Community · coaches · room vs brand · USD

Best community platform for coaches — room vs branded community vs membership

Updated August 29, 2026 · Official product and pricing pages fetched this evening. If a number is missing below, we could not cite it.

You already coach. This page does not tell you how. It names which host matches the room you intend to run: a feed people pay to stay in, a branded community with spaces and a site, or a branded membership network.

Who this page is for

Coaches with a method that already works in the room, who are staring at community tabs. Coaches overlap this directory’s ICP: experts with something to teach, outgrowing one-to-one. The search looks like “best community platform for coaches.” The real fork is the shape of the group, not a logo.

This is host-choice. It is not coaching advice, not a curriculum, not how to get clients. If the next shape is a recorded library or a dated cohort you sell as a course, start at best course platform for coaches. The three-host comparison without the coach frame is Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks.

The short version

Room vs branded community vs membership

Room (Skool). Official about page: a community platform; some groups free, some paid; build a community, courses, and events; charge subscription memberships or one-time course purchases. The group is the store. Honest for a coach whose next product is “stay in this group,” not “buy this course and leave.”

Branded community (Circle). Official homepage and platform page: community, events, and courses under your own brand; website and landing pages; paywalls powered by Stripe. Professional includes courses, events, website builder, live streams, live rooms, custom branding, paid memberships, custom domain. Spaces 20 / 30 / flexible. You already have — or will open — a Stripe account. The community has a front door with your name on it.

Branded membership (Mighty Networks). Official product and Launch copy: community, courses, and events in your own network. Comparison grid: subscriptions and one-time payments; charge for access to the network or any space; on-demand, cohort, and live courses. Native iOS/Android apps come with the product; your own branded apps are Mighty Pro. You connect Stripe. Mighty’s cut sits on top of Stripe’s for web purchases.

Not these three — Kajabi community. Official communities page: access tied to product purchases; private, paid, or tiered via Access Groups; standalone or bundled; Meetups with a built-in live room; channels inside a course. Cap on the public grid: 1 / 1 / 3. Public Basic is $179/mo. That is a course-business feature attached to coaching, not a Skool-shaped room. Kajabi’s coaching page is 1:1 and group, built-in live video, group room up to 200 plus up to 20 breakout rooms of 10. If the work is still a coaching business with a community next to it, Kajabi is the OS — see best course platform for coaches and Kajabi.

Do not pick Skool because it is $9 and then try to run a branded membership in a feed. Do not pick Circle or Mighty because they “include courses” if the offer is a library you would otherwise sell on Kajabi. Do not pick Kajabi because it “includes community” if the room is the whole business.

The “Discord is free, Teachable is the school” stack is a different page: Discord + Teachable vs Skool. Discord has no public SaaS price.

Cited numbers, August 29, 2026

USD. Monthly is month-to-month where the vendor publishes it. Annual is the advertised per-month rate when you pay yearly, except Skool yearly dollars (omitted). Platform fee is the vendor’s cut, not card processing. Kajabi is the coach-OS community, not a fourth community host.

Sources: skool.com/pricing, Skool Payments FAQ, circle.so/pricing, Circle payments, mightynetworks.com/pricing, kajabi.com/pricing. Full list at the bottom. Circle plan-choice arithmetic is on Circle pricing.

What the fees do to the same sale

On Skool the published cut is the processing — Skool is merchant of record. On Circle and Mighty the vendor’s percentage sits on Stripe. Kajabi Payments has no extra platform percentage. Arithmetic only. We are not publishing a break-even month. Refunds, tax, Skool VAT, and Skool Growth Boost change the dollar.

• $97. Skool Hobby: 10%+$0.30 = $10.00. Skool Pro: 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 (under $900). Circle Professional: 2% = $1.94 plus Stripe. Circle’s paywall help (US, cards): Stripe typically 2.9%+$0.30 ($3.11); combined $5.05. That same help’s subscription example also stacks Stripe Billing 0.7% ($0.68) — combined $5.73 if the paywall is a subscription. Mighty Launch: 2% = $1.94 plus Stripe. Kajabi Payments, US card, Basic: 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11; memberships add the US help-page 0.7% ($0.68) = $3.79.
• $497. Skool Hobby: $50.00. Skool Pro: $14.71. Circle Professional 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe. Mighty Launch 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe. Kajabi Payments Basic: $14.71.
• $2,000. Skool Hobby: $200.30. Skool Pro: 3.9%+$0.30 = $78.30 because the charge is above $900. Circle Professional 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe. Mighty Launch 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe. Kajabi Payments Basic: $58.30. Stripe-on-new-Basic: +$40.00 plus Stripe.

A coach selling a $2,000 package is not on Skool Hobby, and is not on Pro’s public “2.9%” card. Circle and Mighty keep your Stripe and add their percentage. Kajabi is the cash register if the offer was a coaching business, not a community host.

When to pick each

Pick Skool if

The offer is a feed people pay to stay in. You will live in the group. You accept merchant-of-record checkout, USD prices, and Wednesday payouts. Hobby is a trial of the shape, not a plan for a $97 membership that actually renews — the 10% is the product. Turn Growth Boost off if you did not ask for a 30% discovery cut (payments FAQ: 30%, default ON).

Pick Circle if

You want a branded community with spaces, courses, events, and a site, and you already have — or will open — a Stripe account. Professional is enough to sell paid memberships. Do not treat the $89 card as month-to-month. Which Circle plan is a separate page: Circle pricing: which plan you actually need.

Pick Mighty Networks if

The offer is a membership network: courses and events inside a community people return to, including on the phone. Launch is the public floor this fetch. Scale is the automations/integrations step (charge for events). Mighty Pro is the branded-app conversation — no public dollar card.

Pick Kajabi if

The work is still a coaching business: sales page, email, checkout, 1:1 or group, and a community attached. Community cap is 1 on Basic. Public Basic is $179/mo. You are paying for the OS. Trial box above; visit button below.

Pick none of these community hosts if

The next shape is a recorded catalog or a dated cohort you sell as a course. That is best course platform for coaches. If the objection is “Skool is overpriced, I’ll just use Discord and Teachable,” that stack is Discord + Teachable vs Skool.

Who should not pick which

Skip Skool if

You need your own Stripe, a high-ticket checkout above $900 on Pro’s 2.9% card, a branded app, or a course business with email and funnels. Also skip Hobby once $97–$497 products are actually selling.

Skip Circle if

You wanted Skool’s merchant-of-record simplicity and no Stripe account. Also skip if 20 spaces and 3 admins on Professional will not hold the community without add-ons. Skip Plus unless you are buying branded apps or the custom tier on purpose.

Skip Mighty Networks if

You wanted a cheap first room. Launch cannot charge for one-time events on the public grid. Do not pick Mighty because the trial is “on Growth” and then stay there without a public Growth dollar in front of you — we could not extract one as a card tonight.

Skip Kajabi-as-community-host if

The room is the whole business. You will pay $179/mo for an OS and still only get one community on Basic. That is the wrong machine.

Visit the hosts

Circle affiliate slot — not live Mighty Networks affiliate slot — not live

Kajabi’s trial box and visit button use the 30-day trial affiliate, justinwise.net/kajabi. The Kajabi pricing button is a pricing-page affiliate. Official Kajabi pricing remains the source for Kajabi numbers. Visit Skool uses the Skool signup affiliate. Official skool.com/pricing remains the source for Skool numbers. Circle and Mighty Networks buttons are official product URLs only.

Omitted on purpose

• Anything that tells you how to coach, how to productize, or how to get clients. Host-choice only.
• Skool yearly dollar amounts. Official page: “2 months free.” No yearly dollar extracted this fetch.
• Circle Plus and Mighty Pro public dollar cards. Both are custom. Third-party “starts at” quotes are not official cards.
• Mighty Networks Explore and Growth public monthly dollars. Both names appear (calculator dropdown; trial FAQ says the trial is Growth). No monthly card extracted this fetch.
• Mighty ROI / “average $14,400/year” calculator copy. Vendor marketing, not a cited price.
• Kajabi Kickstarter as a buyable public price. Not listed on kajabi.com/pricing. JSON-LD $69 lowPrice on product pages is not a public plan card.
• Discord, Teachable, and Thinkific as this four-column fork. Discord has no public SaaS price — Discord + Teachable vs Skool. Course-platform numbers for coaches live on best course platform for coaches.
• Keyword volumes, “best community for coaches” listicles as pricing sources, and anything that documents your method for you.

Sources

1. Skool pricing — Hobby $9/mo, Pro $99/mo, 10% vs 2.9% on the cards, unlimited members/courses/videos/live calls, “2 months free” yearly toggle. Meta this fetch: 14-day free trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
2. Skool about — community platform; community, courses, and events; subscriptions or one-time course purchases.
3. Skool Payments FAQ (updated August 18, 2026) — Hobby 10%+30¢; Pro 2.9%+30¢ to $899 / 3.9%+30¢ above $900; cannot use existing Stripe; merchant of record; EU VAT; USD prices; Wednesday payouts; Growth Boost 30% default ON.
4. Skool payment terms and policy (updated February 19, 2026) — 14-day free trial, then Hobby or Pro; monthly or annual billing.
5. Circle pricing — Professional priceMonth 99 / priceYear 89; Business 219 / 199; Plus custom; visible cards $89/mo* / $199/mo*; 14-day trial; 30-day money-back; members unlimited; admins 3/5/unlimited; spaces 20/30/flexible; transaction fees 2%/1%/0.5% plus Stripe. Fetched August 29, 2026.
6. Circle platform — “Prices displayed in USD, based on annual billing.” Professional feature list includes courses, events, website builder, live streams, live rooms, paid memberships, custom domain.
7. Circle homepage — “Build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand.” Paywalls: one-time, memberships, or recurring; connect Stripe. Platform page also: sell memberships, courses, coaching, and ticketed events.
8. Circle payments — paywalls powered by Stripe; connect existing Stripe; Professional 2% / Business 1% / Plus 0.5% in addition to Stripe.
9. Circle paywall transaction fees (updated May 2026) — same 2%/1%/0.5%; Stripe cards typically 2.9%+$0.30 (US); subscriptions use Stripe Billing; Business subscription example stacks 0.7% Billing.
10. Mighty Networks pricing — Launch $79/mo and $950/year (calculator); Scale $179/mo; Mighty Pro custom; transaction fee row 2%/1%/0.5%; unlimited members; hosts/mods 3+10 / 5+15 / unlimited; streaming 20/30/50 hours and 100/200/3,000 viewers; 14-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
11. Kajabi pricing — JSON-LD prices ($143/$179 Basic, $199/$249 Growth, $399/$499 Pro), product/contact/community/website/admin limits, Kajabi Payments US grid 2.9/2.8/2.7%+$0.30, 3rd-party 2%/1%/0.5%, 30-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
12. Kajabi communities — access tied to products; Access Groups; standalone or bundled; Meetups with a built-in live room; channels inside a course.
13. Kajabi coaching — 1:1 and group; built-in live video; group room up to 200 + 20 breakout rooms of 10; Zoom/Meet optional; coaching not in the Kajabi mobile app.
14. Kajabi Payments fees: United States — 2.9%+$0.30 cards, +0.7% subscriptions and payment plans. Cited from the August 29, 2026 Kajabi vendor-page fetch; US help page not re-opened as a new card tonight.