kajabi has email broadcasts, sequences, forms, and automations, which cover what most course creators need. It isn't built as a sales CRM with deal stages.
Ease of use
Kajabi is easier. HighLevel is built around agency ideas (sub-accounts, snapshots, workflows), and on Capterra it scores 3.7 out of 5 for ease of use. Expect to spend real time setting it up, or pay someone to do it. Texting in the US also needs a carrier registration (A2P 10DLC) that costs $45 and can take days or weeks.
Which should you pick?
- Pick Kajabi if you sell courses and want a polished, all-in-one course business with unlimited email, and you'll use the website and community.
- Pick GoHighLevel if you sell through calls and follow-up, need texting and a pipeline, or run an agency.
- Pick neither if you mostly need a page that sells, a calendar, and a course, and don't want to pay for a whole suite.
A third option: Eden
Eden is only the parts a creator sells with. You get a page at your handle that doubles as your link in bio, a Stripe checkout, courses, cohorts, memberships, downloads, bundles, and coaching with applications and booking on your Google Calendar. It also sells something neither Kajabi nor HighLevel has: a Custom AI built from your course that answers buyers in your voice.
Where it falls short: no texting, phone, or full CRM, no website builder, and no custom domain. Email is built in but smaller than Kajabi's: broadcasts with 250 contacts on Starter, and a bigger list is a paid list size from $15 a month. Sequences and checkout recovery, upsells, affiliates, and ad pixels are on Pro. See email marketing.
Price: free to build, $29 a month to sell (Pro $79), plus 5% per sale. Against Kajabi Basic, Eden costs less until about $3,000 a month in sales. Against HighLevel Starter, until about $1,360 a month, before HighLevel's usage.
Frequently asked questions
Is GoHighLevel cheaper than Kajabi?
On the plan price, yes: $97 a month against $179. But HighLevel bills email, texts, calls, and AI by use, while Kajabi includes unlimited email. Kajabi caps contacts at 2,500 on Basic; HighLevel doesn't cap them.
Can GoHighLevel replace Kajabi?
For most features, yes: HighLevel has courses, memberships, communities, websites, funnels, and email. What you give up is Kajabi's polish and simpler setup. What you gain is a CRM, texting, calling, and more automation.
Is Kajabi or GoHighLevel better for coaches?
For coaches who sell through calls and follow-up, HighLevel's CRM and texting fit better. For coaches who sell a course or program and want it to look great, Kajabi is easier. For a solo coach who wants booking, applications, and a course without a suite, see GoHighLevel for coaches.
Can I use GoHighLevel and Kajabi together?
Yes, and some creators do: Kajabi for the course and HighLevel for leads and texting, connected through Zapier or webhooks. That means paying for both. Eden connects to GoHighLevel directly, so buyers and signups land there as tagged contacts with no extra tool.
Want only the store, the calendar, and the course? Start Eden free and publish when you're ready.