Mighty Networks vs. Kajabi: a comparison

As with any platform, there is a lack of full ownership of your content and setup because you’re building your business on rented land. In this case, Kajabi and Mighty Networks own the space.

When you outgrow these platforms, you’ll have to manually migrate, most like to software, like AccessAlly.

Mighty Networks came to market in 2017 as a social network, built around community. They’ve since pivoted to support website building, online courses, and programs.

Kajabi has been around since 2010 and they’ve always had a focus on offering a simple to use all-in-one, platform. They offer course delivery, sales, and marketing.

They continue to maintain their features and stay current with the platform and industry.

The major drawback of both Kajabi and Mighty Networks is that it’s not open source. Meaning that you cannot export and move your setup. If you select either of these options, you’re ‘building on rented land’ not on an open-source option such as WordPress where you’d ‘own that land’.

It’s important to understand how both, Mighty Networks and Kajabi, can integrate with your current tech stack.

To simplify the depth of integration, there are essentially two possibilities:

1. 1. One-way push – where one system can push information to another, but not return any data to the other system.
   2. Two-way – where both systems can send data to each other seamlessly

To truly achieve a true LMS experience, you’ll want a deep two-way integration. You’ll be able to create members and update permissions immediately. Or trigger an automation based on when they logged in, visited a certain page, or complete a video on your site.

Generally speaking, software, like AccessAlly is going to offer deeper interaction than platforms.

Kajabi does integrate with CRMs via a third-party tool like Zapier, however, this is a one-way integration where your CRM will only receive data from Kajabi. Your CRM can’t pass data back to Kajabi.

But remember, Kajabi is an all-in-one, platform-as-a-service software that can house your email automation, in which case you don’t need to integrate.

To get the most out of Kajabi and its’ features, consider migrating your CRM setup to Kajabi. That way you can use their email automation features without an additional monthly cost.

Mighty Networks can integrate with several CRMs via a third-party tool like Zapier.

This is one-way, not a deep two-way integration.

If you do choose to integrate, add the cost of a connector tool, like Zapier to your budget.

Also be prepared to budget time for setup, troubleshooting, and maintenance of these connections.

Even though both platforms offer integrations through a third-party tool they’re one-way. They won’t enhance your members’ experience as you could with fully integrated systems.

Kajabi does have features like assessments and progress tracking. They don’t offer advanced learning reinforcement features like auto-generated certificates, multiple types of quizzes, or video bookmarking.

With Mighty Networks, you can track individual video views. You cannot create quizzes, video bookmarks, or course progress checklists within your community.

Mighty Networks is not a good choice if these types of learning reinforcements are important to you. 

If you use Kajabi, the learning environment is more customizable and community-centered.

Your online course on Kajabi can be focused and distraction-free.

Because of Mighty Networks’ roots as a social network, your online course design is resemblant to that environment.

The environment can be extremely distracting and inappropriate for certain types of courses, memberships, and/or certification programs.   

If learning reinforcement features are important for your online courses or programs, neither Mighty Networks nor Kajabi offers robust tools in this area.

A bulk course enrollment feature allows you to create a set of online courses that can be sold as a package to multiple people at one time. 

This feature serves business models who sell their courses or memberships to companies, families, or schools. The team leader can assign the allotted number of courses purchased to each student on their team. 

This becomes a powerful selling tool that can change the way you sell your training and expand your business in a whole new way. 

Neither Kajabi nor Mighty Networks offer a fully automated solution for bulk course enrollment. 

The closest thing that Mighty Networks has to offer is their Ambassador Program. Team leaders could invite Team Members to join the specific Mighty Network, but there’s no automation or functionality beyond that. 

These price models will give you a realistic expectation of costs associated with Mighty Networks vs Kajabi.

If you plan to use the built-in email marketing features in Kajabi, this may be a good fit for you. However, be prepared to flex your business model and get creative when you run into system limitations, or face a migration.

If you plan to use an integration tool to connect Kajabi or Mighty Networks to your existing CRM, be sure to budget time and money for those connections and maintenance. Remember too that you’ll need a third-party integration tool like Zapier to make the connection.

In order to truly assess the cost of both of these platforms as a service options, consider the long-term vision for your business and your membership site. Consider the cost of migrating off these platforms onto a software-as-a-service platform like AccessAlly if you anticipate outgrowing either of these systems in the future.

We recommend selecting the best option that will not only fit your business right now but will also scale with you as you grow instead of holding you back.