Everything Kajabi does. On WordPress, at a fraction of the cost.
Masteriyo gives you everything Kajabi does, plus AI course creation, native payments, and multi-currency pricing. No add-ons to buy, no weekends lost to plugin glue. Import your Kajabi courses in a single click.
Why make the move
Three reasons creators leave Kajabi for Masteriyo.
Kajabi is a polished hosted platform with a strong brand among course creators. But the pricing is steep ($1,716 to $4,788 per year), processing fees apply, and your courses, members, and order data live on someone else’s servers. Here is what a move to Masteriyo changes.
Bundled, not nickel-and-dimed.
Native payments, subscriptions, multi-currency, certificates, bundles, coupons, gradebook, and reviews are built in. No WooCommerce bridge, no per-feature add-ons, no annual stack to babysit.
One plugin, not a stack.
A typical Kajabi production install carries eight to twelve plugins working together. Masteriyo lives in a single codebase, so updates land together and the pieces are designed to fit.
AI course creation, on every plan.
Turn “yoga for beginners” into a 6-module syllabus, lesson drafts, and a quiz in seconds. Available on every Masteriyo plan, including the free version on WordPress.org.
The comparison
Masteriyo vs Kajabi, feature by feature.
Each row shows the lowest plan that includes the feature on each side.
1. Pricing & access
Masteriyo prices shown above are introductory; renewal is $199 / $299 / $799, same as the strikethrough.
2. Course creation & content
3. AI features
4. Selling & payments
5. Student experience
6. Reporting & admin
7. Marketing & integrations
8. Support
Prices and feature inclusions verified April 2026 against kajabi.com and staging.masteriyo.com. Kajabi sells discount bundles (Professional Suite, Ultimate Course Creator) that lower per-add-on cost. See the math section below for total cost over 3 years either way.
Run the numbers
What a switch saves you over 3 years.
Two ways to read this. The plugin-licence-alone comparison shows the headline gap, which is dramatic for any hosted SaaS comparison. The realistic stack comparison adds processing fees that Kajabi charges and Masteriyo does not.
Plugin licence alone, over 3 years
Masteriyo Basic, Masteriyo Pro, Kajabi Basic, and Kajabi Growth.
Masteriyo prices factor in year 1 introductory pricing plus 2 years at renewal.
Professional stack, over 3 years
Masteriyo Pro at $149/year intro vs Kajabi Pro at $4,788/year (billed annually).
Masteriyo Pro 3-year cost: $747 ($149 intro + $299 + $299). Kajabi Pro 3-year cost: $14,364 ($4,788/year × 3). Net savings with Masteriyo Pro: roughly $13,617 over 3 years for similar course delivery coverage. Plus Kajabi adds processing fees on every transaction; Masteriyo charges 0%. years.
Kajabi pricing verified April 2026 against kajabi.com/pricing. Basic $143/mo annual ($1,716/yr, 1 website), Growth $199/mo annual ($2,388/yr, 1 website), Pro $399/mo annual ($4,788/yr, 3 websites). Processing fees apply on Kajabi transactions; Masteriyo charges 0% transaction fees.
Look closer
What a move to Masteriyo actually changes.
The table tells you the “what.” Here’s the “why it matters.”
~90% lower cost.
You own your data.
No transaction fees.
Honest comparison
Kajabi is a serious product. Here is where it still wins.
We respect Kajabi. It is one of the most polished hosted platforms for course creators, and there are specific cases where Kajabi is genuinely the better fit.
If you want zero technical setup.
Kajabi is hosted: no WordPress to install, no theme to choose, no plugin updates to apply, no hosting to configure. You sign up and start. Masteriyo runs on WordPress, which means you (or your team) handle hosting, themes, and updates. If you want to skip the technical layer entirely and the higher monthly cost is worth that to you, Kajabi delivers exactly that.
If you want all marketing tools in one platform.
Kajabi bundles email marketing automation, sales funnels, landing pages, community forums, and a CRM into the same platform as your courses. Masteriyo focuses on the LMS — you would pair it with Mailchimp, Brevo, ConvertKit, or similar for marketing (native integrations included on Pro). If you specifically want the entire marketing stack consolidated under one vendor with one bill, Kajabi is built for that.
If you want a polished mobile app for learners.
Kajabi includes a branded learner mobile app for iOS and Android — students download an app and access your courses there. Masteriyo is responsive on mobile but does not ship a dedicated app today. If a native mobile experience is core to your offer, Kajabi has the edge.
Two more things worth knowing. Kajabi Cloud is a managed-hosting option, handy if you don’t want to think about WordPress hosting at all. And Kajabi’s ProPanel analytics is more sophisticated than Masteriyo’s dashboard if you need custom multi-dashboard reports. These aren’t reasons most creators stay with Kajabi, but they’re fair points.
Creator voices
Creators made the switch and didn’t look back.
Real public reviews from WordPress.org and G2. No bought testimonials, no paid creators. 4.8★ average across 165+ reviews.
“While most people gravitate toward big names like TutorLMS, Kajabi, or LifterLMS, Masteriyo is a true dark horse — lesser known, but just as powerful, if not more so. If you’re looking for an LMS plugin that delivers quality without the bloat, Masteriyo is absolutely worth your attention.”
“As a non-techie teacher, I tried Kajabi, LifterLMS, MasterStudy, and Tutor LMS, but I faced issues with all of them and there was no support. By Masteriyo I finally did it with the help of the easy setup and the ready websites, and I’m very happy now. This LMS has almost everything necessary for online course websites.”
“The price and value for money was a great incentive. I made use of the free plan option without all sorts of conditions first. This made it possible for me and my assistant to get a proper feel for Masteriyo. I also got prompt replies to questions that I had along the way before I decided to upgrade to the first-level Pro plan. Very easy to use and easy to implement. Lots of features, and integration also super easy.”
FAQ
The questions switchers actually ask.
What do I lose by leaving Kajabi?
Is Masteriyo really feature-for-feature comparable?
How much will I actually save?
What if I want to come back to Kajabi?
Is there a free version?
Everything Kajabi gives you. Plus AI, payments, and one plugin instead of a stack.
Join 5,000+ creators who run their course business on Masteriyo.