Skool Hobby vs Pro: Costs and Break-Even (2026)

Skool's Hobby plan is $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee, and Pro is $99 a month with a 2.9% transaction fee. The headline feature lists are identical, so for most owners this is one line of arithmetic rather than a features decision: below roughly $1,270 a month in member payments, Hobby is cheaper. Above it, Pro is. The one real capability gap is the plugin set, covered below. Verified on skool.com/pricing in August 2026; always confirm current numbers there.

What is the difference between Hobby and Pro?

On the headline features, there is no difference. Skool lists the same core capabilities on both plans: unlimited members, unlimited courses, unlimited videos, unlimited live calls, a custom URL and affiliates. Mostly you are not buying capability, you are buying a lower percentage on the money your members pay you.

The exception is plugins. Skool's own Plugins guidance labels each one by plan, and several are Pro only: AutoDM, the Zapier integration, Google Ads tracking, Instant membership approval, the onboarding video, the cancellation video, Links and the developer Webhook. Membership Questions, Unlock Chat at Any Level and Unlock Posting at Level 2 or 3 are available on both Hobby and Pro. So if your plan depends on automated welcome messages, CRM automation or ad conversion tracking, Pro is a capability decision as well as an arithmetic one. See Skool AutoMod and spam control and Skool ads tracking for what those plugins actually do.

That is unusual. Most community and course platforms gate features by tier, so the cheap plan quietly cripples you. Skool's cheap plan does not. A brand new community on Hobby has the same classroom, calendar, gamification and payment tools as a community doing six figures.

The break-even math

The switch point is where the extra $90 a month of platform fee is repaid by the 7.1 percentage point saving on transaction fees. That happens at about $1,268 a month in member payments.

The maths: $90 divided by 0.071 equals about $1,268. Below that, the 10% fee costs you less than the extra $90 of platform fee. Above it, every additional dollar you process on Hobby costs you 7.1 cents more than it needs to.

At $10,000 a month in member payments, staying on Hobby costs you about $620 a month more than Pro. That is the single most expensive mistake a growing Skool owner can leave running.

Which plan should you start on?

Start on Hobby if you have not launched or are not yet charging. If your community is free, the transaction fee is irrelevant because there are no transactions, and $9 a month is the cheapest way to have a real platform while you build.

Start on Pro if you already have an audience and expect to cross $1,270 a month quickly. Switching later is easy, but if you know you will pass the line in your first month or two, Pro from day one saves you the admin.

Does the transaction fee apply to free communities?

No. The transaction fee only applies to money processed through Skool, so a free community pays nothing beyond the monthly plan fee. This matters more than people expect, because a lot of successful Skool owners run a free community as the front door and a paid one behind it, and only the paid one generates fees.

How does yearly billing change the answer?

Yearly billing gives you two months free on either plan, which works out to about $7.50 a month on Hobby and $82.50 a month on Pro. That lowers the Pro platform cost by $16.50 a month, which pulls the break-even point down to roughly $1,000 a month in member revenue. If you are close to the line and confident you are staying, annual Pro is the better buy.

How Skool's plans compare to other platforms

The reason the Hobby plan exists is to remove the entry barrier that competitors keep in place.

For a full fee-by-fee comparison see how much does Skool take and the full Skool pricing breakdown.

The formula you can copy

Pick the plan for your current revenue, not your ambition. Paying $99 a month while you have no members is a tax on optimism, and Hobby costs the same as a coffee.

Watch one number. Member payments per month is the only input that matters. Everything else about the two plans is identical.

Upgrade the month you cross the line. There is no penalty for switching, and the saving is immediate. If you are still working out your price, read how to price a Skool community and how to get your first Skool members.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the Skool Hobby plan and the Pro plan?

Price and transaction fee only. Hobby is $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee, Pro is $99 a month with a 2.9% transaction fee. Both plans include unlimited members, unlimited courses, unlimited videos, unlimited live calls, a custom URL and affiliates, so no features are locked behind Pro.

When should I upgrade from Hobby to Pro?

When your community processes about $1,270 a month or more in member payments. At that point the 7.1 percentage point saving on transaction fees is worth more than the extra $90 a month in platform fee. On annual billing the switch point drops to about $1,000 a month.

What features does the Skool Hobby plan include?

The same features as Pro: unlimited members, unlimited courses, unlimited videos, unlimited live calls, a custom URL and affiliates. The only trade-off is the 10% transaction fee instead of 2.9%.

Is the $9 Skool Hobby plan worth it?

For a new or free community, yes. You get the full platform for $9 a month, and if you are not charging members the higher transaction fee never applies. It becomes poor value only once you are processing meaningful member revenue.

How do I cancel or change my Skool plan?

Plan changes are made in your community's billing settings inside Skool. Switching between Hobby and Pro is a plan change rather than a cancellation, so your community, members and content stay in place.