Why I Switched Back To Kajabi

*** This article contains affiliate links, but I never recommend products I don't actually use (or have used) and think will help you in your business***

Like many others in the digital product and course creation industry, I’ve been looking to cut down on expenses and maximize my profit.

So, it may surprise you to learn that last month, I went back to Kajabi, despite the fact that most people claim it's expensive. This post will take you through 4 reasons why I switched back.

Please read to the end to discover why I think Kajabi is worth every penny. No peeking allowed! In the process, you may find your new favorite platform for building and selling courses.

Enter my handy time travel machine and explore my start in the online business world. It was the year 2019, “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish was on the radio, and I was (unhappily) working as a high school English teacher.

That was the year I knew I had to make a change. I don't remember how, but I heard about this lady named Amy Porterfield (For how many of the rest of you was Amy Porterfield your gateway into the online space?). 

I listened to her podcast intently and thought maybe I could actually create a course, seeing as how I was a teacher and all. So when she launched DCA, I was all in.

I knew I needed an online course hosting platform, and with Amy’s affiliate discount, Kajabi seemed like the way to go. After all, if Amy used it, it had to be good, right?

(Interestingly, Amy has now left Kajabi for Searchie.)

Fast forward a couple years, and my frustrations with Kajabi came to a boiling point.

I felt like it was too expensive for the amount of products I could host. Plus, I was going through a Dark Night of the Soul in my business, which I’ll probably write about in another post. Needless to say, spending money on Kajabi didn’t seem like a good idea considering I didn’t even know if I wanted to have a business anymore. 

So, I switched to a Go High Level solution that was supposed to be an all-in-one software, but everything about it felt hard. 

Trying to design pages and the course area required tons of css, which I’m proud to say I learned, but it still never looked as good as I wanted it to.

The Go High Level company boasted about their excellent support (which was true), but sometimes time is money. Know what I mean? I don’t want to spend hours on support calls trying to figure out basic functionality for my course hosting platform. 

Over time, I realized aesthetics are very important to me. How my course area looks and feels directly impacts my students’ experience and their perception of my brand. The Go High Level solution just didn’t cut it, even with A LOT of customization.

Plus, I was having to duct tape together other tools. 

Accessibility is a value of mine, so I had to invest in Searchie to host my videos so they could have closed captions because the “all-in-one” company didn’t have the ability to upload an srt file.

To include email marketing cost an extra $20/month. For the price, I’d rather use Convertkit. 

Suddenly, this “all-in-one” solution was becoming less so.

One day, I had a “Come to Jesus” moment where I got real with myself and realized I’d been trying way too hard to love the “all-in-one” solution because I liked the company and I enjoyed the ability to host unlimited products, but it wasn’t working for me.

So where to move my course hosting?

I looked at Thrivecart. I really wanted Thrivecart to be THE answer. Listen, if you aren’t making much money in your business, then it’s a fine place to start. The one-time payment almost makes it a no-brainer. In fact, I’ll still host templates and small trainings there, and of course, use it as my cart. Because as carts go, it’s great! I particularly love how robust their affiliate capabilities are. 

But honestly, I hate Thrivecart Learn as a student (and as a former educator, student experience is hugely important to me). It’s hard to navigate and just doesn’t look good (I don’t care how much customizing you do, it still looks janky to me). Maybe one day they’ll improve the course area, but for now, it’s not up to snuff, in my opinion.

Plus, Thrivecart doesn’t host videos, so I’d still have to pay for a video host. And it doesn’t have email marketing capabilities, so I’d still have to pay for an email service provider. 

And Thrivecart doesn’t host websites, blogs, or podcasts, so I’d have to pay for those things too.

I thought about Searchie because my videos were already hosted there, but once again, I don't love the user experience of Searchie as a student. (I DO LOVE IT for video hosting, though!)

I also looked at Systeme.io because a lot of entrepreneurs have been singing its praises, but when I logged into the course area, there were all these spammy marketplace affiliate offers. I’m not sure if that shows up on the student side, but I decided I didn’t want to deal with it.

I considered LearnWorlds, Podia, and Xperiencify, but once again, I didn’t like the student experience of any of those platforms. And for the money, I wondered why I was avoiding just admitting that where I really wanted to be was Kajabi.

I knew what I had to do, so I sucked it up and went back. Once I did the math, I realized that Kajabi is actually cheaper than the “all-in-one” solution combined with all the other software I had to purchase to make it work. And holy heck. It’s been the BEST business decision I’ve made in awhile.

4 Reasons Why I Love Kajabi

Reason #1. It just works

Oh my God. The relief I felt when I logged into my Kajabi dashboard and began building out my courses. It’s so easy to use and customize. With a few clicks of my mouse, I had a gorgeous course area that I’m proud to invite students to.

For me, the limited/confusing features of my previous platform were a constant pain. Kajabi, on the other hand, offers EVERYTHING you need to rock your digital product business (website, email, funnels, payment processing, etc), in a beautiful package and it’s easy to use.

One of my mentors has a brilliant post on their site that explains the intricacies of why you might want to think again before you leave Kajabi better than I could. It's eye-opening!

Reason #2. A financially savvy choice

When I first started using multiple tools for my online course creation and management, I thought I was saving money. However, over time, I realized that the cost of piecing together various tools quickly added up and didn’t provide the seamless experience I wanted for my students. The average cost of these tools was substantial, and the student experience was often disjointed and frustrating.

This article shares how Natalie Ellis switched to Kajabi to simplify, which ultimately helped her scale.

Although I initially thought using separate tools for email marketing, course hosting, and sales funnels would be cheaper, I soon discovered that the hidden costs of time, inefficiency, and poor student experience far outweighed any savings. Kajabi, despite seeming pricier upfront, provides an all-in-one solution that eliminates the need for additional tools and integrations, ultimately saving both money and headaches.

Here's a quick comparison of the costs:

• Convertkit: $49/month for email marketing (Full disclosure: I paid for the yearly plan, so I'm still using Convertkit. Plus, I love it, so I'm not sure if I'll let it go once my subscription is up.)
• Searchie: $49/month for video hosting
• Go High Level: $97/month for course hosting
• Showit: $39/month for website hosting
• Total: $234/month

(And if you add a membership platform, which is built into Kajabi, you'll need add at least another hundred bucks a month. Suddenly, Kajabi is looking very affordable.)

Freebie Time: While I'm at it, I may as well give away my Online Business Marketing Toolkit to share with you my favorite marketing tools.

Click here to download your FREE Online Business Marketing Toolkit now >>

Reason #3. Increased Efficiency

The user-friendly interface of Kajabi means I spend less time figuring out how to do things and more time creating valuable content for my audience. The all-in-one solution provided by Kajabi saves me time and hassle, integrating everything from email marketing (yes, I use Kajabi's email marketing for my events) to course hosting. This increased efficiency is crucial for scaling my business.

Reason #4. Enhanced Student Experience

This is ultimately what made me make the switch. When I thought about my experience as a student, it became an absolute no brainer to switch back to Kajabi because, in my experience, every other platform leaves A LOT to be desired. 

Kajabi offers a seamless and consistent user experience. It’s easy to navigate. With everything integrated into one platform, students can easily navigate through courses, access materials, and communicate with me without any hiccups. The intuitive design and user-friendly interface of Kajabi ensure that my students stay focused on learning rather than dealing with technical difficulties.

Feature #1: Interactive Learning Tools Kajabi provides interactive tools such as quizzes, surveys, and discussion forums, which keep students engaged and allow for a more dynamic learning experience.

Feature #2: Mobile Accessibility With Kajabi's mobile app, students can access courses on the go, ensuring they can learn anytime, anywhere, without being tied to a computer. 

I can’t even begin to articulate how huge this is!

This enhanced student experience not only leads to higher satisfaction and completion rates but also fosters a sense of community and connection among students. When students enjoy their learning experience, they are more likely to recommend my courses to others, leading to increased enrollments and growth for my business.

Some of the features I love the most about Kajabi:

Customization

Kajabi offers a level of customization that I couldn't find with any other platform. From landing pages to email templates, everything looks beautiful and can be tailored to fit my brand perfectly.

Built-In Marketing Tools

Kajabi comes with built-in marketing tools that simplify my marketing efforts. From email marketing campaigns to sales funnels, I can manage and execute all my marketing strategies within the platform. The seamless integration of various tools within Kajabi means I can manage my entire business from one dashboard. It’s so easy to use.

Regular Updates and Improvements

Kajabi consistently releases updates and improvements, adding new features and enhancing existing ones. This commitment to innovation ensures that I always have access to the latest tools and technologies. I will say their checkout and upsell capabilities could use some aesthetic improvements, but luckily Penny In Your Pocket has a fix for that!

With all that being said…

Kajabi's product limits do leave a lot to be desired. I wish the Growth plan offered 50 products and the Pro plan offered unlimited products. That would seriously make Kajabi the undeniable champ of the online course hosting world. And to get advanced customization options, you have to opt for their highest plan, which isn’t practical for most small business owners. However, they recently introduced a $69/month plan that will give you everything you need to sell your first product, and you can upgrade as you grow!

That’s a wrap!

In conclusion, I went back to Kajabi because it offers superior features, better support, increased efficiency, scalability, comprehensive analytics, built-in marketing tools, reliable hosting and security, regular updates, a mobile app, an engaged community, it aesthetically beautiful and well organized on the student side, and it's actually cheaper than my previous solution. Seems like a no-brainer, right? 

If you would also like to make the switch to Kajabi, I am pleased to be able to offer you a free trial with my affiliate link. Click the image below to learn more.

When I first started my business, I had nobody to take me by the hand and honestly tell me the best tools to use.

Allow me to share with you what I’ve found to work. 

Do you have any more questions? I’m available to guide you here. I’m also always happy to jump into the comments section on IG.