Skool is a platform for running an online group. One group holds a discussion feed, a classroom for courses, a calendar for live events and a member list. You can keep the group free or charge a monthly, yearly or one-time price to join.

It concerns coaches, educators, consultants and creators who want to sell access to a group rather than a single file. If your offer is "join us, learn together and get my feedback every week", Skool is one of the tools you are likely to compare.

What is Skool?

Skool is a hosted community platform. You create a group, and members log in to it on Skool's site. Everything happens inside that group:

  • Community: a feed of posts organized by categories, with comments, likes, rules and moderation.
  • Classroom: courses made of modules and lessons, with unlock rules so some content opens later or only for certain plans.
  • Calendar: scheduled events and live calls.
  • Leaderboards: members earn points and levels when others like their posts, and you can unlock content at a given level.
  • Discovery: a public directory where people browse groups by category.
  • Payments and affiliates: paid access, payouts to your bank account, and referral links so members can earn by bringing others in.

Skool is not a store builder. It does not sell physical products, and it is not built to host a branded storefront with a cart. It is also not a full website builder. Your group lives on Skool, under Skool's design, with a custom URL for the group.

In practice, Skool is often used as a membership site: members pay a recurring fee to stay inside. The courses in the classroom are part of what they pay for, next to the community and the calls.

Why it matters

Creators look at Skool because it replaces a stack of tools. Before tools like it, a paid group often meant a chat app, a separate course host, a calendar link and a payment page. Skool puts these in one place, which lowers setup time and gives members one login.

The pricing model shapes your margin. At the time of writing (September 2026), Skool's pricing page lists two plans: Hobby at $9 per month with a 10% transaction fee, and Pro at $99 per month with a 2.9% transaction fee. Both list unlimited members, courses, videos and live calls, a custom URL and affiliates, with a 14-day free trial. Skool's payments FAQ adds a 30-cent charge per transaction, and a 3.9% rate on Pro for transactions above $900. Prices for members are set in US dollars.

A worked example with a coaching group at $49 a month:

  • 40 members bring $1,960 a month. On Hobby, the percentage fee is $196 plus 40 × $0.30, so about $208, plus the $9 plan. Total about $217.
  • 40 members on Pro: 2.9% is about $57, plus $12 in fixed fees and the $99 plan. Total about $168.
  • 10 members bring $490. Hobby costs about $61 in total. Pro costs about $116.

The switch point sits somewhere around 25 to 30 paying members at that price. Small groups fit Hobby. Once the group grows, Pro costs less.

How it works

A typical launch on Skool looks like this:

  • Create the group. Pick a name, a cover, a description and a custom URL. Start the 14-day trial.
  • Set up payouts. Skool connects your bank account through Stripe Express. Payouts go out weekly in your local currency, after an initial delay on the first one.
  • Choose a pricing model. Free, a paid subscription (monthly or annual, with an optional 7-day free trial for members), freemium with one free and one paid plan, or tiers with several paid plans. You can also sell a course inside the group as a one-time purchase.
  • Build the classroom. Upload video lessons, group them in modules, and set which plan or level unlocks each course.
  • Plan the calendar. Add weekly calls, office hours or workshops.
  • Onboard members. Membership questions let you screen people before they join. An auto DM plugin can greet new members.
  • Keep the feed active. Post prompts, answer questions and let the leaderboard reward people who help others.

The daily work is not technical. It is community work: posting, replying and running calls.

Benchmarks and examples

A few common setups on Skool:

  • A fitness coach with 4,000 Instagram followers runs a $29 a month group with a training course, a weekly Q&A call and a check-in thread.
  • A business educator uses a freemium group: free members get a starter course and the feed, paid members at $99 a month get the full classroom and live calls.
  • A software trainer runs a free group as a lead source, then sells an advanced online course inside it as a one-time purchase.
  • A hobby teacher charges a yearly price for a group with lessons and a monthly live session.

Realistic numbers for a first paid group: a creator with a warm audience of a few thousand people often starts with 20 to 100 paying members. Monthly churn of 5% to 10% is common for groups where members get a quick result and leave. The leaderboard and calls help retention, but content and your presence matter more.

Common mistakes

  • Launching an empty group. New members see no posts and leave. Seed the feed with 10 to 15 useful posts before you open the doors.
  • Choosing the plan on hope. Compare Hobby and Pro on your real member count and price, including the 30-cent fixed fee.
  • Counting on Discovery for growth. The directory can help, but most paying members still come from your own audience.
  • Forgetting that you do not own the space. The group sits on Skool's platform and design. Export and keep your members' contact details where the platform allows it.
  • Promising more calls than you can run. A weekly call is a real commitment. Missed calls hurt retention fast.

Best practices

  • Define one clear outcome. "Land your first client in 60 days" sells better than "a community about freelancing".
  • Use a free trial or a freemium plan. Let people see the value before they pay, then invite them to upgrade.
  • Tie courses to levels. Unlock a bonus lesson at level 3 so members have a reason to take part.
  • Schedule your calendar a month ahead. Members plan around your events.
  • Turn on member affiliates carefully. Referral rewards work best once the group already delivers value.
  • Watch churn every month. Ask people who cancel why they left and fix the first reason.

In Roctify

Roctify and Skool solve different problems. Skool is built around a paid group with a feed, a classroom and live calls. Communities and recurring memberships are on the Roctify roadmap, not shipped today. If a recurring paid group is your main product, Skool does something Roctify does not.

What Roctify does today is sell: a link-in-bio page with built-in checkout and a full online store on one catalog, with 0% transaction fees on every plan. You can sell a course or a coaching package as a digital product delivered automatically after payment, email your buyers with the built-in email marketing (Creator plan and up) and run discount codes. Some creators pair the two: the group lives on a community tool, and products, templates and merch sell from their own store.

FAQ

How much does Skool cost?

At the time of writing (September 2026), Skool lists a Hobby plan at $9 per month with a 10% transaction fee and a Pro plan at $99 per month with a 2.9% transaction fee. Its payments FAQ adds 30 cents per transaction. A 14-day free trial is available.

Can I sell a course on Skool without a community?

Skool is built around groups, so a course lives inside a group's classroom. You can sell a course as a one-time purchase inside a group. If you only want to sell a standalone course, a store or course tool may be a simpler fit.

Do members pay in their own currency?

Skool's payments FAQ says membership prices are in US dollars and members pay in dollars. Your payouts arrive in your local currency.