Skool vs Circle (2026): Pricing, Fees, Features, and Which to Pick

Skool and Circle are both community-first platforms: the community is the product, and courses, events and payments sit around it. If you want to earn revenue from an active community, both can do the job. What sets them apart is the creator each one is built for, and that shows up in pricing, payments and features. Skool's entry-level Hobby plan costs $9 a month, but it takes 10% plus 30¢ of every transaction.

Circle is built for creators who want more control, with pricing to match. Its plans start at $89 a month for Professional, based on annual billing.

The short answer

Circle combines community spaces, chat, live events, courses and a website builder in one platform. Every plan includes unlimited members, a custom domain, gamification, analytics and Circle AI. Branded email notifications are included from the Business plan up and are a $40 add-on on Professional.

Skool's layout is often compared to a Facebook group: one feed of posts, organized by category. Every community lives at a skool.com address. Pro lets you choose a custom URL on skool.com, but neither plan offers a custom domain.

Skool is simpler, built for a fast launch, and hosts live calls natively through Skool Call. Where Skool shines is gamification: points, levels and leaderboards are central to how a Skool community works, while on Circle they play a supporting role.

Skool communities share one look, which members learn quickly. Circle's design settings let each community build its own brand.

Pricing and fees side by side

Billed yearly on Skool, you pay the equivalent of 10 months, which Skool promotes as two months free. The 14-day free trial renews automatically into the plan you tested, and Skool's payment terms say it doesn't give refunds.

Circle's pricing page quotes its plans based on annual billing. Its 14-day free trial needs no card, and paid plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Both platforms run checkout on Stripe. Skool's fee is all-in: it covers card processing, and Skool is the merchant of record, so it also handles EU VAT and US sales tax. Hobby pays 10% + 30¢ on every transaction. Pro pays 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction up to $899, and 3.9% + 30¢ on a single charge above $900.

Circle adds its own platform transaction fee on top of Stripe's processing: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus. Stripe then charges 2.9% + 30¢ per card payment, plus 0.7% for Stripe Billing on subscriptions and installments.

Extra Circle spaces cost $20 a month for every 10 you add.

What you'll pay at $1,000, $5,000 and $20,000

The table below shows your total monthly cost on each plan, based on yearly billing and a $50 average sale. Skool's figures are its all-in transaction fee. Circle's add up the plan, Circle's platform fee, Stripe's 2.9% + 30¢ and Stripe Billing's 0.7% on subscriptions.

Despite the 10% fee, Skool Hobby is the cheapest option at $1,000 a month, which makes it a sensible way to launch a community and see how it does.

At $5,000 in monthly sales, Circle's Professional plan becomes cheaper than Skool Hobby, even though its subscription is $89 against $7.50.

Skool Pro costs less than every Circle plan at every revenue level.

Skool Pro's $82.50 is its $990 yearly price divided by 12. The worksheet assumes US card payments on subscriptions.

Buy now, pay later costs more on Circle, which uses Stripe's rates: 5.99% + 30¢ for Klarna, 5.99% + 45¢ for Scalapay, and 6% + 30¢ for Affirm, Afterpay, Sunbit and Zip. Bank payments cost much less. ACH transfers are 0.8%, capped at $5.

Community features

Both platforms give members a place to post, message each other, ask questions and build relationships. The difference is how much control you have over the community's shape.

Skool keeps things simple with one discussion feed organized into categories. Members publish posts, comment, react, share media and chat. A shared calendar lets you schedule events, live calls run on Skool Call, and points, levels and leaderboards encourage people to take part.

On Circle, you organize your community into separate spaces, each with its own discussions, chat, events, courses or member directory. Spaces can be open to everyone, private, secret, or set up for a particular group.

Direct messages and group chat sit alongside the feed, and Circle gives admins more moderation tools, including member reporting, moderator roles, profanity filters and rules you set yourself.

<aside class="hb-aside"><p>Heartbeat is built around the community. Thread, chat and voice <a href="/feature/discussions">channels</a>, events, DMs and a member directory come with every plan, and courses sit in the same space, so members never leave to talk to each other.</p></aside>

Courses and cohorts

The Skool Classroom is where you organize courses, lessons, videos, guides and downloadable resources. You can control access by requiring members to reach a level before content opens, or by limiting a course to certain members.

Skool doesn't have a dedicated cohort feature. Courses in the Classroom are self-paced.

Circle lets you give students the full course at sign-up or release lessons on a schedule. Courses can sit alongside discussion and event spaces, so learners can ask questions and talk through the material with each other.

Circle handles cohorts with private spaces and space groups. You create a private space for the members of a cohort and build it around the courses, discussions and live sessions that group needs.

<aside class="hb-aside"><p>Running a cohort? Heartbeat's <a href="/feature/courses">cohort-based courses</a> give each cohort its own start and end dates and its own member group, so the class can talk between lessons and each new cohort starts fresh in the same community.</p></aside>

Payments, offers and memberships

Creators sell on Skool through Skool Payments, which runs on Stripe and handles payment processing and tax. When a member pays, Skool calculates and collects US sales tax and EU VAT and sends it to the right tax authority. Members pay in US dollars.

Payouts go through Stripe Express every Wednesday, in your local currency, once your balance reaches at least one unit of it, such as $1 or €1.

Circle also processes payments through Stripe. It adds its platform fee to Stripe's standard rate, subscriptions and installments add Stripe Billing's 0.7%, and one-time payments run through Stripe Invoicing.

Circle's spaces and access levels make it easier to sell memberships and courses to different audiences, but your total cost is harder to predict once you add processing and add-ons. Skool's simpler setup suits creators who want fewer settings to manage.

Mobile app and branding

Both platforms offer iOS and Android apps, so members can take part on their phone as well as on a desktop or tablet. Circle also has a desktop app for Mac and Windows.

Circle's mobile apps let members and creators join or host live events, join discussions and read messages on the go, with one inbox across every community you've joined and built-in push notifications.

On Circle Plus, Circle adds custom branded iOS and Android apps in your community's name.

Skool's apps are as easy to use as the rest of the platform. The menu puts your communities, courses, calendar and chats in one place, and it also sends push notifications.

<aside class="hb-aside" data-href="/branded-app" data-cta="See the branded app"><p>Every Heartbeat community comes with a member app, with push notifications for replies, DMs and events. On the Scale plan it can be <a href="/branded-app">your own branded app</a> in the App Store and Google Play.</p></aside>

Where Skool wins. Where Circle wins

Skool beats Circle on cost and speed:

• Launch quickly with very little setup, in a feed layout members already understand.
• Gamification is central: points, levels and leaderboards come built in.
• Skool Pro costs less than every Circle plan at every revenue level in the worksheet.
• Fees include card processing, and Skool handles US sales tax and EU VAT as merchant of record.
• Native live calls through Skool Call.

Circle beats Skool on structure and branding:

• Separate spaces for different membership levels, topics, events and courses.
• A custom domain, website builder and gamification on every plan.
• A no-card free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
• More moderation tools and design settings.
• Custom branded mobile apps on Circle Plus.

Review scores need context. Circle scores 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 130 reviews. Its profile is claimed by Circle, which invites customers to leave reviews. Skool's 1.6 comes from 54 reviews on an unclaimed profile, mislabelled "Skool Safe Search for Kids - Home", that has never invited reviews. The scores aren't like for like.

Zachary's review of Circle on October 2, 2026 is typical of its five-star reviews:

"Amazing platform. I'm so glad I discovered them last year. They have all the tools you need to launch, grow and maintain a community with simplicity and forward thinking. Their update rate is insane and there are constantly new features being added. Their customer service is great, friendly and actually knowledgeable. Best choice and this is after coming from another platform."

The third option

Skool keeps everything in one feed and turns participation into a game. Circle gives you spaces, settings and add-ons to arrange. Both host a community well. What sets them apart is how much of its shape you control, and how much tool you manage to get there.

Heartbeat is built around the community itself. Members talk in thread, chat and voice channels, meet at events held in the community or on Zoom, and take courses together, including cohort courses where each cohort gets its own dates and its own member group. Badges and gamification, a custom domain and a member app for iOS and Android come with every plan, and on Scale the app can be your own branded app in the App Store and Google Play.

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Verdict by use case

The right pick depends on what you sell and how much setup you want.

Launching your first paid community. Choose Skool. Hobby costs $7.50 a month billed yearly, setup takes very little time, and members already know the feed layout. Once you pass about $1,050 a month in sales, Pro costs less than Hobby, because the 10% fee adds up fast.

A paid membership with several tiers. Choose Circle. Separate spaces let you give each tier its own discussions, events and content, and every plan includes a custom domain and website. From $5,000 a month in sales, Professional also costs less than Skool Hobby.

A course-led community. Skool works if your courses are self-paced and you want completion to feed points and levels. Circle suits you better if you want to release lessons on a schedule or run cohorts in private spaces.

A coaching program. Both platforms host live calls, through Skool Call or Circle's live events. Choose Skool if low fees matter most, since Pro costs less than any Circle plan at every revenue level. Choose Circle if you want a branded space that looks like your business.

Before you commit to either, compare plan limits and fees against the sales you expect, and see what other community platforms offer.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, Skool or Circle?

Skool is the better fit if you want a simple layout, a quick setup and built-in gamification that gets members posting, taking courses and joining live calls. Circle is better if you want more design control, separate spaces for different groups, and your website and community on the same platform.

Who is Circle's biggest competitor?

It depends on what you need. For community creators, Skool is the platform Circle is most often weighed against, which is why Circle publishes its own Skool comparison page. If you also want courses, a website and marketing tools in one place, course platforms with community features are worth comparing too.

Is Circle membership worth it?

Circle is good value for established community businesses that will use its spaces, branding and moderation tools. If you're just starting out or running a small discussion group, Circle's plan price plus its transaction fee may not be worth it yet, and a cheaper, simpler platform like Skool may suit you better.

How much does Circle cost a month?

Circle's plans cost $89 for Professional, $199 for Business and $419 for Scale per month, based on annual billing. Circle Plus is priced on request. The plan price isn't your total cost: add Circle's 0.5% to 2% transaction fee, Stripe's processing, and add-ons such as branded email notifications on Professional ($40 a month) or extra spaces ($20 a month per 10).

How do you decide what's the best community platform?

There's no single best community platform. The right choice depends on your budget, whether you already have an audience on a blog or social media, and whether the community is a side project or your main source of revenue. If you don't want to learn a lot of settings, look for one that's easy to use. Take the free trial, and check that the platform has apps for both iOS and Android.