Short answer: Kajabi Basic costs $143/month on annual billing and is marketed as the starter plan. The 5-product cap, 2,500-contact limit, and 8 locked features make it function more like a demo tier — most creators outgrow it within 12 months and pay another $56/month to access features the all-in-one marketing implies are included.
For the broader plan-by-plan picture, see the Kajabi review covering all three tiers or the breakdown of the 2025 price increase math by plan and tenure.
What Kajabi Basic Includes
Here's what the $143/month annual ($179 monthly) buys you, taken directly from Kajabi's pricing page.
- 5 products (any combination of courses, coaching, memberships, podcasts, communities, downloads)
- 2,500 contacts (this counts everyone — paid students, free leads, one-time buyers)
- 1 website
- 1 community
- 2 admin users
- Custom domain
- Checkout pages
- AI features
- Unlimited marketing emails
That list looks complete. The thing that makes Basic confusing is what is not on it — features the all-in-one marketing language implies are included but are actually locked.
What Kajabi Basic Locks Out
Eight functionally important features require an upgrade. The first three are the ones most creators are surprised by, because Kajabi's homepage positions all of these as core platform capabilities.
- Affiliates — no affiliate program on Basic. If you want partners or students to promote your course in exchange for a commission, you need Growth ($199/mo) or a third-party tool.
- Advanced automations — Basic supports simple automations, but the tag-based, branched, multi-condition automations that justify the "all-in-one marketing platform" framing require Growth.
- Cohort courses — start-date-driven group programs are Growth-tier functionality. If you run live cohorts, Basic does not support them.
- Webhooks — no webhook support on Basic, which limits integration with external tools.
- Video transcription — auto-generated transcripts for lessons require Growth.
- Remove Kajabi branding — Basic shows Kajabi branding in checkout flows and member areas; Growth removes it.
- Universal inbox — the unified message hub for student communication is Growth-tier.
- Branded mobile app — Pro-only ($499/mo), not Growth. Basic and Growth users get the generic Kajabi Customer App.
The 2,500-Contact Math Most People Miss
The contact cap is the limit that catches creators off guard most often. Two things make it tighter than it sounds.
It counts everyone, not just paying students. Per Kajabi's own help center, contacts include email subscribers from lead magnets, free trial signups, one-time purchasers, and anyone who filled out an opt-in form. If you're running a free PDF download to attract leads, every sign-up counts against your 2,500.
It was 10,000 contacts on Basic before 2025. Kajabi cut the cap by 75% in the same restructuring that eliminated the $89 Kickstarter plan. No corresponding price reduction, no grandfathering for existing customers.
Here's how fast the cap fills under a few realistic scenarios.
| Scenario | Monthly net new contacts | Months to hit 2,500 cap |
|---|---|---|
| Modest lead magnet (no paid ads) | 100 | ~25 months |
| Active newsletter growth | 200 | ~12 months |
| Light paid ad spend | 400 | ~6 months |
| Pre-launch campaign | 800+ | ~3 months |
Note: these scenarios assume zero churn off your contact list, which is unrealistic. Real churn helps, but most creators don't actively prune cold subscribers. Once you hit the cap, Kajabi prompts you to upgrade — there is no free overage tier.
The 5-Product Cap and What Counts as a Product
A "product" in Kajabi includes any course, coaching offer, membership, podcast, community, downloadable digital product, or training. Lead magnets and free opt-in offers also count. This matters because course businesses tend to accumulate products faster than they think.
A representative working business looks like:
- Free lead magnet PDF or mini-course (1 product)
- Paid intro / tripwire offer (1 product)
- Flagship paid course (1 product)
- 1:1 coaching offer (1 product)
- Membership or community (1 product)
That's 5 of 5 used before you've added a second flagship course or a workshop. If you plan to expand your offer ladder, Basic boxes you in.
The Compounding Math: Basic + Surcharges
The $143/month sticker price isn't the full cost. Basic includes the same 0.7% subscription surcharge and 1.5% international card surcharge as the higher tiers, per Kajabi's own help center. For a creator running a $1,000/month membership, that's $7/month in surcharges on the subscription side alone — on top of standard Stripe processing fees.
Add the 2% surcharge that applies if you use your own Stripe instead of Kajabi Payments (Basic-tier rate, dropping to 1% on Growth), and the effective platform cost for a $5,000/month course business on Basic is closer to $250/month than $143.
When Kajabi Basic Genuinely Works
Basic is a defensible long-term plan for a narrow profile:
- Single flagship course (no offer ladder)
- Under 2,500 total contacts including all leads
- One-time purchases only (no subscriptions, no payment plans)
- No affiliates, no cohorts, no advanced automations
- Comfortable with Kajabi branding visible in checkout flows
- Not using webhooks or external tool integrations
If that describes you, Basic works. The plan is real and the features that are included function well. The issue is that this profile fits a small share of working course businesses — and Kajabi's homepage marketing doesn't surface these constraints before you commit.
When the Math Says Upgrade or Switch
The two most common forcing functions:
You need affiliates, cohorts, or advanced automations. Upgrade to Growth at $199/month annual. The +$56/month gap is the real cost of accessing the features Kajabi's marketing copy implies are core platform capabilities. If those features genuinely matter to your business model, Growth is the legitimate starting plan, not Basic.
You're using Basic mostly for course hosting. The math now favors a focused course platform plus a dedicated email tool. A combination of Ruzuku Core at $99/month (unlimited courses, unlimited students, zero transaction fees) plus a $9-29/month email tool like ConvertKit or MailerLite costs less than Basic, removes the contact and product caps, and unlocks features Basic locks out — though you give up the all-in-one marketing automation in exchange. For the broader option set, see our Kajabi alternatives breakdown across 7 platforms.
Bottom Line
Kajabi Basic is priced and positioned as a starter plan. The combination of the 5- product cap, 2,500-contact ceiling, and 8 locked features means it functions for most creators as a 6-12 month onboarding plan before forced upgrade — and the $1,716/year you pay during that window doesn't bank against the eventual Growth bill.
The honest version of Kajabi's plan structure is: Growth ($2,388/year) is where the all-in-one platform actually works as advertised. Basic is where you discover what's missing. If you know you'll need the Growth-tier features, start there. If you don't need them, a focused course platform plus a dedicated email tool typically costs less than Basic and doesn't cap your subscriber list. For scenarios where the Kajabi math still pencils out at any tier, see when Kajabi is worth it in 2026.