Memberships and subscriptions
Circle vs Disciple compared on 11 fields
- Circle score
- 64/100 (7 of 7 criteria)
- Disciple score
- 64/100 (6 of 7 criteria)
- Fields won by Circle
- 2 of 7
- Fields won by Disciple
- 0 of 7
Circle
Disciple
Data checked Oct 14, 2026 against the vendors' own pages. How we verify
Circle and Disciple are both membership platforms. We compared them on 11 fields read from each vendor's own pages.
On the membership platforms scorecard Circle scores 64/100 (7 of 7 criteria) and Disciple 64/100 (6 of 7 criteria) (ranks 15 and 17 in the category).
Of the 7 fields with a clear rule (lower price, higher count, yes over no), Circle wins 2, Disciple wins 0 and 5 are ties.
Disciple scores clearly higher on pricing transparency.
Side by side
| Field | Circle | Disciple | Winner and basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan (billed monthly) | ✓ $89/month | $599/month | Circle |
| Same plan, per month billed annually | ✓ $89/month | $599/month | Circle |
| Free plan | No | No | Tie |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Trial length (days) | 14 | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Integrations (vendor count) | – | 100 | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Public API | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Data export | – | Members, posts and analytics can be exported in full | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
| Analytics | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Team access | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| AI assistant | Yes | – | No winner: needs a value on both sides |
– = not published by the vendor, or not verified yet.
Sources: Circle pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026; Disciple pricing page, checked Oct 14, 2026. Each feature value links its own source on the tool's page.
Scorecard, criterion by criterion
| Criterion | Weight | Circle | Disciple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | 0$89/month billed annually on Professional; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) | 0$599/month billed annually on Off the shelf Branded App; no monthly-billed price published (scored against annual-billed prices) |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | 60Free trial (14 days), no free plan | 60Free trial, no free plan |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | 803 of 4 plans have a public price (1 "contact sales") | 1003 of 3 plans have a public price |
| Verified features | 15% | 1003 of 4 tracked features verified: analytics, team access, ai assistant | 1002 of 4 tracked features verified: analytics, team access |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | 100public API | 100public API, 100 integrations, documented data export |
| Fee on sales | 15% | 802% fee on sales on Professional ($89/month) | – |
| Members per plan | 10% | 100Unlimited members on Professional ($89/month) | 100Unlimited members on Off the shelf Branded App ($599/month) |
| Total score | 100% | 64/100 (7 of 7 criteria) | 64/100 (6 of 7 criteria) |
Circle plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional | Not offered | $89 | per workspace |
|
| Business | Not offered | $199 | per workspace |
|
| Scale | Not offered | $419 | per workspace |
|
| Circle Plus | Contact sales | Contact sales | Not stated |
|
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
Disciple plans
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly | Charged per | Published limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off the shelf Branded App | Not offered | $599 | per workspace |
|
| Off the shelf Branded App Pro | Not offered | $999 | per workspace |
|
| Business partnership Organisation | Not offered | $3,400 | per workspace | None stated |
Prices in USD per month, before tax. Read from the vendor's pricing page on Oct 14, 2026. "Not stated" means the page does not publish it.
How we picked
Every one of these membership platforms is scored by the same 7 criteria (scorecard v1). Each criterion gives 0 to 100 from the vendor's published data; the total is the weighted average. A criterion without verified data is left out and the other weights are re-normalised. A tool with under 60% of the weight covered is listed as not ranked, and so is a tool with no verified price and fewer than 2 verified features (“needs a verified price”); each score shows how many criteria it is based on. The core criteria are the same in every category; the category criteria are specific to membership platforms. Nobody gets custom weights, including our own products.
| Criterion | Weight | Type | What we measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | 25% | Core | Price per month of the cheapest paid plan, against the prices of other membership platforms on the same billing basis (monthly-billed prices against monthly, annual-billed against annual).Log scale. Billed monthly: $15/month or less = 100, $79 or more = 0. Only billed annually: $15.83/month or less = 100, $89 or more = 0. Only free plans = 100. Usage-priced and one-time plans are not scored. |
| Free plan or trial | 15% | Core | Whether you can use the tool before paying: a free plan, or failing that a free trial, as shown on the vendor's pricing page.Free plan = 100. No free plan but a free trial = 60. The pricing page lists plans but shows neither = 0. No plans read = not scored. |
| Pricing transparency | 10% | Core | How much of the pricing is public: the share of plans with a published price ("contact sales" counts against), and whether there are at least 3 published tiers.80 x (plans with a public price / plans listed) + 20 x (public plans, up to 3) / 3. No plans read = not scored. |
| Verified features | 15% | Core | How many of the 4 features we track for this category the vendor's own pages verifiably show (analytics, team access, templates, ai assistant). This counts verified features only: a tool that documents less scores lower here, and only here.Linear: verified features / 2 (half the tracked list) x 100, capped at 100. No tracked feature verified = not scored. |
| API, integrations and export | 10% | Core | Whether a public API exists, how many integrations the vendor states, and whether the vendor documents a way to export your data.Average of the parts with data: public API yes = 100, no = 0; integrations on a log scale (100 or more = 100); a documented data export = 100. None verified = not scored. |
| Fee on sales | 15% | Category | The percentage of each sale the platform keeps, as the vendor states it (the cheapest paid plan that states a fee).Linear, lower is better: 0% = 100, 10% or more = 0. No stated fee = not scored. |
| Members per plan | 10% | Category | Members included on the cheapest paid plan that states a limit.Log scale: 1,000 or more (or unlimited) = 100. No stated limit = not scored. |
Sources are vendor pricing pages, docs and changelogs, each with the date we checked it. We did not test these tools hands-on unless a listing says so. Full formulas: methodology.
Questions, answered from the data
Is Circle cheaper than Disciple?
Circle starts lower: $89 per month billed yearly on the Professional plan, against $599 per month billed yearly on the Off the shelf Branded App plan for Disciple. Check the unit: per-user and per-account prices scale differently.
Do Circle and Disciple have free plans?
Neither has a free plan.
Which is better, Circle or Disciple?
On our scorecard Circle scores higher (64/100 (7 of 7 criteria) vs 64/100 (6 of 7 criteria)). The score weighs every criterion the same way for every tool; check the rows above for the ones that matter to you.