Skool Hobby vs Pro: Pricing, Transaction Fees, and When Pro Costs Less

By Ryo KitamuraPublished 22 August 2026Updated 18 September 2026Pricing verified 21 August 2026How this was researched

Does Skool charge transaction fees as well as a subscription?

Yes. Skool charges a plan subscription plus a transaction fee on payments processed through Skool. Hobby is $9.00 a month with a modeled transaction rate of 10.0% + $0.30. Pro is $99.00 a month with a modeled transaction rate of 2.9% + $0.30.

Skool’s published schedule has a higher Pro tier for a single transaction above $900; this threshold is per transaction, not monthly revenue, and the modeled member charge of $50/member/month does not trigger it.

In the standard-member scenario used below, Hobby is the lower modeled-cost option below $1,268 per month, while Pro is lower above it. That is a calculation under stated conditions, not a universal upgrade rule.

Hobby vs Pro: what you pay on each plan

The answer is $1,268 per month in the standard-member scenario. Below it, Hobby has the lower modeled cost; above it, Pro has the lower modeled cost.

Skool markets annual billing as two months free. Source: Skool pricing; the verification date is shown with this article.

The published comparison does not show a member cap or course cap between the tiers. For this cost model, the material difference is the subscription amount and the transaction-fee schedule; confirm current plan terms before switching.

At the 6 September 2026 check, the official page showed the Pro annual option as a whole-dollar monthly display while also saying “two months free”. This article uses the monthly equivalent derived from that wording; the total annual payment was not verified.

In this article’s standard-member scenario, Skool’s published Pro rate is 2.9% + $0.30, matching the standard US online card rate of 2.9% + $0.30. Skool’s analytics definitions explicitly state that fees collected by Skool cover payment processing, so the fee is all-in rather than stacked on top of a separate processor. Skool’s published schedule still moves a single transaction above $900 to a higher tier; this is a per-transaction condition, not a monthly-revenue tier, and the modeled member charge of $50/member/month does not trigger it.

Do Hobby and Pro include the same plugins?

No. Skool’s plugin guide lists membership questions for both Hobby and Pro, but labels AutoDM, onboarding video, and Zapier integration as Pro-plan plugins. These are examples of plan differences, not a complete feature inventory. Source checked on 18 September 2026 by static web retrieval; this was a documentation check, not a hands-on product test.

If your community needs those onboarding or integration tools, check their current plan requirements before choosing Hobby on cost alone. The crossover below answers when Pro has a lower modeled cost; it does not tell you whether Hobby includes the workflow you need.

The crossover

Set the two plans equal: Hobby’s monthly subscription is $9.00 with a modeled transaction rate of 10.0% + $0.30, while Pro’s is $99.00 with a modeled transaction rate of 2.9% + $0.30. This puts the monthly crossover at $1,268.

Below that point, Hobby’s lower subscription wins. Above it, Pro’s lower modeled transaction cost wins. At the standard-member scenario’s near-line member count, you are almost exactly on the line.

On annual billing the line moves

Annual billing gives you two months free on both plans, so the subscriptions become $7.50 and $82.50 while the modeled transaction rates remain 10.0% + $0.30 and 2.9% + $0.30. The annual-billing crossover is $1,056 per month.

If you are billed annually, use $1,056. If monthly, use $1,268.

What it costs at each level

Monthly revenue against total monthly cost, assuming the standard member price and one transaction per member per month:

For annual billing, the subscriptions are $7.50 / $82.50 instead of the monthly rates ($9.00 / $99.00).

At the revenue level represented by 500 in the table, Pro costs $117, while Hobby costs $62. Pro is more expensive by $55 at that level.

At the highest revenue level in the table, choosing the wrong plan costs $7,440 a year.

The take rate view

The share of revenue that never reaches you is the subscription plus the transaction cost divided by revenue. The nominal modeled transaction rates are 10.0% + $0.30 for Hobby and 2.9% + $0.30 for Pro; the total share changes with revenue because the subscription is spread across the member base.

Hobby’s take rate is almost flat — it converges on its modeled transaction rate because the percentage fee dominates and the subscription is a rounding error. Pro’s take rate keeps falling. That is the whole argument for it: as revenue grows, the Pro subscription is spread across a larger base while its modeled transaction rate stays lower.

At the smallest revenue level in the table, Pro’s total cost is $108, which is why its effective share is high at small volume. At the highest revenue level, the total cost is $449 and the subscription is a much smaller part of the total.

Three things people get wrong

“Hobby’s transaction rate sounds high, so I should start on Pro.” At the lowest modeled revenue level, Pro’s cost is $108, while Hobby’s is $36. The percentage rate alone does not determine the cheaper plan; the subscription cost matters too.

“I’ll upgrade when I feel ready.” Check your last month’s revenue against $1,268 under the same billing and payment assumptions. A result above that point indicates a lower modeled cost for Pro; it does not account for every account-specific condition.

“The fee only applies to new payments.” It applies to payments processed through Skool. If you are billing members outside the platform, neither modeled transaction fee applies and the comparison becomes $9.00 versus $99.00. Check the current account terms for your payment flow.

Which one should you pick

First check whether either plan meets your required features. The cost-based choices below assume you do not need a Pro-only plugin; if you do, weigh that requirement separately from the revenue crossover.

If you are comparing Skool with Circle, see Skool vs Circle. For the broader distinction between platform fees and payment-processing costs, see Community Platform Transaction Fees.

Methodology

• Figures from Skool’s pricing page and Skool Payments FAQs. The verification date is shown with this article.
• Scenarios assume the standard member price, one transaction per member per month.
• A 2.9% + $0.30 per-transaction fee is included in the cost table on both plans, reflecting standard card processing. It applies equally to both plans and does not move the crossover.
• Skool’s fee is treated as inclusive of payment processing, following Skool’s published analytics definitions. Skool’s published Pro schedule is tiered: the standard-member scenario uses 2.9% + $0.30, while a single transaction above $900 uses a higher tier; this is a per-transaction threshold, not a monthly-revenue threshold, and the modeled member charge of $50/member/month does not trigger it. Verify against your own account.

Pricing changes without notice. We re-verify quarterly.

Correction history

• 18 September 2026: Corrected the summary’s implication that Pro has no additional feature gates. Skool’s plugin guide identifies Pro-plan onboarding and integration tools, so the cost crossover is now explicitly separate from feature requirements.

• 6 September 2026: The official pricing page was rechecked: its Pro annual display is a whole-dollar monthly amount while the page also says “two months free”. This article retains the annual monthly equivalent derived from that wording; the total annual payment was not verified. No adopted numeric value changed in this check.