TL;DR
Skool is a platform for building a paid community with courses, events and a discovery page where people find communities to join. It has two plans: Hobby at $9 a month and Pro at $99 a month, both with unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls. The transaction fee is 10% on Hobby and 2.9% on Pro, so Pro becomes cheaper once the community earns about $1,270 a month. There is a 14-day free trial, you can cancel anytime, and there is no free plan. Skool was founded in 2019 and is based in Los Angeles.
| Plans | Hobby $9 a month, Pro $99 a month; yearly gives 2 months free |
| Transaction fee | 10% on Hobby, 2.9% on Pro (per Skool's pricing page) |
| Included in both | Unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, custom URL, affiliates |
| Free trial | 14 days; cancel anytime |
| Free plan | None |
| Break-even | About $1,270 a month in community sales |
| Built for | Paid communities that mix discussion, courses and events |
| Company | Founded 2019 by Sam Ovens and Daniel Kang, Los Angeles |
How Much Does Skool Cost in 2026?
The official pricing page lists two plans with the same feature set. Your monthly fee is fixed, and the transaction fee is what changes with the plan.
| What you pay | Hobby | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $9 | $99 |
| Yearly billing | 2 months free (about $90 a year) | 2 months free (about $990 a year) |
| Transaction fee on your sales | 10% | 2.9% |
| Members, courses, videos, live calls | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Custom URL | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliates | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
The yearly totals are our arithmetic: the page says "2 months free", which means ten months billed. Payment-processing details are in Skool's help center.
14-Day Free Trial • Cancel Anytime • From $9/Month
Hobby or Pro: When Does the $99 Plan Pay Off?
Pro costs $90 more a month and takes 7.1 percentage points less from every sale (10% minus 2.9%). Divide one by the other and you get the break-even: about $1,270 of community sales a month. This is our arithmetic on the two published fees, before any payment-processor extras:
| Monthly community sales | Hobby cost | Pro cost | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500 | $59 | $113.50 | Hobby |
| $1,270 | $136 | $135.80 | About even |
| $1,500 | $159 | $142.50 | Pro |
| $5,000 | $509 | $244 | Pro |
The practical rule: start on Hobby, because you pay almost nothing until members pay you, and move to Pro once you reliably pass the break-even. Switching is not symmetrical, though. Skool's own screens say downgrading to Hobby is instant and the unused time on the plan is not refundable, so time the downgrade near your renewal date.
Does Skool Have a Free Trial or a Free Plan?
There is a 14-day free trial on both plans, and the page says you can cancel anytime. There is no permanent free plan for people who run a community. Joining a community as a member is a different thing: owners set their own prices, and the discovery page on October 2026 showed communities from $1 a month up to $249 a month.
When the trial ends the plan starts billing. Skool's pages do not make clear whether a card is requested up front, so look at the signup screen, and set a reminder for day 12 if you are only testing so you are not charged by surprise.
14-Day Free Trial • Cancel Anytime • From $9/Month
What Does Skool Actually Do?
Skool describes itself as a place to discover communities or create your own. As an owner you build a community with a feed, courses and events, and you can charge either a subscription membership or a one-time course purchase. The pricing page lists unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, a custom URL and affiliates on both plans.
- One place for members: community, courses and events live together, which is the platform's main idea.
- A discovery page: communities are listed by category, so strangers can find yours without you running ads.
- Payments built in: members pay through Skool, and Skool takes the transaction fee from each payment.
- Affiliates: both plans list an affiliates feature; the pricing page gives no detail, so read Skool's help center for how it works.
Skool's plan list centers on community, courses, events and payments. Funnel builders, website pages and email marketing are not part of it, so people who need those pair Skool with another tool. Skool's help center covers your specific need.
Is Skool Ideal for You?
Ideal for you if
- The community is the product: you teach, coach or lead a group that benefits from talking to each other.
- You want courses, events and payments in one low-cost tool instead of stitching several together.
- You are starting small. Hobby at $9 a month keeps the cost close to zero until members pay.
- You want to charge either a subscription membership or a one-time course purchase.
- You like the idea of a discovery page, where people browsing communities by category can find yours.
If sales funnels, landing pages and checkout flows are the core of your business, our ClickFunnels pricing guide covers that route.
How Do You Start a Skool Community?
- Open the signup page and create your account to begin the 14-day trial.
- Pick Hobby or Pro. Start on Hobby unless you already expect to pass about $1,270 a month.
- Create your community, set its name, cover and price, and decide between a subscription and a one-time course.
- Add your classroom content and schedule your first live call or event.
- Connect payouts, so the money from members reaches you, and invite your first members.
Set the day-14 reminder when you start. Everything after that is billed at the plan you chose.
Is Skool Legit? What Do We Know About It?
Skool is a real company. Its About page says it was founded in 2019 by Sam Ovens (CEO) and Daniel Kang (CTO), has about 30 employees and is based in Los Angeles. In 2024 it partnered with Alex Hormozi on The Skool Games.
The communities on Skool are run by independent owners, so what a community promises, charges and refunds is decided by its owner. Read a community's page before you join, and read Skool's cancellation steps before you start your own trial.
Skool: Common Questions
How much does Skool cost?
Does Skool have a free plan?
Which Skool plan should I choose, Hobby or Pro?
What is the Skool transaction fee?
Is the Skool free trial really free?
What can you actually do on Skool?
Is Skool legit?
Skool or ClickFunnels: which fits your course?
Is Skool Worth It, in One Paragraph?
If you want to run a paid community with courses and events and keep the cost near zero while you start, Skool's Hobby plan at $9 a month is hard to beat, and the 14-day trial lets you build before paying. Move to Pro at $99 only when your community earns more than about $1,270 a month, where the lower 2.9% fee wins. If funnels, a branded website or email marketing are the center of your plan, pair Skool with a tool for those, and remember that a community's promises are set by its owner.
Prices and plans checked on Skool's pricing page, its About page and its signup page in October 2026.
14-Day Free Trial • Cancel Anytime • From $9/Month
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This is an independent guide. It is not the official Skool website and it is not operated by, affiliated with or endorsed by Skool. Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. We may earn a commission from sign-ups and purchases made through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Prices and plans were checked on the official pages in October 2026 and can change at any time: confirm them at checkout.