Compare
How Kohortly compares
Most community platforms are built for creators selling a membership by card. Kohortly is built for organisations that admit learners into cohorts, take attendance, collect fees by bank transfer, M-Pesa, UPI or Pix, and report results. Here is how it stacks up, platform by platform.
Cohort learning platforms
The closest to Kohortly: programmes that start and finish together.
Kohortly vs Disco
The closest cohort platform: $399/month (yearly) for 250 active members, Scale from $999/month. No offline fees, WhatsApp reminders or employer-paid seats.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Maven
A marketplace for expert-led cohort courses, taking 10% of each sale. Not your own academy; card payments only.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs EducateMe
Cohort and self-paced learning priced per seat: $239–$999/month for 80–200 users. No admissions, offline fees or WhatsApp.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Teachfloor
Cohort courses with community, from $89/month for 50 users; white-label, API and instalments on quote. No offline fees or WhatsApp.
Read the comparison →Community platforms
Memberships, feeds and chat, mostly paid by card.
Kohortly vs Skool
The best-known creator community. Great for selling one membership; thin on cohorts, attendance and offline payments.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Circle
The most customisable community builder. Strong for online communities; no cohorts, attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Mighty Networks
Community plus courses with member matching. Branded app needs Mighty Pro; no attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Whop
A marketplace for digital products and paid chat access. Great for selling; light on running a cohort.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Discord
The best free chat and voice. No courses, cohorts or records, which makes structured learning hard.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Patreon
Fan memberships for creators. Easy to start, but courses and community are basic and the fee is 10%.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Heartbeat
Chat, threads, courses and events in one place. Good for online communities; no attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs SchoolMaker
A low-cost Skool alternative for course creators with 0% fees. No attendance, offline fees or impact reports.
Read the comparison →Course platforms
Sell courses online; light on running cohorts.
Kohortly vs Kajabi
The all-in-one course and funnel platform. Excellent marketing tools; community is secondary and fees are card-only.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Thinkific
A strong course builder from about $36–49/month. Community and cohorts are add-ons; no attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Teachable
Simple course selling from about $39/month, with a 5–7.5% fee on lower plans. No cohorts, attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs LearnWorlds
Interactive video courses from about $79–99/month; $5 per sale on Starter. No intakes, attendance or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Podia
Creator store for courses, downloads and community, $42–$150/month billed yearly, with 5% on the cheapest plan. No admissions, cohorts or offline fees.
Read the comparison →Course marketplaces
Publish into someone else's catalogue; they set the terms and keep the learners.
Kohortly vs Udemy
The biggest open course marketplace. Instructors keep 37% of marketplace sales; no cohorts, your brand or your learner list.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Coursera
University and company courses; Coursera Plus about $59/month. Only partners can publish, so most academies can't.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Skillshare
A creative class library on subscription. Teachers are paid by minutes watched; you can't set prices or run cohorts.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs edX
University and company programmes through 250+ partners, run by 2U. Publishing is by partnership only.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs LinkedIn Learning
A business skills library; LinkedIn selects instructors. You can't set prices or run your own cohorts.
Read the comparison →Classroom and school tools
Built for teachers and schools, usually free or licensed by the institution. No admissions or fees.
Kohortly vs Google Classroom
Free assignments and grading for school classes, inside Google Workspace. No admissions, fees, certificates or community.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Microsoft Teams for Education
Class teams with chat, meetings and assignments inside Microsoft 365 Education. The free A1 licence retires by January 2028.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Canvas
University and district LMS, quote-only, with a free Canvas Lite account for individual teachers. Strong grading; no admissions, fees or community.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Schoology
K-12 LMS from PowerSchool, quote-only for districts. Strong for schools and parents; no admissions, fees or certificates.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Moodle
Free open-source LMS you host yourself, or MoodleCloud from about $160 a year for 50 users. Flexible, but plugins and upkeep are on you.
Read the comparison →Training software and application tools
Staff training (LMS) and application review.
Kohortly vs TalentLMS
Staff training and compliance, free for 5 users then about $119–449/month. No community, admissions or fee records.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Docebo
Enterprise LMS on quote, reported at about $2–10 per user a month. Expensive and complex for training organisations.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Moodle Workplace
Open-source LMS for company training, quote-only through partners. Needs a partner to set up and run.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Submittable and SurveyMonkey Apply
Applications and review only, from about $499/month or $5,000 per programme. A second tool is needed to run the programme.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs Arlo
Training admin per administrator ($118–$271/month yearly) plus $2.15 per paid registration; e-learning extra. No community or WhatsApp.
Read the comparison →Kohortly vs AcceleratorApp
Accelerator and incubator management from $499/month: applications, review, mentors, milestones, funding. Light on courses and community.
Read the comparison →One tool instead of five
To run a cohort programme today, an academy typically combines:
| Job | Usual tool | In Kohortly |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | Submittable, SurveyMonkey Apply or Google Forms | Application forms and a review queue |
| Community and courses | Disco, Circle or Skool | Feed, chats, courses and squads |
| Live sessions | Zoom | Live rooms with breakout groups and recording |
| Attendance and fees | Spreadsheets | Registers, QR check-in and fee accounts |
| Reminders | WhatsApp groups | WhatsApp, SMS and email reminders |
Together that's easily $600 to $1,000 or more a month, plus the staff time spent copying people from one tool to the next. Kohortly does all five in one place, from $49 a month, and takes 0% of what learners pay.
What makes Kohortly different
- Programmes with intakes, applications, seats and class times, not just an open membership.
- Attendance online and in person, certificates with a public check, and impact reports for funders.
- Fees paid by bank transfer, mobile money (M-Pesa, UPI, Pix), card, cash or an employer, recorded with receipts and balances, and 0% taken from what learners pay.
- WhatsApp and SMS reminders, and an installable app under your own name.
Competitor details checked November 2026. Prices and fees change, so check each vendor's site before you decide.
Payment providers compared
Stripe, Paystack, Pesapal, IntaSend, Dodo Payments, Creem, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Paddle, Kelviq and Gumroad: fees, M-Pesa, tax and payouts for communities that charge for membership.
All comparisons
Bring your next cohort to Kohortly
Request a community today. We review every request by hand.