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LMS · head to head

Kajabi vs Sakai

Kajabi logo

Kajabi

LMS

All-in-one platform for knowledge entrepreneurs

From
$143/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Sakai has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Kajabi starter plan limited to 1 product, 1 community, and 1 website; requires upgrade for scaling; Sakai the zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • They diverge on capability: Kajabi covers Course builder, Sakai covers Course sites.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kajabi and Sakai actually diverge.

Attributes where Kajabi and Sakai differ
AttributeKajabiSakai
Starting price$143/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, iOS, Android
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Kajabi

  • Course builder
  • Website builder
  • Email marketing
  • Sales funnels
  • Memberships
  • Communities
  • Mobile app
  • Analytics

Only in Sakai

  • Course sites
  • Tests and Quizzes
  • Gradebook
  • Lessons
  • Assignments
  • Forums and messaging
  • LTI support
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Kajabi

  • Solo creators launching single digital products or coursesnot Sakai
  • Small coaching businesses with course, community, and email marketing needsnot Sakai
  • Multi-product creators requiring customisation and white-label optionsnot Sakai

Sakai

  • A university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction.not Kajabi
  • An institution that has been repriced twice by a commercial LMS vendor after ownership changes and wants a platform with no owner to sell it.not Kajabi
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not Kajabi
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not Kajabi

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Kajabi

  • Starter plan limited to 1 product, 1 community, and 1 website; requires upgrade for scaling
  • Starter and Basic tiers support only 1 community each; Growth tier caps at 1 community (Pro tier reaches 3)
  • Payment processing fees 2.9%–2.7% (Kajabi Payments) plus 5%–0.5% for third-party providers, tiered by plan
  • Admin user allowances escalate significantly: Starter (default 1), Basic (2), Growth (11), Pro (26)

Sakai

  • The zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • The third-party teaching tool ecosystem builds and tests for Canvas first, so Sakai adopters do their own LTI integration work and occasionally wait for a vendor to certify against a platform it does not prioritise.
  • Because governance is a foundation of member institutions rather than a company, a feature only gets built if some institution funds an engineer to build it, so roadmap commitments are weaker than a vendor contract provides.
  • The interface, while improved through the version 20 to 25 cycle, still reads as older than Canvas or Brightspace, and academic staff who have used a commercial LMS elsewhere notice it immediately.
  • Adoption is concentrated in specific regions and sectors, so the pool of people who have run Sakai in production is small, making it harder to hire an administrator than for Moodle or Canvas.

Pricing, plan by plan

Kajabi

$143/month
  • Basic$179/month
    • 5 products
    • 1 community
    • 2,500 contacts
  • Growth$249/month
    • 50 products
    • 1 community
    • 25,000 contacts
  • Pro$499/month
    • Unlimited products
    • 3 communities
    • 100,000 contacts

Sakai

Free
  • SakaiFree
    • Educational Community Licence, no licence fee
    • Full source on GitHub
    • Community support through Apereo lists and Jira
  • Commercial hosting and support$undefined/year
    • Provided by Apereo affiliates such as Longsight
    • Hosting, upgrades, backups and support
    • Quoted per institution, commonly by student headcount

Which should you pick?

Choose Kajabi if

  • You need course builder.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want website builder.
Kajabi review

Choose Sakai if

  • You need course sites.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want tests and quizzes.
Sakai review

Questions people ask

Is Kajabi or Sakai better?
Neither clearly leads. Kajabi starts at $143/month and Sakai at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kajabi or Sakai?
Sakai has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $143/month for Kajabi and Free for Sakai.
Does Kajabi or Sakai run on more platforms?
Kajabi runs on Web, iOS, Android. Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use Sakai for free?
Yes. Sakai has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Kajabi starts at $143/month.
What is Kajabi best used for?
Kajabi is most often used for solo creators launching single digital products or courses, small coaching businesses with course, community, and email marketing needs, multi-product creators requiring customisation and white-label options. Of those, solo creators launching single digital products or courses and small coaching businesses with course, community, and email marketing needs are not what Sakai is typically brought in for.
What can Kajabi do that Sakai cannot?
Kajabi covers Course builder, Website builder, Email marketing, Sales funnels. Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kajabi: How much does Kajabi cost?

Kajabi offers three subscription plans: Basic at $179/month (or $143/month annual), Growth at $249/month (or $199/month annual), and Pro at $499/month (or $399/month annual). A 30-day free trial is available.

Source
Sakai: Is Sakai still actively developed?

Yes. Version 25.0 shipped in 2025, 25.1 followed in November 2025, and further maintenance releases in the 25 line are planned, with commits continuing through 2026.

Kajabi: What are the payment processing fees on Kajabi?

Kajabi charges payment processing fees through Kajabi Payments: 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic plan, 2.8% + $0.30 on Growth plan, and 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro plan. Third-party providers charge lower rates (2%, 1%, and 0.5% respectively, excluding PayPal).

Source
Sakai: Who owns Sakai?

No company does. Governance sits with the Apereo Foundation, a membership organisation of institutions, and the code is under the Educational Community Licence.

Kajabi: How many contacts can I store on each Kajabi plan?

Basic plan supports 2,500 contacts, Growth plan supports 25,000 contacts, and Pro plan supports 100,000 contacts with unlimited products and 3 communities.

Source
Sakai: What does it actually cost to run?

The software is free. The cost is Java hosting and staff, or a commercial hosting agreement with an Apereo affiliate such as Longsight, typically quoted by student headcount.

Sakai: How does it compare to Moodle?

Moodle has a far larger plugin ecosystem and installed base; Sakai has a cleaner assessment and gradebook model and is more common in research-intensive universities. Moodle is easier to hire for.

Sakai: Can we migrate off it later?

Yes, but course content export fidelity through Common Cartridge is imperfect, so budget for manual rebuilding of assessments as you would leaving any LMS.

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