CHOOSE
Which funnel builder handles selling online courses at your catalog size?
Course platforms differ mainly by how many products (courses) each plan allows and how that scales with contacts. Systeme.io and ClickFunnels cap courses per plan explicitly, from a handful up to unlimited; Kajabi and Podia use a broader product limit that covers courses alongside other formats. The right pick depends on whether you sell one course or a growing catalog, not on which platform markets itself hardest to creators.
What actually caps a course business
A course business is capped by more than the sticker price. Four numbers decide whether a plan actually fits: how many courses (or products) you can list, how many contacts you can email, how many admin users or team members you get, and how many custom domains you can attach. Course creators tend to hit the course-count and contact limits first, in that order, so those are the two to check before anything else.
Systeme.io and ClickFunnels: explicit course counts per plan
Systeme.io and ClickFunnels both publish an explicit course count per plan, which makes budgeting straightforward:
- Systeme.io: 1 course on Free, 5 on Startup ($17 per month), unlimited from the Webinar plan ($47 per month) upward.
- ClickFunnels: 3 courses on Launch ($97 per month), 6 on Scale, 10 on Optimize, 20 on Dominate, with unlimited funnels on every tier.
If the catalog is genuinely a handful of courses, both entry tiers cover it; a catalog approaching double digits pushes Systeme.io toward Webinar and ClickFunnels toward Scale or Optimize. Plan detail: Systeme.io plans and ClickFunnels plans.
Kajabi vs Podia: product limits instead of course counts
Kajabi and Podia do not publish a course-specific cap; they cap products, a broader category that includes courses alongside downloads, coaching and other formats. The practical effect is similar, a ceiling on how many things you can sell, but the number covers more than courses alone, so a catalog mixing courses with other product types uses the same limit.
| At a glance | Kajabi | Podia |
|---|---|---|
| Positioning | Course, coaching and community platform with built-in funnels and email, aimed at experts selling knowledge products. | Simple storefront for courses, downloads, coaching and community with a website and email built in. |
| Plans | Basic: $179/mo Growth: $249/mo Pro: $499/mo | Mover: $42/mo Shaker: $84/mo Earthquaker: $150/mo |
| Entry price | from $179/mo | from $42/mo |
| Billing notes | Annual billing lowers the effective monthly price. | Annual billing is cheaper than 12 monthly payments. Stripe or PayPal processing fees (about 2.9% + 30¢, varies by country) apply on top on every plan. 30-day free trial. |
Amounts come from each provider's official pricing page and can change: the official Kajabi pricing page · the official Podia pricing page.
Podia's entry Mover plan carries a 5% transaction fee that Shaker and Earthquaker remove; Kajabi has no platform transaction fee at any tier but starts at a higher monthly price.
Matching catalog size to plan
Match the plan to where the catalog actually is, not where it might be in the future:
- One course, small list: Systeme.io Free or Startup, ClickFunnels Launch, or Podia Mover all cover it; price and transaction fee become the deciding factor.
- Growing catalog, 5 to 20 products: Systeme.io Webinar or Unlimited, ClickFunnels Scale or Optimize, Podia Shaker, or Kajabi Growth all remove the course-count ceiling; contact limits become the next filter.
- Large catalog, large list: Kajabi Pro or Podia Earthquaker remove both ceilings at once, at the highest price point of the group.
What the course limit does not tell you
Course count is one axis, not the whole decision. Transaction fees (Podia's Mover fee, standard card processing on every platform), whether coaching and community are bundled in or sold separately, and how deep the page builder goes for a sales page all vary independently of the course limit. If coaching delivery specifically matters more than a course catalog, the trade-offs differ: see the coach funnel guide.
Next step
Compare Kajabi and Podia directly, plan by plan, in Kajabi vs Podia, or ClickFunnels against Kajabi in ClickFunnels vs Kajabi. To price a specific catalog size and contact count across platforms at once, use the cost calculator.
Questions people also ask
Does unlimited courses mean unlimited content within each course?
No. An unlimited course count removes the cap on how many separate courses you can create; storage, video limits and other per-course capacity are governed separately and should be checked in the app for your plan.
Which platform is cheapest for a single course?
Systeme.io's Free plan includes 1 course at no cost, which is the lowest entry point among these four. ClickFunnels and Podia both require a paid plan from the first course; Kajabi has no free tier at all.
Do Kajabi and Podia's product limits count downloads and coaching too?
Yes. Both platforms cap total products rather than courses specifically, so downloads, coaching offers and other formats share the same ceiling as your courses. A catalog that mixes formats reaches the limit faster than a courses-only catalog would.
When should I move from Systeme.io Startup to Webinar just for courses?
Once the catalog needs a sixth course, since Startup caps at 5 and Webinar removes the course limit entirely. If the webinar feature itself is not needed, weigh that jump against ClickFunnels or Podia plans in the same price range.