Circle vs Kajabi (2025 Comparison): Which Platform Is Right for Your Community?
- Brianna Leever
- Nov 5, 2025
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2025
This article is routinely updated as new features are rolled out. Last updated October 2025.
TL;DR: Circle vs Kajabi
If your community thrives on connection, choose Circle.
If your community revolves around education, choose Kajabi.
Circle (affiliate link) is best for coaches, consultants, and brands that want a combination of education and connection, flexibility, and scalability.
Kajabi is a good tool for course and content-centered communities, but Circle can also be a great option here as well.
Here’s the short version:
Ease of use: Circle’s UX feels seamless, intuitive, and centralized; Kajabi's product suite feels fragmented.
Pricing: At the $199/month plans, Kajabi limits members and charges 1% transaction fees.
Customization: Circle allows deeper white-label branding and custom CSS earlier.
All-in-one promise: Kajabi offers a greater suite of products for different use cases (courses, podcast, community, etc.), but Circle does it better for community-led growth.
Verdict: Kajabi is a powerful learning platform with community features. Circle is a community-first platform with learning features.
Quick Answer:
If you want to teach, Kajabi could be the right tool.
If you want to connect, Circle is definitely your home.
Introduction
The number one thing I hear from new community creators is this: “I just want to do it right the first time.”
Choosing the right community platform can feel like one of the most high-stakes decisions you’ll make. Because it’s not just your time and energy you’re investing, it’s your members’ too.
The last thing you want is to build momentum, create content, host events, and then realize nine months in that you’ve outgrown your platform (or chosen the wrong one entirely).
If you’ve ever wondered whether Circle or Kajabi is the better fit for your community (or if you’re secretly getting a little FOMO that you picked the wrong one) this breakdown is for you.
For more exploration of other platforms beyond Circle and Kajabi (like Heartbeat, Mighty, and Skool), be sure to check out the full series of community platform comparisons.
Who These Platforms Are Built For
To understand whether Circle or Kajabi is the right home for your community, you first need to know who each platform was designed for.
Kajabi is a learning management system built for educational creators; Think course builders, coaches, and membership sites that revolve around a clear learning journey.
Circle's founders came out of Teachable with the product positioned as the connection-centric solution to learning management systems; groups where the real value comes from interaction between members.
Here’s how Circle vs Kajabi breaks down:
If your community’s value is in education, Kajabi boasts robust course management features and a separate community product designed to work in tandem with their core learning product. But their community product will always feel like a separate space from your course.
Circle, on the other hand, has integrated education and connection from the very beginning.
Kajabi: A Learning Platform First, a Community Second
Kajabi is essentially a learning management system (LMS) with an added community product. Its structure makes sense if your goal is to activate students around your course, especially through things like challenges and structured milestones.
That said, Kajabi’s ecosystem feels fragmented. Each product or program — courses, communities, podcasts — lives in its own dedicated home without easy toggling between the two. While you can access them under one login, the experience for members doesn’t feel like a single cohesive home.
✅ Best for: Course creators who keep the value centered on their education, not connection between members.
⚠️ Watch out for: Limited flexibility, poor UX, and a “fractured” user experience that can make the course → community flow feel disjointed.
COMING UP: Beyond the Comparison: Learn from Real Builders
This comparison is one piece of our broader Community Platform Comparison Series.
Join us for a live panel where community builders hosting their communities on Circle, Skool, Mighty, Kajabi, and Heartbeat share their perspectives on their experience building on each platform.
Circle: Built for Connection and Depth
Circle was built from the ground up as a community platform, and it shows.
Its simple left-hand sidebar lets you organize your spaces for discussion, courses, events, or content. Members can move between spaces seamlessly — making it feel like one home instead of toggling between the course on one page and the community in another.
Circle’s experience is also easier to customize visually, with options for custom CSS, branding, and flexible layouts that evolve as your community grows.
✅ Best for: Communities and memberships with programs spanning events, conversation, content and courses.
⚠️ Watch out for: Pricing can add up fast as you grow — necessary premium features live behind an upgrade.
All-in-One: The Promise (and the Trap)
Both Circle and Kajabi are now expanding beyond their original purpose — and this is where creators often get caught in the “all-in-one” trap. Kajabi wants to be your everything: your website, your email service provider, your funnel. Circle now offers email and landing pages too.
But here’s the truth: When a platform tries to do everything, it rarely does any one thing exceptionally well.
If you’re just starting out, having everything in one place can simplify your setup. But as your ecosystem matures, you’ll start to crave the power and precision of dedicated tools (like Kit for email or ThriveCart for payments).
When you hear "all-in-one" community platform, set your expectation on exception community platform tools, but don't expect one tool to solve every single business need you have.
First time building a community?
Check out our free Masterclass on the 4 Types of Communities to learn just how powerful a community can be for your business (and what to watch out for, too!)
Direct Comparison: Kajabi Growth vs. Circle Business Plan
Let’s look at the numbers, because they tell a clear story. Both Circle’s Business Plan and Kajabi’s Growth Plan are priced at $199/month, but how they deliver value is very different.
Takeaway: Kajabi’s member limits and payment fees can force you to upgrade sooner, even if you’re not adding new features. Circle’s unlimited members make it easier to scale without extra cost, but premium add-ons can still stack up.
Verdict: Which Platform Wins?
After building more than 40 communities on Circle and helping countless clients migrate away from Kajabi, here’s my take: If your brand is built around you — your courses, your knowledge, your expertise — Kajabi could work for you. But if you’re building an ecosystem — where members connect, co-create, and grow together — Circle is the clear winner.
Kajabi is for teachers. Circle is for community leaders.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the platform matters less than how you design and deliver your community experience. But choosing the right tool for where your community is today (and where it’ll be in a year) can save you a lot of growing pains.
FAQs
1. What’s the difference between Circle and Kajabi in 2025?
Circle is a true community platform designed for connection, interaction, and flexible member experiences. Kajabi is primarily a course and education platform with added community features.In short, Circle builds belonging; Kajabi builds courses.
2. Which is better for online courses: Circle or Kajabi?
If your main focus is teaching or course delivery, Kajabi is the stronger choice.It has built-in learning management, quizzes, and progress tracking. However, if you want to blend courses with member discussion and networking, Circle can handle that beautifully with course spaces and easy navigation.
3. Is Circle or Kajabi better for community engagement?
Circle wins when it comes to engagement. Its interface is designed for interaction — comments, threads, events, and spaces feel natural and intuitive. Kajabi’s community areas feel more like discussion add-ons to a course.
4. How much do Circle and Kajabi cost?
Circle starts at $89/month and Kajabi starts at $71/month for their smalles plan in 2025 . Both Circle’s Business Plan and Kajabi’s Growth Plan are priced evenly at $199/month. Kajabi charges a 1% transaction fee on Stripe payments and limits members per plan, while Circle offers unlimited members but charges more for advanced features like automations and custom branding.
5. Can I host both my courses and community in Circle or Kajabi?
Yes, both platforms allow you to host courses and a community. The key difference: Kajabi leads with education and adds community; Circle leads with community and great education features. If your courses are your product, Kajabi fits best. If your community or a combination of education and connection is your core product, go with Circle.
6. Can I migrate my community from Kajabi to Circle?
Absolutely. Many creators migrate from Kajabi to Circle once they realize they want deeper engagement or a more integrated experience. You can export your Kajabi member list and import it into Circle, then recreate your spaces and course content. Tools like Zapier or automation help streamline the transition. Circle offers complimentary course migration for some of their plans.
7. Does Circle replace an email marketing tool like Kit?
Sort of, but not really.While Circle now includes email broadcasts and automations, they’re still basic compared to dedicated email tools like Kit or ActiveCampaign or MailerLite.If you want advanced segmentation and funnels, keep a separate email platform.
8. What’s the best community platform alternative to Circle and Kajabi?
If you’re still deciding, explore Heartbeat, Mighty Networks, and Skool. Each has its strengths. Heartbeat (affiliate link) is great for event-led communities, Mighty can be great for cohorts, and Skool is known for their simplicity. For a full comparison, download The Ultimate Platform Comparison Guide
WATCH: Battle of the Community Platforms
Join a lively and honest conversation about the strengths and challenges that come with building in each community platform: Circle, Heartbeat, Skool, and Mighty.
