Skool is free to join, not free to run. Joining a free community costs nothing and needs no card: 223 of the 1,000 groups on Skool’s public trending list (22.3%) are free to enter, per my July 2026 pull. Creating a community is the paid side: $9/mo (Hobby) or $99/mo (Pro) after a 14-day free trial.
- Free as a member: browse Discovery, join free groups, post, and take their courses. No card.
- Paid groups: the median paid community charges $27/mo, and many offer free trial tiers ("Start Free").
- Free as a creator: only the 14-day trial. A card goes in on day one and bills on day 15.
- The free-group model: free communities are usually funnels into a paid offer behind them.
One nuance worth knowing: there is no permanent free creator tier and no nonprofit pricing. The $9 Hobby plan with its 10% + 30c transaction fee is the real floor.
The plan-by-plan numbers live in the Skool pricing breakdown, and how the Skool free trial works covers the cancel-before-day-15 mechanics.