Affiliate Disclosure: Look, I'm working my ass off delivering value to you. So, yes this blog is monetized through affiliate products. They are true recommendations and if you purchase them, I probably earn a commission (at no additional cost to you).

Creating an online course can be pretty profitable and fun.

But, picking the platform which you want to host your course on can be quite a hard decision.

Today, we’re going to compare Kartra vs Teachable, which are both two great solutions to host your online course. 

For this comparison, I am going to assume that your main focus is hosting your course, due to the nature of Teachable.

This means I won’t go into too much detail for less relevant features. 

Kartra vs Teachable: Main Differences

The main differences between Kartra and Teachable are that Teachable’s main focus is people selling courses, whereas Kartra gives you all the tools you need for the rest of your online business.

Using Teachable, you will need to purchase more external software to run your entire business, whereas with Kartra you will not.

Kartra vs Teachable: Overview

Kartra Features

As you probably already know, Kartra is packed with useful features. 

Not only that, but they are also all incredibly useful if you are looking to sell your own course. If Kartra is something that you want to learn more about through an in-depth post, check out my Kartra review.

Page Builder, Sales Funnels & Templates

Firstly, we have the page builder, sales funnels, and templates.

Kartra pages will give you everything you need to convert your visitor from a visitor to a sale. 

There are over 500 beautiful templates that are super easy-to-edit. 

These templates range from pages for your sales pages to your legal pages and even 404 Errors, so you won’t be needing any additional templates!

Sales Funnel Tools

Kartra also comes with comprehensive sales funnel tools like:

• Order bumps
• One-click upsells
• One-click downsells

Of course, these can have huge advantages, especially if you’re selling info-products. 

You can also create discounts and coupons. 

Kartra Mail / Autoresponder

Next, we have the autoresponder within Kartra, which also has huge advantages.

It offers all the features you would expect from your normal autoresponder such as:

• Split-testing
• automation workflows
• Lead tagging

Again, Kartra has done a fantastic job here, as you won’t need an autoresponder. 

Membership Sites

Membership sites are probably the feature that you are the most interested in, right?

Kartra does have a great membership site builder, it’s easy to use and has some pretty advanced features:

• Progress-tracking 
• Drip-feed content
• Comments & comment control
•  Tagging inside based on view time and other triggers
• Content protection based on Progress
• Advanced analytics
• Automated membership management

As you can see, Kartra goes above and beyond, even in memberships. 

Video Hosting

You won’t be needing Wistia or Vimeo with Kartra, as Kartra lets you host your own videos.

This means, for your courses, you can host the videos on Kartra and even add your own clickable CTA’s inside of the video. 

If you’re selling courses or creating any type of video-based membership site, then this feature is huge. 

Affiliate Management & Marketplace

Another great feature inside of Kartra is the affiliate management & marketplace.

You can not only recruit and manage affiliates, but they can also find you through the affiliate marketplace (if you want them to).

Again, a useful feature if you are selling courses.

Helpdesks

You can also connect helpdesks which can also be a great feature to improve your customer experience.

Calendar

I wasn’t really going to go into too much detail about the Calendar, but I figured people who are selling courses often also offer coaching or consulting.

For these people, the Kartra calendar can definitely be useful, as it’s just like the calendar you would get from somewhere else like Squarespace.

You can send it to your prospects or even leave it on your website and they can book appointments.

Teachable Features

Now, let’s take a look at Teachable’s features.

As I mentioned earlier, they are much more focused on the membership/course features, as that’s their purpose.

Obviously, as membership sites are the main purpose of Teachable, I’m going to be talking more about the features inside of the membership sites.

Learning Tools

Teachable comes with a lot of features to help your students learn.

• Feedback

Your students can always give you feedback helping you create a better membership

• Certificates

With Teachable, you can also give your students Certificates, which shows that they have completed your course.

• Quizzes

You can also quiz your students which is pretty cool and can be useful.

Analytics

Teachable also has some great reporting tools which allow you to see your revenue and signups over a specific period of time. 

Another thing that you can monitor is your course completion rates to see where you can improve. 

Marketing Tools

Finally, Teachable also comes with marketing tools to help you sell your course.

This includes:

• Landing & Sales pages
• Affiliate management
• Coupons
• One-time fee or subscription billing

Of course, it’s not quite as advanced as all the features that Kartra has to offer, but these marketing tools are still good. 

Membership Site Comparison

As you are comparing Kartra with Teachable, I figured that membership sites are probably your main interest.

Below, you will find a table explaining what each software does well.

From this table, you should be able to pick out a winner that suits your course best.

Kartra has better tools for business, while Teachable has a few more added features for teaching. 

Extended Kartra Trial 

For a limited time, you can actually get an extended trial (30 days instead of 14) by following the instructions below.

Step 1: Use this link

Step 2: Click “Start your trial”

Step 3: Wait for the page to be fully loaded, then pretend to navigate off the page

Step 4: Accept the exit pop-up to get the 30-day trial. 

Teachable does not offer a trial. 

Integrations

Integrations is a bit of a weird category, as with Kartra you will probably not need them, at all.

Kartra also provides you with the API key (outbound & inbound) which you can usually also connect with most software.

Here is a list of native integrations (No API or Code needed)

• Braintree 
• Stripe
• Paypal
• Authorize.net
• Mailgun
• SendGrid
• Elastic Email
• PostMark
• Digital Access Pass 
• OptimizePress
• aMember
• S2Member
• WishList
• Kajabi 
• Twillio
• Nexmo
• Plivo
• Google Calendar
• Zapier

But, keep in mind Kartra can probably integrate with a lot of other software if you did need to with their API. 

Teachable Integrations

From my understanding, Teachable integrations are fairly limited. 

Teachable integrates directly with:

• Mailchimp
• Convertkit
• Zapier
• Sumo
• Segment
• Google Analytics

This means for most of their integrations, you’re going to have to use Zapier. 

Kartra Pricing

Kartra starts at $99 per month. 

But, even in this plan, you get access to ALL features, apart from Kartra agency. 

20-25% Annual discounts are available too. 

Kartra agency is a feature that allows you to manage your client’s account while also selling seperate Kartra accounts, but getting them at a discounted price.

Other than on the starter plan, this feature is included in all plans too. 

What I also like about Kartra is that other than on the starter plan, they don’t limit you with Bandwidth or emails, like they used to. 

The only limit is contacts which is pretty standard for most autoresponders. 

Teachable Pricing

Teachable starts at a much lower $39 per month, but it just doesn’t come with all the features Kartra has to offer. 

Plus, you’re also going to have to pay a 5% transaction fee which is pretty annoying.

It may not sound like a lot, but let’s say, you’re making $1,000 per month selling your courses, that’s an extra $50 charge per month. 

In which case, it would make sense to just upgrade or use Kartra. 

Also, keep in mind, you’re still going to need an autoresponder, which usually costs around $49 per month. 

Overall Winner

Teachable may have slightly more advanced features for inside the membership (certificates, quizzes, etc.), but that does not outweigh the business tools Kartra has to offer:

• Autoresponder
• Video hosting
• Calendar
• Sales funnel tools
• More page building options

For me, the winner is Kartra.

Not only from the features but also from the pricing.

If you’re using Teachable, then you need to get an external autoresponder and probably use Zapier too. This costs usually around $49 per month.

And, with Kartra, you’re still going to get much better marketing tools, even in the $99 per month plan. 

Final Thoughts

Just because the winner was Kartra for me, doesn’t mean it has to be the same for you.

If you’re just looking to host a free course and that’s all you want to do, Teachable can be a great option too.

But, if you’re looking to build a business and have powerful marketing tools, then Kartra simply wins here. 

That’s it, I hope you enjoyed this comparison and if you did, make sure to leave a comment and/or share the post.