Heartbeat review: $49 a month plus a 3 per cent cut of sales
Heartbeat is the cheapest way to run a course-driven community without per-member pricing, and it charges a percentage of what you sell on top of the subscription. Our check of heartbeat.chat on 12 June 2026 recorded Starter at $49 a month with a 3 per cent transaction fee and Growth at $129 with 2 per cent. That evidence is four months old.
The short answer
Buy Heartbeat if you sell a course inside a community and want lessons, chat, events and payments on one bill. Starter was $49 a month, or $40 a month billed annually, with a 3 per cent transaction fee and a cap of 1,000 members, when we checked heartbeat.chat/pricing on 12 June 2026. Those figures are four months old.
Skip it if your community lives on threaded forum discussion. The experience is chat-first, which makes long topics messy, and Circle at $89 a month on Professional, verified 1 October 2026, handles structured discussion better.
Where Heartbeat fits
Heartbeat fits the creator whose community exists to deliver a course. Lessons, chat, events and payments sit in one product, so the teaching and the talking happen in the same place rather than across a course platform and a chat tool joined by an email.
The pricing has two parts and both matter. Our check of heartbeat.chat on 12 June 2026 recorded Starter at $49 a month with a 3 per cent transaction fee, Growth at $129 a month with 2 per cent, and Business at custom pricing with 1 per cent. The subscription is flat and the fee is not, so revenue decides your real cost.
The member cap is what moves you up the card rather than the feature list. Starter was recorded as taking up to 1,000 members and Growth as unlimited, so a community that crosses a thousand people pays $129 a month whether or not it needs anything else on that tier. The step between the two is $80 a month on our check.
Annual billing takes roughly 17 per cent off, and the snapshot records the resulting rates directly. Starter falls to $40 a month and Growth to $108. Starter at $49 a month is $588 across a year against $480 on the annual rate, a saving of $108, and Growth is $1,548 against $1,296, a saving of $252.
The transaction fee is the part worth modelling before you commit, because it scales with you and the subscription does not. Work out your monthly sales, apply 3 per cent on Starter or 2 per cent on Growth, and add it to the subscription. A community selling $2,000 a month on Starter pays $60 in fees on top of the $49, which is $109 for that month.
Against the siblings, the fee is the distinguishing feature rather than the headline price. Skool was $9 a month on Hobby and $99 on Pro when verified on 1 October 2026, Circle was $89 on Professional on the same date, and Bettermode was also $49 a month on Starter when we checked it on 15 June 2026 with no course builder included.
All of this rests on a check made on 12 June 2026, four months before this page was reviewed, and that is worth stating plainly. Fees and member caps are exactly the kind of thing a platform adjusts quietly. Read the current rate card before buying, and treat the fee percentages as the figures most likely to have moved. The community platforms category covers the alternatives.
Heartbeat pricing
Heartbeat charges a flat monthly fee and takes a percentage of what you sell through it. The figures below come from our check of heartbeat.chat on 12 June 2026 and have not been re-verified in the four months since, so confirm both the subscription and the fee before you buy.
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49/mo | $40/mo billed annually. Up to 1,000 members, 3 per cent transaction fee |
| Growth | $129/mo | $108/mo billed annually. Unlimited members, 2 per cent transaction fee |
| Business | Custom | Quoted. Our snapshot records a 1 per cent transaction fee on this tier |
Two meters run here, the member cap and the percentage of sales. Five things decide what you pay:
- Member count, because Starter was capped at 1,000 on our check and Growth was not. Crossing a thousand members is an $80 a month step whatever else you need.
- Monthly sales through the platform, since the fee is 3 per cent on Starter and 2 per cent on Growth. At $2,000 a month in sales that is $60 against $40.
- Billing period. Annual billing was roughly 17 per cent off, bringing Starter to $40 a month and Growth to $108, worth $108 and $252 across a year.
- Whether the 1 per cent fee on Business is worth a sales conversation. Our snapshot records no price for that tier, so this page states none.
- Whether you need the course builder at all. A purely social community is paying for lessons it will not publish, and cheaper platforms exist for that.
Heartbeat pricing against the community platforms
Starter at $49 a month is mid-range for this category, and the fee is what makes the comparison awkward. Skool was $99 a month on Pro when verified on 1 October 2026, which is dearer at the front and simpler to predict. Circle was $89 a month on Professional and Mighty Networks was $79 on Launch, both verified 1 October 2026, and Mighty Networks also charges a percentage of paid sales. Bettermode matched Heartbeat at $49 a month on Starter when checked on 15 June 2026 but has no course builder in our record. The October dates are fresher than Heartbeat's June one, so this is not a like-for-like comparison.
Heartbeat billing terms worth knowing
The fee is the term people miss, because it does not appear on the monthly bill you signed up for.
- Free trial
- 14 days, no credit card required, on our 12 June 2026 check.
- Starter
- $49 per month, or $40 per month billed annually. $588 or $480 across a year.
- Growth
- $129 per month, or $108 per month billed annually. $1,548 or $1,296 across a year.
- Transaction fees
- 3 per cent on Starter, 2 per cent on Growth, 1 per cent on Business, as recorded.
- Member cap
- Up to 1,000 on Starter, unlimited on Growth.
- Annual saving
- Roughly 17 per cent. $108 a year on Starter, $252 on Growth.
- Check date
- 12 June 2026, four months before this review. Not re-verified since.
Heartbeat offers three plans: Starter at $49/month (up to 1,000 members, 3% transaction fee), Growth at $129/month (unlimited members, 2% transaction fee), and Business with custom pricing (1% transaction fee). Annual billing saves roughly 17%. All plans include unlimited courses, events, chats, custom domains, and white-labeling. A 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
If a Heartbeat invoice is higher than the rates above, the explanation is usually the percentage of sales rather than the plan. Our evidence is from 12 June 2026 and the fee tiers are the figures we would check first, because they are the ones that change without anyone announcing a price rise. Our creator tool cost calculators will set a year of subscription and fees against a flat-fee platform once you have your own revenue figure.
What Heartbeat gives up
The chat-first design makes forum-style discussion messy, and that is a structural choice rather than a setting. A community whose value is long threaded argument will fight the product every day, whatever the $49 a month looks like next to the alternatives.
The transaction fee grows with success while the subscription does not. At 3 per cent on Starter, a community selling $2,000 a month hands over $60 on top of the $49, and the only way down is the $129 a month Growth tier at 2 per cent.
Payment processing is Stripe only on our record, so a region or a payout method Stripe does not serve is a hard stop rather than an inconvenience. Check that before anything else, because no plan on the card changes it.
Native integrations are limited and Zapier fills the gaps, which means a second subscription and a fragile chain for anything you want automated. That cost appears nowhere on the Heartbeat rate card.
Support comes from a small team and is slower at times, and no published tier promises otherwise. Business is the only place where that might be negotiable and our snapshot records no price for it.
Our pricing evidence is from 12 June 2026, four months old, and the fee percentages are the weakest part of it. Three numbers that each take a slice of your revenue are exactly what we would want verified today rather than in June.
The 1,000 member cap on Starter turns growth into a billing event. A community that doubles from 600 to 1,200 members without selling anything more still moves from $49 to $129 a month, which is $1,548 across a year rather than $588.
How Heartbeat compares
The three platforms below are the ones weighed against Heartbeat, and the axis is a bundled course community against simpler or more polished discussion. Prices are each vendor's published rates with the date we checked them, and those dates differ. The wider field sits in the community platforms category.
| Tool | Best for | Price | Where it breaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heartbeat | Course-driven communities wanting lessons and chat on one bill | $49/mo Starter (June 2026) | 3 per cent of sales on Starter; 1,000 member cap |
| Skool | A simple community and course with predictable billing | $9/mo Hobby, $99/mo Pro | Little customisation and a single layout |
| Circle | Polished discussion with courses attached | $89/mo Professional | Dearer at the entry tier |
| Mighty Networks | Community, courses and events with native mobile apps | $79/mo Launch | Also charges a percentage of paid sales |
What to test in the Heartbeat trial
The trial was 14 days with no credit card required on our 12 June 2026 check. Confirm that first, because every figure on this page is four months old.
- Check the current subscription rates and all three transaction fee percentages on heartbeat.chat/pricing. Our figures are from June 2026 and the fees are the ones most likely to have moved.
- Publish one real lesson and run one real discussion in the same fortnight. The course builder is the reason to be here, and the chat-first layout is the reason people leave.
- Apply 3 per cent to your actual monthly sales and add it to $49. That single sum tells you whether Starter is a $49 a month platform or a $109 a month platform for you.
- Count your members against the 1,000 cap on Starter. If you are within a few hundred of it, price Growth at $129 a month instead and plan for $1,548 across a year.
- Confirm Stripe works for your country and payout method. Our snapshot records Stripe-only processing, and no plan changes that.
- List what you would automate and check whether Heartbeat does it natively. If the answer is Zapier, add that subscription to the total before deciding.
- Compare a year of Heartbeat and its fees against Skool at $99 a month on Pro, verified 1 October 2026. The cost calculators will do the totals and the free resources library holds a launch checklist.
Heartbeat questions buyers ask
How much does Heartbeat cost per month?
Heartbeat's Starter plan is $49/month ($40/month on annual billing) with up to 1,000 members and a 3% transaction fee. The Growth plan is $129/month ($108/month annually) with unlimited members and a 2% transaction fee. Business pricing is custom with a 1% transaction fee. All transaction fees are on top of Stripe's standard processing fees.
Does Heartbeat have a free plan or free trial?
Heartbeat doesn't have a permanent free plan, but it offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. That's enough time to set up a community, build a course, and test the experience with real members. Both Circle and Skool also offer 14-day trials, so you can test all three simultaneously.
Who is Heartbeat best for?
Heartbeat is built for coaches, course creators, and membership operators who want community, courses, events, and payments in one platform. It's strongest when you're selling structured learning alongside community access. It's a weaker fit for purely social communities, large-scale forums, or communities that don't need monetization tools.
Heartbeat vs Circle: which is better?
Heartbeat has better built-in course tools and includes white-labeling on every plan, making it stronger for course-driven communities. Circle has a more polished forum-style discussion experience, more native integrations, and better scalability for large communities. Choose Heartbeat if courses are central to your business. Choose Circle if community discussions are your primary focus.
Heartbeat vs Skool: which should I pick?
Skool is simpler and cheaper, at $99 a month for Pro and $9 a month for Hobby, verified 1 October 2026, and it is built around gamification to drive engagement. Our Heartbeat check was 12 June 2026, about four months earlier, so confirm both before deciding. Heartbeat offers more flexible course structures, built-in events with Zoom integration, and white-labelling. Choose Skool if you want simplicity and leaderboard-driven engagement. Choose Heartbeat if you need cohort courses, events, and brand control.
What integrations does Heartbeat support?
Heartbeat integrates natively with Stripe (payments), Zoom (live events), Google Calendar, and Outlook. Everything else connects through Zapier, including email marketing platforms, CRMs, and webinar tools. If you need deep native integrations with tools like ConvertKit or ActiveCampaign, Circle or Mighty Networks may be a better fit.
Can I sell courses on Heartbeat?
Yes, and the course builder is one of Heartbeat's strongest features. You can create evergreen self-paced courses or cohort-based programs with drip lessons, assignments, discussion threads, and secure video hosting. Courses can be sold standalone, bundled into memberships, or offered for free as lead magnets. It's more capable than the course features in Circle or Skool.
Does Heartbeat have a mobile app?
Yes. Members access your community through the Heartbeat mobile app on iOS and Android. While you can't get a fully standalone branded app, Heartbeat removes its own branding once members are logged in, so the experience inside the app matches your brand. Push notifications, chats, courses, and events all work on mobile.
Is Heartbeat worth the money?
If you're currently paying for a separate community platform, course platform, and event tool, Heartbeat can consolidate those costs into one subscription. At $49-$129/month plus transaction fees, it's worth it for creators who actively use courses, events, AND community features. If you only need one of those three, a specialized tool (Skool for community, Teachable for courses) may be more cost-effective.
Can I cancel Heartbeat anytime?
Yes. Heartbeat is month-to-month with no long-term contract. If you're on annual billing, you've prepaid for the year but can cancel renewal. Before canceling, make sure to export your member data and course content, properly disconnect Stripe to stop billing your members, and deactivate subscriptions: the offboarding process has a few steps that aren't immediately obvious.