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Coach with a paid community and a course: cheapest tool stack

Run a paid coaching community with a course inside it, an email list and booked 1:1 calls. Compares Skool, Kajabi and systeme.io at your member count.

Prices are official, dated and quoted (latest check 2026-10-18). Change any number and the stacks update. Ranking never depends on affiliate status.

Cheapest$189.10/mo0.0 h/week by handLowest monthly price that covers every category.

Balanced$189.10/mo0.0 h/week by handLowest price + your time (hours × your hourly value).

Most automated$189.10/mo0.0 h/week by handFewest manual hours; price breaks ties.

Membership revenue per month: 4,900.0
Card processing per month: 172.1

The three stacks

Cheapest stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Community + course platform (incl. fees)	systeme.io affiliate Startup	Courses, funnels and email, 0% platform fee.	$189.10	0.0 h
Email list	Kit Free	Up to 10,000 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
1:1 call booking	Calendly Free	One event type.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$189.10/mo	0.0 h/week

Balanced stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Community + course platform (incl. fees)	systeme.io affiliate Startup	Courses, funnels and email, 0% platform fee.	$189.10	0.0 h
Email list	Kit Free	Up to 10,000 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
1:1 call booking	Calendly Free	One event type.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$189.10/mo	0.0 h/week

Most automated stack

Category	Tool	What it does	$/month	Manual h/week
Community + course platform (incl. fees)	systeme.io affiliate Startup	Courses, funnels and email, 0% platform fee.	$189.10	0.0 h
Email list	Kit Free	Up to 10,000 subscribers.	$0.00	0.0 h
1:1 call booking	Calendly Free	One event type.	$0.00	0.0 h
Total			$189.10/mo	0.0 h/week

Every option, per category

Sorted by price at your numbers. “Doesn’t fit” means a plan limit (users, minutes, subscribers…) is exceeded.

Community + course platform (incl. fees)

Tool / plan	$/month	Evidence
systeme.io affiliate Startup Check that systeme.io's community features cover what you need; not verified here.	$189.10	Price source Free: 2,000 contacts, 1 course; Startup $17/month: 5 courses; Webinar $47/month: 20 courses; Unlimited $97/month (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: systeme-io fact systeme/plans); 0% transaction fees on all plans (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: systeme-io fact systeme/fees); Stripe standard US rate: 2.9% + 30¢ per successful domestic card transaction (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: systeme-io fact stripe/us) Free: 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course. Startup ($17/month): 5,000 contacts, 10 sales funnels, 5 courses. Webinar ($47/month): 10,000 contacts, 50 sales funnels, 20 courses Unlimited ($97/month) 0% transaction fees 2.9% + 30¢ per successful transaction for domestic cards Formula: `17+proc`
Skool affiliate Pro	$271.10	Price source Hobby $9/month (10% transaction fee), Pro $99/month (2.9% transaction fee), unlimited courses (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: skool fact skool/plans); Pro: 2.9% + 30c up to $899, 3.9% + 30c above $900; Hobby 10% + 30c; Skool processes payments (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: skool fact skool/fees) Hobby $9/month 10% transaction fee Pro $99/month 2.9% transaction fee Unlimited courses 2.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions up to $899 USD. 3.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions above $900 USD. 10% + 30c /transaction for all transactions Formula: `99+rev0.029+members0.30`
Kajabi Basic	$351.10	Price source Basic: $143/mo billed annually ($179 monthly), 5 products, 2,500 contacts (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: kajabi fact kajabi/basic); Kajabi Payments (US): 2.9% + $0.30 Basic, 2.8% + $0.30 Growth, 2.7% + $0.30 Pro; no revenue share (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: kajabi fact kajabi/payments) $143 /mo* Billed annually ($179/mo) 5 Products 2,500 Contacts Kajabi Payments* 2.9% + $0.30 2.8% + $0.30 2.7% + $0.30 Kajabi does not take a revenue share Formula: `iff(annual,143,179)+proc`
Skool affiliate Hobby	$529.00	Price source Hobby $9/month (10% transaction fee), Pro $99/month (2.9% transaction fee), unlimited courses (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: skool fact skool/plans); Pro: 2.9% + 30c up to $899, 3.9% + 30c above $900; Hobby 10% + 30c; Skool processes payments (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: skool fact skool/fees) Hobby $9/month 10% transaction fee Pro $99/month 2.9% transaction fee Unlimited courses 2.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions up to $899 USD. 3.9% + 30c /transaction for transactions above $900 USD. 10% + 30c /transaction for all transactions Formula: `9+rev0.10+members0.30`

Email list

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Kit Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Kit: Free $0 up to 10,000 subscribers (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot kit)) Free For creators just starting out $0 /mo Free—up to 10,000 subscribers Formula: `0`
beehiiv affiliate Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source beehiiv: Free $0 (up to 2,500 subscribers); Lite from $49/mo and Pro from $95/mo on yearly billing; 0% take rate on paid subscriptions (checked 2026-10-18, read on the official page 2026-10-18 (snapshot beehiiv)); Free: up to 2,500 subscribers (checked 2026-10-17, ListCost: beehiiv fact 0) Free The basics for creators just getting started. $0 Free forever Lite For those ready to grow faster and start monetizing. $49 /mo Yearly billing $95 /mo Yearly billing Subscribers, Free, Up to 2,500 Formula: `0`
Use the platform's email	$0.00	0.5 h	Price source Free: 2,000 contacts, 1 course; Startup $17/month: 5 courses; Webinar $47/month: 20 courses; Unlimited $97/month (checked 2026-10-18, CourseCost: systeme-io fact systeme/plans) Free: 2,000 contacts, 3 sales funnels, 1 course. Startup ($17/month): 5,000 contacts, 10 sales funnels, 5 courses. Webinar ($47/month): 10,000 contacts, 50 sales funnels, 20 courses Unlimited ($97/month) Formula: `0`

1:1 call booking

Tool / plan	$/month	h/week	Evidence
Calendly Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Free: always free, one event type, one calendar connection (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): calendly fact calendly/free) Free Always free Get started Includes: Scheduling One event type One calendar connection Formula: `0`
Cal.com Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Free forever for 1 user (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): cal-com fact cal/free) *Free forever Free features: 1 user Formula: `0`
Zoho Bookings Free	$0.00	0.0 h	Price source Forever free plan for solo users: one user (checked 2026-10-18, Booking calculator (schedulecost): zoho-bookings fact zoho/free) FOREVER FREE PLAN For solo users who need the fundamentals of scheduling software One user Formula: `0`
Email back and forth	$0.00	0.8 h	No tool to buy.

Not covered (yet)

Circle, Mighty Networks: not covered yet.

Affiliate disclosure: links marked “affiliate” may earn Built & Stuck a commission at no extra cost to you. They are chosen after the ranking is computed and never affect it. Manual-hours figures are estimates from the assumptions above, not measurements.

Questions

Skool or Kajabi for a 100-member community?

Skool Hobby is $9 but takes 10% of payments; Skool Pro is $99 with 2.9%. At $49 × 100 members Skool Pro is cheaper than Hobby; Kajabi Basic adds $143–179 a month plus card fees.

Is systeme.io cheaper than Skool?

On price, usually yes (0% platform fee from $17), but check that its community features fit your use.

Do affiliate links change the ranking?

No. The ranking only uses price, manual hours and your hourly value. Some tools have a marked affiliate link; the calculation never reads it.