Disciple vs Heartbeat Comparison 2026
Disciple charges $399 a month billed yearly for a branded app in both stores and takes zero percent of what members pay. Heartbeat charges $49 a month and takes 5 percent of what members pay on its entry plan, falling to 2.5 percent on Grow at $149 and 1.25 percent on Scale at $849, with courses, events and a member directory built in. Disciple's fixed cost only wins for a community already collecting real revenue. Heartbeat's percentage model costs less below that line and adds courses Disciple does not have at all.
Your community as an app in the app stores
A community with courses and events built in
At a glance
- Heartbeat starts cheaper, at $49.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Disciple takes no share of what you earn. Heartbeat takes 5%.
Side by side
Disciple | Heartbeat | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $399 | From $49 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | Free trial, then paid |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | 14 days |
| API | Yes |
Disciple
Your community as an app in the app stores
Disciple builds a branded community app and puts it in the Apple and Google stores under your name, rather than sending members to a website that happens to work on a phone. It takes nothing from what members pay, which matters at the price it charges. That price starts at several hundred a month, so it is a business decision rather than an experiment.
Our note
Zero transaction fees against a high fixed cost is the whole shape of this, and it favours communities already collecting real money. Below roughly $8,000 a month in member revenue, a platform taking a percentage costs less.
Heartbeat
A community with courses and events built in
Heartbeat runs channels, threads, events, courses and a member directory in one place, which is the shape most creator communities end up wanting after outgrowing a Discord server. Payments run through it and it takes a cut that falls as the plan rises. There is no free plan, and a community that stops paying is deactivated rather than frozen.
Our note
Why people weigh these two
- Heartbeat instead of Disciple
- Heartbeat includes courses and events in the community from $49 a month with a free trial, suited to proving paid community before Disciple money makes sense.
- Disciple instead of Heartbeat
- Disciple turns your community into an app in the app stores at $399 a month, a different budget class than Heartbeat's $49.
Which one should you pick
Buy Disciple if your community already collects meaningful revenue and you want a branded app with no cut taken from members at all. It has no free tier, starts at $399 a month billed yearly, and its own numbers put the flat fee ahead of a percentage-based rival above roughly $8,000 a month in member revenue.
Buy Heartbeat if courses and live events need to live in the same place as the discussion, and the fixed cost needs to stay low while the community is smaller. Build is $49 a month plus 5 percent, dropping to 2.5 percent on Grow at $149. By Heartbeat's own math, Grow costs less in total than Build once a community collects around $5,000 a month, so run that number before picking a tier.
Common questions
- Which one takes a cut of what members pay?
- Heartbeat does, from 5 percent on its $49 a month Build plan down to 1.25 percent on the $849 Scale plan. Disciple takes zero percent on every tier, which is most of what its higher starting price of $399 a month buys.
- Which one includes courses?
- Heartbeat. Lessons and threads live in the same place, alongside events with a calendar and a member directory. Disciple's feature list does not mention courses at all; it is built around the branded app, livestreaming and the community itself.
- At what point does Disciple's flat fee beat a percentage-based plan?
- By Disciple's own guidance, roughly $8,000 a month in member revenue is where its zero-percent, $399-a-month plan starts costing less than a rival taking a real percentage. Below that line, Heartbeat's lower fixed cost and rising-but-real cut is likely cheaper in total.
- Does either have a free plan to test first?
- Neither does. Heartbeat gives 14 days with no card required, after which an upgraded plan is needed or the community is deactivated. Disciple states no free trial at all; the cheapest way in is the $399 a month plan billed yearly.
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