Online course platform profit calculator
The monthly plan price is the part of a course platform you see first and the smallest part of what you pay. Payment processing takes a cut of every sale, some plans add a platform transaction fee on top, and the features you need (an email tool, memberships, a community) decide which tier you are forced onto. Put your real course price and expected sales in, and this prices what you actually keep on Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific, the plan tier you genuinely need on each, and which one wins for you. The math runs in your browser and nothing is stored.
Your course
Features you need
This decides the plan tier each platform forces you onto, so the comparison prices like for like.
Recommended plan and platform fee
Seeded from the cheapest tier that covers your features. Edit to match your real quote.
Winner for your numbers
Thinkific keeps you $7,202/mo
Thinkific on the Start plan nets $7,202 a month, $89 more than Kajabi. Effective all-in fee 3.0% of revenue.
Net per month
$7,202
after every fee
Effective fee
3.0%
all-in, of revenue
Breakeven sales
0/mo
to cover the plan
Side by side
| Platform | Plan | Net /mo | Eff. fee | Breakeven |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thinkificwinner | Start | $7,202 | 3.0% | 0 |
| Kajabi | Kickstarter | $7,113 | 4.2% | 1 |
| Teachable | Starter | $6,616 | 10.9% | 1 |
Net is gross sales of $7,425 minus processing, platform fee and plan price. Breakeven is the monthly sales needed to cover the plan cost alone.
Where each dollar goes
Kajabi
Kickstarter plan
- Gross sales
- $7,425
- Payment processing
- -$223
- Platform fee (0.0%)
- $0
- Plan price
- -$89
- Net keep
- $7,113
You keep $288.09 of each $297 sale before the plan cost.
Teachable
Starter plan
- Gross sales
- $7,425
- Payment processing
- -$223
- Platform fee (7.5%)
- -$557
- Plan price
- -$29
- Net keep
- $6,616
You keep $265.81 of each $297 sale before the plan cost.
Thinkific
Start plan
- Gross sales
- $7,425
- Payment processing
- -$223
- Platform fee (0.0%)
- $0
- Plan price
- -$0
- Net keep
- $7,202
You keep $288.09 of each $297 sale before the plan cost.
Plan tiers are chosen from the features you need: Built-in email marketing. Prices and fees are editable published mid-2025 list defaults (billed-annually rates); confirm the current figures on each platform's pricing page.
If the winner fits
Start on the platform that keeps you the most
When the numbers point somewhere, these are the signup links for each platform. They cost you nothing extra, and the math above is driven by what you keep at your inputs, not by which program pays us.
Kajabi
Kajabi Partner Program (30% recurring)
Teachable
Teachable Affiliate Program (30% recurring)
Thinkific
Thinkific Affiliate Program (up to 30% recurring)
These will be affiliate links to the Kajabi, Teachable and Thinkific partner programs (each pays a recurring commission, Kajabi 30% on plans up to $399/mo). We have not joined yet, so every link is a clearly marked placeholder until we are accepted. The recommendation is driven by your inputs, not by the link.
Get the course launch pricing model
A practical, fill-in-the-blanks model for pricing a course launch: how to set the price, the take-home math per platform, the breakeven worksheet, and a launch-week checklist so your platform fees never eat the margin. Enter your email to unlock the download. We will also watch a platform pricing page and email you if a plan price or fee changes, so this comparison stays current. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
How the number is built
For each platform, what you keep in a month is your gross sales (course price times number of sales) minus three things: payment processing (a percentage of each sale plus a flat fee per transaction, the Stripe and PayPal style default is 2.9% plus 30 cents), any platform transaction fee the plan charges on top, and the monthly plan price itself. The effective fee percent rolls all three into a single number so you can compare a high plan price with no per-sale fee against a free plan that skims 10% off every sale.
The breakeven sales count is the plan price divided by what you keep on a single sale after processing and any platform fee. Below it, the plan has not yet paid for its own monthly cost. It is the quickest way to see whether a $199/mo all-in plan is sane at the volume you actually expect, or whether a leaner plan keeps more in your pocket until you scale.
Every plan price and fee is an editable input pre-filled with a published mid-2025 list figure, so you can match the exact quote in front of you and nothing here is a number you cannot check. Plan prices shown are the lower, billed-annually rates; confirm the current figure on each platform's pricing page before you decide.
Why the cheapest plan is not always the winner
The plan tier you actually need is driven by features, not price. If you need a built-in email marketing tool, memberships, or a community, that requirement can push you up a tier or rule out a free plan entirely. The calculator picks the cheapest tier on each platform that still covers the features you tick, then prices the comparison on those tiers, so you are comparing like for like instead of a stripped-down free plan against a full suite.
Kajabi is the all-in-one end of the market: it bundles email, memberships and communities and charges no platform transaction fee, so its tiers scale by contact and product limits rather than features. Teachable and Thinkific are leaner and cheaper at the entry level, with Teachable's free plan taking a 10% cut per sale and Thinkific charging no platform fee even on its free tier. Which of those wins depends entirely on your price, your volume and the features you cannot live without, which is exactly what the tool computes.
Who this is for
Creators about to launch a first course and choosing where to host it, and established course sellers wondering whether they have outgrown (or overpaid for) their current platform. If you would rather keep an eye on a competitor's course pricing and launch offers than your own platform fees, that is what Mue Watch Business does for you, on a schedule, with the alerts handled.
Course platform fee questions, answered
Which course platform has the lowest fees?
It depends on your price and volume. Thinkific charges no platform transaction fee on any plan, including its free tier, so it often keeps the most on low volume. Teachable is cheap to start but its Starter plan takes a 7.5% platform fee, so a fee-free plan one tier up usually keeps more once you have real sales. Kajabi charges no per-sale fee but has higher plan prices. The calculator prices all three on your numbers.
Is the cheap course platform plan actually cheaper?
Often not. A plan with a low sticker but a percentage transaction fee can cost more than a higher fee-free plan once you sell. For example, on a $200 course at 50 sales a month, Teachable's 7.5% fee on $10,000 of sales is $750, far more than the gap to a fee-free plan. Compare what you keep, not the plan price.
Kajabi vs Teachable vs Thinkific: which should I choose?
Kajabi is the all-in-one (email, memberships, community bundled, no per-sale fee, higher plan price). Teachable is lean and cheap to start but its entry plan charges a transaction fee. Thinkific charges no platform fee on any tier. The right pick is the cheapest tier that covers the features you actually need; the calculator selects that tier on each and compares like for like.
How do course platform transaction fees work?
Two separate cuts come out of each sale: payment processing (a percentage plus a flat fee, typically 2.9% plus 30 cents) which every platform incurs, and a platform transaction fee that some plans add on top. Higher tiers usually drop the platform fee to zero. The calculator rolls both into one effective fee percent so you can compare plans honestly.
The data-story behind this tool
Why the cheap course platform plan is usually the expensive oneAt 10,000 dollars a month in sales, Teachable's 29 dollar Starter plan nets you about 710 dollars less than its 69 dollar Builder plan, because of one fee the sticker price hides. Here is the math.
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