Thrivecart and Kajabi are two of the most popular e-commerce platforms used by online businesses, entrepreneurs, creators, and course creators today.
Both platforms make creating, marketing, and selling digital products like online courses, memberships, coaching programs, and more easy.
They also provide powerful tools to build sales funnels, optimize conversions, and scale your online business. However, Thrivecart and Kajabi significantly differ in their features, capabilities, and ideal use cases.
So how do you choose between them?
In this detailed Thrivecart vs Kajabi comparison, we’ll examine the key differences between these two platforms across all aspects that matter most:
Thrivecart vs Kajabi: Overview
What is Thrivecart?
Thrivecart is an e-commerce platform that creates high-converting sales pages, order forms, and checkouts.
It simplifies selling digital and physical products by providing pre-made templates, drag-and-drop customization, and built-in tools to maximize conversions. Some of Thrivecart’s key features include:
- Shopping carts and checkouts
- Order bumps and upsells
- Affiliate management
- Subscription billing
- Sales tax automation
- A/B split testing
- Analytics and tracking
Thrivecart also offers an add-on called Thrivecart Learn to create basic online courses.
What is Kajabi?
Kajabi is an all-in-one online business platform for selling digital products like online courses, memberships, coaching, etc.
In addition to its robust course-building capabilities, Kajabi provides a website builder, email marketing, and other tools to run your entire business.Some of Kajabi’s key features include:
- Course Builder
- Membership sites
- Website Builder
- Email marketing
- Sales funnels
- Checkout pages
- Affiliate management
- Analytics and tracking
So, while Thrivecart focuses primarily on checkouts and conversions, Kajabi is a more complete business management platform.
Thrivecart vs Kajabi: Feature Comparison
Let’s make a detailed Thrivecart vs. Kajabi feature comparison across some of the most important aspects:
Products
Both platforms allow you to create and sell digital products online. However, Thrivecart also supports physical products while Kajabi is tailored for digital products.Kajabi has a much more robust course builder with features like drip content, quizzes, certificates and more. Thrivecart’s course capabilities are basic in comparison.For digital downloads like ebooks, videos, audio files, etc., Kajabi is better equipped. But Thrivecart can work if your digital products are simple.
Winner: Kajabi for digital products, Thrivecart for both digital and physical.
Website Builder
Kajabi has a website builder included to create marketing pages, blogs, landing pages and more. Thrivecart does not have a website builder. Kajabi’s builder is easy to use with templates, drag and drop editor and custom CSS. Thrivecart only provides basic landing page customization.
Winner: Kajabi
Email Marketing
Kajabi comes with a built-in email marketing platform with automation, broadcasts, sequences and more. Thrivecart has no native email marketing so you need a third-party provider.
Winner: Kajabi
Sales Funnels
Both platforms make it easy to create sales funnels without any technical skills.
Kajabi funnel builder lets you customize funnels with different entry points like landing pages, webinars etc. Thrivecart funnels start from the product checkout. Thrivecart specializes in post-purchase upsells and downsells. Kajabi offers more flexibility in its funnel design.
Winner: Kajabi
Marketing Analytics
Kajabi has robust analytics on your website traffic, leads, conversions, and more. Thrivecart analytics are limited to basic sales and conversion metrics. Kajabi also provides A/B testing capabilities out-of-the-box. With Thrivecart, you need a third-party integration.
Winner: Kajabi
Checkout and Payments
Thrivecart and Kajabi offer optimized checkout pages, coupons, payment plans and support for all major payment gateways. Thrivecart specializes in maximizing conversions at checkout with tools like order bumps. Kajabi checkout customization is more limited.
Winner: Thrivecart
Affiliate Marketing
Thrivecart and Kajabi both have excellent affiliate management systems to recruit, track and pay affiliates.Kajabi lets you create affiliate signup pages and gives affiliates access to marketing materials. Thrivecart’s affiliate features focus solely on tracking and commissions.
Winner: Kajabi
Integrations and API
Thrivecart and Kajabi integrate with all major third-party platforms like email providers, webinar software, membership plugins, and more. Kajabi offers Zapier integration for connecting with various apps. Thrivecart can integrate via webhooks and their API.
Winner: Tie
Thrivecart vs Kajabi: Pricing
Thrivecart and Kajabi have very different pricing models:
- Thrivecart: One-time payment for lifetime access. Currently $495 for Standard, $690 for Pro.
- Kajabi: Subscription-based. $149/mo for Basic, $199/mo for Professional, $399/mo for Premium.
So, in the long run, Kajabi will be the more expensive option since it requires monthly payments. Thrivecart is cheaper overall with a single lifetime payment. However, Kajabi offers free trials so that you can test it first. Thrivecart has no free plan. Kajabi also offers more features, especially for digital businesses. So, the higher cost may be justified for some users.
Thrivecart vs Kajabi: Ease of Use
Thrivecart has a simpler interface that’s easy for beginners to use quickly. Kajabi is more fully featured but takes more time to learn and master. Kajabi also offers much more customization compared to Thrivecart’s drag-and-drop editor. So Thrivecart is better if you want something simple to setup. Kajabi is more powerful but requires time to leverage its capabilities.
Thrivecart vs Kajabi: Final Verdict
Thrivecart is best for:
- Selling both digital and physical products
- Maximizing conversions and checkouts
- Simplicity and ease of use
- Affordable lifetime deal
Kajabi is best for:
- Online courses and digital products
- Complete online business platform
- Advanced sales funnels and email marketing
- Highly customizable and full-featured
Recommendation:
For most digital businesses, online course creators, and coaches, Kajabi is worth the monthly investment for its robust features, customizability, and ability to run your entire business. However, Thrivecart makes sense for simpler use cases like selling ebooks or online stores with physical and digital products. The lifetime deal can be cost-effective here.
Evaluate your business needs and choose the platform that best aligns with your goals, target audience, and required capabilities. Both Thrivecart and Kajabi are excellent e-commerce platforms – identify which one is the right fit for your online business.
Conclusion
Thrivecart and Kajabi help thousands of businesses sell online, but they cater to different needs. Thrivecart focuses on checkouts and conversions, while Kajabi is an end-to-end business platform. For most digital businesses, Kajabi is worth the investment for its comprehensive tools.
But Thrivecart offers a cost-effective lifetime deal suitable for simpler requirements.
Assess your own needs and choose the best platform to achieve your online business goals. Both Thrivecart and Kajabi can enable your e-commerce success when used strategically.