GroupApp

The short version

GroupApp calls itself "the group learning platform for coaching and training programs," and that's an accurate description of who it's for: people running cohorts, certifications, and coaching programs who need courses and a community in the same place without paying Kajabi money. It claims 1,100+ programs on the platform.

Structurally it's a lot like Skool. Channels instead of a single feed, courses and events hanging off the channels, a members directory, chat, a digest email. The differences are where it gets interesting: there's a real free plan, it's cheaper at every tier, it has workflows and native Kit and Mailchimp integrations, and it'll build you a branded iOS and Android app. What it doesn't have is any gamification at all, and it has no way to upload a CSV of members yourself.

Pricing we checked

Four plans, 0% transaction fees on all of them, annual billing takes 12% off. No card for the free plan, 14-day trial on the paid ones.

• Free: $0. 100 members, 3 channels, 1 admin. Events, discussions, subscriptions (you can charge on the free plan), newsletter with 2 broadcasts a week, 1 GB storage. No courses, no landing pages, no custom domain.
• Build: $65/mo ($57 annual). 1,000 members, 20 channels, 2 admins. Adds courses, landing pages, custom domain, post and email scheduling, analytics, custom profile fields, Zapier and Pabbly, Meta pixel. 15 broadcasts a week, 50 GB.
• Scale: $145/mo ($127 annual). 5,000 members, 50 channels, 5 admins. Adds workflows (20 active, 5,000 executions), course drip, certificates, learning pathways, segments, upsells, group subscriptions, Kit and Mailchimp integrations, webhooks, WordPress SSO, email white-labelling, and removes GroupApp branding. 35 broadcasts a week, 200 GB.
• Branded App: $485/mo ($427 annual). 20,000 members, unlimited channels and admins. Your own iOS and Android app with branded push notifications, store publishing, ongoing updates, and 1:1 onboarding and migration.

The member caps count all members, free or paid. If you're running a free community to feed a paid program, the 100-member free tier runs out fast, and Build's 1,000 is the realistic starting point.

Transaction fees

0% on every plan including free. Rated 0%.

Payments

Stripe, and only Stripe. The help centre says a Stripe connection "is required to create and sell paid subscriptions and to use the checkout." No PayPal. There's an "external checkout form" workaround if you want to collect money elsewhere and grant access manually. Rated "Stripe only."

Community and gamification

Channels are the unit. Each has its own feed, an events tab, and a courses tab, with its own access level (open, request to join, invite only, or tied to a subscription or segment) and layout (list or feed). Channel categories group them in the sidebar. Linking a course or an event to a channel puts it in that channel's tabs. Rated "Yes" for spaces.

The feed is chronological. The help centre says it "works like a social feed, displaying content in a chronological, discussion-style layout similar to Facebook," which is a strange comparison because Facebook's feed is the opposite of chronological. What it means is: newest first, no ranking. Members see posts from channels they've joined, plus discussion pages for events they've RSVP'd to and courses they're in. You can make the feed the landing page instead of the home page.

Courses are proper: lesson types, drip, prerequisites, assignments with enforced submission, graded quizzes, certificates, access duration, learning pathways (sequences of courses), cohort-based courses, and student progress reports. This is a step up from Skool's course builder and closer to Thinkific.

Events with RSVPs, reminders, event discussion pages, and linking to courses and channels. Rated "Yes."

Gamification: none. No points, no levels, no leaderboard, no badges. The only badge-like thing is a blue star next to a member's name, and that means they verified their email. Rated "None." For a platform that pitches against Skool, that's a real gap, and we'd guess it's deliberate: the audience is trainers and associations who'd find a leaderboard tacky.

The three email questions

Does it send members a digest? Yes, and members pick the cadence: daily, weekly, every 14 days, monthly, or never. Here's the catch. The help centre describes the Community Digest as bringing together "course updates, upcoming events, and Resource Library additions." Not forum posts. Discussion activity reaches members through per-event notifications (comments on your post, mentions, admin announcements), not the digest. So it's a digest of what you published, not of what the community said. Rated "Digest with content (daily or weekly)" with that caveat.

Can you email your members from inside it? Yes. Newsletters on every plan, with weekly broadcast caps (2 on free, 15 on Build, 35 on Scale, 105 on Branded App). Scheduled emails on Build. Workflows with email and DM sequences triggered by member actions on Scale. Rated "Sequences and automation," noting that the automation part costs $145.

Can you get your list out? Yes. Admin Panel → People → Export data, and the file arrives by email. The help centre doesn't say what fields are in it. Beyond that, Scale has native Kit and Mailchimp integrations that run from workflows: add or update a subscriber, add or remove tags when a member joins, enrols, completes a course, or RSVPs. That's a proper two-way sync, not just a CSV. Rated "Native ESP integration."

Getting in and getting out

Members in: there is no CSV upload. Your options are an invite link (with a preset role, subscription plan, and auto-approve), email invites capped at 5 a day and only after support verifies your community, Zapier/Pabbly/API, or a "managed migration" where you send support a CSV (first name, last name, email, segment, plan) and their team creates the accounts in phases of 100. Rated "Via Zapier or API only," because the self-serve path is the API and the CSV path is a support ticket.

Members out: the People export, by email. Posts and comments: no export we could find. Rated "Members CSV only."

Courses in: rebuild by hand. The managed migration is for members, not content. Rated "Manual rebuild only."

Mobile app

A shared GroupApp app on iOS and Android on every plan, with push notifications. The $485 plan gets you your own app: you create and pay for the Apple and Google developer accounts (and a D-U-N-S number if you're a business, which can take 30 days), add GroupApp as a developer, and they build, submit, and maintain it. Rated "Your own branded app."

Affiliate program

There's a partner portal at affiliates.group.app but we couldn't find a public page with the commission terms. Ask them.

Who it's for

• Coaches and trainers running cohorts or certifications who need assignments, pathways and certificates alongside the community.
• Associations and membership organisations that want structure and segments rather than a leaderboard.
• Anyone who wants a Skool-shaped platform for less and doesn't care about gamification.

Who should skip it

• Anyone whose engagement model depends on points and levels. There aren't any.
• Anyone with an existing member list in a spreadsheet and no patience for a support ticket.
• Anyone who needs PayPal.

Known limitation

No gamification of any kind. No self-serve CSV import; members come in by invite link, API, or a managed migration through support. Stripe only. The digest covers courses, events and library updates but not discussion posts. Workflows and the Kit/Mailchimp sync need the $145 plan.

Sources

Checked 26 Oct 2026 against the GroupApp pricing page and these help centre articles: How to Export Members Data; How to Invite Members to Your Community; How to Move Your Members to GroupApp With Managed Migration; How to Manage Community Notification Settings as an Admin; How to Manage Your Notification Preferences as a Member; How to Connect Your Stripe Account to Your Community; How to Get Started Creating Your Branded App; Channels Overview; Community Feed; Kit (ConvertKit) Integration; What Does the Blue Star Beside a Member Mean.