Nathan FieldThis Skool review comes from people who run a Skool community, and every fact in it was checked on Skool's own pages on 29 September 2026. We are also Skool affiliates, so we earn a commission if you sign up through our link. That is exactly why we have tried to give you the downsides as plainly as the good parts. Where Skool's own help centre says something, we quote it, so you can check it yourself.
Skool is a simple, all-in-one community platform: a feed, courses, a calendar, points and levels, and member billing in one place. It costs $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee, or $99 a month with 2.9%. It is a strong pick for a paid community. It is a poor pick if you need your own domain or brand.
Skool in one paragraph
Skool puts a community feed, a course area called Classroom, a calendar for live calls, points and levels, and member billing inside one product. Members join your group, post and comment in the feed, work through your courses, and pay you through Skool. Skool was founded in 2019 in Los Angeles by Sam Ovens (CEO) and Daniel Kang (CTO), and its about page says it has 30 employees. Alex Hormozi is not a founder. Skool says he "partnered with Skool in 2024 to create The Skool Games". For the full tour, read what Skool is and how it works.
Both plans start with a 14-day free trial, so the cheapest way to judge Skool is to try Skool (affiliate link) with your own content for two weeks.
How we wrote this review
We run our own Skool community, so we use Skool as owners, not just as members. For this review we re-read Skool's pricing page and its help centre on 29 September 2026 and quote them wherever a detail matters.
We have not given Skool a star rating. A score needs a scale and a test behind it, and we have not run one. A made-up number would not help you decide.
What Skool does well
It is simple
Each group has one feed, one Classroom and one calendar. You can sort posts into up to 10 categories, each with its own posting rights and sort order. There is no maze of spaces, channels and sub-channels to design before your first member arrives. You spend your time on members, not on settings. For most owners, that is the whole point of Skool.
It is all in one place
Both plans list, in Skool's words, "Unlimited members", "Unlimited courses", "Unlimited videos" and "Unlimited live calls". Billing is built in too. You do not need a course tool, a payment tool and a chat app, then glue them together with extra software.
Points and levels come built in
Skool's help centre says "1 like = 1 point for the post or comment author". There are nine levels, from Level 1 at 0 points to Level 9 at 33,015 points. Owners can lock a course until a member reaches a set level, which Skool says is there "to further drive participation". It turns posting and helping others into a small game, and you do not have to build or buy it.
Courses can drip and lock
Classroom's drip feature opens pages "after a certain number of days after they join your community". You can also lock a whole course behind a level. Together that covers pacing (members get content over time) and a reason to take part (members earn access).
Discovery can bring you members
Skool lists groups in a public Discovery directory. Skool says groups "are ranked by member growth, engagement, and retention", with human review on top to catch bots and spam. To be listed you need a minimum number of members, posts and activity, plus a group description, an About page and a cover image.
Growth Boost is how Skool gets paid for this. It is on by default. Skool's Discovery FAQ says "You pay the 30% commission only when Skool gets you a member", and the cut "applies to recurring charges, as long as the member's subscription is active." Members you bring in yourself cost only the normal transaction fee. You can switch Growth Boost off under Settings, then Discovery. Skool itself says it "is not recommended for high ticket sales."
Skool handles the sales tax
Skool is a merchant of record. That means Skool is the seller on paper, so the tax work sits with Skool, not you. In its own words: "Skool handles EU VAT for you. We add the VAT rate on top of the price." All member prices are in USD. Your balance is paid out every Wednesday in your local currency, and the first payout can take up to 14 days. For a solo owner, that is a large job Skool takes off your desk.
Skool saves you work. In return, you give up control.
What is missing, and the real downsides
Your community lives on skool.com
Every group lives at a skool.com address, like ours at skool.com/consulting, inside Skool's own design. Skool's help centre has no article on connecting your own domain name. You can claim a nicer group URL, but Skool's help article on it says "This feature is only available on the Pro plan". The first change is free, and after that "it costs $100 per change". Skool's pricing page lists "Custom URL" under both plans, so check in your settings before you count on it with Hobby. If owning your web address matters to your brand, Skool is the wrong tool.
Little design control
Skool's help centre covers a group icon, a cover photo, your About page and your categories. It has no article on colours, fonts, themes or page layouts. Your About page takes text, images and videos, but Skool warns that "Links in the About page description will not work". In practice every Skool group looks like every other Skool group. That is good for members, who already know where everything is. It is bad if your brand depends on looking different.
The Hobby plan's 10% fee adds up
Hobby is $9 a month, but it charges "10% + 30c /transaction for all transactions". Pro is $99 a month and charges "2.9% + 30c" on payments up to $899 and "3.9% + 30c" above $900. Skool processes the cards itself, so there is no separate Stripe fee on top. Skool's own example: a $9 monthly membership pays you $7.80 on Hobby and $8.40 on Pro.
On a $100 monthly membership, Hobby takes $10.30 per payment and Pro takes $3.20. Pro costs $90 more a month and saves you 7.1 cents on every dollar members pay, so Pro becomes the cheaper plan once members pay you more than about $1,270 a month. Also note: "Transaction fees are non-refundable."
Many plugins are Pro only
Skool's plugins help page (updated 29 August 2026) marks AutoDM, the onboarding video, Zapier, the cancellation video, Google Ads tracking, Links, instant membership approval and the webhook as "Pro plan". Only membership questions and the two level-based locks on chat and posting say "Hobby & Pro plan". So the matching feature lists on the pricing page do not tell the whole story. Hobby is a real plan, but a thin one.
One feed for everything
Skool's answer to organising posts is categories, capped at 10. For a small group, one feed is clean and easy to follow. For a large group with many topics, you may want separate rooms for each topic. Circle, for example, lists 20 separate "Spaces" on its cheapest plan. We compare the two in Skool vs Circle.
Refunds come out of your balance
You decide refunds, but Skool's refund article says "You may not refund more than your available account balance." If your balance is too low, Skool suggests you "wait to gain more subscribers or use a third-party platform". A refund also does "not cancel a member's subscription or remove them from the group", so removing them is a second step. Right after a Wednesday payout your balance may be small, so this can bite.
Skool's own fee is not refunded
Skool's payment terms say "No refunds will be provided for full or partial billing periods or for the non-use of the platform." You can cancel any time, and you keep access to the end of the billing period. After that your group is archived and stays read-only.
Follow-up and scheduling are left to you
When a member's card is declined, Skool retries it and prompts the member to update their billing method. Owners can see the decline reason, how many retries Skool has made, and retry the charge by hand. When a member cancels, Pro owners can show a cancellation video on the cancel page. Past that, any personal follow-up is up to you. Skool's help centre also has no article on scheduling a post in the feed. Events can be scheduled; feed posts are not covered.
What Skool costs
| Item | Hobby | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $9 | $99 |
| Transaction fee | 10% + 30c on all payments | 2.9% + 30c up to $899, 3.9% + 30c above $900 |
| Yearly billing | "2 months free" | "2 months free" |
| Free trial | 14 days | 14 days |
| Members, courses, videos, live calls | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Most plugins (AutoDM, Zapier, cancellation video) | No | Yes |
| Growth Boost on members Skool brings you | 30%, on by default | 30%, on by default |
For the maths at different revenue levels, read our full Skool pricing breakdown.
Who should use Skool
- You want a paid community with a course inside it, in one simple tool.
- You would rather Skool dealt with sales tax and EU VAT than do it yourself.
- You want a chance at new members from Discovery, and you are fine paying 30% on the members Skool brings.
- You are starting small. Hobby lets you begin at $9 a month, and you can move to Pro once members pay you more than about $1,270 a month.
If that sounds like you, start a Skool community (affiliate link) and use the 14-day trial to test it with real members.
Who should not use Skool
- You need your own domain or a branded look. Circle lists a custom domain on its Professional plan, $99 a month or $89 a month billed yearly.
- You want email marketing, landing pages and funnels in the same tool. Kajabi lists unlimited marketing emails, landing pages and funnels on every plan, starting at $179 a month.
- You sell high-ticket programmes through sales calls. Skool says Growth Boost is not recommended for that, so you lose Discovery's main draw.
- You need many separate discussion rooms. Ten categories in one feed will feel tight.
For every option with prices and fees side by side, read the best Skool alternatives, compared honestly.
Already on Skool? Fill the gaps before you switch
Several of the downsides above are only fixed by moving platform. Two are not: following up with members and scheduling posts. Skool retries a failed card and, on Pro, shows a cancellation video. Anything more personal is up to you, and Skool's help centre has no way to schedule a feed post.
Backpack fills those gaps without leaving Skool. It is a Chrome extension plus our servers. Payment Recovery messages a member when their card fails. Cancellation Recovery messages a member who cancels. Post Scheduler puts your posts up at the time you choose. You can also connect your own Claude or ChatGPT to your community. You write the messages and Backpack sends them. It runs on our servers, so it works with your computer off. It costs $9 a month for every Skool community you admin, with every feature. Backpack is not made by or affiliated with Skool. Try Backpack free for 7 days.
Our verdict
Skool is a very simple way to run a paid community with a course inside it. It is clear about its prices, it handles the sales tax, and Discovery gives you a real chance at members you did not have to find. The cost of that simplicity is control. Your group lives on skool.com, it looks like every other group, the Hobby fee gets expensive quickly, and many useful plugins need Pro.
If you can live with those limits, this Skool review ends in a yes, and Pro is the plan to grow into. If your brand, your domain or your sales funnel needs more, pick a tool built for that. If Skool fits, you can start a Skool community here (affiliate link).
FAQ
Is Skool worth it?
Skool is worth it if you want a paid community and a course in one simple tool, and you do not need your own domain. On Hobby you pay $9 a month plus 10% + 30c per payment. Once members pay you more than about $1,270 a month, the $99 Pro plan works out cheaper.
Is Skool legit?
Yes. Skool is a real company, founded in 2019 in Los Angeles by Sam Ovens and Daniel Kang. It is the merchant of record for payments in your group, so it handles sales tax and EU VAT. It pays owners every Wednesday, in their local currency, straight to their bank account.
Does Skool take a percentage of sales?
Yes. Skool charges 10% + 30c per payment on the $9 Hobby plan, and 2.9% + 30c on the $99 Pro plan, rising to 3.9% + 30c above $900. If Growth Boost is on and Skool brings you a paying member, Skool also takes 30% of that member's payments.
Can I use my own domain with Skool?
Not that Skool documents. Its help centre has no article on connecting your own domain, and every group lives at a skool.com address. On the Pro plan you can claim a custom group URL on skool.com. The first change is free, and each later change costs $100.
Does Skool have a free trial?
Yes. Skool's payment terms say both the Hobby and Pro plans are recurring subscriptions "after 14 day free trial". After that, Skool bills you monthly or yearly. Skool does not refund its own plan fee for full or partial billing periods, so cancel before the trial ends if it is not for you.
Who owns Skool?
Skool was founded in 2019 by Sam Ovens, the CEO, and Daniel Kang, the CTO, and is based in Los Angeles. Alex Hormozi is not a founder. Skool's about page says he "partnered with Skool in 2024 to create The Skool Games". Skool has not published how much, if any, of the company he owns.
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.