Your Own App or a Ready-Made Platform (Kajabi, Uscreen, Teachable…)? When Your Own Pays Off

A ready-made platform like Kajabi, Uscreen or Teachable is the fastest and cheapest way to start selling videos, courses or memberships. Your own app pays off later: when fees grow with every new subscriber, when you want your own brand and an app in the App Store and Google Play, or when the platform limits what and how you sell. With a fixed monthly fee, it's usually not money that pushes you to switch, but limits and dependence on someone else's service.

This article is for creators, experts, tutors and coaches who already sell content or are about to. We look at how platforms charge, what you pay at 100, 500 and 2,000 subscribers, and what to do with your contacts and subscribers when you decide to leave.

How do ready-made platforms charge?

Content platforms look alike, but they take their money in very different ways. Prices are from their price lists as of September 2026, in US dollars as they publish them.

• A fixed monthly fee. Kajabi Basic costs $179 a month ($143 billed annually) with a limit of 5 products and 2,500 contacts. The Growth plan costs $249 and covers 25,000 contacts. Teachable Builder costs $89 a month ($69 billed annually), with no transaction fee and a limit of 10 products.
• A monthly fee plus a fee per subscriber. Uscreen Growth costs $149 a month billed annually plus $1.99 for every active subscriber. The App Essentials plan, which includes your own iPhone and Android apps, costs $449 a month plus $0.99 per subscriber.
• A percentage of income. Patreon takes 10% of your income, plus payment processing fees.

Watch the cheapest plans. Teachable Starter takes 7.5% of every sale, and Uscreen Starter has a 100-subscriber limit and a web address under the Uscreen brand.

Payment processing always comes on top of the platform fee. Teachable lists 3.9% + $0.30 for international cards, Kajabi 2.9% + $0.30 for US cards. On a €15 payment that's roughly €0.70 to €0.85 per payment.

What will you pay at 100, 500 and 2,000 subscribers?

A worked example: a membership at €15 a month. With 100 subscribers that's €1,500 a month, with 500 it's €7,500 and with 2,000 it's €30,000. The table shows what you pay the platform and the app stores. Payment processing on the platforms comes on top, as mentioned above.

For Kajabi we assume that at 2,000 subscribers, former clients and newsletter subscribers will take you past 2,500 contacts. For your own solution, the row includes the full payment processing fee; for the platforms it doesn't.

What follows from the table:

1. Percentages and per-subscriber fees grow with your success. At 2,000 subscribers you pay Patreon or Uscreen thousands a month. This is where your own solution comes out best financially.
2. With a fixed fee, the price gap isn't big. Kajabi and Teachable stay cheap as you grow. To be honest: if their features are enough for you, money isn't a reason to leave. The reasons are limits, brand and dependence.
3. With your own app, where the client pays matters. Apple (in its Small Business Program) and Google both take 15% on subscriptions bought inside the app. A web payment is far cheaper. We go into detail in subscriptions in your own app.

Your own solution also has an upfront investment and monthly maintenance. They're not in the table because they don't grow with your subscriber count. You'll find current prices on the video subscription platform page.

What won't a ready-made platform give you?

Fees are only part of the story. It's worth weighing these too:

• Your own brand. On cheaper plans clients often see the platform's brand; Uscreen Starter, for example, runs on a web address under the Uscreen name. Your own apps in the stores usually come only with higher plans.
• Your own business model. A mix of videos, consultations, courses, bookings and company discounts often doesn't fit a platform's template. In our Baby-Care app, for example, the pregnancy section is free, the full content from 14 experts is available through a subscription directly in the app, and influencers earn a share of the subscription sales they bring in.
• Data about your clients. You see who logs in, what they watch and when they drift away only to the extent the platform shows you.
• Rules change without you. A platform can change its prices, plan limits or features. You adapt.
• Prices in dollars. Kajabi, Uscreen and Teachable all list their prices in US dollars, while your clients may pay in euros or pounds. When the exchange rate moves, so does what you keep.

What happens to your contacts and subscribers when you switch?

This is the most important question, and it's worth answering before you choose a platform, not when you leave.

Contacts can be exported. Kajabi, for example, lets you export contacts to a CSV file, including what each person bought, as well as a list of subscriptions. Other platforms have similar options, but check this in your own plan in advance.

Cards are harder. Card details are stored by whoever processes the payments. If payments run through the platform's own payment system, your subscribers will probably have to re-enter their card when you move. If you have your own payment provider account (such as Stripe) connected to the platform, the move tends to be simpler. Stripe can also take over card data from a previous processor, if that processor cooperates.

How to handle the switch:

1. Export everything: contacts, purchase history, subscriptions, content.
2. Run the new solution alongside the old one. New clients go straight to the new one; existing ones get time.
3. Give subscribers a reason to move. A free month, a new feature, a proper phone app.
4. Close the old platform only once most have moved.

When does your own app pay off? A quick test

Your own solution makes sense if you can answer yes to at least three of these:

• You have hundreds of paying subscribers, or a realistic path to them.
• You pay a percentage or a per-subscriber fee, and the amount keeps growing.
• You're hitting plan limits: number of products, contacts, features.
• You want your own app in the App Store and Google Play under your own name.
• Your model (freemium, corporate clients, affiliates, combining with bookings) doesn't fit the platform.
• You want client data and payments under your own control.

If you answered yes only once or twice, stay on the ready-made platform. That's a sensible decision, not a defeat.

How to start

1. Run your own numbers. Subscriber count, price, what you pay the platform monthly and yearly.
2. Write down what's missing. Not "I want an app", but "clients can't watch videos offline" or "I can't sell to companies".
3. Test the export. Try exporting your contacts and find out who processes your payments.
4. Get a design first. Before development we do a solution design (Pitch Design), where you see how your platform will look and work before you spend money on development.
5. Plan the move step by step. Working in two-week cycles, you can start with what matters most and add the rest over time.

If you sell workouts, see also how to sell workout videos online. For courses with lessons, there's how to create an online course.

Frequently asked questions

Will I lose subscribers when I move from a platform to my own solution?

Some may leave, especially if they have to re-enter their card. A gradual move, clear communication and a reason to switch, such as a better phone app, all help. Thanks to the export, you keep your contacts.

Can I have my own app on a ready-made platform?

Some platforms offer one, such as Uscreen on its App Essentials plan. The app carries your colours, but the platform sets the features and the rules.

Website or app?

You don't need to know. Many creators start with a web platform that works on phones and computers, and add a store app later. We explain the differences in our web vs. app comparison.

When is the best time to switch?

When you know people pay for your content, and the platform's fees or limits start holding back your growth. Not at the very beginning.

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Outgrowing a ready-made platform and want your own brand, your own app and fees that don't grow with every subscriber? See what your own video subscription platform can do, or tell us which platform you're on today and how many subscribers you have. No technical brief needed.