Skool vs Mighty Networks: Which Community Platform Fits a Coach?

Skool vs Mighty Networks comes down to how much structure your coaching community needs. Skool keeps everything in one simple feed with a classroom, a calendar and a leaderboard beside it, while Mighty Networks lets you split your community into Spaces with courses, events, chat and livestreams, and it adds features as you move up its plans. Skool starts at $9 a month and Mighty Networks at $79 a month billed annually (checked October 2026).

That's the short version. This post looks at both from a coach's side of the desk: what each plan includes, what each charges when a member pays you, and what each one still leaves you to set up around it.

Most of the pages comparing these two are affiliate reviews, vendor pages or creator fee math. Every price and feature here comes from Skool's and Mighty Networks' official pricing pages and help centers, and I've said so where I couldn't confirm something.

The Short Answer for Coaches

Here's how I'd call it, based on what your members come for.

• If your program is one group doing one thing together, Skool is the simpler fit. One feed, one classroom, one calendar, and very little to configure.
• If you run several programs, cohorts or tiers, Mighty Networks gives you more room to separate them. Spaces, cohort courses and paid access to individual Spaces are built for that.
• If you want the lowest monthly bill to start, Skool's Hobby plan is $9 a month, but it takes 10% plus $0.30 of every sale. Once members are paying you, the fee matters more than the plan price.
• If you want a branded app with your name on it, that's Mighty Pro, Mighty Networks' custom-priced tier. The standard plans run inside the Mighty Networks app.

If Circle is also on your list, my Skool vs Circle comparison covers that pair, so "Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks" is two reads, not one. And if you're still choosing from the wider field, here's my take on the best community platform for coaches.

What Skool Gives a Coach

Skool is a community platform built around one idea: keep the discussion, the course and the calendar in the same place, and make it easy for members to show up.

What it does well:

• Simple to run. Skool's features page lists a community feed (posts, comments, categories, polls), a Classroom for courses with progress tracking, a Calendar with reminder emails, and chat. There isn't much to set up before you can invite people.
• Live calls built in. Skool Call lets admins go live in the app or the browser, share screens and record calls, and the Calendar can schedule a call on Skool Call, Zoom or Meet. Both plans list unlimited live calls (checked October 2026).
• Gamification. Points, levels and a leaderboard come standard, and you can unlock courses at higher levels. If your community runs on daily participation, that's a real nudge.
• One-click email to members. Skool's email broadcast sends a post to every member by email. There are no lists, tags or segments, by design.

What to watch:

• The fee on Hobby. Hobby is $9 a month, or $7.50 a month billed yearly, with a 10% transaction fee. Pro is $99 a month, or $82 a month billed yearly, with a 2.9% fee (checked October 2026).
• Less structure. One feed with categories suits one program. If you run a free group, a paid program and a mastermind, you'll likely set them up as separate Skool groups.
• Email stays inside the group. The broadcast is built for members. If you want to email people before they join, or send a sequence after a free download, that's another tool.

If you're on Skool now and the feed has gone quiet, the platform is rarely the reason. Here's why a Skool community feels like a ghost town and what tends to fix it.

What Mighty Networks Gives a Coach

Mighty Networks takes the other approach. Instead of one feed, your community is made of Spaces, and each Space can be a discussion, a course, an event series or a chat, with separate access and pricing.

What it does well:

• Structure for several programs. Spaces are unlimited on every plan, and you can charge for access to the whole network or to any single Space. Private groups, cohorts, chat Spaces with threads and online or in-person events are listed on all plans (checked October 2026).
• Courses with more options. On-demand, cohort-based and live courses, quizzes, dripped lessons, native video upload and badges or certificates are listed on every plan.
• Livestreaming. Every plan lists livestream events, with 20 streaming hours a month and 100 viewers per stream on Launch, rising to 30 hours and 200 viewers on Scale, and 40 hours and 1,000 viewers on Growth.
• Your brand on the network. Every plan lists adding your logo, colors and banners, and a custom domain. Members use it on iOS, Android and the web.

What to watch:

• Features are split by plan. Zapier, Kit and Google Analytics integrations, affiliate integrations and charging for one-time events start on Scale. Launch also caps you at 3 hosts and 10 moderators (checked October 2026).
• Stripe fees on top. Mighty Networks' help center says it uses Stripe for web payments, and Stripe's processing fee (typically 2.5% to 5%) comes off as well as the platform's transaction fee. PayPal isn't supported directly.
• App store purchases. Purchases made in the Mighty Networks iOS app go through Apple, which takes 15%. Mighty Networks doesn't add its fee on those, and lets you set a higher iOS price to cover it.
• The free trial runs on the Growth plan, and the help center lists a 5% transaction fee during the Growth trial. If you take payments during the trial, count that.

Prices and Fees Side by Side, Checked October 2026

Here are the plans most coaches would look at. All prices are USD, before tax, from each platform's official pricing page, with fees from each platform's help center (checked October 2026).

A few things the table doesn't show.

Skool's fee covers card processing. Its help center says payments run through Skool's merchant account, with payouts sent to your bank through Stripe Express, so there's no separate Stripe bill. On Pro, a single charge above $900 is 3.9% plus $0.30 instead of 2.9%.

Mighty Networks' fee is just the platform's cut. Stripe takes its processing fee as well, from your connected Stripe account. Launch billed annually is $950 a year, and Mighty Pro, the tier with branded apps, is quoted on request.

One thing to watch on the Mighty Networks pricing page: it opens on annual billing, so the per-month figures you see at the top are the annual rates. Switch the toggle to monthly billing before you compare.

Courses, Live Calls and Events on Each

This is where a coaching program actually runs, so here's how each handles the weekly work.

Courses. Skool's Classroom holds courses, pages, videos and resources, with searchable transcripts and progress tracking, one tab away from the feed. Mighty Networks treats a course as a Space of its kind, with options for cohorts, live courses, quizzes and drip schedules. If your program is one course and a group, Skool is plenty. If you run cohorts that start on set dates, Mighty Networks has more of that built in.

Live calls. Skool Call is included on both Skool plans, with screen sharing and recording, and recordings are available to download for 14 days after the call. Mighty Networks lists livestream events on every plan, with streaming hours and viewer caps that rise by plan, plus a Zoom integration on all plans.

Events. Skool's Calendar shows events in each member's local time zone and sends reminder emails, and events can repeat daily, weekly or monthly. Mighty Networks lists online and in-person events on every plan, and charging for a one-time event from Scale up.

Your members never see your plan. They see whether the call link works and where to find the next lesson.

Engagement. Both have points and leaderboards. Skool makes them central, with levels that can unlock courses. Mighty Networks lists streaks, badges, points and leaderboards on every plan, with advanced leaderboards on Growth.

What You Will Still Add On With Each One

Here's the part most comparisons skip. Neither of these is the whole coaching business. Both are the room where your members meet, and the rest of the business usually lives somewhere else.

With either one, most coaches still add:

• A website. Skool groups live on Skool, with an About page and a custom group URL on Skool. Mighty Networks gives you customizable landing pages (1 on Launch and Scale, 3 on Growth) and a custom domain, but not a full website.
• Email marketing. Skool's broadcast reaches members, not leads. Mighty Networks connects to Kit from Scale up. Either way, emailing leads before they join usually means a separate email tool.
• Booking for 1:1 calls. Neither pricing page lists a booking calendar for discovery calls or private sessions, so that's typically a scheduling tool.
• Checkout for anything outside the community. Both handle payments for access to the community. A separate offer, like a done-for-you package, often goes through another checkout.

That's four or five tools before you add anything fancy. None of them is a bad choice by itself. The quiet cost is that you become the glue between them: the person copying a new member from one list to another and checking that each login still works.

For my business, I build on ESTAGE, a business hub where the website, community, courses and CRM sit together in one place under your brand. I'm an ESTAGE Founding Ambassador and earn a commission if you sign up through my links. ESTAGE is in its invitation phase, and it won't suit everyone. If you'd like the plain-language version, here's what ESTAGE is, and I've also put it side by side in ESTAGE vs Skool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Skool or Mighty Networks better for coaches?

It depends on how your program is shaped. Skool suits a coach running one community with a course and regular calls, because everything sits in one simple feed. Mighty Networks suits a coach running several programs, cohorts or paid tiers, because Spaces let you separate them and price each one. Neither is better across the board.

Is Mighty Networks cheaper than Skool?

Not against Skool Hobby, which is $9 a month. Against Skool Pro it's close: Pro is $99 a month, or $82 billed yearly, while Mighty Networks Launch is $95 a month, or $79 a month billed annually (checked October 2026). Fees change the math once members pay you: Skool takes 10% or 2.9% plus $0.30 per sale, while Mighty Networks takes 2% on Launch plus Stripe's processing fee.

Does Skool or Mighty Networks charge transaction fees?

Both do. Skool charges 10% plus $0.30 on Hobby and 2.9% plus $0.30 on Pro, with card processing included (3.9% plus $0.30 on Pro for charges above $900). Mighty Networks charges 2% on Launch, 1% on Scale and 0.5% on Growth, and Stripe's processing fee comes on top (checked October 2026).

Can I run coaching calls and courses on Skool?

Yes. Skool's Classroom holds your courses with progress tracking, and Skool Call lets you go live in the app or browser, share your screen and record the call. You can also schedule calls on Zoom or Meet from the Calendar. What Skool doesn't list is a booking calendar for 1:1 sessions, so private calls usually need a scheduling tool.

Does Mighty Networks have a branded app?

Yes, on Mighty Pro, its custom-priced tier. On the Launch, Scale and Growth plans your members use the Mighty Networks app on iOS and Android, or the web, with your logo, colors and banners inside it (checked October 2026). If a branded app matters to you, ask Mighty Networks for a Mighty Pro quote.

Can I move my community from Skool to Mighty Networks?

Yes, but plan for a hands-on move. You'll rebuild your courses and Spaces in Mighty Networks, invite members across, and set up paid memberships again in your connected Stripe account, since Skool processes payments on its merchant account. Mighty Networks lists migration services on its Growth plan. If you're also weighing Mighty Networks alternatives, my community platform round-up linked above covers them.

Join The Community

Picking a community platform is easier when you can talk it through with coaches who've weighed the same trade-offs. That's what the HubSteady Community is for: comparing setups, checking the real costs, and working out how to stop being the glue between your tools. Bring your shortlist and your questions, and we'll work through them together.

If that sounds useful, Join The Community.