I went into Skool expecting another online course platform.

After actually spending time with it, I realized that’s not really what Skool is.

Skool is a community platform first and a course platform second.

That distinction ended up being the biggest factor in my opinion of it.

If you want to upload a course, sell it once, and move on, there are platforms I’d choose before Skool.

But if you want people to stay, interact, ask questions, attend live calls, and keep paying for access, Skool becomes much more interesting.

Here’s my honest take.

Skool at a Glance

Category	My Rating
Community	9.5/10
Ease of use	9.5/10
Course creation	8.5/10
Student engagement	9.5/10
Gamification	9/10
Memberships	9.5/10
Marketing	7.5/10
Customization	7.5/10
Advanced courses	7.5/10
Overall	8.9/10

My biggest takeaway is simple:

Skool makes more sense when the community is part of the product.

What Is Skool?

Skool is a platform for creating and running online communities that can include courses, discussions, events, and memberships.

The platform itself describes Skool as a place where people can discover or create communities, both free and paid.

That immediately separates it from traditional course platforms.

With something like Teachable, the course is usually the main product.

With Skool, the community can be the product.

Your members aren’t just buying videos.

They’re potentially paying for:

• Access to other members
• Discussions
• Live calls
• Courses
• Events
• Accountability
• Resources
• Your expertise
• An ongoing environment

That’s a very different business model.

The First Thing I Noticed

Skool is surprisingly simple.

There aren’t endless menus competing for your attention.

You essentially have the main pieces you need:

Community

Classroom

Calendar

Leaderboard

That’s a big reason I think beginners can understand Skool quickly.

The official Skool Help Center organizes its platform around community, classroom, calendar, leaderboards, payments, affiliates, and discovery.

I didn’t feel like I needed to become a software expert before I could start building.

That’s a major positive.

The Community Is the Real Product

This is where Skool completely changes the conversation.

Imagine you’re selling a $500 course.

A traditional course platform might give customers:

Login → Watch videos → Finish course

That’s fine.

But what happens after they’ve watched everything?

They might leave.

With Skool, you can create:

Join → Learn → Ask questions → Meet other members → Attend calls → Share results → Continue learning

That gives you a reason to charge for a recurring membership rather than relying entirely on one-time course sales.

Skool supports subscription groups, freemium models, tiered pricing, free communities, and one-time payments.

That’s one of its biggest strengths.

The Classroom

Skool has a dedicated course area called the Classroom.

You can organize your educational content into courses and lessons, and grant members access based on your setup.

You can also sell individual courses as one-time purchases. Skool’s documentation specifically supports one-time course purchases inside communities.

However, I think expectations need to be realistic.

If you’re comparing Skool against a platform specifically designed for advanced learning management, Skool isn’t necessarily going to win.

It’s not trying to be a university LMS.

It’s trying to combine:

Community + Course + Membership

into one simple environment.

And for that purpose, it works well.

The Gamification Actually Makes Sense

I’m normally skeptical about gamification.

Sometimes it feels like companies add points and badges because they don’t know how else to increase engagement.

Skool’s approach is more interesting.

Members can earn points through activity, and points contribute to progression through levels. Skool says the system is designed to encourage members to participate and produce quality content.

That creates a simple loop:

Post

↓

Interact

↓

Earn points

↓

Increase level

↓

Unlock something

That can make a community feel much more alive.

And that’s important because community platforms have one major problem:

A dead community is worthless.

Gamification gives people another reason to participate.

The Leaderboard

The leaderboard is connected to that same idea.

People can see how active they are within the community.

For the right audience, that can be surprisingly motivating.

For example, imagine a fitness community.

Someone posts:

“I completed my fourth workout this week.”

Other members respond.

They earn points.

They move up the leaderboard.

Now the platform isn’t simply delivering information.

It’s encouraging behavior.

That’s where I think Skool has an advantage over traditional course platforms.

The Calendar Is More Useful Than I Expected

The calendar is another important part of the experience.

If you’re running:

• Weekly Q&As
• Coaching calls
• Workshops
• Group sessions
• Live classes
• Community events

You can make those part of the membership.

That changes the perceived value of the subscription.

Instead of:

“Pay $49/month for access to my videos.”

You can offer:

“Pay $49/month for the course, community, weekly calls, events, and ongoing support.”

That’s a much stronger recurring offer.

Pricing: Here’s What You Actually Pay

Skool’s current official pricing page lists two creator plans:

Plan	Price	Transaction Fee
Hobby	$9/month	10%
Pro	$99/month	2.9%

Both currently include unlimited members, courses, videos, and live calls. Skool also lists custom URLs and affiliate functionality.

This pricing structure is interesting.

The $9 Hobby plan looks incredibly cheap.

But the 10% transaction fee is the catch.

The Pro plan costs considerably more each month, but the transaction fee drops to 2.9% plus $0.30 for transactions up to $899, according to Skool’s payment documentation.

When Does Pro Start Making More Sense?

Let’s use a simple example.

Suppose you generate:

$1,000/month

on the Hobby plan.

A 10% transaction fee would be approximately:

$100

plus the $9 subscription.

That’s around:

$109/month

before considering other applicable costs.

On Pro:

$99 subscription

plus approximately 2.9% in transaction fees.

That’s about:

$128

before the fixed transaction amounts.

So at very low revenue, Hobby can make sense.

As your revenue increases, the lower transaction fee on Pro becomes more attractive.

This is why I wouldn’t automatically assume the $99 plan is expensive.

If you’re making several thousand dollars every month from the community, the economics can change quickly.

What I Like About the Pricing

It’s predictable.

You don’t need to buy five different products to run a basic community business.

You can have:

Community

Courses

Videos

Live calls

Members

under one platform.

And both plans currently advertise unlimited members, courses, videos, and live calls.

That’s pretty compelling.

What I Don’t Like About the Pricing

The 10% transaction fee on Hobby is significant.

If you’re already generating serious revenue, I’d probably skip Hobby and go directly to Pro.

For example, if you’re generating $10,000 per month, a 10% fee would be $1,000.

At that point, paying $99 for Pro and accepting the lower transaction fee is a very different proposition.

So the $9 plan is best viewed as a low-cost way to start—not necessarily the plan you’ll want forever.

Skool vs Teachable

This was one of the comparisons I found most useful.

Teachable

Course first.

Skool

Community first.

If I want to sell a $100 course and give students access to structured lessons, I’d probably choose Teachable.

If I want to charge $49/month for:

• Course
• Community
• Weekly calls
• Accountability
• Discussions

I’d choose Skool.

Neither is objectively better.

They’re designed around different business models.

Skool vs Thinkific

Thinkific is a better fit if you’re building a traditional education business.

It gives you more flexibility around the learning experience and course structure.

Skool is stronger when I want people to interact with each other.

So I’d decide this:

Education business: Thinkific.

Community business: Skool.

Education + community: Skool becomes very compelling.

Skool vs Kajabi

This is another interesting comparison.

Kajabi is much more focused on the business infrastructure surrounding your products.

You get things like:

• Email marketing
• Funnels
• Landing pages
• Website
• Courses
• Offers
• Automations

Skool is much more focused on:

• Community
• Courses
• Events
• Membership
• Engagement

So I’d choose Kajabi if I were building a sophisticated marketing machine.

I’d choose Skool if my primary selling point were:

“Come join my community.”

Where Skool Falls Short

This is important because Skool isn’t perfect.

1. Marketing Tools Are Limited

If you’re expecting Kajabi-style funnels and sophisticated email automation, you’ll probably be disappointed.

Skool’s strength is the community experience—not being a complete marketing automation platform.

2. Course Features Aren’t the Most Advanced

You can absolutely create courses.

But if you’re building a highly interactive educational program with complex assessments, certificates, learning paths, or advanced instructional design, I’d look elsewhere.

Skool’s course functionality is good enough for its purpose.

Its purpose just isn’t to be the most advanced LMS.

3. Customization Is Limited

Skool has a recognizable look.

That’s part of its simplicity.

But if you’re obsessed with creating a completely custom-branded learning environment, you’ll probably want more control.

This is one area where platforms like Thinkific and LearnWorlds can be more attractive.

Who Is Skool Actually For?

After testing it, I think Skool makes the most sense for a specific type of creator.

Coaches

You can combine coaching calls, courses, and community.

Consultants

You can create an ongoing membership around your expertise.

Creators

You can build a community around your audience.

Online educators

You can combine learning with discussion and accountability.

Business communities

You can charge recurring access to knowledge and networking.

Membership businesses

This may actually be Skool’s strongest use case.

Who Shouldn’t Use Skool?

I wouldn’t choose Skool if you’re:

• Selling a single standalone course
• Building an advanced academic program
• Looking for sophisticated email automation
• Extremely focused on website customization
• Running a large corporate training operation
• Primarily interested in SEO-driven course sales

There are better tools for those jobs.

My Favorite Skool Use Case

If I were building a business around Skool, I wouldn’t sell:

“A $299 course.”

I’d probably build something like:

“A $49/month community for U.S. small-business owners learning how to use AI.”

Inside the membership:

Classroom

AI training

↓

Community

Members share questions and results.

↓

Calendar

Weekly live Q&A

↓

Leaderboard

Members earn points for participation.

↓

New content

Added every month

Now the customer has a reason to stay subscribed.

That’s where Skool makes the most sense to me.

Is Skool Worth It?

For the right business, absolutely.

For everyone, no.

If your business model is based on recurring membership and community engagement, Skool is one of the more interesting platforms I’ve tested.

The simplicity is a major advantage.

You don’t have to stitch together:

Facebook Group + Course Platform + Calendar + Payment System + Community Gamification

into five different tools.

Skool brings the core experience together.

My Final Score

Category	Score
Community	9.5/10
Ease of use	9.5/10
Engagement	9.5/10
Memberships	9.5/10
Course creation	8.5/10
Live events	9/10
Gamification	9/10
Marketing	7.5/10
Customization	7.5/10
Overall	8.9/10

My Honest Verdict

After testing Skool, I understand why it’s become popular with coaches, creators, and community-based businesses.

Its biggest strength isn’t the course builder.

It’s the combination of content and people.

That’s what makes it different.

A traditional course says:

“Here is the information.”

Skool can say:

“Here is the information, here are the people learning alongside you, here are the conversations, and here are the live sessions.”

That’s a much more engaging product.

I also like that Skool currently allows different monetization models, including free communities, subscriptions, freemium plans, tiered pricing, and one-time purchases.

But I wouldn’t use it just because everyone else seems to be using it.

If I’m selling a standalone course, I’d probably choose Thinkific or Teachable.

If I’m building a sophisticated marketing funnel, I’d choose Kajabi.

If I’m building a paid community where the course is only one part of the experience, I’d choose Skool.

That’s where it really shines.

My final recommendation

For standalone courses: Thinkific or Teachable

For course + community: Skool

For coaching + community: Skool

For memberships: Skool

For advanced marketing: Kajabi

For advanced educational programs: LearnWorlds

The biggest lesson from testing Skool is that you shouldn’t think of it as simply another place to host videos.

Think of it as a place to build a recurring relationship with your customers.

If that’s what you’re trying to create, Skool is worth a serious look.

If all you need is a place to upload your course, there are cheaper, more specialized options.