Heartbeat vs Passion.io (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Heartbeat if

• Fits if your members want a desktop app as well as a phone app
• Works for coaches charging a monthly membership with chat, courses and live calls

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you sell a lot on Build, where 5% of every payment goes to Heartbeat
• Tight if you grow past 350 members, a count that includes admins and moderators
• Skip it if you want a branded app without the $766-a-month Scale plan, sold through a call
• Watch out: video hosting on Build is a $19 a month add-on, and the API and branding removal start on Grow at $124

Pick Passion.io if

• Fits if your audience would rather use an app than a website
• Works for creators who already sell courses and want a mobile home for them

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to try it free, as there is no free plan or trial
• Pricey if you want your own branding, which needs Scale at $279 a month
• Tight if you want a store listing under your name, since that needs Expand at $599 a month
• Watch out: Apple, Google and Stripe fees apply on top of the PassionPayments fee, which the page gives as 3.9% on Launch
• Watch out: Passion Plus has no published price

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.

Passion.io

• There is no free plan or trial listed on the pricing page; the cheapest plan is $119 a month on yearly billing.
• Your own branding needs Scale, and a store listing under your name needs Expand at $599 a month.
• Apple, Google and Stripe processing fees apply on top of the PassionPayments fee, which the page gives as 3.9% on Launch.
• Passion Plus has no published price.

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.

Passion.io

Your own app

Customers get an app for courses, videos and memberships. Your own branding starts on Scale, and a store listing under your name on Expand.

Courses and drip content

Interactive courses with quizzes, progress tracking and timers, released on a schedule; advanced drip content starts on Scale.

Communities and messaging

Group communities, chats and one-to-one messages inside the app; advanced versions from Scale.

AI coach

A context-aware AI coach trained on your content answers members, with monthly Conversational AI messages that rise by plan.

In-app payments

One-off and subscription payments, with a PassionPayments fee that falls from 3.9% on Launch to 1.9% on Passion Plus.

Push notifications and offline mode

Unlimited push notifications and offline mode are listed on Expand.

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.

Passion.io

• Launch$119

  per month, billed annually ($149 billed monthly)

  Your own app, basic communities and drip content, one-to-one messaging, courses priced up to $10k, email support and 3,000 AI messages. PassionPayments fee 3.9%.

• Scale$279

  per month, billed annually ($349 billed monthly)

  Everything in Launch, plus your own branding, Zapier, advanced communities, DMs and drip content, chat support and 7,500 AI messages.

• Expand$599

  per month, billed annually ($699 billed monthly)

  Everything in Scale, plus an App Store and Google Play listing, Apple and Google Pay, unlimited users, products and videos, offline mode and 20,000 AI messages.

• Passion PlusCustom

  Price agreed on request. Adds custom analytics, fast content migration, app submission by the vendor, a success manager and 60,000 AI messages.

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.

Passion.io

• Annual discount

  Save 20% with yearly billing

  The pricing page says annual billing saves 20% against paying month to month: Launch $119 instead of $149, Scale $279 instead of $349, Expand $599 instead of $699.