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Comparison · EdTech

LifterLMS vs Kajabi

A side-by-side editorial comparison of LifterLMS and Kajabi — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

LifterLMS vs Kajabi: at a glance

FeatureLifterLMSKajabi
SectorEdTechEdTech
Velocity score6.30.0
Sparks · 30d10
Top themeslms, wordpress, abilities-api, rest-apicreator-economy, memberships, payments, community
Last editorial update11h ago58m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is LifterLMS?

LifterLMS wired its REST surface into WordPress's new Abilities API.

Version 10.1.0 registers the LifterLMS REST endpoints — courses, sections, lessons, memberships, access plans — with the WordPress Abilities API on WP 6.9+. The releases before it are a tight security and hardening run: sanitization of pricing markup, checks on post-search AJAX, checkout order creation and user creation during imports, plus a performance change that stops issuing session cookies to anonymous visitors until there is session data to store.

Read the full LifterLMS trajectory →

What is Kajabi?

Kajabi is building retention machinery around the community and the checkout.

Recent work clusters in three places. Payments: Instant Payouts, ACH Direct Debit for invoicing at lower processing fees, redesigned upsells and checkout label overrides. Community: a moderation set with a review feed, per-member post approval, hide and lock actions, bulk handling and a full audit log, plus translations covering interface, in-app notifications, email and push across six languages. Retention: cancellation reason tracking, and win-back targeting that filters contacts by previously owned or cancelling offers across campaigns, triggers and branches.

Read the full Kajabi trajectory →

LifterLMS vs Kajabi: editorial side-by-side

L
LifterLMS
EDTECH
6.3

LifterLMS wired its REST surface into WordPress's new Abilities API.

◆ Current state

Version 10.1.0 registers the LifterLMS REST endpoints — courses, sections, lessons, memberships, access plans — with the WordPress Abilities API on WP 6.9+. The releases before it are a tight security and hardening run: sanitization of pricing markup, checks on post-search AJAX, checkout order creation and user creation during imports, plus a performance change that stops issuing session cookies to anonymous visitors until there is session data to store.

◆ Where it's heading

Two clear threads. The Abilities API integration makes course and membership objects addressable by whatever WordPress exposes them to, which is a different kind of surface than the plugin has had before. Everything else is defensive: a steady cadence of externally-reported security fixes being absorbed release by release.

◆ Prediction

Expect the Abilities registration to widen to more LifterLMS objects and actions, since the initial set covers the core content and membership models but not the surrounding workflow.

Kajabi logo
Kajabi
EDTECH
0.0

Kajabi is building retention machinery around the community and the checkout.

◆ Current state

Recent work clusters in three places. Payments: Instant Payouts, ACH Direct Debit for invoicing at lower processing fees, redesigned upsells and checkout label overrides. Community: a moderation set with a review feed, per-member post approval, hide and lock actions, bulk handling and a full audit log, plus translations covering interface, in-app notifications, email and push across six languages. Retention: cancellation reason tracking, and win-back targeting that filters contacts by previously owned or cancelling offers across campaigns, triggers and branches.

◆ Where it's heading

The pattern is a platform moving from helping creators sell once to helping them keep members. Cancellation reasons and win-back campaigns are two halves of one loop — record why someone left, then address them as a segment — and the community investment treats the membership rather than the course as the unit being retained. The payments work points at higher-ticket invoiced sales rather than impulse checkout.

◆ Prediction

With cancellation reasons now collected, the natural next step is acting on them automatically — triggering a retention offer from the reason itself rather than leaving it in a report for someone to read.

Alternatives to LifterLMS and Kajabi

Other EdTech products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either LifterLMS or Kajabi.

See all LifterLMS alternatives → · See all Kajabi alternatives →

Recent activity from LifterLMS and Kajabi

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1d agoLifterLMSVersion 10.1.0
  2. 1mo agoLifterLMSVersion 10.0.10
  3. 1mo agoLifterLMSVersion 10.0.9
  4. 1mo agoLifterLMSVersion 10.0.8
  5. 1mo agoLifterLMSVersion 10.0.7
  6. 1mo agoLifterLMSVersion 10.0.6
  7. 2mo agoKajabiInstant Payouts
  8. 3mo agoKajabiCommunity Improvements (Timberline Cycle)
  9. 3mo agoKajabiMobile Release Notes: April 29, 2026
  10. 3mo agoKajabiMedia Library
  11. 3mo agoKajabiRedesigned Upsells
  12. 3mo agoKajabiCheckout Label Overrides

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between LifterLMS and Kajabi?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. LifterLMS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is LifterLMS better than Kajabi?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. LifterLMS is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other EdTech products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to LifterLMS?

Top LifterLMS alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "LifterLMS alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/lifterlms for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Kajabi?

Top Kajabi alternatives in EdTech are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Kajabi alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/kajabi for the full list with editorial commentary on each.