Community · branded membership vs branded community · USD

Mighty Networks vs Circle — branded membership vs branded community

Updated August 29, 2026 · Official product and pricing pages fetched this evening. If a number is missing below, we could not cite it.

You already have a method. The fork is not “which LMS has more features.” It is branded membership vs branded community: a network people live in, or a home with spaces and a site under your name. Neither is a one-feed room.

Who this page is for

Experts who have one method and have already ruled out the $9 feed. Mighty looks like a branded membership. Circle looks like a real home. They both connect Stripe. They are not substitutes for a course-business OS, and they are not Skool.

This is the community section of a course-platform directory, not a second site. The three-host table is Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks. Circle’s own plan cards are Circle pricing. If the method is a recorded catalog you sell once, start at Kajabi vs Skool or best membership platform.

The short version

Branded membership vs branded community

One-feed room (not these two). Skool: the group is the store. Discover or create communities. Courses and live calls inside the feed. Merchant of record. Hobby $9/mo. That fork is Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks. If you are still on that tab, stop here.

Branded membership (Mighty Networks). Official product page: community, courses, and events. Native mobile apps — “not web wrappers.” Comparison grid: subscriptions and one-time payments; charge for access to the network or any space; on-demand, cohort, and live courses. Landing pages 1 / 1 / 10. Your own branded apps are Mighty Pro only. You connect Stripe. Mighty’s cut sits on top of Stripe’s for web purchases. Apple 15% on iOS in-app; Mighty does not add its platform fee there. The product is a membership people return to on the phone.

Branded community (Circle). Official homepage and platform page: community, events, and courses under your own brand; website and landing pages; paywalls powered by Stripe. Professional includes courses, events, website builder, live streams, live rooms, custom branding, paid memberships, custom domain. Spaces 20 / 30 / flexible. Remove Circle branding on Business. Branded apps are optional on Circle Plus (custom). Email Hub is an add-on on Professional (+$99/mo* for 10,000 contacts; first 30 days free). The product is a home with spaces and a site — a branded community, not a one-feed room and not Mighty’s membership-network-plus-native-apps shape.

Library (not these two). A course business you sell: sales page, email, checkout, player. That is Kajabi (or Thinkific). Public Kajabi Basic is $179/mo. Community on Kajabi is a product you attach — cap 1 / 1 / 3. See Kajabi vs Skool.

If they stay in a membership network with courses and events — and you care about the app on the home screen — start with Mighty. If they stay in a branded community with spaces and a site, start with Circle. Do not pick either because they “include courses” if the offer is a library you would otherwise sell on Kajabi.

Cited numbers, August 29, 2026

USD. Monthly is month-to-month where the vendor publishes it. Annual is the advertised per-month rate when you pay yearly. Platform fee is the vendor’s cut, not card processing.

Sources: mightynetworks.com/pricing, Mighty transaction-fee docs, circle.so/pricing, Circle payments. Full list at the bottom.

What the fees do to the same sale

On both hosts the vendor’s percentage sits on Stripe. Arithmetic only. Refunds, tax, Apple’s 15% on Mighty iOS, and Stripe Billing on Circle subscriptions change the dollar. We are not publishing a break-even month.

• $97. Mighty Launch: 2% = $1.94 plus Stripe (Mighty’s help: typically 2.5%–5% for web; Stripe’s own schedule is Stripe’s — not added here). Circle Professional: 2% = $1.94 plus Stripe. Circle’s paywall help (US, cards): Stripe typically 2.9%+$0.30 ($3.11); combined $5.05. That same help’s subscription example also stacks Stripe Billing 0.7% ($0.68) — combined $5.73 if the paywall is a subscription.
• $497. Mighty Launch 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe. Circle Professional 2% = $9.94 plus Stripe.
• $2,000. Mighty Launch 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe. Circle Professional 2% = $40.00 plus Stripe.

Circle Business drops Circle’s cut to 1%. Mighty Scale drops Mighty’s cut to 1%. Those upgrades are $199/mo annual (Circle) and $179/mo on the public Scale card (Mighty) — plus Stripe. You do not buy the upgrade to save the fee on a $97 membership. You buy it for automations, APIs, unbranding, event charges (Mighty), or because 20 spaces / 3 admins will not hold (Circle).

Kajabi, if the offer was actually a library: Kajabi Payments, US card, Basic 2.9%+$0.30 = $3.11 on $97, plus the US help-page 0.7% subscription add-on on memberships. No extra platform percentage. Public Basic is $179/mo. That is the cash-register alternative, not a third community host.

When to pick each

Pick Mighty Networks if

The offer is a membership network: courses and events inside a community people return to, including on the phone. Launch is the public floor this fetch. Scale is the automations/integrations step (Kit, Zapier, API; charge for events). Mighty Pro is the branded-app conversation — no public dollar card. Skip Mighty if you wanted a $9 room or a Kajabi marketing OS.

Pick Circle if

You want a branded community with spaces, courses, events, and a site, and you already have — or will open — a Stripe account. Professional is enough to sell paid memberships. Do not treat the $89 card as month-to-month; Circle’s platform page says displayed prices are annual. Month-to-month in the page data is $99. Which plan is Circle pricing.

Pick neither — pick Skool — if

The offer is a feed people pay to stay in and you accept merchant-of-record checkout. Hobby $9/mo. Pro $99/mo. That is Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks.

Pick neither — pick Kajabi — if

The method is a library you sell: landing page, email, funnel, checkout, player. Community is optional and capped. Public Basic is $179/mo. Trial box above; visit button below.

Who should not pick which

Skip Mighty Networks if

You wanted a cheap first room, or you need PayPal in-product (host docs: not supported). Also skip if iOS checkout at Apple’s 15% is the path your members will use and you have not priced that. Launch cannot charge for one-time events on the public grid. Do not pick Mighty because the trial is “on Growth” and then stay there without a public Growth dollar in front of you — we could not extract one as a card tonight.

Skip Circle if

You wanted Skool’s merchant-of-record simplicity and no Stripe account. Circle’s 2% is on top of Stripe (and Stripe Billing on subscriptions). Also skip if 20 spaces and 3 admins on Professional will not hold the community without add-ons ($10/mo per extra admin, $20/mo per 10 extra spaces on the comparison grid). Skip Plus unless you are buying branded apps or the custom tier on purpose.

Visit the hosts

Mighty Networks affiliate slot — not live Circle affiliate slot — not live

Kajabi’s trial box and visit button use the 30-day trial affiliate, justinwise.net/kajabi. The Kajabi pricing button is a pricing-page affiliate. Official Kajabi pricing remains the source for Kajabi numbers. Visit Skool uses the Skool signup affiliate. Official skool.com/pricing remains the source for Skool numbers. Mighty Networks and Circle buttons are official product URLs only.

Omitted on purpose

• Circle add-on menu as a required bill (Email Hub +$99/mo*, extra admins $10, extra spaces $20 per 10, extra moderators $20 per 10, profile fields $49/mo, branded email $40/mo). Listed on the comparison grid; not priced into the table as a membership you must buy.
• Circle Plus and Mighty Pro public dollar cards. Both are custom. Third-party “starts at” quotes are not official cards.
• Mighty Networks Explore and Growth public monthly dollars. Both names appear (calculator dropdown; trial FAQ says the trial is Growth). No monthly card extracted this fetch. Scale monthly-toggle dollars likewise omitted; we cite the Scale yearly total $2,150 from the Scale plan page.
• Mighty ROI / “average $14,400/year” / “$48 membership” calculator and product-page copy. Vendor marketing, not a cited price.
• Exact Stripe card rates on Mighty (host docs: typically 2.5%–5%). Only Mighty’s platform percentage is cited. Circle’s help cites Stripe US 2.9%+$0.30 and Billing 0.7% on subscriptions — used only in the Circle fee examples.
• Skool, Kajabi, Teachable, Thinkific, Podia, Discord as this two-host fork. The three-host table is Skool vs Circle vs Mighty Networks. Library vs room is Kajabi vs Skool.
• Keyword volumes, vendor comparison landing pages as pricing sources, and anything that documents your method for you.

Sources

1. Mighty Networks pricing — Launch $79/mo and $950/year; Scale $179/mo; Mighty Pro custom; transaction fee row 2%/1%/0.5%; unlimited members; hosts/mods 3+10 / 5+15 / unlimited; spaces unlimited; streaming 20/30/50 hours and 100/200/3,000 viewers; landing pages 1/1/10; 14-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026.
2. Mighty Launch plan page — Launch $950/year; 2 months free when you buy annually; courses and events in your community. Fetched August 29, 2026.
3. Mighty Scale plan page — Scale $2,150/year; automations, admin features, APIs; 2 months free annually. Fetched August 29, 2026.
4. Mighty product — community platform for community, courses, and events; 14-day trial, no credit card; native mobile apps; branded apps on Mighty Pro. Fetched August 29, 2026.
5. Mighty: does it charge a transaction fee? — Explore 5%; Launch 2%; Scale 1%; Growth .50%; Growth free trial 5%; deducted from Stripe; Stripe typically 2.5%–5% on web; PayPal not supported in-product; Apple 15% on iOS, Mighty adds no platform fee there. Fetched August 29, 2026.
6. Mighty: how do I get paid? — connect Stripe; host responsible for taxes; default no tax on web; optional Quaderno; Apple handles iOS tax. Cited from the August 29, 2026 three-host fetch; get-paid docs not re-opened as a new card tonight.
7. Circle pricing — Professional priceMonth 99 / priceYear 89; Business 219 / 199; Plus custom; visible cards $89/mo* / $199/mo*; 14-day trial; 30-day money-back; members unlimited; admins 3/5/unlimited; spaces 20/30/flexible; transaction fees 2%/1%/0.5% plus Stripe; Email Hub +$99/mo* add-on. Fetched August 29, 2026.
8. Circle platform — community, content, events, and revenue in one place; website and landing pages; “Prices displayed in USD, based on annual billing.” Professional feature list includes courses, events, website builder, live streams, live rooms, paid memberships, custom domain. Fetched August 29, 2026.
9. Circle homepage — “Build a home for your community, events, and courses — all under your own brand.” Paywalls: one-time, memberships, or recurring; connect Stripe. Fetched August 29, 2026.
10. Circle payments — paywalls powered by Stripe; connect existing Stripe; Professional 2% / Business 1% / Plus 0.5% in addition to Stripe. Fetched August 29, 2026.
11. Circle paywall transaction fees (updated May 2026) — same 2%/1%/0.5%; Stripe cards typically 2.9%+$0.30 (US); subscriptions use Stripe Billing; Business subscription example stacks 0.7% Billing. Fetched August 29, 2026.
12. Kajabi pricing — public plans, JSON-LD prices ($143/$179 Basic, $199/$249 Growth, $399/$499 Pro), product/contact/community limits, Kajabi Payments rates, 3rd-party 2%/1%/0.5%, 30-day trial. Fetched August 29, 2026. Cited as the OS alternative, not a third community host.
13. Skool pricing — Hobby $9/mo, Pro $99/mo. Cited only as the one-feed room we are not comparing here. Fetched August 29, 2026.