Learnomy vs Kajabi
Own your academy. Stop renting it.
Kajabi is an all-in-one SaaS at $149-$399 per month. Learnomy is a self-hosted WordPress LMS from $104 per year. One has you renting access to your own course business. The other puts the database on your server.
Learnomy Pro
$104/yr
Self-hosted. You own the data.
Kajabi Basic
$149/mo
Hosted SaaS. Their servers.
Platform fee
0%
Learnomy takes nothing per sale.
The short version
Two different bets on your course business
Kajabi is a genuinely good product. It bundles courses, email marketing, funnels, automations, and a website builder into one subscription so you never have to assemble anything. The tradeoff is a monthly bill that starts at $149 and your student data living on Kajabi's servers.
Learnomy runs on the WordPress site you already own. Courses, quizzes, certificates, and payments are all built in. You pair it with whichever email or CRM tool you already use. Your students' data is in your own database from day one. And your annual Pro bill is less than one month on Kajabi's entry plan.
Side by side
Learnomy vs Kajabi
Kajabi pricing and feature details reflect publicly available information as of mid-2026 and may change. Verify at kajabi.com before deciding.
| Criteria | Learnomy Self-hosted WordPress | Kajabi Hosted SaaS |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free + Pro from $104/yr One-time annual fee. No monthly bill. | ~$149-$399/month Billed annually; higher tiers for more products and contacts. |
| Hosting and ownership | Self-hosted WordPress Runs on your server. You own the infrastructure. | Hosted SaaS Kajabi hosts everything. You access your site through their platform. |
| Platform fee per sale | None Processor fees only (Stripe / PayPal direct). | Varies by plan Transaction fee on lower tiers; higher plans reduce or eliminate it. |
| Built-in email and marketing automation | Use any WordPress tool Connect FluentCRM, Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or any email plugin. | Yes, strong - bundled Email sequences, automations, funnels, and broadcasts built in. |
| Who owns your data and list | You All data in your own WordPress database. Exportable any time. | The platform Data lives on Kajabi servers. You export when you leave. |
| Customization | Full WordPress Any theme, plugin, or custom PHP. Templates are overridable. | Template-based Custom domain and CSS; limited beyond their component system. |
| Courses, quizzes, certificates, memberships | Yes, built-in + verified certs 6-11 quiz types, Open Badges, certificate verification URL. | Yes, hosted Courses and community modules; quiz and certificate depth varies. |
Kajabi details reflect typical plan defaults and may differ by tier. Check kajabi.com for current pricing.
Why creators move
Four reasons people switch from Kajabi to Learnomy
01
Stop paying $150-$400 every month
Kajabi bills monthly. Learnomy Pro costs less per year than one month on Kajabi's Basic plan. On a $149 course at 30 sales a month, the difference in platform costs compounds fast.
02
Your student list belongs to you
Every email address, every enrollment, every piece of progress data is in your own WordPress database. No export negotiations, no API rate limits on your own data, no dependency on Kajabi's servers staying up.
03
Full WordPress, not a walled template editor
Learnomy runs on any WordPress theme. Every lifecycle hook is exposed. You can add a custom checkout, a custom certificate, or a custom REST endpoint without building on a closed platform.
04
Deep LMS features without the SaaS price
Six question types and five quiz players in Free. Verified certificates with Open Badges. Instructor revenue sharing. 166 REST endpoints. Cohorts and learning paths in Pro. None of this requires a $400/month plan.
Honest assessment
Where Kajabi is the better choice
Learnomy is not the right tool for every situation. Here is where Kajabi has a genuine advantage.
Turnkey email marketing and funnels in one place
Kajabi includes email sequences, automations, broadcast emails, and funnel builders as first-class features. Everything connects to your course enrollments without any configuration. If you want sophisticated email marketing built into the same tool as your courses with zero assembly, Kajabi is genuinely better than pairing Learnomy with a separate email plugin.
Zero server responsibility
Kajabi handles hosting, backups, uptime, and all infrastructure. If you have no WordPress site and no interest in managing servers, Kajabi removes that layer entirely. Learnomy requires WordPress hosting - typically managed and low-maintenance, but still your responsibility.
One tool, one login, one bill
Kajabi replaces your website, email tool, course platform, and funnel builder with one subscription. If you want minimal moving parts and are comfortable with the monthly cost, consolidation has real value.
If you already have a WordPress site, want to own your student list, and are not building a sophisticated email funnel from day one, Learnomy is likely the better call.
What you get
A complete LMS on your WordPress site, from day one
Free includes everything to run a real academy. Pro adds what growing operations need - at a fraction of Kajabi's monthly cost.
Unlimited courses and students
No cap, no seat fee, no per-course charge. Grow without watching a tier limit.
Built-in Stripe and PayPal
Direct checkout with no WooCommerce required. One-time and recurring memberships.
Quizzes and auto-grading
Six question types, five player templates, partial credit, and an essay grading inbox.
Certificates with verification
Auto-issue on completion. Permanent public URL, QR code, PDF download, Open Badges.
166 REST API endpoints
Every data type accessible over learnomy/v1 with JWT auth. No rate limits on your own data.
GDPR export and erase
Full compliance tools built in. Your data, your server, your responsibility.
Pro adds cohorts, learning paths, content drip, advanced analytics, Stripe Connect, instructor revenue sharing, and 16 more modules - from $104/year.
Learnomy vs Kajabi: common questions
How much does Learnomy cost compared to Kajabi?
Learnomy Free is free forever. Learnomy Pro starts at $104 per year for one site. Kajabi plans run roughly $149 to $399 per month, billed annually. On a Pro Personal plan you pay about the same in one month on Kajabi as you do for an entire year on Learnomy Pro.
Does Learnomy take a percentage of each sale like Kajabi?
No. Learnomy takes zero cut of any sale. You pay the standard processor rate directly to Stripe or PayPal and nothing else. There is no additional platform fee on top of that.
Who owns my student data and email list?
With Learnomy, all student data, course progress, purchase history, and email addresses are stored in your own WordPress database on your own server. You can query, export, or migrate them at any time with no negotiation. With Kajabi, that data lives on Kajabi servers.
Is Kajabi better for marketing automation?
Yes, honestly. Kajabi bundles email marketing, funnels, automations, and a website builder into one platform with no assembly required. If you want a single turnkey tool that handles courses and sophisticated email automation in one place, Kajabi has a genuine advantage. Learnomy pairs with any WordPress email or CRM tool, but you connect them yourself.
Can Learnomy replace Kajabi for selling courses?
For most course creators who already run a WordPress site, yes. Learnomy ships with built-in Stripe and PayPal checkout, one-time and recurring memberships, quizzes with auto-grading, certificates with verification, and 166 REST endpoints. The main gap is built-in email and marketing automation, which you would pair with a WordPress email plugin.
Does Learnomy have a built-in website builder like Kajabi?
Learnomy runs on WordPress, which has a full block editor and thousands of compatible themes and page builders. You get more customization than Kajabi, but you assemble the site yourself. If you want one tool that handles everything including the website with no decisions, Kajabi is simpler.
Run your academy on your own site - not rented SaaS
Download Learnomy free and have courses live today. No platform fee. No monthly bill. No student data locked away on someone else's server.