Disco vs Maven
We give Disco a 2.0 GPA and Maven a 2.2, out of 4.0. Maven grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
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
How we grade them
| 2.0GPADiscoFair | 2.2GPAMavenFair | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | DNo subscription, but Maven keeps 10% of each sale, so $2,000 of sales a month costs $200, past where this category's dearest tenth starts ($143). The fee shrinks when sales do, and it pays for a listing on Maven's marketplace and its Student Growth Program. |
| 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. | BNothing to pay to start: no subscription, and you can publish and sell, with free Lightning Lessons to build a list. Selling isn't free, though: the 10% is graded under value, and paid offerings start at $200. |
| 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. | CCohort courses, workshops, self-paced cohorts, free Lightning Lessons, automated emails, a cohort community and Zoom scheduling with recordings. It does the live-cohort job fully, but that's a narrower job, with prices from $200 and refunds set by Maven. |
| 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. Maven handles the page, checkout and emails, but a live cohort takes a lot of running, and courses are reviewed before they're listed. |
| 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. | BWeb, with Stripe, Zoom, Zapier, Klarna and webhooks for wiring it to other tools. No phone or desktop apps listed. |
| Best for | branded academies for training businesses | live cohort courses taught by working experts |
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 Maven. 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. Maven has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
They score the same, and Maven starts $399 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 Maven 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). Maven is free.
- Maven has a free plan. Disco does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Disco lists iOS and Android apps.
- Maven also covers email campaigns.
At a glance
| Disco | Maven | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free |
| Starts at | $399 per month, billed annually ($499 billed monthly) | Free |
| Free plan | None | No fee to teach. Maven keeps 10% of what each student pays as a platform fee, and Stripe's processing fees come out as well. |
| Free trial | Free trial with no card required: 14 days on the pricing page, 7 days in the billing help docs | None listed |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Disco Inc. | Maven Learning, Inc. |
| Price read from | disco.co | help.maven.com |
| 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
Maven
- Working professionals teaching live courses alongside a day job
- Experts without a large audience who want marketplace traffic
- Courses that companies reimburse, with team and invoice purchases
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.
Maven
- Maven keeps 10% of every sale, and Stripe fees (2.9% + $0.30 for US cards) come out too; refunds return Maven's fee but not Stripe's.
- Paid offerings must be priced at $200 or more, and courses are reviewed before they are listed on the marketplace.
- Experts are enrolled in the Student Growth Program by default, which can discount a course by up to 30%; opting out is by email.
- Maven, not the expert, decides refunds: students get a full refund up to the course's halfway point.
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.
Maven
- Cohort courses and workshops
- Sell multi-week live courses, one-day workshops, self-paced cohorts, resources and coaching from one expert profile and landing page builder.
- Free Lightning Lessons
- Short free live sessions that collect sign-ups and feed them into the email list for a paid course or workshop.
- Built-in email campaigns
- Pre-written automated emails go to waitlisted, applying and dropped-off students, and announcements email the whole cohort.
- Cohort community
- Each course comes with channels for announcements, discussion, intros and questions, plus project submissions and course content in one place.
- Zoom and calendar scheduling
- Connect a Zoom account to create meeting links for every session, auto-record them and publish recordings to students.
- Marketplace listing and promotion
- Reviewed courses appear on Maven's discovery site, and the Student Growth Program runs sales, referrals, affiliates and ads for a share of revenue.
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.
Maven
Teach on Maven$0
No subscription. Maven keeps a 10% platform fee on each sale and pays the rest to your Stripe account; paid offerings start at $200.
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.
Maven
No public discounts listed.
