Faith-based experts · host-choice only · USD
Best course platform for faith-based experts
You already have a method. The question is where that one offer lives: a recorded library, a dated cohort, or a room people return to. Faith is the subject. It is not a reason to buy church management software, and it is not a reason the hosts below grow a special “ministry” tier we can cite tonight.
Who this page is for
Faith-based experts with a method that already exists: a teacher, coach, consultant, or practitioner who will sell a course, a cohort, or a membership. One flagship offer. You are Google-ing a host because the method is done and it needs a door.
This is not a church-operations page. It does not pick software for giving, volunteer scheduling, membership directories, sermon libraries, or congregational CRM. Those products are church management software. They are a different category, and we are not forking this directory into that category. One page under this niche is enough.
This page does not extract your theology, name your offer, or generate a congregation. It names which host matches the one product you already intend to run. Neighbor pages: best course platform for consultants, best course platform for coaches.
This is not church software
Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, and Skool sell course, cohort, and community hosts. Tonight’s public cards do not list a faith plan, a church plan, or a giving module we can cite. LearnWorlds’ pricing FAQ offers discounts on Pro Trainer and above to eligible registered non-profits — no public dollar off extracted this fetch. That line is a nonprofit note, not a ChMS feature, and it is not a reason to pick LearnWorlds because the offer is faith-based.
If the job is running a church, stop. This directory will not compare Planning Center, giving tools, or volunteer systems. If the job is teaching a method to people who pay for a course, a cohort, or a room, keep reading. The fork is the same fork every other expert on this site faces: library vs cohort vs room vs OS.
Pick by the shape of the one offer
Recorded library
The method is a course people buy and take. Sales page, checkout, player. You are not selling Tuesday, and you are not running a parish.
Fits
Kajabi if the whole business — landing page, email, checkout, delivery — should sit in one stack. Thinkific Basic if you only need a player, unlimited courses you will not use, and one community.
Skip
Teachable Starter as a cheap home for one paid offer. Five published products is enough cap. The 7.5% on every sale is not. Also skip buying an LMS because a church-growth blog called it “ministry-friendly.”
Dated cohort
A group that starts together, works the method on a calendar, and ends. Live is the product. Recordings are leftovers.
Fits
Thinkific Start for a live cohort on a course platform (Zoom, calendars, attendance). Kajabi if cohort courses plus coaching, email, and checkout should be the same OS.
Skip
Thinkific Basic: live cohorts sit on Start. Teachable’s public pricing page is a course/school grid — live is embeds, not a native cohort room. Do not pick a church calendar product and call it a cohort host.
A room around the method
The offer is membership in a feed. Courses and calls live inside the community, not the other way around. Still a paid expert community — not a congregational member directory.
Fits
Skool if the group is the product. Circle if it is a branded community with a site. Mighty Networks if it is a branded membership network. Kajabi if the community is one space attached to a course business you still run with native email and funnels.
Skip
Skool if the product is a library you sell on your own Stripe. Kajabi if you only needed a room — community cap is 1 / 1 / 3. See Kajabi vs Skool.
Faith does not change the public cards
None of the hosts on this page publish a faith-based price we can cite tonight. You pay the same Basic, Starter, Hobby, or Professional card as a consultant with one methodology. The honest work is matching delivery shape, then reading the fee. It is not shopping a “Christian Kajabi.”
Kajabi’s public who-is-it-for copy: coaches, educators, practitioners, clinicians, creators, and service professionals. Teachable: creators, experts, entrepreneurs, and businesses. Thinkific: a learning management platform for courses, communities, memberships, coaching. Skool: a community platform; creators, artists, hobbyists, and experts. Those lines include a faith-based expert the same way they include any other expert. They do not include a church office.
If the work is still mostly 1:1 with a recording on the side, the coaches page is closer. If the method is one flagship offer, this page and the consultants page are the same machine with a different search query.
Cited numbers, August 29, 2026
USD. Monthly is month-to-month. Annual is the advertised per-month rate when you pay yearly. Same public cards as the rest of this directory. No faith surcharge. No faith discount we could put in the table.
| Kajabi | Thinkific | Teachable | Skool | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest public plan (monthly / annual) | Basic $179 / $143 | Basic $54 / $40 (save $173) | Starter $39 / $29 (save $120) | Hobby $9/mo. Yearly dollars omitted (“2 months free”). |
| Honest starting plan if the offer is real | Basic — you are buying the OS | Basic for a recorded library. Start $109 / $82 if the work is a live cohort or paid membership. | Builder $89 / $69 — 0% on teachable:pay. Starter’s 7.5% is the product. | Hobby is a trial of the shape. Pro $99/mo once $97–$497 products actually sell. |
| What you are buying | Business OS: courses, coaching, landing pages, email, funnels, checkout, community attached to products. | LMS with commerce. Unlimited courses. Course-first, not funnel-first. | A school. Catalog caps. Built-in email marketing on the public grid — not Kajabi’s funnel OS. | The room. Courses and live calls inside the group. Skool is merchant of record. |
| Platform cut (native payments) | No extra platform percentage on Kajabi Payments. US cards 2.9%+$0.30 Basic / 2.8%+$0.30 Growth / 2.7%+$0.30 Pro. | No third-party gateway fee on Thinkific Payments. Public FAQ headline 2.9%. | Starter 7.5%. Builder / Growth / Custom 0%* on teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway. US card 2.9%+$0.30 on top. | Hobby 10%+$0.30. Pro 2.9%+$0.30 to $899; 3.9%+$0.30 above $900. |
| Fee if you keep Stripe | 2% / 1% / 0.5% on new plans where Kajabi Payments is available. PayPal excluded. Does not apply if you stay on a legacy plan. | 5% Basic / 2% Start / 1% Grow / 0.5% Expand. Plus: no fee at this time. First $1M of calendar-year sales, then waived. US, Canada, UK, EU. | Custom-gateway surcharge not on the public pricing page this fetch — omitted. | Not applicable. You cannot use your existing Stripe. |
| Products / people / communities | 5 / 50 / unlimited products. 2,500 / 25,000 / 100,000 contacts. Communities 1 / 1 / 3. | Unlimited courses. 10,000 current students on named plans. Communities 1 / 1 / 3. | 5 / 10 / 50 published products. 100 / 1,000 / 5,000 active students; caps lift at $10k USD/year. Community on Builder+ in the public grid; Starter community unverified this fetch. | Unlimited members, courses, videos, live calls on Hobby and Pro. |
| Faith / church / nonprofit row | No public faith plan, church plan, or giving module cited on these four pricing pages this fetch. LearnWorlds (not this table) lists a registered-nonprofit discount on Pro Trainer and above; dollar off not extracted. Mighty Networks FAQ mentions non-profits as a value metric, not a plan card. Neither is a reason to fork this page into ChMS. | |||
| Trial | 30-day free trial | 30-day free trial. No free plan. | 7-day free trial, 30-day money-back. No free plan. | 14-day free trial, then Hobby or Pro (payment terms, February 19, 2026). |
Sources: kajabi.com/pricing, thinkific.com/pricing, teachable.com/pricing, skool.com/pricing. Full list at the bottom. *0% on teachable:pay or Monthly Payment Gateway.
What the fees do to a simple offer
Same arithmetic as the rest of this directory. Faith does not change 7.5% or 2.9%+$0.30. US card.
- $97 one-time. Kajabi Payments Basic: 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11. Teachable Starter: 7.5% = $7.28 plus US card $3.11 = $10.39. Thinkific Payments at the 2.9% headline: $2.81. Thinkific Stripe-on-Basic: +5% = $4.85 plus Stripe. Skool Hobby: 10%+$0.30 = $10.00. Skool Pro: 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11.
- $497 one-time. Kajabi Payments Basic: $14.71. Teachable Starter 7.5% = $37.28 plus US card $14.71 = $51.99. Skool Hobby: $50.00. Skool Pro: $14.71. Thinkific Stripe-on-Basic: +5% = $24.85 plus Stripe.
- $2,000 one-time. Kajabi Payments Basic: $58.30. Teachable Starter 7.5% = $150.00 plus US card $58.30 = $208.30. Skool Pro: 3.9%+$0.30 = $78.30 because the charge is above $900.
A $97 study or a $2,000 intensive is still a product price. It is not a tithe, and we are not mapping giving tools. Dollar tables for the cheap Teachable plan: Teachable transaction fees. For the $97 shape: best course platform for a $97 offer.
When to pick each
Pick Kajabi if
The work is a course or cohort business you sell: landing page, email, funnel, checkout, player, maybe one community attached, maybe coaching in the same OS. Public Basic is $179/mo. You would otherwise buy those tabs separately. Faith-based or not, you are buying the OS. Use Kajabi Payments on a new plan if it is available.
Pick Thinkific Basic if
You want the cheapest cited player for one recorded course and you will keep email and checkout somewhere else. $54 / $40 after August 13, 2026. Unlimited courses. One community. 10,000 current students. Stay on Thinkific Payments. Skip Basic if the program is a live cohort — Start is $109 / $82.
Pick Teachable Builder if
You want a school with a catalog shape and you will not sit on Starter. $89 / $69. 0% on teachable:pay. Ten published products. Skip Starter as a long-term home for a $497 or $2,000 offer. Skip Teachable if you need a native live cohort room.
Pick Skool if
The offer is a feed people pay to stay in. Hobby $9/mo is a trial of the shape; the 10% is the product. Pro $99/mo once the membership is real. You accept merchant-of-record checkout, USD prices, and Wednesday payouts. Turn Growth Boost off if you did not ask for a 30% discovery cut (payments FAQ: 30%, default ON).
Pick Circle or Mighty if
The offer is a branded community or a branded membership, not a one-feed room and not a Kajabi library. Circle Professional is $89/mo* on the annual card. Mighty Launch is $79/mo on the annual toggle this fetch ($950/year). Those pages: Skool vs Circle vs Mighty.
Who should not pick which
Skip this whole page if
You needed church management software. Giving, volunteers, a member directory, a sermon archive, a congregational calendar. We will not invent that comparison. This directory hosts courses, cohorts, and memberships for experts who already have something to teach.
Skip Kajabi if
You only needed a player, or the room is the whole business. Public Basic is $179/mo. Community cap 1 / 1 / 3. Also skip if you need SCORM, or a public Kickstarter-priced tier — not on kajabi.com/pricing today.
Skip Teachable Starter if
The offer is real. The 7.5% is the product. Skip Teachable entirely if you needed unlimited published courses on a named card — Growth stops at 50 unless you go Custom.
Skip Skool if
You need your own Stripe, a high-ticket checkout above $900 on Pro’s 2.9% card, a branded app, or a course business with email and funnels. Native email and funnels are not listed as products on skool.com/pricing this fetch.
Visit the hosts
Teachable affiliate slot — not live Thinkific affiliate slot — not live Circle affiliate slot — not live Mighty Networks affiliate slot — not live
Kajabi’s trial box and visit button use the 30-day trial affiliate, justinwise.net/kajabi. The Kajabi pricing button is a pricing-page affiliate. Official Kajabi pricing remains the source for Kajabi numbers. Teachable, Thinkific, Circle, and Mighty Networks buttons are official product URLs only. Visit Skool uses the Skool signup affiliate. Official skool.com/pricing remains the source for Skool numbers.
Omitted on purpose
- Any church management software comparison (giving, volunteers, directories, sermon CMS, congregational CRM). Different category. One page under this niche; we are not forking the calendar into ChMS.
- A faith-specific plan, church plan, or ministry discount on Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, or Skool. Not on those public pricing pages this fetch.
- LearnWorlds registered-nonprofit dollar off. The pricing FAQ confirms discounts on Pro Trainer and above for eligible registered non-profits. No public amount extracted. Not used as a pick reason on this page.
- Mighty Networks non-profit value copy in the pricing FAQ. Not a plan card. Not a ChMS substitute.
- Kajabi legacy dollar table and Kickstarter as a buyable public price. Same omissions as the Kajabi vendor page.
- Teachable JSON-LD offers tonight listing Starter monthly $59 / Builder $119 / Growth $239. Visible cards remain $39 / $89 / $189 month-to-month. We cite the visible cards.
- Skool yearly dollar amounts. Official page: “2 months free.”
- Keyword volumes, church-growth listicles, and anything that documents your method — or your theology — for you.
Sources
- Kajabi pricing — public plans, JSON-LD prices ($143/$179 Basic, $199/$249 Growth, $399/$499 Pro), product/contact/community limits, unlimited emails/funnels/landing pages, Kajabi Payments US grid, 3rd-party 2%/1%/0.5%, 30-day trial; who-is-it-for FAQ. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Upcoming changes to your Kajabi plan — first increase in ~10 years; January 13, 2026. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Kajabi Payments fees: United States — 2.9%+$0.30 cards. Cited from the August 29, 2026 Kajabi vendor-page fetch.
- Thinkific pricing — Basic $54/$40 (save $173), Start $109/$82, Grow $219/$164; unlimited courses; 10,000 current students; 1 community on Basic; 30-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026 (curl 200).
- Thinkific third-party payment gateway fee FAQ — 5.0% / 2.0% / 1.0% / 0.5%. Cited from the August 29, 2026 Thinkific vendor-page fetch.
- Teachable pricing — visible cards Starter $39/$29, Builder $89/$69, Growth $189/$139; 7.5% vs 0%; 5 / 10 / 50 products; 7-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Teachable Pay (updated June 22, 2026) — Starter 7.5%; Builder+ 0% on Teachable Payments; US card 2.9%+$0.30. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Skool pricing — Hobby $9/mo, Pro $99/mo, 10% vs 2.9% on the cards, unlimited members/courses/videos/live calls. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Skool about — community platform; creators, artists, hobbyists, and experts; community, courses, and events. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Skool Payments FAQ (updated August 18, 2026) — Hobby 10%+30¢; Pro 2.9%+30¢ to $899 / 3.9%+30¢ above $900; merchant of record; Growth Boost 30% default ON. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Circle pricing — Professional $89/mo*; Business $199/mo*. Cited as the branded-community fork, not as church software. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- Mighty Networks pricing — Launch $79/mo annual-toggle, $950/year. Cited as the branded-membership fork. Fetched August 29, 2026.
- LearnWorlds pricing — registered-nonprofit discount on Pro Trainer and above (FAQ); dollar off not extracted. Not used as a pick. Fetched August 29, 2026.