The Kajabi alternative for paid ads
Kajabi hosts the course, the community and the app your students log into. ElasticFunnels is built for selling the course on paid traffic: split tests under one URL, checkout across your MIDs, and every sale tied back to the ad. Here is how they compare, sourced from Kajabi's public pages.
Comparing more options? See other Kajabi alternatives, ranked.
| At a glance | Kajabi | ElasticFunnels |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Kajabi Basic: $179 a month | ElasticFunnels Starter: $97 a month |
| Free trial | Up to 14 days, with a card authorization hold. | 14 days. |
| Split tests | Kajabi tests landing pages only. Checkout and sales-page tests not publicly stated. | Any page, checkout included, under one URL. |
| Processing | Kajabi Payments or Stripe per offer, "not both". Third-party processors add a fee on Basic and Growth. | Stripe, NMI, PayPal, Klarna and Authorize.net, with NMI MIDs routed by your rules. |
| Verdict | Built to host courses, communities and a branded app. | Pick ElasticFunnels to sell the course on paid ads and through affiliates you pay from a portal. |
Sell the course on paid ads, not just host it
Kajabi is at its best after the purchase. ElasticFunnels is built for everything before it.
Kajabi's A/B tests cover landing pages, and a test "cannot be canceled once the test has started". On each offer you use Kajabi Payments or Stripe, "not both", and a third-party processor adds a fee on Basic and Growth.
ElasticFunnels tests the webinar page, the VSL, the checkout and the upsell under one URL, and picks the winner on sales. At checkout, orders spread across your merchant accounts.
Every enrollment is tied to its ad and page variant, and the sale posts back server-side to Meta, Google Ads and TikTok. See funnels for course creators.
Kajabi vs ElasticFunnels side by side
Where Kajabi does not publicly state a capability, we say so.
| Kajabi | ElasticFunnels | |
|---|---|---|
| A/B split tests | Kajabi tests landing pages only. Visitors are "randomly assigned" to one of two pages, for 1 hour to 30 days. Shared URL not publicly stated. | YesVariants rotate server-side under one URL, so Meta, Google and TikTok keep their learning. Winners are picked on sales. |
| Routing by UTM, country or device | Not publicly stated | YesRoute visitors by UTM, country, device, affiliate or any query parameter, on the same URL. |
| Page and funnel builder | Yes. Kajabi's website, landing pages and funnels (Pipelines), unlimited on all plans. | YesPages, funnels, quizzes and popups, with reusable components and pages as code. |
| AI assistant | Yes. Kajabi's Cofounder, with 0, 500 or 1,000 AI credits by plan. | YesBuilds any page you describe, from VSLs and advertorials to quizzes and checkouts. Or paste a URL and the AI clones it into an editable page. |
| Order bumps | Yes, processed as a separate transaction from the offer. | YesOrder bumps on the checkout, then one-click upsells and downsells after it. |
| One-click upsells and downsells | Yes. Kajabi allows up to 10 per offer, charged to the same payment method. | YesOne-click upsells and downsells charge the saved card, with no second form. |
| Subscriptions and dunning | Yes. Kajabi Payments Smart Retries try "up to 4 times over the course of several weeks". | YesSubscriptions and rebills live on the same customer record as the first order. |
| Payment processors | Kajabi Payments, Stripe and PayPal. One of Kajabi Payments or Stripe per offer. | YesStripe, NMI, PayPal, Klarna and Authorize.net, plus Shop Pay. Connect as many merchant accounts as you run. |
| Routing across merchant accounts | Not publicly stated | YesWeighted across your NMI MIDs, filtered by card brand, product and amount, with a daily cap per MID. The load balancing report breaks out sales, revenue and refunds per MID. On every plan, with no routing fee. |
| CRM | Partial. Contacts, inbox and automations. Pipelines or custom objects not publicly stated. | YesCustom entities, fields, pipelines and stages, not just a contact list. |
| Email marketing | Yes. Kajabi includes unlimited marketing emails on every plan. | YesEmails start from your order data: a customer enters or leaves a saved audience (bought X but not Y, refunded, top spenders) or matches a live audience on your page. First time only or at most once per gap you set, with an optional holdout. Sent through your own SMTP, Amazon SES, Postmark, SendGrid, Mailgun, Brevo, Resend or Mailrelay, with unsubscribes handled. Newsletters go out from Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp, kept in step with your audiences. |
| Affiliate program | Yes, on Kajabi's Growth and Pro plans. Affiliates are paid manually. | YesRun your own affiliate program, and take BuyGoods, ClickBank and Digistore24 orders by postback. |
| Call center | Partial. Invoices through Kajabi Payments. Agent order entry not publicly stated. | YesAgent queue, screen pop, dispositions, do-not-call list and agent commissions, with phone orders on the customer record. On every plan. |
| Server-side conversions | Partial. Meta Conversions API. Google and TikTok server-side not publicly stated. | YesThe sale posts back server-side to Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit and more. |
| Sale-level attribution | Not publicly stated | YesEvery order is tied to its ad, UTM and page variant. Build dashboards from 80+ card types. |
| API and developer access | Partial. Kajabi has a public API on Pro, and webhooks on Growth and Pro. | YesREST API, the ef CLI, server-side scripts on any page and an MCP server for AI agents. |
| AI coding agents and CLI | Yes. An official MCP server lets Claude, Claude Code or Cursor edit landing pages. A CLI is not publicly stated. | YesClaude Code or Codex can build pages, launch split tests and read the results through the ef CLI. ef mcp connects Claude Desktop. |
| Courses, community and mobile app | Yes. Kajabi's core product, with a branded mobile app on Pro. | PartialCourse and membership areas on every plan. No community or branded app. |
How we source this. Every Kajabi cell is taken from their own public site or documentation, last checked on 19 October 2026 at kajabi.com and help.kajabi.com. Where they do not publicly state a capability we say so, rather than claiming they lack it. If anything here is out of date, email [email protected] and we will correct it. Kajabi is a trademark of its owner. ElasticFunnels is not affiliated with it.
Kajabi pricing vs ElasticFunnels pricing
Kajabi prices by products, contacts and admin users. ElasticFunnels prices by traffic.
Kajabi
Metered on products, contacts and admin users
- Kajabi Basic$179 a month, 5 products, 2,500 contacts
- Kajabi Growth$249 a month, 50 products, 25,000 contacts
- Kajabi Pro$499 a month, unlimited products, 100,000 contacts
- Kajabi annual billing$143, $199 and $399 a month
- Kajabi Payments2.9% to 2.7% + $0.30 by plan
- Kajabi third-party processor fee2%, 1% or 0.5% by plan
- Kajabi trialUp to 14 days
ElasticFunnels
Metered on page views
- ElasticFunnels Starter$97 a month, 50,000 page views, 3 brands
- ElasticFunnels Growth$197 a month, 250,000 page views, 10 brands
- ElasticFunnels Scale$497 a month, 500,000 page views, unlimited brands
- ElasticFunnels EnterpriseCustom terms, on request
- Checkout fee0.5% on EF-run gateways only
- Free trial14 days
Kajabi charges more per plan and caps contacts. Extra contacts come in blocks of 25,000 at $125 a month, and a third-party processor adds a fee on every sale below Pro. ElasticFunnels caps page views and brands, and charges 0.5% only on orders through an EF-run gateway. See every plan on the pricing page.
Why Kajabi sellers on ads move on
Four numbers from Kajabi's own pricing and help pages.
Source: Kajabi's pricing page, checked 12 Oct 2026
Source: Kajabi's pricing page, checked 12 Oct 2026
Source: Kajabi's pricing page and help center, checked 12 Oct 2026
Source: Kajabi's help center, checked 12 Oct 2026
- Plan price
- Every feature on every plan
- Contacts
- Not counted in any plan
- Fee on sales
- 0.5% on EF-run gateways only
- Split tests
- Any page, checkout included
- Upsells in Meta
- Each one sent by Conversions API
- Learning it
- Step-by-step Academy tutorials
Where the fee gap closes. On Kajabi Pro the third-party fee drops to 0.5%. ElasticFunnels charges 0.5% on every plan, and nothing on orders that come in from ClickBank, BuyGoods or Digistore24. See split testing and one-click upsells.
What Kajabi is built for
Kajabi is made as a home for the course and its students.
Courses, community and a branded app
Courses, communities, cohorts and a customer app, with your own branded mobile app on Pro.
Unlimited email and funnels
Unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels on every plan.
ElasticFunnels sells the course, and Kajabi can still host it. Run the webinar, the VSL and the checkout in ElasticFunnels, and deliver the lessons where your students already log in.
Which one is for you
Hosting a course and selling it on ads are separate jobs.
Kajabi is built for
Course and community businesses that sell mostly to their own audience and email list, with content and students in one login.
Pick ElasticFunnels if
You sell the course with paid ads and every point of conversion matters. Test the webinar, VSL and checkout under one URL, route payments across your MIDs and see which ad sold each seat. Start with the 14-day free trial.
How to switch from Kajabi
Many course sellers keep Kajabi for delivery and move the selling.
Clone your sales pages.
Paste each Kajabi landing or sales page URL into the AI builder and get an editable ElasticFunnels page back.
Rebuild the checkout and upsells.
Connect Stripe, NMI, PayPal, Klarna and Authorize.net and add bumps and upsells. MID routing rules run on NMI.
Hand the buyer to delivery.
Grant access through an integration or the API, then point one ad at the new funnel and compare it on sales.
Bring the course funnel you run on Kajabi.
Book a demo and bring the funnel you run on Kajabi today, with the ads behind it. We will walk through how the same funnel runs on ElasticFunnels: split tests under one URL, routing across your MIDs, and the sale posted back to the ad.
Kajabi alternative FAQ
Is ElasticFunnels a Kajabi alternative?
For selling a course on paid traffic, yes. Kajabi is a course, community and email platform. ElasticFunnels is built for the funnel: split tests under one URL, checkout with MID routing and attribution to the ad.
How much does Kajabi cost?
Kajabi starts at $179 a month on Basic, then Growth and Pro, with lower prices on annual billing. Kajabi Payments charges processing, and third-party processors add a fee below Pro. ElasticFunnels starts at $97 a month.
Can Kajabi split test checkout pages?
Kajabi documents A/B tests for landing pages. Split testing checkout or sales pages is not publicly stated. ElasticFunnels tests any page, the checkout included, under one URL.
Can I keep Kajabi for my course?
Yes. Run the funnel and checkout on ElasticFunnels and grant access in Kajabi through an integration or its API, so students keep the same login.
Does Kajabi send server-side conversions?
Kajabi sends purchase events to the Meta Conversions API. Google and TikTok server-side events are not publicly stated. ElasticFunnels posts the sale server-side to Meta, Google Ads, TikTok and more.
What are the downsides of Kajabi?
For selling on paid ads, three come up most. Basic costs $179 a month with 2,500 contacts after the January 2026 price change, third-party processors carry a 2% fee on Basic and 1% on Growth, and A/B tests cover landing pages only. ElasticFunnels has every feature on every plan, charges 0.5% on orders through an EF-run gateway, and tests any page under one URL.
Does Kajabi take a percentage of sales?
Kajabi takes no revenue share, but sales through a third-party processor such as Stripe carry a fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Growth and a half percent on Pro. Kajabi Payments charges card processing instead. ElasticFunnels charges 0.5% on orders through an EF-run gateway on every plan, and nothing on hosted networks such as ClickBank.
Is Kajabi worth the money?
For hosting courses, a community and a branded app, it is built for exactly that job. If you sell the course on paid ads, most of what you pay for is the funnel and the checkout. There, ElasticFunnels gives you split tests on every page, one-click upsells and each sale tied to its ad, from $97 a month.
Does Kajabi track upsells in Meta Ads?
Kajabi's Meta pixel guide says the Purchase event fires on the first page after checkout and does not fire again on later pages. ElasticFunnels' Meta Conversions API integration sends the purchase and each upsell as separate server-side events.
Other comparisons
Every comparison is sourced from the vendor's own pages and dated.
Comparing more options? Every tool on the list, and who each one suits.
ClickFunnels alternative
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Kartra alternative
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SamCart alternative
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ThriveCart alternative
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Systeme.io alternative
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All comparisons
Every ElasticFunnels comparison, sourced, dated and corrected when a vendor ships something new.