Are you looking for the best community platform in 2025 to host your courses, coaching programs, or membership site? If so, Skool has likely popped up on your radar. In this comprehensive Skool review, I’ll share my Skool experience over the past year, covering what Skool is, its key features, new updates, pros and cons, and how it stacks up against alternatives like Kajabi, Circle, Mighty Networks, and even Facebook groups. By the end, you’ll see why Skool has quickly become a top choice for creators and coaches – and whether it truly lives up to the hype.

Spoiler: Skool delivers an incredibly engaging, all-in-one community platform that can transform your business (with a few minor limitations). Let’s dive in!

Try Skool free for 14 days here. (Explore the platform risk-free and see if it’s right for you.)

What is Skool? (Background & Growth)

Skool is an online community and course platform designed to bring together your content and your community in one place. It was co-founded by entrepreneur Sam Ovens (of Consulting.com fame) along with his friend Daniel Kang in 2019. The platform initially launched as a closed beta in late 2019 and opened to the public in early 2022. Since then, Skool has grown rapidly, attracting thousands of creators, coaches, and businesses who want a better way to engage their audiences.

One of Skool’s big breaks came when investor Alex Hormozi threw his weight behind the platform, reportedly investing heavily (and publicly endorsing it) – which sent Skool’s popularity skyrocketing. By late 2023, Skool was already hosting around 1,000 active communities (and that number keeps climbing in 2025). Despite relatively low media coverage, Skool’s word-of-mouth growth has been phenomenal, thanks to a passionate user base and continuous feature improvements.

In a nutshell, Skool is an all-in-one community platform that combines discussion forums, online courses, events, and gamification. It aims to replace the patchwork of tools many creators use (Facebook groups for community, Kajabi/Teachable for courses, Zoom for events, etc.) with a single, simple hub. As Sam Ovens envisioned, Skool bridges the gap between learning and community – creating a social learning environment where members can learn, share, and grow together.

Key Features of Skool

Skool’s appeal lies in its simplicity and powerful features that are purpose-built to increase engagement. A Skool “group” (your community space) consists of four main components

• Community Forum: A distraction-free community feed where members can post, comment, and interact.
• Classroom (Course Platform): A place to host your video courses, lessons, and resources.
• Calendar (Events): An events schedule for live calls, webinars, or meetups with automatic reminders.
• Gamification (Points & Levels): A built-in game system (a “Skool Games” of sorts) with points, levels, and leaderboards to reward participation.

Let’s explore each of these features in detail and how they benefit creators and members.

Community Hub for Discussions

The community forum in Skool is the heart of the platform. It works like a clean, private social network or forum just for your members. The interface is minimalist – when users log in, they land straight into your community posts (no ads, no unrelated distractions). As an admin or member, you can make posts with text, images, GIFs, or even embed videos (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), and others can like and comment. Posts are organized by categories that you define (for example: “Announcements,” “Q&A,” “Wins,” etc.), making it easy to filter content and find information quickly. Each member has a profile showing their activity, and you can follow members to get notified when they post. A handy DM (direct messaging) feature allows one-on-one chats between members or with admins – great for networking or private support (note: group chat threads for all members are not available, since the forum serves that purpose). Members also get real-time notifications and can customize which notifications or emails they receive.

Why is the Skool community feature great? For your members, it provides an engaging, focused environment to interact without the noise of Facebook or Discord. They log in and immediately see value (new posts, answers, resources) instead of getting lost in a social media feed. For you as a creator, it’s easy to moderate and cultivate engagement. You can even create read-only categories where only you (admin) can post updates or content, while members can read – perfect for announcements or content that you don’t want buried in discussions.

Overall, Skool’s community feels like a “private oasis” compared to public social platforms. In my experience, members tend to log in daily, contribute more, and feel a greater sense of belonging than they did in my old Facebook group. It’s a simpler, cleaner way to build a thriving community – and it delivers on all the necessary elements: posts, comments, likes, notifications, and DMs, all in one place.

Classroom for Online Courses

Skool includes a Classroom tab in each group, which is essentially your online course platform. Here you can upload or embed your course content (video lessons, PDFs, etc.) and organize it into modules and courses. The Classroom interface is straightforward and user-friendly: if you have multiple courses, they’ll be listed for members to choose; if there’s just one, it goes straight into the curriculum view. Setting up a course is as easy as clicking “Add course” and using a drag-and-drop editor to create modules and lessons.

Each lesson module can include one video, a text description (with support for timestamp links), file attachments, external links, and even action-item checklists or transcripts. This covers most needs for delivering training content. One notable thing: Skool doesn’t host the actual videos, so you’ll embed videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Wistia, etc. This is pretty common and keeps the platform fast, but just know you’ll need to upload videos elsewhere (often free, like unlisted YouTube or a Vimeo account).

Skool’s course feature also supports flexible access controls for each course. You can make a course available to all members, or lock it behind certain conditions:

• Require members to reach a specific level to unlock a course (using gamification – more on that soon).
• Charge a one-time payment to unlock a course (yep, you can sell courses inside your community!).
• Drip release the content by unlocking modules after a set number of days.
• Manually grant access to certain members (for example, if you want to give a bonus course to specific people).

These options let you structure free vs. paid content and incentivize engagement. For instance, you might include a bonus module that unlocks only when a member reaches Level 5 in the community, encouraging them to participate more to access it.

From a member’s perspective, the Classroom is convenient – they don’t have to leave the community to consume your training. It’s all right there, neatly organized. The interface is intuitive enough that virtually no one asks “how do I use the course?” – it just works. Progress tracking is simple (modules check off as completed).

From a creator’s perspective, having courses and community together is a game-changer. Engagement and learning go hand in hand – members can discuss lessons in the community, ask questions, and help each other. I’ve found that course completion rates and overall satisfaction improved after moving my content into Skool, likely because learners feel supported by the community alongside the material.

One limitation to note: Skool’s course builder is deliberately streamlined. It doesn’t (yet) have fancy quiz features or certificates. If you rely on quizzes to test your students, you’d need an external tool (like Google Forms or Typeform) as a workaround. Also, you can’t heavily customize the course page design – it has a standard Skool layout (which is quite clean, if a bit rigid). For most of us, these aren’t deal-breakers, but super advanced course creators might find Skool’s LMS features basic compared to platforms like Kajabi or Thinkific. Keep that in mind if your program requires complex course functionality.

Calendar for Events and Coaching Calls

Another standout feature is the Calendar, which lets you schedule events for your community. Whether you run weekly coaching calls, live Q&A sessions, webinars, or even in-person meetups, the Calendar tab keeps everyone informed of what’s coming up. Creating an event is as easy as adding a title, date/time, duration, and description – similar to making a Google Calendar entry. You can set events to repeat (say, a weekly call every Tuesday at 5pm).

Skool will automatically convert the event time to each member’s local timezone, and (if you choose) send an email reminder to all members 24 hours before the event. This built-in reminder system is super valuable – it significantly boosted the show-up rate for my live sessions, since people don’t forget or miss announcements. Members can also click an event to add it to their personal Google/Apple/Outlook calendars with one tap.

While Skool doesn’t provide native video conferencing, you can simply drop your Zoom or Google Meet link into the event description. During the event, you’ll host it on Zoom as usual; after it’s over, you can even post the recording in your community or Classroom for those who missed it. The Calendar doesn’t aim to replace Zoom – it just makes sure everyone knows when and how to join your calls (no more “what time is that in my timezone?” confusion).

For coaches and program leaders, this means all your key activities (discussions, lessons, live calls) are organized under one roof. No need to separately email Zoom links each week or worry if everyone saw the schedule. It’s all visible and integrated, making your life easier and your members more engaged.

Gamification: Points, Levels and Leaderboards

One of Skool’s most unique features is its gamification system – often affectionately referred to as the Skool “Games.” Every time members contribute in the community (like when someone likes their post or comment), they earn experience points. As they accumulate points, they level up to higher ranks. Each Skool group comes with a leaderboard that displays the most active members and their current level, fostering a friendly competitive spirit.

Group admins can even attach rewards to specific levels – for example, reaching Level 5 might unlock a special course or a badge, Level 10 could unlock a private coaching call, etc. This gives members a tangible incentive to engage and add value to the community. In essence, Skool turns participation into a fun game: members aren’t just posting for the sake of it; they’re aiming to “win” points, climb the ranks, and earn rewards.

In my community, this gamification element has been pure gold. New members quickly see that the more they contribute helpful posts or comments, the more recognition they get. The common goal becomes providing value to level up, which creates a positive feedback loop. Even quieter members often start chiming in once they see others leveling up and getting rewards.

From the creator side, gamification is mostly hands-off – Skool handles the points and levels automatically. You just decide if you want to offer any perks at certain levels. It’s optional, but I highly recommend using it to its full extent. It’s amazing how even small rewards (like a shout-out or bonus content) can boost engagement significantly. Skool’s gamification strikes a nice balance: it’s simple (only likes -> points, no overly complex badges for everything), yet effective enough to make a real difference.

The only critique here is that beyond the leaderboard and level-ups, there isn’t a broader variety of game mechanics. Some other platforms might offer more types of achievements, but Skool’s approach is quality over quantity. It focuses on the one thing that matters: encouraging meaningful contributions. And it works brilliantly at that.

Other Noteworthy Features

In addition to the “big four” above, Skool includes a host of smaller features and polish that make the experience smooth:

• Universal Search: A single search bar lets you search across all posts, comments, course content, and members in your community. It’s very handy when you’re trying to find that one post or lesson quickly.
• Member Management: As admin, you can set your group to public or private. Public groups have content visible to all (even indexed on Google) and anyone can request to join; private groups hide content from non-members – ideal for paid or exclusive communities. Either way, you approve who joins. You can also ask up to 3 questions for new members at sign-up (to gather emails or qualify members), and even automate a welcome DM to new members to get them started.
• Email Broadcasts: Whenever you (admin) make an important post, you can tick a box to send it as an email to all members (limited to once every 72 hours). This ensures everyone sees critical announcements or updates, even if they don’t log in daily. The emails include your post content and have good deliverability (in my use, they avoid spam folders reliably).
• Mobile App: Skool offers a native app for iOS and Android, so members can stay engaged on the go. The mobile app experience mirrors the web – clean and fast – and supports push notifications for new posts or messages. In practice, this has kept engagement high, as members get a quick ping on their phone and can respond instantly.
• Integrations: Need to connect Skool with other tools? Skool provides Zapier integration (and an API) to sync data with your email list, CRM, or other apps. For example, you can zap new member info into your mailing system, or trigger a zap when someone reaches a certain level.
• Analytics: Skool gives admins simple group metrics (total members, active members, daily activity) to gauge health. It’s not an in-depth analytics suite, but it does help you see trends in engagement at a glance.

All these features come together to create a platform that is remarkably easy to use yet powerful. Skool intentionally keeps things simple – you won’t find endless menus or convoluted settings. This means a very shallow learning curve. From day one, both you and your members will find the interface intuitive. (As one reviewer put it, “I figured out how to use Skool within five minutes of being on the platform”).

Bottom line: Skool covers all the bases for running a community-centered online program. Now, let’s look at what’s new in Skool as of 2024-2025, because the platform hasn’t stopped evolving.

New Features and Updates in 2025

Skool’s team has been actively adding features to enhance monetization and user experience. Here are some of the notable new features (as of 2024-2025) that have made Skool even more compelling:

• Paid Memberships (Premium Groups): One of the biggest updates is the ability to charge for group membership. You can set a monthly subscription price for access to your Skool community, and Skool handles the checkout and billing for you (replacing the need for an external sales page or payment processor). This means you can run a paid community or coaching program entirely on Skool. Currently, only recurring monthly payments are supported (no one-time fee for entry yet). But this is huge – it turns Skool into a revenue generator out of the box. Many creators have launched successful paid membership communities on Skool, creating a steady income stream with little technical overhead.
• Skool Affiliate Program: Skool introduced a generous built-in affiliate system to reward users for spreading the word. If someone joins Skool (creates their own group) through your referral, you earn 40% of their subscription for life! At the standard $99/mo price, that’s about $39 per month per referral, indefinitely. It’s automatically tracked – for example, if one of your community members is inspired and starts their own Skool group, Skool knows they came from your group and credits you the commission. Refer just 3 groups and you could essentially cover your own Skool subscription cost (3 x $39 ≈ $117, which even exceeds the $99 fee). This affiliate system opens up another income stream: you can promote Skool to your audience (as I’m doing with this review!) and earn recurring revenue, making Skool not just a platform cost, but a potential profit center.
• Drip-Fed Content: To improve the online course capabilities, Skool added a drip content feature. You can set lesson modules in the Classroom to unlock X days after a member joins. This is perfect for timed programs or preventing binge-watching – e.g., release one module per week. It keeps members coming back regularly for new content (and discussing each week’s material in the community, which boosts engagement).
• Continual UX Refinements: In 2024, Skool also rolled out a bunch of quality-of-life improvements: better notifications controls, the mobile apps (if you joined early, mobile wasn’t there initially – now it is), and more admin settings like the ability to pin multiple posts, collect email addresses on join, etc. These updates show that Skool is actively listening to users and iterating fast. Even in the past few months, I’ve seen the platform get faster and some minor UI tweaks that make navigation even more intuitive.

It’s worth noting that Skool’s development is very community-driven – Sam Ovens and team run a public Skool community for feature suggestions and support, so many of these features (like paid memberships and drip content) were direct responses to user feedback. As a user, this feels reassuring: you’re on a platform that’s evolving with your needs.

Looking into 2025 and beyond, Skool continues to polish its platform. Rumor has it that more customization options and integrations might be on the horizon, as well as potential support for things like quizzes or even more membership tier flexibility. But even at its current state, Skool in 2025 is a robust solution that covers most needs for creators who want to build and monetize a community.

Benefits of Skool for Creators, Coaches, and Course Builders

Why are so many creators and coaches raving about Skool? Based on my experience (and countless success stories), here are the top benefits of Skool for creators:

• All-in-One Simplicity: Skool lets you run your courses, community, and events all in one place. This eliminates the tech headache of integrating multiple platforms. No more sending people across different sites – everything happens under your Skool group. This means less time managing tools and more time engaging with your people. As an admin, I found Skool refreshingly simple: I didn’t need to hire a developer or spend weeks learning it. If you can use Facebook, you can use Skool.
• Higher Engagement & Better Outcomes: The combination of a distraction-free community + gamification means your members will be far more engaged. Unlike a passive course where people tend to drop off, a Skool community keeps pulling them back in. They’ll log in daily, interact, and actually consume your content. This leads to better client/student outcomes (which for a coach or teacher is gold). People learn better when they are part of an active community, and Skool facilitates exactly that.
• Built-in Monetization: With Skool, you can monetize in multiple ways: charge a subscription for community access, sell courses or premium content inside, and even earn affiliate commissions by referring others. The platform handles payments seamlessly, so you can literally get paid to build a community. Many course creators struggle with monetizing a free Facebook group – Skool solves that by giving you tools to charge and deliver value in one spot. Also, because engagement is higher, retention of paying members tends to be higher too (fewer cancellations when people feel involved).
• Better Member Experience: From your members’ perspective, Skool is clean and easy. They don’t have to juggle logins or navigate a confusing site. Everything relevant – discussions, materials, event links – is organized in the sidebar. Members can customize notifications so they aren’t overwhelmed, and the mobile app keeps them connected. There are no ads, no unrelated notifications (unlike Facebook), so they can focus on their goals. This positive user experience reflects well on you as the creator; it feels like you’ve provided a premium, well-thought-out community space.
• Community-Led Growth: Skool has a cool side effect: because your community is so engaging, your members are more likely to invite others and talk about it. Skool even has a one-click invite link feature for members to refer friends. If you run a public or free group, this can lead to organic growth (some Skool groups have exploded in size via word of mouth). And if you run a paid group, satisfied members become your best marketing asset. In short, Skool helps create a viral loop around your community by making it valuable and shareable.
• Time Savings & Less Overwhelm: As a coach or solopreneur, your time is precious. I found that after moving to Skool, I spent far less time on admin tasks. The platform’s simplicity means fewer things go wrong. No constant plugin updates (like you’d have on WordPress), no moderation nightmares (Skool communities tend to be positive environments partly due to the real identity profiles and the leveling system). And since I’m not constantly pushing content through email or chasing people to engage, I can focus on creating great content and interacting meaningfully when I do go online.

In summary, Skool is built from the ground up to help creators, course builders, and coaches succeed. Sam Ovens himself was a course creator, so he designed Skool to solve the exact pain points you’re probably familiar with: low engagement, scattered tech, and poor community cohesion. With Skool, you get a tool that aligns perfectly with a community-driven business model – and that can be a huge competitive advantage in 2025’s creator economy.

User Experience & Interface (Desktop vs. Mobile)

One of Skool’s biggest strengths (and occasional critiques) is its user interface. Skool champions a “less is more” design philosophy. The interface is clean, minimalist, and reminiscent of a modern forum or feed. This simplicity makes it incredibly easy to use, but if you’re coming from flashier platforms, it can initially feel almost too simple or “old-school.”

Desktop UI: On web, Skool has a two-column layout – a sidebar with your group’s sections (Community, Classroom, Calendar, Members) and the main content area for whatever section you’re viewing. The color scheme is neutral and you can add your group’s banner and profile image, but otherwise there’s not a ton of visual customization. This ensures every Skool group has a familiar layout for users. Navigation is straightforward: you’re never more than one click away from the main sections.

Many users (myself included) appreciate this no-frills approach. It’s distraction-free and functional. That said, a few find Skool’s design a bit too simplistic or “outdated” in style – especially if they’re used to highly branded Kajabi pages or the sleek look of Circle communities. Customization options are limited: you can’t change fonts, colors, or layout beyond your banner image and logo. For branding sticklers, Skool might feel restrictive on this front (as one reviewer noted, the rigid structure prevents making a truly unique-looking community). In my case, I decided that the trade-off of better functionality was worth sacrificing some visual customization. But it’s a subjective thing to be aware of.

Mobile App: The Skool mobile experience is excellent. The Skool Communities app (iOS/Android) gives members on-the-go access to everything. It’s basically the web interface condensed for a phone, with smooth navigation. Members can receive push notifications for new posts, comments, or messages (you can control which pushes you get). I’ve found that many in my community prefer using Skool on their phone – they treat it like checking Instagram or Facebook, but focused on our group. The app’s performance is snappy and I haven’t encountered any glitches. This mobile access is crucial in 2025, since so much engagement happens on smartphones.

One thing to note: since Skool is not “white-label” (it’s always under the Skool brand), your users will download the Skool app and then log into your group. The app is branded Skool, not your company. This is similar to how Facebook or LinkedIn groups work (they live inside a larger app). If having a standalone app for your brand is important, Skool might disappoint – alternatives like Mighty Networks offer custom-branded apps at higher price tiers. But for most, the Skool app gets the job done without the cost or complexity of building a custom app.

Overall usability: The consensus from my members is that Skool is very intuitive. People of all ages and tech skill levels have navigated it with ease. The learning curve is practically zero – which cannot be said for some all-in-one platforms that overwhelm new users. Everything in Skool feels just a click or two away, and the interface stays out of the way of the content.

From an admin perspective, I also find the backend incredibly simple. In fact, there isn’t a separate “admin dashboard” maze; as an admin you mostly use the site as a user would, with a few extra buttons for settings where needed. This means managing the community (approving members, creating events, uploading course content) is quick and painless.

In summary, Skool’s interface might not win awards for artistic design, but it absolutely nails usability. It’s easy on the eyes, easy to learn, and runs fast on both desktop and mobile. If you value function and simplicity over heavy customization, you’ll love Skool’s UI. (And your members will too, which is ultimately what matters most.)

Monetization Potential: Earning with Skool

One of the reasons Skool stands out as possibly the best community platform of 2025 is the monetization potential it offers to creators. Skool not only helps you engage your audience – it helps you make money doing so, in a seamless way. Let’s break down the monetization avenues:

1. Paid Communities / Memberships: As mentioned, Skool now allows you to put your community behind a paywall. You can charge a recurring monthly fee for membership access. This effectively turns your Skool group into a subscription product. Setting it up is straightforward – in your group settings, you add a price and connect a Stripe account (Skool handles the heavy lifting of checkout and subscription management). Once enabled, anyone who wants to join must pay, and their subscription is managed automatically. This is huge for coaches running mastermind groups, course creators offering ongoing support communities, or any creator building a paid club. Skool removes the need for external carts or membership plugins – it’s an all-in-one monetization solution.

From my perspective, having the paywall built-in increased conversion. People sign up and immediately get access without having to jump through separate links or systems, which reduces friction. And because the community and content are behind the same login, members feel they are getting full value for what they pay.

2. Selling Courses or Premium Content: Even if your group is free to join, you can sell one-off courses or content upgrades inside Skool. By marking a course in the Classroom as “paid – one-time price,” non-purchasers will see it locked until they buy. You can direct members to purchase that course (Skool will facilitate the payment, similar to membership fee). This is great for upselling your community members on deeper-dive trainings or workshops. Many creators use a combination: a free community to build trust, and paid courses within that community for their monetization. Skool supports this model well.

3. Affiliate Commissions: Skool’s affiliate program is a game changer for those who love recommending tools. As a Skool user, you automatically have an affiliate link (or simply your group acts as an affiliate magnet, since anyone who starts a group via your group gives you credit). The commission is 40% recurring for life – one of the most generous in the industry. That means if you refer someone who becomes a long-term Skool user, you keep getting paid every month. For example, I referred a fellow coach to Skool; she moved her programs onto it and has been paying for 5 months now – I see a nice chunk deposited each month thanks to that referral. It’s passive income for simply sharing a platform I believe in.

If you run a community of entrepreneurs or creators, chances are some of them might need a platform like Skool. By bringing them into your free group first, you not only show them the value of Skool by example, but you also stand to earn if they decide to create their own Skool group. It’s a win-win: you help your peers find a great solution and you get rewarded for it. (Transparency: This very article you’re reading is part of my own affiliate marketing efforts – I only do this because I truly think Skool is worth it. The affiliate bonus is icing on the cake.)

4. Increased Customer Lifetime Value: This is not a direct “feature” per se, but it’s an important monetization angle. By using Skool to host your community and courses, you tend to increase the lifetime value of your customers/students. They stay subscribed longer, they consume more of your content (and thus are more likely to buy future offerings), and they become raving fans who bring in more people. All of that translates to more revenue in the long run, whether through renewals, upsells or referrals. In contrast, if you just sell a course on a traditional platform and don’t have a strong community, those buyers might drift away and never purchase from you again. Skool helps retain them and keep them warm for future sales.

In short, Skool not only helps you make money right now (through subscriptions and sales) but also acts as a catalyst for future growth. Many users have reported that switching to Skool and building a community around their product significantly boosted their income over time. I can echo that – my own business saw higher monthly recurring revenue once we integrated Skool, as members were happier to stick around month after month.

Ready to launch your community? Click here to get started with Skool. (Use the free trial to set up your group and see these monetization features in action.)

Skool vs. Other Platforms: An Honest Comparison

No review would be complete without comparing Skool to the competition. There are plenty of community and course platforms out there – here’s how Skool stacks up against a few popular alternatives in 2025:

• Skool vs. Facebook Groups: If you’ve been running free Facebook Groups, moving to Skool is like upgrading from a noisy café to your own cozy classroom. Facebook is free and familiar, but it’s filled with distractions (ads, random posts) and you don’t truly own the community or have control. Content often gets lost in the algorithmic feed, and there’s no built-in way to deliver courses or structured learning. Monetization requires external tools. Skool, on the other hand, offers a focused, ad-free space under your control. You can organize content, ensure everyone sees important posts (via email notifications), and even charge for access. The engagement levels on Skool are typically higher than on Facebook because members aren’t getting pulled away by cat videos and political rants. The only advantage of Facebook is the zero cost and ease of people finding it (since everyone has Facebook). But if you’re serious about building a high-value community or paid program, Skool provides a far superior environment and experience.
• Skool vs. Kajabi: Kajabi is an all-in-one platform known for hosting courses, sales pages, email marketing, etc. It does have a community feature (Kajabi Communities), but in my opinion Kajabi’s community aspect is quite limited in engagement tools – it’s more of a basic forum without gamification, and members still need to avoid distractions from their inbox or other tasks to participate. Kajabi’s strength is in its robust course features and marketing tools (funnels, email automations, etc.). If you need a full sales funnel builder with landing pages, checkout flows, and a built-in email autoresponder, Kajabi might serve you well – but you might end up paying a lot more (Kajabi plans start higher and often have user or product limits). Skool’s strength is community engagement. It deliberately doesn’t try to do email marketing or sales pages – you might still use an external landing page to promote your Skool group, for example. Many creators actually use Skool + an email marketing tool side by side, instead of an all-in-one like Kajabi. If your priority is having an active community and simple course delivery, Skool wins for simplicity and engagement. Kajabi might win if you need a more extensive marketing suite and don’t mind a less lively community area. (In fact, some Kajabi users embed a Skool community link because Kajabi’s community wasn’t cutting it.)
• Skool vs. Circle: Circle.so is another modern community platform that’s often compared to Skool. Circle offers community spaces and some course features, and it’s quite customizable (you can design different spaces, have private or secret subgroups, and match your branding more closely). Circle also supports tiered membership levels and even has a feature for live video rooms in higher plans. Where Circle shines is flexibility – you can build a very structured community with many sections and fine-grained permissions. However, this can also lead to complexity for both creators and users. Skool shines in ease-of-use – there’s essentially one main feed (with categories) and it’s hard to get confused. Skool’s gamification is also more built-in; Circle has “Member levels” but they aren’t as front-and-center competitive as Skool’s leaderboard. Pricing-wise, Circle starts cheaper (~$39/mo) but as you need more members or spaces, you’ll likely be paying $99 or more for higher plans – and it still might not include as many integrated features (like Skool’s calendar or built-in email blasts). In 2025, I’d say: choose Skool if you want plug-and-play community with high engagement, choose Circle if you want maximum customization and don’t mind tinkering. Both are solid, but for a creator who doesn’t want to spend time playing community architect, Skool is often the more straightforward path.
• Skool vs. Mighty Networks: Mighty Networks is another platform that combines community and courses. It’s been around for a while and even allows creators to have their own branded mobile app (on higher plans). Mighty Networks offers a rich feature set including community topics, course content, and even an onboarding sequence for new members. However, many users find Mighty Networks’ interface to be somewhat overwhelming or not as intuitive. It also lacks the gamification aspect that Skool has – there are no leveling systems or built-in incentives to engage beyond what the host creates. In terms of cost, Mighty Networks has a range of plans; to get similar capabilities to Skool (online courses + community + live streaming events), you’re usually looking at a plan that is equal or more than Skool’s flat $99, especially if you want the custom mobile app. Mighty does allow you to have multiple payment tiers within one community (which Skool currently doesn’t natively do – you’d need separate Skool groups for separate tiers), so that’s one advantage. But if you don’t need multi-tiered pricing in one community, Skool’s simplicity and engagement tools are hard to beat.
• Skool vs. Patreon (or others): Some might compare Skool to Patreon or Discord when thinking of community. Patreon is primarily a payment platform with a basic community feed for patrons, but it lacks advanced community features and has high fees. Discord is great for real-time chat (especially for gaming/tech audiences) but not structured for course content or threaded discussions the way Skool is. In moving my own community from Patreon to Skool, the difference was night and day – Skool offered better organization, better engagement, and more value for my members, while I had full control and fewer fees.

Honest Takeaway: Each platform has its pros and cons, and the “best” choice depends on your needs. However, if your goal is to create a focused, highly engaging learning community with minimal fuss, Skool is extremely hard to beat in 2025. It takes the crown in terms of engagement per member and ease of setup, which for many creators means more success in the long run. Competitors like Kajabi might outdo Skool in niche areas (like complex marketing automations or fancy site design), but they often fall short on community engagement – which is the very thing Skool excels at.

Remember, you can always try Skool’s 14-day free trial and even run it alongside another platform to gauge where your audience engages more. From my experience and those of peers, the community participation on Skool wins out, and that’s ultimately why we stick with it.

The Skool Games: A Community Challenge Like No Other

You may have heard buzz about the Skool Games – so what exactly is it? In early 2024, Skool (in partnership with Alex Hormozi) launched The Skool Games, a gamified contest that invited community owners on Skool to compete in growing their membership and revenue. It was essentially a platform-wide challenge where entrepreneurs tried to attract as many paying members as possible to their Skool groups within a set time frame. Think of it like a reality show competition, but hosted within Skool’s ecosystem, and every group owner could participate.

Alex Hormozi, known for his business growth expertise, was heavily involved – providing coaching and motivation to participants through weekly live calls (termed “Games Hangouts”). This challenge not only spurred platform-wide engagement, but also demonstrated the power of Skool’s features in a real-world scenario. Participants leveraged everything – community posts, events, gamification, referral invites – to boost their numbers during the contest.

How does this add value to users? For one, it created a huge learning opportunity. Even those who didn’t “win” the contest benefited from Hormozi’s teachings and the collective knowledge shared. People were actively sharing strategies in the public Skool community on how to improve retention, how to convert free members to paid, etc. Essentially, it was free coaching on growing a community-based business, available to all Skool users who tuned in.

Secondly, the Skool Games injected an extra dose of motivation for group owners to maximize the platform’s features. It encouraged users to make full use of Skool’s tools (like the invite-a-friend feature, email broadcasts, and engaging content) to rally their communities. The friendly competition aspect showcased just how much growth is possible in a short time if one truly engages their audience.

In fact, the results were impressive – some group owners massively increased their monthly revenue. The winner of the 2024 Skool Games reportedly scaled to over $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue during the contest period, which is a testament to what’s achievable when you combine a great platform with great strategy. Even outside of the contest, many participants said they would continue applying those tactics to keep growing their communities.

For a prospective user or new Skool member, the existence of the Skool Games highlights that Skool isn’t just software – it’s a community in itself. The platform creators are invested in your success (after all, if you make more, Skool makes more too). The Skool Games was a brilliant initiative to educate users, build camaraderie, and push the limits of what can be done on the platform. It adds value by fostering an environment where big goals are encouraged and celebrated.

Even if Skool doesn’t run another formal “Games” competition every year, the ethos carries on: as a Skool user you’re part of a larger network of entrepreneurs who share and learn from each other. The public Skool community (free for any Skool user to join) is full of tips, case studies, and even Skool staff interaction to help you succeed. To me, this sense of community beyond your community is a valuable bonus of using Skool over a siloed platform. You’re not on your own – you have a tribe of fellow Skool builders alongside you, plus occasional fun events like the Skool Games to rally everyone together.

Pricing and Free Trial

Pricing for Skool is refreshingly simple: there’s just one plan, $99 per month. This plan includes all features and unlimited members, courses, and content for one community group. In other words, whether you have 50 members or 5,000 members, you still pay $99/month – Skool won’t charge you more for growing, which is a major advantage over some competitors that increase price with audience size. The flat fee also includes both the web platform and the mobile app access for your group.

Do note that the $99 is per community group. If you for some reason wanted to run multiple distinct groups (say one for customers and a separate one for a different audience), you’d pay separately for each. Most creators won’t need multiple groups unless they have totally separate businesses or segments, since one Skool group can host multiple courses and sub-communities via categories. But it’s something to be aware of.

Skool currently does not offer a free plan. This is a premium product and they don’t run ads or anything, so it makes sense. However, they offer a free 14-day trial for new users, which is the perfect way to test it out. In fact, I’d encourage you to sign up for the trial and create a group to play around; you can invite a few trusted members (or just use dummy accounts) to see how the interactions feel.

During the trial, you get full access to everything. If you decide it’s not for you, you can cancel before the 2 weeks ends and pay nothing. If you love it (likely!), the subscription will kick in after day 14. There’s no long-term contract – it’s month-to-month, so you can cancel any time if your needs change.

Also, keep in mind the earlier point: Skool’s affiliate program can offset your cost quickly if you refer others. Even if you’re paying $99/month, just a couple of referrals can bring that net cost down or into profit territory, which is a rare dynamic for software. Skool essentially gives you a route to make it pay for itself.

In comparison to alternatives, Skool’s pricing is very competitive. For example, Kajabi’s mid-tier is $159/month at the time of writing (with caps on products and members), Circle’s popular plan is $99/month (with member limits up to 10k and certain feature restrictions), Mighty Networks’ business plan is $119/month (for courses and memberships, with a 3% transaction fee). So $99 for unlimited use, with no transaction fees on your sales, is a strong offer. You’ll just have the standard Stripe processing fees for payments, but Skool itself doesn’t take a cut of your membership or course sales – an important point for monetization.

Finally, Skool’s value for money comes down to how well you leverage it. If you run even a small paid community with 10 members paying $20/month, that’s $200/month – Skool has already more than paid for itself. If your community is free, consider the indirect ROI of higher customer retention and satisfaction which can lead to more sales of your other products or services.

In my case, the engagement and revenue Skool facilitated made the $99/month look like pennies. It’s an investment into your community hub that can potentially return much, much more.

(Pro tip: Occasionally, Skool users share referral promotions or discounts in forums, but officially there’s no discount beyond the free trial. So grab the trial – that’s the best “deal” to get started.)

Pros and Cons of Skool

Like any platform, Skool isn’t perfect for everyone. Here’s a quick summary of pros and cons to give you a balanced view:

Pros:

• All-in-One Platform: Combines community, courses, events, and more, so you don’t need multiple tools. Everything works seamlessly together.
• High Engagement via Gamification: The points and leaderboard system boosts community participation and creates a fun atmosphere. Members feel motivated to contribute.
• Distraction-Free Environment: No ads or unrelated content – your community exists in a focused space, increasing member accountability and connection.
• Unlimited Members & Content: You’re not charged more for growing. Skool supports unlimited courses and members for one flat price which is great as your community scales.
• Easy Monetization: Built-in support for paid memberships and one-time purchases, plus the 40% affiliate program, gives you multiple ways to earn. Few community platforms offer this level of monetization out-of-the-box.
• Excellent User Experience: Simple, intuitive interface that requires little to no learning curve for members. The mobile app is fast and delivers push notifications, keeping engagement high.
• Event Scheduling with Reminders: The Calendar with auto email reminders and timezone conversion solves the hassle of coordinating events/webinars. – no other community platform does this quite as elegantly.
• Active Development & Support: The Skool team is responsive (via email and the public community) and keeps releasing updates. Support queries usually get quick answers, and there’s a vibrant user community to get help or strategy tips.
• Integrations: Zapier support and APIs allow you to connect Skool with your other systems (email marketing, CRM, etc.), so it can fit into your existing workflow easily.

Cons:

• Limited Customization: You can’t deeply customize the look and feel. The design is fairly uniform across Skool groups, which might be a con if your brand aesthetic is a priority. No custom CSS or white-labeling (your community lives on Skool’s domain, though you can use a custom domain redirect).
• No Native Live Streaming or Webinars: While you can schedule events, Skool doesn’t host live video inside the platform (you’ll use Zoom/YouTube Live, etc.). For most this isn’t an issue, but it’s not a webinar platform per se.
• No Built-in Quizzing or Assessments: As noted, course assessment tools like quizzes are not available yet. If your course relies on quizzes or tests, you’ll need an external solution or workaround.
• No Group Chat Feature: Skool focuses on forum-style threads and DMs. There’s no real-time group chat room for quick back-and-forth chats among members. Some communities enjoy a chat (like Slack/Discord style); on Skool, communication is more structured via posts and comments.
• Single Tier Membership per Group: You cannot (currently) offer multiple pricing tiers or sub-group levels within one Skool group. For example, if you wanted a Bronze/Silver/Gold level with different content each, you’d potentially need separate groups or creative use of course locking. Competing platforms like Circle or Mighty Networks offer tiered spaces. This is a feature hopefully Skool might add down the line, but for now it’s one-price-per-group.
• No Direct Messaging App Control: Because all users go through the Skool app, you can’t have a custom-branded app for your community (unless Skool offers such a service in the future). Again, not an issue for most, but worth mentioning if you planned to search “YourBrand” in the App Store.

It’s clear that Skool’s pros far outweigh the cons for the use cases it serves. Most of the cons are feature-requests that may not matter to you, or that the team might build in time. And none of them severely hinder the core purpose of running an engaged community with courses. In my honest opinion, the only creators who might not find Skool suitable are those who need extreme customization and control (in which case, a self-hosted solution might be their preference) or those who run very content-heavy courses that require testing and elaborate learning paths. For the vast majority – coaches, consultants, group program leaders, membership site owners, and educators – Skool hits the sweet spot of functionality and simplicity.

Conclusion: Is Skool Worth It in 2025?

After a year of using Skool and watching my community flourish, I can confidently say: Yes, Skool is absolutely worth it for the right users. If you are a coach, course creator, consultant, or business owner who thrives on building a community around your product or expertise, Skool provides an ideal home for it. It’s a platform built by a creator, for creators – and it shows in the thoughtful features and the results it delivers.

Skool has managed to crack the code on community engagement and retention. By blending the best of social interaction (likes, comments, gamification) with structured learning (courses, events), it creates a holistic experience for members that keeps them coming back. Happy members lead to happy creators – whether that’s through better client outcomes, more testimonials, or higher revenue.

Of course, no platform is one-size-fits-all. Skool isn’t trying to be a funnel builder or a high-end LMS with every bell and whistle. It’s not for someone who just wants to dump videos and never interact with their audience. Skool shines for those who believe in the power of community learning and engagement as a value-add to their content. If that’s you, then Skool will likely feel like a dream come true (it certainly did for me, coming from fragmented systems before).

To wrap up this Skool review, here’s my final verdict: Skool is one of the best community platforms of 2025 for creators who want simplicity, engagement, and monetization all in one place. Its positive, enthusiasm-driven environment can transform your business by turning your audience into a lively community. The platform is mature enough to handle serious business needs, yet agile enough to keep improving. And perhaps most importantly, it’s backed by a team and community that truly care about helping you succeed – which is priceless.

If you’re on the fence, I encourage you to take the leap and give Skool a try. The 14-day free trial is there for exactly that reason – launch your community, invite a few people, and see the magic for yourself. By the end of those two weeks, I suspect you’ll wonder how you ever ran your community without it.

Ready to launch your community? Click here to get started with Skool. Enjoy your free 14-day trial and prepare to take your community to the next level. Here’s to building something amazing – see you inside Skool!