If you’re searching for a platform to build and sell your online courses, you might be considering Stan Store or Kajabi. Both have features to help you create, market, and sell courses, but they have some differences.
Stan Store is ideal for beginners who want to start selling digital products and courses quickly. It’s affordable, starting at $29 a month, making it a great choice for creators and publishers who are just getting started.
On the other hand, Kajabi is a more advanced platform, better suited for larger educational institutions. It offers a comprehensive range of tools but comes at a higher cost, with basic plans starting at $69 a month.
In this blog post, we’ll compare both platforms side by side to help you decide which one is the best fit for your digital products.
What is Stan Store?
Stan Store is a simple platform that lets you create a personalized shopping page with links to your products and services. It’s an all-in-one solution that connects with popular tools like Calendly for scheduling, Shopify for online sales, and Linktree for managing multiple links in one place. With Stan Store, you can add product tags, track visitor analytics, and customize your shop’s appearance.
This platform allows you to sell a variety of items, including digital and physical products, as well as offer different services. You can even set up subscription plans and provide free trial periods to your customers to attract more interest. Stan Store supports various payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal, and Stripe, ensuring a convenient and secure shopping experience for your customers.
What is Kajabi?
Conversely, Kajabi is a comprehensive tool designed to help you create and sell online courses. It comes with several features, including tools for making courses, customizable landing pages, automated marketing, and an integrated email system.
Primarily, Kajabi is aimed at those who want to build and sell online courses. Additionally, it offers e-commerce functions so you can sell digital products, physical goods, and downloadable content. It supports various payment methods, including credit card payments and PayPal, making transactions easy and flexible.
In terms of features, Both platforms provide tools to help you make and sell your products and services. Stan Store includes options like tagging products, tracking analytics, and designing your own store layout. Kajabi, on the other hand, offers tools for creating courses, setting up custom landing pages, automating marketing tasks, and has an integrated email marketing system.
Now that you have an overview of Kajabi’s features and capabilities, you might be wondering how to get started with this platform. To help you navigate and make the most of its tools, check out our step-by-step Tutorial: How to Use Kajabi.
Comparison of Key Features
Features are a crucial aspect to consider when choosing the right platform for your digital products. Here’s a closer look at some of the key features offered by Stan Store and Kajabi.
Course Creation and Management
When it comes to course creation and management, Stan Store and Kajabi both offer tools to help you build and sell courses. Stan Store is user-friendly with a simple drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to design and personalize your courses. You can add videos, ebooks, and templates, and organize them into modules and lessons for better structure.
Kajabi provides a more advanced system for creating and managing courses. It allows you to create various types of courses, such as online courses, coaching programs, and membership sites. Kajabi also includes customization options, like designing your own landing and checkout pages, giving you more control over the look and feel of your offerings.
Sales and Marketing Tools
Stan Store and Kajabi both provide a range of tools to help you sell and promote your courses.
Stan Store makes it easy for customers to buy your courses with a straightforward checkout process that takes just a few clicks. You can also set up custom product pages and offer special deals and promotions to attract buyers.
Kajabi, on the other hand, offers a wider array of sales and marketing features. You can design personalized sales pages, send out email marketing campaigns, and create offers that encourage additional purchases, like upsells and cross-sells. Additionally, Kajabi provides advanced tools for tracking and analyzing your sales and marketing activities, giving you insights into how well your efforts are working.
How Stan Store Connects with Other Tools
When picking a platform to create and manage courses, it’s important to know how well it works with other tools you use. Stan Store makes this easy by linking up with popular third-party services like Calendly, Shopify, and Link Tree. This means you can seamlessly connect your Stan Store account with the tools you already use for your business, making your operations smoother and more efficient.
Kajabi provides several ways to connect with other services. You can link Kajabi to your email marketing software, payment systems, and CRM tools. Additionally, Kajabi has a strong API that lets you create custom connections with other platforms. This makes it easier to manage your business by bringing all your tools together in one place.
Support and Community
Both Stan Store and Kajabi provide resources to help you thrive. Stan Store offers a knowledge base, email support, and a private Facebook group for connecting with other users.
Kajabi provides a more extensive support system. It includes a knowledge base, live chat support, and a private Facebook group. Additionally, Kajabi offers training resources like webinars, courses, and a certification program for experts.
Pricing and Payment Options
Stan Store Pricing
Stan Store provides a two-week free trial, allowing you to explore the platform without any commitment. After the trial, you can choose between two subscription plans: Creator and Creator Pro. The Creator plan is $29 per month, while Creator Pro costs $99 per month. It’s a good idea to start with the Creator plan and upgrade to Creator Pro if you find you need extra features.
Stan Store doesn’t take any transaction fees, so you get to keep all the money from your sales. However, be aware that Stripe, the payment processor used by Stan Store, charges a fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents for each transaction.
Kajabi Pricing Overview
Kajabi provides five different pricing options to suit various needs: KickStarter, Basic, Growth, Pro, and Enterprise.
- KickStarter: $69/month
- Basic: $149/month
- Growth: $199/month
- Pro: $399/month
- Enterprise: Tailored services and premium solutions at approximately $10,000/year
If you choose to pay annually rather than monthly, you can save 20%.
All Kajabi plans include unlimited landing pages, marketing emails, and products. However, the number of active members, contacts, and sales funnels you can have will depend on the plan you choose. Plus, Kajabi doesn’t take any cut from your sales—there’s a 0% transaction fee.
For payments, Kajabi supports three options: Kajabi Payments, Stripe, and PayPal. By default, Kajabi Payments is used, which doesn’t add extra transaction fees. On the other hand, Stripe and PayPal each charge a fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction.
This breakdown gives you a clear idea of what to expect when choosing a Kajabi plan for your business needs.
Pricing is a key factor when choosing an e-commerce platform. To see how Kajabi compares to Shopify, check out our detailed comparison: Kajabi vs Shopify: Which Platform is Better?
Customization and Templates
When building a website, making it your own is essential. Both Stan Store and Kajabi provide plenty of customization tools to help you create a site that truly showcases your brand.
Stan Store comes with various templates that are straightforward to use. You can easily adjust colors, fonts, and the overall layout to give your site a unique appearance. Additionally, Stan Store provides widgets and plugins, allowing you to add extra features to your site.
Kajabi offers customizable themes for your website. These themes are flexible and can be adapted to match your brand’s style. Like Stan Store, you can modify colors, fonts, and layout to create a distinct look. Kajabi also includes widgets and plugins for enhancing your site’s functionality.
Both Stan Store and Kajabi offer ways to personalize your site, but they differ in flexibility and ease of use. Kajabi lets you create a unique look with its custom themes, offering more freedom in design choices. On the other hand, Stan Store has templates that are super easy to use, letting you make changes quickly. Your choice depends on how much customization you want and how simple you want the process to be.
Email Marketing and Automation
When you’re looking at email marketing and automation, Stan Store and Kajabi both bring something different to the table.
Stan Store, available at the creator pro level, lets you send follow-up emails to your customers. However, it’s not the best choice if you’re planning to run an email newsletter; for that, using a service like beehiiv would be better.
Kajabi, on the other hand, is a comprehensive platform that includes built-in email marketing tools. This means you don’t need to get a separate email service like Mailchimp. With Kajabi, you can set up automated email sequences that trigger based on what users do, such as enrolling in a course or leaving items in their cart without purchasing.
Both Stan Store and Kajabi provide tools to automate tasks, helping you save time and effort. With Stan Store, you can automate actions like sending emails, tagging contacts, or updating their information. Kajabi offers similar options, allowing you to automate emails, manage tags by adding or removing them, and even activate webhooks for more complex integrations. These features streamline your workflow and make managing your business easier.
Tracking Analytics and Data
When it comes to keeping an eye on your business metrics, both Stan Store and Kajabi offer strong tools for tracking analytics and data. These platforms come with analytics dashboards that let you monitor various aspects of your business, such as revenue, subscriptions, sign-ups, page views, and sales of your offers.
Kajabi allows you to link your account with Google Analytics, giving you access to even deeper insights. With Google Analytics, you can see details about user behavior on your site, like how long visitors stay on each page, which pages are most popular, and which pages cause users to leave quickly.
Stan Store, however, doesn’t connect with Google Analytics. Despite this, its analytics dashboard still provides plenty of useful information. This helps you assess your business’s performance and make informed decisions based on the data you gather.
In terms of data tracking, both platforms let you gather and keep customer information, like contact details and what they’ve bought before. You can use this information to design marketing campaigns that are more focused and to make the customer experience better overall.
Stan Store vs Kajabi: Which One Should You Choose?
It’s not fair to say one platform is better than the other because they serve different purposes and do well in their areas. If you’re choosing between them, think about these things:
Advantages of Using Stan Store
- All-in-One Shopping: Stan Store combines everything you need for link-in-bio shopping in one place.
- User-Friendly: It’s easy to set up and start using, making it great for beginners.
- Free Trial Available: You can try it for free for two weeks to see if it suits your needs.
- Customizable Templates: Offers templates you can personalize for your online store.
Disadvantages of Using Stan Store
- Less Functionality: Compared to Kajabi, it has fewer features.
- No Email Tools: It doesn’t include email marketing or automation tools.
- Limited Store Customization: Options to personalize your store are somewhat restricted.
- Basic Analytics: The platform offers minimal tracking and reporting capabilities.
Advantages of Using Kajabi
- All-in-One Solution: Kajabi is a comprehensive tool that lets you create and manage online courses, membership sites, and digital products all in one place.
- Rich Features: It includes a variety of tools, such as email marketing, automation, and detailed analytics, to help you grow your business.
- Customizable Templates: You can use its adjustable templates to design landing and sales pages that suit your brand and product.
- Course Management: The platform has a powerful system for making and organizing your courses, ensuring a smooth experience for both creators and users.
- Integration Capabilities: Kajabi connects easily with popular services like Zapier, Stripe, and PayPal, broadening its functionality.
Disadvantages of Using Kajabi
- Cost: The pricing is higher when compared to similar platforms like Stan Store, which might be a concern for budget-conscious users.
- Getting Started: Beginners might find it challenging to navigate and fully utilize Kajabi’s features due to its complexity.
- Customization Limits: When it comes to customizing the look of your storefront, your options are somewhat restricted.
- Payment Choices: The platform offers fewer payment method options, which might limit flexibility for some users.
- Design Flexibility: The design options for landing and sales pages are also limited, which could impact branding.
Both Stan Store and Kajabi have their pros and cons, so think about what you want to achieve and how much you’re willing to spend before deciding. If your main aim is to boost sales through social media, Stan Store might be the way to go. On the other hand, if you’re interested in creating and selling online courses or memberships, Kajabi could be a better fit.
While we’ve discussed some limitations of Kajabi, particularly regarding selling physical products, you might be curious about its actual capabilities in this area. For a comprehensive understanding, explore our article Can You Sell Physical Products on Kajabi? to see if it meets your business needs.
Final Thought
Choosing between Stan Store and Kajabi comes down to your specific needs, goals, and budget. Stan Store is an excellent choice for beginners and creators who want an affordable, user-friendly platform to start selling digital products quickly, especially through social media channels. Its simplicity and seamless integration with popular tools make it ideal for those looking to streamline their online sales without overwhelming features.
Kajabi, on the other hand, is a robust, all-in-one solution designed for businesses and educators aiming to build comprehensive online courses and memberships. While it comes with a higher price tag, the extensive features—including advanced marketing tools, customizable templates, and in-depth analytics—provide a powerful platform for scaling your digital product business.
Ultimately, by assessing your business objectives, required features, and budget constraints, you can select the platform that best aligns with your vision and sets you up for success in the digital marketplace.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main differences between Stan Store and Kajabi?
Stan Store is a user-friendly platform ideal for beginners looking to sell digital products quickly and affordably, starting at $29 per month. It offers basic features and integrations with tools like Calendly and Shopify. Kajabi is a more advanced, all-in-one solution starting at $69 per month, designed for creating and managing online courses, memberships, and detailed marketing campaigns. It includes robust features like built-in email marketing, automation, and customizable landing pages.
Which platform is more suitable for beginners?
Stan Store is more suitable for beginners due to its simplicity, ease of use, and affordable pricing. It allows new creators to set up their online store quickly without the complexity of advanced features that might be overwhelming.
How do the pricing plans of Stan Store and Kajabi compare?
Stan Store offers two plans: Creator at $29/month and Creator Pro at $99/month, with a 14-day free trial. Kajabi has five pricing tiers: KickStarter at $69/month, Basic at $149/month, Growth at $199/month, Pro at $399/month, and Enterprise solutions starting around $10,000/year. Kajabi’s plans are more expensive but come with a broader range of features.
Can I integrate other tools and services with Stan Store and Kajabi?
Yes, both platforms support integrations. Stan Store connects with popular third-party services like Calendly, Shopify, and Linktree, enhancing its functionality. Kajabi offers integrations with email marketing software, payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal, and CRM tools. It also provides a robust API for custom integrations.
Which platform offers better customization options for my online store or course?
Kajabi offers more advanced customization options with flexible themes and the ability to design unique landing and sales pages, providing greater control over your site’s appearance. Stan Store offers straightforward templates that are easy to use but offer less flexibility in design customization.