Thinkific vs Skool
Thinkific is course-first: structured courses, cohorts, and coaching. Skool is community-first: groups with courses and live calls inside. The price gap looks huge until you count Skool's transaction fees.
Pick Thinkific if courses are the product: unlimited courses, cohorts, and coaching from $109 a month. Pick Skool if community is the product: one group price from $9 a month, with a fee on every sale.
Links on this page are plain homepage links.
All prices below are the prices shown on the vendors' pricing pages on October 29, 2026. Monthly means billed monthly, annual means the monthly equivalent billed annually. Thinkific's annual prices are labeled Save 25%. Skool's yearly rates carry a 2 months free badge; the page shows monthly equivalents only, so no annual lump sum is claimed here.
| Thinkific | Skool | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry, billed monthly | Start, $109 per month | Hobby, $9 per month |
| Entry, billed annually | Start, $82 per month billed annually | Hobby, $7.50 per month on yearly billing |
| Next tier, billed monthly | Grow, $219 per month | Pro, $99 per month |
| Next tier, billed annually | Grow, $164 per month billed annually | Pro, $82 per month on yearly billing |
| Top tiers | Expand, $499 per month ($374 billed annually); Plus, custom price | No further tiers; Pro is the top plan |
| Transaction fees | No transaction fee stated on the pricing page checked | Hobby: 10% plus 30 cents per transaction. Pro: 2.9% plus 30 cents up to $899, 3.9% plus 30 cents above $900 |
| Limits | Students 10,000 on Start, Grow, and Expand; communities 1, 3, and 10; spaces 10, 20, and 200 | Unlimited members, courses, videos, and live calls on both plans; number of groups per subscription not stated on the pricing page checked |
| Free plan and trial | No free plan; 30-day free trial | No free plan; 14-day free trial, then a recurring subscription |
The fee math changes the entry comparison. Selling a $100 course to 100 buyers is $10,000 of sales. On Skool Hobby that is $1,030 in transaction fees (10% plus 30 cents times 100) plus the $9 subscription. On Skool Pro it is $320 (2.9% plus 30 cents times 100) plus the $99 subscription. Thinkific's pricing page checked states no transaction fee, so no equivalent fee total is claimed for it.
Skool sells groups: a community with courses, videos, and live calls inside it, with unlimited members on both plans. Thinkific sells courses: unlimited courses with live cohorts, coaching, quizzes, assignments, and certificates, plus memberships and subscriptions. A buyer whose product is the community picks Skool; a buyer whose product is a curriculum picks Thinkific.
Skool Hobby at $9 a month looks $100 cheaper than Thinkific Start at $109, but Hobby takes 10% plus 30 cents of every sale. At $10,000 of sales that is $1,030 in fees. Pro at $99 cuts the fee to 2.9% plus 30 cents, or $320 on the same sales, and lands $10 under Thinkific Start monthly. The cheap plan is only cheap while sales are small.
Skool has two plans and keeps everything unlimited on both: members, courses, videos, live calls. Thinkific has four tiers with caps that grow: students capped at 10,000 except on Plus, communities at 1, 3, and 10, spaces at 10, 20, and 200. Skool is simpler to buy; Thinkific is more granular as a school grows.
Thinkific offers a 30-day free trial; Skool offers a 14-day free trial, after which the plan becomes a recurring subscription. Neither has a free plan.
Courses are the product. Unlimited courses with live cohorts, coaching, quizzes, assignments, and certificates, from $109 a month, with a 30-day free trial.
Community is the product. Groups with courses, videos, and live calls inside, unlimited members on both plans, from $9 a month on Hobby or $99 on Pro, with a 14-day free trial.
For course-first creators, Thinkific is the pick: structure, cohorts, and coaching. For community-first creators, Skool is the pick: one group price, unlimited members, and fees that only bite as sales grow.
At entry, Skool Hobby is $9 per month against Thinkific Start at $109 per month, but Hobby takes a 10% plus 30 cent transaction fee on every sale and excludes a custom URL and affiliates. The like-for-like paid tier is Skool Pro at $99 per month against Thinkific Start at $109 per month.
Neither has a free plan. Thinkific offers a 30-day free trial and Skool offers a 14-day free trial.
Skool charges Hobby 10% plus 30 cents per transaction, and Pro 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction up to $899, and 3.9% plus 30 cents above $900. No transaction fee was stated on the Thinkific pricing page checked.
Thinkific states communities of 1 on Start, 3 on Grow, 10 on Expand, and unlimited on Plus. Skool's pricing page does not state how many groups are included per subscription, so this page does not assume a number.
Thinkific annual monthly equivalents are Start $82, Grow $164, and Expand $374, labeled Save 25%. Skool yearly rates are Hobby $7.50 and Pro $82 per month, with a 2 months free badge.
Skool is community-first: groups with courses, videos, and live calls inside, with unlimited members on both plans. Thinkific is course-first: unlimited courses with live cohorts, coaching, quizzes, assignments, and certificates, plus memberships and subscriptions.
Method. Prices on this page were read from the vendors' pricing pages on October 29, 2026. Every price states whether it is billed monthly or annually. Where Skool's pricing page states no number of groups per subscription and Thinkific's pricing page states no transaction fee, this page says so instead of substituting a figure from elsewhere. The fee totals are transaction counts times stated rates: 100 sales at $100, at 10% plus 30 cents and at 2.9% plus 30 cents. Links on this page are plain homepage links.