

⚡ Quick Verdict:
- Pricing: Swarm starts at $19/month. Kajabi starts at $71/month on the Kickstarter plan.
- Best for: Swarm suits a video-first online community. Kajabi suits an online business built on online courses.
- Key difference: Swarm is a community platform. Kajabi adds a website builder, email marketing, and sales funnels.
- Our pick: Kajabi, because one kajabi subscription replaces four or five separate marketing tools.

Two creators can sell the same online course and pick opposite tools.
One wants a warm circle of members who talk every day.
The other wants an entire business running on one platform.
Swarm serves the first creator. Kajabi serves the second.
This guide shows which one fits your own business.
Overview
This Swarm vs Kajabi comparison covers pricing, core features, and ease of use.
We reviewed documentation, pricing pages, and public reviews for both tools.
Our writers also spent hands-on time inside each platform.
Those notes appear in the “What Our Team Noticed” sections below.
By the end you will know which tool helps you achieve more.
What is Swarm?
Swarm is a community platform built for creators and small teams.
Ariel Jalali founded it to help people build stronger groups online.
The platform puts video at the center of every space.
Members join live events, share a screen, and talk face to face.
Rich messaging keeps conversations going between those calls.
Swarm says communities on the platform grow 2x faster.
It is more than a forum, and the design feels intuitive.

Here is a short walkthrough of the tool in action.

Swarm
A video-first home for your online community. Live events, rich messaging, and AI assist in one space. Paid plans start at $19 per month.
Swarm Pricing
Swarm costs less than most course platforms. Here are the three plans.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | $19/month | New creators testing a small circle |
| Growth | $79/month | Active groups running weekly live events |
| Scale | $149/month | Larger fan communities and coaching teams |
Pricing verified July 2026.

Free trial: Yes. Swarm lets you explore the platform before you pay.
Money-back guarantee: Not published. Cancel before your renewal deadline instead.
📌 Note: The Launch plan is the cheapest way to test an online community. Swarm cost stays flat as you add members, so your budget does not jump mid-season.
⚠️ Warning: Swarm has no built in payments for selling an online course. You still need a checkout tool, so add that cost before you compare the two platforms.
Key Benefits of Swarm
Here is what makes Swarm worth a look:
- Video-first engagement: Face to face calls carry emotions that text threads lose. Members read the room instead of guessing tone.
- Live events built in: Run workshops and office hours without a separate video tool. Screen sharing works inside the same space.
- AI assist: Swarm uses artificial intelligence to summarize threads and surface ideas. Transcriptions turn calls into searchable stories.
- Member directory: People find others who share their interests. That ability to connect drives real engagement.
- Branded mobile apps: Your community lives under your own name. Members watch and reply from their phones.
- Growth data: Analytics track member activity and retention. You can see which conversations pull people back.
What Our Team Noticed
Our writer signed up for Swarm and spent several days inside the platform. Here is what stood out during that hands-on time:

Swarm Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Entry plan costs $19/month, far below most course platforms
- Live video and screen sharing are part of the core features
- AI assist and transcriptions save moderators hours each week
- Branded mobile apps keep your audience inside your own space
❌ Cons
- No website builder, blog posts, or landing page tools
- No email marketing software for broadcasts or email campaigns
- Smaller name than Circle or Mighty Networks, so fewer tutorials exist
What is Kajabi?
Kajabi is an all in one platform for creators and coaches.
It has been running since 2010, which is a long time here.
The kajabi platform hosts online courses, memberships, coaching, and podcasts.
It also handles your entire website, email marketing, and sales funnels.
Tens of thousands of people use Kajabi to sell what they know.
Kajabi says its users generate $5 million in revenue each day.
Total revenue through the platform has passed $5 billion.
Most people pick it to run a digital business from one screen.

This walkthrough shows the dashboard and the main building blocks.

🏆 Winner: Kajabi
Courses, memberships, email, and checkout on the same platform. Kajabi charges no transaction fees on your sales. A free trial lets you test the whole setup first.
Kajabi Pricing
Here is what a kajabi subscription costs in 2026. Four plans are listed.
| Plan | Price | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Kickstarter | $71/month | First-time course creators |
| Basic | $199/month | Solo creators with one product |
| Growth | $159/month | Coaching programs and membership sites |
| Pro | $319/month | Larger teams and a full digital business |
Pricing verified July 2026.

Free trial: Yes. You can open a kajabi account and test it first.
Money-back guarantee: Refund terms vary by plan, so read the checkout page.
📌 Note: 24/7 live chat sits on the Growth and Pro plans only. The Basic plan does not offer support at that level, which is the most common complaint we found.
⚠️ Pricing conflict: Our database lists the rates above. Kajabi’s public pages have also shown Basic at $119 annually or $149 monthly, Growth at $159 or $199, and Pro at $319 or $399. Billing cycle explains most of that gap, so check the current page before you buy.
Key Benefits of Kajabi
Here is what makes Kajabi worth the higher price:
- One platform, fewer bills: Courses, email, checkout, and hosting sit together. Buying those marketing tools separately can pass $600 per month.
- No transaction fees: Kajabi takes no cut of your sales. The only fee is your payment gateway rate, so you keep all the money left over.
- Intuitive website builder: Drag and drop blocks create landing pages, blog posts, and unlimited pages. Kajabi websites need no code.
- Email marketing built in: Send broadcasts or automated email campaigns from the same platform. Email opt ins flow straight into your lists.
- Kajabi AI: The ai course builder drafts outlines and writes video transcriptions. Creator Studio speeds up your marketing efforts.
- Analytics that matter: Track subscription metrics, offer revenue, and conversion rates. Google Analytics connects for deeper reporting.
- Training and community: Kajabi University teaches the workflow step by step. The Kajabi Heroes group is active, and members trade templates and answers freely.

What Our Team Noticed
Our writer built a test product inside Kajabi and ran it for several days. Here is what stood out from that hands-on time:

The clip below covers the same walkthrough in real time.
Kajabi Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Replaces four or five separate tools with one subscription
- Charges no transaction fees on any sale you make
- Kajabi course builder and web editor need no coding skills
- Mobile app lets students find courses and learn on the go
- 24/7 support on the Growth and Pro plans
❌ Cons
- Costs more than Teachable, Thinkific, and LearnWorlds at every tier
- Design flexibility trails specialist website builders
- Support replies are sometimes generic rather than specific
- Trustpilot score slipped from 4.6 to 4.3
Feature Comparison
Both tools call themselves a home for your audience. The overlap stops quickly once you look at what each one actually ships.
We compared ten areas that decide most buying calls.
| Feature | Swarm | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $19/month | $71/month |
| Live Video & Events | ✅ | ❌ |
| Course Creation | ✅ Basic | ✅ Full |
| Email Marketing | ❌ | ✅ |
| Website Builder | ❌ | ✅ |
| Sales Funnels | ❌ | ✅ |
| Built In Payments | ❌ | ✅ |
| AI Tools | ✅ | ✅ |
| Branded Mobile App | ✅ | ✅ |
| Best For | Video-first online community | Entire online business |
1. Community Building
Swarm: This is the whole point of the product. Rich messaging, threads, and a member directory help people connect around shared interests. Members can explore who else is in the space before they ever post.

Kajabi: Community sits beside your courses rather than at the center. You can run a private membership site with events and challenges. It works well, though the conversations feel calmer than on a dedicated community platform.
2. Live Video and Live Events
Swarm: Live video is native, not bolted on. Screen sharing, calendars, and transcriptions run inside the same space. Face to face calls carry emotions and tone that a text thread flattens.
Kajabi: There is no native live room. Most teams embed Zoom or post recorded YouTube videos into a lesson. That works for a webinar, but it is one more login for your team.
⚠️ Warning: If weekly live events drive your engagement, Kajabi alone will not cover it. Budget for a video tool on top of your kajabi subscription.
3. Course Creation and Coaching
Swarm: Courses exist, but they are simple. You can drop lessons into a space and discuss them together. There is no quiz engine, drip schedule, or completion tracking.
Kajabi: Course creation is the reason most people sign up. The kajabi course builder handles quizzes, drip content, and progress tracking. Coaching programs get their own booking and session flow.

Coaching runs on its own set of tools inside the same dashboard.

4. Email Marketing
Swarm: No email marketing software is included. You can notify members inside the app, but marketing campaigns need a separate provider. That means another bill and another list to sync.
Kajabi: Broadcasts and automated email campaigns are built in. Your buyer list, your course data, and your emails share one database. That link is what makes Kajabi feel like an entire business in a box.

5. Website Builder and Landing Pages
Swarm: There is no website builder. Your community lives at a Swarm address or inside a branded app. A landing page has to come from another platform.
Kajabi: You can create landing pages, blog posts, and a full site with drag and drop. Design flexibility is thinner than a specialist builder like Webflow. For most course creators it is more than enough.

6. Sales Funnels and Automations
Swarm: Funnels are outside its job. Swarm keeps existing members active rather than turning cold traffic into buyers. Growth comes from conversations, not automated sequences.
Kajabi: Pre-made sales funnels cover webinars, free trials, and product launches. Triggers move buyers between lists without manual work. This is where the price starts to make sense.

7. AI Tools
Swarm: AI Assist summarizes long threads and pulls ideas out of calls. Transcriptions turn every live session into searchable text. The focus is on saving moderators time.

Kajabi: Kajabi AI drafts course outlines and writes video transcriptions. The newsletter assistant turns lesson notes into a send-ready draft. Creator Studio ties those pieces together.

8. Digital Products and Payments
Swarm: Selling digital products is not part of the core product. You bring your own checkout and grant access by hand or through an integration. That is friction on every sale.
Kajabi: Kajabi Payments handles checkout, and Apple Pay and Google Pay are supported. There are no transaction fees on top of your payment gateway rate. Kajabi lets you sell downloads, podcasts, and memberships from one catalog.

Podcasts sell as products too, with private feeds for paying members.

9. Analytics and Reporting
Swarm: Reporting centers on community health. You see active members, retention, and which conversations pull people back. Revenue data has to come from elsewhere.
Kajabi: Dashboards track site visits, offer revenue, and subscription metrics. Google Analytics connects for deeper reporting. You can trace a signup from ad click to renewal.

10. Pricing & Cost
Here are the plans side by side, straight from our pricing database.
| Tier | Swarm | Kajabi |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Launch — $19/month | Kickstarter — $71/month |
| Mid | Growth — $79/month | Basic — $199/month |
| Upper mid | Scale — $149/month | Growth — $159/month |
| Top | — | Pro — $319/month |
Swarm: The $19 entry point is hard to beat for a first community. Remember that email, checkout, and a landing page still cost extra. Add those and the gap narrows fast.
Kajabi: This is an expensive platform on paper. Running the same stack across separate tools can pass $600 a month. Judged that way, the Growth plan is the better value for a working business.
Different Scenarios
| If You Need… | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The lowest monthly cost | Swarm | $19 versus $71 entry price |
| To sell an online course | Kajabi | Checkout and course builder included |
| Weekly live events | Swarm | Native video and screen sharing |
| Email marketing in one place | Kajabi | Broadcasts and automations built in |
| A website and landing pages | Kajabi | Drag and drop site editor |
| A beginner-friendly start | Kajabi | Kajabi University walks you through |
💰 Your Budget
Swarm wins on the sticker price by a wide margin. Kajabi wins once you add up every other platform you would otherwise pay for.
🔌 Your Tech Stack
Already happy with your email tool and website? Swarm slots in beside them. Starting from zero? Kajabi makes fewer moving parts to manage.
📝 How You Teach
The right pick depends on how you teach. Live and personal? Swarm fits, because the conversations are the product. Structured lessons people buy once? Kajabi is the stronger course platform.
🎓 Your Experience Level
Kajabi has a bigger learning curve but far more training behind it. Swarm is faster to open, since there is less to set up.
📱 Mobile Access
Both offer branded mobile apps. The Kajabi app lets buyers find courses and keep learning, while Swarm’s app keeps engaging threads within reach.
🛟 Support Options
Kajabi runs 24/7 chat on Growth and Pro. Some reviews call the replies generic, so lean on Kajabi University for anything complex.
Switching Guide
Already on one of these? Here is what a move actually costs you.
🔄 Switching from Swarm to Kajabi?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- Checkout, email marketing, and a website on the same bill
- A real course builder with quizzes and drip content
- An affiliate program, so partners promote you with a special link
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Native live video and screen sharing
- The $19 entry price
- Thread-level AI summaries and call transcriptions
📋 How to switch:
- Export your member emails from Swarm
- Open a kajabi account and rebuild your offer
- Import the list, then invite members before you close the old space
🔄 Switching from Kajabi to Swarm?
✅ What you’ll gain:
- A far lower monthly bill
- Live events and video-first conversations
- A member directory that helps people connect directly
❌ What you’ll lose:
- Built in payments and no transaction fees
- Your website, blog, and sales funnels
- Email automations tied to buyer behaviour
📋 How to switch:
- Move your checkout to a standalone payment gateway first
- Rehome your site and email list on another platform
- Open the Swarm space and migrate members in one announcement
What Our Review Didn’t Cover
We focused on solo creators and small teams. We did not test large enterprise rollouts, custom API work, or bulk seat licensing. Deliverability rates for email campaigns at high volume were outside our scope too. If you run a coaching business with fifty staff, your priorities will differ from what we covered here.
Final Verdict
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| 💰 Pricing | Swarm |
| 👥 Community Building | Swarm |
| 🎥 Live Events | Swarm |
| 🎓 Course Creation | Kajabi |
| 📧 Email Marketing | Kajabi |
| 🌐 Website Builder | Kajabi |
| 💳 Payments | Kajabi |
| 📊 Analytics | Kajabi |
| 🏆 Overall Winner | Kajabi |
🏆 WINNER: KAJABI
Kajabi wins 5 of 8 categories.
Best for: Course creators, coaching programs, membership sites, and anyone building a digital business on one platform.
These two products are not really rivals. Swarm is a community platform. Kajabi is the machine you attach a community to.
Swarm is the better buy if your value comes from live conversations. It is cheaper, faster to launch, and stronger at engagement.
Kajabi is the better buy if you want to grow your business and sell. It bundles what other platforms charge for separately. It has helped tens of thousands of creators build sustainable businesses from what they know.
That track record is why so many people run a successful business on it.
For a successful online business run by one person, Kajabi does more of the work for you.
More of Swarm Compared
Here is how Swarm holds up against the closest community tools:
Swarm wins on: Native live video, cheaper entry plan, AI thread summaries
Circle wins on: Course tooling, paid membership checkout, a far larger integration list
Swarm vs Mighty Networks
Swarm wins on: Video-first design, lower starting cost, cleaner member directory
Mighty Networks wins on: Built-in selling, event ticketing, a much bigger creator base
Swarm vs Skool
Swarm wins on: Live rooms, screen sharing, transcription and AI assist
Skool wins on: Flat single price, gamified leaderboards, simpler moderation
Swarm vs Disco
Swarm wins on: Price, video-centric interface, ease of setup
Disco wins on: Cohort scheduling, learning paths, deeper reporting for programs
More of Kajabi Compared
Kajabi offers more than most rivals, but not always at the right price. Our full Kajabi review digs into each matchup below.
Kajabi vs Teachable
Kajabi wins on: Email marketing, sales funnels, zero transaction fees on every plan
Teachable wins on: Cheaper entry tier, simpler dashboard, faster first launch
Kajabi vs Thinkific
Kajabi wins on: Marketing automation, podcast hosting, coaching session tools
Thinkific wins on: Free starter plan, lower mid-tier pricing, a broader app store
Kajabi wins on: All-round business tooling, funnel templates, no fee on sales
LearnWorlds wins on: Interactive video, certificates and assessments, white-label control
Kajabi vs GoHighLevel
Kajabi wins on: Course delivery, student experience, far gentler setup
GoHighLevel wins on: Agency sub-accounts, SMS campaigns, CRM depth for client work
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a swarm platform?
It is software for running an online community. Swarm gives you video rooms, live events, rich messaging, and a member directory in one space.
What is the price of Swarm?
Three plans are listed: Launch at $19/month, Growth at $79/month, and Scale at $149/month. A free trial lets you test before paying.
Is Kajabi only for courses?
No. The platform also sells memberships, coaching, podcasts, and downloads. It handles your website, email, and checkout in the same account.
Does Kajabi have a transaction fee?
No. The platform takes no cut of your sales on any plan. You still pay standard processing rates to your payment provider.
Which one is better for memberships?
Kajabi, because it bundles recurring billing with gated content. Choose Swarm only if live video drives your membership and you already have checkout.













