Searchie vs Kajabi – Which one is the Right Tool for Course Creators?

After managing content libraries and building online courses for several years, I’ve learned that the platform you choose can make or break your student experience.

Recently, I spent three months testing both Memberships.io (formerly Searchie) and Kajabi with real courses, paying customers, and actual content libraries to see how they perform in the real world.

Here’s what surprised me: these platforms solve completely different problems, even though they’re often compared head-to-head.

Membership.io transforms how people consume large amounts of video and audio content, while Kajabi focuses on building and scaling complete online businesses.

Understanding this fundamental difference early on will save you from making an expensive mistake.

Why Membership.io (Searchie) Exists

Most course creators eventually face the same problem: they accumulate hundreds of hours of video and audio content, but their students can’t find what they need.

I experienced this firsthand when my corporate training library grew to hundreds of videos, and Membership.io was built specifically to solve this content discovery challenge.

The platform automatically transcribes all your video and audio content, making it fully searchable. When students type “project management” or “conflict resolution” into the search bar, they get results showing exactly which videos contain that content, along with timestamps for the specific moments.

During my testing period, I uploaded my entire training library and immediately noticed how student engagement could increase because they could actually find and consume the content they needed, when they needed it.

Instead of watching entire 45-minute sessions to find one specific technique, they could jump directly to the 12-minute mark where I explained it.

Core Membership.io Features:

• Automatic transcription and indexing of all media files
• Keyword search across entire content libraries
• Organized content hubs with customizable access levels
• Member management with subscription tiers
• Basic analytics focused on content consumption
• Integration capabilities with external marketing tools

The platform excels at what I call “content-heavy” businesses.

If you’re a consultant with years of recorded calls, a coach with extensive training sessions, or an educator with large lecture libraries, Membership.io makes your content genuinely useful rather than just archived.

However, it isn’t trying to be a complete business platform.

You’ll need separate tools for email marketing, sales funnels, website building, and payment processing. This modular approach works well if you already have established systems, but it can feel fragmented if you’re starting from scratch.

Kajabi’s Business-Building Philosophy

Kajabi approaches online course creation from an entirely different angle. Instead of focusing primarily on content consumption, it’s designed to help you build a complete online business that happens to include courses.

When I first explored Kajabi, I realized I was looking at something closer to a business operating system than a course platform.

The difference became clear when I tried to set up a simple lead magnet funnel. In Membership.io, I would have needed to connect multiple external tools. In Kajabi, I created a landing page, set up the email automation, hosted the content, and processed payments all within the same dashboard. Everything connected seamlessly without requiring any technical integration work.

“Kajabi runs your entire online business from content creation to customer acquisition to revenue optimization.” –Jason Webber

This comprehensive approach means Kajabi handles aspects of your business that extend far beyond course delivery.

The email marketing system rivals dedicated platforms like ConvertKit. The funnel builder competes with ClickFunnels. The website templates look professional enough to represent serious businesses. The analytics provide business insights rather than just content consumption data.

What Makes Kajabi Different:

1. Complete website building with professional templates
2. Advanced email marketing with automation workflows
3. Sales funnel creation and optimization tools
4. Integrated payment processing and subscription management
5. Comprehensive business analytics and reporting
6. Mobile app for course delivery

The course creation tools in Kajabi work well for structured learning experiences. You can build courses with lessons, quizzes, assignments, and completion tracking. However, the content discovery capabilities pale in comparison to membership.io’s search functionality.

Real-World Performance Comparison

After using both platforms extensively, here’s how they perform in the areas that matter most for course creators:

Feature	Membership.io	Kajabi	Best Choice
Content Searchability	Advanced keyword search with timestamps	Basic course navigation	Membership.io
Business Management	Requires external tools	Complete all-in-one solution	Kajabi
Setup Complexity	Simple for content libraries	More complex but comprehensive	Depends on needs
Marketing Capabilities	Limited, needs integrations	Advanced built-in tools	Kajabi
Content Organization	Flexible library structure	Structured course format	Tie
Monthly Cost	$29-$99	$149-$399	Membership.io

Content Discovery and User Experience

The search functionality in Membership.io genuinely changes how students interact with your content.

During my testing, I watched analytics showing students finding and consuming specific content segments they never would have discovered through traditional course navigation.

If one student searched for “delegation techniques” and found relevant content across six different training sessions, creating a personalized learning path, I’d want to know.

Kajabi’s approach to content organization follows more traditional course structures. Students progress through lessons in sequence, complete assignments, and track their overall progress.

This works excellently for structured learning programs but doesn’t help when students need to reference specific information months later.

Business Building and Marketing

Kajabi’s marketing tools impressed me more than I expected.

The email automation capabilities rival dedicated marketing platforms, and the integration between your courses, email sequences, and sales funnels creates smooth customer journeys. I was able to create complete nurture sequences that automatically enrolled students in appropriate courses based on their interests and engagement levels.

Membership.io approach requires more manual work and external integrations. You’ll need separate tools for email marketing, landing pages, and sales automation. While this gives you more flexibility in choosing best-of-breed tools, it also requires more technical knowledge and ongoing management.

Analytics and Insights

The analytics differences reveal each platform’s core philosophy. Membership.io provides detailed content consumption data showing which topics generate the most interest, where students spend the most time, and what they’re actively searching for. This information helps you understand what content resonates and guides future content creation decisions.

Kajabi focuses on business metrics like revenue per student, course completion rates, email open rates, and conversion funnel performance. You can track the financial health of your online business and identify opportunities for growth and optimization.

Choosing Your Platform Strategy

Your choice between Membership.io and Kajabi should align with your primary business model and content strategy.

Choose Membership.io (Searchie) if you are:

• Building extensive content libraries that students need to reference repeatedly
• Creating consultation or coaching businesses with lots of recorded sessions
• Focused primarily on content delivery rather
• Already using other tools for marketing, email, and sales that you prefer
• Working with a smaller budget but need powerful content organization

Membership.io works exceptionally well for experts who generate content organically through client work, workshops, or speaking engagements.

If you’re constantly creating valuable content but struggling to make it discoverable and useful, Membership.io solves that core problem elegantly.

Choose Kajabi if you are:

• Building a complete online business that includes courses as one component
• Starting from scratch and want everything integrated in one platform
• Focused on marketing automation and systematic customer acquisition
• Planning to scale beyond just course sales into coaching, memberships, and digital products
• Willing to invest more upfront for comprehensive business capabilities

Kajabi makes the most sense for entrepreneurs who view courses as part of a larger business strategy. If you need to build audiences, nurture leads, create multiple revenue streams, and scale systematically, Kajabi provides the infrastructure to support that growth.

Hybrid Approaches Worth Considering

Some successful course creators use both platforms strategically. They host their main structured courses on Kajabi to take advantage of the marketing and business tools, while using Membership.io for supplementary content libraries, recorded Q&A sessions, and reference materials.

This approach works particularly well for high-touch programs where students need access to both structured learning paths and searchable resource libraries.

However, it requires managing two separate platforms and potentially confusing your students with multiple login processes.

My Bottom-Line Recommendation

I believe the decision comes down to your primary content challenge.

If students struggle to find and use your existing content, Membership.io will dramatically improve their experience and your content’s value. If you’re trying to build and scale an online business that includes courses, Kajabi provides the comprehensive tools you need to succeed.

Neither platform is objectively better than the other. They’re solving different problems for different types of businesses.

Membership.io excels at making large content libraries useful and discoverable. Kajabi excels at building complete online businesses with courses as one component. The mistake I see most course creators make is choosing based on feature lists rather than their actual business needs.

Before you decide, honestly assess whether your biggest challenge is content organization and discovery, or business building and systematic growth. Your answer will point you toward the right platform for your specific situation.