Does Kartra charge transaction fees?

Only on the entry Essentials plan, which takes a 5% Kartra fee on every sale through its checkout, on top of standard payment processing. The Starter, Growth and Professional plans all charge 0% Kartra fee. This matters more than it looks: at around 1,200 dollars a month in sales, the 5% fee on Essentials costs more than simply upgrading to Starter. So for anyone actually selling at volume, Starter is usually cheaper than the plan that looks cheaper.

What features are locked behind the Growth plan?

The big ones for course creators and coaches. Quizzes, surveys and completion certificates are not available on Essentials or Starter — they require the 229-dollar Growth plan. Webinars are also gated: lower plans are limited, while Growth hosts larger webinars and unlocks funnel simulation and the Kartra Agency dashboard. If your courses need assessments or you run live launches, your real starting price is Growth, not the entry tier, and you should budget accordingly.

Is Kartra good for online courses?

It's functional rather than specialised. Kartra can host unlimited courses and memberships and deliver content perfectly well, but it's designed for marketers, not educators, so the student experience is fairly basic and assessment tools require the Growth plan. If your priority is a polished learning experience with quizzes, drip content and certificates, a course-first platform like Teachable or Thinkific may serve students better. If the course is one part of a wider funnel-and-email business, Kartra's integration is the draw.

Is Kartra worth it compared to a separate stack?

That's the core question, and it depends on how many tools you'd otherwise run. Kartra replaces a funnel builder, email platform, checkout, membership host, affiliate software and more with one subscription and one login, which often works out cheaper and far less fiddly than stitching separate tools together. The trade-off is a real learning curve and the fact that no single component is the absolute best in its category. For an actively selling business that wants one integrated system, it's usually worth it; for someone needing only one of those functions, a point solution is cheaper.

Who is Kartra best for?

Course creators, coaches, consultants and digital-product sellers who are actively selling — roughly 5,000 dollars a month and up — and want funnels, email, checkout and memberships in one place rather than a patchwork of tools. It suits people building affiliate programs and running automated launches. It's a weaker fit for pre-revenue creators still validating an idea, for whom the cost and learning curve are hard to justify, and for educators whose main need is the best possible course experience.

4.6 / 5.0

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Online Businesses Funnels & Memberships

Kartra

Affiliate Program

Best for: All-in-One Marketing Platform

Last updated: July 26, 2026

4.6 / 5.0

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Kartra's pitch is simple: one platform instead of six. Funnels, email, checkout, memberships, courses and affiliate management under a single login — often cheaper and far less fiddly than wiring separate tools together. It's a strong all-in-one. But the pricing has two catches you need to see first: the cheap-looking Essentials plan charges a 5% fee on every sale, and the features course creators most want — quizzes, certificates and webinars — are locked to the $229 Growth plan. The headline price is rarely your real price, so match the plan to what you actually sell.

Pros

Truly all-in-one — funnels, email, checkout, courses, affiliates, one login
Replaces a stack of subscriptions, often cheaper in total
Strong behaviour-based marketing automation (BAM)
Built-in affiliate management — many rivals charge extra
Unlimited emails, pages & funnels even on lower paid plans

Cons

— Essentials charges a 5% transaction fee on every Kartra-checkout sale
— Quizzes, surveys, certificates & webinars gated to $229 Growth
— For course creators needing assessments, real entry is $229 not $59
— Real learning curve — can feel overwhelming at first
— Course/student experience is basic — built for marketers, not educators

Key features

Drag-and-drop funnel & page builder

Email & SMS marketing with automation (BAM)

Checkout, carts & order bumps

Unlimited courses & membership sites

Built-in affiliate management

Helpdesk, calendars & forms

Quizzes, surveys & certificates (Growth+)

Webinars — up to 300–1,000 attendees (Growth+)

Kartra Agency dashboard (Growth+)

Funnel simulation & analytics (Growth+)

Pricing

STARTS AT

$52 – $549/mo

Monthly billing Annual discount

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Frequently asked questions

How much does Kartra cost in 2026? +

Four plans, cheaper annually: Essentials ~$52–59/mo, Starter ~$99–119, Growth ~$189–229, Professional ~$429–549. Annual saves ~17–22%. No free plan, but every tier has a 14-day trial (usually $1). The catches: the cheapest plan carries a transaction fee, and the most-wanted course features start on Growth — so the headline price is rarely the real one.

Does it charge transaction fees? +

Only on Essentials — a5% Kartra fee on every checkout sale, on top of payment processing. Starter, Growth and Professional are 0%. The math: around $1,200/mo in sales, Essentials' 5% costs more than just upgrading to Starter. So for anyone selling at volume, Starter is usually cheaper than the plan that looks cheaper.

What's locked behind Growth? +

The big ones for course creators and coaches: quizzes, surveys and certificates aren't on Essentials or Starter — they need the $229 Growth plan. Webinars are gated too (Growth hosts larger ones, plus funnel simulation and the Kartra Agency dashboard). If your courses need assessments or you run live launches, your real starting price is Growth.

Is it good for online courses? +

Functional, not specialised. It hosts unlimited courses and delivers content fine, but it's built for marketers, so the student experience is basic and assessments need Growth. Want a polished learning experience with quizzes, drip and certificates? Teachable or Thinkific may serve students better. Is the course one part of a wider funnel-and-email business? Kartra's integration is the draw.

Worth it vs a separate stack? +

Depends how many tools you'd otherwise run. Kartra replaces a funnel builder, email platform, checkout, membership host and affiliate software with one subscription and login — often cheaper and far less fiddly. The trade-off: a real learning curve, and no single component is best-in-class. For an actively selling business wanting one integrated system, usually worth it; for just one function, a point solution is cheaper.

Who is it best for? +

Course creators, coaches, consultants and digital-product sellers actively selling (~$5k/mo+) who want funnels, email, checkout and memberships in one place, not a patchwork. Great for affiliate programs and automated launches. Weaker fit for pre-revenue creators still validating (cost + learning curve are hard to justify) and educators who need the best possible course experience.

Not sure yet?