Skool alternatives
Skool is already the cheapest community platform we track at 100 members paying $10 a month ($50/mo). Here's how the other 3 compare. The closest match, Circle, covers 91% of what Skool does. Each one shows how much of it it covers, capability by capability, next to the price.
What Skool does
Core: Discussion community, Paid memberships & subscriptions (partly), Online course hosting (partly), Points & badges gamification (partly).
Important: Events and live rooms (partly), Member mobile apps, Creator discovery marketplace.
Also has: Real-time chat (partly), Member directory and profiles (partly), Email marketing broadcasts (partly), Public SEO forum (partly).
Alternatives to Skool at 100 members paying $10 a month, best match first
- Circle: $119/mo +2% of member payments; monthly price as of 2025 (Professional). It covers 91% of Skool; missing or partial: Creator discovery marketplace. Free plan: none.
- Patreon: $100/mo 10% platform fee + processing (Standard creator plan (10% platform fee, no subscription)). It covers 66% of Skool; missing or partial: Discussion community (partly), Online course hosting, Points & badges gamification. Free plan: No monthly fee: free members can follow, see free posts and join creator-opened chats; Patreon only charges once you earn.. Last price hike: Aug 2025.
- Discord: $100/mo 10% of paid subs, plus processing (Server Subscriptions (free server + 10% revenue share)). It covers 64% of Skool; missing or partial: Online course hosting, Points & badges gamification, Creator discovery marketplace (partly), Email marketing broadcasts. Free plan: Free servers with unlimited members, channels, roles and full message history.
Prices at every size
- Skool: 100 members paying $10 a month $50/mo, 1,000 members paying $10 a month $99/mo, 1,000 free members $9/mo (Hobby: +10% of member payments)
- Circle: 100 members paying $10 a month $119/mo, 1,000 members paying $10 a month $299/mo, 1,000 free members $99/mo (+2% of member payments; monthly price as of 2025)
- Patreon: 100 members paying $10 a month $100/mo, 1,000 members paying $10 a month $1,000/mo, 1,000 free members free (10% platform fee + processing)
- Discord: 100 members paying $10 a month $100/mo, 1,000 members paying $10 a month $1,000/mo, 1,000 free members free (10% of paid subs, plus processing)
Monthly USD on monthly billing (annual-only plans divided by 12) to run a community of a given size, including the platform's own fees on member payments but not standard card processing; WordPress plugins are priced on their licence without hosting, and forum software sold both ways on the vendor's hosted plan. The headline is 100 members paying $10 a month; we also compare 1,000 paying members ($10,000 a month, 2 admins) and a free community of 1,000 members.
Built a cheaper community platform?
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Everything about Skool's own prices and price hikes: Skool.