Mini Lessons Academy vs Kajabi
Building Your Course With AI vs Running Your Whole Business
Last updated October 2026
The Short Answer
- Both tools host and sell online courses.
- Mini Lessons Academy is a better match if you want AI to build the course itself from your expertise or documents, then host and sell it, starting at $35/mo.
- Kajabi is a better match if you already run an established business and want courses, email marketing, communities, coaching, and payments in one larger system, and you're comfortable writing most of the course content yourself.
- Kajabi starts at $179/mo, or $143/mo billed annually.
Homepage, November 2026
Built for
Experts who sell what they know
From $35/mo
Homepage, November 2026
Built for
Established course and coaching businesses
From $179/mo
Overview
How They Differ
Mini Lessons Academy and Kajabi both let you sell courses online with checkout, landing pages, and email built in. They start from different places, though. MLA starts with the course: its AI writes the lessons, quizzes, and materials. Kajabi starts with the business: it's a platform for selling and marketing many kinds of products, with AI that helps with structure and copy.
Mini Lessons Academy is an AI course creator that turns your expertise, documents, or videos into a finished online course, then hosts it and sells it for you with Stripe checkout built in. Kajabi calls itself "the operating system for human expertise."
This page uses each company's own website and help docs. Mini Lessons Academy publishes this page, so we've stuck to facts each company states about itself.
Before You Compare
Three Questions to Answer First
Do You Need the Course Written, or Just Hosted?
If your lessons already exist, a hosting and marketing platform may be all you need. If they don't, a tool whose AI writes full lessons from your material will save the most time.
How Big Is Your Business Today?
All-in-one platforms are priced for businesses that are already selling. Check the plan limits that matter to you, such as the number of products (courses, coaching offers, and so on) and contacts (people on your email list).
What Does Each Sale Cost You?
A transaction fee is the percentage a platform keeps from each sale. Payment processors such as Stripe charge their own separate processing fee. Compare both at the sales you expect.
Product
What Kajabi Offers
Kajabi is built for coaches, creators, and experts who sell several kinds of products and want them run from one place: courses, coaching, communities, memberships, email marketing, and checkout.
- A course wizard that generates modules and lessons, along with a matching landing page, form, and email broadcast
- Cofounder, an AI assistant that drafts course outlines, email copy, and sales page copy
- Email marketing and automations, with unlimited marketing emails on every plan
- Communities, coaching, and checkout in the same system
Where Kajabi Is Strongest
One System for the Whole Business
Products, payments, email, automations, communities, and coaching are connected, so you don't need separate tools for each.
Strong Email Marketing
Unlimited marketing emails on every plan, with automations, and contact limits of 2,500 / 25,000 / 100,000 by plan.
Built for Scale
Growth and Pro plans allow 50 or unlimited products and 11 or 26 admin users, which suits a business with a team.
No Revenue Share
Kajabi says it takes "no revenue sharing" on sales. Card processing fees still apply.
Product
How MLA Works
Mini Lessons Academy is built for coaches, consultants, and subject matter experts who want to turn what they already know into a course people can buy. You can start from an idea, or upload PDFs, docs, slides, or a YouTube link. MLA builds a full course in minutes. MLA has 100,000+ courses created and an 83%+ completion rate.
- Upload your material, or start from an idea
- MLA builds lessons, quizzes, exams with AI grading, and speaker scripts around your content
- Edit every word, or ask Canvas mode for changes in plain language
- Publish with an auto-generated landing page, a storefront, and Stripe checkout
Where MLA Is Strongest
The AI Writes the Course
MLA builds full lessons, quizzes, exams, and speaker scripts from your own documents. Kajabi's help docs describe its wizard generating modules and lessons, but don't say whether it writes full lesson text.
Keeps Your Wording
A "keep my document" import option keeps your text as written instead of rewriting it.
Lower Entry Price
MLA starts at $35/mo ($300/yr). Kajabi starts at $179/mo ($143/mo billed annually).
No Product Cap
Unlimited courses, ebooks, students, and landing pages on every plan. Kajabi's Basic plan allows 5 products and Growth allows 50.
Comparison
Feature Comparison: MLA vs Kajabi
| Feature | Mini Lessons Academy | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Built mainly for | Coaches and experts who want the course built and sold | Established businesses running many products and marketing |
| Start from your own files | PDFs, docs, slides, YouTube link | Upload for its AI assistant only |
| What the AI builds | Full course: lessons, quizzes, exams with AI grading, speaker scripts | Modules and lessons, plus landing page, form, and email; Cofounder drafts outlines and copy |
| AI credits | Not used; limits are on uploads, video, and audio | 0 / 500 / 1,000 a month by plan (cover transcription, translation, and dubbing) |
| Ebooks and audiobooks | Yes | Not mentioned on site |
| AI video | Slideshow, presenter, cinematic (allowance by plan) | AI dubbing and translation of your videos via credits |
| Sell courses | Stripe | Kajabi Payments or third-party providers |
| Platform fee per sale | 0% to 5% depending on your plan. See pricing | "No revenue sharing." Kajabi Payments (US): 2.9% / 2.8% / 2.7% + $0.30 by plan. Third-party gateways add 2% / 1% / 0.5% |
| Products | Unlimited | 5 / 50 / unlimited by plan |
| Email marketing | Email campaigns, 10 to 100 a month by plan | Unlimited marketing emails; contacts 2,500 / 25,000 / 100,000 |
| Communities and coaching | Lesson comments: open discussion, or private questions to you | Yes |
| SCORM export | SCORM 1.2 and 2004 | Not mentioned on site |
| Team | 1 / 3 / 10 seats by plan | 2 / 11 / 26 admin users by plan |
| Free plan or trial | 7-day free trial | Free plan. Free trial offered; length not stated on the pricing page |
Pricing
Pricing Side by Side
USD list prices.
USDHustlers
$35/mo or $300/yr
Founders
$75/mo or $660/yr
Legends
$150/mo or $1,300/yr
Enterprise
Custom
7-day free trial on monthly plans. 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
USDBasic
$179/mo or $143/mo billed annually
Growth
$249/mo or $199/mo billed annually
Pro
$499/mo or $399/mo billed annually
List prices from Kajabi's own pricing page.
What Is Limited Per Month
- MLA: document uploads (35 / 100 / 300), videos, and audiobooks, plus a per-sale fee on Hustlers and Founders. Courses and students are unlimited.
- Kajabi: products (5 / 50 / unlimited), contacts (2,500 / 25,000 / 100,000), admin users (2 / 11 / 26), and AI credits (0 / 500 / 1,000). Kajabi Payments card processing is listed at 2.9%, 2.8%, or 2.7% plus $0.30 on Basic, Growth, and Pro (US). Using a third-party payment gateway adds 2%, 1%, or 0.5% by plan. Regional exceptions apply (kajabi.com/pricing).
How to compare total cost: add the monthly price to any per-sale fee at the sales you expect. For example, at $2,000 a month in sales, MLA Hustlers costs $35 plus a $100 fee, and Kajabi Basic costs $179 with no revenue share. Card processing fees apply on both.
Who Each Fits
Choose MLA If / Choose Kajabi If
Choose Mini Lessons Academy If
- You want AI to write the course from your notes, PDFs, slides, or talks
- You want the course to sound like you, with your original wording kept
- You're starting out or want a lower monthly price
- You'd like an ebook, audiobook, or lead magnet from the same material
- You may need SCORM for corporate or school clients
For example: a coach turning a client workbook into a paid program and audiobook; a consultant launching a first course without a large monthly bill.
Choose Kajabi If
- You already sell and want courses, coaching, community, and email in one system
- Email marketing and automations are central to how you sell
- You'll sell many products and have a team that needs access
- Your course content is already written, or you're happy to write it
- You want a widely used platform with a large creator base
For example: an established coach running a membership, a group program, and a newsletter; a creator business with several team members managing launches.
Your Decision
Which One Fits You
Mini Lessons Academy suits you if you want the course itself built from your expertise, then hosted and sold from one place, at a lower monthly price.
Kajabi suits you if you're running an established business and want one system for products, email, community, and coaching, and the course content is something you'll write yourself.
The question is whether you need help creating the course or help running the business around it.
Some creators build courses in MLA, using its AI to turn their material into lessons, quizzes, and ebooks, and export the content to sell inside a larger system. MLA exports PDF and DOCX on every plan, and SCORM on Founders and up. You can also embed a course page on another site with MLA's embed code (an iframe). Upload the PDF, DOCX, or audio files to Kajabi lessons.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mini Lessons Academy a good Kajabi alternative?
Yes, if your main need is creating and selling courses. MLA's AI builds full lessons, quizzes, and exams from your documents, and includes landing pages, a storefront, Stripe checkout, and email campaigns, starting at $35/mo. If you need a larger marketing system with communities, coaching, and big email lists, Kajabi covers more of that.
Does Kajabi use AI to create courses?
Partly. Kajabi's course wizard generates modules and lessons with a matching landing page, form, and email, and its Cofounder assistant drafts outlines and copy. Its help docs don't say whether it writes full lesson text. Kajabi's AI credits cover transcription, translation, and dubbing, not course generation.
Which costs less, Kajabi or MLA?
MLA starts at $35/mo and Kajabi at $179/mo ($143/mo billed annually). MLA charges a per-sale fee of 5% on Hustlers and 2% on Founders (0% on Legends). Kajabi says it takes no revenue share. At high sales volumes, compare MLA's Legends plan ($150/mo, 0% fee) with Kajabi's plans.
Does Kajabi have a free trial?
Kajabi offers a free trial, but its pricing page doesn't state the standard length. MLA has a 7-day free trial on monthly plans (annual plans have no trial) and a 30-day money-back guarantee on every plan.
Which one is better for email marketing?
Kajabi, if email is central to your business: unlimited marketing emails on every plan and automations. MLA includes email campaigns (10 to 100 a month by plan) and AI Coach marketing assistants on Founders and up, which suit a smaller list.
Do students finish courses built with Mini Lessons Academy?
Mini Lessons Academy reports an 83%+ completion rate across 100,000+ courses created. Short lessons, built-in quizzes, and a clear outcome for each module are part of how MLA structures every course.
Verified October 2026
Try Both With Your Own Material
Run the same document through each one and compare the drafts side by side.