Table of Contents
- The two plans, side by side
- The crossover math
- When Hobby is the right call
- 1. You're pre-launch or in your first 90 days
- 2. You're running a free community
- 3. Your community revenue is consistently under $900/month
- 4. You want to test pricing or a new offer
- When Pro is the right call
- 1. You're consistently above $1,000/month
- 2. You run multiple Skool communities
- 3. You want a custom domain
- 4. You want to use Skool's affiliate program
- 5. You need advanced analytics
- A common mistake: upgrading too early
- A common mistake: staying on Hobby too long
- Plan-switching: how it actually works
- A 90-day playbook for new community owners
- What about the 14-day free trial?
- Verdict
- FAQ
- Want more tools, tactics, and leverage?
Do not index
Markdown Draft
If you're about to start a Skool community in 2026, the very first decision you'll have to make is which plan to pick — Hobby ($9/month + 10% of revenue) or Pro ($99/month flat). Most people overthink this. The right answer almost always comes down to one number: how much monthly revenue you expect inside your first 90 days.
I've started Skool communities on both plans and watched dozens of others do the same. The short version: if you're under $1,000/month in community revenue, Hobby wins. If you're consistently above it, Pro wins. The crossover is around $990/month, and we'll work through the math below.
If you're ready to skip the deliberation and just launch, you can start your Skool community on either plan here and switch tiers any time as your numbers change.
The two plans, side by side
Skool's pricing is unusually simple for a SaaS product — two plans, no add-ons, no hidden seats.
Feature | Hobby ($9/mo) | Pro ($99/mo) |
Monthly fee | $9 | $99 |
Revenue share | 10% of community revenue | 0% |
Community limit | 1 community | Multiple communities |
Members | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Free or paid memberships | Both | Both |
Native course hosting | Yes | Yes |
Skool Call (live calls) | Yes | Yes |
Gamification + leaderboards | Yes | Yes |
Custom domain | No | Yes |
Affiliate / referral program | No | Yes |
Advanced analytics | Limited | Full |
Multiple admins | Yes | Yes |
Skool Discovery placement | Yes | Yes |
Both plans get the core platform: communities, courses, gamification, calls, and member management. Hobby exists to remove the upfront commitment for new community owners; Pro exists for owners who've outgrown the rev share or want the extras.
The crossover math
The single most useful piece of information when picking a plan is where Hobby starts costing more than Pro. Here's the math.
On Hobby, you pay $9 + 10% of monthly revenue.
On Pro, you pay $99 flat.
Set them equal:
$9 + 10% × revenue = $99
10% × revenue = $90
revenue = $900/month
Above $900/month in community revenue, Pro is cheaper. Below it, Hobby is.
Add Skool's payment processing fee (2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, on both plans) and the practical break-even rises slightly to around $990–$1,000 per month of recurring revenue.
Monthly revenue | Hobby cost | Pro cost | Cheaper plan |
$200 | $29 | $99 | Hobby (saves $70) |
$500 | $59 | $99 | Hobby (saves $40) |
$900 | $99 | $99 | Tied |
$1,500 | $159 | $99 | Pro (saves $60) |
$3,000 | $309 | $99 | Pro (saves $210) |
$10,000 | $1,009 | $99 | Pro (saves $910) |
A reasonable rule of thumb: under 30 paid members at $20/month, stick with Hobby. Above that, move to Pro the same day.
When Hobby is the right call
Hobby is the right plan if any of these apply.
1. You're pre-launch or in your first 90 days
The biggest mistake new community owners make is committing to $99/month before they have a single paying member. That puts pressure on you to launch fast and creates resentment when growth is slow.
Hobby gives you a year of runway for $108. Use it to build your community, write your content, run your first cohort, and only switch to Pro once you've got the revenue to justify it.
2. You're running a free community
Free communities still benefit from being on Skool — discovery, gamification, course hosting — but obviously generate $0 directly. The 10% rev share on $0 is $0, so Hobby is mathematically the right call.
The only reason to upgrade to Pro for a free community is if you want a custom domain or the affiliate program, both of which we'll come back to.
3. Your community revenue is consistently under $900/month
If you're a coach with 20 paid members at $30/month ($600/month), Hobby costs you $69 vs Pro's $99. That's $30/month — call it a date night.
Don't upgrade prematurely. If your numbers fluctuate around the threshold, the rev share keeps your costs predictable: when you have a slow month, your platform bill drops with it.
4. You want to test pricing or a new offer
If you're experimenting with a freemium tier, a flash sale, or a new offer at a different price point, Hobby's variable cost protects you. Pro charges $99 even if your test month yields nothing.
Start on Hobby here — you can always upgrade once your numbers stabilise.
When Pro is the right call
Pro is the right plan in these scenarios.
1. You're consistently above $1,000/month
This is the obvious one. Once you're past the crossover, every dollar of revenue that's not on Pro is leaving money on the table. Switch the same day you hit it.
2. You run multiple Skool communities
Pro is the only plan that lets you run more than one community on a single account. If you've got a free community as a top-of-funnel and a paid community as your offer — or you're managing client communities — Pro pays for itself even at low revenue.
3. You want a custom domain
Pro lets you point a custom domain like community.yourbusiness.com at your Skool. For most one-person creators this is a nice-to-have. For agencies, B2B brands, or anyone running an established business with brand standards, it's table stakes.
4. You want to use Skool's affiliate program
Pro plans get access to Skool's built-in affiliate and referral system, which lets your members earn commission for inviting paid members. This compounds growth and is one of the more underrated features of the Pro plan.
If your community is referral-friendly (a coaching program, a niche professional space, a creator audience) the affiliate system can pay for several months of Pro on its own.
5. You need advanced analytics
Pro unlocks deeper member analytics — lifetime value, retention curves, engagement scoring. For a hobby community this is overkill. For someone running a business, it's the dashboard you actually plan from.
A common mistake: upgrading too early
The single most common error I see new Skool community owners make is starting on Pro because $99/month feels like commitment, and commitment feels like seriousness.
It's not. It's just $99/month going to Skool that you could be putting into ads, content, or savings.
If you're not yet generating $1,000/month from your community, Pro is genuinely worse for you. Don't upgrade until the math says so. The platform is identical apart from the extras above — your members can't tell which plan you're on.
A common mistake: staying on Hobby too long
The opposite mistake is also common. People hit $1,500/month, then $2,000/month, then $3,000/month, and forget to switch.
At $3,000/month you're paying $309 on Hobby vs $99 on Pro. That's $210/month — over $2,500/year — that you could be keeping or reinvesting. The fix takes 30 seconds inside Skool's billing settings. Just check your numbers each month and flip the switch when the math demands it.
Plan-switching: how it actually works
You can move between Hobby and Pro at any time. It takes effect immediately. Your community, courses, members, and content stay exactly where they are. There's no migration, no data export, no broken links.
The only thing that changes is which plan Skool bills you for next, and whether you keep the Pro-only features (custom domain, affiliate program) if you downgrade.
This makes the choice low-stakes. You're not committing for a year — you're committing for a month, and you can revise as your numbers move.
A 90-day playbook for new community owners
If you're starting from scratch, here's the simplest decision tree.
Days 1–30: Start on Hobby. Set up your community, build your initial content, invite your first wave of members. Don't even look at Pro.
Days 31–60: Track your monthly recurring revenue. If it's under $500, stay on Hobby and focus on growth.
Days 61–90: If you've crossed $900/month consistently for two months, upgrade to Pro. If not, stay on Hobby — there's no penalty for waiting.
Day 90+: Reassess monthly. The day your revenue clears the crossover, switch.
What about the 14-day free trial?
Skool gives both plans a 14-day free trial. It's the simplest way to test the platform without committing.
A few practical notes:
- The trial covers the full feature set of whichever plan you start on
- You can switch plans during the trial without resetting it
- You won't be charged until day 15
- If you cancel inside 14 days, no charge
I'd suggest starting the trial on Hobby unless you specifically want to test Pro features (custom domain, affiliate program). Hobby covers 95% of what you need to evaluate the platform.
Verdict
Hobby is the correct starting point for almost everyone. It exists exactly because Skool understood that asking new community owners for $99/month before they had any revenue was a barrier.
Pro is the correct upgrade once your monthly community revenue passes ~$1,000. The math is unambiguous, the switch takes 30 seconds, and the extras (custom domain, affiliate program, multi-community, full analytics) start mattering at the same scale.
If you're stuck deciding right now, here's the rule of thumb: if you're not sure, you're on Hobby. Doubt is a Hobby signal. Pro becomes obvious — usually because you've stared at the numbers for a few weeks and the crossover stops being theoretical.
Either way, the platform is the same. You can switch any time. The cost of starting on the wrong plan is a few dollars; the cost of waiting forever to start is everything.
FAQ
Can I switch from Hobby to Pro mid-month?
Yes. Plan changes take effect immediately and Skool prorates the bill. You won't pay double or lose access to your content.
Is the 10% Hobby rev share applied before or after Skool's payment processing fee?
Hobby's 10% applies to gross community revenue. Skool's payment processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) is applied on top of that, just like Pro. So at small scale, your effective platform cost on Hobby is around 12.9% + $9.
Can I run more than one community on Hobby?
No — Hobby is one community per account. If you want two or more, you need Pro.
Does Hobby restrict member count or features?
No. Both plans support unlimited members, courses, posts, and Skool Call sessions. The differences are entirely the rev share, custom domain, affiliate program, multi-community, and depth of analytics.
What if I run a free community on Hobby?
You pay $9/month flat — no rev share kicks in because there's no revenue. Free communities are essentially $108/year on Hobby and almost always the right call until you turn on monetisation.
Can I use Skool's affiliate program on Hobby?
No, Skool's built-in affiliate program is Pro-only. If your growth strategy depends on member referrals, that's reason enough to start on Pro — or to keep Hobby until you're ready to flip the switch.
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