LearnDash vs Teachable vs Kajabi: Honest Comparison From a WordPress Developer
TL;DR
LearnDash runs on WordPress — you own the data, unlimited learners, one flat fee. Teachable and Kajabi are SaaS — they take 2–5% of revenue and own your customer list. Choose LearnDash for control and cost certainty; choose SaaS for "install and forget" simplicity. This is the decision framework from someone who has built on all three.
Ownership and Data Control
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin. Your course, student list, grades, and payment history live in your own database on your own server. You can export everything as CSV or JSON. If you ever want to move off LearnDash (unlikely, but possible), your data comes with you.
Teachable and Kajabi own your data. You can export student emails and course completion records, but customer behavior, browsing history, and advanced analytics stay inside their platform. If you stop paying, you lose access to everything except basic email export. For Israeli course creators using these platforms, this also means your customer data is stored on US servers and governed by US data laws (important for privacy compliance).
LMS revenue share (lower = you keep more)
Pricing and Revenue Share
LearnDash: flat annual or monthly fee (typically ₪800–₪3,500/year for a single course site). No revenue share. You keep 100% of every course sale. At scale (50+ students), it is the cheapest option by far.
Teachable: 0% commission for courses (you set the price, keep 100%), but they take 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for payment processing. Monthly plan starts at ₪400 + fees per transaction. At 20+ sales/month, fees eat 8–12% of revenue.
Kajabi: takes 2% of all revenue by default (you can negotiate for 1% at high volume). Monthly plans start at ₪500–₪1,500 depending on tier. At 100+ students, 2% is ₪1,000+/month in fees alone.
Ease of Setup and Maintenance
Teachable and Kajabi: setup takes 1–2 hours. You upload a video, write a lesson description, set a price, and it's live. No ongoing technical maintenance. On the flip side, you can't customize much. The course structure, enrollment flow, and email sequences are fixed templates.
LearnDash: setup takes 4–8 hours if you're building on an existing WordPress site (theming, plugin config). If you're starting from scratch, add another 8–16 hours for WordPress setup, SSL, backups, and security hardening. You also need to handle your own hosting, updates, and plugin compatibility. But once set up, you have full control over enrollment flows, email drip campaigns, gamification, and student experience.
Advanced Features and Customization
LearnDash + WordPress lets you add virtually anything: custom payment gateways (Paybox, 2Pay, local processors), advanced member-only content, multi-language courses using plugins like Polylang, drip-feed lessons based on user behavior, integrations with CRM systems (Pipedrive, HubSpot), and automated workflows via Make or Zapier.
Teachable and Kajabi: both offer email sequences and basic integrations (Zapier, webhooks), but you're limited to their platform. Want a custom enrollment flow? Not possible without leaving the platform.
The Decision Framework
Choose Teachable/Kajabi if: you have 1–20 courses, you need the site up in hours (not days), and you prefer "set it and forget it." You're trading control for convenience.
Choose LearnDash if: you plan to scale (100+ students), you need custom integrations (CRM, email marketing, payment gateways), you want to own your data outright, or you already run WordPress and want to minimize platform lock-in. You trade convenience for control.
FAQ
Can I migrate from Teachable/Kajabi to LearnDash later?
Yes, but it's work. You can export your course materials and student list from both platforms, then import them into LearnDash. Student progress and certificates won't migrate automatically — you'll recreate those in LearnDash. Expect 20–40 hours of setup and data mapping.
Do I really need WordPress for LearnDash?
Yes. LearnDash is a plugin, not a standalone platform. You need WordPress hosting (typically ₪100–₪300/month for a fast setup), a domain (₪200–₪600/year in Israel), and an SSL certificate (included with most modern hosts). Total infrastructure cost: ₪1,500–₪4,000/year. Teachable/Kajabi need no infrastructure — they handle everything.