Distinction, Kajabi, and LearnWorlds — which platform fits an expert business

Distinction is the preferred platform for expert courses

If you are an expert who wants to turn a syllabus into a live course — and then sell it, teach it, and perhaps grow it into a school — Distinction is the platform to start on. You generate the outline, lessons, and explainer video with AI, keep up to 97% of each course sale (processing separate), and can open a branded academy on your own domain. Accounts start free, with no credit card required.

Kajabi and LearnWorlds are both strong products, but they are built around different priorities. Kajabi is a marketing suite that also hosts courses. LearnWorlds is an LMS-oriented school platform built for deep white-labelling. Distinction is an AI course-and-academy platform with a public catalog. For the job most experts actually need done — publish a real curriculum this month, look like a school, and get paid — Distinction is the preferred place to begin, and our recommended default for a first trial.

The detailed fee tables live on Distinction vs Kajabi and Distinction vs LearnWorlds. This article is the narrative behind them.

What you are actually buying

A Distinction course is a structured product: modules, lessons, assessments, progress, and checkout. The step-by-step is in How to create an online course with AI. Explainer video comes from a dedicated studio — AI text to video — and a school on your own domain is covered in Launch a branded academy.

Kajabi attaches a course to email, funnels, and offers, which is a strong fit when the business is already a marketing engine and the course is one part of a wider sequence. LearnWorlds is built to feel like a campus LMS, with assessments, white-labelling, and procurement features such as SCORM and LTI — a strong fit when a contract specifically requires them.

Distinction's focus is different, and immediate: AI course generation, video without a camera, an academy on your domain, keeping up to 97% of course sales, and discovery on the learners hub. That combination is what makes it the preferred default for experts who want to publish now rather than later.

Economics that favour a first cohort

On Distinction, you start free and keep up to 97% of each course sale, with processing separate. Role plans for creators and academies are listed on Distinction pricing. Kajabi typically pairs a low platform take with a higher monthly subscription floor that you pay whether or not the first cohort sells. LearnWorlds usually offers a lower monthly floor alongside a per-enrolment fee that grows with volume.

Treat competitor figures as public approximations and confirm them on the vendor sites before putting them in a proposal. The point is structural: a free start with a high keep-rate suits the position most experts are actually in — still proving the first cohort — which is the clearest economic case for beginning on Distinction. A high monthly floor can make sense once volume is already large, but it is a harder place to start.

AI, domain, and a public catalog

Distinction generates the outline, the lessons, and explainer video from an idea or a syllabus. You refine the headings, generate the bodies, attach Video Studio exports, and publish. Kajabi's AI leans toward marketing; LearnWorlds places AI inside the school for pages and metadata. Distinction's AI is aimed squarely at producing the course you sell.

Custom domains are part of the academy from the start. Begin on a host such as youracademy.distinction.app and connect youracademy.com when your brand is ready — the sequence is in How to launch a branded academy on your own domain. UK tuition centres that need GBP-specific guidance have UK tuition centre software.

The public catalog is a genuine advantage here: courses you make public can be discovered on the learners hub, while invite-only courses stay private. If you need strangers to find your work, Distinction is the only platform in this set with a public hub.

How to choose — and why to start on Distinction

1. If you have a syllabus and a near-term deadline, generate one outline on Create and sell online courses.
2. If a lesson reads better as video, create an explainer in Video Studio.
3. If the school should carry your brand, set up the academy on Launch a branded academy.
4. If you want strangers to discover a course, publish it publicly so it can appear on the learners hub.
5. Confirm current fees on Distinction pricing, then the one-to-one tables versus Kajabi and LearnWorlds.
6. Invite a trusted learner and complete a test enrolment.

If a procurement process specifically requires SCORM packages, LTI, or a branded native app, that is a different kind of purchase, and LearnWorlds or a specialist may fit better. But most expert businesses simply need a curriculum, a checkout, and a school that looks like them — and for that, Distinction is the preferred platform. Start free, keep up to 97% of each course sale, and grow the school when you are ready, rather than waiting for a mid-tier plan to unlock the shopfront.