Skool pricing: Hobby vs Pro, and which one you need
Skool's pricing page fits on one screen: $9 a month or $99 a month. So most founders pick the cheap one and move on. But the monthly price is the small part. The fee on every payment decides what Skool really costs you, and it is the reason a $99 plan can be cheaper than a $9 one.
Skool has two plans. Hobby costs $9 a month plus 10% and 30 cents on every payment. Pro costs $99 a month plus 2.9% and 30 cents. Both include unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls; Pro adds automation plugins like AutoDM and Zapier.
Start on Hobby. Move to Pro once members pay you about $1,270 a month, or earlier if you need the Pro-only plugins.
Part 2 of 19The Skool Founder Playbook
- Plan
- How to start a Skool community: the complete plan
- Skool pricing: Hobby vs Pro, and which one you need
- Free or paid Skool community? How to pick your model Coming soon
- How to pick a Skool niche people will pay for Coming soon
- Build
- How to write a Skool About page that turns visitors into members Coming soon
- Skool cover and about-page images: sizes and design rules Coming soon
- How to structure your Skool Classroom, with a Start Here course Coming soon
- Skool course covers: sizes, templates and one consistent look Coming soon
- Skool levels and gamification: what to unlock at each level Coming soon
- Onboarding new Skool members: questions and the first 7 days Coming soon
- Grow
- How to get your first 100 Skool members Coming soon
- Skool Discovery: how to show up when people search Coming soon
- Content that grows a Skool community: posts and short videos Coming soon
- Turn free members into paying ones: the Skool upgrade path Coming soon
- Skool affiliates: let your members bring members Coming soon
- Keep
- How to keep a Skool community active: a weekly rhythm Coming soon
- Why members leave a paid Skool community, and how to keep them Coming soon
- The 5 numbers to check in your Skool community every week Coming soon
- Automate the busy work of running a Skool community Coming soon
In this guide
How much does Skool cost?
Skool costs $9 or $99 a month, plus a fee on every payment your members make. Both plans start with a 14-day free trial, and yearly billing gives you two months free. At the time of writing:
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly (2 months free) | Fee on each payment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobby | $9 | about $90 a year | 10% + 30 cents |
| Pro | $99 | about $990 a year | 2.9% + 30 cents, or 3.9% + 30 cents on payments over $900 |
Sources: skool.com/pricing and the Skool Help Center payments FAQ, checked October 2026. Yearly prices are worked out from "2 months free." Check both pages before you decide.
There is no free plan, and each community needs its own subscription. Running two communities means paying twice.
What do you get on each plan?
The core of Skool is the same on both plans. The difference is a set of automation plugins that only Pro unlocks.
| Feature | Hobby | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls | Yes | Yes |
| Custom URL and affiliates (per the pricing page) | Yes | Yes |
| Membership questions | Yes | Yes |
| Unlock chat or posting by level | Yes | Yes |
| AutoDM (automatic welcome message) | No | Yes |
| Onboarding video and cancellation video | No | Yes |
| Instant membership approval | No | Yes |
| Zapier, webhook and Google Ads tracking | No | Yes |
| Links plugin | No | Yes |
Plugin list from the Skool Help Center article "How to use Plugins?", October 2026. Some third-party sites say custom URL and affiliates are Pro-only; Skool's own pricing page lists both on Hobby, so check your admin settings if it matters to you.
So the real question is not features. It is whether you need automation today, and how much money runs through your community.
How does the Skool transaction fee work?
Skool takes its fee from every payment a member makes, before the money reaches you. Five things decide what you actually keep:
- It covers every paid transaction
Monthly memberships, yearly memberships and one-time course purchases all carry the fee. A free community pays no fee at all.
- Card processing is included
There is no separate Stripe fee on top. The percentage plus 30 cents is the whole cost of taking the payment.
- The 30 cents matters on cheap prices
On a $5 membership, 30 cents alone is 6% of the payment. On a $50 membership it is under 1%. Low prices lose more to the fixed part.
- Fees are not refunded
If you refund a member, Skool keeps its transaction fee. Factor that into any refund promise you make.
- Members Skool sends you cost 30%
Through Growth Boost, Skool takes 30% of the recurring payments of members it brings you through Discovery, on both plans. Members you bring yourself only pay the normal fee.
Payouts land in your bank every Wednesday in your local currency, and members always pay in US dollars. Skool handles EU VAT and US sales tax for you, so you do not have to file those yourself.
When does Pro pay for itself?
Pro pays for itself once members pay you about $1,270 a month. Pro costs $90 more each month but takes 7.1% less of every payment, and the 30 cents is the same on both plans. Divide $90 by 7.1% and you get that line. Here is what each plan costs in real situations:
| Your community | Members pay you | Hobby costs | Pro costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free community | $0 | $9 | $99 |
| 20 members at $29 | $580 | $73 | $122 |
| 50 members at $29 | $1,450 | $169 | $156 |
| 100 members at $49 | $4,900 | $529 | $271 |
Monthly plan price plus the percentage fee plus 30 cents per payment. Excludes Growth Boost commissions and taxes.
Two details move the line. On yearly billing, the gap between plans shrinks to about $75 a month, so Pro pays off from about $1,060 a month. And if you sell high-ticket offers over $900 per payment, Pro's rate on those is 3.9%, which moves the line up to about $1,480 a month.
Which Skool plan should you pick?
Pick Hobby unless one of the reasons for Pro below is true for you today. You can switch any time from your community's Settings, under Billing.
✕ The common way
Pick Pro on day one "to look serious," pay $99 a month for an empty community, and never set up a single Pro plugin.
✓ The Standout way
Start on Hobby, put the switch date in your calendar, and move to Pro the month your numbers or your automation needs say so.
| Your situation | Plan | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free community, no automations yet | Hobby | No fees to save, so $9 is all you need |
| Paid, members pay you under about $1,270 a month | Hobby | The lower fee does not cover the extra $90 yet |
| Paid, over about $1,270 a month | Pro | The fee savings are bigger than the $90 difference |
| You need AutoDM, Zapier or instant approval | Pro | These plugins only exist on Pro, whatever your revenue |
| Free community that feeds a paid program | Often Pro | AutoDM and an onboarding video help turn new members into buyers |
Not sure yet whether to charge at all? Part 3 of this series walks through that choice, and the complete plan for starting a Skool community shows where pricing fits in the setup.
Pricing mistakes that cost you money
Most founders lose money on Skool through small decisions, not the plan itself:
- Comparing $9 with $99 and stopping there. The fee is where the real money goes once members pay.
- Charging $5 a month. The 30 cents takes 6% before the percentage fee even starts. A higher price with fewer members usually leaves you more.
- Paying for Pro without using it. If no Pro plugin is switched on and revenue is under the line, Hobby is cheaper.
- Forgetting Growth Boost. Members from Discovery cost 30% of their payments, so count them separately when you plan revenue.
- Staying on monthly billing forever. Once you know you are staying, yearly billing saves two months.
Do this today
Ten minutes with your own numbers.
- Write down how many members pay you and what they pay each month.
- Run them through the prompt above, or compare with the table.
- If you are under about $1,270 a month and need no Pro plugin, stay on or start with Hobby.
- Put a reminder to check the numbers again when you pass $1,000 a month.
- If you plan to stay on Skool, look at yearly billing for two months free.
The whole thing on one card
- Hobby: $9 a month plus 10% and 30 cents per payment.
- Pro: $99 a month plus 2.9% and 30 cents (3.9% on payments over $900).
- Same core features; Pro adds AutoDM, Zapier, onboarding video and more.
- Pro pays off from about $1,270 a month (about $1,060 on yearly billing).
- Start on Hobby, switch when your numbers or automation needs say so.
Common questions
Is there a free Skool plan?
No. Skool has a 14-day free trial, then you pick Hobby at $9 a month or Pro at $99 a month. Each community has its own plan, so two communities mean two subscriptions.
Does Skool take a fee from a free community?
No. The transaction fee only applies to money members pay you, such as subscriptions and one-time course purchases. A free community only pays the monthly plan.
Does the Skool fee include Stripe or card processing?
Yes. Skool's fee covers card processing, so there is no separate Stripe fee on top. The fee is 10% plus 30 cents per payment on Hobby and 2.9% plus 30 cents on Pro, at the time of writing. Transaction fees are not refunded if you refund a member.
Can I switch from Hobby to Pro later?
Yes. Plan changes happen in your community's Settings, under Billing. Before you downgrade from Pro, check which Pro-only plugins you use, because they stop working on Hobby.
Does Skool take a cut of members it sends me?
Yes, on both plans. If Skool brings you a paying member through its Growth Boost program, it takes a 30% commission on that member's payments for as long as they stay. Members you bring yourself only pay the normal fee.
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Written by Sheikh. I run my own Skool community, Standout AI & Career Hacks, and my team designs and grows Skool communities for founders. These guides come from doing it. More about me
