Skool review 2026: pricing, transaction fees and payouts

Skool costs $9 a month on its Hobby plan, which takes 10% + $0.30 of every payment, or $99 a month on Pro, which takes 2.9% + $0.30. On 100 US payments of $10, Hobby leaves about $861 of $1,000. Skool does more than most platforms to find you paying members, but it keeps the billing, the payment processor and much of the member relationship.

How much does Skool cost?

Skool charges a monthly plan fee plus a per-transaction fee, and the transaction fee already includes card processing. As of October 2026 there are two plans, both with a 14-day free trial.

Skool also sells annual billing, which its pricing page advertises as two months free. Skool’s own examples show a $9 membership paying out $7.80 on Hobby and $8.40 on Pro, though Pro’s published 2.9% + $0.30 works out to $8.44.

Transaction fees are not refunded when you refund a member, and all prices are set and charged in US dollars, with payouts in your local currency. Skool acts as merchant of record, so it collects and files sales tax and VAT for you. In the EU it adds VAT on top of your price, so a $100 membership costs a German member $119.

Is Skool Pro worth it?

Skool Pro becomes cheaper than Hobby once your community earns about $1,268 a month. Below that, the $90 gap in plan price outweighs Pro’s lower fee.

The arithmetic is short. Pro’s fee rate is 7.1 percentage points lower, and 7.1% of $1,268 is $90. At $1,000 a month in $10 payments, Hobby leaves $861 and Pro leaves $842. At $3,000 a month, Hobby leaves $2,601 and Pro leaves $2,724.

Pro also adds a custom URL and a member affiliate program, and you need Pro to transfer a group to a new owner. Skool says most people switching from their own Stripe setup save 1 to 2 points, citing Stripe’s extra 1.5% for international cards and 0.5% for subscriptions, neither of which Skool’s Pro rate adds. Stripe’s current Billing rate for subscriptions is 0.7%, so the saving on recurring charges is slightly larger than Skool says.

How does Skool discovery work?

Skool lists groups in a public Discovery directory ranked by member growth, engagement and retention. Its optional Growth Boost goes further, promoting your group in Discovery results and through off-site ads, in exchange for a 30% commission on members it brings.

Groups appear in Discovery only after passing minimum thresholds for members, posts and activity, and they need a description, an about page and a cover image. Skool says a human reviews rankings. Good artwork, an interesting niche, real engagement and active owners earn boosts. Bots, spam, poor support, inactive owners and taking payments off-platform earn penalties.

Growth Boost deserves a hard look because it is on by default. Skool fronts the cost of ads, then takes 30% of the price plus normal fees on every member it brings, for as long as that member keeps paying. As arithmetic on a $10 Hobby membership, that is $3 to Skool on top of the $1.30 fee, leaving you $5.70. You can switch it off under Settings, then Discovery. Members you bring yourself pay only the normal fee.

How do Skool payouts work?

Skool pays out every Wednesday to your bank account through a Stripe Express account it sets up for you. US deposits usually take 1 to 3 business days and international ones 3 to 5.

Funds become available 8 to 14 days after your first payment, and the first payout goes through extra checks that can stretch delivery to 14 days. After that, payouts run every 7 days. The minimum is usually one unit of your local currency, and your group’s own Skool subscription must be active for payouts to start.

You cannot connect an existing Stripe account, because all payment processing happens on Skool’s merchant account. Skool lists more than 150 countries for payouts as of September 2026, and recommends a regular local bank over fintech accounts such as Wise or Chime.

How does Skool gamification work?

Skool gives members one point for every like on their posts, comments and replies, and points move them up nine levels shown next to their name. Group leaderboards rank members, and you can lock courses until a member reaches a set level.

The curve is steep. Level 2 takes 5 points, level 5 takes 155 and level 9 takes 33,015. Levels are per group, so a member starts at level 1 in every new community they join.

How do you make money on Skool?

Skool groups can be free, paid by subscription, freemium, tiered or sold for a one-time price, and you can sell individual courses inside any group.

• Subscriptions bill monthly or annually, with an optional 7-day free trial for members
• Freemium pairs a free plan with a paid upgrade inside the same group
• Tiers offer several paid levels with different benefits
• One-time pricing suits lifetime access, pop-up groups and seminars
• One-time course purchases work in free or paid groups, which makes upsells easy

When you raise prices, existing members keep the price they joined at. On Pro, members can join an affiliate program and earn a commission you set for referring others.

Who is Skool best for?

Skool suits coaches, educators and paid-community operators who want courses, a calendar, live calls and discussion in one place, and who will pay Skool a cut for help finding members. The $9 Hobby plan is a cheap way to test whether people will pay.

Skip Skool if you need to own the relationship. You cannot connect your own Stripe account, Skool’s help center documents no member email export, and taking payments off-platform hurts your Discovery ranking. Creators who mostly sell tips or one-off digital products will find Ko-fi or Gumroad cheaper and simpler.

Skool alternatives

• Discord servers can sell access through paid roles connected to Memberful or Ko-fi, keeping billing in your own Stripe or PayPal account.
• Kajabi fits businesses where the course, not the community, is the product.
• Patreon works for creators who want memberships with built-in chats and free members.
• Our best platforms for communities list ranks the options.