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Skool

Community platform with courses, events and paid memberships

Free trial · from $9/moCoursesChecked Oct 17, 20263.8 on the App Store
Visit skool.comFree guide

Skool report card

2.4GPA

Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Oct 17, 2026

Best for a paid community with courses inside

Skool is a community first: a discussion feed, a classroom of courses, a calendar and live calls, with points and levels to keep people posting. Once you're selling, Pro is cheap next to other community platforms. But it's deliberately simple, with no email, landing pages or quizzes, and payments only go through Skool.

Who Skool is for

  • Great if your business is a paid community and the course is part of the membership
  • Handy when you run group coaching with regular live calls
  • Good for owners who'd like members to find them in Skool's own directory

Who Skool is not for

  • 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 or landing pages, which aren't in the listing
  • Tight if you leave Growth Boost on, since it takes 30% of recurring charges from members it brings

Why Skool gets a 2.4

Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.

  • BValue for moneyGraded 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 beats Mighty ($119), Circle ($129) and Heartbeat ($140).
  • CFree plan and trialNo 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.
  • CFeaturesA 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.
  • CEase of use3.84 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.
  • BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, iPhone and Android, so members can join from anywhere. Integrations are thin, though: Zapier only, and only on Pro. No desktop app, which an A needs.

What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Skool's own pages on 17 October 2026, and its App Store rating. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.

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Where Skool stands among course and community platforms

Skool's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 8 of the 18 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 6.

It stands best on value for money (B, above 17 of 18) and worst on features (C, above 0).

Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $41 for the category: 0 of the 17 others that charge start lower.

On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

Each grade against the category

Every bar is all 19 course and community platforms we grade, cut by the letter each got. Skool’s own letter is outlined.

  • BValue for moneyAbove 17 of 18
  • CFree plan and trialAbove 3 of 18, level with 13
  • CFeaturesAbove 0 of 18, level with 9
  • CEase of useAbove 0 of 18, level with 15
  • BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 18, level with 17

Price against what you get

Each dot is one of 19 course and community platforms. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

C2.0B3.0A4.0Free$5$10$20$50$100$200$500More for lessCosts more, scores moreCosts less, scores lessCosts more, scores lessSkool

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
The full chart, and the best course and community platforms at every price

Keep Skool, or make your own?

Your call

You could make the core of Skool for yourself: online courses.

What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $108 a year.

What you could make

  • Online courses: an app builder makes this well.

What you could not

  • A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to.
  • A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.

What this rests on. Skool’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.

What is Skool?

Skool is a community-first platform where creators run a group with a discussion feed, a classroom of courses, a calendar of events and live calls. Members can be charged a subscription or a one-time course price, with payments, EU VAT and weekly payouts handled by Skool. Groups can also be found by members browsing Skool's own discovery pages.

Skool is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $9 per month, billed monthly. See every plan

Good for

  • Creators building a paid community around a topic, with courses inside
  • Coaches running group programs with live calls
  • Owners who want members to find them through Skool's own directory

Worth knowing

  • 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

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.

Skool pricing

Starts at
$9 per month, billed monthly
Free plan
None
Free trial
14-day free trial of either plan
Hobby$9per month, billed monthlyUnlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. Skool keeps 10% plus 30 cents of each sale. No custom URL, affiliates or Zapier.
Pro$99per month, billed monthlyAdds 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.

Read from skool.com on Oct 17, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Skool before you buy.

Pricing in detail

Ways to pay less

  • Annual discount2 months free with yearly billing

    Skool's pricing page has a monthly and yearly switch and says yearly billing gives 2 months free.

    Stated on skool.com

How people rate the Skool app

3.8

out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app

  1. 5 stars62%
  2. 4 stars6%
  3. 3 stars5%
  4. 2 stars6%
  5. 1 star20%

782 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Oct 17, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing

Skool reviews, and where to read more

Works with

Skool alternatives

All Skool alternatives comparedAll course and community platforms

Common questions

Is Skool free?

No, Skool is a paid product, but you can try it first. 14-day free trial of either plan.

How much does Skool cost?

Skool lists 2 plans. Hobby: $9 per month, billed monthly. Pro: $99 per month, billed monthly. Prices were read from skool.com on Oct 17, 2026.

What platforms does Skool work on?

Skool is available on Web, iOS and Android.

Does Skool offer any discounts?

Skool publicly lists the following: 2 months free with yearly billing.

How is Skool rated?

Skool's iPhone and iPad app averages 3.8 out of 5 from 782 ratings on the App Store in the United States, as read on Oct 17, 2026. That is the store's rating of the app, not a score from us.

Does Skool have a Windows app?

No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Skool is listed for Web, iOS and Android.

Does Skool have a macOS app?

No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 17, 2026. Skool is listed for Web, iOS and Android.

Is Skool open source?

Skool is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Oct 17, 2026.

What does Skool integrate with?

Skool's listing names Zapier. A listing names up to eight integrations, so it may connect to more.

Who makes Skool?

Skool is made by Skool.com, Inc. It dates from 2019.

What are the alternatives to Skool?

The closest alternatives to Skool in our directory are Circle, Mighty Networks, Heartbeat, Kajabi and Disco. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with Skool.

How does Skool compare with other course and community platforms?

Skool's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 8 of the 18 other course and community platforms we grade, and level with 6. It stands best on value for money (B, above 17 of 18) and worst on features (C, above 0).

Is Skool good value for money?

ToolGPA grades Skool B for value for money. Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $41 for the category: 0 of the 17 others that charge start lower. On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price.

Could I make my own version of Skool?

You could make the core of Skool for yourself: online courses. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $108 a year. What you could not make: A members' space with posts, chat and events that people keep coming back to. A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page. This is a judgement from its listing. We have not built one.

Sources for this page

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 17, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.