Circle vs Skool in 2026
Circle and Skool compared for people who run communities: what each source says it does, what prices are published, and what to check before choosing.
Uncommon Comforts is published by the team behind Connections, whose products are compared here alongside other tools.
Circle's page describes a platform for putting a community, events and courses under your own brand, with a long list of features. [1] [1] Skool's page states a Hobby plan at $9 per month and a Pro plan at $99 per month. [2] [2] Connections Communities can publish a community at a public address. [3]
| Option | Price | Fee charged on payments |
|---|---|---|
| Circle | Not published | Not published |
| Skool | Hobby $9 per month [2]; Pro $99 per month [2] | 10% transaction fee [2] |
| Connections Communities | Connections Free costs $0 [3]; price for Pass not published [3] | Not published |
The short answer
For a person who runs things, Circle is a platform for building a home for a community, events and courses under their own brand. [1] Its own pages say it meets needs for discussions, messaging, courses, events, live streams, a directory, customization, gamification and analytics. [1]
Skool's own page states a Hobby plan at $9 per month and a Pro plan at $99 per month. [2] [2] The Hobby plan is listed with unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. [2] [2] [2] [2]
Connections Communities lets you publish a community at a public address. [3] Which of the three meets a given need comes down to the features and prices each source states, so the sections below set them side by side.
What Circle, Skool is built for
Circle's own page says it is a place to build a home for a community, events and courses under your own brand. [1] The features its page lists are discussions, messaging, courses, events, live streams, a directory, customization, gamification and analytics. [1] It lists a personalized feed, posts and comments with rich media, automated moderation, and search with unlimited history. [1] Its page states that a person can launch a branded app for iOS and Android. [1] Those apps are listed with iOS and Android support, push notifications, custom screens and app store submission. [1] Circle also lists AI features such as AI agents, AI summaries, workflows, integrations and APIs. [1] Payment features it lists include branded checkout, pricing options, payment methods, access groups, affiliates and reporting. [1] Email marketing features it lists include email broadcasts, marketing automation, forms, audience management and CRM. [1] Its page describes a website builder for websites, landing pages and sales pages. [1] It states that it is recognized as a G2 Leader. [1] It states SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA and PCI SAQ compliance. [1] It states 99.9% uptime. [1] For Skool, the sources used on this page give its plans and what the Hobby plan includes: unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls at $9 per month, with Pro at $99 per month. [2] [2] [2] [2] [2] [2]
What Connections Communities is built for
Connections Communities is made by the team that publishes this site. It lets a person who runs a community publish that community at a public address. [3] You choose the link name for it, and that name can use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes only. [3] A single page can be made members-only, so only registered people can read it and everyone else sees the sign-up form. [3] You set your own questions that people answer when they sign up to join. [3] You can export the list of registrants as a CSV file. [3] You can upload a CSV of emails, with optional names, to invite people in bulk. [3] The share screen asks who you want to invite. [3] An invitation email can be scheduled to go out later and edited or cancelled before it is sent. [3] For building a page, there is an option to write a page draft with AI. [3] The whole site can be shown in a light or a dark theme. [3] Communities can check with Connections Pay whether a person holds an active subscription or purchase for the products you choose. [3] You can paste a calendar link into a page and it shows as a card. [3] Running ads to boost a community is part of Pass. [3] It runs in a web browser. [3]
Pricing and fees
Skool's page states that Hobby costs $9 per month. [2] It states that Pro costs $99 per month. [2] It states a 10% transaction fee. [2] The sources used on this page do not give a price for Circle, so a figure for it has to be checked on Circle's own pricing page before choosing. Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [3] Running ads to boost a community is part of Pass, and a price for Pass is not published in the claims used on this page. [3] The fee table below sets out what each source states in the same parts.
Getting started
With Connections Communities, the first step is signing in with your Connections account. [3] The other Connections products share that one account. [3] From there you publish the community at a public address and choose its link name, which can use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes only. [3] [3] You can make a single page members-only, so only registered people read it and everyone else sees the sign-up form. [3] You set the questions people answer when they sign up. [3] To bring people in, the share screen asks who you want to invite. [3] You can upload a CSV of emails with optional names to invite people in bulk. [3] An invitation email can be scheduled for later and edited or cancelled before it is sent. [3] For writing a page itself, there is an option to create a page draft with AI. [3] The sources used on this page do not describe the sign-up steps for Circle or Skool, so the first job with each of those is best checked on their own pages.
Things to check before you choose
Ask the same questions of each option before deciding. What does the price become once the group grows past the entry level, and what pushes it up? What happens when members or usage go past a stated limit? How does a person join, and what information do they have to give? Can part of the community be kept to registered people only? Where does the community live, and can the group find it without a link being passed around? Who charges for payments, and what fees sit on top of another company's fees? What can be taken out, and in what file? How does an invitation reach people, and can it be changed before it goes out? What support is offered, and how fast does it answer? If the community later moves, what comes with it and what stays behind?
How to choose
Match the need to what a source states. If the need is a starting point that costs nothing while the group is small, Connections Free costs $0 and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [3] If the need is a community the whole group can find, it states that the community can be published at a public address. [3] If the need is deciding who may join, it states that you set your own sign-up questions. [3] If the need is a stated monthly price with unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, Skool's page states Hobby at $9 per month. [2] [2] [2] [2] [2] If the need is a wide set of community, course, payment and email features under one brand, Circle's page lists them. [1] [1] [1]
Frequently asked questions
Is Skool free?
Skool's own page states a Hobby plan at $9 per month and a Pro plan at $99 per month, and it states a 10% transaction fee. [2] [2] [2] Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [3]
How much does Circle cost?
The sources used on this page do not give a price for Circle, so any figure should be checked on Circle's own pricing page before choosing. What those sources do give is a list of features, including discussions, messaging, courses, events and live streams. [1] Circle also states that it provides 99.9% uptime. [1]
What is the difference between Circle and Skool?
Circle's page describes a platform for a community, events and courses under your own brand, with features that include courses, payments and email marketing. [1] [1] [1] Skool's page states two plans, Hobby at $9 per month and Pro at $99 per month. [2] [2] Hobby is listed with unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. [2]
Does Connections Communities cost anything?
Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [3] Running ads to boost a community is part of Pass, and the claims used on this page do not give a price for it. [3]
Can a community in Connections Communities check who has paid?
Communities can check with Connections Pay whether a person holds an active subscription or purchase for the products you choose. [3] Whether members can be charged for access to the community itself is a question to put to the product's support before choosing. A person setting that up should also ask whether the payment service is a separate company whose own fees apply.
The free plan has limits, and going over a limit does not charge you. [3] Connections Free costs $0, and going over a limit stops the feature rather than billing you. [3]
Try Connections CommunitiesSources
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