Paid Community Platforms in 2026: Skool, Circle, Mighty Networks, or Substack?

Last updated: August 22, 2026

Last updated: August 22, 2026.

A paid community platform can charge a fixed monthly bill, take a share of revenue, or do both. The cheapest option at 25 members may become the most expensive one at 300, so the useful comparison starts with your member count and price.

When starting out with 10 or 25 members, paying a fixed $99/month SaaS subscription to Skool, Circle, or Mighty Networks can take 40% to 50% of gross cash flow before payment processing. At that stage, a platform with $0 monthly overhead and a 10% take rate, or Skool’s $9/mo Hobby tier, can leave more money available while the offer is still being validated.

However, the moment your community scales to 100 members paying $29/month ($2,900/mo) or 300 members paying $49/month ($14,700/mo), a 10% platform take rate costs you $290 to $1,470 every single month—dwarfing the fixed cost of dedicated community software.

Below is our interactive net-revenue calculator, followed by worked multi-tier member models (25, 100, 300 members), break-even thresholds, and verified 2026 platform pricing evidence.

Interactive Community Cost & Net Revenue Calculator

The Decision in One Minute

• Choose Skool Pro ($99/mo) if your format depends on gamification, course completion, and a simple community feed. Skool charges $99/month per group with a 2.9% transaction fee. Its points and levels are participation tools, but their effect on retention depends on the audience and program.
• Choose Skool Hobby ($9/mo) if you are launching an early-stage micro-community or testing a new group idea. At $9/month plus a 10% transaction fee, it minimizes fixed software risk before you validate paying retention.
• Choose Circle if you need a white-labeled, fully integrated customer community or private coaching hub. Circle offers dedicated event calendars, member directories, group messaging, live streams, and course hosting under your own custom domain. Its Professional plan ($89/mo billed annually or $99/mo) carries a 2% platform transaction fee, while its Business plan ($199/mo billed annually or $219/mo) drops the fee to 1%.
• Choose Mighty Networks if your core value proposition is native mobile app access, deep member connections, and structured spaces. Its Launch plan ($79/mo billed annually or $99/mo) carries a 2% transaction fee, while the Scale plan ($179/mo billed annually or $219/mo) drops to 1%. Mighty Pro also allows creators to publish their own fully branded iOS and Android apps to the App Store.
• Choose Substack if your business is writing-first and editorial. Substack charges $0/month in SaaS fees, taking a flat 10% revenue share on paid subscriptions (plus Stripe processing). It is the simplest way to monetize written essays, podcasts, and member threads without upfront software overhead.

How We Checked This

We checked official pricing pages, transaction fee disclosures, Stripe processing rules, and plan feature tables for Skool, Circle, Mighty Networks, and Substack on August 22, 2026. We captured authentic screenshots of each pricing page below.

This model includes standard connected Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30/transaction in the US, plus Stripe’s 0.7% recurring billing fee for Substack). It assumes monthly subscription pricing. Choosing annual SaaS billing for Circle or Mighty Networks reduces the fixed software component by ~15% to 20%.

The 2026 Paid Community Pricing Table

Three Worked Membership Models

To see how platform fees impact creator income across different growth stages, we modeled three distinct community scenarios.

1. The Seed Community: 25 Members @ $10/mo ($250 Gross)

When launching a new membership, a $99 monthly platform bill can consume a large share of early revenue.

• Skool Hobby ($9/mo + 10% all-in): Subscription: $9.00 + Transaction cut: $25.00 = $34.00 total cost (13.60%). Net take-home: $216.00.
• Substack ($0/mo + 10% + Stripe): Platform fee (10%): $25.00 + Stripe processing (3.6% + $0.30): $16.50 ($9.00 + $7.50) = $41.50 total cost (16.60%). Net take-home: $208.50.
• Skool Pro ($99/mo + 2.9%): Subscription: $99.00 + Processing: $7.25 = $106.25 total cost (42.50%). Net take-home: $143.75.
• Circle Pro ($99/mo + 2% + Stripe): Subscription: $99.00 + Platform (2%): $5.00 + Stripe: $14.75 ($7.25 + $7.50) = $118.75 total cost (47.50%). Net take-home: $131.25.
• Mighty Networks Launch ($99/mo + 2% + Stripe): Subscription: $99.00 + Platform (2%): $5.00 + Stripe: $14.75 = $118.75 total cost (47.50%). Net take-home: $131.25.

The Seed Takeaway: If your group generates under $500/month, fixed $99/mo SaaS eats nearly half your revenue. Starting on Substack or Skool Hobby protects early cash flow until you prove retention.

2. The Growing Mastermind: 100 Members @ $29/mo ($2,900 Gross)

At 100 paying members, revenue reaches the threshold where fixed subscriptions become significantly more profitable than a 10% revenue cut.

• Skool Pro ($99/mo + 2.9%): Subscription: $99.00 + Processing (2.9%): $84.10 = $183.10 total cost (6.31%). Net take-home: $2,716.90.
• Circle Pro ($99/mo + 2% + Stripe): Subscription: $99.00 + Platform fee (2%): $58.00 + Stripe ($84.10 + $30.00): $114.10 = $271.10 total cost (9.35%). Net take-home: $2,628.90.
• Mighty Networks Launch ($99/mo + 2% + Stripe): Subscription: $99.00 + Platform fee (2%): $58.00 + Stripe: $114.10 = $271.10 total cost (9.35%). Net take-home: $2,628.90.
• Circle Business ($219/mo + 1% + Stripe): Subscription: $219.00 + Platform fee (1%): $29.00 + Stripe: $114.10 = $362.10 total cost (12.49%). Net take-home: $2,537.90.
• Substack ($0/mo + 10% + Stripe): Platform fee (10%): $290.00 + Stripe ($104.40 + $30.00): $134.40 = $424.40 total cost (14.63%). Net take-home: $2,475.60.

The 100-Member Takeaway: At $2,900/month gross, Skool Pro yields $241.30 more cash every month ($2,895/year) than Substack. Circle Pro and Mighty Launch trail Skool by just $88/month while offering dedicated branded spaces.

3. The High-Ticket Community: 300 Members @ $49/mo ($14,700 Gross)

In this high-revenue example, percentage fees outweigh the fixed monthly subscriptions by a wide margin.

• Skool Pro ($99/mo + 2.9%): Subscription: $99.00 + Processing (2.9%): $426.30 = $525.30 total cost (3.57%). Net take-home: $14,174.70.
• Circle Business ($219/mo + 1% + Stripe): Subscription: $219.00 + Platform fee (1%): $147.00 + Stripe ($426.30 + $90.00): $516.30 = $882.30 total cost (6.00%). Net take-home: $13,817.70.
• Mighty Networks Scale ($219/mo + 1% + Stripe): Subscription: $219.00 + Platform fee (1%): $147.00 + Stripe: $516.30 = $882.30 total cost (6.00%). Net take-home: $13,817.70.
• Circle Pro ($99/mo + 2% + Stripe): Subscription: $99.00 + Platform fee (2%): $294.00 + Stripe: $516.30 = $909.30 total cost (6.19%). Net take-home: $13,790.70.
• Substack ($0/mo + 10% + Stripe): Platform fee (10%): $1,470.00 + Stripe ($529.20 + $90.00): $619.20 = $2,089.20 total cost (14.21%). Net take-home: $12,610.80.

The Scale Takeaway: At $14,700/month, hosting your community on Substack costs you $1,563.90/month ($18,766/year) more than Skool Pro, and over $1,200/month more than Circle Business or Mighty Scale.

When to Switch from Revenue Share to Fixed SaaS

The mathematical cross-over point below compares Substack with Skool Pro using the fee assumptions in this guide. It includes Substack’s 10% platform fee and stated Stripe subscription-payment costs, and Skool Pro’s $99 monthly charge plus 2.9% transaction fee. It is not a feature-for-feature comparison:

1. At $10/month membership: Skool Pro becomes cheaper at about 73 active members ($730/mo gross).
2. At $29/month membership: Skool Pro becomes cheaper at about 30 active members ($870/mo gross).
3. At $49/month membership: Skool Pro becomes cheaper at about 18 active members ($882/mo gross).

Under these assumptions, the fee-only crossover occurs below $900/month in all three examples. That does not make Skool the automatic choice: newsletter distribution, community features, migration cost, and payment geography can be worth more than the fee difference.

Decision Rules: Which Platform to Pick

Bottom Line

• For course creators who want built-in gamification: Skool Pro ($99/mo) produces the highest modeled take-home in the three worked scenarios once its fixed charge is absorbed. The exact crossover depends on membership price.
• For brands, organizations, and creators demanding a white-label hub: Circle and Mighty Networks provide the richest feature sets for structured spaces, events, and native mobile apps.
• For writers and essayists: Substack offers a low-friction, $0-subscription starting point. Re-run the fee comparison as revenue grows, but weigh its newsletter network and migration cost alongside the arithmetic.

If you are also selling one-off downloads or courses alongside your community, check our Digital Products Fee Calculator (Gumroad vs Lemon Squeezy vs Payhip vs Stan Store). For wider business software comparisons, explore our top SaaS and productivity guides.

Sources

• Skool official pricing — checked August 22, 2026.
• Circle official pricing — checked August 22, 2026.
• Mighty Networks official pricing — checked August 22, 2026.
• Substack official publisher fee documentation — checked August 22, 2026.
• Stripe standard processing terms — checked August 22, 2026.