As of October 2026, Circle's community platform costs $89 a month on Professional, $199 on Business and $419 on Scale, with Circle Plus on custom pricing. Those prices are in US dollars, based on annual billing, and don't include taxes. Every plan has unlimited members, and Circle also takes a transaction fee on payments of 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus.
The transaction fee's the part most people skip when they're comparing community platforms. If you sell memberships or courses through Circle, the plan price and the fee together are your real cost. Here's every plan from Circle's own pricing page.
Circle plans and prices
| Plan | Price (billed yearly) | Transaction fee | AI credits a month | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | $89 a month | 2% | 2,500 | Launching a paid community or course |
| Business | $199 a month | 1% | 2,500 | Running on workflows, APIs and the MCP |
| Scale | $419 a month | 1% | 5,000 | AI agents, unlimited workflows and higher limits |
| Circle Plus | Custom pricing | 0.5% | Maximum | Your own branded app and a dedicated partner |
Circle offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. All prices are in US dollars and don't include applicable taxes, as of October 2026.
Limits by plan
| Limit | Professional | Business | Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Members | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Admins | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| Moderators | 10 | 15 | 100 |
| Spaces | 20 | 30 | 100 |
| Storage | 200GB | 500GB | 1TB |
| Live stream attendees | 100 | 200 | 500 |
| Live room participants | 15 | 20 | 50 |
| Live hours | 10 | 15 | 20 |
| Automations | Not included | 20 | Unlimited |
Professional covers the essentials (community, courses, live events, website, member directory, payments, gamification, custom domain and the iOS, Android and desktop apps) but no workflows. Business is the first plan with workflows, custom profile fields, Circle APIs and MCP, branded email notifications and removal of Circle branding. Scale adds AI agents, AI workflows, webhooks and custom SSO.
Add-ons and extra costs
- Extra admins: $10 a month per admin.
- Extra moderators: $20 a month per 10 moderators.
- Extra spaces: $20 a month per 10 spaces.
- Extra live attendees: $20 a month per 100 attendees on Professional and Business.
- Extra live hours: $50 a month per 10 hours on Professional and Business.
- Branded email notifications on Professional: $40 a month (included from Business).
- Custom profile fields on Professional: $49 a month (included from Business).
- Extra Circle AI credits: $10 per 1,000.
- Email Hub: from $99 a month for 10,000 contacts, charged on top of the community plan, with the first 30 days free.
Add two or three of these on Professional and the gap to Business closes fast. It's worth working out before you pick a plan, because you'll pay the add-ons every month.
What Circle Plus and Scale add
Circle Plus is the top tier, priced by quote. It adds custom branded mobile apps with customisable app screens and branded push notifications, unlimited admins, moderators and spaces, an Email Hub with 10,000 contacts, negotiable limits, 90 days of concierge onboarding, recurring strategy calls with a dedicated Circle expert, premium technical support and priority platform migrations.
Scale isn't just higher limits. It's the first plan with AI agents, AI workflows, unlimited workflows, webhooks and custom single sign-on, and annual Scale plans come with 60 days of concierge onboarding and priority support. If you're building a headless setup, Business includes 100 monthly active users of headless API access and Scale 500, with extra users charged per MAU.
Circle AI credits
Circle counts AI use in credits, and the credits combine Circle AI, workflow tasks, API calls and agent tokens. Professional and Business get 2,500 a month, Scale 5,000, and Circle Plus the maximum. Business and above also include the AI content writer, automated transcriptions and the Circle MCP, and only Scale and Circle Plus include AI agents.
Billing and what the prices don't show
Circle's headline prices are based on annual billing, so expect to commit for a year to get them. The pricing page doesn't list a monthly-billing figure next to them, which is worth asking about if you'd rather start month to month. Taxes are added on top, and the Email Hub is charged on top of whichever community plan you're on.
There's no free plan on the pricing page: the free option is the 14-day trial. If you're testing whether people will join at all, it's worth running the trial with a small founding group before you commit to a year of billing, and to check the member experience on the mobile apps too.
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How to choose a Circle plan
- Estimate your yearly sales through Circle and multiply by the transaction fee for each plan.
- Add the add-ons you'd need on each plan, such as extra admins or branded emails.
- If you need automations or want Circle branding removed, start at Business.
- If you want AI agents or unlimited workflows, you need Scale.
- Use the 14-day trial to test the member experience before paying.
Choosing between the two best-known community platforms? Our Skool vs Circle comparison and Skool pricing guide lay out the alternative, and there are more options in our best community platforms list.
The verdict
Professional at $89 is the right start for a new paid community, but do the fee maths: once your sales through Circle are high enough, the 1% fee on Business can save more than the plan difference costs. If you only need a free group, Circle isn't the cheapest place to be. If you're selling, the fee matters as much as the price, so don't compare plans on the monthly figure alone.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Circle cost?
As of October 2026, Professional is $89 a month, Business $199 and Scale $419, billed yearly in US dollars before taxes. Circle Plus is custom pricing.
Does Circle take a transaction fee?
Yes. 2% on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus.
Is there a Circle free trial?
Yes. Circle offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Does Circle limit members?
No. Every plan includes unlimited members, though admins, moderators and spaces are limited by plan.
What's included in Circle Business?
Everything in Professional plus workflows, custom profile fields, Circle APIs and MCP, activity scores, branded email notifications and removal of Circle branding.
How much are extra Circle AI credits?
$10 per 1,000 credits on Professional, Business and Scale.
