Tool profile
Circle: cost, fit and limits
Circle is a community platform made by CircleCo, Inc. that combines discussion spaces, courses, live events, payments and a website builder, with an AI assistant, agents and credit-metered workflows. Coaches, creators and membership businesses use it to run a paid community under their own domain, with iOS and Android apps included.
What to know first
Circle is built around a ladder where the AI grows with the plan. Professional gives the Circle AI assistant and 2,500 monthly credits, Business adds an AI writer, transcription and the MCP connector, and Scale adds agents, moderation and workflows. Transaction fees fall from 2% to 0.5% along the same ladder. Buyers who want the agents should price Scale at $419 a month from the start.
Circle at a glance
| Maker | CircleCo, Inc., United States |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $89 per month (Professional, annual billing) |
| API access | Yes |
| Category | Best AI Community Platform Software in 2026, rank 2 of 11 |
| Website | circle.so |
Who Circle is best for
Coaches selling cohort programs
Courses, live events, payments and a member directory sit on one plan, and Professional allows 100 live-stream attendees and 10 hours of live rooms per period.
Creators leaving a payment platform
Professional lists payment migrations for eligible communities, and Business adds standard migration services, which reduces the manual work of moving subscribers.
Brands wanting their own app
Circle Plus adds custom branded iOS and Android apps, branded push notifications and a custom app builder, which the lower plans do not include.
Teams automating community admin
Scale lists AI agents, AI moderation, a knowledge engine, an AI inbox and unlimited workflows, so a small team can hand routine replies and triage to agents.
Circle plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Professional | $89 per month, annual billing | Unlimited members, 3 admins, 10 moderators, 20 spaces, 200 GB, 2,500 AI credits a month, apps and a 2% transaction fee, with a 14-day trial. |
| Business | $199 per month, annual billing | Adds workflows, custom profile fields, APIs and MCP, white-labeling, an AI content writer and transcription, 5 admins, 500 GB and a 1% fee. |
| Scale | $419 per month, annual billing | Adds AI agents, moderation, knowledge engine, AI inbox, unlimited workflows, webhooks, custom SSO, 10 admins, 1 TB, 5,000 AI credits and 60 days of onboarding. |
| Circle Plus | Custom pricing | Everything in Scale plus custom branded apps, unlimited admins and spaces, a 0.5% fee, an Email Hub with 10,000 contacts and a dedicated success manager. |
Checked November 2026.
What Circle does
- Circle AI assistant
- A conversational assistant with more than 50 skills and shared projects for goals, files and team coordination. It plans content and takes actions, and it uses the monthly credit pool.
- Agents and moderation
- Scale-tier agents act on community tasks, while AI moderation and an AI inbox handle flagged posts and member messages. These sit behind the $419 plan, so smaller communities cannot test them.
- Workflows and APIs
- Business allows 20 automations, 20 scheduled workflows and 20 bulk actions a month, plus an Admin API with 5,000 requests. Scale removes the workflow cap and raises the API to 30,000 requests.
- Email Hub
- A separate add-on at $99 a month for 10,000 contacts covers broadcasts, automations, forms and segmentation. The first 30 days are free, and Circle Plus includes it.
- Website and payments
- A visual builder creates sales pages and funnels tied to access groups, with one-time, membership and subscription checkout. Affiliates and payment reporting are part of the payments module.
How Circle handles your data
Circle's privacy policy says it will never use personal data to train, fine-tune or improve any external AI models. Its AI features run on third-party model providers, and those providers keep processed data for a limited period that the policy does not specify. The services are hosted in the United States, with Standard Contractual Clauses used for transfers from the EEA, UK or Switzerland. No sub-processor list or certification such as SOC 2 appeared on the pages we read, and retention periods are described only as legitimate business needs.
Where Circle falls short in practice
- . The $89 and $199 plans exclude agents, AI moderation, the knowledge engine and AI workflows. A community that chose Circle for its AI pitch may find the useful half only at $419 a month.
- . Professional and Business include 2,500 credits a month and Scale 5,000, with more at $10 per 1,000. An active community using the assistant daily should estimate credit use before the first invoice.
- . The policy states US hosting and gives no EU region option, which can block European public bodies or privacy-sensitive buyers that need data kept in the EU.
Works with
Alternatives to Circle
Circle: common questions
How much do Circle's AI credits last?
Professional and Business include 2,500 credits a month and Scale includes 5,000. Extra credits cost $10 per 1,000 on those plans, and Circle Plus has the maximum, negotiable. The pricing page does not convert credits into tasks, so test a typical week of assistant use before choosing.
Which Circle plan has AI agents?
Agents first appear on Scale at $419 a month with annual billing, together with AI moderation, the knowledge engine, the AI inbox and AI workflows. Business adds an AI content writer, automated transcription and Circle MCP, and Professional includes only the Circle AI assistant.
Does Circle take a cut of member payments?
Yes. The pricing page lists a 2% transaction fee on Professional, 1% on Business and Scale, and 0.5% on Circle Plus. Card processor charges are separate and were not itemized on the page, so total fees depend on your payment provider and member volume.
Can Circle run my own branded mobile app?
Every plan lists iOS, Android and desktop apps, but custom branded iOS and Android apps, branded push notifications and an app builder are Circle Plus features with custom pricing. Lower plans use the standard Circle app with your community inside it.
Is Circle suitable for EU data residency?
Circle's privacy policy says its services are hosted in the United States and relies on Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers from the EEA, UK and Switzerland. The pages we read show no EU hosting option, so a buyer with residency rules should ask Circle in writing before committing.