Best Skool Alternatives 2026

Best Skool alternatives in 2026

So you're looking at alternatives to Skool. Maybe you've read my Skool review and decided it's not for you. Maybe you want to compare before committing. Or maybe you're already on Skool and wondering if the grass is greener somewhere else.

Whatever the reason, I've done the research so you don't have to. I've looked at the pricing, features, and what each platform is actually good at. Not just copied what's on their marketing pages.

A quick note before we get into it. I use Skool myself and I'm an affiliate for it. So you should know that going in. But I'm not going to pretend Skool is perfect for everyone, because it isn't. Some of these alternatives genuinely do certain things better. I'll be honest about that.

If you want to know what Skool costs, I've written a full pricing breakdown here. For now let's look at what else is out there.

Quick comparison

Now let's go through each one properly.

1. Circle ($89-$419/month)

Circle is probably the most direct competitor to Skool. It's a community platform with courses, discussions, and events. If you've seen any "Skool alternatives" lists, Circle is always on them.

Circle pricing

• Professional: $89/month (annual billing), 2% transaction fee, 200GB storage
• Business: $199/month (annual), 1% transaction fee, 500GB storage, automations and workflows
• Enterprise: $419/month (annual), 0.5% transaction fee

They also have Circle Plus for custom branded mobile apps, but that's custom pricing.

Circle offers a 14-day free trial plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. So you have plenty of time to test it.

What Circle does better than Skool

Circle gives you way more control over branding and customisation. Your community can look like your own thing rather than just another Skool group. On the Business plan you get workflows and automation which Skool doesn't have at all. The course tools are also more feature-rich.

If you want to add email marketing, Circle has an Email Hub add-on for $99/month (10,000 contacts). Skool has nothing like this.

What Skool does better than Circle

Price. Skool starts at $9/month. Circle starts at $89/month. That's a big gap.

Skool also has gamification built in. Points, levels, leaderboards. This stuff sounds gimmicky but it actually works for keeping members engaged. Circle doesn't have this.

Who should use Circle

Circle is for creators who have outgrown simpler platforms and want a polished, branded community experience. If you're making decent revenue and want more control, Circle makes sense. If you're just getting started, the price is hard to justify.

2. Mighty Networks ($41-$360/month)

Mighty Networks has been around for a while and they've positioned themselves as the mobile-first community platform. Their big selling point is that you get a real native mobile app on every plan.

Mighty Networks pricing

• Community: $41/month (annual), 3% transaction fee
• Courses: $99/month (annual), 2% transaction fee
• Business: $179/month (annual), 2% transaction fee
• Growth: $360/month flat rate

There's also Mighty Pro at around $17,000/year if you want a fully custom branded app. That's not a typo.

They offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

What Mighty Networks does better than Skool

The mobile app. Mighty Networks has a proper native app on iOS and Android, and they say 60% of member activity happens on mobile. Skool has a mobile app too, but Mighty Networks has been doing this longer and it shows.

They also have drip content and structured learning paths which give you more control over how members work through your courses.

What Skool does better than Mighty Networks

To get courses on Mighty Networks you need the $99/month plan. On Skool you get courses on the $9/month Hobby plan. The Community-only plan at $41/month doesn't include course features.

Skool's gamification is also better. Mighty Networks has some engagement features but nothing as built-in as Skool's points and leaderboards.

Who should use Mighty Networks

If mobile experience is your top priority and you can afford the $99/month Courses plan, Mighty Networks is solid. The free trial with no credit card is nice too. But for the price, Skool gives you more out of the box.

3. Kajabi ($143-$399/month)

Kajabi is the big one. It's not really a community platform. It's an all-in-one business platform that happens to include community features. Think courses, email marketing, website builder, funnels, and payments all in one place.

Kajabi pricing

• Basic: $143/month (annual), 5 products, 2,500 contacts
• Growth: $199/month (annual), 50 products, 25,000 contacts
• Pro: $399/month (annual), unlimited products, 100,000 contacts, branded mobile app

Kajabi increased their prices in January 2026. So if you've seen older articles quoting cheaper numbers, those are outdated.

Transaction fees are 2.7-2.9% plus $0.30 through Kajabi Payments. If you use Stripe or PayPal directly, they add 0.5-5% on top of the processor fees.

What Kajabi does better than Skool

Everything that isn't community. Email marketing, landing pages, sales funnels, checkout pages, website builder. If you want one platform to run your entire online business, Kajabi does that. Skool does community and courses. That's it.

Kajabi also includes unlimited emails on all plans. On Skool, if you want to email your members you need a separate tool.

What Skool does better than Kajabi

Community and price. Skool's community features are better. The gamification, the simplicity, the engagement tools. Kajabi's community feels bolted on because it kind of is.

And then there's the price. Skool starts at $9/month. Kajabi starts at $143/month. If all you need is a community with courses, paying Kajabi prices makes no sense.

Who should use Kajabi

Established course creators who need an all-in-one platform and are already making money. If you need email marketing, sales funnels, and a website builder alongside your community, Kajabi is the play. If you just want a community, it's massive overkill.

4. Teachable ($29-$309/month)

Teachable is a course platform first and foremost. They have some community features but they're not the main event. If you're comparing it to Skool, think of it as the opposite approach. Teachable is courses-first with community added on. Skool is community-first with courses added on.

Teachable pricing

• Starter: $29/month (annual), 7.5% transaction fee
• Builder: $69/month (annual), 0% transaction fee
• Growth: $139/month (annual), 0% transaction fee
• Advanced: $309/month (annual), 0% transaction fee

The 7.5% transaction fee on Starter is rough. If you're making money on your courses, you probably want the Builder plan at $69/month to drop that to 0%.

They offer a 7-day free trial with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

What Teachable does better than Skool

Course delivery. Quizzes, certificates, completion tracking, structured modules. If you're selling a proper online course with assessments and progression, Teachable is built for that. Skool's course features are simpler.

The Builder plan at $69/month with 0% transaction fees is also a decent deal if courses are your main thing.

What Skool does better than Teachable

Community. It's not even close. Teachable's community features are basic. No gamification, no real engagement tools. If you want people talking to each other and coming back regularly, Skool wins easily.

Skool also has a native mobile app. Teachable is mainly web-based.

Who should use Teachable

Course creators who want structured, assessment-heavy courses and don't care much about community. If you're selling a certification course or a course with quizzes and grading, Teachable does that better than Skool.

5. Discord (Free)

Discord is the wildcard on this list. It's completely free, has 200 million monthly active users, and can do a lot of what paid platforms do. Just not as neatly.

Discord pricing

• Free: Unlimited members, channels, voice and video
• Nitro Basic: $2.99/month
• Nitro Full: $9.99/month

For monetisation, Discord has Server Subscriptions where you set tiers between $2.99-$199.99/month. Discord takes 10% of subscription revenue.

They also have Server Shops for selling digital products.

What Discord does better than Skool

It's free. That's the big one. You can run a community of thousands of people without paying a penny. The voice and video channels are great for live hangouts. The bot ecosystem means you can automate almost anything.

Real-time chat is also something Discord does well. Skool's community feed is more like a forum. Discord feels more like a group chat.

What Skool does better than Discord

Organisation and professionalism. Discord servers can get messy fast. Channels everywhere, notifications flying around, new members don't know where to look. Skool is much cleaner.

Skool has built-in courses. Discord has nothing like this. You'd need to use a separate platform for course content.

And the gamification. Skool's points and leaderboards work straight out of the box. On Discord you'd need to set up bots to get anything similar.

Who should use Discord

If you have no budget and don't need courses, Discord is a solid free option. It's also good if your audience is already on Discord (gaming, tech, crypto communities). But if you want something that looks professional and has courses built in, Skool is worth the $9/month.

6. Heartbeat ($49-$849/month)

Heartbeat is a newer platform that's trying to sit between Skool and Circle. Clean interface, community and courses, events, and monetisation tools.

Heartbeat pricing

• Build: $49/month, 350 member cap, 5% transaction fee
• Grow: $149/month, 5,000 member cap, 2.5% transaction fee, 50 hours video hosting
• Scale: $849/month, unlimited members, 1.25% transaction fee, 200 hours video hosting

That Build plan cap of 350 members is something to watch out for. And the 5% transaction fee on top of Stripe fees is steep.

They do offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card.

What Heartbeat does better than Skool

The interface is clean and modern. They have voice channels and co-working rooms which is a nice touch. Cohort-based courses with drip content give you more control than Skool's course setup.

Heartbeat also runs under your own domain which is good for branding.

What Skool does better than Heartbeat

Here's the big one. Heartbeat's native mobile app is only available on the Scale plan. That's $849/month. On Skool you get a mobile app on the $9/month plan. That's a massive difference.

The member cap on the Build plan (350) is also limiting. Skool gives you unlimited members on every plan.

And gamification. Skool has it. Heartbeat doesn't.

Who should use Heartbeat

If you want a modern-looking community platform and you're comfortable spending $149/month or more, Heartbeat is worth a look. But the mobile app situation is a dealbreaker for most people. $849/month just to get a native app is hard to justify when Skool includes one for $9.

What about Geneva?

You might see Geneva on other "Skool alternatives" lists. Don't bother. Geneva was acquired by Bumble in 2024 and rebranded as "BFF: Make Friends" in September 2025. It's now a social networking app for making friends, not a community platform for creators. No monetisation, no courses, no community management tools.

A lot of articles out there haven't been updated to reflect this. So if you see Geneva recommended as a Skool alternative, that article is out of date.

So which one should you pick?

Here's how I'd think about it.

Pick Skool if you want the simplest, cheapest way to run a community with courses. The $9/month Hobby plan is hard to beat and the gamification features genuinely help with engagement. Check out my full Skool review and pricing breakdown for more.

Pick Circle if you need more customisation and branding than Skool offers and you can afford $89/month or more.

Pick Mighty Networks if mobile experience is your top priority and you need courses (at $99/month+).

Pick Kajabi if you need an all-in-one platform with email marketing, funnels, and website builder. Only makes sense if you're already making money.

Pick Teachable if you're selling structured courses with assessments and don't care much about community.

Pick Discord if you have no budget and your audience is already there.

Skip Heartbeat unless you're comfortable paying $149/month+ and don't need a mobile app (or can afford $849/month for one).

For most people starting out, I'd say try Skool's 14-day free trial first. At $9/month it's the lowest risk option and you can always switch later if you outgrow it. I've been using it for a while and written about how to make money on the platform if you want the full picture.