---
title: 'MemberPress vs. Kajabi: Two Different Bets, Not Two Competitors — MemberPress.ai Blog'
description: Kajabi is an all-in-one hosted platform. MemberPress turns your own WordPress site into one. Here's what that trades off.
image: https://memberpress.ai/images/blog/comparison-03-memberpress-vs-kajabi.jpg
url: https://memberpress.ai/blog/comparison/comparison-03-memberpress-vs-kajabi/
---

[Blog](https://memberpress.ai/blog/) · [Comparison](https://memberpress.ai/blog/comparison/)

# MemberPress vs. Kajabi: Two Different Bets, Not Two Competitors

 [![](https://memberpress.ai/images/team/omar.jpg) Omar Knowledge Strategist](https://memberpress.ai/about/#omar) · July 20, 2026

Kajabi is an all-in-one hosted platform. MemberPress turns your own WordPress site into one. Here's what that trades off.

 

[Video](https://pub-0d3b698f9f4b4d78b4b87cc06192a2b1.r2.dev/comparison-03-memberpress-vs-kajabi.mp4)

ep. 03 

Comparing MemberPress to Kajabi isn’t really a feature fight. They’re two different bets on where you want complexity to live.

## Two different starting points

Kajabi is a fully hosted, all-in-one platform: courses, funnels, email marketing, communities, and a mobile app, all in one login, no WordPress required. MemberPress is a plugin — it turns a WordPress site you already run (or are willing to run) into a membership business, alongside whatever other plugins and tools you choose.

If you don’t want to manage a WordPress site, plugins, and hosting yourself, Kajabi’s all-in-one convenience is a real, genuine advantage. That’s not a small thing — it’s the actual reason a lot of creators pick it.

## What that convenience costs

Kajabi’s plans run from $179 to $499 a month (less billed annually), with contact limits that step up by tier: 2,500 on Basic, 25,000 on Growth, 100,000 on Pro. Its built-in payment processing, Kajabi Payments, charges 2.7% to 2.9% plus 30 cents a transaction — an all-in processing cost, since there’s no separate processor to layer on top.

MemberPress runs on infrastructure you already pay for (your WordPress host) and plugs into your own Stripe or PayPal account. It only adds its own cut on the Launch tier (4.9%); Growth and Scale add nothing on top of whatever your processor already charges you.

## The actual question

This isn’t “which platform is better.” It’s “do you want the platform managing your infrastructure, or do you want to own it.” Kajabi trades control for convenience; MemberPress trades convenience for control and lower processing markup once you’re past its entry tier.

Neither answer is generic. MemberPress.ai learns about your site and gives you targeted tactics for where your setup should actually sit — including whether “self-hosted with MemberPress” or “all-in-one with Kajabi” fits the business you’re actually running.

## Worth knowing

### Is Kajabi a WordPress plugin like MemberPress?

No. Kajabi is a fully hosted, all-in-one platform (courses, funnels, email marketing, communities, mobile app) — you don't use WordPress at all. MemberPress is a plugin that turns a WordPress site you already run into a membership business. They solve the same underlying goal from opposite starting points.

### Does Kajabi charge transaction fees?

Yes. Kajabi's built-in payment processing (Kajabi Payments) runs 2.7% to 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, all in — that's a real processing cost, not a platform markup. MemberPress plugs into your own Stripe or PayPal account and only adds its own cut on the Launch tier (4.9%); Growth and Scale add nothing on top of what your processor already charges.

### Which one should I pick?

If you don't want to manage a WordPress site, plugins, or hosting yourself, Kajabi's all-in-one convenience is a real, genuine advantage worth paying for. If you already run WordPress and want to keep control of your stack and your processing costs, MemberPress builds the membership business on top of what you already have.

See it on your own site

## Get your membership to its first paying member.

Connect your site and tell Opal what you sell. She sets up your Join and Checkout pages and tells you what’s left before anyone can pay, like connecting your own Stripe or PayPal. Your password never leaves your site.

[Connect your site→](https://memberpress.ai/connect/)