Growing an audience
Running the business
Both cover community platforms and courses & coaching. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
| Circle | Skool | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $89 | From $9 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | 14 days | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Some of it | Not stated |
| Their cut | 2% of what you earn | 10% of what you earn |
| Runs on | Not stated | Not stated |
| Covers | Community Platforms, Courses & Coaching | Community Platforms, Courses & Coaching, Memberships & Subscriptions |
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
| Live deals | 1 | None right now |
Community software that looks like yours, not ours
Circle gives you spaces, events, courses and live streams under your own branding and domain. It is the more configurable answer to Skool, and the price reflects that. Worth it once a community is paying for itself.
Our note
The right answer when the community has to look like it belongs to you, and an expensive one before that is true. Against Skool it is more money and more control, which is the entire difference between them.
Community, courses and a calendar in one paid space
Skool puts a forum, a course player and events behind one membership. The interface is deliberately plain, which keeps people posting, and there is very little customization by design. Both plans take a percentage of what members pay, which is the part of the pricing that has changed most since Skool launched.
Our note
Skool was worth recommending when it was one flat fee, and the two-tier pricing has made it a calculation instead. Run the $1,300 sum against your own numbers before picking a plan, and look at Circle instead if the community needs to look like yours.
Only on this side
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.