Courses & Communities

Contents

1. 01WelcomeWhat these tools do, how many we grade and what to know before choosing
2. 02Our top threeThe three we'd look at first, and who each one suits
3. 03What they costWhat paid plans start at, the best buy at each budget and the free plans
4. 04The gradesThe highest graded, and how the whole category does on each subject
5. 05Keep or make?Which are worth paying for, and which you could make yourself
6. 06Every toolAll of them, best graded first, with what each costs
7. 07Quick answersThe questions people ask when choosing, each answered in a line or two
8. 08About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it

ToolGPA put this guide together from each tool’s own pages, their app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on the Courses & Communities page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 17, 2026.

Sell an online course, a membership or a paid community from a space with your name on it.

Before you choose, here are 7 things to know about course and community platforms, worked out from every one we grade.

1. 1

   We grade 19 course and community platforms

   2 of them are free or have a free plan, and 16 more let you try before paying. Everything in this guide comes from their own pages and our grades.

2. 2

   Paid plans start at $41 a month in the middle

   From $9 (Skool) to $399 (Disco), going by what each one's paid plans start at.

3. 3

   Best value: Simplero, Heartbeat, Heights Platform and Maven

   Nothing on our chart scores higher than these without costing more.

4. 4

   9 of 19 have iPhone and Android apps

   19 run in a web browser and 2 have a Windows app. Check the one you need before you fall for anything.

5. 5

   The middle GPA is 2.4

   0 score 3.0 or higher. The highest is Circle, at 2.8.

6. 6

   Best free option: systeme.io

   systeme.io has the highest GPA of the free ones, 2.8. All-in-one marketing suite with funnels, email, courses and community.

7. 7

   17 worth keeping, 0 you could make

   By our keep-or-make rules, 17 do something you couldn't reasonably build yourself, 0 are simple enough to make with an AI app builder, and 2 are a close call.

Part 02 · Top three

Our top three

The three we'd look at first, and who each one suits

The three course and community platforms we'd look at first. First place suits the most people; second and third are the best picks for the people it leaves out. Each has an Insider's Guide of its own.

1. 1st

   

   2.8GPA

   Circle

   Free trial · from $89/mo

   For: Most creators, especially those building a community

   Circle puts discussions, chat, courses, events and live streams in spaces members join, with paid memberships, a website builder and a custom domain on every plan. Professional is $89 a month billed yearly ($99 monthly) for unlimited members, 3 admins and 20 spaces, plus 2% of each sale, and the 14-day trial needs no card. Its iPhone and iPad app averages 4.9 from about 86,000 ratings. Know the limits: email to contacts is the Email Hub add-on, from $19 a month, and workflows and the API need Business at $199 a month billed yearly.

   The Circle Insider’s Guide

2. 2nd

   

   2.8GPA

   Simplero

   Free trial · from $59/mo

   For: Coaches who want courses, email and checkout in one account

   Simplero puts courses with quizzes, memberships, communities, coaching programs, email with a CRM, funnels and checkout in one account, and takes no fee on sales. Starter is $59 a month billed yearly for 500 contacts, with a 14-day trial of every feature. Members get an iPhone and Android app, and the iPhone and iPad version averages 4.85 from 1,256 ratings. It is second because contacts push the price up, to $134 a month at 10,000 on Starter, which stops at 10 courses and one site or community, and affiliates and the API need Scale at $149.

   The Simplero Insider’s Guide

3. 3rd

   

   2.8GPA

   systeme.io

   Free plan · from $17/mo

   For: Anyone who wants to start selling for nothing

   systeme.io's free plan, with no card, covers 2,000 contacts, unlimited emails, 3 funnels, 1 course for up to 500 students and 1 community, and no plan takes a fee on sales, though payment processors still charge theirs. Startup is $17 a month for 5 courses and 5,000 contacts. It is third because it is a funnel and email builder first: the course side has video, PDFs, drip and locking but no quizzes or certificates on record, it runs only in a browser, and the free plan allows 1 automation rule and 1 email campaign.

   The systeme.io Insider’s Guide

Going by our grades, Simplero, Heartbeat, Heights Platform and Maven give the most for the money among course and community platforms: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.

Paid plans start at a middle price of $41 a month across the 18 that charge, from $9 (Skool) to $399 (Disco). 1 more costs nothing at all.

5 of the 19 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 4 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.

Every tool gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. Here are the 12 highest graded course and community platforms, then how the whole category does on each subject.

Tool	Value	Free	Features	Ease	Platforms	GPA
Circle	C	C	B	A	B	2.8
Simplero	C	C	B	A	B	2.8
systeme.io	A	B	C	C	B	2.8
Heartbeat	C	C	B	C	A	2.6
Heights Platform	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
LearnWorlds	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Mighty Networks	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Podia	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Skool	B	C	C	C	B	2.4
Teachable	C	C	C	B	B	2.4
Thinkific	C	C	B	C	B	2.4
Graphy	C	C	C	C	B	2.2

Some software does something you couldn’t reasonably build yourself. Some is simple enough that an AI app builder could make the core of it in an afternoon. Here’s where course and community platforms land, by the same rules for every tool.

• 17

  Keep it

  It does something you could not reasonably make for yourself, or it costs nothing.

• 2

  Your call

  You could make the core of it, and you would give something up.

• 0

  You could make this

  What it does is the kind of thing an AI app builder makes well, and it charges every month.

Every course and community platform we grade, with its GPA and what it costs. Each one has a page of its own on toolgpa.com, with its Insider’s Guide.

1. 1CircleFree trial · from $89/mo2.8
2. 2SimpleroFree trial · from $59/mo2.8
3. 3systeme.ioFree plan · from $17/mo2.8
4. 4HeartbeatFree trial · from $40/mo2.6
5. 5Heights PlatformFree trial · from $19/mo2.4
6. 6LearnWorldsFree trial · from $24/mo2.4
7. 7Mighty NetworksFree trial · from $79/mo2.4
8. 8PodiaFree trial · from $42/mo2.4
9. 9SkoolFree trial · from $9/mo2.4
10. 10TeachableFree trial · from $29/mo2.4
11. 11ThinkificFree trial · from $40/mo2.4
12. 12GraphyFree trial · from $49/mo2.2
13. 13KartraFree trial · from $52/mo2.2
14. 14MavenFree2.2
15. 15TeacheryFree trial · from $49/mo2.2
16. 16DiscoFree trial · from $399/mo2.0
17. 17KajabiFree trial · from $143/mo2.0
18. 18LearnDashFree trial · from $399/yr2.0
19. 19MemberPressFrom $399/yr1.8

ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.

ToolGPA is free to read. It may earn a commission from affiliate links and it works with sponsors, but anything paid for is labelled and no one can pay for a grade. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.

• 1,880

  tools graded

• 47

  categories

• 426

  price changes on record

• 579

  apps priced in 12 countries