If you're looking to create and sell online courses, you've likely come across two popular platforms: Kajabi and Circle. Both offer a range of features and tools to help you build and market your courses, but which one is the better choice for your business?
Kajabi is an all-in-one platform that allows you to create, market, and sell online courses. It offers a range of features, including website building, course creation, and email marketing. Kajabi also provides analytics and reporting tools to help you track student success.
I want to add a caveat here. If you're brand new to online business and starting from square one, definitely consider an all-in-one platform. But, if you've had your online business for a while, chances are that you already have pieces like an email marketing setup or community set up elsewhere. In that case, you may not reap all the benefits of an all-in-one platform, unless you decide to make a complete move to Kajabi, which is a lot of work.
"Because so many courses are already hosted on Kajabi, people are familiar with the layout and user experience, which in my opinion, is a huge benefit to you as a course creator." - Amanda Olson, Just Add Your Brand™
Circle is a community platform that allows you to create and manage online communities. It offers features such as discussion forums, live chat, and 1:1 private chat to help you build a thriving community around your courses. Circle also integrates with other tools, such as email marketing platforms, Airtable, and Google Sheets.
Now that we've looked at the key features of Kajabi and Circle, let's compare them in more detail.
Both Kajabi and Circle offer course creation features, but they differ in their approach. Kajabi offers a comprehensive course builder that allows you to create and customize your courses with ease. There are also lots of templates available and its design tools to help you create a professional course experience.
"As a course consumer, I strongly dislike the course experience on Circle." -Amanda Olson, Just Add Your Brand™
With Circle, the course experience definitely feels secondary to the community aspect. As a course consumer, I strongly dislike the course experience on Circle. I actually have been a student in two courses that started on Kajabi and recently moved to Circle for stronger community experiences. The course experience on Circle feels cold and detached. And to me, this really matters, especially when course participation and completion rates are typically pretty dismal.
"52% of people who sign up for eLearning courses don't participate in the course at all." - Source
I often hear that course completion rates are less than 20%. Actually getting your students to participate in the course is crucial, because their success your success. When they take action and see results, that leads to more referrals, reviews, and ultimately sales of your program.
If the course experience isn't enjoyable for your students, they're not going to be motivated to actually complete the content.
While Kajabi offers some community building features, such as discussion forums and live chat, it is not its primary focus. On the other hand, Circle is specifically designed for community building and offers a range of features to help you create and manage a thriving community.
If community building is a key aspect of your online course business, then Circle may be the better choice for you. However, if you're primarily focused on creating and selling courses, I feel Kajabi is the better fit.
Pricing is an important factor to consider when choosing between Kajabi and Circle. Kajabi offers three pricing plans: Basic, Growth, and Pro. The Basic plan starts at $149 per month, which allows you 3 products. The pricing plans differ in terms of features and the number of products you can have. If you need an affiliate program, for example, you would need to go with the Growth plan at $199/month.
Circle's plans start at $49 per month for just the community feature. If you want to include a course, you would need the $99 per month plan.
Both Kajabi and Circle offer integrations with other tools to help you streamline your workflow. Kajabi integrates with popular email marketing platforms, such as ActiveCampaign and ConvertKit.
Circle integrates with a range of tools, including email marketing platforms, course creation platforms, and payment gateways. This means that you can easily connect Circle with the tools you're already using, making it a convenient option for many businesses.
Ultimately, the best platform for you will depend on your specific needs, goals, and budget. If you're primarily focused on creating and selling online courses and providing a top-notch course experience, then I strongly believe that Kajabi is the better choice for you. It offers a comprehensive course creation platform and a range of marketing and sales tools to help you grow your business.
On the other hand, if community building is a key aspect of your business, then Circle may be the better option. It offers a range of features to help you build and manage a thriving community.
Both Kajabi and Circle offer a range of features and tools to help you create and sell online courses. While Kajabi is primarily focused on course creation and marketing, Circle is designed for community building.
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Note: This post contains affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. I only recommend products I use and love.
Amanda Olson is an award-winning designer and web developer with over 20,000 hours of experience in websites, design, and online marketing.
