GoHighLevel starts at $97/month with a full CRM, marketing automation, and a basic course builder. Kajabi starts at $143/month with deeper course tools, built-in email, and no usage-based fees. Short answer: GoHighLevel is a CRM platform with courses attached. Kajabi is a course platform with marketing attached. If your business runs on client management and multi-channel outreach, GoHighLevel fits. If courses are the core product, Kajabi's course tools are stronger.
What Does Each Platform Actually Cost?
| GoHighLevel | Kajabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (annual) | Starter: $81/mo | Basic: $143/mo |
| Mid (annual) | Unlimited: $248/mo | Growth: $199/mo |
| Top (annual) | SaaS Pro: $414/mo | Pro: $399/mo |
| Courses | Unlimited (all plans) | 5 / 50 / unlimited |
| Contacts | Unlimited | 2,500 / 25K / 100K |
| Email/SMS billing | Usage-based (on top of plan) | Unlimited email included |
| CRM | Enterprise-grade | Basic contact management |
| Course builder depth | Basic (quizzes, certs, drip) | Deeper (assessments, cohorts) |
| Setup time | 2-4 weeks | 1 day |
| Free trial | 14 days (CC required) | 14 days (CC required) |
Pricing verified March 2026. See our full GoHighLevel pricing breakdown and Kajabi pricing breakdown.
GoHighLevel's usage-based costs add up
GoHighLevel's plan prices don't tell the full story. Email, SMS, and phone calls are all billed separately based on usage:
- Email: $0.675 per 1,000 sends
- SMS: $0.0079 per segment
- Phone calls: $0.014 per minute
For a course creator sending 10,000 emails/month and 500 SMS reminders, that's roughly $11/month on top of the plan fee. For agencies or businesses with heavy communication volumes, usage fees can reach $70-150/month. Kajabi includes unlimited email sends on all plans with no per-message charges.
The real price comparison at $5,000/month revenue
| Platform | Plan + fees | Annual cost |
|---|---|---|
| GoHighLevel Starter | $81 + ~$30 usage | ~$1,332/yr |
| Kajabi Growth | $199 all-inclusive | $2,388/yr |
| Ruzuku Core | $99 all-inclusive | $1,188/yr |
Where Does GoHighLevel Win?
CRM is genuinely enterprise-grade
GoHighLevel's CRM includes custom pipelines, opportunity tracking, appointment scheduling, two-way SMS, phone calls, voicemail drops, and a universal inbox. Kajabi has contact management and tagging, but it's not a CRM. If your business revolves around managing client relationships — tracking leads through a sales process, scheduling calls, and communicating across channels — GoHighLevel is built for that workflow. Kajabi isn't.
Multi-channel marketing automation
Email, SMS, phone calls, voicemail, Facebook Messenger, Google Business Profile — GoHighLevel connects all channels into automated workflows. Kajabi's automation handles email and basic behavioral triggers. If your marketing relies on SMS and phone outreach (common in coaching and service businesses), GoHighLevel's multi-channel approach is a meaningful advantage.
Unlimited contacts on all plans
GoHighLevel doesn't limit contacts. Kajabi Basic caps at 2,500 contacts (including leads, subscribers, and students). For businesses building large contact databases through free resources and lead magnets, GoHighLevel's unlimited contacts remove a ceiling that Kajabi forces you to upgrade to escape.
Lower entry price
GoHighLevel Starter at $81/month (annual) is $62/month cheaper than Kajabi Basic — and includes unlimited courses and contacts. The trade-off is usage-based communication fees and a steeper learning curve.
Where Does Kajabi Win?
Course builder is significantly deeper
Kajabi's course builder includes quizzes, graded assessments, video transcription, and cohort scheduling (Growth plan). GoHighLevel's course builder has quizzes, certificates, and drip content — functional, but reviewers consistently describe the student experience as dated. The mobile experience on GoHighLevel is described as "barely rudimentary," with no native student app. Kajabi's student experience is cleaner and more professional.
No usage-based charges
Kajabi includes unlimited email sends on all plans. You know exactly what you're paying every month. GoHighLevel's usage-based billing introduces variability — your monthly cost changes based on how many emails and SMS messages you send. For course creators who prefer predictable expenses, Kajabi's flat pricing is simpler.
Much faster setup
Most creators go from signup to selling on Kajabi within a day. GoHighLevel's setup typically takes 2-4 weeks to configure CRM pipelines, automation workflows, and integrations. If you want to launch quickly, Kajabi wins by a wide margin. GoHighLevel's power comes with complexity.
Community with gamification
Kajabi includes a community feature with gamification (points, badges, leaderboards). GoHighLevel has a community feature with similar gamification elements, but Kajabi's integration with courses is tighter. Both communities are separate from the course content itself, though.
What Both Platforms Miss
GoHighLevel is built for marketing and client management. Kajabi is built for marketing and courses. Neither is built around the question that matters most for course completion: how do students actually learn?
Who Should Consider GoHighLevel?
- Agencies and service businesses adding courses. If you already use GoHighLevel for CRM and client management, adding courses costs nothing extra — and you don't need another platform.
- Businesses that rely on SMS and phone outreach. GoHighLevel's multi-channel automation (email + SMS + phone + voicemail) is purpose-built for high-touch sales processes.
- Coaches with complex sales pipelines. If you track leads through multi-stage pipelines, schedule discovery calls, and nurture prospects across channels, GoHighLevel's CRM is significantly more capable than Kajabi's contact management.
Who Should Consider Kajabi?
- Course creators who don't need a CRM. If your business is "create courses, sell courses, support students," Kajabi includes everything you need without the complexity overhead of an enterprise CRM.
- Creators who want predictable costs. No usage-based email or SMS fees. One flat monthly price for everything.
- Non-technical creators. Kajabi's setup is dramatically simpler. If you want to be teaching within a day rather than configuring pipelines for a month, Kajabi respects your time.
- Anyone who values the student experience. Kajabi's course player and mobile experience are meaningfully better than GoHighLevel's. Your students will notice the difference.
The Teaching-First Alternative
If you're comparing GoHighLevel and Kajabi for courses, there's a good chance you've been told you need either a powerful CRM or a full marketing suite to succeed. But if your actual work is teaching — if your students need to learn, discuss, and apply what you teach — neither platform is optimized for that.
Ruzuku starts at $99/month with unlimited courses, unlimited students, zero transaction fees, per-lesson discussions, native Zoom integration, and student tech support included. No CRM complexity. No marketing automation overhead. Just the tools you need to teach well and help students succeed.
You can start free and build a course in an afternoon. No credit card required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GoHighLevel cheaper than Kajabi?
At the plan level, yes — $81/month vs $143/month (annual). But GoHighLevel charges usage-based fees for email and SMS on top of the plan price. A course creator with moderate communication volume pays ~$92-111/month total. Kajabi includes unlimited email with no usage fees.
Does GoHighLevel have a course builder?
Yes. All GoHighLevel plans include a course builder with quizzes, certificates, and drip content. The student experience is functional but basic — no native mobile app, and the mobile web experience is described as poor by reviewers. Kajabi's course tools are deeper.
Is GoHighLevel good for course creators?
It's good for course creators who also need CRM and multi-channel marketing. If courses are your primary product, a dedicated course platform offers a better teaching experience at the same or lower price.
Does Kajabi have CRM features?
Kajabi has contact management, tagging, and basic pipeline tracking. But it's not a CRM in the GoHighLevel sense — no appointment scheduling, no SMS/phone outreach, no custom pipeline stages. For full CRM functionality, GoHighLevel is in a different category.
Which is easier to set up?
Kajabi, by far. Most creators launch within a day. GoHighLevel setup typically takes 2-4 weeks to configure CRM, automations, and integrations. GoHighLevel is powerful but has a steeper learning curve.
Related Resources
- How Ruzuku Works — teaching-first features without CRM complexity
- GoHighLevel Pricing Breakdown — usage fees, add-ons, and real-world scenarios
- Kajabi Pricing Breakdown — every plan, surcharge, and feature gate
- Is Kajabi Any Good? (Honest Review)
- Compare All Course Platforms