How much does Skool cost?
Skool costs $9 a month on the Hobby plan or $99 a month on Pro, with yearly billing giving you 2 months free. Both plans include unlimited members, unlimited courses, unlimited videos, and unlimited live calls.
There are no per-member charges and no storage tiers. The only other money Skool takes is a transaction fee when members pay you, and that fee is where the two plans mainly differ.
Skool's pricing page. Note the greyed-out items on Hobby: custom URL and affiliates are Pro-only.
What is the difference between Hobby and Pro?
Three things separate the plans: the transaction fee on paid memberships (Hobby takes 10% of what your members pay you, Pro takes 2.9%), and two Pro-only features, a custom URL and the member affiliates feature. The unlimited members, courses, videos, and live calls are the same on both.
For most owners the fee is still the real decision. The extra $90 a month mostly buys a 7.1 percentage-point discount on your own revenue, which is worth nothing at $0 of revenue and a lot at $5,000 a month.
What does the 10% transaction fee actually cost you?
The break-even point is about $1,270 a month in member revenue. Below that, Hobby's total cost (fee included) is lower; above it, Pro's $99 pays for itself through the smaller fee.
| Your revenue /mo | Hobby total cost | Pro total cost | Cheaper plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $9 | $99 | Hobby |
| $500 | $59 | $113.50 | Hobby |
| $1,000 | $109 | $128 | Hobby |
| $1,270 | $136 | $135.83 | Break-even |
| $2,500 | $259 | $171.50 | Pro |
| $5,000 | $509 | $244 | Pro |
Total cost = plan price + transaction fee on your monthly member revenue. The math: the fee gap is 7.1 percentage points, the price gap is $90, and $90 ÷ 0.071 ≈ $1,268 of monthly revenue, where the two plans cost the same.
Does Skool have a free trial?
Yes, new communities start with a free trial, so you can build your group and invite your first members before paying anything. Start your Skool free trial here and use the trial window to test with your real audience, not just to click around.
Which Skool plan should you pick?
Start on Hobby if your community is free or earning under about $1,270 a month, and upgrade when the fee math flips. Consider Pro earlier if your setup depends on integrations and automation.
My own setup is the second case: I run on Pro, and my paid community added $4,105 in new monthly recurring revenue in the last 30 days, so the fee savings alone cover the plan. But the reason I upgraded in the first place was integrations: I connect my communities to Facebook Pixels and to Zapier, which auto-grants my paid members instant access to the SEO tool I built. If your community is part of a bigger system like that, Pro earns its price before the fee math even matters. For the full picture of the platform beyond pricing, read our two-year Skool review.