Thinkific vs Kajabi vs Mighty Networks for Spiritual Schools in 2026

Kajabi increased its prices in January 2026 - Growth jumped from $159 to $199 per month, Pro from $319 to $399 - and added platform fees for using your own Stripe account. That price hike changes the math on which platform makes sense for an astrology school or tarot community that was previously leaning toward Kajabi's all-in-one appeal.

Here is what each platform actually costs in 2026, what it does for esoteric schools specifically, and where each one falls short.

All prices reflect annual billing as of June 2026.

2026 Pricing at a Glance

Sources: thinkific.com/pricing; kajabi.com/pricing; mightynetworks.com/pricing - all verified June 2026.

Transaction Fees: The Detail That Changes Your Net Revenue

This is where the platforms diverge most sharply in practice.

Mighty Networks never eliminates its platform fee. At their highest plan, you still pay 0.5% on every transaction on top of whatever Stripe charges. For a school generating $10,000/month in course revenue, 0.5% is $50/month - $600/year - that Thinkific Grow would not charge.

Kajabi's January 2026 change added a penalty for using your own Stripe account instead of Kajabi Payments. If you have existing Stripe infrastructure or prefer Stripe's tooling, that 5% surcharge on Kajabi Basic is significant.

Source: SchoolMaker analysis (2026); Ruzuku comparison; Popup.fm Mighty Networks pricing analysis.

Net Revenue Comparison: $10,000/Month School

Assumption: $10,000/month gross course revenue, US card payments through platform processor.

`platform_fee = rate * gross` `net = gross - platform_fee - processor_fee`

Processor fee (Thinkific Payments / Kajabi Payments at 2.9%+$0.30 per transaction, assume avg $100 sale = 100 transactions): 2.9% x $10,000 + $0.30 x 100 = $290 + $30 = $320.

Thinkific Start ($74/mo, 0% platform fee, use Thinkific Payments):
- Platform fee: $0
- Processor fee: $320
- Subscription: $74
- Total cost: $394/month
- Net: $10,000 - $394 = $9,606

Kajabi Basic ($143/mo, 0% platform fee using Kajabi Payments):
- Platform fee: $0
- Processor fee: $320
- Subscription: $143
- Total cost: $463/month
- Net: $10,000 - $463 = $9,537

Kajabi Basic (using own Stripe instead of Kajabi Payments, 5% surcharge):
- Platform surcharge: 5% x $10,000 = $500
- Stripe fees: ~$320
- Subscription: $143
- Total cost: $963/month
- Net: $10,000 - $963 = $9,037

Mighty Networks Launch ($79/mo, 2% platform fee + Stripe):
- Platform fee: 2% x $10,000 = $200
- Stripe fee: ~$320
- Subscription: $79
- Total cost: $599/month
- Net: $10,000 - $599 = $9,401

Thinkific Start beats Kajabi Basic by $69/month ($828/year) at this volume. Mighty Networks Launch is the worst outcome at $599/month total cost - paying both a platform fee and processor fees simultaneously.

What Each Platform Actually Does Well

Thinkific is a course builder first. The course creation experience - lesson types, drip scheduling, quizzes, completion certificates - is its strongest feature. The community component (Thinkific Communities) exists but is secondary to the course engine. For an astrology school where students work through a structured curriculum with assessments and credentials, Thinkific's course structure handles this cleanly.

Kajabi packs email marketing, sales funnels, a website builder, community, and course hosting into one subscription. For a mature spiritual business running launch campaigns, automated email sequences, and multiple products from one dashboard, Kajabi reduces tool sprawl. The cost reflects that consolidation. At $143/month for Basic, you're paying for tools you might otherwise pay separately across Kit, Thinkific, and a page builder - but only if you actually use all those functions.

Mighty Networks is a community platform that added courses. If the core of your spiritual business is a recurring membership community - an astrology club where members post daily, discuss chart readings, and participate in live events - Mighty Networks' community features are more developed than either Kajabi or Thinkific's add-on community tools. The trade-off is that the course builder is less structured, and the platform fee never disappears.

Use Case Match for Esoteric Practitioners

Related Platform Comparisons

For platforms not in this comparison:

- Kajabi vs Thinkific vs Podia - includes Podia as the third option
- Teachable vs Thinkific - focused course platform comparison
- Circle vs Skool vs Mighty Networks - community platform deep-dive
- choose a course platform for your spiritual school - decision guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kajabi's January 2026 price increase affect existing subscribers?

Kajabi applied the new pricing to new subscriptions and renewals starting January 2026. Existing subscribers on older plans may have been grandfathered temporarily, but should check their current billing rate against the January 2026 price sheet. The $199 Growth and $399 Pro prices are now the standard published rates (source: kourses.com/kajabi-pricing, 2026).

Can I start on Thinkific's Basic plan and use a free community tool?

Yes. Thinkific Basic ($36/month) gives you course hosting with 0% transaction fees through Thinkific Payments. For community, you can run a free Discord server or a Skool community alongside it. This is the lowest-cost viable setup for an astrology school: $36/month for course delivery, plus whatever you spend on a separate community if you need one. See Discord vs Slack vs Telegram for paid communities.

Does Mighty Networks support payment processing for esoteric content?

Mighty Networks processes payments through Stripe under their own merchant category, similar to how MoR platforms operate. This provides some buffer from direct Stripe categorization of your content as psychic services. That said, Stripe's terms still apply at some level - practitioners with esoteric-specific concerns should confirm Mighty Networks' current policy for spiritual content before building a paid community there.

What is the course-capacity limit on each platform?

Thinkific and Kajabi both allow unlimited courses at their entry paid plans. Mighty Networks doesn't cap courses per se, but the course builder is less feature-rich at the Launch tier - advanced course features unlock at higher tiers. For schools planning to launch multiple courses per year, Thinkific or Kajabi have no structural limits at comparable price points.

When does Kajabi's all-in-one value actually justify the cost?

Kajabi's premium makes sense when you're actively using at least three of its components: email marketing (with segmentation and automations), a landing page / funnel builder, and course hosting. A practitioner who pays separately for Kit ($29/month), a page builder ($15-30/month), and Thinkific ($74/month) is already at $118-133/month for three tools that Kajabi Basic ($143/month) replaces. At that point the math is close. Below that level of tool usage, Kajabi's subscription is overhead.