Best platform for a paid membership community
Charging members while keeping as much of each payment as possible, under your own brand.
| # | Tool | Starting price | Best for | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Circle Top pick | $89/mo | Established creators and brands who want a polished community, website and apps under their own domain. | | Visit |
| 2 | Mighty Networks | $95/mo | Community businesses that want courses, events and automation in one app, and plan to grow into paid programmes. | | Visit |
| 3 | Skool | $9/mo | Creators starting a community who want courses and live calls in one simple place at the lowest price. | | Visit |
Ranked on weighted capability scores, weighted most heavily towards low transaction fees and value for money. Commission is not an input — see methodology.
How this ranking was weighted
| Dimension | Weight | Circle | Mighty Networks | Skool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low transaction fees | ×3 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Value for money | ×2 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Branding and own domain | ×2 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Ease of use | ×1 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Weighted total | 75 | 70 | 63 |
Capability scores are 1–5 per dimension. Weights reflect what matters for this use case. A tool we have not assessed on a dimension scores 3, not 0.
Why Circle wins here
Strengths
- +Professional includes community, courses, live events, a website, payments and iOS, Android and desktop apps.
- +Transaction fees fall from 2% on Professional to 1% on Business and Scale.
- +A 14-day free trial without a card, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Limitations
- −Published prices are for annual billing, from $89 a month.
- −Removing Circle branding and adding workflows needs Business, at $199 a month.
- −Email marketing is an add-on: $99 a month extra for 10,000 contacts.
The case for Mighty Networks
A community platform combining discussion, courses, events and automation, with branded apps on its top tier. Community businesses that want courses, events and automation in one app, and plan to grow into paid programmes.
Full Circle vs Mighty Networks comparison →
Common questions
Best platform for a paid membership community?
Circle scores highest for paid memberships, at 75 out of 100 when weighted for low transaction fees and value for money. Mighty Networks is second on 70.
Sources & verification
- circle.so — checked 25 September 2026Transaction fees: 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, in addition to Stripe’s standard processing fee.
- help.skool.com — checked 25 September 2026Transaction fee on sales: 10% + 30c on Hobby; 2.9% + 30c on Pro for payments up to $899, 3.9% + 30c above $900. Skool processes the payments itself, so card processing is included. Members pay in USD.
- mightynetworks.com — checked 25 September 2026Transaction fees: 2% on Launch, 1% on Scale, 0.5% on Growth. The pricing page does not say whether card processing is included.
- skool.com — checked 24 September 2026No free plan; both plans can be tried for free.