Skool Pricing 2026: 2 Plans Compared for Smart Creators

Skool pricing 2026 is simple on the surface and expensive underneath if you pick the wrong plan. Skool sells paid communities — a feed, a classroom, a calendar and a leaderboard in one group — and it charges you twice: once for the plan, and again on every payment your members make. This guide gives you the full Skool pricing 2026 picture, the exact point where the dearer plan becomes cheaper, and the traps that catch new creators.

The short answer: Hobby costs $9 a month and Pro costs $99 a month, and the plan you choose should depend on how much money your community takes each month, not on how many members you hope to have one day.

Skool pricing 2026 at a glance

Skool has two plans, Hobby and Pro, as listed in October 2026. There is no free creator plan, and each community you run is billed as its own subscription — two groups means two plan charges.

Yearly billing on either plan gives you two months free, which is why the yearly totals are ten months of the monthly price. Both plans include unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, so the plan choice is mostly a fee decision, not a features decision. A 14-day trial is reported for new communities.

If you already run a creator business on another platform, the comparison that matters is total cost, not the monthly price alone. A platform that looks cheap at $9 a month can cost more than a $99 plan once its percentage fee is applied to real revenue. Our Patreon Fee Calculator shows the same shape of problem on Patreon, where a 10% platform fee plus processing quietly takes nearly a fifth of a small creator’s income — and you can check your own numbers against it before committing to any platform.

What do you actually get on each plan?

Both plans give you the same core product: a community feed where members post and comment, a classroom for courses and videos, a calendar for live calls and events, and gamified leaderboards that reward members for taking part. Pro adds extra admin seats and integrations for running a larger operation, but the headline difference on the pricing page is the transaction fee. That is the whole decision for most creators.

This matters because Skool processes member payments itself through Skool Payments. You do not add a separate card processor on top, so the percentage shown above is the platform’s cut of each payment, plus the 30-cent flat fee. There is no separate Stripe bill to add in.

The break-even point: when does Pro become cheaper?

Pro costs $90 a month more than Hobby on monthly billing, and it saves you 7.1% of every payment (10% minus 2.9%). Divide the extra $90 by the 7.1% saving and you get the break-even point:

$90 ÷ 0.071 = $1,267.60 — about $1,268 a month in member payments.

Below about $1,268 a month, Hobby is cheaper. Above it, Pro is cheaper, and the gap widens fast. On yearly billing the monthly-equivalent gap is $75 ($82.50 minus $7.50), so the break-even falls to about $1,056 a month ($75 ÷ 0.071 = $1,056.34).

Note what the break-even is not: it is not a member count. It is a revenue figure. Ten members paying $49 and twenty-six members paying $49 both cross different sides of the line, and a single high-ticket sale can cross it on its own. Work from your actual monthly takings, not your member target.

Worked examples: what Skool really costs

Example 1: 10 members at $49 a month

Revenue is $490 across 10 payments.

• Hobby: $9 plan + $49.00 in percentage fees (10% of $490) + $3.00 in flat fees (10 × $0.30) = $61.00 total cost. You keep $429.00, which is 12.4% gone in fees.
• Pro: $99 plan + $14.21 in percentage fees (2.9% of $490) + $3.00 in flat fees = $116.21 total cost. You keep $373.79.

At this size Hobby wins by $55.21 a month. Starting on Pro with a small group is the most common Skool overspend.

Example 2: 100 members at $49 a month

Revenue is $4,900 across 100 payments.

• Hobby: $9 + $490.00 + $30.00 = $529.00 total cost. You keep $4,371.00.
• Pro: $99 + $142.10 + $30.00 = $271.10 total cost. You keep $4,628.90.

At this size Pro wins by $257.90 a month — more than $3,000 a year. A creator who stays on Hobby past the break-even point is paying for the privilege of a higher fee.

Example 3: one high-ticket sale of $1,200

This is where Pro’s second fee tier bites. A single charge above $900 pays 3.9% + $0.30 on Pro, not 2.9%.

• Pro transaction fee: $46.80 + $0.30 = $47.10.
• Hobby transaction fee: $120.00 + $0.30 = $120.30.

Pro still wins the single sale by $73.20, but if you sell mostly high-ticket one-off products rather than monthly memberships, run the numbers sale by sale — the $900 threshold applies per charge, not per month.

5 Skool pricing traps to avoid

1. Starting on Pro with no paying members

Pro only pays for itself above about $1,268 a month in payments. Until then you are paying $99 a month for a lower percentage you have not earned yet. Start on Hobby, upgrade when your revenue crosses the line, and keep the $90 a month difference in the meantime.

2. Forgetting that each community is a separate subscription

Two groups means two plan charges and two sets of fees. If you are splitting one audience across a free community and a paid one, or a beginner group and an advanced group, budget for both subscriptions before you launch the second.

3. Ignoring the $900 per-charge threshold on Pro

Pro’s 2.9% rate applies to charges up to $899. A $900-plus charge pays 3.9%. If your offer is a $1,000 annual membership or a high-ticket course, that extra percentage point applies to your biggest sales, not your smallest.

4. Comparing only the monthly price with other platforms

A $9 plan with a 10% fee is dearer than a $99 plan with a 2.9% fee once revenue passes $1,268 a month. Always compare total monthly cost — plan plus percentage plus flat fees — at your actual revenue, and compare like with like across platforms. Our Patreon fees guide shows how the same total-cost thinking applies on Patreon, where platform and processing fees stack.

5. Treating the trial as a free plan

Skool’s trial is reported at 14 days. It is a way to test the product, not a free tier to run a community on indefinitely. Decide before the trial ends whether the group will pay for itself, and on which plan.

Skool pricing 2026: which plan should you choose?

Choose Hobby if your community takes less than about $1,268 a month, you are testing an idea, or your revenue is still irregular. The $9 monthly cost keeps the experiment cheap, and you can upgrade the month your revenue crosses the line.

Choose Pro if your community reliably takes more than about $1,268 a month, you need extra admin seats, or you run a larger operation with integrations. Above the break-even point Pro is not a luxury — it is the cheaper plan, by hundreds of dollars a month at scale.

If you are on yearly billing, move the threshold down to about $1,056 a month. And if you run more than one community, do the calculation per community, because each one is billed separately.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Skool cost per month in 2026?

Skool pricing 2026 is $9 a month on Hobby or $99 a month on Pro, plus a transaction fee on every member payment: 10% + $0.30 on Hobby, and 2.9% + $0.30 on Pro for charges up to $899 (3.9% + $0.30 above $900). Yearly billing gives two months free on either plan.

Is there a free Skool plan?

No. There is no free creator plan; new communities are reported to get a 14-day trial, after which the Hobby or Pro plan charge applies. Each community is a separate subscription.

At what revenue does Skool Pro become cheaper than Hobby?

At about $1,268 a month in member payments on monthly billing, because Pro costs $90 more a month and saves 7.1% of each payment ($90 ÷ 0.071 = $1,267.60). On yearly billing the threshold is about $1,056 a month.

Does Skool charge a transaction fee on top of the monthly plan?

Yes. The monthly plan is only the first charge. Every member payment also carries a percentage plus $0.30: 10% on Hobby, or 2.9% (3.9% above $900 per charge) on Pro. Skool Payments processes the payment, so there is no separate card-processor fee to add.

What is included in both Skool plans?

Both plans include unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, plus the community feed, classroom, calendar and leaderboards. Pro adds extra admin seats and integrations; the main priced difference between the plans is the transaction fee.

Should a new creator start on Hobby or Pro?

Start on Hobby unless your community already takes more than about $1,268 a month. Hobby costs $9 a month against Pro’s $99, and you can upgrade when revenue crosses the break-even point. Starting on Pro early is the most common Skool overspend.

How does Skool pricing compare with Patreon?

The shape is similar — a monthly or platform charge plus a percentage of each payment — but the numbers differ, and the cheaper platform depends on your revenue and pricing. Compare total monthly cost at your actual takings, not headline percentages. Our Patreon Fee Calculator lets you run that comparison for Patreon, and the full tools hub lists every calculator on the site.

Figures in this guide are estimates based on Skool pricing as reported in October 2026. Prices and fees can change; check Skool’s pricing page before you buy. This guide is not tax, legal or financial advice.