Kajabi vs a custom platform: when your community outgrows the all in one

Kajabi can run a whole coaching business from one login, and for a lot of coaches that's exactly the right call. But the thing that makes it easy, everyone moving through one system, can start to feel tight once your community grows into something with its own shape.

Anthony Trucks reached a decision point with DarkWork, his coaching business. He moved it off Kajabi onto a platform we built from scratch under his own brand. We won't speak for his reasons. That's his story to tell. But his move is a useful lens for a question a lot of coaches are quietly asking: stay with the all in one, or build a home of your own?

What Kajabi does well

Kajabi describes itself as an all in one platform for coaches, educators, creators and service professionals, combining courses, coaching tools, community, email marketing, websites, payments and analytics.

That matters. Fewer logins. Fewer bills. Fewer things breaking the night before a launch.

Communities are solid too, with channels for posts or real time chat, Challenges, Meetups with a built in live room, and a leaderboard with gamification.

Who it's best for: coaches and creators whose business runs on courses, coaching and memberships, and who want marketing and delivery under one roof. If that's you, Kajabi is a strong pick.

Where a growing community starts to feel the limits

This isn't about Kajabi being bad. It's about fit.

A shared set of building blocks

Kajabi gives you good building blocks: courses, communities, coaching, offers. You can segment your audience, and Kajabi's branded app supports variant screens for different segments.

Still, the blocks are Kajabi's blocks. Your brand new member and your most committed veteran move through the same product shapes. If your coaching depends on meeting each person exactly where they are, you end up rearranging someone else's furniture.

Their roadmap and their pricing

As of November 2026, Kajabi's pricing page lists Basic at $179 a month, Growth at $249 and Pro at $499 when billed monthly, with lower monthly rates on annual billing. Plans are tiered by contacts: 2,500 on Basic, 25,000 on Growth and 100,000 on Pro, with more sold in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month.

Card rates through Kajabi Payments run from 2.9% + 30¢ on Basic to 2.7% + 30¢ on Pro for US entities, with a separate fee if you use an outside processor.

That's a fair model. It just means your costs climb with your list, and the features you get are the ones Kajabi chooses to build next.

What data you can see and take with you

Kajabi exports contacts and customers as a CSV sent to your email, capped at your plan's contact limit, with a download link that expires after three days.

For community, Kajabi shows statistics on members, messages sent, Meetups and Challenge submissions. That's a helpful read on the room. The question as you grow is whether it tells you enough about the one person starting to drift.

Brand control

On Basic, a "Powered by Kajabi" footer appears. Growth and Pro remove Kajabi branding. Editing the code behind your site is a Pro feature.

On mobile, members can use the free Kajabi Mobile App, which offers light customization like your brand color and site icon. Your own branded app, listed under your name in the App Store and Google Play, is a $199 a month add on, or included with Pro.

What a custom platform changes

A custom platform flips the starting point. Instead of choosing a tool and fitting your people into it, you start with your people.

That's our order of operations at TNRM: people first, then process, platforms last. We dig into your business, map your workflows, roles and outcomes, and design around how your members actually behave. Security is built in from the start.

Here's what that looks like at DarkWork. The platform is live in the App Store and Google Play under Anthony's brand. A concierge greets every new member. Tiers are set by access code, so free members get a concierge guide and paid members get a coach. There's live video coaching, with sessions transcribed and analyzed. There's a content hub, journaling, and a community with blocking and reporting. Underneath it all sit a rules engine, behavioral insights, and separate views for the owner, admins, coaches and members.

A few things change at the root:

• You own it. The platform, the code and the data belong to you.
• Every role sees only what it should. Members, coaches, staff and the owner each get a walled off view, with strict privacy and security on every layer.
• You notice people before they disappear. Behavioral insights pay attention to what people do, not only what they say. Did they show up? Finish the step? Go quiet? Those features stay off until a member opts in, and only the owner sees them.
• One system instead of a stack. Marketing, email, billing, your own app, onboarding, support, video, community, coaching and content can live in one place. We can run it for you, too.

And for your members, it feels different. Think of a group fitness class versus a coach who knows your splits. They walk in, and the place already knows where they are and what they need next.

For you, it gets quieter. Less stitching tools together. More time with your people.

Who should stay on Kajabi

Honestly? A lot of coaches.

Stay if you're early and still learning what your members need. Stay if your business is mostly courses and you love having email, pages and payments in one place. Stay if Kajabi's building blocks already match how you coach, and the pricing works at your size.

A custom build asks more of you up front: time, clarity and a real picture of your people. If you're not there yet, Kajabi is a great home.

Consider building when the workarounds start piling up. When you want your brand on everything, including the app. When you need to see each person, not just the totals. And when you want to own what you've built.

Kajabi vs a custom platform at a glance

If you're feeling the edges and want to think it through out loud, we'd love to talk. No pitch, just a conversation about your people.