Skool vs Kajabi: Which Platform Is Better for Online Courses in 2025?
When I first started creating online courses, I quickly realized that choosing the right platform could make or break my success. After trying several tools, I narrowed my options down to Skool and Kajabi, two of the most popular platforms today. Both are powerful, but they serve slightly different needs. In this post, I’ll share my honest experience and break down Skool vs Kajabi so you can decide which one is best for you.
Table of Contents
What is Skool?
Skool is designed to be an all-in-one community platform where you can build courses, host private communities, and create memberships under one roof. It’s simple, clean, and feels modern. What I love about Skool is how community-driven it is — unlike many platforms, it combines courses with an interactive community space, which is perfect if you want your students to stay engaged.
Skool is subscription-based and starts at $99/month, with no complicated tiers. If you want to check it out, you can sign up using my affiliate link:
Join Skool Here.
What is Kajabi?
Kajabi is a more traditional course and marketing platform. It’s built for course creators, coaches, and digital product sellers who want robust marketing tools like email funnels, landing pages, and advanced automations. Kajabi is a complete business suite, but with that comes complexity and a higher price tag — starting at $149/month for the basic plan.
Key Differences: Skool vs Kajabi
After using both, here’s what I found to be the main differences:
1. Community vs. Marketing Focus
- Skool is perfect if your focus is community-building and course delivery.
- Kajabi is great for sales funnels, email campaigns, and marketing-heavy businesses.
2. Ease of Use
I personally found Skool’s interface much simpler. Within a few hours, I had my first course uploaded and my community ready.
Kajabi, while powerful, took me days to fully understand because of its many features.
3. Pricing
- Skool: $99/month with all features included.
- Kajabi: $149 to $399/month, depending on the plan.
Skool clearly wins here for beginners and small creators.
4. Community Engagement
Kajabi doesn’t have the same interactive community feel as Skool. Skool combines your courses and community into a single experience, which keeps users active and engaged.
Which Platform Should You Choose in 2025?
If you’re just starting out or want to create a tight-knit paid community with courses, I believe Skool is the better option in 2025. It’s cleaner, more affordable, and easier to set up — especially if you don’t want to spend weeks learning complex features.
On the other hand, if you already run a big online business and need advanced marketing automation, Kajabi might be worth the extra cost.
Why I Recommend Skool
I personally use Skool because it helps me focus on what matters: creating valuable content and growing my community. It has everything I need without the clutter or steep learning curve. Plus, the simplicity of their pricing model is a breath of fresh air.
If you want to test it out, you can sign up here:
Click Here to Try Skool.
Final Thoughts
Both Skool and Kajabi are excellent platforms, but they cater to different types of creators. In my experience, Skool is the clear winner for 2025 if you value community-driven learning and affordability.
Another thing I noticed after using Skool for a few weeks was how engaged my members became. Before, when I hosted my courses separately from my community, people would log in once, maybe twice, and disappear. But with Skool, they’re participating in discussions, sharing wins, and actually completing the content. That’s a big deal — it tells me the platform is designed for connection, not just delivery.
I also appreciate how Skool makes everything visual. You can see member activity at a glance, organize your course content cleanly, and even customize your classroom with thumbnails and structure. It doesn’t look or feel outdated like some older platforms do. And honestly, as someone who cares about branding, the visual aspect matters to me.
Kajabi, while powerful, often felt like I needed to hire someone just to get it running right. The learning curve was steep. I had to go through tutorial after tutorial just to connect a form to an email sequence. It’s great for people who want deep automation, but for me, it felt like too much too soon.
Another Skool feature that stands out is the built-in calendar and classroom. You can schedule Zoom calls or live sessions, and your members automatically get notified. This saves me time — I no longer have to rely on third-party tools like Calendly or separate email blasts just to remind people of sessions.
One thing Kajabi does better is email marketing and sales funnels. If your business is built around webinars, email sequences, and product launches, Kajabi has more advanced tools in that area. But if your goal is to build a tight community with long-term retention, I truly believe Skool has the edge.
I’ve also noticed that Skool is gaining popularity fast. More creators are switching from Facebook Groups and Discord to Skool because it’s less distracting and more focused. There are no ads, no off-topic memes — just your members learning and growing in a shared space. That’s what I want my brand to represent.
Skool’s support is another bonus I didn’t expect to be so good. When I had a technical question, I posted it in their Skool Community and got feedback quickly — not just from staff, but from other users who’ve built six-figure communities. That sense of peer help is something I never got with Kajabi.
Also, from a business standpoint, I liked knowing that Skool pays me for referrals. That 40% recurring affiliate commission is no joke. I promote it openly because I use it daily, and I know other creators will benefit too. Here’s my referral link again if you want to check it out:
Try Skool Here
When I think about building a community that lasts, I care more about engagement and retention than fancy automations. With Skool, people stick around. That means more impact, more testimonials, and more income long-term. Kajabi is more focused on the sales part — but what happens after the sale?
I also want to point out that Skool is not trying to be everything. And that’s actually a good thing. Sometimes, less is more. I’d rather have a tool that does a few things really well — like hosting courses and building communities — than a tool that does 20 things halfway.
If you’re overwhelmed by tech or just want to launch your course without spending weeks building funnels, Skool will let you go live faster. You can upload content, open your group, and start inviting members all in the same day. I did it, and I’m not a developer or tech expert.
To be clear, I’m not saying Kajabi is bad — it’s just not beginner-friendly or ideal for everyone. If you’re a solo creator, coach, or community builder who wants to keep things simple and profitable, I genuinely think Skool is the better platform for 2025 and beyond.