Happy Valley

Circle vs Disco

Circle and Disco are both online courses & LMS tools. Circle is aimed at creators and small businesses, while Disco is aimed at enterprise and small businesses. Circle costs less, from $89/mo versus $499/mo for Disco.

Circle

All-in-one community platform for creators and brands

Disco

AI-powered academy platform combining courses, cohorts and community

PricingPaid · $89Paid · $499
Starting price$89/mo$499/mo
Free planNoNo
Free trial14 days14 days
Built forCreators, Small businessesEnterprise, Small businesses, Creators
Platformsweb, ios, androidweb, ios, android
CountryUS · 2020CA · 2020
Rating——

Choose Circle if

Creators and companies who want a premium, branded community with courses and payments.

  • Polished, flexible community experience
  • Courses, events and payments in one
  • Strong for creators and B2B communities alike

Look elsewhere if: Budget communities (Skool, Discord) or knowledge-heavy forums (Discourse).

Choose Disco if

Organizations running branded learning programs where cohorts, events and community engagement matter as much as course content.

  • Courses, cohorts, events and community in one branded space
  • Broad set of built-in AI tools for admins and learners
  • Good fit for customer education and member programs

Look elsewhere if: Solo creators on a budget or companies needing compliance-heavy corporate LMS features (Skool, Thinkific, Docebo).

Circle vs Disco pricing

Circle

  • Professional$89/moBilled annually; unlimited members, 3 admins, 2% transaction fee
  • Business$199/moBilled annually; 5 admins, 1% transaction fee, workflows, API
  • Scale$419/moBilled annually; 10 admins, 1% transaction fee, AI agents
  • Circle PlusCustomBranded mobile apps, unlimited admins, 0.5% transaction fee

Disco

  • Organization$499/mo$399/mo billed annually; up to 500 members, AI tools
  • EnterpriseCustom100k+ members, SAML SSO, API, branded mobile apps

Circle · Key features

  • Spaces for posts, chat, events and courses
  • Live streams and video rooms
  • Paid memberships, tiers and gated spaces
  • Workflows for automation and member journeys
  • Branded mobile apps (Plus)
  • AI agent, analytics and API

Cons

  • Price plus transaction fees
  • Branded app is a significant add-on
  • Search and threading can be weaker than forums

Disco · Key features

  • AI program generator that drafts curricula from a prompt
  • Self-paced and cohort-based courses with assignments and quizzes
  • Community channels, threads, DMs, groups and leaderboards
  • Ask AI answers learner questions from program content
  • AI video transcripts, summaries, audio narration and image generation
  • Live events with Zoom integration and in-event chat

Cons

  • Starting price is high for solo creators
  • API, webhooks and SSO require Enterprise
  • Organization plan capped at 500 members

Circle vs Disco: FAQ

Which is cheaper, Circle or Disco?

Circle starts at $89/mo and Disco at $499/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.

Do Circle and Disco have a free plan?

Circle has no free plan, a 14-day free trial. Disco has no free plan, a 14-day free trial.

Not sure yet?