Circle and Mighty Networks are two of the best-known platforms for running a paid community, and on paper they look alike. Both charge a monthly plan price plus a percentage-based fee on web sales, both handle courses, events, and memberships, and both have mobile apps. The differences show up in how each one is built. Circle leans toward customization and business tooling: a website builder, an email add-on, and APIs on higher tiers. Mighty Networks leans toward structured programs: unlimited spaces, course certifications, and an AI setup assistant.
This comparison covers pricing, fees, and features to help you decide which fits your community.
Quick Summary
| Feature | Circle | Mighty Networks |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Creators who want a customizable community hub with a website builder, AI tools, and API access on higher tiers | Community-first creators and coaches running courses, challenges, and live events |
| Starting Price | $89/month, billed annually (Professional) | $79/month, billed annually — $950/year (Launch) |
| Free Trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 14-day free trial, no credit card required (the trial runs on Growth-plan features) |
| Transaction Fees | 2% (Professional), 1% (Business), 0.5% (Circle Plus), plus Stripe processing | 2% (Launch), 1% (Scale), 0.5% (Growth and Mighty Pro), plus Stripe processing |
| Course Tools | Course builder with cohorts, drip scheduling, and gamification; quizzes and certificates aren’t listed on the pricing page | Sections, lessons, drip scheduling, quizzes, certifications, and SCORM embeds listed in the plan features |
| Branded Mobile App | Optional through Circle Plus (custom pricing); standard Circle app otherwise | Mighty Pro only (custom pricing); standard Mighty Networks app on all plans |
Details checked against Circle’s and Mighty Networks’ official pricing pages and help documentation in September 2026.
Quick Recommendation:
Choose Circle if you want your community to double as a business hub, with a website builder, optional email marketing, and API access as you grow.
Choose Mighty Networks if your offer is built around courses, challenges, and events, and you want unlimited spaces at a lower plan price.
Feature Comparison
1. Community Structure and Member Experience
Circle organizes a community into spaces: 20 on Professional and 30 on Business, with extra spaces available as a paid add-on ($20/month per 10). Mighty Networks has no space limit on any plan. Mighty’s plan list also includes points, streaks, leaderboards, a People Explorer for finding relevant members, and a built-in referral program, with advanced leaderboards starting on Growth. Circle covers gamification and a searchable member directory on Professional, and adds activity scores on Business.
2. Courses
Mighty Networks lists sections and lessons, drip scheduling, quizzes and tests, badges and certifications, cohort-based and live courses, and SCORM embeds among its course features. Circle offers a drag-and-drop course builder, quizzes, cohort-based courses with fixed start and end dates, and drip scheduling, but it doesn’t currently offer native course-completion certificates. If completion certificates are central to your offer, that gap matters; for most community courses, the basics are covered on both.
3. Live Events
Both include live streaming. Mighty’s Launch plan includes 20 streaming hours a month with up to 100 viewers per stream, rising to 30 hours and 200 viewers on Scale and 40 hours and 1,000 viewers on Growth. Circle Professional includes 10 live hours and up to 100 stream attendees; Business raises that to 15 hours and 200 attendees. Extra live hours on Circle cost $50/month per 10 hours. Mighty notes that up to 10,000 viewers are available for an additional fee.
4. Website, Email, and Integrations
Circle includes a website builder on Professional and offers email marketing through its Email Hub add-on ($99/month for 10,000 contacts, on top of your plan). Mighty Networks includes customizable landing pages (one on Launch and Scale, three on Growth) but doesn’t list a comparable built-in email add-on; its Kit integration starts on Scale.
On the technical side, Circle’s Business plan adds workflows, the Admin API, and the Headless Member API. Mighty’s Scale plan adds Zapier, Kit, affiliate-platform integrations, and Admin API access (5,000 requests a month), while its Headless API is listed as coming soon on Growth and Mighty Pro. Either way, integrations and APIs sit behind a mid-tier plan on both platforms.
5. Mobile Apps and Branding
Both platforms give members a standard iOS and Android app. Fully branded apps under your own name are limited to each platform’s top, custom-priced tier: Circle Plus (optional) and Mighty Pro. For everyday branding, Circle offers custom branding on every plan and removes Circle’s own branding on Business and up, while Mighty lets you add your own logo and colors.
One payment detail is worth knowing: purchases made inside Mighty’s iOS app go through Apple In-App Purchase instead of Stripe. Apple takes 15% under its standard policy, Mighty adds no fee of its own, and hosts can raise the iOS price to offset Apple’s cut.
6. AI Tools
Circle AI is included from Professional, with 2,500 monthly credits (extra credits are $10 per 1,000). Business adds automated transcriptions and AI activity scores, and Circle Plus adds AI Agents. Mighty’s AI Cohost is listed among the key features on every plan; at signup it helps generate a landing page, branding, and a starter community template based on who you want to bring together.
Pricing Comparison
Circle Pricing
Circle’s listed prices are in USD, based on annual billing, and exclude taxes.
- Professional ($89/month): Unlimited members, 3 admins, 10 moderators, 20 spaces, 200 GB storage, courses, website builder, Circle AI, gamification, custom branding, and a 2% transaction fee.
- Business ($199/month): Everything in Professional, plus 5 admins, 15 moderators, 30 spaces, 500 GB storage, unlimited automations, the Admin and Headless Member APIs, automated transcriptions, activity scores, removal of Circle branding, and a 1% transaction fee.
- Circle Plus (custom pricing): Everything in Business, plus AI Agents, custom SSO, the highest usage limits, 10,000 Email Hub contacts, and a 0.5% transaction fee. Branded mobile apps are an optional extra.
- Email Hub add-on: $99/month for 10,000 contacts on Professional and Business, with the first 30 days free.
Mighty Networks Pricing
Mighty’s headline prices are per-month equivalents on annual billing, which comes with two months free. Monthly billing costs more per month.
- 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, or $2,150/year): Everything in Launch, plus 5 hosts, 15 moderators, 500 GB storage, more automations, Kit, Zapier, and affiliate integrations, Admin API access, and a 1% transaction fee.
- Growth ($354/month, billed annually at $4,250): 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, with 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.
Transaction Fees
For web payments, both platforms charge a percentage-based platform fee on top of Stripe’s payment-processing fees, and the two fee ladders match: 2%, then 1%, then 0.5%. Both process web payments through Stripe, and Mighty adds that PayPal isn’t supported. Here is what a $50 card payment costs using Stripe’s typical 2.9% + $0.30 U.S. card rate, with tiers matched by fee rate rather than feature parity:
| Fee tier | Circle plan | Mighty plan | Platform fee | Approx. total on $50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | Professional ($89/month) | Launch ($79/month) | 2% | $2.75 |
| Mid | Business ($199/month) | Scale ($179/month) | 1% | $2.25 |
| Top | Circle Plus (custom) | Growth ($354/month) | 0.5% | $2.00 |
For recurring memberships, Circle’s payment documentation adds another layer: Stripe Billing at 0.7%, which brings Circle Professional to about $3.10 on a $50 subscription payment. Mighty’s help center says Stripe’s processing typically runs 2.5% to 5% per transaction and doesn’t break out subscription charges, so check your own Stripe rates. Actual costs vary by country and payment method.
On the same annual-billing basis, Mighty’s Launch and Scale plans cost $10 and $20 less per month than Circle’s Professional and Business plans, with matching fee rates. That gap is small next to what each plan includes. Circle’s email add-on, for example, is a separate $99/month.
Which Should you Choose?
Choose Circle if:
- You want a website builder and optional email marketing alongside your community.
- You expect to need workflows, API access, or removal of Circle branding, all of which arrive with the Business plan.
- You prefer to organize your community into distinct spaces and control the structure yourself.
Choose Mighty Networks if:
- Your offer centers on courses, challenges, cohorts, and live events, and you want built-in course certifications and SCORM support.
- You want unlimited spaces and more live streaming hours at the entry tier.
- You’d like a lower plan price at the same transaction-fee rates.
- You can wait until the Scale plan for integrations such as Zapier and Kit.
Final Verdict
Circle and Mighty Networks charge the same platform fees at each tier, so the decision comes down to what the monthly price buys. Circle is the better fit if you want your community to work as a branded business hub, with a website builder, an email add-on, and APIs on the Business plan.
Mighty Networks is the better fit if you’re building structured programs like courses, challenges, and live events, and you want unlimited spaces and lower plan prices, provided you’re fine waiting for integrations until Scale.
If you’re still unsure, both offer a 14-day trial with no credit card. Start with the one whose feature list matches how you plan to run your community, and keep in mind that Mighty’s trial charges a 5% fee on any sales you make during it.
