Circle vs Skool
Nub tried both so you don’t have to.
Nub’s verdict
Pick Circle for paid communities with a polished, branded feel.
Pick Skool for paid communities where the course is part of membership.
Best for
Paid communities with a polished, branded feel.
Paid communities where the course is part of membership.
Free plan
Check site
No
How it charges
Monthly or yearly plans
Flat monthly fee per group
Made for
Course creatorsNewsletter writers
Course creatorsYouTubers
What it does well
- Clean, customisable community spaces
- Courses, events and paywalls built in
- Mobile apps
- Community and courses together
- Gamification keeps members active
- Simple flat pricing
Where Nub hesitates
- Costs more than simpler community tools
- Course features lighter than a full LMS
- Very little design customisation
- Course features are basic
What actually differs
Circle hosts branded communities with discussions, courses, live events and paid memberships, on web and mobile apps.
Skool combines a community feed, courses, a calendar and gamification in one simple product, priced as a flat monthly fee per group.
Pricing works differently: Circle is monthly or yearly plans, while Skool is flat monthly fee per group.
Circle also suits newsletter writers, which Skool is not really built for.
Skool also suits YouTubers, which Circle is not really built for.
How to decide
- Transaction fees
- Some plans add a fee on every sale on top of payment processing. At volume this matters more than the monthly price.
- All-in-one or focused
- All-in-one saves tools but locks more of your business into one vendor.
- Community
- If students need to talk to each other, check the built-in community before adding a separate one.