Which community and membership stack is best for you? I break them all down and show you what their sales pages won't say out loud!
Skool-style community plus step-by-step courses, with 0% platform fees, a leaderboard, and real member exports. From $29/mo (new customers only), 14-day trial, Stripe only, no broadcast email.
The cheapest real course builder with a community attached. $54/mo, or $40 on annual, 30-day trial, 0% fees if you use Thinkific Payments. The community is one feed with 5 Spaces on Basic, the email tool is a few canned sequences, and bringing your own Stripe on Basic costs 5%.
No monthly fee. 2.7% plus 30 cents per sale, and that's the platform fee and the processing fee in one. Community is apps you bolt on: chat, forum, courses, events. No email, no gamification, and getting your money out costs extra.
The course platform with everything in one bill: courses with quizzes, unlimited email and automations, funnels, payments, and a community tab. $179/mo to start, $143 on annual. No free plan, a 2,500-contact cap on Basic, and the community is the weakest part of the package.
The longest price ladder in the category. Free Explore plan with a 5% fee, Launch at $79/mo plus 2%, your own branded app at the top on Mighty Pro. Your own Stripe, unlimited Spaces, one-time Space purchases. No native email; it runs through Kit.
Where people go when one feed stops working. Spaces, tiers, your own Stripe, a real data export. From $89/mo on annual billing plus 2% of sales. Email is $99/mo extra on every plan below Circle Plus.
The best engagement engine in the category. $9/mo plus 10% of sales, or $99/mo plus 2.9%. Same features either way. No email marketing, no Stripe of your own, USD only.
