COMPARE · SKOOL ALTERNATIVES · FREE TIER
Start at $0. Keep the upside.
Skool starts at $9/mo with a 10% + 30¢ take — brutal at any scale past ~$1,200/mo. Free-tier platforms compared on take rate, limits, and lock-in, including community.io's $0/mo + 4.9% + 30¢ all-in.
Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026
The ranked list
Honest pros and cons — every platform on this list wins somewhere.
community.io
The professional community platform — the pick if you want Skool’s engagement engine plus the things they won’t build.
- Skool-grade engagement engine — points, levels, leaderboards, algorithm-free feed
- A real classroom: quizzes, certificates, drip schedules, progress tracking
- Member tiers & gated spaces in one community — priced per account, not per community
- All-in merchant-of-record pricing — processing included, nothing stacks on top
- Full export — posts, courses, members, history. No exit penalty.
- Multi-currency member payments; payouts in 40+ countries, including India
Free $0/mo — 4.9% + 30¢ per transaction · Pro $49/mo — 2.9% + 30¢ — flat, no $900 cliff · Scale $199/mo — 2.4% + 30¢ volume pricing
Skool
$9/mo per community + 10% + 30¢ · $99/mo per community + 2.9% + 30¢ · 3.9% over $900
Where it wins
- Engagement engine that converts lurkers into contributors — points, levels, leaderboards
- Paid community live in under an hour; radical simplicity
- Algorithm-free feed and mobile apps members actually open
- Discovery marketplace and a huge creator ecosystem
Where it costs you
- No quizzes, certificates, drip, or progress tracking — a classroom in name only
- One feed per community: no tiers, gated spaces, scheduling, or post approval
- $99/mo per community, no bundling — two paid tiers plus a free funnel group = $297/mo
- 3.9% + 30¢ on any transaction over $900 — not shown on the public pricing page
- Export is a CSV of member emails only — no posts, courses, or history
- Members always pay in USD; India payouts unsupported
- No white-label, no public API, no AI features
pricing source: skool.com↗ · Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026 · full comparison: community.io vs Skool →
Whop
$0 + 2.7% + 30¢ processing (0% platform take)
Where it wins
- Cheapest rails in the category: 0% platform take + 2.7% + 30¢ processing
- App-store extensibility
- Large consumer marketplace with built-in demand
Where it costs you
- Get-rich-quick marketplace adjacency repels premium brands
- Fund-hold complaints from sellers
- Weak course/LMS tooling for premium educators
pricing source: whop.com↗ · Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026 · full comparison: community.io vs Whop →
Patreon + Discord
10% platform + 2.9% + 30¢ processing (no subscription)
Where it wins
- Strongest consumer billing brand in the creator economy
- Discord has the best chat culture anywhere
Where it costs you
- Highest all-in take: 10% + 2.9% + 30¢ ≈ 13.5%+, before FX and app-store cuts
- +2.5% FX for non-US members; +30% Apple cut on iOS subscriptions
- No courses, no gamification — a Frankenstein stack of two products
- Discord native subscriptions are US-only
pricing source: patreon.com↗ · Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026 · full comparison: community.io vs Patreon + Discord →
Nas.com
~$21 (annual billing) + 2.9% + gateway 2.9% + 30¢
Where it wins
- Global/emerging-market payment rails
- AI-driven promotion tools
Where it costs you
- Pivoted away from community as the core product
- Brand churn (Nas Daily → Nas.io → Nas.com)
pricing source: nas.com↗ · Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026
The feature ledger
Verified against live pricing pages · July 7, 2026
| Feature | community.io | Skool | Whop | Patreon + Discord | Nas.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honest all-in fees (processing included) | All-in MoR: 4.9% / 2.9% flat / 2.4%, + 30¢ — nothing stacks | 10% + 30¢ (Hobby) · 2.9% + 30¢, 3.9% over $900 (Pro) | 0% + 2.7% + 30¢ — the rate floor; we don't claim to beat it | 10% + 2.9% + 30¢ ≈ 13.5% all-in, before FX and iOS cuts | 2.9% take + gateway 2.9% + 30¢ (annual-billed subscription) |
| Engagement engine (points, levels, leaderboards) | Skool-grade gamification: points, levels, leaderboards, level-gated content | The benchmark — this is what Skool got right | Marketplace traffic; thin community engagement | Engagement lives in Discord, not Patreon | Declining focus |
| Course tools (quizzes, certificates, drip, progress) | Built in on every tier — a classroom, not a video list | None — requested since 2021 | Marketplace-first — weak for premium educators | No courses — delivery happens off-platform | Basic courses; the platform is pivoting away |
| Data export & lock-in | Full export — posts, courses, members, history. No exit penalty. | A CSV of member emails only | Payment data portable; content export minimal | Patron list export; Discord content stays behind | Member export |
| India & multi-currency | INR member pricing; payouts in 40+ countries, including India | Members always pay USD; India payouts unsupported | Global payments; US-centric marketplace culture | +2.5% FX surcharge for non-US members | Emerging-market rails — but pivoted away from community |
The fee math, all-in
Total monthly cost — fees + subscription. Computed, not quoted.
| Platform | Starting out — $1k/mo · $50 avg | Growing — $10k/mo · $50 avg |
|---|---|---|
| Skool Hobby$9/mo per community + 10% + 30¢ | $115/mo | $1,069/mo |
| Skool Pro$99/mo per community + 2.9% + 30¢ · 3.9% over $900 | $134/mo | $449/mo |
| Whop$0 + 2.7% + 30¢ processing (0% platform take) | $33/mo | $330/mo |
| Patreon (standard)10% platform + 2.9% + 30¢ processing (no subscription) | $135/mo | $1,350/mo |
| Nas.com Starter~$21 (annual billing) + 2.9% + gateway 2.9% + 30¢ | $85/mo | $661/mo |
| community.io Free$0 + 4.9% + 30¢ all-in | $55/mo | $550/mo |
| community.io Pro$49 + 2.9% + 30¢ all-in — flat, no $900 cliff | $84/mo | $399/mo |
Run the numbers at your revenue.
The same math behind every table on this page — every formula published at /fees.