Disco vs Heartbeat
We give Disco a 2.0 GPA and Heartbeat a 2.6, out of 4.0. Heartbeat grades higher on value for money, features and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Disco
Branded learning academy for cohort courses, community and AI help
Heartbeat
Paid community platform with courses, events and member payments
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADiscoFair | 2.6GPAHeartbeatGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | 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. | CGraded against its alternatives, community platforms. Build is $40 a month billed yearly but keeps 5% of payments, $100 on $2,000: $140 a month. Grow's 2.5% makes $174. Dearer than Skool Pro ($82.50), Mighty ($119) and Circle ($129), level with Kajabi ($143). |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a free trial with no card needed: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 in the billing help docs. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial with no card needed, enough to set up channels and a first course. |
| Features | 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. | BChannels, threads, DMs, evergreen and cohort courses with quizzes, events with Zoom recordings, video rooms for 256, paid offers and waitlists, workflows and Pulse AI. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the job; video hosting on Build is a $19 add-on. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record. AI drafts courses and quizzes, but setting up an academy with programs, groups and automations is real work. | CNo App Store rating on record. Pulse AI sets up the space and channels from a description, but you're still building a community and its offers. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, the widest spread in this category, with Stripe, Zapier, Zoom, Google and Outlook calendars and an API from Grow. |
| Best for | branded academies for training businesses | paid communities on desktop and phone |
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: Disco and Heartbeat. How we grade
Price against what you get
Disco starts at $399 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Heartbeat starts at $40 a month and scores 3.0.
Heartbeat scores higher and starts $359 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 10 score higher than Disco for less, and none scores higher than Heartbeat 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
- Disco starts at $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly). Heartbeat starts at $40 per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly).
- Only Heartbeat lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- Disco also covers surveys.
- Heartbeat also covers workflow automation.
At a glance
| Disco | Heartbeat | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly) | $40 per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | Free trial with no card required: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 days in the billing help docs | 14-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Disco Inc. | Heartbeat Chat |
| Price read from | disco.co | heartbeat.chat |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Heartbeat
- Coaches and creators charging a monthly membership for a community
- Communities that mix discussion, courses and live calls in one place
- Members who want desktop apps as well as web and mobile
Worth knowing
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.
Heartbeat
- Heartbeat keeps 5% of payments on Build, 2.5% on Grow and 1.25% on Scale, on top of Stripe's fee (typically 2.9% + 30 cents).
- Member limits count admins and moderators: 350 on Build and 5,000 on Grow.
- On Build, native video hosting is a $19 a month add-on with 50 hours; API access and removing Heartbeat branding start on Grow.
- The white-label branded mobile app is only on Scale, at $766 a month billed annually, which is sold through a call.
Key features
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.
Heartbeat
- Channels, discussions and messages
- Organize the community into public and private channels with threaded posts and live chat, plus one-to-one and group DMs and a member directory.
- Courses and documents
- Evergreen courses with drip release or cohort courses with fixed dates, with quizzes, assignments and a discussion on every lesson, beside a document library.
- Events and video rooms
- Live events with RSVPs, reminders, calendar sync and Zoom recordings, plus voice and video rooms for up to 256 people at once.
- Payments and offers
- Sell subscriptions, one-time offers, tiered memberships and paid waitlists, with coupons, trials, upsells and ready-made checkout pages.
- Workflows
- Send emails and DMs, grant access or follow up automatically when members join, attend, finish a course or go quiet. Build allows 5 workflows.
- Pulse AI
- An AI co-builder that sets up the space, channels and first pages from a description of your community and builds landing pages.
Plans
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.
Heartbeat
Build$40
per month for up to 350 members, billed annually ($49 monthly)
Unlimited channels, courses, events and checkout pages, 5 automation workflows, 1 landing page, custom domain. Heartbeat keeps 5% of payments.
Grow$124
per month for up to 5,000 members, billed annually ($149 monthly)
Unlimited workflows, 50 hours of video hosting, 15 landing pages, affiliates, API access, white-label emails, no Heartbeat branding. 2.5% fee.
Scale$766
per month, unlimited members, billed annually ($849 monthly)
A white-label branded mobile app, advanced analytics, 50 landing pages, 200 hours of video and same-day support. 1.25% fee. Sold through a call.
Ways to pay less
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.
Heartbeat
- Annual discount
Save 17% with annual billing
Build is $490 a year instead of $49 a month and Grow $1,490 instead of $149, two months free; Scale saves 10% at $9,200 a year.
