Skool alternatives in 2026: 7 community platforms compared
Skool alternatives compared on price, fees, group chat, email, and phone apps: Eden, Circle, Mighty Networks, Kajabi, Discord, Whop, and Heartbeat.
Skool costs $9 a month plus 10% of each sale, or $99 a month plus 2.9%, with card fees included. It gives you one feed, a classroom, a calendar, and leaderboards. People leave it for three reasons: there's no group chat with channels, there's no email marketing or store, and the Hobby plan's 10% gets expensive. Eden is the best fit if you want chat, a Library (Eden's forum) for posts worth keeping, and events next to your store, courses, and email, from $29 a month plus 5%. Circle is best for a polished community at scale, Mighty Networks for a community-first business, and Discord for free chat. On fees alone, Skool Pro is still hard to beat once a community earns more than about $1,400 a month.
Full disclosure: we make Eden, which is first on this list, and we say plainly where the others are the better pick. Every price below was checked on each company's own pricing page on October 8, 2026.
What Skool does well
- It's simple. One feed, one classroom, one calendar. Members learn it in a minute.
- Courses and community in one place. Lessons sit one tab away from the discussion.
- Leaderboards and levels. Points for posts and likes keep some groups busy, and you can unlock lessons at a level.
- Low fees on Pro. 2.9% + 30¢ per payment, with card processing included.
- Discovery. Skool lists groups in its own directory, so some members find you there.
Why people look for Skool alternatives
- No group chat or channels. Everything lands in one feed. Course talk, wins, and questions all scroll by together.
- No email marketing. No list outside the group, no sequences, no forms.
- No store. Skool sells the group and its courses. Coaching, downloads, and a link in bio live somewhere else.
- 10% on Hobby. At $2,900 a month in sales, that's $290 a month to Skool.
- Points can reward filler. Some members say levels push people to post for likes. See our notes in how to start a paid community.
The short version
| Platform | Best for | Price from | Platform cut per sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | Chat, Library, and events next to your store | $29/mo (Starter) | 5%, or 2% on Max |
| Circle | A polished community at scale | $89/mo, billed yearly | 2% |
| Mighty Networks | A community-first business | $79/mo | 2% |
| Kajabi | The full suite: site, funnels, email | $179/mo | 0% (card fees 2.9% + 30¢) |
| Discord | Free chat for a big, casual group | Free | 10% on Server Subscriptions |
| Whop | Selling access with a marketplace | Free | 0% (2.7% + 30¢ processing) |
| Heartbeat | Channels and docs for small groups | $49/mo (up to 350) | 5% |
| Skool | For reference | $9/mo | 10%, or 2.9% on Pro |
Card processing (Stripe's standard US rate is 2.9% + 30¢) is extra everywhere except Skool, Kajabi, and Whop, whose numbers above already include it.
What a $29 community really costs
Say your community, The Writing Room, has 100 members at $29 a month. That's $2,900 a month in sales. Here's what each platform costs a month with card fees included:
| Platform | You pay a month | How |
|---|---|---|
| Skool Pro | $213 | $99 + 2.9% + 30¢ each, all-in |
| Mighty Networks Launch | $251 | $79 + 2% + Stripe |
| Circle Professional (yearly) | $261 | $89 + 2% + Stripe |
| Eden Starter | $288 | $29 + 5% + Stripe |
| Kajabi Basic | $293 | $179 + Kajabi Payments 2.9% + 30¢ |
| Heartbeat Build | $308 | $49 + 5% + Stripe |
| Skool Hobby | $329 | $9 + 10% + 30¢ each, all-in |
On the community alone, Skool Pro, Mighty, and Circle cost less than Eden at this size. Eden Starter costs less than Skool Pro below about $1,400 a month, less than Mighty Launch below about $1,700, and less than Circle Professional below about $2,000.
Now add the tools you'd still need. Skool has no email marketing, so add Kit (Creator is $39 a month at 1,000 subscribers, paid monthly): $252. Circle's Email Hub adds $99 a month for 10,000 contacts: $360. Eden Starter already includes email to 10,000 contacts with 10,000 sends a month, plus a store, courses, and coaching: $288.
What each one has
| Platform | Group chat with channels | Forum or feed | Events | Courses | Email marketing | Member apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eden | Yes | Library | Yes | Yes | Yes | Eden app, iOS and Android |
| Circle | Yes | Spaces | Yes | Yes | Add-on, $99/mo | Circle app; branded on Plus |
| Mighty Networks | Yes | Feed | Yes | Yes | Connects to Kit | Mighty app; branded on Pro |
| Kajabi | Yes | Feed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Kajabi app; branded on Pro |
| Discord | Yes | Forum channels | Yes | No | No | Discord app |
| Whop | Yes | Forums app | Via apps | Yes | No | Whop app |
| Heartbeat | Yes | Channels | Yes | Yes | Digests, automations | Heartbeat app; branded on Scale |
| Skool | No (DMs only) | One feed | Yes | Yes | No | Skool app |
1. Eden
Eden is a creator store with communities built in. A community is a product in your store, next to your courses, coaching, downloads, newsletter, and Custom AI. Free communities are a $0 product. Paid ones are one-time, monthly, or yearly.
What it does well:
- Chat that feels like Telegram. One chat with channels, each showing its last message. Threads with an inbox, @mentions, photo grids, voice notes, and forwarding a message to another channel.
- A Library that keeps the good answers. Guides, breakdowns, and wins in categories, with pinned posts, covers, and video. Lock a category so only hosts post there.
- Events on members' calendars. One-off or repeating, in an Eden live room or on your own call link, with a private Sync to calendar feed.
- Your store and email in the same place. Courses members get free or can buy, a welcome email, and email filters and sequences for "joins a community." Starter includes 10,000 contacts and 10,000 sends a month.
- On phones. Members chat, read the Library, and see events in the Eden app for iOS and Android.
- A calmer first week. A welcome pop-up, rules to agree to, reminders to new members who haven't come back, and an alert when new people haven't said anything yet.
Where it falls short: no discovery directory, no leaderboards or levels, and no app in your own name (members use the Eden app). Setup and admin tools are on the web. And on fees alone, Circle, Mighty, and Skool Pro keep more of a big community's revenue: Eden takes 5% per sale, or 2% on Max at $199 a month.
Price: Starter $29 a month (1 community), Pro $79 (3 communities), Max $199 (unlimited, 2% per sale). No member caps, and you're never charged per member.
Best for: creators who sell more than the community and want it all in one place. See Eden vs Skool.
2. Circle
Circle is the most polished community platform. Spaces hold posts, chat, events, and courses, and there's live streaming and AI agents for bigger communities.
Where it falls short: email marketing is an add-on ($99 a month for 10,000 contacts), there's no store or link-in-bio page, and an app in your own name needs Circle Plus, which is custom priced. Prices on the page are billed yearly.
Price: Professional $89 a month with 2%, Business $199 with 1%, Scale $419 with 1%, all billed yearly.
Best for: communities large enough to need spaces, structure, and moderation. See Circle alternatives.
3. Mighty Networks
Mighty Networks is built around the community, with courses, events, chat, and live streams inside it.
Where it falls short: no email marketing of its own (it connects to Kit), and an app in your own name needs Mighty Pro, which is custom priced.
Price: Launch $79 a month with 2%, Scale $179 with 1%, Growth $354 with 0.5%.
Best for: a business where the community is the whole product.
4. Kajabi
Kajabi is the full suite: website, funnels, unlimited email, courses, coaching, and communities.
Where it falls short: the price. Basic and Growth include 1 community, and Pro includes 3. Basic stops at 2,500 contacts. See Kajabi alternatives.
Price: Basic $179 a month, Growth $249, Pro $499. Kajabi Payments costs 2.7% to 2.9% + 30¢, with no extra platform cut.
Best for: creators who use a website, funnels, and email every week.
5. Discord
Discord is free and huge. It has text channels, forum channels, voice rooms, and events, and most people already have it on their phone.
Where it falls short: chat moves fast and old answers get lost. There's no checkout of its own beyond Server Subscriptions, which keep 10% and launched for owners in the US. Most paid Discords sell through Whop, Patreon, or LaunchPass. No courses and no email.
Price: free.
Best for: a large free community, or a paid one you run through another checkout.
6. Whop
Whop sells access to communities, courses, and software, with its own chat, forums, and courses apps, and a Discover marketplace that can bring buyers.
Where it falls short: payout fees ($2.50 for a next-day bank transfer), 1.5% more on international cards, and no email marketing. See Whop alternatives.
Price: free. 2.7% + 30¢ per domestic card sale.
Best for: selling access with no monthly bill, or when Discover brings you buyers.
7. Heartbeat
Heartbeat organizes a community into chat channels, post channels, documents, courses, and events.
Where it falls short: the Build plan stops at 350 members and takes 5%, and an app in your own name needs Scale at $849 a month.
Price: Build $49 a month with 5%, Grow $149 with 2.5%, Scale $849 with 1.25%.
Best for: a small, organized group that wants channels and docs.
Which one should you pick?
- Choose Eden if you want chat, a Library, and events next to your store, courses, and email, and members on iOS and Android.
- Choose Circle if you run a large community and want the most structure.
- Choose Mighty Networks if the community is the whole business.
- Choose Kajabi if you'll use its website, funnels, and email every week.
- Choose Discord if the community is free and big, and fast chat is fine.
- Choose Whop if you want no monthly fee or a marketplace.
- Choose Heartbeat if your group is small and likes channels and docs.
- Stay on Skool if your group lives in its feed, Skool's directory brings you members, or you earn well past $1,400 a month and fees are what matter most.
How to move from Skool to Eden
- 01
Make the community
In Your store, go to Communities and click New community. Name it and price it on the Offer step.
- 02
Set it up
On the Community step, add channels and Library categories, a welcome line, and your rules. Add your courses on the Courses step.
- 03
Publish and invite
Finish Page and Publish. Post the link in your Skool group and email it to your list. Keep Skool running until people have moved.
Full steps in how to start a paid community.
Frequently asked questions
What's the cheapest Skool alternative?
Discord and Whop have no monthly fee. For a paid community, Skool Pro's 2.9% + 30¢ all-in is among the lowest fees anywhere. Eden Starter ($29 + 5%) costs less than Skool Pro below about $1,400 a month in sales, and less than Skool Hobby above about $950.
Which Skool alternative has group chat?
Eden, Circle, Mighty Networks, Discord, Whop, and Heartbeat all have group chat with channels. Skool has one feed and direct messages.
Which Skool alternative has email marketing built in?
Eden and Kajabi. Circle sells it as an add-on. Skool, Discord, and Whop have none.
Does Eden have leaderboards like Skool?
No. Eden has no points, levels, or leaderboards.
Sources: Skool pricing, Skool payments FAQ, Circle pricing, Mighty Networks pricing, Kajabi pricing, Whop fees, Heartbeat pricing, Kit pricing. Checked October 8, 2026.
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