Kajabi Communities Review: How to Build a Community That Lasts

My own community started life on Kajabi in November 2022, and it has lived there ever since. It's called the Simplify Community, and today it uses every part of what Kajabi offers. That means channels, challenges, meetups, live rooms and gamification, all reached on the web or through my own branded app.

Kajabi has recognized that work with its Community Superstar Award and its Foster Belonging Award. So this guide comes from running a real community week in, week out. It walks through what Kajabi Communities can do, how to set one up, what it costs in 2026, and how to keep yours simple enough that members keep coming back.

What are Kajabi Communities?

Kajabi Communities is the members' space inside Kajabi. Your people can post, chat, join live events and take part in challenges, and you run all of it from your Kajabi dashboard.¹ Members can join on your website, in the Kajabi mobile app, or in your own branded app on the Pro plan.¹²

To show you how it looks, I built an example community in my Kajabi partner account. It's called The Gluten-Free Baking Community, and it's led by Emily Chase, a patisserie chef I created for my examples. You'll see her again in other guides, because her community ties in with her example landing page, Gluten-Free Baking Made Simple.

Kajabi · Community home

The big win for me is that nothing needs stitching together. Your community sits next to your courses, offers, emails and member profiles, with no third-party tools to connect.¹ Kajabi says more than 3 million members are active across more than 30,000 communities, and creators have made over $350 million with them.¹

What can you do in a Kajabi Community?

Kajabi gives you a full set of tools, and you can switch each one on when you need it. Here's what you'll find inside.

Channels give you more choice than you might expect. A feed channel can show posts as social cards, a forum list or a photo gallery, and members can switch between the layouts you allow. In my example, the weekly bake channel uses the gallery view, so every loaf and cake shows up as a picture.

Kajabi · Create channel

Gamification is the part people often skip, and it's worth a look. Out of the box, a member earns 100 points for completing a challenge, 3 for a comment and 1 for a reaction, and you can change every value.⁵ Points unlock titles such as Rising Contributor at 500 points, and the leaderboard can show the past 7 days, the past 30 days or all time.⁵

Kajabi · Gamification

How do you create a community in Kajabi?

The first version of a community takes about five minutes. These are the steps from Kajabi's guide to building a community, in the order you'll see them.³

1. Start a new communityIn your Kajabi dashboard, go to Products, then Community, and click New Community.
2. Add the basicsGive it a name, a short description and an image. The name sets your community's web address, which you can change later.
3. Name your first access groupThis is the first group of members, like Free Bakers in my example. You can add more groups whenever you like.
4. Choose free or paidPick Free or Paid for that group. Kajabi creates the offer for you, and you can change it later.
5. Save and finishClick Save and Finish, and your community is ready to shape.
6. Add channels, a meetup and a challengeFrom the community settings, create two or three channels, schedule your first meetup and set up a welcome challenge.

Kajabi · New community

Can you run free and paid tiers?

Yes, and this is one of my favorite parts. Kajabi uses access groups to split one community into tiers, and each group has its own offer.³ You can keep some channels open to everyone and save others for paying members. Every plan allows unlimited access groups, and your community doesn't count towards your product limit.³

You can also start free and add a paid tier later. Kajabi won't charge your free members when you do, so nobody gets a surprise.¹ A community can be sold on its own, bundled with a course, or offered as a monthly or yearly membership.¹

Which Kajabi plan do you need for a community?

Every Kajabi plan includes communities. Basic and Growth include one community, Pro includes three, and only Pro adds your own branded app. You can compare everything on the Kajabi pricing page.²

Prices in US$, checked on 7th November 2026. Card fees through Kajabi Payments start at 2.9% plus 30 cents per US card payment on Basic.

Kajabi takes no share of your sales on any plan, and every plan comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.² One community is plenty for most people, because access groups let you build tiers inside it. Move up to Pro when you want your own app in the App Store, or a second and third community.

The standard free trial lasts 14 days, as Kajabi's trial information page explains.⁸ Through my partner link you get 30 days instead, which is long enough to run your first challenge and your first meetup before you pay anything.

How do you keep a Kajabi community simple?

The communities that thrive are rarely the ones with the most channels. They have a clear reason to show up and a small rhythm members can count on. That idea comes from the Engage part of a model I teach in Simplify the Funnel®, called SEED Marketing.

A community is where Engage really comes alive. The people who grow fastest online usually create the most conversations, and a community gives those conversations a home. My example keeps it to a Kitchen Chat channel for hellos, a gallery for weekly bakes and one weekly challenge.

Here's how I'd shape a new community:

A small rhythm is easier to keep going, and members feel the difference straight away. When people know a challenge lands every Monday and a meetup happens every month, they build the habit of showing up.

“The ones who succeed aren’t necessarily creating the most content. They’re creating the most conversations.”

From Simplify the Funnel® by Ant Hodges

Where does AI help with Kajabi Communities?

My belief here is very simple. AI creates movement, and humans create momentum. AI belongs in the back office doing the repeatable jobs, while you stay fully human at the front where your members meet you. There’s more on this in my post Built to Be Human.

Members join a community to feel seen by you and by each other. Let AI help with the planning, then show up yourself for the welcomes, the replies and the live calls. That human part is what people remember, and it's what keeps them renewing.

Who are Kajabi Communities best for?

Kajabi Communities fits best when the community is part of a wider business. That covers coaches, course creators, authors and experts who want their courses, coaching, emails and members in the same place. It also suits anyone who wants to charge for membership without paying for a separate community tool.

Live rooms hold up to 200 people at once, so very large live events may need a webinar tool alongside.⁴ And if all you want is a free group chat with no plans to charge, a full business platform may be more than you need right now.

Kajabi Communities FAQs

Sources

1. Kajabi (2026) "Communities." kajabi.com/product/communities ↩
2. Kajabi (2026) "Pricing." kajabi.com/pricing ↩
3. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Build Kajabi Communities." help.kajabi.com ↩
4. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Host Live Rooms and events in a Community." help.kajabi.com ↩
5. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Community Settings: Gamification." help.kajabi.com ↩
6. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Create a Community Challenge." help.kajabi.com ↩
7. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Create a Community Channel." help.kajabi.com ↩
8. Kajabi Help Center (2026) "Kajabi trial information." help.kajabi.com ↩

All sources checked and live on 7th November 2026.