Kartra Vs. Kajabi – Does your business need an all-in-one marketing platform?
Well, both Kartra and Kajabi can help you build and grow a successful online business but which one should you go after?
Which platform will be worth your money and time?
Let us clear the cloud in your mind and help you make a clear decision by yourself.
As a small business owner or a solopreneur, doesn’t it seem at times that you never have enough time on your hands?
The development of your product, marketing, content, community management, outreach to customers, you have many responsibilities and much stuff to deal with.
How do you manage everything? This is where an all in one marketing platform comes in.
All-in-one marketing platforms give you all the tools needed to manage your business from one place. Think of it as a single command centre dashboard from where you can control every aspect of your business.
Contents
What is Kartra
As mentioned earlier, Kartra is an all-in-one eCommerce and marketing platform that lets you manage almost all aspects of your business such as marketing, product creation, ready-to-use sales campaigns, video marketing, tracking and analytics.
Kartra is a relatively new entrant in the field of all-in-one platforms as it came into being in 2018.
The guys that have created Kartra are the same guys that have created WebinarJam and EverWebinar. Kartra has already won some very passionate fans and users. Most of them used to pay for Clickfunnels but they soon realize that Kartra may have the upper hand now.
Kartra includes many unique features but the most important thing is that they are all very professionally built.
Kartra is made for entrepreneurs and online marketers that want to build their own online business in one place. While having multiple platforms that focus solely on one aspect of marketing may be the best option, having an all in one platform is prefered by many digital marketers.
What is Kajabi
Kajabi is also an all-in-one platform that lets you handle every aspect of your online business from one place.
However, it leans heavily towards online course creation. It has various features that allow you to build a website, run marketing campaigns from pre-built templates, create online courses, manage customers and more.
You don’t need any plugins, updates or add-ons. According to their official website, they help you build your website, grow your following, sell your products, share your knowledge and automate your marketing. Kajabi was founded in 2009 and has been, therefore, around for more than a decade now.
This platform has become famous by people who like to teach and create courses that they then sell online.
The rest marketing tools are also good that’s why this platform is compared to most funnel builder tools.
However, are they close to the respective Clickfunnels’, Kartra’s or Builderall tools or they are subpar?
We will find out soon…
Kartra vs Kajabi: Key Differences and Similarities
Both Kartra and Kajabi offer the same promise – the promise of being able to run your business without the hassle of monitoring multiple websites and managing different functionalities spread all over the internet. But which are these tools that suggest that?
Both Kartra and Kajabi offer certain common functionalities. Some of these are drag and drop website builder, checkouts, list building, email and videos among many other features.
Features
Sales Funnel Building
Kartra is a very well known sales funnel building tool. In fact, it is the main Clickfunnels and Builderall competitor. It has a campaign function that makes it very simple for you to create an amazing marketing funnel. Drag and drop stuff. No Html or anything like that.
On the other hand, Kajabi has a similar feature called Pipelines which allows you to build a sales funnel.
They both offer funnel building tools, however, Kartra has clearly the upper hand here because the sales funnels creation is its most impressive feature while Kajabi focuses more on creating online courses.
Kartra also has amazing pre-built templates and sales funnels that you can use with ease in a matter of minutes.
The final aspect of this feature is the option of the one-click upsell. This is very useful and it is widely used nowadays especially by people who use paid advertising so that they try to break even or profitable and generate leads on the front end and then take all the profit from the back end using email marketing.
But, this is a bit too much to analyze here. In fact, I have written many articles on affiliate marketing and how it works that you can check here.
Integrations
Both platforms come with a variety of integrations.
Kartra integrates with over 25+ different platforms and services that can help you and your business grow. Some of the basic categories that Kartra can be integrated to are payment platforms and autoresponders.
In short, Kartra integrates with the most famous and well-known platforms online.
But of course, in my opinion, this is not needed. Kartra is a standalone platform and can be your only marketing platform. I am just letting you know your options. For example, if you want Kartra for funnel building but you want to use Getresponse as your email automation tool you are free to do so.
On the other hand, Kajabi also integrates with a lot of platforms. You may need some of those to grow a business because Kajabi focuses on course and membership site creation but you will be fine if you don’t do it at the beginning.
All in all, I don’t think that we have a winner in this category. I think both platforms are legit and they integrate with more than enough other platforms.
Membership sites
Both the platforms allow you to host membership sites and also video hosting. While Kartra allows video hosting within the platform, Kajabi gives you unlimited Wistia video hosting with your plan.
In fact, Kajabi can create the best membership sites as of now. So, if you just want to get an amazing membership site builder, this platform is for you. Kajabi wins this by a lot.
Kartra can create good membership sites but not as good as Kajabi.
Here are the features that they both have:
- Membership site analytics
- Built-in membership site
- Comment section control
- Many membership levels
- Host files
- Content protection page by page
If I had to choose one platform to build my membership site I would choose Kajabi. However, I would do this only if I just wanted a membership site and nothing else. Building an online business is much more than a course or a membership site creation.
Email marketing
Email Marketing is one of the most important aspects of our businesses. In fact, it is our most valuable asset in the long run. I have talked about it several times but I can’t stress enough how much of a game-changer, the email marketing really is.
Eliminating the need for autoresponders of any kind, both the platforms offer email marketing with features such as broadcasts, sequences and automation.
Both Kartra and Kajabi offer an email marketing option with the following features:
- Email Editor
- Automated Email Sequences and follow up emails
- Broadcasts
- Personalized Emails (to increase conversions)
- Email List Segmentation
- Lead importation
The limitation that Kartra has as far as email marketing is concerned is that it does not provide unlimited email contacts, unlike Kajabi which does.
However, Kartra email marketing service has some extra features…
- A/B email split testing
- Ready For You Email Templates
- SMS sequences
- Lead Scoring
- List Cleaning
Kartra has a visual builder that helps you with email automation and also a dedicated “automation” feature which allows setting Boolean rules of “If” and “then”.
Kajabi also comes with an automation builder that lacks the finesses and smoothness of Kartra but is no less powerful. You get automation building features for forms, events, pipelines, and offers.
In my opinion, both platforms are having nice email marketing features however, in my opinion, Kartra has the upper hand. It has some unique features that can be very beneficial when your business grows significantly and you become a more advanced marketer.
Affiliate Marketing Programs
Affiliate marketing is the process of promoting other people’s products or services for a commission. (you get paid)
Most businesses have got affiliate programs because it is an amazing way of being promoted for free until someone buys. For example, with paid ads, you pay money even if someone does not buy your product while in affiliate marketing the businesses(Kartra, Kajabi) will pay their affiliates only after they make a sale for them.
Makes sense, right?
Kartra’s affiliate program (compensation plan) gives you a 40% commission rate for every sale you make. On the other hand, Kajabi only gives you 30% for every sale.
Kajabi’s affiliate program is very basic. It only includes a basic affiliate dashboard, an earnings report and the tracking link.
Kartra’s affiliate platform, on the other hand, is very different.
It includes everything that Kajabi includes but also:
- An affiliate Marketplace
- Detailed Analytics for your affiliates sales for different products
- Valuable promotional tools that help you create an offer
- Automated affiliate Payments
- Affiliate questionnaire
Kartra’s affiliate marketplace option is very unique. It allows you to find affiliates to promote your products or you can just become an affiliate yourself.
Funnel Building
One of the most important features when it comes to an all in one marketing tool is funnel building. Sales funnels help online marketers nurture their prospects and build trust.
By doing this first and also by providing value for free, your leads may convert into paying customers.
In Kartra, the sales funnels are called campaigns.
When it comes to funnel building in Kartra, you can make use of the done-for-you campaign templates built by famous marketers Frank Kern and Andy Jenkins. You can even share your campaigns with other Kartra users.
You can also create sales funnels from scratch if you want to. This may require you to have some prior experience or take some time experimenting with the platform.
But this is optional. There is a variety of ready for you to use sales funnels.
The funnels in Kajabi are called “Pipelines”. I feel that the collection of templates on Kajabi needs some work and they are not as eye-catching as the ones on Kartra.
Kajabi lets you build some basic sales funnels that can be good for some of you however it lacks the flexibility and the professionalism of Kartra’s funnel.
This is one of the best Kartra’s features so Kartra wins this one by far.
Design and Page Builder
Kartra has numerous templates and features such as the call to action buttons and the best part is that it is device agnostic which means regardless of the device you see it on, the view is adjusted to the dimensions of that particular device.
Kartra’s page builder is very mobile-responsive which is very significant in today’s era.
Another thing that I liked about the page builder is the A/B testing feature that lets you test up to four variations of pages so that you find and keep the best performing page. This option is mainly used to increase conversions and make more money.
Coming to Kajabi, the page builder has also got plenty of elements on it such as videos, opt-in forms, countdown timers and more.
It has also got a more premium feel and look when compared to Kartra. However, one thing that I would hold against it is that the number of templates given here is much less than in Kartra.
Marketing and Checkout
Kartra is known in the market for its two standout features which are
- Behavioural Adaptive Marketing (BAM)
- Dynamic OTOs.
Behavioural Adaptive Marketing is a feature that enables you to send emails based on the previous behaviour of the prospective customer on your site.
Dynamic OTOs are also similar to BAM and let you present one-time offers (upsells, downsells and order bumps) based on the previous behaviour on your site.
Kajabi does not have Behavioral Adaptive Marketing but it does provide you with the option of adding one upsell. Orders bumps are allowed here too just like in Kartra, but there is no option for a down-sell.
Kartra Vs Kajabi Pricing
You can start with Kartra by paying a monthly subscription of $99 in which you get access to one custom domain. You can sell up to 20 products and send 15000 emails among other features.
However, if you don’t want to commit $99 you can get a $1 trial for 14 days which allows you to get 2500 leads. You are allowed to generate up to 2500 leads in this trial period. Post the 14 days, your plan will change to $99 per month.
The yearly plans of Kartra are as follows:
- Kartra Starter plan is for $99 per month, $79 when paid for a yearly subscription upfront
- Kartra silver plan is $199 per month, $149 per month when billed yearly
- Katra Gold Plan is for $299 per month, $229 per month when billed yearly
- Kartra Platinum Plan is $499 per month, $379 per month when billed yearly
In the starter plan, there is a cap on the number of things you can do, such as emails you send, membership sites you can make and the number of products you can sell. Kartra Agency is not included in the starter plan. All other plans allow unlimited access to all the features of Kartra and also include Kartra Agency.
In contrast, Kajabi has a three-tier scheme of pricing and offers free access to all the plans for 14 days. Once you are over with the 14 days, you can subscribe to the plan of your choice on a monthly or yearly basis. The plans are as follows:
- Kajabi Basic plan for $149 monthly, $119 when paid yearly
- Kajabi Growth plan for $199 monthly, $159 when billed annually
- Kajabi Pro plan for $399 monthly, $319 when billed annually
If we look at the starter plans of both Kartra and Kajabi we see that both platforms impose limitations on what you can do or can’t do.
Kajabi doesn’t allow access to the affiliate marketing platform and advanced automation for its second and third tier of plans. Similarly, the ability to white label and get 24×7 support is not available in the Kajabi basic plan. However, do remember that you get customer support from Mon-Friday from 9 AM -7 PM in the basic plan.
While Kajabi’s starter plan looks significantly more expensive than Kartra, it is not such a straightforward comparison.
Both platforms are legit but in my opinion, Kartra also wins this one. It offers more at a more affordable price.
In fact, you can test Kartra here and Kajabi here so that you form your own opinion.
Related: Kartra Pricing
Kartra vs Kajabi Customer Support
Customer Support is a vital cog in the wheel of any business as it can make or break a business.
Kajabi offers 24/7 customer support. It also has a community forum where you can interact with other members and ask questions and get answers to your doubts. There is also the “Kajabi University” where you can watch detailed pre-recorded videos that guide you step-by-step on how to use the tools in Kajabi and grow your business.
When it comes to customer support on Kartra, they also promise customer support but they don’t promise 24/7 support. Just like Kajabi, Kartra also has its own training centre called Kartraverse training centre where they have tutorial videos on Kartra and its features along with marketing tips.
They also have a Facebook community group where you can interact with other Kartra members.
Related: Clickfunnel Vs Kajabi
Who Wins?
So, folks! The final whistle has been blown, and now it’s time to choose a winner.
Both Kartra and Kajabi are excellent platforms in their own right, and each one of them has a lot going for it. Kajabi is excellent as a platform for building an online course and getting members to sign up. It is specially optimized for a brilliant membership experience.
However, I don’t think Kajabi is the best choice when it comes to building an online business that needs not only a course but also promotion, ads, email marketing and much more.
Kartra steals a march over Kajabi when it comes to features such as building a website, marketing of a website, automation and email marketing.
Conclusion
Our verdict is clear, and there is a clear winner, but depending on what you want to build, you may choose from either platform.
If you are looking to develop an online course with a membership site as your primary form of business, by all means, go ahead with Kajabi, but if you want to create a well-rounded online business platform that gives you the benefits of building as well as marketing your business, Kartra should be your first choice.
Either way, you have the option to take up a 14-day trial and see which one is best for your needs.
This is my honest opinion after having tested both platforms for quite some time.
Actually, I think Clickfunnels, Builderall and Kartra are the best all-in-one platforms. Clickfunnels is good because you can easily get share funnels and start immediately since it is very popular.
Builderall is the budget option which is absolutely fine. It provides all the basics at a very affordable price.
The final option that I use more and more these days is Kartra. Kartra is new and it is attracting more and more marketers fast. What I like most about Kartra is their Behavioural Adaptive Marketing option which is unique.
I honestly believe that in the near future, more and more platforms will analyse the customers’ behaviours. Artificial Intelligence will be all over the place making it easier for us and providing us with a lot of data.
And this is it with today’s topic…
I hope you find this article helpful. I tried my best not to make it too big so that I don’t tire you but I had to include all this needed information for you to form your own opinion.
