Looking for alternatives to Circle? Here are the best options depending on your use case.
Circle ranks lower on tax handling, advanced billing flexibility, which is the most common reason teams evaluate alternatives.
Most complete all-in-one platform: courses, community, email, coaching, and website builder. Most expensive option but covers everything.
Simplest community + courses platform. $99/month flat fee regardless of members. Gamified engagement with leaderboards. Popular in the indie creator space.
Best for selling community access, Discord groups, and bundled digital products. Not MoR.
Community-first platform with courses and live events. Native mobile apps for members. Has transaction fees on lower tiers. Competes directly with Circle and Kajabi.
One of the most popular course platforms. 0% transaction fee on all plans including free. Strong for course creators who want control without Kajabi's price tag.
Default choice for indie SaaS founders. Tax compliance out of the box, license key management, excellent DX. Acquired by Stripe in 2024.
Lowest MoR fees on the market (4% + $0.40). Open source, built for developers and OSS projects.
Fastest path from idea to first sale. Built-in marketplace gives discovery. Now a Merchant of Record (since Jan 2025) — handles all global tax compliance. High fees (10% + $0.50) are the trade-off for zero setup friction.
| Tool | Pricing | MoR | A/B | Ease |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle | Professional $89/mo. Business $199/mo (lower transaction fees, branded apps add-on). Circle Plus: custom pricing for large-scale businesses. 0% transaction fee on Professional and above. | No | No | 4/5 |
| Kajabi | Basic $143/mo, Growth $199/mo, Pro $399/mo (annual billing). Kajabi Payments: 2.7-2.9% + $0.30. 0-2% fee on 3rd-party payment providers depending on plan. | No | No | 4/5 |
| Skool | $99/month flat. 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee. | No | No | 5/5 |
| Whop | 3% platform + Stripe fees (~5.7–7.2% all-in) | No | No | 4/5 |
| Mighty Networks | Courses $33/mo (3% transaction). Business $99/mo (2%). Path-to-Pro $360/mo (0%). | No | No | 4/5 |
| Thinkific | No free plan. Basic $49/mo ($36/mo annual). Start $74/mo. Grow $149/mo. 0% transaction fee. | No | No | 4/5 |
| Lemon Squeezy | 5% + $0.50 per transaction. Acquired by Stripe 2024. | Yes | No | 5/5 |
| Polar | 4% + $0.40 per transaction (lowest MoR fees on the market) | Yes | No | 5/5 |
| Gumroad | 10% + $0.50 per transaction (direct). 30% via Gumroad marketplace. MoR since January 2025 — handles all global tax. | Yes | No | 5/5 |
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