Skool Pricing: What It Costs Per Month, Plus Fees

Skool pricing comes down to two plans: Hobby at $9 a month and Pro at $99 a month. The plan price is only half of it. Skool also takes a cut of every payment your members make, and that cut is where the two plans really differ. This guide covers both plans, the fees, the free trial, what members pay, payouts, and the exact point where Pro becomes the cheaper plan. Every number here was checked on skool.com and Skool's help centre on 29 September 2026.

Skool's two plans at a glance

Skool's pricing page shows two plans side by side. Here is what it lists, plus the fee detail from Skool's Payments FAQ.

The 30c is charged on every payment on both plans. The percentage is the part that changes. On Hobby, Skool keeps a tenth of everything your members pay. On Pro, it keeps a lot less, but you pay $90 more each month for the plan.

Both plans start with the same 14-day trial, so you can try Skool free for 14 days (affiliate link) and look at the plan screens yourself before you pay anything.

Skool covered its $9 a month price in Skool News #18 (8 Jul 2025), a video on its own YouTube channel. Prices can change after a video goes up, so every Skool pricing number on this page comes from skool.com, not the video.

What Pro gets that Hobby does not

The pricing page marks two things as Pro only: a custom URL and affiliates. Skool's help centre goes further. These articles say the following are Pro only:

• Custom URL. "This feature is only available on the Pro plan" (how to change my group URL). The first change is free. After that, each change costs $100.
• Member affiliates, where your members earn for bringing in new members. "only available on the Pro plan, and not on the Hobby plan" (member affiliates).
• Most plugins. Hobby gets membership questions and the two plugins that limit chat and posting by member level. AutoDM, the onboarding video, Zapier, the cancellation video, Google Ads tracking, Links, instant membership approval and webhooks are all marked Pro (how to use plugins).
• Moving the group to a new owner. "Group ownership transfer is supported only on the Pro plan" (transfer group ownership).

Skool's change plans article also shows the warning you get when you move from Pro to Hobby. It says you lose your custom URL, your fee goes from 2.9% to 10%, "suggested groups will be shown in your sidebar", you "only get 1 admin/moderator", and you "lose access to plugins and affiliates".

So the honest answer is this. The fee is the biggest difference, but it is not the only one. Check the plan screen in your own group settings before you choose.

The transaction fee in real numbers

Here is what Skool takes from a single payment on each plan. These are worked examples using Skool's published rates, rounded to the cent. They leave out VAT, which is added on top for the buyer, and Growth Boost, which is covered below.

Skool's own FAQ gives two of these. It says a $9 price pays out $7.80 on Hobby and about $8.40 on Pro, and a $999 price pays out $959.74 on Pro. The $999 row uses Pro's 3.9% rate, because it is above $900.

One more rule from the same FAQ: "Transaction fees are non-refundable."

When Pro becomes cheaper than Hobby

Both plans charge the same 30c per payment, so that part cancels out. What is left is a trade. Pro costs $90 more a month, and saves you 7.1% of every payment (10% minus 2.9%).

The two plans cost the same when 7.1% of your monthly member payments equals $90.

1. $90 divided by 0.071 = $1,267.61.
2. At $1,267.61 a month, Hobby costs $9 + $126.76 = $135.76, and Pro costs $99 + $36.76 = $135.76, plus the same 30c per payment on each.
3. Below $1,267.61 a month, Hobby is cheaper. Above it, Pro is cheaper.

This assumes every charge is $899 or less, both plans are billed monthly, and you look only at fees. If your charges are above $900, Pro's rate is 3.9%, and the line moves to $90 divided by 0.061, which is $1,475.41 a month.

Two quick examples, both at $49 a month per member:

• 20 members ($980 a month). Hobby: $9 + (20 x $5.20) = $113.00. Pro: $99 + (20 x $1.721) = $133.42. Hobby is $20.42 cheaper.
• 50 members ($2,450 a month). Hobby: $9 + (50 x $5.20) = $269.00. Pro: $99 + (50 x $1.721) = $185.05. Pro is $83.95 cheaper.

Once your members pay you more than about $1,268 a month, the $9 plan stops being the cheap plan. It becomes the high-fee plan.

If you need a Pro-only feature, like more than one admin or a custom URL, that can decide it before the fee does.

Yearly billing and the free trial

The pricing page has a Monthly and Yearly switch, with "2 months free!" next to it. The page does not print the yearly totals, so check the exact figure on the checkout screen.

The free trial is 14 days on both plans. Skool's billing help article says both plans "are recurring subscriptions after 14 day free trial", and the pricing page itself says "Get started for $9/month with a 14-day free trial. Cancel anytime."

Know the refund rule before the trial ends. The same article says: "No refunds will be provided for full or partial billing periods or for the non-use of the platform." You can cancel a trial or a plan any time from your group's settings, under Billing, then Manage subscription (Skool's steps). We cover it step by step in how to cancel a Skool subscription. Free trials you give your own members work differently: see the Skool free trial, both ways.

What members pay

Members do not pay Skool's $9 or $99. Each community sets its own price. Skool's pricing setup article lists the options an owner can pick:

• Free group
• Subscription, monthly or annual, with an optional 7-day free trial for members
• Freemium, a free plan plus a paid upgrade
• Tiers, several paid plans
• One-time payment, for things like lifetime course access

Skool's homepage says "Some are free, some paid." On 29 September 2026, the first page of communities on skool.com showed 30 groups. Their prices ran from $9 to $249 a month, and two charged a one-time price instead. That is one page of a long list, not the whole market.

All member prices on Skool are in US dollars, and members pay in US dollars.

VAT for buyers in the EU

Skool is the "merchant of record". That means Skool sells to the member and handles sales tax. The Payments FAQ says: "Skool handles EU VAT for you. We add the VAT rate on top of the price." Its example: a $100 a month group, bought from Germany at 19% VAT, costs the member $119 a month. Skool also says it does not collect VAT in the UK, because it is registered as a virtual training business and virtual training is VAT-exempt there.

If you are a member who found a Skool charge on your card and are not sure what it is, see our guide to the Skool charge on your statement.

Growth Boost: the 30% Skool takes on members it brings you

Growth Boost is Skool's way of finding you members. Skool shows your group at the top of search results, shows it in other places on Skool, and runs ads for it off Skool. In return, the Payments FAQ says, "You only pay a 30% commission if Skool gets you a customer."

Skool's example: "If Skool brings you a paid customer and your group price is $10, Skool deducts $3 and fees." For members you bring yourself, Skool only takes the normal fee.

The key facts, from Skool's Growth Boost article:

• It is on by default. You can turn it off at any time in Settings, then Discovery.
• It is not a one-off. "The Growth Boost cut applies to recurring charges, as long as the member's subscription is active."
• A member counts as Skool's when they join through Discovery, the recommended groups sidebar or Skool's paid ads. Skool uses last-touch attribution, with a 14-day window for these.
• If you change your Growth Boost %, members who already joined stay at the % they joined at.
• Skool says it is "not recommended for high ticket sales". It tells you to turn it off if you sell through a sales call or a sales funnel.

A worked example. A member finds you through Discovery and pays $49 a month. On Pro, Skool takes $14.70 (30%) plus $1.72 (the fee), and you keep $32.58. On Hobby, Skool takes $14.70 plus $5.20, and you keep $29.10. Growth Boost costs the same on both plans, so it does not move the break-even point above.

If you give a full refund, Skool's refund article says the Growth Boost fee and any VAT come back from Skool's side.

How the bidding and the stages work: Skool Growth Boost explained.

Payouts: when the money reaches you

From Skool's Payments FAQ:

• Your available balance is paid out every Wednesday, straight to your bank account.
• US bank accounts usually get it in 1 to 3 business days. Other countries take 3 to 5.
• Your first payout goes through checks and "might take up to 14 days". After that, it is every 7 days.
• Payouts are in your local currency. Skool does not send US dollars to banks outside the US, so a UK owner is paid in pounds.
• If you run more than one community, all payouts go to the same bank account.
• You connect through a Stripe Express account that Skool creates. You cannot use a Stripe account you already have.
• The largest single charge Skool allows is $100,000.

One trap to know. You cannot refund a member more than your available Skool balance. If your balance is too low, Skool suggests waiting for more subscribers or refunding through another platform like PayPal.

The Skool affiliate program

You can also earn from Skool by referring new owners. Skool's affiliate page says you "earn 40% of monthly recurring revenue for life." The help article puts numbers on it: $39 a month for each Pro group you refer, and $3.60 a month for each Hobby group.

• A cookie tracks the referral for 14 days, and the last link clicked gets the credit.
• Commissions sit as pending for 14 days before you can pay them out.
• Referring yourself is not allowed, and neither is running ads on the word "Skool".
• Commissions stop if the group is archived or moves to a new owner.
• If one of your own members starts a group, Skool credits the referral to you automatically.

To be open about it: we are Skool affiliates too, and the Skool signup links in this post are ours.

What Skool pricing does not include

• Tax on EU buyers. VAT is added on top of your price. The member pays it, not you, but it raises what they see at checkout.
• Refunds of fees. Transaction fees are non-refundable, and so are Skool's own plan fees.
• Extra URL changes. After your first custom URL, each change is $100.
• Your own domain. Communities live at skool.com/your-group-name. Skool's help centre has no article on using a domain you own.
• Members Skool finds for you. Those carry the 30% Growth Boost cut on top of the fee, unless you turn it off.

Already run a Skool community? Failed cards cost you money

At $49 or $99 a month, one member whose card fails and never gets fixed is $49 or $99 you lose, every month. Skool does help. A declined member gets a red "Declined" label, the invoice shows how many retries Skool has made, and you can retry the charge yourself. Members also see a prompt to update their card (Skool's decline guide).

Backpack adds a personal touch on top. Its Payment Recovery sends the member a message from you when their card fails. You write the message once, and it sends it. It runs on our servers, so it works with your computer off. It costs $9 a month for every feature, on every Skool community you admin, and you can try Backpack free for 7 days. Backpack is not affiliated with Skool.

The short version

Skool pricing in one line: $9 a month plus 10% of member payments, or $99 a month plus 2.9%. Hobby is cheaper while your members pay you less than about $1,268 a month. Pro is cheaper after that, and it is the only plan with a custom URL, more than one admin, and most plugins. If Skool fits, you can start a Skool community here (affiliate link). Not sure it does? Read what Skool is and how it works first.

FAQ

How much is Skool per month?

Skool costs $9 a month on the Hobby plan or $99 a month on the Pro plan. On top of that, Skool takes a fee on each member payment: 10% + 30c on Hobby, 2.9% + 30c on Pro. Both plans start with a 14-day free trial, and yearly billing gives you 2 months free.

Does Skool have a free plan?

No. There is no free plan for community owners. You get a 14-day free trial, then pay $9 a month for Hobby or $99 a month for Pro. Members are different. Joining a free group costs nothing, and each owner decides whether their group is free or paid.

What are Skool's transaction fees?

Hobby charges 10% + 30c on every transaction. Pro charges 2.9% + 30c on transactions up to $899, and 3.9% + 30c above $900. Skool says transaction fees are non-refundable. EU buyers also pay VAT on top, which Skool collects and sends to the tax office.

Is Skool Pro worth it?

On fees alone, Pro pays for itself once your members pay you more than about $1,268 a month. Below that, Hobby costs less. But Pro also brings a custom URL, more than one admin, most plugins, member affiliates and group transfers, so you may need it sooner.

How much does it cost to join a Skool community?

It depends on the community, because each owner sets their own price. Some groups are free. On 29 September 2026, the first page of groups on skool.com ranged from $9 to $249 a month. Prices are in US dollars, and EU members pay VAT on top.

When does Skool pay out?

Skool pays your available balance every Wednesday, straight to your bank account. Your first payout can take up to 14 days while Skool runs checks. After that, it is every 7 days. Payouts arrive in your local currency, usually within 1 to 5 business days.

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.