Own your community instead of renting it from Skool.
We move your members, rebuild your courses in Learnomy and your community in BuddyNext, on a WordPress site you own outright, with no platform revenue share.
- Scoping
- Free
- Since
- 2013
- Client projects
- 600+
- Trustpilot
- 4.8 from 93 reviews
When switching off Skool makes sense
Platform fees are eating your margin
Skool charges a monthly platform fee per community regardless of what you charge members. On your own WordPress site, no platform takes a cut of what members pay, only your payment processor's standard fee.
You want your own payment processor
Skool provisions its own Stripe Express account for you. On WordPress, Learnomy checks out through Stripe or PayPal accounts you control directly.
You need real course infrastructure
Skool's classroom is built for simple video drips. Learnomy adds quizzes, certificates, cohorts, drip scheduling and instructor payouts.
You want to own your data long-term
A WordPress site is yours: no platform can change pricing, features or terms out from under your community.
Skool vs. WordPress with BuddyNext and Learnomy
An honest comparison, including where Skool genuinely wins.
Skool | WordPress (BuddyNext + Learnomy) | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and setup | Nothing to manage, live in minutes | You or we manage hosting; more setup up front |
| Monthly platform fee | Monthly platform subscription, plus transaction fees that depend on the plan | No platform fee or revenue share; you pay hosting and your payment processor |
| Payment processor | Skool-provisioned Stripe Express account | Your own Stripe or PayPal account |
| Course tools | Video-drip classroom | Course builder, quizzes, certificates, cohorts, drip scheduling |
| Data ownership | Your content lives on Skool's platform | Your content lives on your own database |
| Design and branding | Fixed Skool layout | Full control of theme, layout and branding |
What moves and what gets rebuilt
Skool gives you a CSV export of your member directory, including email addresses, from Members > Export. We import that list into your new WordPress community so nobody has to re-register from scratch.
Skool has no built-in export for posts, discussion threads or leaderboard history. This content has to be rebuilt or manually recreated; there is no official export path we can rely on.
Skool's classroom has no native course export either. We rebuild your courses in Learnomy, which gives you quizzes, certificates and drip scheduling Skool's classroom does not have.
Skool pays out through a Stripe Express account that Skool itself creates and controls, not your own pre-existing Stripe account, so it is not a direct carry-over. On the new site, Learnomy checks out through a Stripe or PayPal account you connect and control yourself, and members set up billing there.
Passwords never move, from Skool or from any other platform. Members set a new password (or use a magic link) the first time they sign in to your new WordPress community.
Built on our own products
BuddyNext
One community engine instead of stitching together forums, courses, events and messaging from different vendors.
See the live demoLearnomy
Run a full paid-course business on your own WordPress site, with no platform taking a share of your revenue.
See LearnomyJetonomy
A self-hosted forum you own outright, no monthly platform fees, with a straight import path off bbPress or wpForo.
See JetonomyBuddyX
A free community theme with no license key, ready for BuddyNext or BuddyPress out of the box.
See BuddyX demos4.8 out of 5 from 93+ reviews on Trustpilot
What community owners say
WBComDesigns is amazing. The WP plugins and themes are of top notch quality with lots of features and updated very frequently. Supports are very responsive and helpful. I use Reign with TutorLMS, and the experience is surprisingly smooth. The recently launched BuddyNext Pro and MediaShield Pro are like game changers for LMS + community. Very happy purchases and happy to be a loyal customer of WBComDesigns.
WBCOM Designs has constantly updated and supported their plugins and themes. Recently the new BuddyNext project is Amazing! - and the new line of addons like Mediaverse, Jetonomy, Mediashield, and Listora.. are likewise Amazing! - and very well built. Today their online Chat solved a download problem I had immediately!
