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Compare · a free Skool alternative for WordPress

The parts of Skool your members like, on a site you own. Free.

Skool is the easiest community to join and the hardest to leave: $9 or $99 a month plus a cut of every payment, and only names and emails come out. MemBuild Community is a free WordPress plugin with the same one-screen shape, nine levels and a leaderboard, plus stories, reels and chats. Side by side, including the one thing WordPress cannot replace.

Download MemBuild Community (free)See the demo →
Skool
The easiest community to join. A rented room.
For a creator who wants to be live today, likes that every Skool community looks the same, and gets a meaningful share of new members from Skool’s Discovery page and Growth Boost.
Hobby $9/mo + 10% of payments · Pro $99/mo + 2.9% · Growth Boost takes 30% of revenue it brings
MemBuild Community
The Skool parts members like, on a site you own.
For a membership that already has an audience, wants its community on its own domain with its own brand, and would rather keep the 10% than rent the room.
free · GPL · no member cap · no fee on payments · your own Stripe or PayPal
Side by side

What you get, and what you pay for it.

 
Skool
MemBuild Community
Price
SkoolHobby $9 a month plus 10% of every payment; Pro $99 a month plus 2.9%. At $10k a month, Hobby costs about $12k a year in fees alone.
MemBuild CommunityFree. Your hosting, your payment processor’s fee, nothing to us.
Where new members come from
SkoolYour audience, plus Discovery (a marketplace inside Skool) and Growth Boost (Skool runs ads for you and takes 30% of the revenue). Reported as a meaningful share of new members.
MemBuild CommunityYour audience, and pages Google can index on your own domain. No marketplace.
Feed and classroom on one screen
SkoolYes. Simple feed, classroom tab, calendar, leaderboard. The thing everyone copies.
MemBuild CommunityYes. Feed, classroom, leaderboard and members, in one app at /community. Plus stories and reels.
Courses
SkoolModules and lessons. No quizzes, no certificates. Unlock by level.
MemBuild CommunityCourses, modules, lessons, videos and downloads, progress, drip. Unlock by level or member group. No quizzes or certificates either.
Levels and leaderboard
SkoolNine levels, points from likes, leaderboard by 7 days, 30 days and all time. Levels unlock courses.
MemBuild CommunityNine levels you name, points for posting, helping and finishing, streaks, leaderboard by week, month and all time. Levels unlock courses.
Chats
SkoolOne-to-one DMs.
MemBuild CommunityOne-to-one and group chats, docked windows, typing and seen, encrypted at rest.
Your brand
SkoolSame layout and app for every community; your logo in the corner. Email members only through Skool.
MemBuild CommunityYour domain, your colours and logo, your login pages, your menu to the rest of your site. Email through your own tool.
Mobile
SkoolThe shared Skool app.
MemBuild CommunityInstallable web app under your own name: members add it to their home screen and open it full screen.
Getting your data out
SkoolMember names and emails only. Posts, comments, courses and progress stay.
MemBuild CommunityCSV exports of members, posts, comments, files and courses, plus WordPress’s personal-data export and erase.
Who can read members’ messages
SkoolSkool’s systems; it is their platform.
MemBuild CommunityNobody but the members. Messages are encrypted with a key kept on your server; admins only see counts.
Phoning home
SkoolEverything runs on Skool’s servers.
MemBuild CommunityA weekly anonymous ping: random ID and version numbers. Shown in Settings → Advanced, deletable, switchable off.
a green edge marks where we think we're ahead, a dark one where they are. prices and features as published on the date at the bottom of this page.
Where Skool is the better choice

Stay on Skool if Discovery is feeding you.

We mean it. Some communities should not leave, and the ones that should not are the ones Skool is sending members to.

Discovery and Growth Boost
A marketplace inside the platform that sends you members, and ads Skool runs on your behalf. Nothing on WordPress replaces that. If it is a large share of your growth, leaving is a marketing decision first.
Live in an afternoon, zero upkeep
No hosting, no updates, no plugins. If you do not have a site and do not want one, Skool is the honest answer.
The network effect
Members who already have a Skool account join yours in two clicks, and see your community next to the others they are in. Familiarity is a feature.
Skool Games and the Hormozi halo
If your audience is in that world, the monthly contest and the brand association are real acquisition. Ours is a plugin; it does not come with an audience.
Where MemBuild Community is the better choice

Move if you want to own the room.

We built MemBuild Community for owners who liked Skool’s shape and did not like the rent, the lookalike brand, or the export that only gives back names.

Keep the 10%
Payments go through your own Stripe or PayPal with a membership plugin. At $10k a month, that is roughly $12k a year back on Skool Hobby, before you count the $9 or $99 plan.
Your domain, your brand, your email
The community lives at yoursite.com/community in your colours, with your login page and your menu. Members are on your list, not Skool’s.
Everything Skool has, plus stories, reels and group chats
Same one-screen shape, same nine levels and leaderboard, and the formats members already use elsewhere that Skool does not offer.
Leave any time, with everything
GPL, CSV exports of every table, encrypted messages that even we cannot read. The opposite of a room you rent.
If you switch

Names and emails come with you. The rest is rebuilt, quickly.

A Skool community is simple, which is what makes the rebuild short. The full version is in our Skool to WordPress guide; the shape is this.

  1. 1
    Export members from Skool
    Names and emails as a CSV. That is all Skool gives you, so also screenshot your level thresholds and course structure.
  2. 2
    Install MemBuild Community, name the levels
    On your WordPress site, at /community. Set the nine level names and what each unlocks. Pick your colours and logo.
  3. 3
    Rebuild the classroom
    Modules and lessons on both sides; most courses move in an afternoon. Lock courses behind a level or a member group.
  4. 4
    Payments on your own account
    A membership plugin with your Stripe or PayPal; access follows the role it sets. Subscriptions move at each member’s next renewal so nobody pays twice.
  5. 5
    Import members, announce the reset, run both for a cycle
    One welcome email with a password link; everyone starts at level one; Skool stays open until the last renewal has moved.
the post that gets the most replies on the new site is “what level are you on?”. keep that.
Questions owners ask
Is this actually free, or free with a catch?

Free, GPL, no member cap, no fee on payments. You pay for your WordPress hosting, which you already do. Premium add-ons will be paid extras later; the community on this page stays free.

What do I lose by leaving Skool?

Discovery. Skool’s marketplace and Growth Boost send members to you from inside Skool; a WordPress site has no equivalent. If a large share of your new members come from Discovery, read our Skool to WordPress guide before you decide, because the honest answer may be stay.

Can I move my members, posts and courses?

Members, yes: Skool exports names and emails as a CSV, any user-import plugin brings them in, and they set a password through a welcome email. Posts and progress do not export from Skool. Courses are modules and lessons on both sides, so they rebuild quickly.

Will my members get the same feel?

That was the brief. One screen with the feed, the classroom and the leaderboard; levels earned by posting, helping and finishing; join in two clicks. Plus stories, reels and chats, which Skool does not have.

How do members pay me?

Through your own Stripe or PayPal, via a membership plugin such as MemberPress, WooCommerce or Memberium. Access follows the WordPress role the plugin sets. You keep everything minus processing, instead of Skool’s 10% or 2.9% plus the monthly plan.

Try it on your own site this afternoon.

Free, GPL, no member cap, no fee on your payments. If you are running a bigger membership and want us to move you, the Audit covers it.

Download free
Also readSkool to WordPress: the full guide →vs BuddyBoss →vs FluentCommunity →