# ElasticFunnels vs Kajabi · CheckoutScale > Source: https://checkoutscale.com/compare/elasticfunnels-vs-kajabi ## ElasticFunnels vs Kajabi Head-to-head [All head-to-heads →](/compare) Pick ElasticFunnels if you run paid ads and your decision turns on building and same-URL split-testing funnels with a multi-MID checkout on one data layer; pick Kajabi if you sell courses, coaching or memberships to a warm audience and want the course player, community and email under one login. By [Marcus Reyes](/authors/marcus-reyes), Editor. Updated 27 September 2026. **Disclosure:**We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never affects our rankings. Quick answer **ElasticFunnels** is our top pick for most people. ElasticFunnels is the pick if you run paid ads and need to split-test whole checkouts under one URL and route payments across processors. * **ElasticFunnels.** Best for Paid-traffic teams that need same-URL split testing and multi-MID checkout on one data layer. From $97/mo. * **Kajabi.** Best for established coaches and creators running their whole business from one dashboard. From $179/mo. ### Side by side | | ElasticFunnels | Kajabi | | --------------------- | -------------- | ------- | | From | $97/mo | $179/mo | | Same-URL split test | Yes | No | | Multi-MID routing | Yes | No | | Order bumps & upsells | Yes | Yes | | Free trial | 14 days | 14 days | ElasticFunnels and Kajabi both put your pages, your email and a checkout behind one login, so on a feature list they can look like alternatives. Watch what each was built to do and they answer different questions. ElasticFunnels is a funnel platform for teams that run paid traffic: it builds the pages, split-tests them under one URL, and hosts the checkout on the same data layer as the CRM and the reporting. Kajabi is a coaching and course suite that happens to include a checkout. If you are genuinely down to these two, the deciding question is not which is the better software. It is what you sell and who you sell it to: an offer pushed to traffic that does not know you yet, or a course, coaching program or membership sold to an audience that already does. #### What each one actually is ElasticFunnels is a funnel platform built for affiliates, product vendors, agencies and direct-response ecommerce brands who live on paid traffic. It builds the pages, with an AI builder that generates one from a prompt or clones one from a URL, and it hosts the checkout with order bumps, one-click upsells, subscriptions and multi-MID routing. Its lead feature is same-URL split testing: variants rotate server-side under one campaign link, so Meta, Google and TikTok keep their optimisation instead of resetting it every time you try a new angle, and a test never sends the ad back through review. The click, the order, the rebill and the refund land on one timeline with a CRM, automations and attribution, so nobody reconciles four exports to work out which angle actually made money. Every feature is on every plan; the plans differ by how much traffic you send. Kajabi comes at it from the creator side, and it is good at that. One login covers online courses, coaching, memberships, a community, marketing email, landing pages and a checkout, so a solo expert stops paying for and wiring together five or six tools. It takes no cut of your sales, the pages and the student experience look polished out of the box, and it has run since 2010 with the vendor claiming more than 100,000 businesses and over $12 billion in sales, so it is not going to disappear mid-launch. What it is not is a paid-traffic tool. The checkout runs a single processor, there is no same-URL split testing and no multi-MID routing, and long-term users report support that is slow and mostly automated when a launch breaks. #### Where each one wins For a team whose results turn on how it builds and tests funnels against paid traffic, ElasticFunnels is the fit, and it is the difference the other tool cannot close. Same-URL split testing is the one feature Kajabi has no answer to: if the test that decides your week is rotating funnel variants under one link without resetting the ad platform's learning, ElasticFunnels does that and Kajabi does not. It builds the pages, and its checkout routes payments across more than one merchant account, so a hold on one processor does not stop the money coming in. Because the whole path from click to refund sits on one data layer, you can also see which ad actually paid without exporting from four places. You can prove all of it on a 14-day trial with no card before you move any spend. For a coach, consultant or course creator selling to a warm audience, Kajabi wins, and on breadth it is not close. If your traffic is your email list, your webinar attendees and your community rather than cold ad clicks, having the courses, memberships and email built in beats stitching a funnel tool to a separate course platform. For a higher-ticket coaching or course business that keeps its own margin, taking no revenue share matters, and the course player and student experience are the product your buyer actually experiences. Ask which describes your week, because the two platforms are built for different ones. #### On the checkout itself Both give you a checkout with order bumps and post-purchase upsells, and both do subscriptions, so on the page a buyer sees they are closer than their marketing suggests. The gap is what sits behind it. Kajabi runs a single payment processor you connect yourself, and that is fine for a creator selling one program to a warm list. ElasticFunnels routes across several merchant accounts, and it lets you split-test the whole funnel that leads to the checkout, which is the part that matters when you are buying cold traffic and a declined-card rate or a processor limit costs real money. If your checkout only ever needs to take one clean payment from someone who already trusts you, Kajabi's is enough. If it needs to survive volume and testing, that is the ElasticFunnels side of the line. #### The honest catch on ElasticFunnels ElasticFunnels is newer than Kajabi, and there is very little independent third-party review coverage to check its claims against. Until you run real volume through it, you are largely taking the vendor's word for it. That is what you would expect of a platform this recent, and it is the one place Kajabi's long track record and its large public base of customers count for more. It is also why the 14-day trial with no credit card matters here: it lets you prove the same-URL split testing and the checkout on your own traffic before you commit, rather than deciding on the strength of the marketing. The thin outside coverage limits how much you can lean on other people's reviews today. It does not change what the pages, the split testing or the routing do once your own numbers are running through them. #### Pricing, tier by tier ElasticFunnels is self-serve and flat. Starter is $97 a month, Growth $197 and Scale $497, and every feature is on every plan, so the tiers differ by traffic and domains rather than by what you can do. Crossing a limit bills overage (extra visits at $1.20 per 1,000, extra domains at $5 each per month) rather than forcing you up a tier. Checkouts hosted by ElasticFunnels carry a 0.5% fee on the revenue you route through them; sales you run on outside platforms and networks are not charged. The trial is 14 days with no card, and you can build pages, funnels and a custom domain during it. Kajabi is a flat subscription and the more expensive of the two. Basic is $179 a month, Growth $249 and Pro $499, each about 20% cheaper billed annually. It takes no revenue share, though card processing still applies: Kajabi Payments runs 2.9% plus 30 cents down to 2.7% by plan, and using a third-party processor instead adds 2%, 1% or 0.5% on top. There is a 14-day free trial with a card required and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Prices rose across all plans in January 2026, and the popular Growth plan works out to $2,388 a year before processing, which is hard to justify until you are already selling consistently. So the fair sticker comparison is $97 ElasticFunnels against $179 Kajabi Basic, though the deciding factor here is fit, not price. #### The short version These platforms are built for different businesses, so the two-way answer holds. Pick ElasticFunnels if you run paid ads and your decision turns on building and same-URL split-testing funnels with a multi-MID checkout on one data layer: it is the only one of the two that tests whole funnels under a single link and routes payments across accounts, and the no-card trial lets you prove it on your own traffic first. Pick Kajabi if you sell courses, coaching or memberships to a warm audience and want the course player, community and email under one login, and you can live with a single-processor checkout and a flat, rising subscription. If you are also weighing the funnel builders against each other, our [ElasticFunnels vs ClickFunnels](/compare/elasticfunnels-vs-clickfunnels) breakdown covers the closest pair, and the full detail on each is in our [ElasticFunnels review](/reviews/elasticfunnels) and [Kajabi review](/reviews/kajabi). ### ElasticFunnels: strengths and trade-offs ##### What works * One data layer for the whole funnel: the click, the order, the rebill and the refund are a single record, so you stop reconciling four exports to work out which ad angle actually made money. * Same-URL split testing rotates variants server-side under one campaign link, so Meta, Google and TikTok keep their optimisation and a test never sends the ad back through review. * Custom checkouts with order bumps, one-click upsells, subscriptions and multi-MID routing are on every plan; plans differ by traffic, not by the tier you buy. ##### What to watch * It is newer than ClickFunnels or SamCart and there is still little independent third-party review coverage to check its claims against, so until you push real volume through it you are largely taking the vendor's word for it. That is what you would expect of a platform this recent, and the 14-day trial with no card lets you verify the parts you care about first. * EF-hosted checkouts carry a 0.5% platform fee on processed revenue, on top of your processor's rate. It applies only to volume you route through EF: sales you run on external platforms and networks are not charged. ### Kajabi: strengths and trade-offs ##### What works * Genuinely one platform for the whole business. Courses, coaching, a community, memberships, email, landing pages and a checkout run under one login, so you stop paying for and wiring together five or six separate tools. * Kajabi takes no cut of your sales. You pay the plan fee and card processing, and the checkout handles order bumps, one-click upsells and subscriptions, so a higher-ticket coaching or course business keeps more of its revenue than on a percentage-fee storefront. * It is established and well-funded. Kajabi has run since 2010 and says more than 100,000 businesses have earned over $12 billion through it, so it is not a platform likely to disappear mid-launch. * The pages, checkout and student experience look polished out of the box, with a large template library, so a solo creator can ship a professional-looking course or membership without a designer. ##### What to watch * It is expensive, and prices rose again in January 2026\. Plans start at $179 a month, and the popular Growth plan is $2,388 a year before processing fees, which is hard to justify until you are already selling consistently. * Support is the most repeated long-term complaint. Even four-year customers describe chat that is mostly AI and replies that take hours or days, so do not count on fast human help when a launch breaks. * It is not built for paid-traffic direct response. The checkout runs a single processor, with no same-URL split testing and no multi-MID routing, so media buyers who need to rotate whole checkouts or spread volume across merchant accounts will hit a wall. For a coach selling to a warm audience, none of that applies. * Running the whole business inside one platform is its own risk. An outage or an account issue can take your site, courses, email and checkout down at once, and long-term users cite exactly that. Our pick ### ElasticFunnels ElasticFunnels is the pick if you run paid ads and need to split-test whole checkouts under one URL and route payments across processors. [Visit ElasticFunnels (opens in a new tab) ](https://elasticfunnels.io/?utm%5Fsource=checkoutscale.com&utm%5Fmedium=affiliate&utm%5Fcampaign=comparison) ### Frequently asked questions Is ElasticFunnels or Kajabi better for paid traffic? Pick ElasticFunnels if you run paid ads and your decision turns on building and same-URL split-testing funnels with a multi-MID checkout on one data layer; pick Kajabi if you sell courses, coaching or memberships to a warm audience and want the course player, community and email under one login. Which is cheaper, ElasticFunnels or Kajabi? Compare the "From" row in the table above. The cheaper sticker is not always cheaper at volume, once processing fees, add-ons and annual upgrades are counted. ### Related reading * [ElasticFunnels review](/reviews/elasticfunnels) * [Kajabi review](/reviews/kajabi) * [The full ranking](/best) --- We rank the platforms that build the pages and host the checkout for teams running paid traffic: order bumps, one-click upsells, split-testing whole checkouts, different checkouts per traffic source, and payment routing for high-risk verticals. CheckoutScale [Top ↑](#main) We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. 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