Skool vs Circle: Building a Paid Community in 2025

Ready to build a thriving paid online community? Choosing the right platform between Skool and Circle is key.

Both offer great features, but which is best for you?

This post breaks down Skool vs Circle strengths and weaknesses, focusing on pricing, ease of use, and engagement tools.

By the end, you’ll confidently choose the platform to set your community up for success.

Skool vs Circle: Overview

To give you the most accurate comparison, I dove deep into both platforms.

This included exploring their features firsthand, comparing pricing plans, and even testing out their community engagement tools. Let’s see how they stack up!

But first, it’s important to understand that Skool and Circle, while both community platforms, have slightly different focuses.

Skool is geared towards course creators who want to build a community around their courses.

While Circle caters to a wider range of communities, including those not centered around courses.

What is Skool?

Ever wished for a platform that combines courses and community?

That’s Skool in a nutshell. It’s designed for creators who want to teach and build a tight-knit community around their content.

Think of it as a blend of your favorite online course platform with a social media feel.

Key Benefits

Skool shines in a few key areas:

• Simple setup: Get your community up and running in minutes, seriously.
• Built-in courses: No need for separate course platforms. It’s all here.
• Gamified challenges: Boost engagement with fun challenges and contests.
• Direct messaging: Connect with members one-on-one.
• No transaction fees: Keep more of your earnings.

Pricing

Skool keeps it simple with just two pricing tiers:

• $99/month: 1 group, All features, Unlimited courses, Unlimited members, 2.9% transaction fee.

What is Circle?

We are looking for a versatile platform to host your community.

Circle might be your answer. It’s designed for a wide range of communities, from membership sites and coaching programs to online courses and fan clubs.

Think of it as your own customizable online space to connect and engage.

Key Benefits

Here’s where Circle truly shines:

• Customization: Make your community truly your own with extensive branding and design options.
• Rich feature set: From events and live streams to memberships and paywalls, Circle has it all.
• Powerful integrations: Connect with your favorite tools like Zapier, Mailchimp, and more.
• Mobile app: Keep the conversation going with dedicated iOS and Android apps.
• White-label option: For those who want complete control over branding.

Pricing

Circle offers a tiered pricing structure with a free trial to get you started:

• professional: $89 per month for Rich member profiles, Searchable member directory, Events, and Discussions.
• Business: $199 per month for Courses, Live stream, Live rooms, Unlimited members, and Custom branding.
• Enterpeise: $360 per month for Workflows, Custom profile fields, Headless Member API, Admin API.
• Plus Branded App: Custom Pricing.

Skool vs Circle: Feature Comparison

Picking the best platform for your online community is a big decision.

Let’s dive deeper into all the features of Skool and Circle so you can make the right choice.

Community Building

Both Skool and Circle have the must-have features for community building. This means they both have:

• Discussions: Spaces where community members can talk to each other and share ideas. Think of it like online forums.
• Member profiles: Each person gets a profile to show who they are.
• Direct messaging: Members can send private messages to each other, just like texting.
• Spaces and groups: You can divide your community into smaller sections. This is super helpful for keeping things organized, especially in large communities. It’s kind of like having different rooms in your house for other activities.
• Member directory: Easily find other community members with specific interests or skills.

Creating Courses

Skool is built with course creation in mind.

• Skool: You can easily create and share your courses right inside Skool. It’s like having your classroom and community all in one place.
• Circle: Circle can do classes, too, but it’s not as strong in this area. Skool is the winner if you teach a lot.

Customization

• Circle: Circle has tons of customization features. You can change color fonts, add your logo, and even use your website address. It’s like decorating your online space to match your style.
• Skool: Skool is simpler. It looks nice, but you can only change a little. Customization features compared to Circle are limited.

Memberships

Both platforms allow you to have paying members in your community.

• Circle: You can get really creative with memberships in Circle. You can have different levels, like “bronze,” “silver,” and “gold,” each with a different price and different things members get. This is great for giving your members more choices.
• Skool: Skool’s memberships are more basic.

Integrations

Integrations mean connecting your community platform to other online tools you use.

• Circle: Circle works with lots of other tools, like email programs (like Mailchimp), Zapier (which connects different apps), and things that help you understand your members better.
• Skool: Skool can connect to some tools, but not as many as Circle.

Live Videos

• Both do: You can do live videos in both Skool and Circle. This is awesome for doing live lessons, Q&A sessions, or just hanging out with your community.
• Circle: Circle has special tools to help you plan events, which is useful if you do a lot of live stuff.

Mobile App

• Skool: Perfect for creating courses and if you want something easy to use. It’s also great if you wish to have unlimited members without paying extra.
• Circle: A good choice if you want lots of features and ways to change how your community looks. It’s also better for bigger online communities.

What to look for when choosing an online community platform?

• Think about your needs: What features are essential for your community? Do you need in-depth courses, advanced customization, or specific integrations?
• Consider your budget: Both platforms have different pricing structures. Choose the one that fits your budget and offers the best value for your needs.
• Try before you buy: Take advantage of free trials to test both platforms and see which one feels right for you.
• Factor in future growth: Choose a platform that can scale with your community as it grows.
• Remember support: Look for a platform with responsive and helpful customer support.
• Community focus: Skool leans towards course-based communities, while Circle is more versatile.
• Facebook Groups: If you’re looking for a free option to start with, Facebook Groups can be a good starting point, but they need the features and customization of Skool or Circle.
• Video hosting: Both platforms offer video hosting, so you can easily share videos with your community.
• Enable dark mode: While not a deal-breaker, Circle offers a dark mode option, which some users may prefer.

Final Verdict (Our Pick)

So, which platform wins? It’s a close call, but we choose Circle.

Why? Circle is like a Swiss Army knife. It has lots of tools and can do many things.

You can change it to look exactly how you want. It also works with other apps you might use.

This makes it great for different kinds of communities.

Skool is awesome, but it’s simpler. It’s like a really good kitchen knife – perfect for certain tasks, like making courses.

But Circle is better if you need more features and want to grow a bigger community.

Do you want something super easy to use and focused on courses?

Then the Skool community might be best. But if you want more options and think your community will get big, Circle is the winner.

Frequently Asked Questions