Is Skool Worth It? (2026) — It Depends Entirely on One Number
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Skool is worth $9 a month for almost anyone and worth $99 only above about $1,270 in monthly member payments. Here is the honest case against it too.
By Jack Gandolfo · Reviewed
Last updated
Pricing verified Aug 30, 2026 — prices and feature lists were read by hand from skool.com/pricing, circle.so/pricing and kajabi.com/pricing on 30 August 2026. They are reported figures, not captures from our marketplace collectors.
Direct answer: At $9/month, Skool is worth it for nearly anyone who wants a private community with courses attached — that is close to the cheapest serious option on the market and it is the full feature set, not a stripped tier. At $99/month, it is worth it only once you are collecting more than about $1,270 a month in member payments, because that is the point where the lower 2.9% fee pays back the $90 price difference.
If you are not charging members anything, paying $99 buys you nothing that $9 does not. Checked against skool.com/pricing on 30 August 2026.
When is Skool worth it?
| Your situation | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free community, no payments | Worth it on Hobby, $9 | The 10% fee never applies, so the cheap plan is the whole product |
| Paid community under $1,270/month | Worth it on Hobby | The fee costs less than the $90 plan upgrade |
| Paid community over $1,270/month | Worth it on Pro | The 2.9% fee saves more than the upgrade costs |
| You need email marketing and funnels | Not worth it alone | Skool's feature list has none of those; you will pay for a second tool |
| You sell one polished flagship course | Probably not | Skool has no funnel, checkout page builder or drip marketing |
| You need workflows, spaces, admin API | No | Skool's pricing page lists none of those |
Why is Skool cheap?
Because it is narrow. Skool's published feature list is unlimited members, unlimited courses, unlimited videos, unlimited live calls, a custom URL and affiliates. Circle's Professional plan at $89/month lists workflows-adjacent features, gamification, a website builder, a searchable member directory and reporting. Kajabi's cheapest plan is $179/month and includes unlimited marketing email, landing pages and funnels.
Skool is not underpricing the same product. It is selling a smaller one.
What is the honest case against Skool?
- The Hobby fee is real money. 10% of $1,000 in member payments is $100 a month — more than the entire Pro subscription.
- The feature list has no marketing layer. No email sending, no landing pages, no funnels, no automations on the published list. Plan for a second subscription.
- It is opinionated. One feed, one classroom, one calendar. If you wanted separate spaces per cohort with different permissions, Skool's pricing page does not describe that.
- Your community lives on skool.com. A custom URL is listed; a fully branded mobile app is not.
Is Skool worth it compared to the alternatives?
Head-to-head on price, before features: Skool Pro is $99/month, Circle Professional is $89/month (Circle's own footnote states displayed prices are based on annual billing), Circle Business is $199/month, and Kajabi's cheapest plan is $179/month billed monthly. Skool Hobby at $9/month has no equivalent at either competitor.
We go through both properly on Skool vs Circle and Skool vs Kajabi.
The verdict
Start on Hobby at $9/month. That is the recommendation for almost everyone reading this page, and it holds whether your community is free or paid, because below about $1,270 a month in member payments Hobby is the cheaper plan even after the 10% fee. There is no feature you unlock by paying $99 — Skool's own comparison table shows the two plans as identical apart from price and fee. Move to Pro the month your member payments cross that line, not before.
Do not buy Skool at all if the thing you are actually selling is a polished flagship course with a funnel, a checkout page and a drip email sequence. Skool's published feature list has none of those, and no plan adds them. Kajabi is the shape you want. If you need configurable spaces, workflows or an API, Circle is.
For everyone else — you want a private space, courses inside it, and no setup project — the decision is $9 against doing nothing, and Skool offers a free trial before that. There is no version of this where more research changes the arithmetic above.
What we could not verify
Skool's public pricing page does not state refund terms, storage limits, video length limits, or how many communities a subscription includes. Confirm those on the sign-up screen before committing.
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Questions
Is Skool worth the money?
At $9 a month on Hobby, yes for almost anyone wanting a private community with courses, because that plan carries the full feature set. At $99 a month on Pro it is worth it only above roughly $1,270 in monthly member payments, where the lower fee pays back the higher price.
Is Skool worth it if my community is free?
On the $9 Hobby plan, yes. The transaction fee only applies to payments from members, so a free community never pays it and gains nothing from the $99 plan.
What is the main reason not to use Skool?
Skool's published feature list has no marketing email, landing pages, funnels or automation builder, so if you need those you will pay for a second tool alongside it.
Is Skool cheaper than Circle or Kajabi?
Skool Pro is $99 a month, Circle Professional is $89 a month on annual billing, Circle Business is $199, and Kajabi's cheapest plan is $179 billed monthly. Skool's $9 Hobby plan has no equivalent at either competitor.
Is the 10 percent Skool fee a problem?
It is significant once you charge members. Ten percent of $1,000 in monthly member payments is $100, which is more than the entire $99 Pro subscription.
Should I start on Hobby or Pro?
Start on Hobby unless you already collect more than about $1,270 a month from members. The plans are the same software, so upgrading later costs you nothing but the price difference.