Kajabi does coaching well. So the real question is cost. We added plan prices and fees on $500 packages to find a cheaper Kajabi alternative for coaches.
Kajabi has specific offerings for coaches, but can the coaches actually afford Kajabi? Most coaches looking for a Kajabi alternative are really asking about price. For a coach who sells $500 packages, Zinstruct Advanced at $148 a month costs less than Kajabi Basic at every sales level we checked. Zinstruct Core costs less until about $4,000 a month in sales, and past that point Kajabi Basic is cheaper.
We checked every price on each company's public pricing page on October 21, 2026. Below we compare what each one does for a coach, then add up the real monthly cost at three sales levels.
What Kajabi's coaching tools can do
Kajabi has its own scheduler and its own live video, so you don't need Calendly to sell coaching there. Its Coaching Product overview lists 1:1 and group programs, the Kajabi Scheduler, built-in video, and a place to keep agendas, files, and client progress.
Here's what stands out for a coach, as of October 2026:
- Clients book from your open times through the Kajabi Scheduler.
- Group calls hold up to 200 people on video, with up to 20 breakout rooms of 10.
- You can sell single sessions or packages of sessions.
- You and each client can keep your own notes on a session.
- An upsell can show after a session ends and send the client to a new offer.
Kajabi's coaching page adds one-time or recurring payments, tiered packages, and checkout pages that are built in. So the tools are there. The question is what they cost you each month.
Two limits are worth knowing. If you book through Calendly or a custom link, Kajabi turns off its built-in video for that coaching product. And coaching isn't in the Kajabi mobile app yet, so clients join from a phone's web browser.
Kajabi coaching pricing in October 2026
Kajabi has three public plans on its pricing page. Each one has a monthly price and a lower price when you pay for a year:
- Basic is $179 a month, or $143 billed yearly, with 5 products, 2,500 contacts, and 2 admin users.
- Growth is $249 a month, or $199 billed yearly, with 50 products and 25,000 contacts.
- Pro is $499 a month, or $399 billed yearly, with unlimited products and 100,000 contacts.
Kajabi takes no revenue share. You still pay a card fee on each sale through Kajabi Payments. For sellers in the United States, it's 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic, 2.8% + $0.30 on Growth, and 2.7% + $0.30 on Pro.
If you use an outside payment provider instead, Kajabi adds its own fee of 2%, 1%, or 0.5% by plan. That sits on top of whatever the provider charges you.
If you also run a paid group, we worked out how Kajabi compares with Skool on cost too.
What Zinstruct costs a coach
Zinstruct has three plans. Billed monthly, Core is $98, Advanced is $148, and Professional is $198. Billed yearly, they drop to $78, $118, and $158 a month.
Each plan takes a fee per sale: 5% on Core, 2.9% on Advanced, and 1.9% on Professional. Zinstruct pays the Stripe card fee out of that, so there's no extra $0.30 on each payment. The plans also differ in size:
- Core has up to 12 products and 5,000 contacts.
- Advanced has up to 30 products and 20,000 contacts, plus sales funnels and checkout upsells.
- Professional has up to 70 products and 50,000 contacts.
You can see Zinstruct's plans and fees for the full limits. Sales you make during the 7-day free trial pay the Core rate. Zinstruct's page of frequently asked questions (FAQ) says so in the Zinstruct FAQ payments section.
The real monthly cost on $500 packages
The price on a plan card isn't what you pay. What you pay is the plan plus the fees on everything you sell. So we added both for a coach who sells $500 packages.
Here are the rules for the math. We used monthly billing, cards from the United States, and one $500 package per sale, with Kajabi on Kajabi Payments. Each figure is the plan price plus fees, from the two pricing pages as of October 2026.
At $2,000 a month in sales
That's 4 packages. Here is what each plan costs you that month, fees included:
- Kajabi Basic costs $238.20.
- Kajabi Growth costs $306.20.
- Zinstruct Core costs $198.
- Zinstruct Advanced costs $206.
- Zinstruct Professional costs $236.
At $5,000 a month in sales
That's 10 packages. The fees now matter more than the plan price, and the order starts to shift:
- Kajabi Basic costs $327.
- Kajabi Growth costs $392.
- Zinstruct Core costs $348.
- Zinstruct Advanced costs $293.
- Zinstruct Professional costs $293.
At $10,000 a month in sales
That's 20 packages. At this level the plans with the lowest fee per sale pull ahead:
- Kajabi Basic costs $475.
- Kajabi Growth costs $535.
- Zinstruct Core costs $598.
- Zinstruct Advanced costs $438.
- Zinstruct Professional costs $388.
What the numbers show
A few patterns hold across all three levels, and one of them favors Kajabi:
- Zinstruct Advanced costs less than Kajabi Basic at every level.
- Zinstruct Core costs less than Kajabi Basic until about $4,000 a month in sales. Past that, the 5% fee catches up and Kajabi Basic is cheaper.
- On yearly billing, that crossover point drops to about $3,200 a month.
- Kajabi Growth costs more than Zinstruct Advanced at every level.
- At $10,000 a month, Zinstruct Professional is the cheapest of the five.
Kajabi for coaches
Kajabi's coaching tools are mature. The scheduler, video rooms with breakouts, and the upsell after a session all come built in. It takes no cut of your sales, and you can hire a Kajabi expert if you want help with setup.
The weak spot for a coach is the size of the Basic plan. Five products and 2,500 contacts fill up fast once you sell a few packages, a course, and a free guide to grow your list. The next step up is $249 a month.
Verdict: a strong pick if you sell well above $4,000 a month and want group video rooms built in.
Zinstruct for coaches
Booking, payment at checkout, and reminders sit in one coaching tool. Clients pick an open slot, and time zones are handled for them. They pay when they book, whether it's a single call, a package, or a monthly retainer.
You can coach 1:1 or run group cohorts from the same tools. Reminders go out on their own, and notes, action items, and shared files stay attached to each client. For calls, you connect your own video tool or meet inside the platform.
Setting up an offer takes three moves. You set the length, the price, and whether it's 1:1 or group. Then you sync your calendar and open your slots, and clients book and pay.
The same account also sells courses, a paid group, newsletters, and downloads. Checkout handles one-time payments, subscriptions, and payment plans.
There are limits. Zinstruct's coaching page doesn't list a group video room size, so check that first if you run calls for a big crowd. The top plan holds 50,000 contacts, half of what Kajabi Pro holds. And Core's 5% fee gets costly as sales grow.
Verdict: the cheaper pick for most coaches on Advanced, and on Core while monthly sales stay under about $4,000.
Pick this if
The right plan depends on what you sell and how much. Here's the short version, based on the math above:
- Kajabi Basic fits if you sell a lot through a short list of offers, or need group video rooms for up to 200 people.
- Zinstruct Core fits if you're starting out and sell under about $4,000 a month.
- Zinstruct Advanced fits if you sell several offers, want funnels and checkout upsells, and want the lowest cost across most of the range.
- Zinstruct Professional fits if you sell around $10,000 a month or more and want the lowest fee per sale.
FAQ
Does Kajabi need Calendly for coaching?
No. Kajabi has its own scheduler. Calendly still works, but using it turns off Kajabi's built-in video for that coaching product.
Does Kajabi take a cut of coaching sales?
Kajabi takes no revenue share. You pay the card fee on Kajabi Payments, or an extra 2%, 1%, or 0.5% by plan if you use another provider.
Can you sell coaching packages on a payment plan?
Kajabi's coaching page lists one-time and recurring payments. Zinstruct's checkout supports one-time payments, subscriptions, and payment plans.
What is the cheapest Kajabi alternative for coaches?
Of the two we compared, Zinstruct Core has the lowest plan price at $98 a month. Its 5% fee means Advanced works out cheaper once you sell more than about $2,400 a month. We didn't check other tools for this post.
Work out your own cost this week
Pull last month's coaching sales. Write down the total and the number of sales.
For Kajabi Basic, add $179, plus 2.9% of the total, plus $0.30 for each sale. For Zinstruct, add the plan price and its fee on the total. Do it this week with your real numbers, then start a trial on the one that comes out lower and build one offer before the trial ends.
Run your own numbers on a real coaching offer. Start your 7-day free trial, no credit card required.