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The 9 closest of 13, each with its real monthly cost at 500 members and what it does that Skool does not. See all 19.
Systeme.io does everything we verified about Skool for $140 a month less at 5,000 contacts against Skool at 500 members, $17 against $157. It is a price cut rather than an upgrade: on the two features checked against the vendors’ own pricing pages the two are level. The trade: Skool is built for a community with courses inside it and Systeme.io is not, so this is a swap with a cost.
We have no recorded weakness for it, so this page is a price and feature comparison rather than a list of complaints.
It runs $157 a month at 500 members with the add-ons it forces on you included. 11 of the 13 alternatives on this site cost less than that.
What I flagged when I reviewed it, March 2024:
Ranked by how much of what we record for Skool each platform also does. Systeme.io is the nearest, and it is $140 a month cheaper at 5,000 contacts (Skool at 500 members; they charge by different things). Nothing we verified is missing; the only gaps are features Skool lists and Systeme.io does not, which is weaker evidence.
$140 a month cheaper$17 at 2,500 contacts
Getting a course, a list and a funnel live for nothing, then paying very little as it grows.
Everything this site records for Skool is also recorded for these, and they cost less at 500 members, each priced on what it charges by. That is not the same as saying they are better: the last column is what Skool is built for that they are not, and for someone who needs that, the saving is not a saving.
| Platform | At 500 members | You save | What Skool does that it does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| LearnWorlds | $29 | $128 | a community with courses inside it and the cheapest way to sell something today |
| Thinkific | $54 | $103 | a community with courses inside it and the cheapest way to sell something today |
| Circle | $129 | $28 | the cheapest way to sell something today |
Prices are the real monthly cost at 500 members, or the equivalent size on whatever each one charges by, with the add-ons each platform forces on you included, from the same engine the shortlist quiz uses.
$28 a month cheaper$129 at 250 members
A community that feels like a product, with courses, events and a branded app around it.
$72 a month dearer$119 at 2,500 contacts
Memberships and courses with the email, checkout and affiliate programme around them, priced by contacts.
$128 a month cheaper$29 at 250 students
Course design that goes deep: interactive video, assessments, learning paths, a branded app, for someone whose course IS the product.
$38 a month cheaper$119 at 250 members
Community and courses together with a mobile app from day one, for a brand that wants its own network.
$103 a month cheaper$54 at 250 students
A straight course platform with communities bolted on, where the price does not move with students.
$92 a month dearer$179 at 2,500 contacts
Running the whole business from one place: courses, the email list, the website, the checkout and the community, and paying for that convenience.
$73 a month cheaper$84 at 5 products
Courses, downloads and a community on one simple bill, for a creator who wants the least admin.
$58 a month cheaper$99 at 250 students
Courses built around gamification: points, streaks and triggers to get students to actually finish.
A paid community with courses inside it, run from one feed, where the community is the product.
On this site it is the pick for a community with courses inside it and the cheapest way to sell something today. If that is you, read the savings above and then ignore them.
Two features were checked against each vendor's own pricing page: a free plan and running on your own WordPress. Those are the ones written above as does and does not. The other twelve are read out of each vendor's own pricing page, so an absence there means we did not find it listed, not that the product lacks it, and those lines say lists and does not list instead. How all of this gets checked.
This page compares everything to Skool. The shortlist asks 8 questions about what you sell and how many students you have, and gives you four picks priced at your own numbers, which is a better question than “what is like the one I already have”.
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