$97 offer · dollars, not vibes · USD · United States rates where noted
Best course platform for a $97 offer
A $97 course does not care about “all-in-one.” It cares about two numbers: the monthly floor, and the cut on every sale. Teachable Starter is 7.5%. Kajabi Basic is $179/mo. Thinkific Basic is $54/mo. Here is that math in dollars.
Who this page is for
Experts who already have a $97 offer — recorded course, download, or a low-ticket door — and need the host decision in money, not a feature grid. It is not a review of Kajabi, Teachable, or Thinkific as schools. It is the $97 line, expanded.
Arithmetic uses the official rates. The dollar columns assume the listed price is the transaction value with no tax added. Teachable Pay’s own words: the platform cut is “7.5% of total transaction value (product price including taxes).” If your checkout includes tax, the base — and the dollars — go up. We do not invent a tax rate. Same method as Teachable transaction fees.
The short version
Thinkific Basic
The cheap player. Public Basic is $54/mo month-to-month, $40/mo billed annually. Unlimited courses. One community. No extra platform percentage on Thinkific Payments.
Actually for
A $97 recorded library when email and checkout already live elsewhere — or you will accept Thinkific’s LMS commerce and keep Stripe off Basic (the Stripe tax on Basic is 5%).
Not for
A live cohort (that sits on Start, $109). Kajabi-style funnels. Keeping Stripe on Basic without pricing 5% = $4.85 on every $97 sale, plus Stripe.
Teachable Builder — not Starter
Starter is $39/mo. The product is 7.5% of every $97 sale: $7.28 before the card network is paid. Builder is $89/mo and 0% on teachable:pay.
Actually for
A real $97 offer you intend to sell, on Builder. The $50/mo gap vs Starter is what the 7.5% has to beat.
Not for
Sitting on Starter “until it sells.” Seven $97 sales = $50.93 in platform cut — already over the monthly Builder gap. Full table on the fees page.
Kajabi Basic
The OS floor. Public Basic is $179/mo, $143/mo billed annually. No extra platform percentage on Kajabi Payments. US card 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 on $97.
Actually for
A $97 door in front of a business you will run on one stack: landing page, email, funnel, checkout, delivery. You are paying for the bundle, not the ticket price.
Not for
A $97 experiment that will not open email or funnels. The floor is $179 whether the offer is $97 or $2,000.
Two different costs
The monthly floor is what you pay to keep the school open. Kajabi Basic $179. Teachable Starter $39. Teachable Builder $89. Thinkific Basic $54. Annual advertised rates: $143 / $29 / $69 / $40. Those are subscriptions, not per-sale cuts.
The per-sale cut is the vendor’s own take, on top of card processing. Teachable Starter: 7.5%. Teachable Builder: 0% on teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway. Kajabi Payments: no extra platform percentage. Thinkific Payments: no third-party gateway fee; public native headline 2.9%.
A $97 offer feels the floor first and the cut second — until the cut starts firing every week. The rest of this page is those two costs in dollars. It is not a break-even forecast. Refunds, tax-inclusive bases, reserves, and coupons change the dollar.
The 7.5% and the card, in dollars, on $97
Same method as the Teachable fees page. Platform cut only in the first column. US card 2.9%+$0.30 where that rate is official. Thinkific Payments uses the public 2.9% headline — not +$0.30. Base = $97, no tax.
| Vendor cut on $97 | Cited card / native processing | Combined on one $97 sale | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teachable Starter | 7.5% = $7.28 | US card 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 | $10.39 |
| Teachable Builder | 0%* = $0 | US card 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 | $3.11 |
| Kajabi Payments, Basic | No extra platform % = $0 | US card 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 | $3.11 |
| Kajabi, keep Stripe on new Basic | 2% = $1.94 | Stripe’s own schedule omitted | $1.94 plus Stripe (omitted) |
| Thinkific Payments | No third-party gateway fee | Public FAQ headline 2.9% = $2.81 | $2.81 (headline only; not +$0.30) |
| Thinkific, keep Stripe on Basic | 5% = $4.85 | Stripe’s own schedule omitted | $4.85 plus Stripe (omitted) |
7.5% of $97 = $7.275, rounded to $7.28. US card: $97 × 0.029 + $0.30 = $3.113 → $3.11. Starter combined: $7.275+$3.113 = $10.388 → $10.39. Kajabi 2% of $97 = $1.94. Thinkific 2.9% of $97 = $2.813 → $2.81. Thinkific 5% of $97 = $4.85. *0% if you use teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway, per the public pricing FAQ.
Floor plus fees, same $97, by volume
Month-to-month subscription plus the combined per-sale figure above. Native payments only — Teachable Pay / Kajabi Payments / Thinkific Payments. Not Stripe-on-Kajabi. Not Stripe-on-Thinkific. Arithmetic on the no-tax $97 base. That is not a P&L.
| $97 sales in the month | Teachable Starter ($39 + $10.39 each) | Teachable Builder ($89 + $3.11 each) | Kajabi Basic ($179 + $3.11 each) | Thinkific Basic ($54 + $2.81 each) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ($97) | $49.39 | $92.11 | $182.11 | $56.81 |
| 5 ($485) | $90.94 | $104.57 | $194.57 | $68.07 |
| 10 ($970) | $142.88 | $120.13 | $210.13 | $82.13 |
| 20 ($1,940) | $246.76 | $151.26 | $241.26 | $110.26 |
Unrounded then rounded to cents: Starter 1 = $39+$10.388 = $49.388 → $49.39; 5 = $39+$51.94 = $90.94; 10 = $39+$103.88 = $142.88; 20 = $39+$207.76 = $246.76. Builder / Kajabi use $3.113 per sale ($89+$3.113 = $92.113 → $92.11; $179+$3.113 = $182.113 → $182.11; five sales add $15.565). Thinkific uses $2.813 per sale ($54+$2.813 = $56.813 → $56.81; 5 = $54+$14.065 = $68.065 → $68.07; 10 = $54+$28.13 = $82.13; 20 = $54+$56.26 = $110.26).
Read the table for what it is. At one $97 sale, Teachable Starter’s combined bill ($49.39) is the smallest of the four — and you already paid $7.28 of it to Teachable’s 7.5%. At twenty $97 sales, Starter’s combined ($246.76) has crossed Kajabi Basic ($241.26) and sits well above Builder ($151.26). Thinkific Basic stays the lowest combined figure in this native-payments arithmetic because the floor is $54 and the cited native headline is 2.9% with no extra platform percentage.
That crossing is not “Kajabi is cheaper after twenty sales.” Kajabi’s $179 is the OS: unlimited marketing emails, landing pages, and funnels on the public grid. Thinkific Basic is a player with one community. Teachable Builder is a school at $89. You are not buying the same machine. You are looking at what a $97 ticket actually surrenders this month.
The subscription gaps the 7.5% has to beat
Reuse from the fees page, then the Kajabi floor. Platform cut only (card processing is on Starter and Builder). 7.5% of $97 = $7.275 before rounding.
- Starter vs Builder. Gap $50/mo month-to-month, $40/mo on the advertised annual rates ($69 vs $29). Seven $97 sales = $50.93 — over the monthly gap. Six = $43.65 — over the annual gap. Already published on Teachable transaction fees.
- Starter vs Kajabi Basic. Gap $140/mo month-to-month ($179 − $39), $114/mo on advertised annual rates ($143 − $29). $140 ÷ $7.275 ≈ 19.2 sales. Twenty $97 sales = $145.50 in Starter platform cut — over the monthly gap. Sixteen = $116.40 — over the annual gap. Combined with card fees, the table above crosses around twenty sales on monthly billing.
- Builder vs Kajabi Basic. Gap $90/mo ($179 − $89). There is no 7.5% left to close it. Both take $3.11 on a US-card $97 sale under native payments. The $90 is the OS floor, not a fee conversation.
- Thinkific Basic vs Kajabi Basic. Gap $125/mo ($179 − $54), $103/mo annual ($143 − $40). Thinkific Payments at the 2.9% headline is $2.81 vs Kajabi’s $3.11. The gap is the subscription. It does not close on a $97 ticket unless you were going to buy Kajabi’s email and funnels anyway.
Annual floors, if you pay yearly: Kajabi Basic $143/mo advertised, Teachable Starter $29, Builder $69, Thinkific Basic $40. We are not reprinting the volume table on annual rates. The per-sale cuts do not change.
Cited plan numbers, August 29, 2026
USD. Monthly is month-to-month. Annual is the advertised per-month rate when you pay yearly.
| Kajabi Basic | Teachable Starter | Teachable Builder | Thinkific Basic | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly / annual (per month) | $179 / $143 | $39 / $29 (save $120) | $89 / $69 (save $240) | $54 / $40 (save $173) |
| Platform transaction fee (native) | No extra platform % on Kajabi Payments | 7.5% | 0%* | No third-party gateway fee on Thinkific Payments. Public FAQ headline 2.9%. |
| Fee if you keep Stripe | 2% on new plans where Kajabi Payments is available. PayPal excluded. | Custom-gateway surcharge not on the public pricing page this fetch — omitted. | Same omission. | 5% on Basic. First $1M of calendar-year sales, then waived. US, Canada, UK, EU. |
| Products / courses | 5 products | 5 published products. Memberships and bundles do not count. | 10 published products | Unlimited courses |
| People cap | 2,500 contacts | 100 active students. Caps come off at $10k USD/year in sales on Teachable. | 1,000 active students. Same $10k lift. | 10,000 current students |
| Community | 1 | Starter’s current public grid does not list community. Treat as unverified on this fetch. | Community appears on Builder in the public comparison grid. | 1 community / 5 spaces |
| Email / funnels | Unlimited marketing emails and funnels on the public grid | Built-in email marketing on the public grid. Not Kajabi’s funnel OS. | Same school grid, plus affiliate program | Site builder, landing pages, and email automation on the public grid. Still an LMS, not Kajabi’s business OS. |
| Trial | 30-day free trial | 7-day free trial, 30-day money-back. No free plan. | Same | 30-day free trial. No free plan. |
Sources: kajabi.com/pricing, teachable.com/pricing, thinkific.com/pricing. Full list at the bottom. *0% on teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway.
Who should pick which, for a $97 offer
Pick Thinkific Basic if
The $97 thing is a recorded library, 10,000 current students is enough, and you are not buying Kajabi’s marketing OS tonight. $54 / $40. Stay on Thinkific Payments. Skip Basic if the program is a live cohort — that starts on Start ($109 / $82). Skip keeping Stripe unless you have priced 5% = $4.85 per $97 sale, plus Stripe.
Pick Teachable Builder if
You want a school, not an OS, and the $97 offer is real. $89 / $69. 0% on teachable:pay. Do not pick Starter because $39 looks like the $97-offer plan. Seven sales have already spent the Builder gap. Growth ($189 / $139) is a catalog and branding conversation, not a $97 fee conversation — the 0% is already on Builder.
Pick Kajabi Basic if
The $97 is a door, and the business behind it needs landing pages, email, funnels, and checkout in one stack. $179 / $143. No extra platform percentage on Kajabi Payments. $3.11 on a US-card $97 sale. You are not picking Kajabi to win the volume table. You are picking it because the bundle replaces other tabs. If those tabs already work, the $179 floor is the reason to skip — see the hike page: best course platform after the Kajabi price hike.
Skip all three if
The $97 is a room. That is not a course-platform price. Skool Hobby is $9/mo with a 10% transaction fee — 10% of $97 = $9.70 — if the group is the offer. Visit button below only because the room is the other $97 shape; official Skool pricing stays the citation. Mighty and Circle are membership/community hosts, not this $97 LMS fork.
Visit the hosts
Teachable affiliate slot — not live Thinkific affiliate slot — not live
Kajabi’s trial box and visit button use the 30-day trial affiliate, justinwise.net/kajabi. The Kajabi pricing button is a pricing-page affiliate. Official Kajabi pricing remains the source for Kajabi numbers. Teachable and Thinkific buttons are official product URLs only. Visit Skool uses the Skool signup affiliate. Official skool.com/pricing remains the source for Skool numbers.
Omitted on purpose
- A break-even month presented as advice. The 1 / 5 / 10 / 20-sale table is official rates applied to $97. Refunds, reserves, tax-inclusive bases, and coupons change it.
- A tax-inclusive dollar table. Teachable’s 7.5% is of price including taxes. We did not invent a sales-tax rate to inflate $97.
- Exact Thinkific Payments US schedule beyond the public 2.9% FAQ line. We did not invent 2.9%+$0.30 as Thinkific’s native US rate. The cost article’s “most payment processors charge around 2.9%+$0.30” is not a Thinkific Payments card.
- Teachable Custom Payment Gateway extra percentage. Not on teachable.com/pricing this fetch. Official custom-gateway help returned 401 on the earlier fees-page fetch.
- Kajabi legacy dollar table and Kickstarter as a buyable public price. The January 13, 2026 hike is a dated event; old-vs-new dollars were not extracted as text from the official update page.
- Thinkific Start / Grow / Plus as this $97-player fork. Start is the live-cohort plan. Named here only to keep you off Basic if the work is live.
- Mighty Networks, Circle, Podia, LearnWorlds as this three-host dollar table. Skool is cited only as the room-shaped $97, not as a course LMS.
- Keyword volumes, “best cheap course platform” listicles as pricing sources, and anything that documents your method for you.
Sources
- Teachable pricing — Starter $39 / $29 (save $120), Builder $89 / $69 (save $240), Growth $189 / $139; 7.5% vs 0%*; 5 / 10 / 50 products; 100 / 1,000 / 5,000 active students; 22% annual; 7-day trial; 30-day money-back; USD; $10k/year cap lift; FAQ: 0% on Builder, Growth, and Custom for teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway; 7.5% on Starter; standard processing fees may still apply. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Teachable Pay (updated June 22, 2026) — Starter 7.5% of total transaction value (product price including taxes); Builder/Growth/Advanced/Business 0% on Teachable Payments; US card 2.9%+$0.30. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Kajabi pricing — public plans, JSON-LD prices ($143/$179 Basic, $199/$249 Growth, $399/$499 Pro), product/contact/community limits, unlimited emails/funnels/landing pages, Kajabi Payments US grid 2.9/2.8/2.7%+$0.30, 3rd-party 2%/1%/0.5%, 30-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Kajabi Payments fees: United States — 2.9%+$0.30 cards, +0.7% subscriptions and payment plans. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Thinkific pricing — Basic $54/$40 (save $173), Start $109/$82, Grow $219/$164; unlimited courses; 10,000 current students; 1 community on Basic; 30-day trial; 2.9% native FAQ. HTML fetched August 29, 2026 (WebFetch Cloudflare-blocked; curl 200).
- How much does Thinkific cost? — third-party gateway 5.0% / 2.0% / 1.0% / 0.5% / no fee on Plus; $1M/year cap; Thinkific Payments avoids the fee; “most payment processors charge around 2.9%+$0.30” is processor language, not a Thinkific Payments US card we cited as exact. Fetched August 29, 2026 (curl 200).
- Third-party payment gateway fee FAQ — Stripe fee in US/Canada/UK/EU; same plan percentages; $1M cap; Plus excluded at this time. Fetched August 29, 2026 (curl 200).
- Skool pricing — Hobby $9/mo, 10% transaction fee; Pro $99/mo, 2.9%. Cited only as the room-shaped $97, not as a course LMS. Fetched August 29, 2026.