Skool vs Mighty Networks: the leaderboard or the branded app?

Skool has two plans. Hobby is $9 a month with a 10% transaction fee plus $0.30 per sale. Pro is $99 a month with 2.9% plus $0.30 per transaction, which is card processing; any individual sale above $899 is charged 3.9% instead, a 1% platform fee on that one sale.

Mighty Networks has four plans. Launch is $79 a month with a 2% transaction fee, Scale is $179 a month with 1%, Growth runs $354 to $425 a month with 0.5%, and Mighty Pro is custom-priced at 0.5%. None of those percentages has a monthly cap, and card processing is charged on top.

The structural difference is simple. Skool Pro charges you for the seat and stays flat. Mighty Networks charges you for the seat and for every dollar you sell.

Assume $40 monthly memberships, so no sale is above $899, and leave card processing aside because both platforms pass it through. At $1,000 a month, Skool Hobby costs $9 plus $100 plus about $8 in per-sale charges, about $117; Skool Pro costs $99; Mighty Networks Launch costs $79 plus $20, or $99. At $5,000 a month, Skool Pro is still $99 and Mighty Launch is $79 plus $100, or $179. At $20,000 a month, Skool Pro is $99, Mighty Scale is $179 plus $200, or $379, and Mighty Launch would be $479. Math example, not a customer outcome.

The rule to screenshot: Skool Hobby is cheaper than Skool Pro only below about $1,270 a month in sales. Skool Pro and Mighty Launch cost the same at $1,000 a month, and every dollar above that widens the gap in Skool's favor. Over a year at $20,000 a month, the difference between Skool Pro and Mighty Scale is about $3,360. Math example, not a customer outcome.

One exception: if you sell high-ticket programs, Skool's extra 1% on sales above $899 applies to each of them. A $1,500 program costs $15 more on Skool Pro than the processing alone, which is still less than Mighty Launch's 2%, or $30. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Skool is built around one feed, one classroom and one calendar, with points, levels and a leaderboard on every community page. Members earn points when others like their posts, rise through levels, and can be given access to content at a given level. That loop turns lurkers into contributors, and it is the clearest reason creators choose Skool. The minimal design is part of the appeal: there is almost nothing for a new member to learn.

Mighty Networks puts its weight elsewhere. Its strength is the branded mobile app and the feeling that your community is a place with its own identity, not a page inside someone else's product. Members get an icon on their home screen and a community that feels like a destination. Before you budget for it, confirm which plan includes an app in your own name, because that is the line item most often misjudged. Mighty Networks also has engagement features of its own, but if a leaderboard is how you keep people active, Skool's is the stronger and better-known system.

Skool's classroom is modules and lessons, gated by purchase or by level, with no native quizzes and no certificates. It is fine for lessons that feed discussion and wrong for anything assessed.

Mighty Networks includes courses inside the community, which suits programs where learning and conversation happen side by side. Check its current documentation for quiz types and certificates before you plan a graded program, because neither platform is a full learning management system (LMS, software built to deliver, assess and track courses). Creators selling certified training usually pair either one with an LMS such as Thinkific or Teachable.

Skool's calendar lists events in each member's timezone with a link to join, and that is the extent of it: no RSVPs, no ticketing, no reminder system. Skool communities typically run calls on Zoom and post the link.

Mighty Networks runs events and live sessions inside the community, and its app makes them easy to join from a phone. If live sessions are a weekly part of what members pay for, Mighty Networks is the more complete choice. If they are an occasional extra, Skool's calendar plus a Zoom link does the job.

Both platforms sell paid memberships through their own checkout, and both are simple to set up. The difference is the bill as you grow: Skool Pro's platform line is the same at 50 members as at 5,000, while Mighty Networks grows with revenue until you move up a tier. On Mighty Networks, the move from Launch to Scale pays for itself above about $10,000 a month in sales. Math example, not a customer outcome.

Both have an audience angle too. Skool's creator community means many buyers already have a Skool account. Mighty Networks' app means your community lives on members' phones. Neither is a reason on its own, but both are real.

Pick Skool if your community is one conversation, engagement is the product, you run calls on Zoom anyway, and you want the lowest platform bill at scale. It suits coaches and creators selling one membership.

Pick Mighty Networks if your members are on their phones, you want a branded place with courses and events built in, and you value that identity more than a flat fee. It suits creators building a community around a shared identity or practice.

HiveLearn is for the creator who wants Skool-style engagement plus a real LMS and events. Courses, community, events and payments sit in one place: points, 12 levels, leaderboards and badges; quizzes with six question types and certificates with a public verification page; events with RSVPs, paid tickets, QR check-in and reminders, plus live streaming via Zoom. It works on phones and installs as an app from the browser, but it is not a branded app in the stores, so if that is the priority, Mighty Networks is the better fit.

Starter is $0 a month with a 6% revenue share, so there is no monthly fee until you monetize. Growth is $39 a month with 4%, rev share capped at $2,000/month. Pro is $99 with 2%, rev share capped at $3,000/month. Stripe processing (2.9% + $0.30) is always on top. At $20,000 a month, Pro costs $99 plus $400, or $499, which is more than Skool Pro's $99 and Mighty Scale's $379, so HiveLearn wins on features at that size, not on price. Math example, not a customer outcome. Growth, Pro and Scale include a 14-day free trial, no credit card.