Kajabi, the video and website hosting platform for content creators to sell online courses, announced Thursday the official launch of no-code branded mobile app that offers, allowing users to host their own custom native app through the App Store and Google Play.
Kajabi already has one mobile application for hosting online courses, but this new product allows creators to control the user experience and interact with customers in a new way. Creators can customize their app’s icon, login screen, layout and content, including welcome screen, explore page, push notifications, custom links, online course carousels, other in-app purchases such as bundle deals and more. There is also a separate AI chat assistant that can be trained to answer questions and is built into the app.
“Our North Star has always been increasing commerce for creators,” Sean Kim, chief product officer at Kajabi and former head of product at TikTok, told TechCrunch. “Whether we’re helping you earn your first dollar, or achieve profitability or financial freedom, all of our resources are directed toward that goal. The branded mobile app is our latest offering and helps our customers increase commerce as well as reach their businesses.”
Branded apps have been in high demand among creators, and according to Kajabi user data, 62% of creators believe that a branded app is critical to their business. 55% said they are willing to pay up to $100/month for a custom branded app.
Kajabi is testing the product with more than 800 beta users. As of today, it is available to all Kajabi users.
Image Credits: Kajabi
Compared to the traditional app development process, which can take six months and cost upwards of $60,000, Kajabi claims its offering is a cost-effective solution. Kajabi already develops complete applications that can go live in weeks, saving developers time and money. This is a reassuring proposition for creators who have previously invested in app development that did not meet their expectations.
A Kajabi customer, nutritionist Raquel Bridgettold us he spent $10,000 building an app that ultimately didn’t perform as well as he’d hoped.
“I’ve tried to make my own app before and failed. It is so much work and I spent so much time and money to make the app. … I have thousands of people using [my] services, so we need to make sure the app works for a large number of people,” he said. Now Britzke can quickly bring existing customers to a Kajabi-powered app that’s optimized to handle all of its training videos, he explained.
Although more affordable than the standard app development process, building a branded app with Kajabi is still an investment. Only creators with existing courses on the platform can purchase the add-on, which ranges from $89 to $199 per month. The highest priced package comes with a Community feature where customers interact with creators in live video calls and chats, attend meetings and complete challenges.
Kajabi offers three subscriptions: Basic ($149/month), Growth ($199/month) and Pro ($399/month).
Currently, Kajabi only supports selling courses as one-time purchases, not subscriptions, but that will soon change. The company also plans to offer community and coaching products as in-app purchases. (It’s also important to note that Apple and Google charge 30% for all in-app purchases, while companies making less than $1 million a year are only charged 15%).
Additionally, the company says it will continue to improve and add features, and all apps will be automatically updated. Although Kajabi does not support coding customizations, it plans to add customizable widgets that can be embedded into the app. Other features in the projects include offline viewing, interactive quizzes and personalized experiences.
The company joins several other competitors in the no-code app building space, including Wix, which charges $200 a month for its branded app. Bubble, which charges between $29 and $529 per month. Vidapp ($389) Passion.io ($297) and Skeptical ($199), among others.
