SaaS Fit Guide

Free planning tool

Online Course Platform Cost Calculator

Compare modeled platform costs using the same transaction volume, including collected tax, course count, billing period, and required native features.

Pricing checked September 11, 2026US public pricing · USDBased on public pricing, not hands-on testing

Cost estimate only. The lowest result is not an overall recommendation. Platforms with unsupported or unverified required features are excluded rather than estimated.

Your operating assumptions

Estimate your monthly platform cost

Change any field to update the results. The calculator uses public US pricing in USD. It selects the lowest-cost verified plan that meets your requirements for each platform.

Include collected tax because Teachable applies its Starter fee to that amount. Tax itself is not counted as a platform cost.
Not used unless native email is required.
For Kajabi and Teachable, each course uses one product slot; other products are not counted.
Billing period
Required native capabilities

Taxes themselves, refunds, add-ons, and standard payment-processing fees are excluded.

Modeled results

Compare the same assumptions across four platforms

The “Lowest” label describes estimated cost only. It does not rank the platforms.

Cost summary

Current cost summary

Lowest modeled costsysteme.io · Free$0/mo
Next-lowest modeled costThinkific · Basic$54/mo
Comparison coverageAll four platforms includedFour platforms checked

This summary is based on modeled cost only. Card order stays fixed and does not indicate an overall ranking. The default example uses evidence checked Sep 11, 2026; a pricing recheck is required after Oct 16, 2026.

systeme.io

Lowest modeled cost
Selected plan
Free
Subscription / month
$0
Platform fee / month
$0
Modeled monthly cost
$0
Monthly subscription invoice
$0
Modeled 12-month cost
$0
Monthly difference from lowest modeled cost
$0

Free has the lowest modeled cost among this platform's plans that meet the verified requirements.

Comparison note: The itemized table lists 20 courses for Webinar, while an official FAQ describes that plan as unlimited. Results above 20 courses are not determined. Standard payment-processing fees are excluded.

Payment assumption: Supported external payment processor; its processing fee is excluded.

Sources checked Sep 11, 2026

Kajabi

Estimated cost available
Selected plan
Basic
Subscription / month
$179
Platform fee / month
$0
Modeled monthly cost
$179
Monthly subscription invoice
$179
Modeled 12-month cost
$2,148
Monthly difference from lowest modeled cost
$179

Basic has the lowest modeled cost among this platform's plans that meet the verified requirements.

Comparison note: Each course is modeled as one product. Optional limit increases and add-ons are not priced.

Payment assumption: Kajabi Payments; its standard card-processing fee is excluded.

Sources checked Sep 11, 2026

Thinkific

Estimated cost available
Selected plan
Basic
Subscription / month
$54
Platform fee / month
$0
Modeled monthly cost
$54
Monthly subscription invoice
$54
Modeled 12-month cost
$648
Monthly difference from lowest modeled cost
$54

Basic has the lowest modeled cost among this platform's plans that meet the verified requirements.

Comparison note: Published courses are unlimited. Native email is not ranked when contact capacity matters because that public limit is unverified.

Payment assumption: Thinkific Payments; standard processing fees are excluded.

Sources checked Sep 11, 2026

Teachable

Estimated cost available
Selected plan
Builder
Subscription / month
$89
Platform fee / month
$0
Modeled monthly cost
$89
Monthly subscription invoice
$89
Modeled 12-month cost
$1,068
Monthly difference from lowest modeled cost
$89

Builder has the lowest modeled cost among this platform's plans that meet the verified requirements.

Comparison note: Each course is modeled as one product. Community is confirmed; plan-level marketing email and contact limits are not inferred.

Payment assumption: Teachable Payments; standard processing fees are excluded.

Sources checked Sep 11, 2026

Calculation method

How the estimate works

  1. Filter each platform’s public plans by the selected course and feature requirements.
  2. Add the effective monthly subscription cost and any plan-specific transaction or revenue-share fee.
  3. Select the eligible plan with the lowest modeled cost within that platform.
  4. Compare the resulting platform totals without changing their display order.

Annual subscriptions use the exact public annual invoice divided by 12 for the monthly comparison. The 12-month figure retains the exact invoice amount. Interactive results exclude evidence older than 35 days, and new production builds stop until it is checked again.

Fixed scope

What is included and excluded

Included

  • Public subscription prices for modeled plans
  • Plan-specific transaction or revenue-share fees shown on public pricing pages
  • Published-course or product-slot limits
  • Verified native email and community requirements

Excluded

  • Taxes themselves, refunds, discounts, and currency conversion
  • Standard card-processing fees
  • Tax processing, invoicing, BNPL, and subscription-payment fees
  • Add-ons, optional limit increases, and negotiated plans
  • External email, community, video, or automation software

Assumptions: a US business, USD billing, domestic card payments, and the named native payment option for each platform. Kajabi uses Kajabi Payments, Thinkific uses Thinkific Payments, and Teachable uses Teachable Payments. The transaction volume input includes collected tax because Teachable applies its plan fee to the total transaction amount; the calculator does not treat that tax as a platform cost.

Limitations

When the calculator cannot estimate a result

Thinkific’s public marketing-contact allowance was not verified. Teachable’s public plan-level marketing email and automation mapping was also not verified. Requiring native email may therefore produce “Cannot determine.” For Kajabi and Teachable, one course consumes one product slot in this model; other product types are not counted. Custom plans and unpublished prices are not estimated. systeme.io’s official itemized table lists 20 courses for Webinar, while an official pricing FAQ describes that plan as unlimited. Inputs above 20 courses therefore produce “Cannot determine” for systeme.io.