Circle
5.8/10Circle is an all-in-one community platform for creators and brands that combines discussion spaces, courses, live events, payments, and paid email marketing.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Circle lets creators, coaches, and companies run a branded online community with discussion spaces, courses, live streams and live rooms, member directories, chat, paywalls, and a simple website builder, delivered on web and iOS, Android, and desktop apps. Its marketing role comes mainly from Email Hub, which handles broadcasts, automations, signup forms, member and non-member segmentation, and open and click tracking. You can also email people who attended an event or joined a space. Circle suits creator businesses and B2B brand communities that want engagement, events, and monetization in one place rather than a stand-alone email service. Pricing is a flat monthly fee with unlimited members: Professional is $89, Business $199, and Scale $419 per month on annual billing, and Circle Plus is custom-priced. Plans differ in admin seats, spaces, storage, live hours and attendee caps, workflow automations, API quotas, and AI credits. Payments made through Circle carry transaction fees of 2% down to 0.5% on top of Stripe fees. Email Hub costs $99 per month for 10,000 contacts on every plan except Circle Plus. Integrations include Zapier, embed widgets, and SSO with tools such as Memberstack, Teachable, and WordPress, with Auth0 added on Scale and up. Higher tiers add Admin and Headless APIs, webhooks, and an MCP server. The main limitation for marketers is that email is a basic, separately priced add-on, and automations, branding removal, and APIs require the $199 Business plan or higher.
Our Rating
Who Circle is best for
Good fit
The flat-fee plans with unlimited members and a 14-day trial suit small creator and coaching businesses.
Less suited
Good for community-led marketing, but email tools are basic compared with dedicated email platforms.
Useful for building a brand community, but key automations need the $199 Business plan.
Circle Plus adds branded apps and a dedicated success manager, but pricing is custom and course and email tools are limited.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Unlimited members on every plan, so cost does not rise with community size
- Community, courses, live streams, chat, and payments run in one branded app across web and mobile
- Native live streams and live rooms remove the need for a separate webinar tool for small events
- Email Hub can target event attendees and space members directly from community data
- Free 14-day trial with no credit card, and migration help
Cons
- Email marketing is a separate $99/mo add-on, and reviewers rate its editor as basic
- Transaction fees of 0.5% to 2% apply on top of Stripe fees
- Workflows, white-labeling, and APIs require the $199/mo Business plan or higher
- Add-ons for admins, spaces, and live hours raise the real cost
- No native course certificates or graded assessments
Key Features
Circle Pricing
Business
- 1% transaction fee
- $199/mo billed annually
- 5 admins, 15 moderators
- 30 spaces, 500GB storage
- Admin API 5,000 requests/mo
- 20 workflows and 20 scheduled workflows
- Branded email notifications and white-labeling
- Live streams up to 200 attendees, 15 live hours
Circle Plus
- Custom pricing
- 0.5% transaction fee
- Dedicated success manager
- Custom branded mobile apps
- Unlimited admins and moderators
- Email Hub with 10,000 contacts included
Professional
- Unlimited members
- 2% transaction fee
- 2,500 AI credits/mo
- No workflows or APIs
- $89/mo billed annually
- 3 admins, 10 moderators
- 20 spaces, 200GB storage
- Live streams up to 100 attendees, 10 live hours
Scale
- Priority support
- 1% transaction fee
- $419/mo billed annually
- 100 spaces, 1TB storage
- 10 admins, 100 moderators
- 5,000 AI credits/mo, AI agents
- Unlimited workflows, webhooks, custom SSO
- Live streams up to 500 attendees, 20 live hours
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Professional, Business, and Scale have a 14-day free trial with no credit card required, and Email Hub's first 30 days are free.
Only weekly digests and notifications. Broadcasts, automations, and forms need Email Hub, which costs $99 per month for 10,000 contacts on every plan except Circle Plus, where it is included.
Yes. Payments through Circle carry a 2% fee on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus.
Yes. Live streams are capped at 100, 200, or 500 attendees depending on plan, and live rooms at 15 to 50 participants. Extra attendees and hours can be bought.
All plans include Zapier and embeds. Business and up add Admin and Headless APIs and MCP, and Scale adds webhooks and custom SSO.
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