Claude Code vs Kajabi or Teachable: should you build your course site with AI?
Claude Code vs Kajabi or Teachable: when a course platform is right, when building with AI is, the hidden costs of from-scratch, and the middle route.
Should you build your course site with Claude Code instead of paying Kajabi or Teachable? If you want zero maintenance and a visual editor, stay on a platform. If you're technical and want something custom, building from scratch with AI works, but you take on payments, delivery and upkeep yourself. For most course creators the best answer is neither: a tested course-and-funnel framework that your AI deploys to accounts you own. You get the platform's finished parts without the monthly bill, and Claude only has to build your pages.
Teachable has written its own answer to this question, Claude Code vs Teachable. It's a fair post, and it has an obvious stake in the outcome. Here's ours, which has one too. We'll try to be just as straight.
What Teachable gets right
Teachable's post makes three points that hold up:
- Building is mostly a question of time, not skill. Claude Code can write a course platform. The question is whether you want to spend your weeks on that instead of on your course and your buyers.
- The work doesn't end at launch. It lists webhook reliability, failed payment recovery, GDPR compliance, video transcoding for different devices, student support and security updates as jobs that land on you.
- Self-built isn't free to run. It puts a typical self-built stack at $90 to $190 a month in infrastructure: a database, video hosting and app hosting.
All true for a from-scratch build on that kind of stack. The post's conclusion follows from them: unless you're technical and need custom features, buy a platform.
What it leaves out is the third option.
What the platforms cost
These are public monthly list prices, October 2026. Annual billing is cheaper, and card fees aren't included.
| Platform | Entry plan | Middle plan | Top plan | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kajabi | $179/mo (Basic) | $249/mo (Growth) | $499/mo (Pro) | Basic is capped at 5 products |
| Teachable | $39/mo (Starter) | $89/mo (Builder) | $189/mo (Growth) | Starter adds a 7.5% fee on every sale |
Over three years, Kajabi Basic is $6,444 and Teachable Builder is $3,204. That's the price of not maintaining anything, and for some people it's worth it. More platforms are on the comparison page, and the course case is in a Kajabi alternative for courses.
When a platform is the right choice
- You want a drag-and-drop editor and will never edit a page through an AI.
- You want someone else to answer for uptime, video playback and payments.
- You use a platform feature you can't replace, like a branded mobile app.
- Your course is your whole business and the monthly fee is a rounding error.
If that's you, stay. Seriously.
When building from scratch with Claude Code is right
- You're a developer, or you'll happily read and test payment code.
- You need something no platform does: a custom learning tool, an unusual pricing model, a deep integration.
- You enjoy the build and you'll maintain it.
Go in with eyes open on the money parts. The bugs that ship in AI-written payment code are predictable: prices trusted from the browser, webhooks that fulfil twice, refunds that never close access, downloads anyone can share, one-click upsells that fail on 3-D Secure, plans that never stop charging. The full list, with how to check each one, is worth handing to your agent.
The hidden costs of from-scratch
Teachable's list is a good start. From building funnels ourselves, here's what actually eats the time:
- Delivery that follows the money. Lessons open to buyers, close on a refund or a chargeback, stay open through a payment plan only while it's paid, and open for good when it's paid off. Each is a few lines. Getting all of them right together is days.
- The selling steps. A course site isn't just lessons. The order bump, the upsell after payment, the downsell, the free gift with its popups, the checkout reminder email: that's where the revenue comes from, and it's a second project.
- Email that arrives. A verified sending domain, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, unsubscribe links on marketing email. Or your order emails land in spam.
- Knowing what's working. Visitors by source, who clicked buy, who saw checkout, who paid, which offers they took. Without it you're guessing.
- Upkeep. Every one of those is code you now own, and you'll be the one who debugs it at 11pm when a buyer can't log in.
That's the real choice Teachable is pointing at. It just presents it as two options when there are three.
The middle route: a tested framework you own
The third option is to give Claude Code something that already has the finished parts, and let it build only what's yours: the pages, the copy, the course outline, the brand. That's what FunnelOnce is.
- It's a folder, bought once. The engine, a test kit, a fake Stripe for local testing, and a playbook (
AGENTS.md) your AI follows step by step. - It runs on accounts you own. Cloudflare hosts it (the free plan covers a small site, Workers Paid is $5 a month when it grows), Stripe takes the payments (card fees only), Resend sends the email (free up to 3,000 a month).
- The course area is built in. Lessons with video embeds or private video files, markdown lessons, downloads, drip by day, free preview lessons, progress tracking, sign-in by emailed link. Access is checked live against Stripe, so refunds and chargebacks close it.
- The selling steps are built in. Checkout on the page, order bump, one-click upsell with a 3-D Secure fallback, downsell, payment plans that end on time, subscriptions with trials, the free gift and its popups, welcome and reminder emails.
- So is the rest. Built-in analytics, a CRM, and modules for coaching, community, events, newsletters, private podcasts and affiliates when you need them.
Your AI's job shrinks to what it's good at. A session looks like this:
Read AGENTS.md and help me launch my course. Six video lessons on sourdough for beginners, $97, or 3 payments of $35. Order bump: the printable schedule, $15. One-click upsell: a 30-minute bake-along call, $79. Free gift: a one-page starter guide. Lessons drip one a week, lesson 1 free as a preview.
It builds the site, writes the copy for you to edit, sets up the course, and runs the whole purchase with fake payments before anything is live. The step-by-step version is in how to build a sales funnel with Claude Code, and the 30-minute course version is in how to launch a course funnel in 30 minutes.
What the middle route doesn't do
Being straight:
- No drag-and-drop editor. You change pages by telling your AI what to change.
- No video transcoding. Use YouTube, Vimeo or another video host for embeds, or upload files that already play on phones.
- You hold the keys. If a key needs replacing, you make it. The setup checker (
doctor) says which one. - No branded mobile app. Your course is a fast website that works on a phone.
So which one?
- Want zero upkeep and a visual editor: Kajabi or Teachable.
- A developer building something no one sells: Claude Code from scratch.
- Selling a course, coaching or downloads, and you'd rather own it: a tested framework your AI deploys. That's the one we built.
The two-minute quiz gives you a straight answer for your case, including "don't buy it yet" when that's the right one.
FAQ
Can Claude Code replace Kajabi or Teachable?
From scratch, it can build a course site, but you take on payments, delivery, email deliverability and upkeep yourself. With a tested framework like FunnelOnce, Claude only builds your pages and copy, and the course area, checkout and emails arrive finished and tested.
Is it cheaper to build a course site with AI?
Usually, over time. Kajabi Basic is $179 a month and Teachable Builder $89 a month. A from-scratch stack can cost $90 to $190 a month by Teachable's estimate. An owned framework on Cloudflare, Stripe and Resend can run on free plans for a small course, plus card fees.
Do I need to code to build a course site with Claude Code?
From scratch, you should be able to read and test the payment code. With a framework and a playbook, no: you make the decisions, read the copy, test the purchase and create the accounts.
What happens to my course if I stop paying for the software?
On a platform, it goes offline. With an owned setup it keeps running, because it lives on your own Cloudflare account and your buyers are in your own Stripe. FunnelOnce is bought once, so there's nothing to stop paying.
