Here is the number almost nobody running a course business has actually calculated: 7.5%.

That is what Teachable's entry-level Starter plan charges on every sale, alongside limits of 5 products and 100 students. It's invisible on a $39 monthly invoice. It is very visible at $3,000 a month in sales.

A 2026 fee-and-feature breakdown from AI Funnel Insider finally put a line in the sand. The breakeven, it concludes, sits at roughly $1,520 a month in course revenue — above that line, Kajabi's zero transaction fees make it cheaper despite the higher sticker price. Its short version: Kajabi starts at $71/month with zero transaction fees, Teachable starts at $29/month on annual billing but takes 7.5% of every sale on its cheapest plan, and at $1,520/month Kajabi becomes cheaper.

The reviews don't agree, which is the point

SkillScouter ran the same exercise and landed somewhere else. It puts the tipping point at roughly $1,200 in monthly sales, after which Teachable's 7.5% fee costs more than simply upgrading to the Builder plan, which drops the platform fee to zero.

The gap isn't sloppiness. It's which plans you line up. SkillScouter compares Teachable's $39 Starter against a $179 Kajabi entry point, while AI Funnel Insider prices Kajabi's newer 2026 Starter tier at $71/month, below Basic at $143.

Pricing also moved under everyone's feet this year. Kajabi raised prices in January 2026, its first increase in ten years: Basic went from $149 to $179/month, with contacts on Basic dropping from 10,000 to 2,500, while Teachable removed its free plan in 2025 and rebuilt its lineup as Starter, Builder, Growth and Advanced.

The asterisk on "zero transaction fees"

Kajabi's pitch is that it never takes a cut. Read closer. Kourses notes Kajabi charges a 0.5–2% surcharge when you use your own Stripe account. Ruzuku's version of the math: at $10,000/month in revenue with your own Stripe on Kajabi Basic, that's $200/month in surcharges on top of standard processing.

And the real decision for most coaches isn't Kajabi versus Teachable at all. It's Teachable versus Teachable. Builder — 0% fee, 1,000 active students, 10 products — runs $89/month, or $69 billed annually. At $2,000 a month in sales, a 7.5% fee is $150 before you've paid for anything else.

Run it on your own numbers

Take last month's gross course revenue. Multiply by your platform's fee percentage. Compare that figure to the monthly cost of the next tier up. If the fee is bigger, you're donating money to stay on the cheap plan.

Community sellers have a parallel version of this. Skool charges a flat $99/month with no tiers and no annual discount, with every feature from day one and no transaction fees beyond standard payment processing. ProductsVerdict's 2026 review draws its own line: above roughly 30 paying members at any price point, the flat fee beats the tiered alternatives.

One caveat worth carrying into all of this. These comparisons are monetised. ProductsVerdict discloses that it may earn commissions from partner links, saying it does not affect ratings. The verdicts are opinions. The arithmetic isn't.

Your Stripe statement already knows the answer.