# SchoolMaker review (2026): is it worth $29 a month? > Course platform with milestones, community, coaching and AI coaches Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. SchoolMaker is a course platform where lessons are organized as steps and milestones, with a built-in community, live sessions, coaching and testimonial collection. Plans are priced by member count and charge no transaction fee. Connected AI coaches can answer students from course content. - **Category:** Courses & Communities - **Made by:** SchoolMaker - **Website:** https://schoolmaker.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Tight if you grow, because plans cap members from 100 to 5,000 and above that you contact the vendor. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, SchoolMaker is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $29 per month, billed monthly. - **Pricing model:** Free trial - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** 14-day free trial. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Lite | $29 per month for up to 100 members, billed monthly | 1 course, 1 owner account, 100 GB storage and a SchoolMaker badge that stays on. Only for new customers. | | Starter | $99 per month for up to 500 members, billed monthly | 15 courses, 5 team accounts, unlimited storage and free migration. | | Pro | $165 per month for up to 2,500 members, billed monthly | 30 courses, 10 team accounts, priority support and free migration. | | Business | $249 per month for up to 5,000 members, billed monthly | Unlimited courses and team accounts, extra member packs, priority support and free migration. | Read from https://schoolmaker.com/pricing on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with SchoolMaker before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Annual billing saving** (Annual discount): The page lists a saving with annual billing: $120 a year on Lite, $240 on Starter, $408 on Pro and $600 on Business. Source: https://schoolmaker.com/pricing ## Key features - **Steps and milestones:** Courses are built as step-by-step journeys with milestones that students work through. - **Built-in community:** A community space for students inside the school, on every plan. - **Live sessions and coaching:** Consultations, live sessions and coaching, with Zoom or Google Meet links. - **AI coaches:** AI coaches that answer from course content: 10 on Lite, up to 30 on Business. - **Checkout and referrals:** Native checkout through Stripe, with no transaction fee from SchoolMaker. - **API, MCP and webhooks:** API, MCP server and webhooks on every plan, plus Zapier and Make. ## Good for - Coaches and experts who want a gamified course with a community and live support - Creators who want pricing tied to member count, not a share of sales ## Worth knowing - Plans cap members (100 to 5,000) and courses; above 5,000 members the vendor asks you to contact it. - The Lite plan keeps a SchoolMaker badge on and is only open to new customers. - The page offers annual billing with a stated saving, but the monthly price is the one recorded here. - Business is the only plan that includes extra member packs. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. SchoolMaker is a course platform with milestones, a community, coaching sessions and AI coaches. Lite at $29 a month keeps a SchoolMaker badge, is capped at 100 members and is only open to new customers, and a real business lands on Starter at $99. - **Value for money: C.** Lite is $29 a month, inside the cheaper quarter, but it has a badge, 100 members and is for new customers only. Starter is $99, Pro $165 and Business $249. - **Free plan and trial: C.** 14-day free trial. No free plan, and the listing does not say a card is needed. - **Features: C.** Steps and milestones, community, live sessions, AI coaches, checkout, referrals, an API and webhooks. Members and courses are capped on every plan. - **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. You build the school and its steps yourself. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, with 8 integrations and an API on record. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from SchoolMaker's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among course and community platforms - SchoolMaker's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 14 of the 41 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 11. - It stands best on platforms and integrations (B, above 6 of 41) and worst on features (C, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $29 a month, against a middle price of $49 for the category: 7 of the 36 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 2 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/courses-communities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace SchoolMaker you would be making live video to hundreds of people at once. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $348 a year. - You could make: Online courses: an app builder makes this well. - You could not: Live video to hundreds of people at once. - You could not: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Stripe, Zapier and Make among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. - You could not: People on the other end: coaches and live sessions. No app builder makes those. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Stripe, Zapier, Make, ThriveCart, Wistia, Vimeo, Google Meet, OpenAI **Tags:** Online courses, Community, AI features, Public API, Webinars ## Alternatives - [Thinkific](https://toolgpa.com/tools/thinkific): Course, community and membership platform for experts and academies. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/schoolmaker-vs-thinkific) - [Teachable](https://toolgpa.com/tools/teachable): Online course, coaching and membership platform with its own checkout. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/schoolmaker-vs-teachable) - [Podia](https://toolgpa.com/tools/podia): Website, store, courses, community and email for creators in one place. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/podia-vs-schoolmaker) - [Kajabi](https://toolgpa.com/tools/kajabi): All-in-one platform for selling courses, coaching and communities. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kajabi-vs-schoolmaker) - [Heights Platform](https://toolgpa.com/tools/heights-platform): Course, challenge and community platform with built-in AI tools. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/heights-platform-vs-schoolmaker) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://schoolmaker.com/ - https://schoolmaker.com/pricing - https://schoolmaker.com/integrations Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/schoolmaker Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).