Disciple vs Skool Comparison 2026
Disciple's $399 a month, billed yearly, includes a branded app in both stores and takes zero percent of member payments. Skool has no app store presence and two plans with identical features: Hobby at $9 a month takes 10 percent of what members pay, Pro at $99 takes 2.9 percent. By Skool's own math, Pro wins above roughly $1,300 a month in member payments and Hobby wins below it. Disciple's flat fee only makes sense once a community is collecting real money; Skool is the cheaper way to start regardless.
Your community as an app in the app stores
Community, courses and a calendar in one paid space
At a glance
- Skool starts cheaper, at $9.
- Neither has a free tier.
- Disciple takes no share of what you earn. Skool takes 10%.
Side by side
Disciple | Skool | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $399 | From $9 |
| Pricing model | Paid subscription | Paid subscription |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing | Monthly or annual | Monthly or annual |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export |
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.
Skool
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
Why people weigh these two
- Skool instead of Disciple
- Skool puts community, courses and a calendar in one paid space at a low flat price, the cheap end of paid community against Disciple's several hundred a month.
- Disciple instead of Skool
- Disciple ships the community as its own branded app in the app stores, starting at $399, for a creator who wants a phone icon rather than a web page.
Which one should you pick
Buy Disciple if the branded app is the reason you are here and the community is already collecting enough revenue that a real percentage would cost more than a flat fee. It starts at $399 a month billed yearly with nothing taken from what members pay.
Buy Skool if you want to ship this week for $9 a month and worry about the percentage later. Hobby takes 10 percent of member payments; Pro at $99 takes 2.9 percent, and Skool's own numbers say Pro pays for itself above roughly $1,300 a month in member payments. There is no branded app and no real customization on either Skool plan, which is deliberate, not a missing feature.
Common questions
- Which is cheaper to start?
- Skool, by a wide margin: Hobby is $9 a month against Disciple's $399. Skool takes 10 percent of what members pay on that plan, though, where Disciple takes zero percent regardless of tier.
- When does Skool's Pro plan pay for itself over Hobby?
- By Skool's own numbers, above roughly $1,300 a month in member payments. Pro costs $90 more a month than Hobby but cuts the transaction fee from 10 percent to 2.9 percent, so the saving overtakes the extra cost past that point.
- Does Skool have a branded app like Disciple?
- No app store presence is described for Skool at all; it runs as a plain, deliberately uncustomizable web space. Disciple's whole product is a branded app published under your own name in both stores, starting at $399 a month billed yearly.
- Which takes a bigger cut of member payments?
- Skool's Hobby plan, at 10 percent, is the highest cut in this comparison. Its own Pro plan drops that to 2.9 percent for $99 a month. Disciple takes zero percent at any tier, which is the trade for its much higher starting price.
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.