Skool and Mighty Networks take almost opposite approaches to the same job. Skool is one feed, one classroom, and a simple pricing ladder built around gamification — starting at $9/month with a fee that already includes payment processing. Mighty Networks is a broader platform with unlimited spaces, structured courses with quizzes and certifications, and a platform fee that sits on top of separate Stripe processing. One is built to be the simplest way to launch a paid community; the other is built for creators running full programs with courses, cohorts, and live events.
This comparison covers pricing, real payment costs, and features to help you decide which fits your community.
On this page
Quick Summary
| Feature | Skool | Mighty Networks |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Coaches who want the simplest possible setup with strong gamification | Community-first creators and coaches running structured courses, cohorts, and live events |
| Starting Price | $9/month (Hobby); $99/month (Pro). Yearly billing offers 2 months free | $79/month, billed annually (Launch) |
| Free Trial | 14-day free trial, cancel anytime | 14-day free trial, no credit card required (runs on Growth-plan features; a 5% transaction fee applies to trial sales) |
| Transaction Fees | 10% + $0.30 (Hobby); 2.9% + $0.30 up to $899, then 3.9% + $0.30 above $900 (Pro). Payment processing is included | 2% (Launch), 1% (Scale), 0.5% (Growth and Mighty Pro), plus Stripe processing (typically 2.5%–5%) |
| Course Tools | Modules and lessons with video, text, and file attachments; level- and time-based unlocking; no quizzes, assignments, or completion certificates | Sections and lessons, drip scheduling, quizzes and tests, badges and certifications, SCORM embeds |
| Community Structure | One unified feed per group — no separate spaces; running more than one community means paying for more than one group | Unlimited spaces on every plan |
Details checked against Skool’s and Mighty Networks’ official pricing and help pages in September 2026.
Quick Recommendation:
- Choose Skool if you want the cheapest, simplest way to launch a single gamified community and don’t need course assessments or multiple spaces.
- Choose Mighty Networks if your offer is built around structured courses, cohorts, and live events, and you want unlimited spaces from day one.
Feature Comparison
1. Community Structure
Skool runs each group as a single unified feed — there’s no concept of separate spaces, and Skool’s own pricing shows unlimited members and courses inside that one feed. If you need several completely separate communities, Skool uses separate groups rather than multiple spaces within one group. Mighty Networks gives every plan unlimited spaces, so you can organize discussions, courses, and events into distinct sections from the Launch plan up.
2. Courses
This is the widest gap between the two. Mighty Networks’ plan comparison lists on-demand and cohort-based courses, quizzes and tests, sequential and dripped content, and automatically awarded badges and certifications, plus SCORM-compliant content embeds. Skool’s Classroom covers modules and lessons with video, text, and file attachments, and content can be unlocked by member level or by time since joining — but Skool doesn’t offer quizzes, assignments, or completion certificates. If graded assessments or completion certificates are part of your program, Mighty Networks supports them natively while Skool does not. Skool does support level- and time-based content unlocking through its Drip feature, so drip delivery itself isn’t the main difference.
3. Gamification
Both platforms build gamification into the core product, but the details differ. Skool centers on points and levels 1 through 9 with leaderboards — it’s the feature the platform is best known for. Mighty Networks lists points, streaks, leaderboards, and a built-in member referral program on every plan, with advanced leaderboards added on Growth and up.
4. Live Events
Skool’s pricing page lists unlimited live calls on both Hobby and Pro, with no stated cap on hours or attendees. Mighty Networks caps live streaming by plan: 20 hours a month and up to 100 viewers per stream on Launch, rising to 30 hours and 200 viewers on Scale, and 40 hours and 1,000 viewers on Growth (up to 10,000 viewers is available for an added fee).
5. Team Size
Skool’s Hobby plan is limited to one admin; adding more (up to 30) requires the Pro plan, according to Skool’s help center. Mighty Networks includes multiple hosts and moderators from Launch: 3 hosts and 10 moderators, rising to 5 and 15 on Scale, and 10 hosts and 100 moderators on Growth.
6. Branding and Integrations
Skool’s pricing page lists a custom URL on both plans, but its help center says claiming or changing that URL requires the Pro plan. Its Zapier integration is Pro-only, and so is the member affiliate program. Mighty Networks lets every plan add your own logo, colors, and brand banners; Zapier, Kit, and affiliate-platform integrations, along with Admin API access, start on the Scale plan. Fully branded, white-labeled mobile apps aren’t available on Skool at any tier — Mighty Networks offers them only through the custom-priced Mighty Pro plan.
7. Fees and Payment Processing
The two platforms handle payments in fundamentally different ways. Skool is the merchant of record: its quoted transaction fee already includes payment processing, and Skool explicitly says this isn’t a regular Stripe account — you can’t connect your own. Skool also handles EU VAT collection and remittance for you. Mighty Networks connects to your own Stripe account, and its platform fee (2%/1%/0.5%) is added on top of Stripe’s processing, which Mighty’s help center says typically runs 2.5% to 5% per transaction. One exception: purchases made through the Mighty Networks iOS app go through Apple In-App Purchase instead of Stripe, and Mighty charges no fee of its own on those — only Apple’s standard 15% cut applies.
Pricing Comparison
Skool Pricing
- Hobby ($9/month, or about $7.50/month on yearly billing): Unlimited members, courses, videos, and live calls, with one admin. Charges 10% + $0.30 per transaction, with payment processing included.
- Pro ($99/month, or about $82.50/month on yearly billing): The same unlimited core features, plus support for multiple admins (up to 30), Zapier integration, and ownership transfer. Transaction fees drop to 2.9% + $0.30 up to $899 per transaction, rising to 3.9% + $0.30 above $900, with processing included.
- Skool’s Growth Boost feature — on by default, toggleable off — lets Skool promote your community and takes a 30% commission on customers its own marketing brings you, for as long as their subscription stays active.
- Skool’s subscription fees are non-refundable once paid, and cancelling simply stops future renewals; you keep access through the end of the current billing period.
Mighty Networks Pricing
Mighty’s listed prices are per-month equivalents on annual billing.
- Launch ($79/month, or $950/year): Unlimited members and spaces, 3 hosts, 10 moderators, 200 GB storage, courses, basic automations, AI Cohost, and a 2% transaction fee.
- Scale ($179/month): Everything in Launch, plus 5 hosts, 15 moderators, 500 GB storage, more automations, Zapier, Kit, and affiliate integrations, Admin API access (5,000 requests/month), and a 1% transaction fee.
- Growth ($354/month): Everything in Scale, plus 10 hosts, 100 moderators, 1 TB storage, member video upload, advanced automations, priority support, migration services, and a 0.5% transaction fee.
- Mighty Pro (custom pricing): Everything in Growth, plus your own branded apps and full community management services, at a 0.5% transaction fee.
- Every Mighty free trial runs on Growth-plan features, and a 5% transaction fee applies to sales made during the trial.
Comparing Total Payment Costs
Because Skool’s fee includes payment processing and Mighty’s doesn’t, comparing the headline percentages alone is misleading. Here’s what a $50 card payment could cost, using Stripe’s current standard U.S. domestic-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 as an illustrative example for Mighty:
| Plan | Fee breakdown | Approx. total on $50 |
|---|---|---|
| Skool Hobby | 10% + $0.30 (all-in) | $5.30 |
| Mighty Launch | 2% + ~2.9% Stripe + $0.30 | ~$2.75 |
| Mighty Scale | 1% + ~2.9% Stripe + $0.30 | ~$2.25 |
| Mighty Growth | 0.5% + ~2.9% Stripe + $0.30 | ~$2.00 |
| Skool Pro | 2.9% + $0.30 (all-in, up to $899) | $1.75 |
Skool Pro comes out cheapest per sale in this example, and Skool Hobby the most expensive — with Mighty’s tiers landing in between. Mighty’s own documentation puts typical Stripe processing at 2.5% to 5%, so actual Mighty costs can run higher or lower than the $2.75–$2.00 range shown here depending on card type and country. On the subscription-price side, Skool’s $9 Hobby plan undercuts Mighty’s $79 Launch plan by a wide margin, while Skool Pro’s $99 sits above Mighty Launch but below Mighty Scale.
Looking for other choices? See our top picks for the Best Community Platforms
Which Should you Choose?
Choose Skool if:
- You want the lowest possible starting cost and the simplest setup: one feed, one classroom, no spaces to configure.
- Gamification — points, levels, leaderboards — is central to how you want members to engage.
- Your course content doesn’t need quizzes or completion certificates — Skool’s Drip feature already covers basic time-released lessons.
- You’re comfortable with Skool as the merchant of record and its non-refundable subscription policy.
Choose Mighty Networks if:
- You’re running structured courses, cohorts, or certification programs and want quizzes, drip scheduling, and certificates built in.
- You want multiple spaces to organize your community from the start.
- You need more live-streaming capacity or a larger admin team on your entry-level plan.
- You’re comfortable connecting your own Stripe account and paying processing fees separately from the platform fee.
Final Verdict
Skool is the stronger choice for creators who want the cheapest, simplest way to launch a single gamified community, and who don’t need formal course assessments. Its transaction fee looks high on the surface, but it already includes payment processing, and Skool Pro is competitive on total cost once you compare like with like.
Mighty Networks is the stronger choice for creators running structured programs — courses with quizzes and certificates, cohorts, and live events — who want unlimited spaces and don’t mind connecting their own Stripe account and paying processing on top of the platform fee.
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