Community · room vs brand · USD

Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks — room vs branded community vs branded 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 have a method. The fork among these three is not “which LMS has more features.” It is room vs branded community vs branded membership. If the offer is a course library you sell with email and funnels, that is a different page.

Who this page is for

Experts who have one method and are staring at three community tabs. Skool looks cheap. Circle looks like a real home. Mighty Networks looks like a branded membership. They are not substitutes for a course-business OS, and they are not substitutes for each other.

This is the community section of a course-platform directory, not a second site. It does not tell you how to build an audience. If the method is a recorded catalog you sell once, start at Kajabi vs Skool or best membership platform.

The short version

Library vs room vs branded membership

Library (not these three). A course business you sell: sales page, email, checkout, player. That is Kajabi (or Thinkific). Public Kajabi Basic is $179/mo. Community on Kajabi is a product you attach — cap 1 / 1 / 3. A Kajabi community is still a course-business feature. See Kajabi vs Skool.

Room (Skool). Official about page: discover or create communities; some free, some paid; build a community, courses, and events; charge subscription memberships or one-time course purchases. Pricing cards: unlimited members, courses, videos, live calls on Hobby and Pro. Payments FAQ: Skool is merchant of record, handles EU VAT, you cannot use your existing Stripe. The group is the store.

Branded community (Circle). Official homepage and platform page: community, events, and courses under your own brand; website and landing pages; paywalls powered by Stripe; you connect an existing Stripe account. Professional includes courses, events, website builder, live streams, live rooms, custom branding, paid memberships, custom domain. Spaces 20 / 30 / flexible. Branded apps are optional on Circle Plus (custom).

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.

If the method is something people buy once and take, stop here and go to Kajabi. If they stay for a feed, start with Skool. If they stay in a branded community with spaces and a site, start with Circle. If they stay in a membership network with courses and events — and you care about the app on the home screen — start with Mighty. 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.

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.

Sources: skool.com/pricing, Skool Payments FAQ, circle.so/pricing, Circle payments, mightynetworks.com/pricing, Mighty transaction-fee docs. Full list at the bottom.

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. Arithmetic only. Refunds, tax, Skool VAT, Apple’s 15% on Mighty iOS, and Skool Growth Boost change the dollar. We are not publishing a break-even month.

• $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 (Mighty’s help: typically 2.5%–5% for web; Stripe’s own schedule is Stripe’s — not added here).
• $497. Skool Hobby: $50.00. Skool Pro: $14.71. Circle Professional 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe. Mighty Launch 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe. Hobby’s extra vs Pro on one sale is $35.29 — already more than a month of Circle’s annual Professional card ($89) after three such sales if you were comparing room fees only, which you should not: you are not buying the same machine.
• $2,000. Skool Hobby: $200.30. Skool Pro: 3.9%+$0.30 = $78.30 because the charge is above $900. Pro’s public “2.9%” card is not the rate on a $2,000 invoice. Circle Professional 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe. Mighty Launch 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe.

Kajabi, if the offer was actually a library: Kajabi Payments, US card, Basic 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 on $97, plus the US help-page 0.7% subscription add-on on memberships. No extra platform percentage. Public Basic is $179/mo. That is the cash-register alternative, not a fourth community host.

Circle Business drops Circle’s cut to 1%. Mighty Scale drops Mighty’s cut to 1%. Those upgrades are $199/mo annual (Circle) and $179/mo on the public Scale card (Mighty) — plus Stripe. Skool Pro is $99/mo and the processing is the product; you still do not keep Stripe.

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; Circle’s platform page says displayed prices are annual. Month-to-month in the page data is $99. Skip Circle if you wanted Skool’s all-in processing, or if you only needed a course player.

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 (Kit, Zapier, API; charge for events). Mighty Pro is the branded-app conversation — no public dollar card. Skip Mighty if you wanted a $9 room or a Kajabi marketing OS.

Pick none of these — pick Kajabi — if

The method is a library you sell: landing page, email, funnel, checkout, player. Community is optional and capped. Public Basic is $179/mo. That is the cash register in this directory. Trial box above; visit button below.

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. Circle’s 2% is on top of Stripe (and Stripe Billing on subscriptions). Also skip if 20 spaces and 3 admins on Professional will not hold the community without add-ons ($10/mo per extra admin, $20/mo per 10 extra spaces on the comparison grid). Skip Plus unless you are buying branded apps or the custom tier on purpose.

Skip Mighty Networks if

You wanted a cheap first room, or you need PayPal in-product (host docs: not supported). Also skip if iOS checkout at Apple’s 15% is the path your members will use and you have not priced that. 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.

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. Official Kajabi pricing remains the source for 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

• Skool yearly dollar amounts. Official page: “2 months free.” No yearly dollar extracted this fetch.
• Circle add-on menu as a required bill (Email Hub +$99/mo*, extra admins $10, extra spaces $20 per 10, extra moderators $20 per 10, profile fields $49/mo, branded email $40/mo). Listed on the comparison grid; not priced into the table as a membership you must buy.
• 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. Scale monthly-toggle dollars likewise omitted; we cite the Scale yearly total $2,150 from the Scale plan page.
• Mighty ROI / “average $14,400/year” calculator copy. Vendor marketing, not a cited price.
• Exact Stripe card rates on Mighty (host docs: typically 2.5%–5%). Only Mighty’s platform percentage is cited. Circle’s help cites Stripe US 2.9%+$0.30 and Billing 0.7% on subscriptions — used only in the Circle fee examples.
• Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, Discord as this three-host fork. Library vs room for Kajabi is Kajabi vs Skool. Membership-as-offer is best membership platform.
• Keyword volumes, “Skool is overpriced” threads 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; all-in-one, no integrations required (vendor copy).
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; Email Hub +$99/mo* add-on. Fetched August 29, 2026.
6. Circle platform — community, content, events, and revenue in one place; website and landing pages; “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.
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; Scale $179/mo; Mighty Pro custom; transaction fee row 2%/1%/0.5%; unlimited members; hosts/mods 3+10 / 5+15 / unlimited; spaces unlimited; streaming 20/30/50 hours and 100/200/3,000 viewers; landing pages 1/1/10; 14-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
11. Mighty Launch plan page — Launch $950/year; 2 months free when you buy annually; courses and events in your community.
12. Mighty Scale plan page — Scale $2,150/year; automations, admin features, APIs; 2 months free annually.
13. Mighty product — community platform for community, courses, and events; 14-day trial, no credit card; native mobile apps; branded apps on Mighty Pro.
14. Mighty: does it charge a transaction fee? — Explore 5%; Launch 2%; Scale 1%; Growth .50%; Growth free trial 5%; deducted from Stripe; Stripe typically 2.5%–5% on web; PayPal not supported in-product; Apple 15% on iOS, Mighty adds no platform fee there.
15. Mighty: how do I get paid? — connect Stripe; host responsible for taxes; default no tax on web; optional Quaderno; Apple handles iOS tax.
16. Kajabi pricing — public plans, JSON-LD prices ($143/$179 Basic, $199/$249 Growth, $399/$499 Pro), product/contact/community limits, Kajabi Payments rates, 3rd-party 2%/1%/0.5%, 30-day trial. Cited from the August 29, 2026 Kajabi vs Skool fetch; not re-priced as a fourth community host.