Kajabi alternatives for Shopify sellers
Alva Courses is a Shopify app that sells and delivers online courses through the Shopify checkout you already run. This roundup compares it with the other Shopify-native course apps (Tevello, Courses Plus, Inflowkit and LDT) and the standalone platforms Kajabi users weigh most often: Thinkific, Teachable and Podia. Every price was checked on the vendor's own site or App Store listing in October 2026.
Running courses on Kajabi beside Shopify means two platforms, two checkouts and two customer lists, and Kajabi starts at $179 a month ($143 billed annually) as of October 2026. Shopify-native apps such as Alva Courses ($9.99 or $14.99 a month), Tevello, Courses Plus, Inflowkit and LDT keep courses in your store. Kajabi remains the stronger all-in-one marketing suite.
Why Shopify sellers look for Kajabi alternatives.
Shopify sellers look for Kajabi alternatives because Kajabi duplicates what their store does. Courses sit on a second platform with its own checkout, customer list and login, and Kajabi's cheapest plan costs $179 a month, or $143 billed annually, as of October 2026. A Shopify course app uses the store, checkout and customer accounts you already pay for.
A customer can't buy your course and your physical products in one order. Course sales run through Kajabi's checkout and payment settings, product sales through Shopify's, so discount codes and sales reports live in two places.
Kajabi keeps its own contacts. Your Shopify customer records, tags, segments and email apps such as Shopify Email or Klaviyo don't see course buyers unless you sync or export them between the two systems.
Students sign in to Kajabi to learn and to your Shopify customer account to see their orders. A Shopify course app removes that split, because course access follows the Shopify customer and the order they placed.
Kajabi Basic includes 5 products and 2,500 contacts. Where Kajabi Payments is offered, using another processor (PayPal excepted) adds up to 2% per sale. The table below has each plan's limits.
Kajabi's plans and limits in October 2026
Kajabi sells three plans, each billed monthly or at a lower monthly rate billed annually. The table below lists the limits Kajabi publishes for each plan, taken from its pricing page on 8 October 2026.
| Kajabi plan | Billed monthly | Billed annually | Products | Contacts | Websites | Communities | Admin users | Other-processor fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $179/mo | $143/mo | 5 | 2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2% |
| Growth | $249/mo | $199/mo | 50 | 25,000 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1% |
| Pro | $499/mo | $399/mo | Unlimited | 100,000 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 0.5% |
Source: Kajabi pricing, checked 8 October 2026. Kajabi Payments card fees for US accounts are 2.9%, 2.8% and 2.7% plus $0.30 by plan. Extra contacts are sold in blocks of 25,000 for $125 a month, and every plan carries a 30-day money-back guarantee.
What Kajabi does well
Kajabi is a capable all-in-one platform. One subscription covers a website builder, landing pages, funnels, unlimited marketing emails, communities, coaching, podcasts, newsletters and memberships, plus AI tools and, on the Pro plan, a branded mobile app.
Kajabi's own pricing FAQ makes the honest case: it is expensive if you only need course delivery, and better value when it replaces your email tool, website, community and checkout. If your store already lives on Shopify, much of that bundle overlaps what you pay Shopify for.
Eight Kajabi alternatives, checked in October 2026.
The Kajabi alternatives worth comparing fall into two groups. Shopify-native course apps (Alva Courses, Tevello, Courses Plus, Inflowkit and LDT) sell courses as Shopify products through your existing checkout. Standalone platforms (Thinkific, Teachable and Podia) replace Kajabi with another separate site, usually for less money but with the same two-platform split.
Shopify-native course apps
Standalone platforms (a separate site, like Kajabi)
Kajabi alternatives compared side by side.
The table compares each Kajabi alternative on where it runs, its cheapest and highest listed paid plan, any free option, trial length, which checkout buyers use and how course video is handled. Prices are monthly in US dollars, as listed on each vendor's site or Shopify App Store listing in October 2026.
| Platform | Runs on | Lowest paid plan | Highest listed plan | Free option | Free trial | Checkout | Course video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alva Courses | Shopify app | $9.99/mo | $14.99/mo | None | 14 days | Shopify checkout | 50 GB Alva Video Hosting on Unlimited Pro; Shopify files (1 GB / 10 min) or YouTube, Vimeo and Loom embeds on Unlimited |
| Tevello | Shopify app | $29/mo | $29/mo (one plan) | Development stores only | 14 days | Shopify checkout | 100 GB storage, 500 GB monthly bandwidth |
| Courses Plus | Shopify app | $19.99/mo | $199.99/mo | Up to 5 lessons | 7 days | Shopify checkout | Video hosting; unlimited storage on paid plans |
| Inflowkit | Shopify app | $19/mo | $49.99/mo | 2 courses, $300 sales cap | 14 days | Shopify checkout | Upload or embed |
| LDT | Shopify app | $12.99/mo | $49.99/mo | 30 enrolments a month | 7 days | Shopify checkout | 50 GB to 1.5 TB by plan |
| Thinkific | Standalone | $54/mo ($40 annual) | $219/mo; Plus on request | None | 30 days | Its own checkout | Hosted on the platform |
| Teachable | Standalone | $39/mo ($29 annual) + 7.5% fee | $189/mo; Custom on request | None listed | 7 days | Its own checkout | Up to 1 TB storage |
| Podia | Standalone | $49/mo ($42 annual) + 5% fee | $179/mo ($150 annual) | None listed | 14 days | Its own checkout | 500 videos to unlimited by plan |
| Kajabi | Standalone all-in-one | $179/mo ($143 annual) | $499/mo ($399 annual) | None | Offered; length not listed | Its own checkout | Hosted on the platform |
Shopify apps run on top of your Shopify plan, which a Shopify seller already pays for. Standalone platforms add their subscription on top of that if you keep the store. Card processing fees apply everywhere and are not shown. Vendors change prices, so confirm on each listing before you decide.
Rebuilding Kajabi's toolkit on Shopify
Kajabi bundles many tools, so leaving it means deciding where each one goes. On Shopify, most of the bundle is already covered by your store and its apps. This is how each piece maps across when Alva Courses handles the courses.
| Kajabi includes | Kajabi | On Shopify with Alva Courses |
|---|---|---|
| Website & pages | Kajabi website builder and landing pages | Your Shopify theme and pages; a courses page added to the theme |
| Checkout | Kajabi checkout pages and Kajabi Payments | Shopify checkout, with the same discounts and payment methods as your products |
| Courses | Kajabi course player | Alva Courses builder, quizzes, certificates, drip and storefront player |
| Contacts | Kajabi contacts and CRM | Shopify customers, with optional customer tags added when someone buys a course |
| Email marketing | Built-in marketing emails | Shopify Email or Klaviyo, triggered from Alva's Shopify Flow events; Alva sends the course emails itself |
| Memberships | Built in | A subscription app such as Seal, Appstle or ReCharge tags members; Alva grants access by tag |
| Community | Kajabi Communities | Per-lesson comments only; choose Tevello if you need community spaces |
| Funnels, podcasts, mobile app | Built in (branded app on Pro) | Not part of Alva Courses |
For the details, see how to automate courses with Shopify Flow and how to sell products inside course lessons.
Which Kajabi alternative fits your store?
The right Kajabi alternative depends on what you used Kajabi for. If it was mainly course delivery, a Shopify-native app replaces it at a fraction of the cost. If community, migration help or storage matters most, Tevello, Courses Plus or LDT may fit better. If you rely on Kajabi's marketing suite every week, staying may be right.
Choose Alva Courses if you…
- Sell physical or other products on Shopify and want courses in the same checkout
- Want buyers enrolled automatically and one customer list in Shopify
- Need long lesson videos hosted without a separate video account (Unlimited Pro)
- Want quizzes, certificates, drip and per-lesson comments from $9.99/mo
- Plan to automate course events with Shopify Flow
Choose another Shopify app if you…
- Need community spaces like Kajabi Communities (Tevello)
- Want the vendor to migrate your content, or need SCORM (Courses Plus)
- Sell mostly recurring memberships (Inflowkit)
- Host a very large video library on a small budget (LDT)
Choose a standalone platform if you…
- Don't have, or don't want, a Shopify store
- Run courses as the core business with B2B seats or invoicing (Thinkific)
- Want iOS and Android student apps on every plan (Teachable)
- Want Kajabi's all-in-one model for less (Podia)
Stay on Kajabi if you…
- Use its website, funnels and email marketing every week
- Run a community, coaching, podcasts or newsletters as core products
- Want a branded mobile app (Pro plan)
- Prefer one vendor for marketing, checkout and learning
Weighing a Shopify app against any separate platform, not just Kajabi? Read Shopify course app vs standalone LMS. Comparing only Shopify apps? The Tevello alternatives roundup covers that ground.
How to move from Kajabi to Shopify.
Moving from Kajabi to Alva Courses is a rebuild, not an import: Alva Courses has no Kajabi importer. Export your videos, files and lesson text from Kajabi, recreate the sections and lessons, link each course to a Shopify product, then enrol existing students from a CSV file. Keep Kajabi running until the new setup is tested.
- Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store and start the 14-day free trial. Course management appears inside your Shopify admin.
- Export from Kajabi. Download your course videos, PDFs and lesson copy, note the module and lesson order, and export your member list.
- Rebuild the course. Recreate sections and lessons in the drag-and-drop builder. Upload video to Alva Video Hosting on Unlimited Pro, or embed it from YouTube, Vimeo or Loom.
- Link each course to a Shopify product and set its price. Buyers are enrolled automatically when their order is paid.
- Import existing students by CSV from Members → Bulk Import CSV. The enrolment email for imported students is optional and starts switched off; Kajabi progress does not carry over.
- Test, then switch. Place a test order, point your links at the Shopify store, and cancel Kajabi once enrolments are arriving.
The full walkthrough, including what does and doesn't transfer, is in how to migrate from Kajabi to Shopify; the CSV format is in import members with CSV. If you would rather hand the move over, Courses Plus and Podia both list migration help on their own pages.
What Alva Courses costs next to Kajabi.
Alva Courses costs $9.99 a month on Unlimited or $14.99 a month on Unlimited Pro, both with a 14-day free trial and no free plan. A full year of Unlimited Pro, $179.88, costs about the same as one month of Kajabi Basic billed monthly ($179), although Kajabi's price also covers a website and email marketing.
| plan | Unlimited $9.99/mo Everything to sell courses | Recommended Unlimited Pro $14.99/mo Adds Alva Video Hosting |
|---|---|---|
| Courses, members & comments | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Quizzes, certificates & drip | ||
| Branded email + custom domain | ||
| Shopify Flow triggers & actions | ||
| Alva Video Hosting (50 GB, no per-video limit) | — | |
| Alva File Storage (course files up to 500 MB) | — | |
| 14-day free trial |
Plans are chosen on Shopify's app pricing page when you install, and billed through your Shopify invoice. Full details are on the Alva Courses pricing page; Kajabi's current tiers are on Kajabi's pricing page.
Alva Courses fits many kinds of Shopify sellers who teach. See how it works for artists and makers who sell supplies alongside classes, and for membership creators moving recurring access off Kajabi.
Kajabi alternatives: common questions.
One store, one checkout — courses included.
Install Alva Courses from the Shopify App Store. Rebuild one course, link it to a Shopify product, place a test order and watch the enrolment arrive, while your Kajabi account keeps running. The 14-day free trial means no commitment to start.