Cheap community platforms

Cheap community platforms: six paid plans at $100 a month or less

The cheap community platforms compared here are six plans at $100 a month or less, and the cheapest is Skool Hobby at $9 a month, billed monthly. Heartbeat Build, Mighty Networks Launch, Skool Pro, Circle Professional and Discourse Pro follow, lowest first.

Launch, the entry plan at Mighty Networks, costs $95 a month, billed monthly, or $79 a month, billed annually ($950 a year), as read on 4 October 2026. These affordable community platforms quote prices on different billing bases: Circle shows annual-billing prices only, so its $89 a month sits beside the annual rates, and Discourse Pro shows a monthly price only.

Six plans sorted by price, with the main limit and the next plan up

Rows run from the lowest price each plan shows to the highest, and every price carries the billing basis its vendor shows.

The next plan up is what a cheap plan costs once its limit is reached. Heartbeat Build stops at 350 members, and the step after it is Grow at $149 a month, billed monthly. Mighty Networks Launch has no member cap to reach.

Kajabi Basic at $179 a month, billed monthly, Bettermode Starter at $199 a month, billed monthly, and Hivebrite from $895 a month, billed annually, sit above the $100 line and have no row.

What a low price costs once members pay

Skool, Heartbeat, Mighty Networks and Circle each state a cut of member payments, on top of the monthly price:

• Skool Hobby: 10% plus 30 cents a transaction, with card processing included.
• Skool Pro: 2.9% plus 30 cents a transaction, or 3.9% above $900, with card processing included.
• Heartbeat Build: a 5% fee, with Stripe card processing on top.
• Mighty Networks Launch: a 2% transaction fee, with Stripe card processing on top.
• Circle Professional: a 2% transaction fee, with Stripe card processing on top.

Skool is the merchant on its plans, and its fee includes card processing. Totals on a sales figure, with break-even points, are on best community platforms for creators.

Which cheap plan to pick, and when free is the better answer

• Skool Hobby for a group that charges nothing or sells little, where a 10% fee stays small.
• Heartbeat Build for a group of up to 350 members.
• Mighty Networks Launch for a community that will charge members and expects to grow: it has unlimited members, unlimited Spaces (sections of the community, each with its own members and privacy setting) and a 2% transaction fee. It is not the lowest price here and has no free plan on its pricing page; Mighty Networks pricing lists every plan.
• Skool Pro for a paid group that wants card processing inside one fee.
• Circle Professional for a community that fits 20 spaces and can pay annually.
• Discourse for a forum, starting with its free hosted plan before Pro.

Mighty Networks, Heartbeat and Circle each run a 14-day trial with no credit card, so a low-priced plan can be judged before the first bill. A group with no budget at all starts on Discourse's free hosted plan: unlimited members, 2 staff seats, 10 categories and 5 GB. Best free community platforms lists the rest.