Skool gets about twice the US search interest of Whop, and the two come up together constantly when someone is about to launch a paid community. They solve the same core problem in different ways. Skool is a single, opinionated community product. Whop is a payments and membership platform where the community is built from apps. Here is how they compare on the things that change your income.
The short version
- Pick Skool if you want one simple community layout with built-in gamification, you are happy with Skool's design, and you like that Skool handles EU VAT as merchant of record.
- Pick Whop if you want lower fees with no monthly plan, want to sell more than one kind of product (community plus software, Discord access, coaching), or want to add your own checkout, upsells and funnels.
Pricing and fees
Skool has two plans. Whop has no plan fee.
| Skool Hobby | Skool Pro | Whop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | $9 | $99 | $0 |
| Transaction fee | 10% + $0.30 | 2.9% + $0.30 (3.9% + $0.30 above $900) | 2.7% + $0.30 domestic card |
| International cards | Included | Included | +1.5% |
| Marketplace cut | 30% on customers from Growth Boost | 30% on customers from Growth Boost | 0% on Discover |
Skool's rates include international cards. Whop adds 1.5% for international cards and 1% for currency conversion, so if most of your members are outside your country, the gap narrows.
Worked example: $49 a month, 200 members, US cards
- Skool Hobby: 200 × ($4.90 + $0.30) + $9 = $1,049 a month
- Skool Pro: 200 × ($1.42 + $0.30) + $99 = $443 a month
- Whop: 200 × ($1.32 + $0.30) = $325 a month
- Whop with the optional billing add-on (0.5%): $374 a month
Worked example: $49 a month, 40 members
- Skool Hobby: $217
- Skool Pro: $168
- Whop: $65
Skool's own help center makes the Hobby versus Pro trade-off clear: Hobby is cheaper only at low revenue. Whop's per-transaction model means small communities pay the least in absolute terms.
Add one-click upsells to your Whop
Install OneClick Upsell from the Whop App Store and offer a post-purchase upsell in a few minutes.
Discovery and affiliates
Both platforms can send you buyers, and both charge for it differently.
- Skool Growth Boost puts your group in search results and runs ads. It is on by default, and Skool takes a 30% commission on recurring charges from members it brings in, for as long as they stay subscribed.
- Whop Discover lists your whop in the marketplace. Whop dropped its 30% marketplace fee to 0%.
- Whop global affiliates are on by default at a 30% commission, paid when someone in Whop's affiliate network refers a buyer. You can change the rate. Commissions pay out after a 30-day waiting period.
So both can cost 30% on some customers. On Whop that cost goes to the affiliate who referred the sale, and you control the rate.
Payouts and tax
- Skool pays out weekly, every Wednesday, through a Stripe Express connection it creates. US deposits usually arrive in 1 to 3 business days. Skool is merchant of record and handles EU VAT on top of your price.
- Whop makes funds available in 1 to 4 business days. You withdraw when you want, with standard payouts taking up to 5 business days or instant payouts for a fee. For direct sales you choose how tax is handled, and the managed options cost 2%.
If you sell mostly to EU buyers and want zero tax admin, Skool's setup is simpler. If you sell mostly in the US, Whop's "Whop collects tax, I remit" option or handling it yourself are both common.
Features
Skool gives you a community feed, courses, a calendar, live calls, leaderboards and levels. Everything looks the same in every Skool group, which members like because they know where things are.
Whop gives you apps you add to a whop: Chat, Forums, Courses, Events, Content, Discord access and many third-party apps from the Whop App Store. You can sell several products from one whop, give free trials, use promo codes that target only new or only churned users, and embed checkout on your own site.
Selling more to the same members
This is where the platforms differ most.
- Skool is built around one membership price per group, plus the ability to change prices with grandfathering.
- Whop lets you add paid locked apps that show before checkout, after checkout or inside the whop. Third-party apps like OneClick Upsell add multi-step funnels: an order bump on the checkout, then an upsell and a downsell that charge the card the buyer just used with one tap.
If you plan to sell a course, a coaching call or a higher tier to existing members, Whop gives you more ways to do it. Our guide to adding one-click upsells on Whop shows the setup.
Email and retention
Neither platform is an email marketing tool. Both let you reach members inside the community. To email members, run win-back offers and watch failed payments, you will want a separate email tool. WhopMail compares the two from the email side in Skool vs Whop for email and member retention.
Verdict
For a single community at a single price, Skool is simple and well designed, and by our math Pro becomes cheaper than Hobby once you pass about $1,270 a month in sales. For lower fees at every size, more product types and more ways to increase order value, Whop comes out ahead. Read what Whop is and how it works if you are new to it.
Sources
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