Learnwords vs kajabi | Podcastbricks

Launched in 2014, LearnWorlds is an online course platform designed with a strong focus on creating immersive and interactive learning experiences. It’s particularly popular among educators, corporate trainers, and professionals who prioritize student engagement and advanced course-building features. LearnWorlds emphasizes flexibility, offering tools to create visually appealing courses with quizzes, interactive videos, certificates, and SCORM-compliant content. Its branding and customization options make it a go-to choice for those looking to build a professional online school or academy.

Founded in 2010, Kajabi positions itself as an all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, course creators, and digital businesses. Beyond course creation, Kajabi integrates marketing, sales funnels, email campaigns, and website building into a single ecosystem. It’s designed for creators who want to streamline their operations and focus on scaling their businesses through automation and marketing tools. Kajabi’s user-friendly interface and comprehensive feature set make it a favorite among solopreneurs and established businesses alike.

While both platforms aim to empower creators to monetize their expertise, LearnWorlds leans heavily into education-focused features, while Kajabi emphasizes marketing and business management. Let’s dive into a detailed comparison across key areas.

1. Course Creation and Learning Experience

LearnWorlds: Robust and Interactive Course Building

LearnWorlds excels in creating engaging, education-centric courses. Its course builder is intuitive, guiding users through the process with a step-by-step wizard that simplifies setting up course titles, outlines, and content. Key features include:

Interactive Content: LearnWorlds supports multimedia elements like videos, images, PDFs, surveys, and SCORM/HTML5 files. Its standout feature is the iVideo Authoring Mode, which allows creators to add interactive elements like text overlays, in-video quizzes, and calls-to-action, enhancing student engagement.
Advanced Assessments: LearnWorlds offers a sophisticated test engine with graded and ungraded quizzes, open- or closed-type questionnaires, and question banks for randomized testing. This is ideal for certification programs or corporate training requiring secure assessments.
Certificates and Gamification: Creators can issue branded, personalized certificates upon course completion. Gamification elements like badges and leaderboards further motivate learners.
Drip Content: LearnWorlds supports flexible drip scheduling by day or specific dates, allowing precise control over content release.
SCORM Compliance: For organizations using authoring tools like Articulate 360 or Adobe Captivate, LearnWorlds’ SCORM compliance ensures seamless integration of pre-existing e-learning content.

However, LearnWorlds’ extensive feature set can feel overwhelming for beginners, and its course builder, while powerful, may have a steeper learning curve compared to Kajabi.

Kajabi: Simplified Course Creation

Kajabi prioritizes simplicity and speed in course creation, making it ideal for creators who want to launch quickly. Its course-building process uses a straightforward structure of posts (lessons) and categories (modules), which some users find less intuitive than LearnWorlds’ guided approach. Key features include:

Basic Course Features: Kajabi supports video, audio, text, and downloadable content. It offers quizzes and surveys, but these are less robust than LearnWorlds’ assessment tools, lacking advanced options like question banks or randomized testing.
Drip Content: Kajabi allows drip scheduling by day, which is functional but less flexible than LearnWorlds’ date-specific options.
Video Hosting: Kajabi provides unlimited video hosting through Wistia integration, ensuring smooth playback and analytics. However, its video player lacks the interactive customization options of LearnWorlds.
No Certificates: Unlike LearnWorlds, Kajabi does not offer built-in course completion certificates, requiring third-party integrations for this feature.

Kajabi’s course creation is best suited for straightforward courses with a focus on content delivery rather than complex educational experiences. If your courses rely heavily on assessments or certifications, LearnWorlds is the stronger choice.

Winner: LearnWorlds, for its advanced course-building tools, interactive features, and support for certifications and SCORM compliance.

2. Marketing and Sales Tools

LearnWorlds: Functional but Limited

LearnWorlds provides solid marketing tools, but it’s not as comprehensive as Kajabi in this area. Its features include:

Landing Pages and Lead Magnets: LearnWorlds offers customizable landing pages, coupons, promotions, and lead magnets to attract students.
Affiliate Management: Creators can set up affiliate programs to incentivize promoters, though the system is less advanced than Kajabi’s.
Email Marketing: LearnWorlds lacks built-in email marketing tools, offering only basic email notifications and opt-in pages. For robust email campaigns, you’ll need third-party integrations like ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, or Mailchimp.
Sales Funnels: LearnWorlds supports basic funnels, but they’re not as automated or customizable as Kajabi’s pipelines.

For creators focused on education rather than aggressive marketing, LearnWorlds’ tools are sufficient, but those needing advanced automation may find it lacking.

Kajabi: Marketing Powerhouse

Kajabi’s strength lies in its all-in-one marketing suite, designed to help creators attract, nurture, and convert leads. Key features include:

Email Marketing: Kajabi’s built-in email tool, Kajabi Mail, allows for customizable campaigns, automation, tagging, and segmentation, eliminating the need for external platforms.
Sales Funnels (Pipelines): Kajabi’s pipelines are highly automated, guiding users through creating funnels for webinars, lead magnets, or course sales. Its visual builder simplifies the process for non-technical users.
Webinars and Events: Kajabi supports live and evergreen webinars with built-in scheduling and analytics, making it easy to engage audiences.
Affiliate Program: Kajabi’s affiliate system is robust, offering detailed tracking and payouts, ideal for scaling through partnerships.
Analytics: Kajabi provides advanced analytics on customer behavior, marketing effectiveness, and revenue, empowering data-driven decisions.

Kajabi’s marketing tools are seamlessly integrated, reducing reliance on third-party apps and saving time and costs. However, its focus on marketing sometimes comes at the expense of educational features.

Winner: Kajabi, for its comprehensive, integrated marketing suite and automation capabilities.

3. Website Building and Customization

LearnWorlds: Highly Customizable and White-Labeled

LearnWorlds offers a powerful website builder with extensive branding options, making it ideal for creating a professional online academy. Features include:

Templates and Design: LearnWorlds provides modern, customizable templates optimized for e-learning. Its drag-and-drop builder supports advanced customization, including CSS for developers.
White-Labeling: LearnWorlds offers full white-labeling, allowing you to remove platform branding entirely, even on lower-tier plans. This is a significant advantage for businesses building a unique brand.
Mobile App: LearnWorlds offers a custom-branded mobile app, but it’s only available on higher-tier plans ($249/month), which may be cost-prohibitive for some.

Kajabi: Streamlined but Limited

Kajabi’s website builder is user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with its course and marketing tools. However, it’s less flexible than LearnWorlds. Features include:

Templates: Kajabi’s Premier theme offers six preset styles, but customization options are limited compared to LearnWorlds. Advanced design changes require coding knowledge.
Branding: Kajabi allows branding customization, but full white-labeling (removing Kajabi branding) is only available on higher plans ($199/month and up).
Mobile App: Kajabi provides a branded mobile app for students, included in all plans, which is a significant advantage over LearnWorlds’ paywall for this feature.

Kajabi’s website builder is ideal for creators who want a quick, professional setup, but LearnWorlds offers more control and branding flexibility.

Winner: LearnWorlds, for its superior customization and white-labeling options.

4. Pricing and Value for Money

LearnWorlds Pricing

LearnWorlds offers affordable plans, making it accessible for beginners and small businesses:

Starter: $29/month (unlimited courses, basic features, 1 admin, $5 transaction fee per sale)
Pro Trainer: $99/month (advanced features, no transaction fees, 5 admins, custom domain)
Learning Center: $299/month (premium features, 20 admins, branded mobile app)
Enterprise: Custom pricing for large organizations

LearnWorlds’ lower entry price and lack of transaction fees on higher plans make it budget-friendly, especially for course-focused creators.

Kajabi Pricing

Kajabi’s plans are significantly more expensive, reflecting its all-in-one approach:

Basic: $149/month (3 products, 3 pipelines, unlimited landing pages, 1 admin)
Growth: $199/month (15 products, 15 pipelines, advanced automation, affiliate program, 10 admins)
Pro: $399/month (100 products, 100 pipelines, 25 admins, advanced features)

Kajabi’s higher cost can be a barrier for beginners, and its product limits (e.g., only 3 courses on the Basic plan) may frustrate growing businesses. However, it charges no transaction fees, which is a plus.

Winner: LearnWorlds, for its lower starting price and better value for education-focused creators.

5. Community and Engagement Features

LearnWorlds: Built-In Social Learning

LearnWorlds fosters student interaction through:

Built-In Community: Its social network feature encourages discussions, peer support, and collaboration.
Gamification: Badges, leaderboards, and progress tracking enhance engagement.
Live Classes: Integration with Zoom and Webex supports synchronous learning.

Kajabi: Community Add-On

Kajabi’s community features are robust but less integrated:

Community Platform: Kajabi offers gamification, leaderboards, and badges, but the community feels like an add-on rather than a core feature.
Live Events: Kajabi supports webinars and live coaching, but it lacks Zoom integration for live classes.

Winner: LearnWorlds, for its seamless community integration and focus on social learning.

6. Support and Resources

LearnWorlds

Support: Email support on the Starter plan, 24/7 priority email on Pro Trainer, and premium support on Learning Center. Live chat is limited to higher plans.
Resources: Extensive Help Center, webinars, tutorials, and community forums.

Kajabi

Support: 24/7 live chat and email support on all plans, plus one customer success call per user.
Resources: Kajabi University, daily webinars, blog, and virtual meetups.

Winner: Kajabi, for its superior support availability and comprehensive resources.

7. Ideal Use Cases

Choose LearnWorlds If:

You’re an educator, corporate trainer, or professional prioritizing interactive, engaging courses.
You need advanced assessments, certifications, or SCORM compliance.
You want affordable pricing and full white-labeling for branding.
Your focus is on education over marketing.

Choose Kajabi If:

You’re a solopreneur or entrepreneur selling courses alongside other digital products.
You need robust marketing tools like email campaigns, funnels, and webinars.
You prefer an all-in-one platform to streamline operations.
Budget isn’t a primary concern, and you value premium support.

Final Verdict

Both LearnWorlds and Kajabi are excellent platforms, but they serve different purposes. LearnWorlds is the better choice for educators and trainers who prioritize interactive learning experiences, certifications, and affordability. Its robust course-building tools, SCORM compliance, and white-labeling make it ideal for professional academies or corporate training.

Kajabi, on the other hand, is a marketing powerhouse, perfect for entrepreneurs who want an all-in-one solution to create, promote, and sell digital products. Its seamless integration of email, funnels, and analytics is unmatched, but it comes at a higher cost and with fewer educational features.

Ultimately, your choice depends on your goals. If education and engagement are your focus, go with LearnWorlds. If marketing and scalability are your priorities, Kajabi is the way to go.