Community software platforms are the tools a creator uses to host a paid community and take the money for it, and the choice comes down to two price shapes. One is a flat monthly plan: it costs the same whether ten people join or a thousand, so it gets cheaper for every member you add. The other is a share of what your members pay: it costs nothing while the community is empty and keeps costing more as it fills. Circle, Skool, Mighty Networks, Podia and Kajabi sell the flat shape. Substack, Patreon and Gumroad sell the share shape. Card processing is charged on top of both, so no plan is ever the whole cost. The question to answer is not what the cheapest plan is today, it is what your community will be worth in a year, because the two shapes cross over at a volume you can calculate before you sign up. The price index on this site holds what each vendor publishes on its own pricing page, and the membership site guide walks the setup once the platform is chosen.
How an online community software platform charges: two shapes, one decision
A flat plan is a fixed cost you pay before a single member joins, and it is the cheaper shape once the community is earning. A revenue share is the cheaper shape while you are starting, because an empty community costs you nothing, and it is the more expensive shape forever after that. Small communities and first launches usually belong on the share side. A community with steady paying members usually belongs on a flat plan, and the day to move is the day the share you hand over passes the plan price.
The arithmetic on a real community
Put numbers on it. A 15 dollar a month tier with 120 paying members is 1,800 dollars a month before anything comes out. Card processing on a creator platform is the processor's standard fee, 2.9% + $0.30, which on 120 charges is about 52 dollars plus 36 dollars, so roughly 88 dollars gone before the platform takes anything. A flat plan at 99 dollars a month leaves about 1,613 dollars. Gumroad charges no monthly plan and takes 10% plus $0.50 per direct sale, which on the same 1,800 dollars is 180 dollars plus 60 dollars, so 240 dollars. The flat plan wins at this size, and the gap grows every month the community does.
What software for community actually has to do
Strip the feature lists back and a paid community needs four things to work: a member record that knows who has paid, posts and spaces that are hidden from everyone who has not, a card form that renews on its own, and access that ends when a payment fails. Everything else, the events, the courses bundled alongside, the branded mobile app, is worth paying for only if you will use it in the first ninety days. Vendors price those extras into higher tiers, so count the ones you will genuinely run before you buy the tier that carries them.
Free tiers, and what they hold back
Most vendors in this category run a free or trial tier, and the thing they hold back is nearly always the same: taking money. A free tier lets you build the space, invite people and post, then asks for a paid plan the moment you want to charge for entry. That is useful, because it lets you test whether the audience shows up before you commit to a monthly cost. Treat the free tier as a rehearsal, not a home, and read the paid plan you will land on before you put any work into the free one.
Leaving later costs more than joining
Members, posts and payment subscriptions do not move between vendors cleanly. Member lists usually export. The threads and the history often do not, and card subscriptions almost never do, which means a move asks every paying member to enter their card again and you lose the ones who do not bother. That churn is the real switching cost, and it is why the plan shape you pick at 50 members matters at 500. Choose the shape that still fits at the size you expect to reach.
Questions people ask about community software platforms
Is a flat monthly plan always cheaper than a revenue share?
No. A share costs nothing on an empty community, so it is cheaper while you are starting. A flat plan is cheaper above the crossover point, which you can work out from your tier price and member count.
Do I pay card processing on top of the platform's price?
Yes, on every shape. The processor takes its cut on each charge whether the platform bills you a flat monthly plan or takes a share, so add it into any comparison before deciding.
Can I run a paid community on a newsletter platform instead?
You can, if the discussion is comments under posts rather than spaces and threads. Newsletter tools handle paid subscriptions well and community structure poorly, so the answer depends on how much your members talk to each other.
What size community justifies the higher tier?
Work out what the tier removes, usually a transaction fee, then divide the extra plan cost by that fee rate at your current sales. When the fee you are paying passes the price gap, the higher tier is the cheaper option.