Nathan FieldIs Skool free? For members, often yes. For owners, only for 14 days. Making a Skool account costs nothing, and so does joining any group whose owner has made it free. Running your own group is different. There is no free plan, just a 14-day free trial, then a monthly plan and a fee on every member payment. This guide gives both sides exactly. Every Skool fact here was checked on skool.com and Skool's help centre on 29 September 2026.
Skool is free for members to join free groups, and creating a Skool account is free. Paid groups charge whatever the owner sets. Owners get no free plan: after a 14-day free trial, Skool costs $9 a month on Hobby or $99 a month on Pro, plus a fee on every member payment.
Is Skool free? The answer by who you are
| Who | Is it free? | What you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone making a Skool account | Yes | Nothing |
| A member of a free group | Yes | Nothing, unless you buy a course inside it |
| A member of a paid group | No, unless the owner offers a free way in | The price the owner sets, in US dollars |
| An owner starting a group | For 14 days | $9 or $99 a month after the trial, plus fees on sales |
Is Skool free for members?
Skool describes its sign-up page like this: "Create your Skool account. It's free!" It describes its communities just as plainly: "Some are free, some paid." Each group's owner decides which.
Free groups
Skool's pricing setup article says a free group "lets you have members join for free." You can find them on Skool's Discovery page, which has a price filter. This link shows only free groups on Discovery.
You will need that filter. On 29 September 2026, the default Discovery page showed 30 groups, and every one had a price. Most were monthly, from $7 to $297 a month.
A free group can still sell things. Skool lets owners of free groups or subscription groups sell a single course for a one-time price inside the group (one-time course purchases). Joining is free. That course is not.
Paid groups
Members never pay Skool's $9 or $99. They pay the group's own price. Skool's pricing setup article lists the options an owner can pick: a monthly or annual subscription, a freemium group, paid tiers, or a one-time payment.
Two things from Skool's Payments FAQ change what you actually pay:
- Prices are in US dollars. "All subscription prices on Skool are in USD. Members pay in USD."
- EU members pay VAT on top. Skool's example: a $100 a month group bought from Germany, at 19% VAT, costs $119 a month.
Free ways into a paid group
Only the owner can turn these on, but each one is in Skool's help centre:
- A 7-day free trial. Subscription groups can "offer a 7-day free trial" to members. Discovery can also show groups with a free trial.
- A freemium plan. Freemium is a free plan and a paid plan in the same group. You join free and can upgrade later.
- An email invite. Skool says email invites "grant instant access without purchasing or requesting membership" (inviting members).
- Joining before the group charges. If a free group starts charging, existing members keep the price they already had. Skool's FAQ says "this could be free."
If you join a paid group and want out, Skool's cancel steps run through your profile Settings, the Communities tab, and Manage membership. Skool recommends cancelling at least 24 hours before the next charge.
Is Skool free for creators?
No. Skool has no free plan for the person who runs the group. Its pricing page shows two plans, both with a TRY FOR FREE button, and describes them as "Get started for $9/month with a 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime."
| Hobby | Pro | |
|---|---|---|
| Plan price | $9 a month | $99 a month |
| Fee on each member payment | 10% + 30c | 2.9% + 30c up to $899, 3.9% + 30c above $900 |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Yearly billing | "2 months free" | "2 months free" |
| Custom URL and affiliates | No | Yes |
Skool's help centre says both plans are recurring subscriptions after the 14-day free trial. So when day 14 ends, the plan you picked starts billing. The fees come from the Payments FAQ, which also says "Transaction fees are non-refundable." The fee is not the only gap between the plans. Pro also carries features Hobby lacks, which our Skool pricing guide lists in full.
If you want to see the plan screens for yourself, you can try Skool free for 14 days (affiliate link) before you pay anything.
A free group still costs the owner
This trips people up. Making your group free makes it free for members, not for you. You still pay your plan. What you skip is the transaction fee, because Skool charges it per payment and a free group takes none.
Here is what an owner pays Skool in one month, using Skool's published rates. VAT is left out, because members pay it on top.
| Your group | On Hobby | On Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Free group, any number of members | $9.00 | $99.00 |
| 20 members paying $29 a month | $9 + (20 x $3.20) = $73.00 | $99 + (20 x $1.141) = $121.82 |
Growth Boost: a 30% cut on members Skool finds
One more cost to know. Growth Boost is Skool showing your group at the top of its search results and running off-site ads for it. Skool's Growth Boost article says it is on by default and can be turned off at any time under SETTINGS, then Discovery. When it brings you a paid member, Skool takes a 30% commission plus the normal fee, on every charge while that member stays.
Can you start a Skool community for free?
Yes, for 14 days. You can set up your group and see how Skool works before you pay. After that, there is no way to keep running it for free.
If you decide it is not for you, cancel before the trial ends. Skool's steps, from How to cancel my Skool group subscription or free trial:
- Click SETTINGS for your group.
- Open the Billing tab and click Manage subscription. In the app, scroll the top settings menu sideways to reach Billing.
- Click Cancel subscription.
Skool says everything is saved as it is, and you can come back and reactivate the group later. Our Skool free trial guide covers what to do with the 14 days, and how to start a Skool community covers the setup step by step.
A free group is free for your members. It is never free for you.
The cheapest way to run Skool after the trial
The lowest cost is Hobby at $9 a month. Paying yearly lowers it further: the pricing page says "2 months free!" next to its Monthly and Yearly switch. The page does not print the yearly totals, so check the figure at checkout.
If your members pay you, Hobby is not always the cheap plan. Its 10% fee grows with your sales. Once member payments pass about $1,268 a month, Pro costs less overall. The pricing guide shows the maths.
The honest downside: if you need a platform with a free plan for owners, Skool does not have one. Our guide to Skool alternatives compares other options.
So, is Skool free? Joining often is. Running a group is not, after the first 14 days. If Skool fits what you want to build, you can start a Skool community here (affiliate link) and use the trial to decide.
FAQ
Is Skool free to join?
Yes, making a Skool account is free, and so is joining any group the owner has made free. Paid groups charge the owner's price in US dollars, and EU members pay VAT on top. Some paid groups offer a 7-day free trial or a free freemium plan, but only if the owner turns it on.
Is Skool free for creators?
No. Creators get a 14-day free trial, then pay $9 a month on Hobby or $99 a month on Pro. Skool also takes a fee on each member payment: 10% + 30c on Hobby, or 2.9% + 30c on Pro for payments up to $899. There is no free plan for owners.
Does Skool have a free plan?
Not for owners. Skool's pricing page shows two paid plans, Hobby at $9 a month and Pro at $99 a month, each with a 14-day free trial. Members are different. A free group costs its members nothing, and some paid groups offer a free trial or a free freemium plan.
Can you start a Skool community for free?
Yes, for 14 days. Skool's free trial covers both plans, so you can set up your group and try Skool before paying. When the trial ends, the plan you picked starts billing. Cancel under SETTINGS, Billing, Manage subscription before then if Skool is not for you.
Are free Skool communities really free?
For members, yes. Joining a free group costs nothing. The owner can still sell a single course inside it for a one-time price, so some content may cost extra. For the owner, a free group is not free: they still pay Skool $9 or $99 a month, just no transaction fees.
Do Skool members pay Skool's fees?
No. Members pay the group's price, and Skool takes its fee out of the owner's payout. On Hobby, a $9 a month price pays the owner $7.80, Skool's FAQ says. The one extra a member may pay is VAT, which Skool adds on top for buyers in the EU.
We may earn a commission if you start a Skool community through a link on this page. It costs you nothing extra, and it does not change what we write.