Skool Pricing: A Brutally Honest Review 2023
Listen up, creators, coaches, and thought leaders – if you’re looking to turn your knowledge into a money-making online community and course platform, you’ve probably come across Skool.
As one of the newest players in this space, Skool promises an all-in-one solution for building your membership site and selling online courses.
But here’s the million-dollar question: Is Skool worth the price tag? I’ll be straight with you – I was skeptical. That’s why I’m sharing this no-holds-barred Skool pricing review for 2023.
After taking Skool for a test drive, here’s the lowdown:
- Skool will cost you $99/month for their only pricing plan right now, the Starter tier
- For that price, you get a full course platform, community features, email marketing, and more bundled together
- It’s a great fit for coaches, creators, and thought leaders looking to monetize their expertise
- It’s more lightweight than Kajabi but less robust than Mighty Networks
- They do offer a 14-day free trial
Skool: What is it?
So what exactly is Skool?
This new platform aims to be an all-in-one community and course solution designed specifically for creators, coaches, and thought leaders looking to monetize their knowledge online.
Founded by entrepreneur Sam Ovens, Skool is the right fit for anyone ready to launch and scale a thriving membership community or coaching business.
It provides the core features you need to sell courses, build an engaged community, send email newsletters, host live streams, and more.
Rather than piecing together separate tools like a forum plugin, course platform, and email marketing app, Skool consolidates them into one platform for solopreneurs and small teams.
It aims to help creators go from zero to generating income through memberships and online courses with its streamlined product.
But is it truly an all-in-one solution for knowledge entrepreneurs? Let’s take a closer look at the features and pricing…
Skool Pricing 2023: How Much Does It Cost Per Month?
If you’re wondering how much Skool costs, let’s cut to the chase – there’s currently only one pricing plan available, and it’s $99 per month.
I know what you may be thinking…that sounds kind of steep compared to some other community and course platforms.
But here’s the thing – for that $99 per month, Skool provides a ton of built-in features that allow you to launch and run an entire membership community and online course business from one platform.
You get access to their entire suite of offerings, including course creation tools, a community forum, email marketing, video hosting, member profiles, and more. There are no separate add-on fees or surprise charges.
The Skool platform is designed to provide everything a solo entrepreneur or small team needs to build a successful membership site and online course business in one integrated product.
This begs the question: is it worth the hefty $99 monthly investment?
Let’s take a closer look at all of the features Skool offers.
Features of Skool’s Online Course Platform
Now that we’ve covered Skool’s single pricing plan let’s dive into what features you actually get for that $99 per month investment.
In this full review, I’ll break down both the online course creation tools and community platform features that Skool gives you access to.
This will help you decide if Skool truly provides everything you need to build your community, host your courses, and run your online business – or if you’ll need to pull in other tools to complement it.
Some of the key features we’ll explore include:
- Course creation, custom branding, and delivery
- Community and forum capabilities
- Email marketing and automation
- Video hosting and live streaming
- Mobile app access
- And more
My goal is to give you an insider’s look at everything Skool has to offer (and where it falls short) to help you determine if it’s worth the price tag. Let’s dive in!
Online Course Features
The platform allows users to easily build courses with drag-and-drop course builders, upload your own video content, create quizzes and worksheets, and customize the course branding.
Skool might not have all the bells and whistles of some heavier LMS platforms, but it covers the basics like drip content scheduling, coupon codes, and member reporting.
Some handy features include built-in video hosting, zoom integration for live coaching sessions, and the ability to bundle courses into packages for tiered pricing. Skool also allows you to create private coaching groups and office hours for your students.
For course delivery, it supports both self-paced on-demand courses as well as facilitated cohorts you can schedule and run as a live program.
However, one thing to note is that Skool doesn’t currently integrate with external webinar platforms.
While it may not be as robust as Teachable or Kajabi, Skool provides a solid array of course features to fit the needs of most online coaches and course creators.
Let’s now look at the community side…
Community Platform Features
In addition to online courses, Skool also provides a set of features to build and engage an online community.
The platform makes it easy for community members to create rich profiles showcasing their expertise and interests.
Members can make posts, share resources, and interact in topic-based forums.
Skool also includes capabilities like native live streaming, chat, groups, and events to bring your community together.
Push notifications and email digests help keep members engaged and informed.
For community managers, Skool provides tools to moderate conversations, highlight members, and track participation metrics.
You can customize branding, create member badges, and set up automated workflows to onboard new members.
While Mighty Networks offers more advanced community features, Skool covers the essentials pretty well.
The combination of community tools and online courses in one platform makes Skool an attractive option for serving members through all stages of their journey.
Designed For Course Creators
Skool is an online course and community platform explicitly designed with course creators in mind.
The tool aims to provide solo entrepreneurs and small teams with everything they need to sell courses and build an engaged membership site.
While Skool currently offers fairly basic community management capabilities, its bread and butter is the array of course creation, marketing, and monetization features it bakes right into the platform.
For example, Skool makes it easy to quickly build courses with flexible pricing options, promoted via built-in email marketing tools and delivered seamlessly through a branded student portal.
Add on capabilities like coupons, bundled course packages, and drip content delivery, and it’s clear Skool is optimized first and foremost for selling online courses and coaching programs.
The all-in-one model aims to help course creators hit the ground running instead of piecing together a complex martech stack.
But is Skool’s focus on course monetization enough to compete in a crowded market?
14-Day Free Trial
Before committing to a paid plan, Skool allows new users a 14-day free trial to test out the platform.
This allows you to take the course and community features for a spin before paying anything. You can set up your site, explore the course builder, and get a feel for Skool’s overall user experience.
The trial includes access to all of their core features and support if you need help getting started. You can build out course content, create community groups, and send email campaigns. However, during the trial, you cannot actually publish courses or take payments.
Essentially, the trial lets you build your Skool presence but limits monetization features until you sign up for a paid plan. This allows you to evaluate if Skool is the right fit before investing any money.
While it would be ideal to see a freeforever tier for small communities, the 14-day trial does give you adequate time to make an informed decision. Just be prepared that you’ll need to upgrade to make money.
Does Skool Offer a Mobile App?
So, can you manage your Skool community and courses on the go? Short answer – yes. Skool offers mobile apps for both iPhone and Android.
In my experience, the app provides a smooth, user-friendly way to keep tabs on your membership site and engage with members while away from your laptop.
You can post community updates, reply to members, check your stats, and get notifications.
It won’t replace the full experience on the desktop, but for checking in while waiting in line for coffee or sitting on the train, the apps get the job done.
Some things you can do:
- Respond to members and comments
- Review recent course enrollments
- Share quick video updates
- Monitor site analytics and activity
But more complex tasks like building complete courses or in-depth moderation are still more accessible on desktops.
Overall, Skool’s done an excellent job translating key features into a clean mobile experience.
While it doesn’t offer as much as the desktop version, the app provides a convenient way to stay connected wherever you are.
Overall User Experience: Is Skool User-Friendly
So how beginner-friendly is Skool?
As someone who’s tested out my fair share of course platforms, I’d say the user experience is pretty smooth overall.
The interface is clean and simple to navigate. It avoids being overly cluttered with menus and options everywhere. For an emerging platform, it’s surprisingly intuitive to find what you need.
Compared to tools made for course pros like Kajabi, Skool trades some advanced customization for being user-friendly right off the bat.
However, compared to Teachable, I genuinely believe the UX is much smoother.
Is it as polished and sophisticated as some of the other more established players?
Not quite yet. But as a relative newcomer, Skool has done an excellent job building an accessible experience for first-time course creators and community owners.
Could some areas be smoother? Sure.
But if you’re looking for a platform that’s easy to figure out without a huge learning curve, Skool hits that mark nicely.
Are There Any Skool Alternatives?
Skool isn’t the only game in town when it comes to online course and community platforms. Some other top options to consider include:
Teachable – One of the most popular course platforms, Teachable offers popular course creation tools and marketing features with a very customizable experience. Pricing starts at $29/month.
Kartra – An all-in-one platform like Skool, Kartra provides course building, email marketing, membership portals, and more. Plans start at $99/month.
Kajabi – A premium course platform focused on marketing automation, Kajabi is highly tailored for course creators at a steeper price of $149/month.
While Skool consolidates key features like courses, community, and email into one platform, these alternatives provide strong course-building capabilities for those willing to invest in separate community add-ons.
Mighty Networks and Circle are two other solutions worth looking at if you want more dedicated community features combined with courses.
Overall, Skool holds its own against the competition but lacks the maturity and customization of tools like Teachable and Kajabi.
It really comes down to your specific needs and budget.
FAQs
Does Skool Provide Unlimited Courses?
Yes, with Skool’s paid plan you can create and sell an unlimited number of online courses. There are no caps on how many courses you can build and offer.
Does Skool Offers a Free Plan?
No, Skool does not currently offer a free forever plan. The only free option is a 14-day trial of their paid plan
Is It Compatible With Both IOS and Android?
Yes, Skool provides mobile apps for both iOS and Android to access your courses and community on the go.
