If you are considering buying Skool to build your online community, here is a brutally honest Skool review to learn everything you need before going for a subscription.
I will also share what I discovered as a user of the Skool community for more than one year at this moment and 2 more tools that you will require along side to build a successful online community in business.
Skool is a community engagement platform made for creators launched by consulting.com founder Sam Ovens.
See how these creators are using Skool.
If you read till the end, you will find out all the pros and cons of Skool, which Skool might be a better solution for you, and, most importantly, when it is a complete waste of money, step by step.
Skool is not a perfect solution for everyone
I know some articles might portray it like that, but in reality, Skool is not for everyone. Skool solves a problem for coaches, consultants, and information business owners; if you are not in any such business, Skool might not be the right tool.
However, suppose you are a course creator or an information entrepreneur (coach, consultant, creator). In that case, Skool might be the easy solution to increase sales, build more trust, and increase engagement among your target audience.
So, Skool is for you if you want to sell courses or subscriptions. It is not for you directly if you wish to sell physical products, and there are far better solutions than Skool.com.
Skool Feature Review - from Best to Worse
One of the best aspects of Skool is its minimal approach. Unlike other tools like Kajabi or Facebook groups, for example, using them isn't very pleasant. Skool offers a minimalist approach to this complicated problem of bringing community and selling courses together.
For someone like me who has sold courses for years, Skool is a breeze of fresh air. The interface doesn't shout at me; I get exactly what I need and don't get what I don't want. Here are a few critical features:
Pros of Skool
- An elegant experience that inspires you to use the platform, unlike other platforms.
- Single sign-on (SSO): No matter how many groups you host, you only have to log in once. It solves a major issue for people who want to upsell masterminds or host multiple groups.
- Leaderboard to view and track members' engagement.
- Member profile, chat and follow options to increase cross-connections.
- Course creation feature.
- Gamified engagement is where members can unlock new features or courses as they grow in levels.
Cons of Skool platform
Not everything about this platform is incredible. Skool does not offer video hosting for courses. So if you plan to provide course hosting, you might need to use Whistia, Vimeo, or YouTube. In my experience, Loom videos work beautifully with Skool as they offer a distraction-free experience.
Another significant point is the lack of quizzes and resource uploading. Skool is yet to offer native PDF and file hosting features. This can be quickly done through other means and is not a deal breaker. However, I would have definitely liked to have it.
Another thing that can annoy some people is the lack of email marketing features. You will require a separate tool for email marketing while using Skool.
Here is another challenge with Skool. It does not come with a checkout page or a funnel builder. So you will need a separate checkout system for yourself.
These were all the cons for me knowing I could host unlimited users, offer drip-feed for courses, and create access levels for engagement.
Now that you know both sides, let's look at Skool pricing.
Skool Pricing Review
Skool offers 14 days of the free trial, which costs $99/mo to host one community. A community can have an unlimited number of users and complete courses. The pricing is competitive if you compare it with Teachable's $199/mo and Kajabi's $199+/mo.
I personally appreciate the 24/7 customer service and a team of dedicated engineers to help you with any technical issues. When I was using Teachable for hosting my courses, I got stuck with the support team for three days, and it costed me almost a thousand dollars due to a technical bug.
Skool user experience review
Skool offers a minimalist approach and feels fresh in the noise of online community building space. While other platforms try to bring as many features as possible, Skool keeps it minimal and offers the only parts you want.
This increases engagement in the community and improves the sticking rate and lifetime value of a community member.
Is Skool Support better than the competitors?
Support is critical for me as a community manager. Skool offers community-based support for all customers and direct email-based support if asked.
One of the best things about Skool is the community itself. Seeing people building thriving communities offers a great dose of inspiration. Also, everyone in the group seems eager to help you.
Even if you don't have a specific problem, the group is always available to offer knowledge and advice. Skool provides personalized support tailored to your needs. And it ensures that all its customers get their questions answered on time.
Note that sometimes it can become an information overload, so don't get lost in shiny object syndrome.
Skool vs. Facebook Group
Facebook group sucks, and we all know it. Sorry, Zuck!
Back in 2017, I spent hundreds of dollars on filling my group with all different people. Little did I know that one algorithm update would ruin my engagements, and I must pay to reach my community members.
With one arrow, Skool solves the major problem of confusing interface and too many distractions. You can grow engagement, get feedback and eventually take this relationship with them to the next level by building group funnels.
What other tools might you need with Skool
Skool is a zen platform for hosting courses and community. But if you are building an online community empire, you will require three things beyond it. The good thing is, these are the only things you need.
I started my own course business in 2019. It was a massive overhead to manage communities on Telegram, sales funnels on Clickfunnels, then courses on Teachable, calendars on Google, and a few other tools here and there. But you don't have to go through it all.
Here are all the tools you might need to manage your entire education and community business
1. A Sales funnel builder
You will still need a place to host your checkout pages, sales pages, and blogs to bring more people to your platform. If you are new to building sales funnels, there is no better place than Clickfunnels. However, this might not be everything. I personally love the Thrive Suite.
A conversion-focused WordPress theme is all you need to create a complete sales funnel. With woo-commerce integration and at less than $1/day, this is all you need. You can create checkout pages, connect with different email services and make beautiful pages without frustrations.
2. Email marketing System
Email marketing software is another essential tool you will require to build a complete sales funnel and engagement system. Generating leads, sending newsletters and email updates is critical.
For this, I recommend ConvertKit for all my email marketing needs.
I found it incredibly intuitive to use and simple to get started. You can start for free and only pay once you reach more than 300 subscribers. So zero cost was involved in the beginning.
Further, at less than $30/mo, you can automate your complete email marketing and run it on God mode. Creating automated flows, subscriber tags, and segmentations is easy without overwhelming designs with Convertkit.
Final verdict
If you want to build a community around your products or make money by creating an online community, Skool is a great solution. It removes all the noise and offers you only things that matter to grow a community and leverage it for the end KPI that you are aiming for (which is making money).
Ultimately, the best way to get the perfect Skool review is by trying it out yourself. You can get 14 day Skool trial for free.
Try it out by Clicking Here. You can easily cancel it if you don't like it, so there is nothing to lose here. And if you decide to stick, I would love to know more about your business in the comments.