A free Skool alternative (and what it actually costs to run)
The software is free. You need a server and a domain, and Stripe or Razorpay take their normal fee when members pay you. That's the whole bill.
Is Skool free?
Not permanently. At the time of writing, Skool has two plans per group: Hobby at $9 a month with a 10% + 30¢ transaction fee, and Pro at $99 a month with 2.9% + 30¢ (3.9% + 30¢ above $900).
Skool prices and features are from Skool's public pricing page and help centre at the time of writing (November 2026) and may change. Skool is a trademark of its owner. OpenEscool is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Skool.
The real monthly cost of OpenEscool
| Item | Typical cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Software | $0 | AGPL-3.0, every feature included |
| VPS | About $5 to $15 a month | Ubuntu 24.04; one server runs every community |
| Domain | About $10 to $15 a year | Any registrar |
| $0 to start | Brevo has a free plan; check its current daily limit | |
| SSL | $0 | Let's Encrypt, set up in the install guide |
| Payments | Processor fees only | Stripe or Razorpay pricing |
See the pricing page for a calculator.
What "free" doesn't include
- Your time. About 30 minutes to install, then a few minutes for each update.
- Backups. Turn on your VPS provider's snapshots, or back up the database yourself.
- Support. There's no support desk. Help comes from the docs, GitHub issues and the feedback board.
Other free options
- Discord is free and great for chat, but has no course area, levels tied to courses, or built-in paid plans.
- Facebook Groups are free and familiar, but you don't own the audience and there's no classroom.
- Open-source LMS tools like LearnHouse cover courses well, without the community feed and leaderboards.
If you want feed, classroom, calendar, levels and payments in one place, without a monthly plan per group, OpenEscool is built for that. Compare it with others in the best Skool alternatives.
Questions
What is the best free alternative to Skool?
If you want the same mix of feed, courses, events, levels and paid memberships, OpenEscool is free and open source. You pay only for your server.
Is OpenEscool really free?
Yes. The software is free under AGPL-3.0, with no paid tier. You pay for hosting and a domain, plus Stripe or Razorpay fees on sales.
Do I need to code?
No. Installation is copy and paste, and everything after that is set in the browser.
Can I start free and charge later?
Yes. Switch a community to paid at any time. Members who already joined keep their access.
Run it on your own server
Free, open source, and live in about 30 minutes.