Nathan FieldSkool vs Stakk is really a question of what you sell: a community, or products. Disclosure first: Stakk is built by Nathan Field, who also built Backpack, so this page has a stake in the answer. We have tried to write it the way we would want to read it. Skool is a community platform, where members pay to join a group with posts, courses and events. Stakk is a store for one-off digital products, sold from a link in your bio. They overlap less than you might think, and one creator can use both. Every fact below comes from Skool's and Stakk's own pages, checked on 29 September 2026.
Skool and Stakk do different jobs. Skool runs a paid community: members pay monthly or yearly to join a group with posts, courses, events and leaderboards, and Skool handles payments and sales tax. Stakk sells one-off digital products from your link in bio, paid into your own Stripe account. A creator can use both.
Skool vs Stakk at a glance
| Skool | Stakk | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A community platform | A store for digital products |
| What buyers pay for | Membership of your group, and one-time courses inside it | One-off products: guides, templates, presets, courses, coaching calls |
| Subscriptions | Yes, monthly or annual | No. Every purchase is one-off |
| Community features | Feed, Classroom, Calendar, leaderboards | None listed. A community invite can be sold as a product that delivers a link |
| Order bumps and upsells at checkout | Not listed | Yes |
| Whose payment account | Skool's, as merchant of record | Your own Stripe account. You are the merchant of record |
| When you get paid | Every Wednesday | Stripe pays you, on Stripe's schedule |
| Sales tax and VAT | Skool collects, files and pays | Your responsibility |
| Price range per sale | Up to $100,000 per charge | $1 to $999 per product, US dollars only |
| Your address | skool.com/your-group | stakk.store/yourname |
| What it costs | Hobby $9 or Pro $99 a month, plus a fee per sale | See Stakk's pricing page |
What Skool is for
Skool is a place members stay. Every group has a Community feed for posts, a Classroom for courses, a Calendar for events and live calls, and a leaderboard. Members earn a point each time someone likes their post or comment, and climb nine levels. You can lock a course until a member reaches a level. Your About page is your sales page, and Skool calls it "essentially a landing/checkout page for your group".
Skool's pricing options cover a free group, a monthly or annual subscription, freemium, tiers, and a one-time payment. Inside a group you can also put a Buy Now price on a single course, and members buy it there. So Skool can sell more than access, but only to people inside your group. Our guide to what Skool is goes further.
If a paid community is what you want to run, you can try Skool free for 14 days (affiliate link).
What Stakk is for
Stakk is a store. Each creator gets a page at stakk.store/yourname, and each product gets its own page under it. Stakk's pricing page lists what comes with every store:
- Unlimited products, priced from $1 to $999 each.
- Order bumps, added before the buyer pays, and upsells, offered after.
- Instant digital delivery and buyer receipts.
- Analytics.
- Payouts straight from Stripe.
Stakk sells things once. Its pricing page says "Every purchase is a one-off", and there is "no recurring billing on the platform". Stakk's pages list no community features: no feed, no events, no leaderboard. Stakk's own plain-text summary of itself, at stakk.store/llms.txt, says it plainly: anyone selling subscriptions or memberships should use another platform, and it names Skool as one of them.
Stakk is also new. Its About page says it "is a one-person business and it is only just launching". Skool, by its own About page, was founded in 2019. That matters if you want a platform with a long track record.
Skool sells access to a group. Stakk sells a product, once.
How each one charges
Skool charges a monthly plan and a fee per sale. Skool's pricing page shows Hobby at $9 a month and Pro at $99 a month, with "2 months free" on yearly billing and a 14-day free trial. Skool's payments FAQ lists the fee per sale: Hobby is "10% + 30c /transaction for all transactions". Pro is "2.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions up to $899 USD" and "3.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions above $900 USD". Card processing is included. If Skool finds you a paying member through Discovery or its own ads, Growth Boost also takes 30% of that member's payments while they stay. Our Skool pricing guide works through the numbers.
Stakk: we are leaving its fees out of this post on purpose. A fee comparison written by the people who build one side of it is not worth much. Stakk's pricing page shows the full breakdown, with a worked example, and that is the place to check it.
The bigger difference is not the fee. It is who holds the money.
Who holds the money
On Skool, Skool is the seller. Its payments FAQ says "All payment processing happens on the Skools merchant" and that Skool is a "merchant of record". You cannot use your own Stripe account. Skool pays your balance to your bank every Wednesday, in your local currency. It also takes on sales tax: Skool says it handles "all sales tax collection, filing, and payments", and adds EU VAT on top of your price. Refunds are up to you: "Skool's policy is to let Creators offer refunds to Members at their discretion."
On Stakk, you are the seller. Stakk's pricing page says "Buyers pay into your own Stripe account, not into Stakk. You are the merchant of record, Stakk never holds your money, and Stripe pays you out on its own schedule." The other side of that is responsibility. Stakk's summary says the creator carries "chargebacks, refunds, and any VAT or sales tax obligation". Refunds on your products are your decision.
So the trade is simple. Skool takes the tax and payment admin off your hands, and pays you out once a week. Stakk puts the money in your own account from the start, and leaves the admin with you.
When you need Skool, Stakk or both
Skool on its own
- People pay you every month to belong to something.
- You want courses, events, live calls and a leaderboard in one place.
- You want Skool to handle payments, sales tax and EU VAT.
- You want people to find you through Skool's Discovery, and accept the 30% Growth Boost cut on those members.
Stakk on its own
- You sell one-off digital products, like guides, templates or presets.
- You want sales paid into your own Stripe account.
- You want order bumps and upsells at checkout.
- You do not need a community, or you already run one somewhere else.
Both together
The two fit together because they do not overlap much. A common shape is a low-priced product that sells from your bio, with a paid community for the buyers who want more. Stakk's own homepage shows a demo store laid out this way: a beginner's guide for sale, next to a link to join a Skool community.
Links run both ways. A Stakk product can be a link that sends buyers to your Skool group. Inside Skool, the Links plugin lets you add outside links for your members, so you can point them at your store. Links is a Pro plugin, and links in your About page description do not work.
If you are comparing stores, our Skool vs Stan Store post covers a store that charges a monthly plan and now includes a community feature.
The honest downsides
Skool: one fixed layout. Your group lives on skool.com, and changing its URL is a Pro feature. You cannot use your own Stripe account. Hobby's 10% fee gets expensive fast. Growth Boost takes 30% of members Skool finds for you unless you switch it off.
Stakk: no subscriptions or memberships at all. Products are priced in US dollars only, from $1 to $999 each. You are the merchant of record, so chargebacks, refunds and tax are yours to deal with. And it is a new, one-person platform.
For most creators weighing Skool vs Stakk, the question is whether people pay you to belong or pay you for things. If it is to belong, start a Skool community here (affiliate link). If it is for things, you can open a store at stakk.store.
FAQ
Is Stakk an alternative to Skool?
Not really. Skool runs a paid community with posts, courses, events and leaderboards. Stakk sells one-off digital products from a link and has no community features or subscriptions. Stakk's own summary tells anyone selling memberships to use another platform, and names Skool. One creator can use each for a different job.
Can I sell a membership or subscription on Stakk?
No. Stakk's pricing page says every purchase is a one-off and there is no recurring billing on the platform. A coaching call or a community invite can be sold as a product that delivers a link. For a monthly membership, a platform with subscriptions, such as Skool, is the right tool.
Can I sell digital products on Skool?
Partly. Skool lets you put a one-time Buy Now price on a course in your Classroom, and members of your group buy it there. You can also charge a one-time price to join a group. Skool's pricing page lists no storefront, order bumps or email tools for selling to people outside your group.
Who holds the money on Skool and on Stakk?
On Skool, Skool does. It processes every payment as the merchant of record, handles sales tax, and pays your balance to your bank every Wednesday. On Stakk, buyers pay into your own Stripe account, you are the merchant of record, and Stripe pays you on its own schedule. Stakk never holds the money.
Who makes Stakk?
Stakk is built by Nathan Field, who also built Backpack. Its About page says it is a one-person business, operated as a sole trader in Australia, and that it is only just launching. We say this up front because this page compares Stakk with Skool, and you should know who wrote it.
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.