Achene vs Circle
There’s a better home for your online courses.
A community platform where the $89/month headline needs annual billing, transaction fees apply on every plan, and email broadcasts are a paid add-on.
Get early access to AcheneKey differences
- 0%
- Transaction fee on every payment
- vs 2% on Circle Professional
- $14/mo
- Entry price for a full platform
- vs $99/mo to start on Circle ($89/mo billed annually)
- Built-in
- Email broadcasts to your students
- vs an Email Hub add-on from $19/mo, and $99/mo at 10,000 contacts
Feature by feature
How Achene and Circle stack up on the things that matter most to independent educators.
| Feature | Achene | Circle |
|---|---|---|
| Commission on sales | 0% on all tiers | 2% (Professional) · 1% (Business and Scale) · 0.5% (Plus) |
| Starting price | $14/month | $99/month ($89/month billed annually) |
| Email broadcasts | Included on all tiers | Optional Email Hub add-on: from $19/month, $99/month at 10,000 contacts |
| Workflow automations | Included | Business plan ($219/month, $199 annual) and above, 20 on Business |
| Automatic transcripts | Included on every plan | Not on the Professional plan |
| CRM and contact segments | Every student a contact, with tags and saved segments | Contact segments are part of the paid Email Hub add-on |
| Progress tracking and quizzes | Included, per lesson and course | Course progress and graded quizzes |
| Community spaces | Global + per-course, all tiers | Core feature, with discussion spaces and chat |
| Live classes | Built in on every plan, with RSVPs, reminders and recordings | Live events, with attendee and hour limits by plan |
| Gamification | Points, levels and a leaderboard on every plan | Included on all plans |
| Custom domain | All paid plans | All paid plans |
| Student limit | Unlimited on all tiers | Unlimited members on all plans |
Prices and features checked on . Plans change, so confirm on Circle’s own pages before you decide. Sources:
Included on every plan
Everything you get with Achene.
Beyond the headline price, every Achene plan includes a built-in CRM with automations, live classes, community and a leaderboard, so you never pay extra to unlock a feature as you grow.
Get paid
Keep every penny, paid straight to your Stripe account.
- 0% commission on student payments
- Free, one-time and subscription courses, with free trials and bundles
- No payout holds and no annual lock-in
Build your courses
Everything to author, schedule and share your lessons.
- Rich lessons with video, audio and files
- Drip release, free preview lessons and recording in your browser
- A media library and automatic transcripts
Teach live
Classes and events inside your own site.
- Live video classes with your students
- RSVPs, reminders and calendar links
- Recordings saved to your library
Community
A place for students to talk, with the tools to keep it healthy.
- A forum for your whole academy and one for each course
- Points, levels and a leaderboard you can switch on or off
- Pin, lock and moderate, with reply notifications by email
Students and email
Know your students, then reach the right ones.
- Every student becomes a contact, with tags and saved segments
- Broadcasts, branded templates and automations
- Your own sending domain, GDPR tools and one-click unsubscribe
Your brand
Your name on everything, and a great day for your students.
- Your own domain, logo and colours
- Notes pinned to video moments, bookmarks and resume where you left off
- Passwordless sign-in and eight interface languages
Pricing, side by side
All prices in USD. No commission on student payments on any Achene tier.
Circle plans
Professional
$99/mo- + 2% transaction fee on every sale
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited courses
- Email marketing: Not included
- Community: Included
- Custom domain: Included
Business
$219/mo- + 1% transaction fee on every sale
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited courses
- Email marketing: Not included
- Community: Included
- Custom domain: Included
Scale
$419/mo- + 1% transaction fee on every sale
- Unlimited students
- Unlimited courses
- Email marketing: Not included
- Community: Included
- Custom domain: Included
Achene plans
Seed
$14/mo- 0% commission on all sales
- Unlimited courses, unlimited students
- 100 GB video storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 2,000 emails/mo
- Live classes: 1,000 minutes/month included
- Community forums: Included
- Email broadcasts: Included
- Custom domain: Included
Taking RootMost popular
$70/mo- 0% commission on all sales
- Unlimited courses, unlimited students
- 500 GB video storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 10,000 emails/mo
- Live classes: 5,000 minutes/month included
- Community forums: Included
- Email broadcasts: Included
- Custom domain: Included
Thriving
$140/mo- 0% commission on all sales
- Unlimited courses, unlimited students
- 1 TB video storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 20,000 emails/mo
- Live classes: 10,000 minutes/month included
- Community forums: Included
- Email broadcasts: Included
- Custom domain: Included
See what you’d save
Enter your current plan and revenue to see your estimated annual saving with Achene.
Currency
Your estimated annual savings
Circle annually
$1,908
incl. 2% in fees
Achene annually
$840
0% commission
You save
$1,068
Estimates only. Circle prices are quoted in USD and converted at the same rates as Achene’s price list (£1 ≈ $1.40 ≈ €1.30). Does not include standard Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30), which apply to all platforms.
Why educators move away from Circle
Circle charges a transaction fee on every plan: 2% on Professional. On $3,000/month revenue that is $60/month on top of the plan fee.
Email broadcasts need the optional Email Hub add-on, from $19/month and $99/month at 10,000 contacts, charged on top of your plan.
Workflow automations start on the Business plan at $219/month, with 20 automations. You can't automate onboarding or re-engagement on Professional.
The $89/month Professional price needs annual billing. Monthly it is $99, and the add-ons (extra admins at $10 each, extra spaces at $20 per 10, branded email notifications at $40) add up.
Professional includes 3 admins, 20 spaces and 10 live hours a month. Going past any of them is an add-on.
Automatic transcriptions, the AI content writer and the API are all held back for Business and above.
Switching from Circle
- Export your student list from Circle.
- Import it into Achene as a CSV. Every student becomes a contact you can tag and segment.
- Rebuild your courses in the lesson builder. Video hosting is included on every plan.
- Connect your Stripe account, so payments go straight to you at 0% commission.
- Point your own domain at your school, then email your students to say you have moved from Circle.
Your next chapter starts here
Your teaching.
Your people.
Your proper home.
Claim your founding spot and help shape what comes next. We’ll be in touch with launch news, not a checkout page.
Built for teachers, not shareholders.