LaunchPass vs Skool (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Skool grades higher than LaunchPass: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Skool grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LaunchPass
Charge for access to Discord, Telegram and Slack communities
Skool
Community platform with courses, events and paid memberships
Which one is for you
Pick LaunchPass if
- Fits if your community already lives on Discord or Telegram
- Works for creators who want to charge monthly for access
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a place to host the community, as it only gates other apps
- Pricey if you sell a lot, as 3.5% comes on top of $29 and Stripe's fees
- Tight if you stay on Basic, as billing, coupons, trials and analytics are Premium
- Watch out: it works with Discord, Telegram and Slack only
Pick Skool if
- Fits if your business is a paid community and the course is part of the membership
- Works for group coaching with regular live calls, which are unlimited on Skool itself
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to use your own Stripe account, as payments go through Skool only
- Not for you if you need email campaigns, landing pages or quizzes, which aren't in the listing
- Tight if you leave Growth Boost on, since it takes 30% of recurring charges from members it brings
- Pricey if you sell on Hobby, which keeps 10% plus 30 cents of every sale
- Watch out: a custom URL, affiliates and Zapier need Pro, and Skool gives no refunds on its fees
How we grade them
| 2.0GPALaunchPassFair | 2.4GPASkoolFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPremium is $29 a month, between the cheaper quarter ($20) and the middle ($37), plus a 3.5% fee and Stripe's fees. | BGraded against its alternatives, community platforms. Pro is $99 a month, $82.50 with yearly billing's 2 months free, and its 2.9% + 30 cents is card processing; Hobby's 10% would add $200 on $2,000 of sales. $82.50 is below Mighty ($119), Circle ($129) and Heartbeat ($140). |
| Free plan and trial | CThe Basic plan has no cap on free members but cannot charge for access; a 14-day Premium trial exists. | CNo free plan. There's a 14-day trial of either plan, and the listing doesn't say it needs a card. Skool's payment policy gives no refunds on its fees after that. |
| Features | DOne narrow job: gating Discord, Telegram and Slack access. It needs one of them to be useful at all, and does not host a community. | CA feed, chat, a classroom of courses, a calendar, unlimited live calls on Skool itself, points and levels, payments with EU VAT and a discovery directory. It does the community job fully, but it's a smaller kit: no email, landing pages or quizzes in the listing. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You connect Discord or Telegram and Stripe, and set tiers. | C3.84 from 782 App Store ratings, just inside the C band. Starting a group looks simple, with a feed, a classroom and a calendar and nothing to wire up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, with Discord, Telegram, Slack and Stripe listed. | BWeb, iPhone and Android. Integrations are thin: Zapier only, and only on Pro. No desktop app, which an A needs. |
| Best for | charging for access to Discord, Telegram or Slack | a paid community with courses inside |
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: LaunchPass and Skool. How we grade
Price against what you get
LaunchPass starts at $29 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Skool starts at $9 a month and scores 2.3.
Skool scores higher and starts $20 a month lower. Of the other course and community platforms on the chart, 23 score higher than LaunchPass for less, and 1 scores higher than Skool 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
- LaunchPass also covers reports.
- Skool also covers online courses.
At a glance
| LaunchPass | Skool | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $29 per month, plus 3.5% transaction fee | $9 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | Basic plan: unlimited free members, automated invites, a customizable invite page and one-click sign-up on and off. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial on Premium | 14-day free trial of either plan |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | LaunchPass | Skool.com, Inc. |
| Price read from | launchpass.com | skool.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Worth knowing
LaunchPass
- Premium adds a 3.5% transaction fee on top of the $29 monthly price; Stripe fees apply as well.
- It works with Discord, Telegram and Slack only; it does not host a community of its own.
- Coupons, free trials, tiers and analytics are Premium features, not part of Basic.
Skool
- Hobby keeps 10% plus 30 cents of every sale. Payments go through Skool only; your own Stripe account cannot be connected.
- Growth Boost is on by default and takes 30% of recurring charges from members Skool brings in; it can be turned off.
- A custom URL, the affiliate program and the Zapier integration need the Pro plan.
- Skool's payment policy gives no refunds on its subscription fees.
Key features
LaunchPass
- Paid access to chat communities
- Connect Discord, Telegram or Slack and Stripe, then charge for access with no coding.
- Flexible subscription options
- Set your own prices, charge weekly, monthly or yearly, and offer free trials and coupons on Premium.
- Multi-tier access
- Run paid and free access in the same community, with different tiers mapped to different access.
- Automatic removal on cancel
- On Discord, a cancelled subscription triggers a kick or role removal automatically.
- Branded invite page and widget
- Create a custom invite page, or embed the sign-up widget on a page you already have.
- Analytics and affiliates
- A dashboard with an activity feed, conversion tracking and affiliate integration, on Premium.
Skool
- Community feed and chat
- A discussion feed organized by categories, with group rules, moderation tools, membership questions and member chat.
- Classroom
- Courses inside the group, which can be included in a membership, sold as one-time purchases, or unlocked as members reach a level.
- Calendar and live calls
- A group calendar of events and unlimited live calls hosted on Skool itself, from the browser or the mobile app.
- Points, levels and leaderboards
- Members earn a point for each like their posts and comments get, and climb levels and leaderboards; owners can lock courses until a level.
- Payments and payouts
- Monthly, annual, freemium or one-time pricing. Skool processes cards, adds and remits EU VAT, and pays out weekly in local currency.
- Discovery and Growth Boost
- Groups can appear in Skool's discovery search. Growth Boost promotes a group and runs ads for it in exchange for a cut of members it brings.
Plans
LaunchPass
Basic$0
Free forever. Automated invites for free members, a customizable invite page and a custom description.
Premium$29
per month, plus 3.5% transaction fee
One-time and recurring billing, coupons, free trials, multi-tier access, an embeddable widget and analytics.
Skool
Hobby$9
per month, billed monthly
Unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. Skool keeps 10% plus 30 cents of each sale. No custom URL, affiliates or Zapier.
Pro$99
per month, billed monthly
Adds a custom URL, affiliates and Zapier. Fees fall to 2.9% plus 30 cents a sale up to $899, and 3.9% plus 30 cents above $900.
Ways to pay less
LaunchPass
No public discounts listed.
Skool
- Annual discount
2 months free with yearly billing
Skool's pricing page has a monthly and yearly switch and says yearly billing gives 2 months free.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LaunchPass or Skool?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Skool is cheaper to start with: $9 a month, against $29 a month for LaunchPass. LaunchPass starts at $29 per month, plus 3.5% transaction fee, and Skool starts at $9 per month, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, LaunchPass or Skool?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only LaunchPass has a free plan. Skool does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do LaunchPass and Skool run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Skool lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.