Updated September 1, 2026
Systeme.io is the tool I use and recommend, but it is not the only option, and pretending otherwise would not help you choose well. If you are weighing it against the competition, here are the five alternatives worth a real look, what each one actually costs, and the kind of business each one fits.
I checked every price here against the company's own pricing page. Where an alternative is genuinely the better pick, I say so.
| Tool | Entry price | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Systeme.io | $0 / $17/mo | Yes, permanent | All-in-one on a budget |
| ClickFunnels | $97/mo | No | Funnel teams at scale |
| Kajabi | $179/mo | No | Premium course businesses |
| GetResponse | from €16/mo | 14-day trial | Email marketing first |
| Kartra | $59/mo | 14-day trial | All-in-one with native webinars |
| GoHighLevel | $97/mo | 14-day trial | Agencies and SaaS resellers |
Prices checked on 1 September 2026. GetResponse shown in euros as displayed in my region.
ClickFunnels is the best known name in sales funnels, and its funnel tooling and community are large and mature. Pricing starts at $97/month on the Launch plan (10,000 contacts, unlimited funnels, 50,000 emails a month) and climbs to the Dominate plan at $5,997/year for high-volume teams.
When to pick it over Systeme.io: you are running at real scale with a team, you want the large ClickFunnels template and community ecosystem, and the monthly cost is not the deciding factor. For beginners on a budget, the price gap against Systeme.io's $17 entry plan is hard to justify.
Kajabi is the premium platform for course and membership businesses. It is built specifically for selling knowledge, and that focus shows in how polished it feels. Pricing starts at $179/month on Basic (5 products, 2,500 contacts, unlimited emails) and goes up to $499/month on Pro (unlimited products, 100,000 contacts).
When to pick it over Systeme.io: courses are your entire business, you want the most polished dedicated course platform, and you can absorb the higher price. Note that Kajabi adds a platform transaction fee when you use an outside payment processor (2% on Basic), while Systeme.io does not.
GetResponse is an email marketing specialist. Its plans are priced by the size of your contact list, starting around €16/month for 1,000 contacts on the Starter plan and rising as your list grows. Higher plans add unlimited automation workflows, and the Creator plan hosts webinars for up to 100 attendees.
When to pick it over Systeme.io: email marketing is the core of your business and you want a dedicated tool with deep automation, rather than an all-in-one. Keep in mind that its price climbs with your list, while Systeme.io stays fixed per plan.
Kartra is a mature all-in-one that sits between Systeme.io and the premium tools on price. Its Essentials plan is $59/month (500 contacts, 10,000 emails a month, one membership) but carries a 5% transaction fee. The Starter plan at $119/month drops the transaction fee to 0% and adds unlimited emails, memberships, video hosting, and built-in webinars. There is a 14-day trial rather than a free plan.
When to pick it over Systeme.io: you want an established all-in-one with native webinars and video hosting built in, and you are comfortable paying more than Systeme.io's entry price for that maturity. Watch the 5% transaction fee on the cheapest plan, which can cost more than the plan itself once you are selling.
GoHighLevel is built for agencies and people who want to resell marketing software under their own brand. Its Starter plan is $97/month and includes 3 sub-accounts with unlimited contacts and users. The Unlimited plan at $297/month removes the sub-account cap, and the Agency Pro plan at $497/month unlocks SaaS mode and white-labeling. There is a 14-day trial, and some services like AI, phone, and SMS are billed on top based on usage.
When to pick it over Systeme.io: you run an agency managing many client accounts, or you want to sell a white-labeled platform as your own product. For a solo creator or a single business, it is more machine than you need, and the pricing reflects the agency use case.
Having compared all of these, here is why Systeme.io stays my main tool. It is the only one on this list with a permanent free plan, its paid entry point is $17 rather than $97 or more, it includes unlimited emails on every plan, and it does not add platform transaction fees. You get funnels, email, courses, a blog, and an affiliate program in one place, at a price that makes sense while you are still growing.
That does not make the others bad. It makes them the right answer for specific situations: scale, premium courses, email specialization, or agency work. For most people starting or running a lean online business, Systeme.io covers the same ground for far less.
Kartra is the closest in spirit, since it is also an all-in-one with funnels, email, memberships, and webinars. It costs more and its cheapest plan carries a 5% transaction fee, but the feature scope is comparable.
Among the paid entry plans, Kartra's Essentials at $59/month is the lowest, though it has a 5% transaction fee. Systeme.io undercuts all of them with a $17 paid plan and a permanent free plan at $0.
Kajabi is the premium dedicated course platform. Systeme.io covers course selling well at a much lower price. The right choice depends on whether a premium course experience is worth the higher cost to you.
GoHighLevel is built for agencies and reselling software under your own brand, with sub-accounts and SaaS mode. The others are aimed at running your own business rather than managing many clients.
Systeme.io has a permanent free plan. ClickFunnels and Kajabi do not. GetResponse, Kartra, and GoHighLevel offer free trials rather than permanent free plans.
Content does not transfer automatically between platforms, so you rebuild funnels and courses. Systeme.io offers a free migration service on its Unlimited plan and guides for coming from ClickFunnels, Kajabi, Kartra, and GoHighLevel.
If you want an established funnel ecosystem at scale, look at ClickFunnels. If courses are your whole business, look at Kajabi. If email marketing is your focus, look at GetResponse. If you want a mid-priced all-in-one with native webinars, look at Kartra. If you run an agency, look at GoHighLevel.
For everyone else, and especially for people starting out, Systeme.io does the same core work for a fraction of the price, and you can test it without paying anything.
You can try Systeme.io free here and compare it against any tool on this list yourself.
