Kajabi Vs Hotmart: What's The Best Option for Creators?

I'm going to break down the key differences between Kajabi and Hotmart so you can figure out which platform suits your online business needs. I've been using Kajabi since 2018 for my own business, and I want to give you a clear picture of how these platforms differ in their approach and functionality.

The fundamental difference comes down to this: Hotmart operates as a marketplace where creators can sell digital products directly to customers already browsing the platform. Kajabi works differently as an all-in-one platform where you build your own branded business, create your digital products, and drive your own traffic to your custom domain. With Hotmart, you get free access but pay a percentage on each sale, while Kajabi charges a monthly fee starting at $89 but doesn't take a cut of your revenue.

Key Takeaways

• Hotmart is a free marketplace platform where you sell digital products to existing marketplace traffic, while Kajabi requires a monthly subscription but lets you build a fully branded business on your own domain.
• Kajabi includes comprehensive tools for creating courses, managing customers, building websites, email marketing, and analytics all in one platform without taking transaction fees.
• Your platform choice depends on whether you already have an audience and want full control over your brand, or if you prefer leveraging an existing marketplace to reach potential customers.

Platform Structure and Business Models

Standalone Platform Versus Marketplace

Hotmart is a marketplace where you build digital products or affiliate to digital products and sell on their own platform. When you click over to the marketplace, you can search for topics you want to learn. The Hotmart programs or affiliated programs will come up, and you can purchase these programs right from the marketplace.

Kajabi is not a marketplace. You have to go and build your own online digital footprint and build your own audience to send them over to your Kajabi website so you can sell your digital products.

With Kajabi, you build products like online courses, coaching, podcasts, memberships, communities, newsletters, and downloads within the Kajabi platform on your own domain. You then direct traffic to that platform yourself.

People need to go onto a landing page or a checkout page, sign up to your program, create a login, and then have access to their own library. This looks very different from the Hotmart marketplace experience.

If you have a ready-made audience, Kajabi might be for you. If you haven't, then Hotmart might be for you. You can create digital content or affiliate to digital content and then sell it on a ready-made marketplace.

Ownership and Branding Implications

Hotmart is free with no monthly price, but you're going to pay a certain percentage of everything you sell. They're going to take a cut.

Kajabi is the opposite. Kajabi doesn't take a cut, but there is a monthly membership fee:

There's an annual option with 20% off or a monthly payment option.

With Kajabi, you can design your own homepage and landing pages. You can link it up to your own domain. If you blog, this is brilliant because you're putting blog posts out there to direct traffic to your main domain.

The platform comes with its own branded mobile app if you go for the top Pro subscription. You get everything in one place that you're going to need to build an online digital business.

Kajabi provides a clean, professional look, but this is all inside your Kajabi account. You build out content on your own domain rather than on a marketplace platform.

Digital Product Offerings

Courses and Memberships

Kajabi allows you to build online courses and memberships directly within the platform. I use the Growth plan, which has been sufficient for my online business needs. I started on the Kickstarter plan and upgraded as my business expanded.

The platform provides a clean, professional look for course content. When I open one of my courses, like my Kajabi Unbox program, it displays inside my Kajabi account with its own dedicated interface. Users need to access these courses through a landing page or checkout page, create a login, and then view their content library.

The member experience differs significantly from a marketplace environment. Each user gets their own library view where they can access the programs they've purchased.

Coaching and Community Features

Kajabi includes coaching and community features as part of its product suite. These are accessible from the left-hand side menu alongside other offerings. The community feature is built directly into the platform, allowing you to create member communities within your Kajabi account.

If you upgrade to the Pro subscription level, you get access to a branded mobile app. This gives your coaching clients and community members a dedicated mobile experience under your own brand.

Ebooks, Podcasts, and Downloads

The platform supports multiple content formats beyond traditional courses. You can create and distribute downloads, host podcasts, and manage newsletters all from the same dashboard.

These products sit alongside courses in the product menu. The podcast feature integrates into your overall Kajabi ecosystem, while downloads can be offered as standalone products or supplementary materials.

Newsletters are also built into the platform, giving you another way to deliver content to your audience. All of these offerings connect to your own domain rather than operating within a marketplace structure.

Audience Acquisition Approaches

Building an Audience Independently

Kajabi requires you to build your own online digital footprint and audience before you can sell digital products. You need to direct traffic to your Kajabi website through your own marketing efforts.

This platform isn't a marketplace. You must create your own presence and bring people to your domain.

If you have a ready-made audience, Kajabi works well for this approach. You can link the platform to your own domain, which is particularly useful if you blog because you can put blog posts out there to direct traffic to your main domain.

The platform provides tools to support audience building, including:

• Email campaigns built into the marketing features
• A CRM system with contact management
• Landing pages and homepage design capabilities
• Analytics dashboard for tracking performance

You design your own landing pages and checkout pages where people sign up to your programs. They create a login and then access their own library of content within your branded environment.

Leveraging a Marketplace for Reach

Hotmart operates as a marketplace where you can build digital products or affiliate to digital products and sell them on their platform. The marketplace gives you access to people who are already searching for content to purchase.

As an end user on Hotmart, you can search for topics you want to learn and programs will come up for purchase. Your products appear in this same marketplace where potential customers browse.

If you haven't built an audience yet, Hotmart provides this ready-made marketplace approach. You create digital content or affiliate to digital content and then sell it where buyers are already looking.

Pricing structure:

Hotmart has no monthly price, making it accessible to start immediately. You only pay when you make sales through their percentage cut.

Pricing and Monetization Structures

Subscription Fees Compared

Hotmart operates on a free-to-join model. There's no monthly membership fee to access the platform.

Kajabi works differently with a structured monthly subscription system. The platform offers several tiers when paid annually at a 20% discount or monthly. The Kickstarter plan starts at $89 per month. Additional tiers include Basic, Growth, and Pro.

I personally use the Growth plan. This has been sufficient for my online business needs. I started on Kickstarter, moved to Basic, and eventually upgraded to Growth as my business expanded with the platform.

Commission and Revenue Share Models

Hotmart takes a percentage cut from everything you sell on their platform. Since there's no upfront monthly cost, they monetize through transaction fees on your sales.

Kajabi doesn't take any cut from your sales. You pay the monthly membership fee and keep 100% of your revenue. This means all payments from your customers go directly to you through your connected payment providers.

Choosing a Plan for Growth

If you're considering Kajabi, identify the best plan for your needs and start with that tier. I began with Kickstarter and scaled up as my business requirements grew.

For Hotmart, you can start immediately for free and build out your content for their marketplace. The barrier to entry is lower since there's no initial investment required.

The Pro subscription on Kajabi includes a branded mobile app. This is only available at the top tier. Lower tiers still provide access to core features like courses, coaching, community, podcasts, newsletters, and downloads.

Think about whether you have a ready-made audience. If you do, Kajabi might suit you better. If you don't have an existing audience, Hotmart's marketplace approach could be more beneficial since you can create digital content or affiliate to existing digital content and sell on their established platform.

User Experience and Interface Insights

Course Creation Workflow

I use Kajabi to build out all my digital products within the platform. When I pop into one of my courses, like my Kajabi Unbox program, everything sits inside my Kajabi account with a clean, professional look.

The platform gives me access to multiple product types down the left-hand side. I can create courses, coaching programs, communities, podcasts, newsletters, and downloads. All of these get built out within the Kajabi platform on my own domain.

Hotmart works differently as a marketplace platform. You build digital products or affiliate to digital products and sell them on their platform. They have a members area where you log in and build out courses, plus an academy with resources to learn how to put the platform together.

End User Enrollment and Access

When someone wants to access my Kajabi programs, they need to go through a specific workflow:

1. Visit a landing page or checkout page
2. Sign up to the program
3. Create a login
4. Access their own library

Inside the user account, people see their content in what I consider a clean, professional interface. This all happens within my Kajabi ecosystem, not on a marketplace.

With Hotmart's marketplace, the experience differs significantly. As an end user, you search for topics you want to learn, and Hotmart programs or affiliated programs come up. You can purchase these programs directly from the marketplace itself.

Customization and Design Flexibility

Kajabi gives me extensive control over my digital presence. I can design my own homepage and landing pages through the websites section. I can link everything up to my own domain, which works brilliantly if I blog because I can direct traffic to my main domain.

The platform includes built-in email campaigns and a contacts area that functions as a CRM or learning management system. I have access to a great analytics dashboard to track performance.

For those on the top-tier Pro subscription, Kajabi even comes with its own branded mobile app. The sales section lets me build out offers and checkouts, and I can link up to different payment providers. I have the freedom to create my entire online digital footprint and build my own audience to send to my Kajabi website.

Sales and Marketing Toolsets

Offer Creation and Checkout Systems

You can build out offers and checkouts within Kajabi. The platform provides dedicated tools for creating these sales components.

When someone wants to access your programs, they need to go through a checkout page first. After completing the purchase, they create a login and gain access to their own library where all their content lives.

Integration With Payment Providers

Kajabi allows you to link up to different payment providers. This connectivity enables you to process transactions for your digital products.

The platform handles the payment infrastructure so you can accept purchases for your courses, coaching programs, memberships, and other offerings.

CRM and Analytics Capabilities

Kajabi comes with inbuilt email campaigns for marketing purposes. All of your contacts live within the platform, functioning as a CRM or learning management system.

The platform includes a great analytics dashboard. This gives you visibility into your business performance and customer data in one centralized location.