Circle vs Disco
We give Circle a 2.8 GPA and Disco a 2.0, out of 4.0. Circle grades higher on value for money, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Circle
Community platform with courses, events, payments and branded apps
Disco
Branded learning academy for cohort courses, community and AI help
How we grade them
| 2.8GPACircleGood | 2.0GPADiscoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CGraded against its alternatives, community platforms. Professional is $89 a month billed yearly plus Circle's 2% of sales, $40 on $2,000: $129 a month. That's mid-pack, above Skool Pro ($82.50) and Mighty Networks ($119), below Heartbeat ($140). | DOrganization is $399 a month billed yearly, with no transaction fee, so $2,000 of sales costs $399 a month. That's in this category's dearest tenth and nearly ten times its middle figure of $42. It's priced for training firms with up to 500 members. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed, which is enough to set up spaces and invite a few people. | CNo free plan, but a free trial with no card needed: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 in the billing help docs. |
| Features | BSpaces with posts and chat, courses, events, live streams and rooms, paid memberships, a website builder, gamification and AI credits on every plan. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job; workflows and the API just start on Business. | CPrograms with quizzes, assignments, surveys and pathways, chat and events, Disco AI, unlimited automations and revenue reports. A full kit, but the listing names a gap: discount codes and sales tax are set up in Stripe, not in Disco. |
| Ease of use | A4.87 from about 86,000 App Store ratings, the strongest record in this category. Members open the app and they're in. | CNo App Store rating on record. AI drafts courses and quizzes, but setting up an academy with programs, groups and automations is real work. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Zapier, Stripe, PayPal, Slack, HubSpot, Mailchimp and Teachable, plus an API and MCP on Business. No desktop app, which an A needs. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, Zoom, Slack, Zapier, Google Analytics and Tag Manager. The API and webhooks need Enterprise. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | a branded community with courses and events | branded academies for training businesses |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Circle and Disco. How we grade
Price against what you get
Circle starts at $89 a month and scores 3.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Disco starts at $399 a month and scores 2.3.
Circle scores higher and starts $310 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, none scores higher than Circle for less, and 10 score higher than Disco for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Circle starts at $89 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly). Disco starts at $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly).
- Circle also covers workflow automation and email campaigns.
- Disco also covers surveys.
At a glance
| Circle | Disco | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $89 per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly) | $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | Free trial with no card required: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 days in the billing help docs |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Circle | Disco Inc. |
| Price read from | circle.so | disco.co |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Circle
- Creators and brands whose main product is a community
- Communities that also sell courses and run live events
- Teams that want automations and an API around their community
Disco
- Training businesses running live cohorts with a community around them
- Companies teaching customers, partners or employees in a branded academy
- Programs that split large cohorts into groups and subgroups
Worth knowing
Circle
- Circle takes 2% of each sale on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale and 0.5% on Circle Plus.
- Email Hub costs extra on top of any plan except Circle Plus: $19 a month for up to 1,000 contacts, $99 at 10,000.
- Workflows, the API and removing Circle branding need Business; AI agents and webhooks need Scale.
- An app under your own name in the app stores is only in Circle Plus, which is priced through sales.
Disco
- There is no free plan; the one self-serve plan is $399 a month billed annually and covers up to 500 members.
- More than 500 members, the API and webhooks, SAML SSO and a branded mobile app all need the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
- Disco charges no transaction fee, but payments run only through Stripe at Stripe's own rates (typically 2.9% + 30 cents).
- Discount codes and sales tax are set up in Stripe, not in Disco.
Key features
Circle
- Spaces, discussions and chat
- Members join topic spaces for posts and chat, with a member directory, rich profiles and gamification. Professional allows 20 spaces.
- Courses
- Courses live inside the community on every plan, and course migration from another platform is free on annual Business plans and above.
- Events and live streams
- Live events, live streams and live rooms: Professional covers 100 stream attendees, 15 room participants and 10 hours.
- Payments and website
- Paid memberships and products through Circle's checkout, a website builder and a custom domain on every plan.
- Workflows, API and AI
- Business adds workflows, APIs and an MCP server; Scale adds AI agents, AI moderation and webhooks. Extra AI credits cost $10 per 1,000.
- Email Hub
- An optional add-on for broadcasts, scheduled campaigns, sign-up forms, segments and marketing automations to contacts and members.
Disco
- Cohort and self-paced programs
- Build programs from modules and lessons with video, quizzes, assignments, surveys, prerequisites and learning pathways, with templates for cohorts.
- Community chat and events
- Channels, threads, DMs, feeds, a member directory and leaderboards sit beside live and in-person events with calendar invites.
- Disco AI
- Generates course outlines, quizzes and images, adds transcripts and summaries to video, and Ask AI answers members from your own content.
- Memberships and checkout
- Sell programs at one-time prices and memberships billed weekly, monthly or yearly through your own Stripe account, with Stripe discount codes.
- Automations and reporting
- Unlimited automations on Organization, plus course progress, engagement, event attendance and revenue reports with CSV export.
- Mobile app
- Members use Disco's iOS and Android app for lessons, events and chat; a custom branded app is an Enterprise option.
Plans
Circle
Professional$89
per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
Unlimited members, courses, events, website, payments, apps, 3 admins, 20 spaces, 2,500 AI credits. Circle takes 2% of each sale.
Business$199
per month, billed annually ($219 billed monthly)
20 workflows, APIs and MCP, custom profile fields, branded emails, no Circle branding, 5 admins, 30 spaces. 1% transaction fee.
Scale$419
per month, billed monthly or annually
AI agents and AI workflows, unlimited workflows, webhooks, custom SSO, 10 admins, 100 spaces, 5,000 AI credits. 1% transaction fee.
Circle PlusCustom
Custom branded iOS and Android apps, unlimited admins and spaces, Email Hub with 10,000 contacts, a dedicated expert. 0.5% transaction fee.
Disco
Organization$399
per month for up to 500 members, billed annually ($499 monthly)
1 branded academy on your own domain, unlimited learning products, AI tools, 100 hours of video storage and onboarding office hours. No transaction fee.
EnterpriseCustom
100,000+ members, a branded iOS and Android app on request, API and webhooks, SAML SSO and a dedicated success manager. Billed annually.
Ways to pay less
Circle
- Annual discount
Lower monthly price with annual billing
Circle's pricing lists Professional at $89 a month billed annually against $99 monthly, and Business at $199 against $219. Scale costs the same either way.
Disco
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
Disco's pricing page lists Organization at $399 a month billed annually against $499 billed monthly.
- Nonprofit
Nonprofit discount on Organization
Disco's pricing page and billing docs say nonprofits get a discount on the Organization plan, applied for by writing to support.
