Skool alternatives are sought by three groups. Creators whose community has grown into a business and who find the 10% or 2.9% sale fee, paid on top of a monthly plan, larger than the software is worth. Sellers who want their own domain, their own payment account or a local currency. And course sellers who find a community with a classroom attached too thin for structured teaching. They move to a community platform with a flat fee, an all-in-one course host, or a self-run LMS.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderShort answer: Where a category has smaller vendors worth recommending, they occupy the first three places and the big brands come below them. For Skool users, the top three picks from our online course platform ranking are Circle, Mighty Networks and Kajabi. Pick Circle if you want a community with your own domain and a lower sale fee than Skool's Hobby plan. Each of the 13 alternatives sits in Best Online Course Platform in 2026 and is described against Skool.
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Skool publishes two plans: Hobby at $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee, and Pro at $99 a month with 2.9%, each plus 30 cents per transaction. The 30 cents cancels out between them, so Pro becomes the cheaper plan once a community takes in roughly $1,270 a month. Below that Hobby wins, above it Pro does, and either way a share of every sale goes to Skool. A creator at $10,000 a month pays about $290 in percentage fees on Pro, plus 30 cents per transaction and the $99 plan.
Skool's help centre says payouts run through a Skool-created Stripe Express account, that you cannot attach an existing Stripe account, and that member prices are in US dollars. The custom URL is a skool.com address that Pro unlocks, free once and $100 for each later change, not your own domain. Zapier is also Pro only. Sellers who want their own checkout, currency or domain meet these limits first.
Skool's classroom supports unlimited courses, drip release, level-locked courses, native video and one-time course prices, which covers a simple course well. A course has a ceiling of 200 pages, and the course tools are described as part of the group rather than as a separate product. Teachers who need quizzes, certificates, learner reporting or a funnel around the course usually compare it with a dedicated course host.
| Alternative | Headquarters | Free option | Pricing model | Switch if | Our rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle | United States | No free tier | Published | you want a community with your own domain and a lower sale fee than Skool's Hobby plan | #7 |
| Mighty Networks | United States | No free tier | Published | members should reach the community through a phone app and you want the fee to fall as you grow | #14 |
| Kajabi | United States | No free tier | Published | the community is only one part of a business that also needs email, funnels and a site | #8 |
| Podia | United States | No free tier | Published | you sell courses and downloads as well as a community and want one bill without a sale fee | #4 |
| Teachable | United States | No free tier | Published | your business is structured courses and you want to leave the 10% Hobby fee behind | #6 |
| LearnyBox | France | Yes | Published | you want a European supplier with courses, funnels and a modest community at a fixed monthly price | #3 |
| Systeme.io | France | Yes | Published | you sell courses through funnels and email, and the fee on each sale is what bothers you | #9 |
| ablefy | Germany | No free tier | Published | payment plans, invoices and tax handling for European buyers matter more than the community feed | #1 |
| Payhip | United Kingdom | Yes | Published | you sell digital products and a few courses and want to be paid straight into your own account | #2 |
| LearnDash | United States | No free tier | Published | you want to own the site and need serious course tooling, and you can run WordPress | #5 |
| Uscreen | United States | No free tier | Published | the product is a library of video that members stream, not a feed of posts | #11 |
| Kartra | United States | No free tier | Published | you already pay for funnels and email separately and want courses in the same suite | #12 |
| Graphy | India | No free tier | Published | you want your own branded app for courses and a fixed monthly price without a sale fee | #13 |
United States · Published
Circle is the closest like-for-like community product: spaces, events, courses, a member directory and apps on a plan from $89 a month on annual billing. The transaction fee is 2% on Professional, falling to 1% and 0.5% higher up, and a custom domain is included. It caps admins, moderators and spaces per plan.
Switch from Skool if you want a community with your own domain and a lower sale fee than Skool's Hobby plan.
United States · Published
Mighty Networks sells communities, courses and events on an app available on iOS, Android and the web, from $79 a month. Its fee is 2% on the Launch plan and falls to 0.5% on Growth. Its plans cap hosts and moderators, and the fee depends on the plan.
Switch from Skool if members should reach the community through a phone app and you want the fee to fall as you grow.
Our online course platform guide puts Mighty Networks at 14 of 14; read why →
United States · Published
Kajabi is the all-in-one alternative: courses, a community, email, funnels, a website and a branded app on one subscription from $179 a month on monthly billing. Its pricing page states no hidden fees and no revenue sharing. It costs far more than Skool's Hobby plan and limits products, contacts and admins by tier.
Switch from Skool if the community is only one part of a business that also needs email, funnels and a site.
United States · Published
Podia bundles courses, downloads, coaching, community, events, a website and email on one plan, with a 14-day trial. The Mover plan is $42 a month billed yearly with a 5% fee, and Shaker at $84 has no fee. Community is one feature among many, not the centre of the product as it is on Skool.
Switch from Skool if you sell courses and downloads as well as a community and want one bill without a sale fee.
Where Podia stands: place 4 of 14 in the online course platform ranking →
United States · Published
Teachable is a course host first. Starter costs $39 a month on monthly billing with a 7.5% transaction fee, and Builder at $89 removes the fee. Global payments and taxes are included, and the plans cap products at 5, 10 or 50. It offers no community feed of the Skool kind.
Switch from Skool if your business is structured courses and you want to leave the 10% Hobby fee behind.
Open the Teachable profile, 6th of 14 in the online course platform guide →
France · Published
LearnyBox is a French all-in-one run by SAS LearnyBox in Montpellier. It has a free plan with one course and 20 learners, and Launch at 39 euros a month excluding VAT, with courses, funnels, email, a community of up to 1,000 members, a mobile app and Stripe or PayPal checkout. The interface is in French and English.
Switch from Skool if you want a European supplier with courses, funnels and a modest community at a fixed monthly price.
See the full LearnyBox entry, ranked 3 of 14 among online course platform products →
France · Published
Systeme.io starts with a free plan of 2,000 contacts, 3 funnels, 1 course and 500 students, then Startup at $17 a month. Its pricing page states 0% transaction fees on every plan. It is built around funnels and email, so it offers no community feed with levels and leaderboards.
Switch from Skool if you sell courses through funnels and email, and the fee on each sale is what bothers you.
Check Systeme.io in the ranked list (9 out of 14, online course platform) →
Germany · Published
ablefy is a German sales platform where plans start at 27 euros a month and each standard payment costs 2.7% plus 0.50 euros. Its strength is selling: instalments, order bumps, invoicing, tax handling and dunning. The Create & Sell plan adds courses, memberships and communities, with member caps of 150, 3,000, 10,000 or unlimited.
Switch from Skool if payment plans, invoices and tax handling for European buyers matter more than the community feed.
ablefy holds rank 1 among 14 entries in our online course platform guide →
United Kingdom · Published
Payhip sells courses, downloads and memberships from a hosted store. Its help centre describes courses with quizzes, drip release and certificates, membership posts with tiers and comments, and automatic EU and UK digital VAT. It connects your own Stripe or PayPal account. We could not load its pricing page, so check the current fee.
Switch from Skool if you sell digital products and a few courses and want to be paid straight into your own account.
#2 out of 14 online course platform products: read the Payhip review →
United States · Published
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin sold by annual licence: Pro at $399 a year and Elite at $599, with unlimited courses and learners and no per-student fee. You supply the hosting and run WordPress. It offers quizzes, certificates and reporting beyond Skool's classroom, and memberships through MemberDash. Setup and upkeep are yours.
Switch from Skool if you want to own the site and need serious course tooling, and you can run WordPress.
Open the LearnDash profile, 5th of 14 in the online course platform guide →
United States · Published
Uscreen is a video membership platform with a Netflix-style catalogue. Starter is $49 a month with a 100 subscriber limit, Growth is $149 plus $1.99 per subscriber, and App Essentials at $449 adds iOS and Android apps. Community features appear only on the Custom plan, so it is poorly suited to a discussion-led group.
Switch from Skool if the product is a library of video that members stream, not a feed of posts.
Full verdict on Uscreen, which sits at number 11 of 14 for online course platform →
United States · Published
Kartra is a marketing suite with courses and memberships attached, priced by contacts and email volume. Essentials is $59 a month on monthly billing, with 500 contacts, one membership or course and a 5% transaction fee. It replaces a funnel and email stack rather than a community, and the entry plan is narrow.
Switch from Skool if you already pay for funnels and email separately and want courses in the same suite.
Why Kartra is #12 among 14 online course platform products →
India · Published
Graphy sells courses with branded mobile apps. Launch is $49 a month with a 0% transaction fee and unlimited products and learners, Rise at $149 adds Android and iOS apps and AI agents, and Scale is $399. It targets teachers selling programmes, with a 14-day free trial.
Switch from Skool if you want your own branded app for courses and a fixed monthly price without a sale fee.
Why Graphy is #13 among 14 online course platform products →
Skool remains the right choice when the community is the product and the price is modest. Two published plans, unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls on both, native video hosting, levels and leaderboards, and a discovery page that can bring in members make it quick to set up. It also acts as merchant of record and handles EU VAT. A creator earning under roughly $1,270 a month who wants the lowest fixed cost, or one who values Skool's discovery and gamification over control of domain and checkout, loses little by staying.
Skool charges members in US dollars through its own merchant account, and payouts go to you weekly. Your member list and their subscriptions are therefore not simply exportable into a new Stripe account. Plan the move as members re-subscribing on the new platform, announce a date, and keep Skool running until the paid period ends. Cancelling archives the group as read-only at the end of the billing period.
Lessons are mostly video and documents, which can be re-uploaded. The posts, comments, points and levels that make a Skool community active do not travel, and neither does the discovery traffic. Decide which posts are worth pasting into the new space, and treat the first weeks as a restart of the engagement, not a copy.
Zapier connections that send paid members to a CRM, or unlock a course for a member, belong to Skool's Pro plan and do not carry over. List each automation you rely on and check that the new platform offers the same trigger before you commit, particularly on its entry plan.
Systeme.io has a free plan with one course and states 0% transaction fees on all plans, and LearnyBox has a free plan too.
Neither has Skool's discovery page or gamification. Payhip and Skool's own Hobby plan are the other low-cost options, but Hobby takes 10% of each sale.
It is the closest comparison. Circle costs $89 a month on annual billing with a 2% fee, includes a custom domain and apps, and limits admins, moderators and spaces.
Skool's Pro plan is $99 with 2.9%, but Skool has an in-platform discovery page and levels that Circle's pricing page does not list.
No. Skool's Pro plan lets you claim a custom URL on skool.com, free for the first change and $100 for each later one. Circle, Podia, Kajabi, Teachable and several others list a custom domain on their plans.
Yes. Skool's help centre says it is the merchant of record, adds EU VAT on top of the price and remits it, and does not collect VAT in the UK.
Payhip and ablefy also document VAT handling. Teachable lists global payments and taxes, and Podia lists sales tax in 230 countries.
LearnDash is a WordPress plugin you run on your own hosting, from $399 a year with no per-student fee, but it has no discovery page and the community side relies on other plugins. None of the other tools in this ranking is self-hosted.
Hobby costs $9 plus 10% of sales and Pro costs $99 plus 2.9%, each with 30 cents per transaction.
The break-even is about $1,270 of sales a month. Below it Hobby is cheaper, above it Pro is, and Pro also unlocks the custom URL and Zapier.
Founder of The Knowledge Engineers and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Editorially responsible for every page on this site; research and drafting are AI-assisted.
Written, edited and fact-checked by Sebastiaan Smits. Last reviewed 2 November 2026. How we review.
